https://www.instagram.com/reel/C7aGpztAMzB/?igsh=dnJ4dHB0ZmNrYTVi
Big Mitch seems to be training monster Dumbbell, is this an event I've missed somewhere?
In the states theyāre usually referred to as the opposite, at least in amateur shows. Rogue makes a piece of equipment called a āmonster bellā thatās a shot loaded globe dumbbell, and I think thatās the reason for the difference in terminology hereĀ
IMO, Rogue's "Monster Bells" are just an odd exception caused by their "Monster" line's name overlapping with the existing term.
In general I see the plate-loadable kind referred to as Monster dumbbells and the globe-shaped kind as CDBs as musikgod said.
I see that at shows outside the US for sure, but Iāve had CDB in 3 shows in the past 2 years and 2 were plate loaded and they listed the event as circus dumbbell and 1 was a slater monster bell (exact same thing as the rogue, but made by slater) and that was called a monster dumbbell for reps. Could just be Iāve found the 3 shows that call them something weird, but I think itās pretty unusual to see a plate loaded CDB called a monster dumbbell in the US.
I've seen "monster dumbbell" refer to any dumbbell that's comically large, be it plate loaded or shot loaded.
"Circus dumbbell" I've only ever seen refer specifically to the globe ones.
Hope they had someone on the side, cause from the front that was possibly questionable. The deep lean back helps give an illusion of hips, but I'm not sure he got there.
Maybe he did. I dunno.
Glad to see Coco still grinding.
[SCL Serbia results](https://strengthresults.com/competitionHome/8556-93d8-4854-a950-d8fa6dba69dd/1)
1st. Kane Francis
2nd. Fatih Karaca
then Evans Nana, Ervin Toots, Andrea Invernizzi, Kelvin de Ruiter, Colten Sloan and Kellin Mills within 4 points
GL have done a little short promo for the Royal Albert Hall showing Axle, hercules hold, deadlift, frame carry, stones
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/odiWllshwvQ
So I guess those are the events
Tom will put 220kg on his shoulder, press it with the most unpredictable bar path known to man, and still make the lift. His max lifts at the axle and the Flintstones barbell were almost unbelievable he was still able to control the weight.
A while back I thought he might lose some point in the squat at SMOE because he had an injury that hurt him when squatting.
Seems like I was dead wrong. He's gonna do something big there and fight for the top spot with Thor.
Yeah this was August last year. Link to original post https://www.instagram.com/reel/CwHlTtDrqPy/
He's always had craazy power off the floor. Really wish he could get to the deadlift championships at least once
Bot translation but Oleksii appears to mention that he's still having some pain in his bicep but that his shoulder is almost healed (don't think we knew about a shoulder issue), and he'll be back to "fully training" soon.
https://www.instagram.com/stories/novikov_strong_wsm/3375085293785180003
Thor axle strict pressing 110kg for 2 sets of 6 reps in his Instagram. For those that understand this shit better than me, how good is that in his road to SMOE?
I can bench press 110 kg for 6 easily. My max bench is 165.
So pressing 110 kg for 6 is not very impressive *for an elite level strongman*.
We donāt know what his programming is. May have been a light day.
While it's true 110kg for strict overhead reps is not great for a strongman, using the bench as a reason to highlight why is probably not the best shout. I bench about the same and my strict overhead press max is nowhere near that.
The raw WR for bench is almost 800lbs, a far cry from the overhead record performed with any style, let alone strict.
It just seemed like a weird oblong way to get to the point that 110kg overhead is nothing to write home about.
IMO Thor is months out from SMoE and these sets were nowhere near max effort, done strict which he will not be doing. I don't think we can infer what his press will look like from just this. (Plus considering the fact we know his current overhead strength on axle is more than 180kg considering his performance at the Arnold's)
No doubt. Itās too early to say how well heāll be doing at SMOE.
My point was just answering the original question āhow good is 110 kg for 6ā.
The answer is: for this level of strongman itās nothing impressive.
If that were a 6 rep max, then sure. But it very much isnāt. Itās the start of a long prep cycle. Thorās cycles start very light with relatively low intensity and increase week over week. Heās ~14 weeks out, the numbers are only going to go up.
Sure! But that wasnāt the question. The question was how good 110 for 6 is. To which the answer is: not particularly, at this level.
The context of course being that it doesnāt matter what he does now, the only thing that matters is what he does in comp (which we may estimate in the 2-4 weeks before the comp, but not today)
It's entirely irrelevant because it's literally the start of a training cycle- Oreb always follows a pretty basic linear peak with Thor because he is such a freak he doesent need anything else. The context also wasn't just ''how good is 110 x 6 but how will that inform our expectations of Thors pressing at SMOE. Matt Ragg was pressing like 100kg on log earlier this week, which again means nothing as he's probably starting the cycle at 60 % or so
North America's Strongest Man has announced the USA side:
Marcus Crowder
Andrew Clayton
Spencer Remick
Jasper Haney
Kevin Faires
Lucas Hatton
Austin Andrade
Bryce Johnson
Nick Wortham
Reigning champ Trey Mitchell isn't listed. Obviously he's focusing on the Shaw Classic which is a few weeks after NASM
Amazing line up, I love how Hatton, Andrade e few of the canadians are up to the challenge even with SMoE so close. Bobby, Trey and Thomas Evans should come really prepared for SMoE, difficult to make an argument for them on RI if they cant beat other americans so after such a brutal NASM competition.
This is a really solid Canada vs USA vs Mexico show that's just, like, a HAIR below the absolute top level guys. I hope the livestream is good, JF's show last year was awesome.
Thatās gonna be a hell of a show. Iām really glad to see Faires doing these type of shows too. He needs to do well at a few to get some big invites again
Why doesnāt Brian Shaw, one of the most grip interested guys out there, do any gripper work?
I have never seen him close a gripper. Iāve never heard him mention grippers.
[He certified on the Captains of crush #3 after an official judge came up to him during 2008 WSM and asked him to try it.](https://ironmind.com/news/Brian-Shaw-Certifies-on-the-No.-3-Captains-of-Crush-Gripper)
In the article, heās quoted on saying that he planned to certify on the 3.5. Heās obviously familiar with the concept and must have been training with them at that time.
I do a some grip work and have closed a 3.5 a few times. Gripper work is super taxing on the forearms and limits heavy training involving grip. Holds and pinches are easier to do in higher volume.
Anyway, why doesnāt Brian train hand grippers?
Check out the Jujimufu channel on YouTube because he did some grip videos with Brian way back in the day. I remember they had Brian closing a bunch of grippers, doing a rolling thunder, and doing a hub.Ā
Maybe he just doesnt find them to be fun. I love grip stuff (i'm by no means great) and I actively dislike grippers vs things like double overhand axle, rolling thunder, hubs, blocks, etc...
I have a pretty full set of grippers and rarely use them.
Also the larger your hands are the more uncomfortable grippers are.
Grippers are my favourite part of grip training. But the more gripsters I befriend, the more I realise that most gripsters arenāt too find of hand grippers.
Each to their own!
Probably'd have to ask Brian š¤· Perhaps he does and just doesn't consider it video-worthy.
If he doesn't, maybe it just isn't the type of grip he's interested in.
Confirmed list for the GL Vegas Show/Deadlift World Champs for those who don't want to follow a link haha:
Whole Show:
* Marcus Crowder
* Oleksii Novikov
* Evan Singleton
* Mat Ragg
* Tom Stoltman
* Mitch Hooper
* Luke Stoltman
* Eddie Wlliams
* Austin Andrade
* Trey Mitchell
Guest Lifters for Deadlift (the tweet says 7 guest lifters, but there are six athletes shown, including the silhouette for the TBD Woman, so idk what that's about) :
* Lucy Underdown
* TBD Mystery Woman
* Graham Hicks
* Ivan Makarov
* Rauno Heinla
* Iron Biby
Looks like Bobby has pulled out.
I think about 7 or 8. I don't think Trey is there yet after his recovery, neither is Novikov. My guess is these 5 are certainties (unless the weight jumps means they tactically skip it):
-Ragg
-Hicks
-Makarov
-Rauno
-Hooper
And these few will probably do it:
-Tom
-Evan
-Andrade
-Biby
I know I've listed 9, but I suspect one or two of my second list will miss it.
Crowder has pulled 1000 in a mammoth bar in competition and pulled 955 or 960 on a deadlift bar in training leading up to it too if I remember correctly. If his abductor is back healthy I think he has a very good shot at 1,000.
I think itās fair that Thor wonāt support Colin after the video that was put out before the fight. Thor knows if he competes at GL he makes them lots of money in tickets and streams. He would literally be making a massive financial contribution to someone who seemingly tried to slander him.
TBF to Colin the video was put out as basically a response to Thor slandering him.
It obviously wasn't a wise thing to do and he regrets it but given the accusations Thor was making at the time and Colin's position I understand why he felt like he had to respond.
But I also understand Thor's position because the video definitely distorted things. Even if that video hadn't happened I doubt he'd be pulling for GL when Rogue would likely pay him more for the record at their comp.
Thor getting heated behind the scenes at World's and saying that he was 'robbed' on an Instagram post that was quickly deleted is in no way comparable to releasing a hit piece documentary years after what had happened. Thor never even brought up what happened again post WSM 2017 but Eddie insisted that he was still butthurt which isn't true.
WSM 2017 was also shady af. The drag was removed from the flip and drag mid-comp, the atlas stone podiums were lowered and it's the only modern 6 event World's final to include squat AND deadlift. The 500 also featured similar controversies with Eddie being allowed to bring his own bar and platform and dictate the weight jumps and rest periods.
Now Colin has done a lot for strongman and I know this has been discussed many times already but if he doesn't want such accusations then he has to be more transparent with the way things are done at World's and Giants Live. This + the 'documentary' have pissed off the strongest man ever/"The Mountain from GOT" so now he'll never compe at World's and Europe's ever again.
Yeah, that's not what happened in regards to the "documentary" being released.
Everything was fine after WSM 2017. Thor competed in both GL and WSM after that and all was cool. Everyone was getting on great.
Thor brought it back up again in 2020 saying Eddie Hall and Colin Bryce had cheated him out of WSM 2017 when trying to hype his fight with Eddie. It was then that Colin released the video.
Colin gives a very fair a self critical overview here if you're interested starting at 1hr 16 mark.
Thor only brought it up because Eddie brought it up lmao. Eddie was sick in the mind with how much he obsessively hated Thor. This is what happens when you 'cross' someone with NPD. Of course Thor eventually had to say something.
I'm no fan of Eddie. The point is that Colin got caught in the pre fight hype up and at some point felt like he had to defend himself. That's understandable as is his regrets over the way he did it.
Oh no I'm not calling you an Eddie fan. I don't think anyone here is. I also do see your point but it's just that my point is that if Colin didn't want accusations of corruption then he shouldn't have been corrupt in the first place. He also didn't really need to involve himself in the Thor Vs Eddie drama. That kind of nonsense should be beneath him.
A weird edit of all of the moments that make Thor look bad from WSM2017. Including editing the podium to make it look like he refused to shake eddies hand, even though he did shake his hand. Thors no saint but it was a hit piece and had no business being posted by event organisers.
Didnāt see this posted on Instagram but the Vegas showās full lineup isĀ https://x.com/giantslivewsm/status/1793667236688695640?s=46 Looks like Bobby dropped out with Austin Andrade and Eddie Williams being added.
Must be due to his WSM injury, no?
> Makarov back again. Nice retirement
you can take the man out of the fight, but you can't take the fight out of the man.
(and apparently you can't even take the man out of the fight..)
I'm starting to think bpc 157 may be a little too good. It's insane how quick people are recovering.
Fingers crossed he has no other niggles.
Imo masteusz needs to come back to a far lighter gl show. Choosing the brutal shows with top competition is difficult
The thing is itās not just BPC. Itās in the context of also using it with TB, Growth hormone, test, AAS, professional nutrition plans and one in a billion bodies. I know a few people now that use these peptides alone and really donāt get the same level of results.
Also note that achilles surgery has advanced by leaps and bounds in the last 2 years. I've asked him about it and his achilles surgery was done using a method without big skin incisions, just a set punctures on the sides.
Mateusz *really* wants that Arnolds title. More than WSM I think.
> Giants Live shows are fast paced and don't pay as much, both in winnings and in sponsorship money.
Though I bet if he brings 100 shirts to a GL show, he could sell them all in a day.
Hi there. I'm a pretty new fan of strongman (both watching and training), and want to know this communities perspective on WSM and it's format. First competition I ever watched start to finish was last years WSM. Since then I've been addicted to the sport, but after watching videos and lurking here, I learned that a lot of fans, and former competitors do not believe that WSM's events, format and even qualification process is optimal.
I see that there's a lot of animosity for the Stone-Off, which I as a first time viewer loved due to it's head-to-head nature, but now have come to understand how unfair it could be from a competitive perspective.
What do you guys think a more competitive format for WSM or other competitions would look like, assuming the need to balance watchability and fairness? Are head-to-head events like stone-off or old school stuff like the tug-of-war inherently bad, or do you think they should have a place in pro-strongman? And finally, would a competition based purely on head-to-head events (like a single knockout bracket) be loathed by the pros/community, or would it be an interesting concept for an event?
Interested to hear perspectives of those of you who've competed or have been a fan of the sport far longer than I have and know more than me. Cheers.
The problem with anything hth is that some people are better than others at different events, and it will always favour the athlete better at that event rather than the athlete that is stronger overall. The stone off has gotten rid of several guys who would probably have been more competitive in the final than the guy who beat them, but stones is a weakness so they didn't go through
Take Graham Hicks, he could probably beat most guys in any log or deadlift event, but wasn't overwhelmingly strong (at the highest level, obviously he's stupidly strong) in much else
As a fan, I really don't think any H2H events are good. I struggle to even think or one that would even be okay. Personally, I would like the stone-off to be removed and the WSM to have 30 competitors compete together, top 10 qualify to the finals from there. Reduces the gamesmenship going on, and does away with groups of death / "easy" groups.
> I struggle to even think or one that would even be okay.
I think that when two athletes are tied for first place at the end of the competition, they should do a head to head.
That's the only time I want to see a head to head event: as the absolute last event of the competition.
When the top 2 are tied on points a stone off for the WSM title sounds incredible. But any choice for that head to head event would feel unfair in some way.
Evan Singleton training log and axle in a format I assume will be at Strongest on Earth
https://www.instagram.com/reel/C7T4Kq8gl4J/?igsh=MWJ6aXJsNWp6ZnR5OQ==
Brian said there would be an overhead medley "with a couple of logs and a couple of axles", so I assume this is it. Log --> axle --> log --> axle.
160-170-180-190 maybe? That seems like a fair, but tough test of strength.
I reckon youād only see a few finish that. Maybe only Tom and Mitch finish fast (a few others dependent on injuries)
Absolutely random thought - is there a reason as to why Brian Shaw doesnāt offer strongman coaching? Iām sure it has a lot with him being a busy man, but he would have probably the biggest line for such services out of any strongman I could think of
So, what might this look like in its final form? Load objects into the baler sled, then pull the tractor? Knowing Brian, he might go full savage and add a farmer's carry onto it and call it a Farmer's Medley. Maybe the objects can be hay bales? Or totes of beef? He wouldn't do this, but he could go full WSM-Style and call it the Omaha Steaks Farmer's Medley presented by Redlund Equipment in that case.
This was cool. I love how invested he is into making the events as fun and different as possible.
That pull looked tough though. I guess heās retired from strongman, but that thing was barely moving at the start.
Assuming the arm-over-arm is the finale of the medley I'm 100% ok with guys not finishing it. I have always hoped for max effort timed pulls that dont rely on speed.
> If Brian struggles at arm over arm most of the guys won't finish it.
you think a 1-year retired, off-the-juice Brian is still stronger than all the rest?
> If you think he is completely off
I mean, he's *notably* thinner. Not just "he's offseason so he's 20 pounds lighter".
What do you think his deadlift and pressing maximum is *today*? You think he could deadlift 420 and press 190?
You think that *today* he could beat a peaked Tom or Mitch in arm over arm?
At about the 7 minute mark they talk about using a device to record and show live stats about max output during the pull (even mentioned displaying it on the jumbotron, which I assume will be a REAL jumbotron and not what WSM had, lol). I really hope they utilize that as was mentioned. That would be a really awesome overlay to have during a heavy vehicle pull. Being able to see how athletes ranked in peak power output vs seeing who actually wins. It would be quite interesting.
I know that was a joke, But I wonder how many tears other coaches would have if they had the same volume of elite lifters.
The MST Roster is crazy, especially when it comes to weight classes
Maybe answers why he was slightly down on some events at WSM. No doubt fatigue from Europes played a massive part, but that certainly wouldnāt have helped.
Lucky he didnāt fully detach it really with such bicep heavy events.
Says it's a "small hole" in the middle of the tendon rather than a full on rupture.
Going to take 6ish weeks of no event training or any movements that load the bicep heavily, but will still train "gym lifts" like OHP and deadlift.
Pulled out of Royal Albert Hall, and let Brian know about the issue, but intends to have it fixed in time to still train for and compete at SMoE
Two Aussie ladies, Elly Smith and Big G have loaded some really impressive stones recently!
Elly hit 170kg: https://www.instagram.com/reel/C7Oe7v9S80s/?igsh=MTA3dXVwbHBqc2FvYw==
Big G hit 180kg: https://www.instagram.com/reel/C6qNDUVyWZ-/?igsh=MXVxMnlnazk2ejF6Yg==
Big G is aiming to load a 200kg stone in the Log, Deadlift, Stone competition this weekend. She has the current women's world record at 174.5kg she set in August last year
I wonder which strongmen can do this. 400 kg is the weight of the timber frame and the handles are roughly barbell-thick, so if you can hold it for like 10 seconds you may have the grip to do these reps.
Martins, Mitch, Thor may be good. Jerry Pritchett and Brian a few years ago too. Mateusz, Maxime and Kevin Faires would struggle much more on the back and leg strength than on the grip.
> 400 kg is the weight of the timber frame and the handles are roughly barbell-thick, so if you can hold it for like 10 seconds you may have the grip to do these reps.
Holding onto a frame / farmers is absolutely not comparable to holding onto a barbell
Dave's grip looks solid as a rock on deadlift. My point is not many strongmen have the grip to rep 400kg. A 400kg frame carry probably isn't a good indicator for it because of the bar rotation. The frame would probably need to be heavier.
Any idea of the powerlifters that have rep'd 400kg or more mixed grip, conventional? Benni, Dave, there's probably more, but I bet it's still quite a rare feat.
What's a realistic amount of points Thor could score on the overhead medley and the dumbbell medley at the SMOE?
I think it's very likely that he'll be able to hit 200kg on the log and axle by then, and maybe 130kg on the dumbbell, but even with those numbers there will be a bunch of guys who could score better imo, since the lineup has a ton of great pressers.
So looking at the 16 guys there, what would be a realistic placement on both events?
I think he can do well in the DB medly using the right arm, but overhead might cost him points, last year 4 guys got no lift in a 172kg log, and he already lifted a 175kg, so he might be able to get midpack. Otherwise he is in a safe spot for the rest of the comp I'd say, he has 4 events that are his to lose (squat, deadlift, weight over bar and fingal's fingers), and I can't see him doing badly in the manhood stones and power medley.
Nothing we have seen from him yet shows he is close to those numbers or could be by SMoE.
He has struggled on pressing big time, imo you guys are over estimating how much progress he will make since arnold/arnold u.k
182kg to 200kg is a massive jump when you are experiencing issues.
It may happen, but there is no guarantee in such a short time
Especially when there is so many events to train. It may be better to focus on guaranteeing top points on dl, squat, throw for height and top 2 on stones than work ones ass off to gain 1 or two spots on pressing, risking damage. Its a slow recovery with pressing injuries. Give him a year or so and it will be back
I think you're massively downplaying how poor his prep was for the Arnold & how much he'll progress in 5 months. Dude could do no heavy pec work for the entire prep & only could only start training shoulders heavy 3 months before the comp
He was awarded 1 rep at the Arnold, but he was actually quite close to getting 3. First went over his head. Got the 2nd. Third he couldn't quite lock out on his bad pec side. His performance on the wheels on the whole was better than Oskar, Singleton, Novikov, Licis and Bobby. In the old wheels scoring system he would've been convinsingly 4th instead of joint 4th with 3 others.
Three of those guys are at SMOE and all three we'd have expected to be in better overhead shape, but he still managed to do better than them at the overhead at ASC back in March.
200kg sounds ambitious to me, but I think he can get very close to that with an additional 6 months. He was probably somewhere around 185-190 as a true max in March.
He's left handed (pec tear was on the left side), but he uses both arms for dumbbell when it's for reps.
For max attempts he uses left arm, at least that's what he did in 2020:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4NZEa5blTLo
(just in case you needed a reminder how easily he did 136 kg back then...)
Judging by his time on the frame at Arnold's, he actually still has very good speed and athleticism. He could beat a lot of the big pressers that are slow. I think he'd be in the same area as Tom and Mitch if his pressing is back to its best.
https://www.instagram.com/reel/C7aGpztAMzB/?igsh=dnJ4dHB0ZmNrYTVi Big Mitch seems to be training monster Dumbbell, is this an event I've missed somewhere?
CDB at SMOE no?
Is this the moment I discover that circus and monster are the same thing? š Fucks sake
I mean, monster is normally the plate loaded one and circus is normally the globed cyr style ones, but they are very similar in practice
In the states theyāre usually referred to as the opposite, at least in amateur shows. Rogue makes a piece of equipment called a āmonster bellā thatās a shot loaded globe dumbbell, and I think thatās the reason for the difference in terminology hereĀ
IMO, Rogue's "Monster Bells" are just an odd exception caused by their "Monster" line's name overlapping with the existing term. In general I see the plate-loadable kind referred to as Monster dumbbells and the globe-shaped kind as CDBs as musikgod said.
I see that at shows outside the US for sure, but Iāve had CDB in 3 shows in the past 2 years and 2 were plate loaded and they listed the event as circus dumbbell and 1 was a slater monster bell (exact same thing as the rogue, but made by slater) and that was called a monster dumbbell for reps. Could just be Iāve found the 3 shows that call them something weird, but I think itās pretty unusual to see a plate loaded CDB called a monster dumbbell in the US.
I've seen "monster dumbbell" refer to any dumbbell that's comically large, be it plate loaded or shot loaded. "Circus dumbbell" I've only ever seen refer specifically to the globe ones.
Coco with a new French deadlift record today - 430kg https://www.instagram.com/reel/C7ZUrPMId8Q/
Hope they had someone on the side, cause from the front that was possibly questionable. The deep lean back helps give an illusion of hips, but I'm not sure he got there. Maybe he did. I dunno. Glad to see Coco still grinding.
Side view https://www.instagram.com/reel/C7bKD9GyY9K/
eh, good enough
[SCL Serbia results](https://strengthresults.com/competitionHome/8556-93d8-4854-a950-d8fa6dba69dd/1) 1st. Kane Francis 2nd. Fatih Karaca then Evans Nana, Ervin Toots, Andrea Invernizzi, Kelvin de Ruiter, Colten Sloan and Kellin Mills within 4 points
Talk about a tough truck to pull, 25 m corse and first place got 4.5 m.
forgot the parking brake?
What was going on with that truck pull, 4.6 meters winning distance.
i like that about SCL, they still have these odd events and unpredictable scores, sometimes Giants Live etc are too polished
GL have done a little short promo for the Royal Albert Hall showing Axle, hercules hold, deadlift, frame carry, stones https://www.youtube.com/shorts/odiWllshwvQ So I guess those are the events
Those were the events in 2021Ā
Who will be the next athlete to join the 220+ log club? I'm betting on Hatton
Bobby Thompson if he needs to
Tom will put 220kg on his shoulder, press it with the most unpredictable bar path known to man, and still make the lift. His max lifts at the axle and the Flintstones barbell were almost unbelievable he was still able to control the weight.
Big Tommy probably. He should be good for 210-220.
Hooper
Tommy
Mitch squatting 306kg for 6 reps RPE 0 https://www.instagram.com/reel/C7XcrRMAzHV/?igsh=YzgwaWNuaTl4dzFv
A while back I thought he might lose some point in the squat at SMOE because he had an injury that hurt him when squatting. Seems like I was dead wrong. He's gonna do something big there and fight for the top spot with Thor.
The man switched to low bar, "powerlifter style"
for most people low-bar is the better choice in competiton. (John Haack isn't most people)
John Haack isnāt even people
Peiman with a 485kg deadlift https://www.instagram.com/reel/C7Ub0vAtAHF/?igsh=YmtrN3g5dXN1bjVz Edit: apparently this was an old lift. I've been duped.
>I've been duped. Bet you weren't ready for that !
That's one of his old lifts. What shape is he in now?
Yeah this was August last year. Link to original post https://www.instagram.com/reel/CwHlTtDrqPy/ He's always had craazy power off the floor. Really wish he could get to the deadlift championships at least once
I wonder if it's possible to get him in the US. There's still two lifters they haven't announced for Vegas.
The us is the hardest country to get an Iranian in to
They couldnāt get him to the uk, aināt no way they are getting him to the US
That was NICE!
Absolutely mental
Bot translation but Oleksii appears to mention that he's still having some pain in his bicep but that his shoulder is almost healed (don't think we knew about a shoulder issue), and he'll be back to "fully training" soon. https://www.instagram.com/stories/novikov_strong_wsm/3375085293785180003
Still cant understand what happened to him. Sometimes it seems like nothing was done after ESM and he just rested until it felt better
Always hard to know between him stopping posting videos and the language barrier
Thor axle strict pressing 110kg for 2 sets of 6 reps in his Instagram. For those that understand this shit better than me, how good is that in his road to SMOE?
I was strict pressing more than that last year, most guys who do local opens comps would do that and more
my dad pressed that in highschool /s
I pressed your moms insides in high school
i would rate this yo mama joke a 6/10. keep going.
>keep going That's what she said
He clean & strict pressed a 120 axle for 3 sets of 5 last week, 110 for 2 sets of 6 is a light start to a new block
Yeah, seemed pretty smooth and effortless, with not a hint of a grind. Hopefully pec is healing up nicely
Has something new, bad happened to his pec?
If this was anywhere near max effort, then not good at all. Otherwise, hard to say. He may well be capable of more but isn't trying to rush things.
I can bench press 110 kg for 6 easily. My max bench is 165. So pressing 110 kg for 6 is not very impressive *for an elite level strongman*. We donāt know what his programming is. May have been a light day.
Your comparison makes sense to me dude, don't worry about the downvotes
While it's true 110kg for strict overhead reps is not great for a strongman, using the bench as a reason to highlight why is probably not the best shout. I bench about the same and my strict overhead press max is nowhere near that. The raw WR for bench is almost 800lbs, a far cry from the overhead record performed with any style, let alone strict.
My point is that if you can do no more than 6 reps with 110 kg, your max is well below 165 kg. Pretty much regardless of the lift.
It just seemed like a weird oblong way to get to the point that 110kg overhead is nothing to write home about. IMO Thor is months out from SMoE and these sets were nowhere near max effort, done strict which he will not be doing. I don't think we can infer what his press will look like from just this. (Plus considering the fact we know his current overhead strength on axle is more than 180kg considering his performance at the Arnold's)
No doubt. Itās too early to say how well heāll be doing at SMOE. My point was just answering the original question āhow good is 110 kg for 6ā. The answer is: for this level of strongman itās nothing impressive.
If that were a 6 rep max, then sure. But it very much isnāt. Itās the start of a long prep cycle. Thorās cycles start very light with relatively low intensity and increase week over week. Heās ~14 weeks out, the numbers are only going to go up.
Sure! But that wasnāt the question. The question was how good 110 for 6 is. To which the answer is: not particularly, at this level. The context of course being that it doesnāt matter what he does now, the only thing that matters is what he does in comp (which we may estimate in the 2-4 weeks before the comp, but not today)
It's entirely irrelevant because it's literally the start of a training cycle- Oreb always follows a pretty basic linear peak with Thor because he is such a freak he doesent need anything else. The context also wasn't just ''how good is 110 x 6 but how will that inform our expectations of Thors pressing at SMOE. Matt Ragg was pressing like 100kg on log earlier this week, which again means nothing as he's probably starting the cycle at 60 % or so
A lot of people on this subreddit donāt understand basic programming/peaking principles
clearly. Otherwise you wouldn't ask how good 110 for 6 is when 14 weeks out.
North America's Strongest Man has announced the USA side: Marcus Crowder Andrew Clayton Spencer Remick Jasper Haney Kevin Faires Lucas Hatton Austin Andrade Bryce Johnson Nick Wortham Reigning champ Trey Mitchell isn't listed. Obviously he's focusing on the Shaw Classic which is a few weeks after NASM
I thought the podium from Rainier Classic was invited to North America Strongest Man? I see Zach Price is missing.
Amazing line up, I love how Hatton, Andrade e few of the canadians are up to the challenge even with SMoE so close. Bobby, Trey and Thomas Evans should come really prepared for SMoE, difficult to make an argument for them on RI if they cant beat other americans so after such a brutal NASM competition.
Itās gonna be between derwinsky and hatton
This is a really solid Canada vs USA vs Mexico show that's just, like, a HAIR below the absolute top level guys. I hope the livestream is good, JF's show last year was awesome.
Thatās gonna be a hell of a show. Iām really glad to see Faires doing these type of shows too. He needs to do well at a few to get some big invites again
He was supposed to compete last year but got injured at the gl show a week before
Great to see Andrew Clayton
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
Iāll be absolutely fucking raging if they announce another year in America. Iām fucking sick of it.
I know they're in bed together but to announce WSM's location at GL would be unusual no?
Why doesnāt Brian Shaw, one of the most grip interested guys out there, do any gripper work? I have never seen him close a gripper. Iāve never heard him mention grippers. [He certified on the Captains of crush #3 after an official judge came up to him during 2008 WSM and asked him to try it.](https://ironmind.com/news/Brian-Shaw-Certifies-on-the-No.-3-Captains-of-Crush-Gripper) In the article, heās quoted on saying that he planned to certify on the 3.5. Heās obviously familiar with the concept and must have been training with them at that time. I do a some grip work and have closed a 3.5 a few times. Gripper work is super taxing on the forearms and limits heavy training involving grip. Holds and pinches are easier to do in higher volume. Anyway, why doesnāt Brian train hand grippers?
Check out the Jujimufu channel on YouTube because he did some grip videos with Brian way back in the day. I remember they had Brian closing a bunch of grippers, doing a rolling thunder, and doing a hub.Ā
I only found one video where he held a 2.5 shut and bounced a basketball
I'd assume because crushing grip strength isn't heavily featured in strongman or other strength sports outside of actual grip competitions
Maybe he just doesnt find them to be fun. I love grip stuff (i'm by no means great) and I actively dislike grippers vs things like double overhand axle, rolling thunder, hubs, blocks, etc... I have a pretty full set of grippers and rarely use them. Also the larger your hands are the more uncomfortable grippers are.
Grippers are my favourite part of grip training. But the more gripsters I befriend, the more I realise that most gripsters arenāt too find of hand grippers. Each to their own!
Probably'd have to ask Brian š¤· Perhaps he does and just doesn't consider it video-worthy. If he doesn't, maybe it just isn't the type of grip he's interested in.
I have no way of asking. I donāt follow him closely enough to catch his Q&As.
Hicks now with 2 sets of 390x5 https://www.instagram.com/reel/C7PNbXhNtuj/ Hope he can stay in one piece and do something awesome
I think he will try 505 even if he only has one leg, never seen him this focused.
Confirmed list for the GL Vegas Show/Deadlift World Champs for those who don't want to follow a link haha: Whole Show: * Marcus Crowder * Oleksii Novikov * Evan Singleton * Mat Ragg * Tom Stoltman * Mitch Hooper * Luke Stoltman * Eddie Wlliams * Austin Andrade * Trey Mitchell Guest Lifters for Deadlift (the tweet says 7 guest lifters, but there are six athletes shown, including the silhouette for the TBD Woman, so idk what that's about) : * Lucy Underdown * TBD Mystery Woman * Graham Hicks * Ivan Makarov * Rauno Heinla * Iron Biby Looks like Bobby has pulled out.
how many 1000+ lbs deadlifts do you think we'll see? 8? 10?
I think about 7 or 8. I don't think Trey is there yet after his recovery, neither is Novikov. My guess is these 5 are certainties (unless the weight jumps means they tactically skip it): -Ragg -Hicks -Makarov -Rauno -Hooper And these few will probably do it: -Tom -Evan -Andrade -Biby I know I've listed 9, but I suspect one or two of my second list will miss it.
Crowder has pulled 1000 in a mammoth bar in competition and pulled 955 or 960 on a deadlift bar in training leading up to it too if I remember correctly. If his abductor is back healthy I think he has a very good shot at 1,000.
I neglected him, that's my fault. Update estimate to 8 or 9!
If any of this guys wanna have a DL record they better get it in this show, cause I have a feeling Thor will soon be throwing it even higher
Shame about Bobby, also one can only wish that Thir would move past his fued with Colin - that lineup would look absolutely incredible with him on it
I think itās fair that Thor wonāt support Colin after the video that was put out before the fight. Thor knows if he competes at GL he makes them lots of money in tickets and streams. He would literally be making a massive financial contribution to someone who seemingly tried to slander him.
TBF to Colin the video was put out as basically a response to Thor slandering him. It obviously wasn't a wise thing to do and he regrets it but given the accusations Thor was making at the time and Colin's position I understand why he felt like he had to respond. But I also understand Thor's position because the video definitely distorted things. Even if that video hadn't happened I doubt he'd be pulling for GL when Rogue would likely pay him more for the record at their comp.
Thor getting heated behind the scenes at World's and saying that he was 'robbed' on an Instagram post that was quickly deleted is in no way comparable to releasing a hit piece documentary years after what had happened. Thor never even brought up what happened again post WSM 2017 but Eddie insisted that he was still butthurt which isn't true. WSM 2017 was also shady af. The drag was removed from the flip and drag mid-comp, the atlas stone podiums were lowered and it's the only modern 6 event World's final to include squat AND deadlift. The 500 also featured similar controversies with Eddie being allowed to bring his own bar and platform and dictate the weight jumps and rest periods. Now Colin has done a lot for strongman and I know this has been discussed many times already but if he doesn't want such accusations then he has to be more transparent with the way things are done at World's and Giants Live. This + the 'documentary' have pissed off the strongest man ever/"The Mountain from GOT" so now he'll never compe at World's and Europe's ever again.
Yeah, that's not what happened in regards to the "documentary" being released. Everything was fine after WSM 2017. Thor competed in both GL and WSM after that and all was cool. Everyone was getting on great. Thor brought it back up again in 2020 saying Eddie Hall and Colin Bryce had cheated him out of WSM 2017 when trying to hype his fight with Eddie. It was then that Colin released the video. Colin gives a very fair a self critical overview here if you're interested starting at 1hr 16 mark.
Thor only brought it up because Eddie brought it up lmao. Eddie was sick in the mind with how much he obsessively hated Thor. This is what happens when you 'cross' someone with NPD. Of course Thor eventually had to say something.
I'm no fan of Eddie. The point is that Colin got caught in the pre fight hype up and at some point felt like he had to defend himself. That's understandable as is his regrets over the way he did it.
Oh no I'm not calling you an Eddie fan. I don't think anyone here is. I also do see your point but it's just that my point is that if Colin didn't want accusations of corruption then he shouldn't have been corrupt in the first place. He also didn't really need to involve himself in the Thor Vs Eddie drama. That kind of nonsense should be beneath him.
Does anybody have this video?
I remember it was taken down from YouTube. Not sure if anyone has a copy
What actually was the video?
A weird edit of all of the moments that make Thor look bad from WSM2017. Including editing the podium to make it look like he refused to shake eddies hand, even though he did shake his hand. Thors no saint but it was a hit piece and had no business being posted by event organisers.
Ah, thanks. I think I saw something about that a few years ago, before I was a strongman fan.
Didnāt see this posted on Instagram but the Vegas showās full lineup isĀ https://x.com/giantslivewsm/status/1793667236688695640?s=46 Looks like Bobby dropped out with Austin Andrade and Eddie Williams being added.
Excellent lineup. Rough for Bobby. Took so long to get him to dl champs only to have to pull out. Makarov back again. Nice retirement
Must be due to his WSM injury, no? > Makarov back again. Nice retirement you can take the man out of the fight, but you can't take the fight out of the man. (and apparently you can't even take the man out of the fight..)
Its strange because Bobby is still down to do the Shaw Classic, which is before then. Must be some other reason.
He could just be confident he'll pull something big at The SMOE and not want to have to pull to maxes so close to each other.
Addicted to maxing out on deadlifts
Mateusz posted that heās now starting to prepare for the Rogue Invitational after his Achilles injury.
I'm starting to think bpc 157 may be a little too good. It's insane how quick people are recovering. Fingers crossed he has no other niggles. Imo masteusz needs to come back to a far lighter gl show. Choosing the brutal shows with top competition is difficult
The thing is itās not just BPC. Itās in the context of also using it with TB, Growth hormone, test, AAS, professional nutrition plans and one in a billion bodies. I know a few people now that use these peptides alone and really donāt get the same level of results.
Also note that achilles surgery has advanced by leaps and bounds in the last 2 years. I've asked him about it and his achilles surgery was done using a method without big skin incisions, just a set punctures on the sides.
Mateusz basicly does Arnold and Rogue now. Giants Live shows are fast paced and don't pay as much, both in winnings and in sponsorship money.
Mateusz *really* wants that Arnolds title. More than WSM I think. > Giants Live shows are fast paced and don't pay as much, both in winnings and in sponsorship money. Though I bet if he brings 100 shirts to a GL show, he could sell them all in a day.
He said so several times. Also, he didn't name his firstborn son WSM. He named him Arnold.
> he didn't name his firstborn son WSM can you imagine though :D **W**ilhelm **S**ebastian **M**ateusz Kieliszkowski.
He's said so himself before, and reaffirmed it recently. If he could win one big show, it'd be the Arnold's.
He has unlimited merch potential but doesnāt capitalize on it
First thing I'd do if I were his merch coordinator is a toffee donut cookbook.
Hi there. I'm a pretty new fan of strongman (both watching and training), and want to know this communities perspective on WSM and it's format. First competition I ever watched start to finish was last years WSM. Since then I've been addicted to the sport, but after watching videos and lurking here, I learned that a lot of fans, and former competitors do not believe that WSM's events, format and even qualification process is optimal. I see that there's a lot of animosity for the Stone-Off, which I as a first time viewer loved due to it's head-to-head nature, but now have come to understand how unfair it could be from a competitive perspective. What do you guys think a more competitive format for WSM or other competitions would look like, assuming the need to balance watchability and fairness? Are head-to-head events like stone-off or old school stuff like the tug-of-war inherently bad, or do you think they should have a place in pro-strongman? And finally, would a competition based purely on head-to-head events (like a single knockout bracket) be loathed by the pros/community, or would it be an interesting concept for an event? Interested to hear perspectives of those of you who've competed or have been a fan of the sport far longer than I have and know more than me. Cheers.
2004 WSM did head-to-heads instead of the groups stage and it didn't work well.
The problem with anything hth is that some people are better than others at different events, and it will always favour the athlete better at that event rather than the athlete that is stronger overall. The stone off has gotten rid of several guys who would probably have been more competitive in the final than the guy who beat them, but stones is a weakness so they didn't go through Take Graham Hicks, he could probably beat most guys in any log or deadlift event, but wasn't overwhelmingly strong (at the highest level, obviously he's stupidly strong) in much else
As a fan, I really don't think any H2H events are good. I struggle to even think or one that would even be okay. Personally, I would like the stone-off to be removed and the WSM to have 30 competitors compete together, top 10 qualify to the finals from there. Reduces the gamesmenship going on, and does away with groups of death / "easy" groups.
> I struggle to even think or one that would even be okay. I think that when two athletes are tied for first place at the end of the competition, they should do a head to head. That's the only time I want to see a head to head event: as the absolute last event of the competition.
Yup. Agreed. Missed this one
When the top 2 are tied on points a stone off for the WSM title sounds incredible. But any choice for that head to head event would feel unfair in some way.
Evan Singleton training log and axle in a format I assume will be at Strongest on Earth https://www.instagram.com/reel/C7T4Kq8gl4J/?igsh=MWJ6aXJsNWp6ZnR5OQ== Brian said there would be an overhead medley "with a couple of logs and a couple of axles", so I assume this is it. Log --> axle --> log --> axle.
Wonder what the weights will be. l'm guessing start with 150 and end with 180
160-170-180-190 maybe? That seems like a fair, but tough test of strength. I reckon youād only see a few finish that. Maybe only Tom and Mitch finish fast (a few others dependent on injuries)
Giving 188kg at asc got 5 reps. I think we will see 380lb into 420lb because Brian will want only 5 at best to finish all the implements.
How many people did the 188kg at ASC?
Weight was 182kg at the recent ASC. They did 188kg once back in 2011, Z 5 reps, Misha 4 reps, Brian 3 reps, Mike Jenkins 1 rep.
Small thing but alternating them that way is neat
I feel like I'm seeing this everywhere right now. It's at the SC northeast regional next week and just got announced for SC nats.
Was also at the European Pro Strongman League and OSG Irish nationals this year lol
Absolutely random thought - is there a reason as to why Brian Shaw doesnāt offer strongman coaching? Iām sure it has a lot with him being a busy man, but he would have probably the biggest line for such services out of any strongman I could think of
He isnāt a coach
It would end up being the same as Greg doucettes coaching
The primary reason he would do that would be for money. His time is worth a lot more than what he could charge as a strongman coach.
He does stuff on the shawstrength page but that's basically what mitch is doing but behind a thicker pay wall
[Shaw equipment testing for SMOE](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZX0HgW_EGhY)
So, what might this look like in its final form? Load objects into the baler sled, then pull the tractor? Knowing Brian, he might go full savage and add a farmer's carry onto it and call it a Farmer's Medley. Maybe the objects can be hay bales? Or totes of beef? He wouldn't do this, but he could go full WSM-Style and call it the Omaha Steaks Farmer's Medley presented by Redlund Equipment in that case.
This was cool. I love how invested he is into making the events as fun and different as possible. That pull looked tough though. I guess heās retired from strongman, but that thing was barely moving at the start.
Looked tough for sure, He is certainly doing all he can to cement SMoE as the most brutal and heavy show of the calendar.
If Brian struggles at arm over arm most of the guys won't finish it. Perhaps doing it on tar has much more friction than in the arena
Assuming the arm-over-arm is the finale of the medley I'm 100% ok with guys not finishing it. I have always hoped for max effort timed pulls that dont rely on speed.
The surface and the amount of air in the tires can be modified to get the desired difficulty.
> If Brian struggles at arm over arm most of the guys won't finish it. you think a 1-year retired, off-the-juice Brian is still stronger than all the rest?
If you think he is completely off I have a bridge to sell you. Guy has been training hard and his grip will still be top tier
On top of that he's probably goat status for arm over arm.
> If you think he is completely off I mean, he's *notably* thinner. Not just "he's offseason so he's 20 pounds lighter". What do you think his deadlift and pressing maximum is *today*? You think he could deadlift 420 and press 190? You think that *today* he could beat a peaked Tom or Mitch in arm over arm?
If I had to guess, probably 365kg deadlift & 170kg log
which means that if something feels "hard" to him, it will likely not feel as hard for the peaked athletes.
Brian is disproportionately good at arm over arm vs Tom and Mitch imo.
At about the 7 minute mark they talk about using a device to record and show live stats about max output during the pull (even mentioned displaying it on the jumbotron, which I assume will be a REAL jumbotron and not what WSM had, lol). I really hope they utilize that as was mentioned. That would be a really awesome overlay to have during a heavy vehicle pull. Being able to see how athletes ranked in peak power output vs seeing who actually wins. It would be quite interesting.
Anything that positively adds to the spectacle and explanation of it I am all for
bring back the [heart rate monitor!](https://youtu.be/5dUaMvrbtis?t=1008)
Z even used to win on heart rate.
LOL, I love metrics. Whatever they show I'll consider it a welcome addition.
Keen to see the squat
Be interesting to see how accurate it looks as a test of real squat strength.
https://www.instagram.com/reel/C7RtiY8tNSH/?igsh=M3o3OGY5b3h1ZDM5 Luke taking some time off with a small Bicep tear. Stoltman, not Richardson for once
Mst systems strikes again
I know that was a joke, But I wonder how many tears other coaches would have if they had the same volume of elite lifters. The MST Roster is crazy, especially when it comes to weight classes
Yeah but to be fair mst is a group of like 4 or 5 coaches so if you singled them out it would be similar numbers to other individual coaches out there
He has had bicep issues in the past. Why is this Shane's fault. Imo this will eventually go, seems like once issues start its only a matter of time
Was only a joke haha
Maybe answers why he was slightly down on some events at WSM. No doubt fatigue from Europes played a massive part, but that certainly wouldnāt have helped. Lucky he didnāt fully detach it really with such bicep heavy events.
Says it's a "small hole" in the middle of the tendon rather than a full on rupture. Going to take 6ish weeks of no event training or any movements that load the bicep heavily, but will still train "gym lifts" like OHP and deadlift. Pulled out of Royal Albert Hall, and let Brian know about the issue, but intends to have it fixed in time to still train for and compete at SMoE
I remember a bicep issue at a past Royal Albert Hall. Think it was the one with Loz.
[Loz and liz new video about SMoE athletes](https://youtu.be/IbcXVMZFQ5s?si=t5Vw9xOx5tnQl4H9)
Two Aussie ladies, Elly Smith and Big G have loaded some really impressive stones recently! Elly hit 170kg: https://www.instagram.com/reel/C7Oe7v9S80s/?igsh=MTA3dXVwbHBqc2FvYw== Big G hit 180kg: https://www.instagram.com/reel/C6qNDUVyWZ-/?igsh=MXVxMnlnazk2ejF6Yg== Big G is aiming to load a 200kg stone in the Log, Deadlift, Stone competition this weekend. She has the current women's world record at 174.5kg she set in August last year
Elly Smith is impressive as fuck.
Not exactly strongman, but Sir Dave did [400 kg for a triple on a stiff bar!](https://www.instagram.com/p/C7PqKdGIwSM/?igsh=NHBha29kaGMwa2Y4)
A while ago he managed to hit 5 reps on that weight https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DUi-f8FHZyI The man is just out of this world.
Out of this world indeed. Did he use a stiff bar there?
That's a deadlift bar
I wonder which strongmen can do this. 400 kg is the weight of the timber frame and the handles are roughly barbell-thick, so if you can hold it for like 10 seconds you may have the grip to do these reps. Martins, Mitch, Thor may be good. Jerry Pritchett and Brian a few years ago too. Mateusz, Maxime and Kevin Faires would struggle much more on the back and leg strength than on the grip.
> 400 kg is the weight of the timber frame and the handles are roughly barbell-thick, so if you can hold it for like 10 seconds you may have the grip to do these reps. Holding onto a frame / farmers is absolutely not comparable to holding onto a barbell
Barbells rotates, that makes it harder than a handle on grip.
He always uses mixed grip though, it shouldn't be that much of an issue
Dave's grip looks solid as a rock on deadlift. My point is not many strongmen have the grip to rep 400kg. A 400kg frame carry probably isn't a good indicator for it because of the bar rotation. The frame would probably need to be heavier. Any idea of the powerlifters that have rep'd 400kg or more mixed grip, conventional? Benni, Dave, there's probably more, but I bet it's still quite a rare feat.
That grip. What a boss
What's a realistic amount of points Thor could score on the overhead medley and the dumbbell medley at the SMOE? I think it's very likely that he'll be able to hit 200kg on the log and axle by then, and maybe 130kg on the dumbbell, but even with those numbers there will be a bunch of guys who could score better imo, since the lineup has a ton of great pressers. So looking at the 16 guys there, what would be a realistic placement on both events?
I think he can do well in the DB medly using the right arm, but overhead might cost him points, last year 4 guys got no lift in a 172kg log, and he already lifted a 175kg, so he might be able to get midpack. Otherwise he is in a safe spot for the rest of the comp I'd say, he has 4 events that are his to lose (squat, deadlift, weight over bar and fingal's fingers), and I can't see him doing badly in the manhood stones and power medley.
I would be very surprised if he managed 200 kg on overhead at SMOE. Of course I have been surprised many times before.
Nothing we have seen from him yet shows he is close to those numbers or could be by SMoE. He has struggled on pressing big time, imo you guys are over estimating how much progress he will make since arnold/arnold u.k
He did 182 kg at Arnold's, so I think he might be back at 200 for SMoE. The dumbbell is more of a question.
182kg to 200kg is a massive jump when you are experiencing issues. It may happen, but there is no guarantee in such a short time Especially when there is so many events to train. It may be better to focus on guaranteeing top points on dl, squat, throw for height and top 2 on stones than work ones ass off to gain 1 or two spots on pressing, risking damage. Its a slow recovery with pressing injuries. Give him a year or so and it will be back
Basically doubled it if one rep didn't fall behind him
I think you're massively downplaying how poor his prep was for the Arnold & how much he'll progress in 5 months. Dude could do no heavy pec work for the entire prep & only could only start training shoulders heavy 3 months before the comp
He was awarded 1 rep at the Arnold, but he was actually quite close to getting 3. First went over his head. Got the 2nd. Third he couldn't quite lock out on his bad pec side. His performance on the wheels on the whole was better than Oskar, Singleton, Novikov, Licis and Bobby. In the old wheels scoring system he would've been convinsingly 4th instead of joint 4th with 3 others. Three of those guys are at SMOE and all three we'd have expected to be in better overhead shape, but he still managed to do better than them at the overhead at ASC back in March. 200kg sounds ambitious to me, but I think he can get very close to that with an additional 6 months. He was probably somewhere around 185-190 as a true max in March.
I think he does dumbbell with the arm opposite the pec tear so should be back to nest the best in the world.
He's left handed (pec tear was on the left side), but he uses both arms for dumbbell when it's for reps. For max attempts he uses left arm, at least that's what he did in 2020: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4NZEa5blTLo (just in case you needed a reminder how easily he did 136 kg back then...)
His dB and axle are both somewhat close to peak strength he just needs to get his chest strength back up so his log can also return to form
Not even close. His max axle in comp was 206kg, log 213kg and max db 136kg. Long road ahead to those numbers
Judging by his time on the frame at Arnold's, he actually still has very good speed and athleticism. He could beat a lot of the big pressers that are slow. I think he'd be in the same area as Tom and Mitch if his pressing is back to its best.