Getting Ready For Your First Strongman Competition: What You Should Know.
So, you have been working hard over the last few months getting ready for your first strongman comp. You have put the hours in the gym pushing through the pain, sweat and blood! Your effort has always been to the max. Week after week you have been pushing the event training to make sure things do not go wrong on the day ….. but what next? What should I do now I have put in the hard work and my competition is only a week away? These are my own 5 personal tips of what to do before a comp to make sure i am 100% ready and to put my mind at rest so my head is in the game.
- Rest. If you have only one week left till your comp don’t go heavy in the gym! For me personally I don’t go to the gym at all but instead i concentrate on warm ups , stretching , and keeping the body in good condition by foam rolling and targeting muscle all over the body to gain maximum recovery before hand. Work on anything that could be playing on your mind and get the body as ready as possible.
- Food is key. A lot of people miss this out. You have been working your body hard and just because it is the week before does not mean you can slack off your calorie intake and especially carbohydrates. These will be very important for your body to store as reserve power on the day of the competition as more than likely you won't eat much on the day. Store what you have before hand and maintain the best that you can with for example oats , shakes , bars etc.
- Sleep. The day before the comp you are going to be excited. It will feel like Christmas going over again and again in your head. Thinking about the events and how you are going to perform... You should be all stretched out feeling nice and relaxed as you sit down and rest which is good. Make sure you get enough sleep so your body is recharged and ready to go hard the next day.
- Make sure you check your kit. This is a killer! I have made this mistake in the past and paid the price. The night before the comp check your kit just so you know that you have everything you need and that it is in full working order. Empty your kit out on an open space and go through everything making sure all working parts are fine on belts , wrist supports , wrist straps etc and then place them all in your bag. Then move onto other items making sure they are not damaged: knee sleeves , elbow sleeves etc. Finally, check for tacky , chalk , smelling salts etc and then finish packing it all up. In the past I have done this but forgot to get my tacky out and come comp day not had tacky for atlas stone which dropped me to last on one of my strongest events! Check and then double check before leaving .
- Be positive but don’t set the bar. When you turn up and sit down you think in your mind that you are going to win which is a great mind set to have. This could also destroy some people and can even stop people from continuing the sport altogether. Everybody there is going to have the same mind set of winning and only one of them will be right. If you come second or even last don’t let it stop you from continuing the sport and working harder at your weakness's. At the same time if you win don’t let it go to your head, keep training hard and keep pushing yourself to improve .
Give it your best on the day and always take any lessons learned and improve on them for next time.
Have a great competition,
John Thompson.