USAWA

By Miles Pruznick

After seeing Sanjiv Gupta’s recent post about competing outside of all-round weightlifting I reached out to see if he’d like me to share any of my old strongman exploits.

I began the sport/spectacle of Strongman in 2015 after I graduated college and since then I’ve survived (for the most part) 14 strongman events to date.

If you’re interested, join me on a walk down memory lane. It was the summer of 2016. I was spending long hours on the gym floor trying to find my way as a brand-new personal trainer. The nation’s tensions were building as some of the most polarizing and radical political figures and opinions in recent memory were making it clear that the coming presidential election would be one to remember (for better or for worse), a plucky new show rooted in 80’s nostalgia called “Stranger Things” was about to be released on Netflix, and a brash young strongman by the name of Eddie Hall was preparing to deliver on the radical promise he had made one year prior. To become the first person in recorded history to deadlift 500kg/1100 pounds.

Yes, there was much that made the summer of 2016 a memorable one. In between my early struggles trying to make it as a personal trainer, I was training hard for Pennsylvania’s Strongest Man. The show was set for July 9th, and it would be my 6th and biggest strongman competition to date. Cleary the allure of competing for the title of “Pennsylvania’s Strongest” was powerful, as I was one of 16 men signed up for the Open Men’s Middleweight 200lb class. And many of these were seasoned competitors who had been to nationals and other higher-level shows. I knew with such a stacked field I was unlikely to make the podium, but I wanted to show up at my best regardless, so that I would be ready for such intimidating events as the Car Walk, the Hummer Tire Deadlift, and the Atlas Stone Medley. I lifted heavy sandbags to prepare for the atlas stones. I squatted and deadlifted both off the floor and off blocks to prepare for the hummer tire deadlift. And I stumbled around with weights hanging off my barbell hoping the makeshift “chain” yoke would help me carry the unwieldly car frame.

Before long, it was July 9th. I traveled to Lancaster County, PA with two friends, one who would be competing alongside me in my class and another who was there to cheer us on. First event for our class would be the Press medley. The bad thing about a press medley to start the show is that I am a sub-par presser. My long arms and legs, that I am so grateful to have when it comes to loading atlas stones and flipping tires, suddenly feel like a curse when I am trying to lock heavy weights out overhead. The nice thing about a press medley to start the show is that at least I get it out of the way early.

The order of the medley would be a 225lb log press for a single rep, a 150lb keg press for a single rep, and then a 125lb circus dumbbell for however many reps you can manage in whatever time remained in the 60 second time limit. I think the heaviest log I had put overhead at this time was around 200lbs/210lbs so I knew the stars would have to align for me to get 225lbs overhead. And sure enough, I cleaned the log a few times and each time I was unable to lock it out overhead. Zero-ing an event is always disappointing, but it wasn’t unexpected, and it was easy to forget about as the most intimidating event of the show was up next. The car walk.

The show runners had found a ~500lb rust orange car frame that we would be attempting to carry for 50 feet. I had been training for this with Spud Inc yoke straps (straps that will turn any bar into a makeshift purposefully unstable yoke) to prepare for the instability, but I knew there would be nothing quite like the real thing. I watched competitors go one after another. Some finished the 50-foot course, quite a few did not. Before long, it was my turn. I tightened my belt and got inside the frame. Got positioned as best I could under the shoulder straps and… ready, set, go.

She is heavy. more than heavy, she is awkward. Each step feels unstable as the frame shifts around me. I make it maybe 1/3 of the way through the course before I lose control and pitch forward coming to a jarring halt. We have an unlimited number of picks, so I pick up again and stumble forward a few more feet. Another drop, another pick. The straps are painful on the neck, shoulders and traps, and I can feel my spine buckling around as I walk forward. At this point it’s clearly not about having a flawless, or even a fast run. I just want to be one of the guys who finishes the course. I think I picked that car up 7 or 8 times but finally, mercifully I hit the 50-foot finish line. My back is telling me we have had enough but I have the unfortunate duty of informing my back that there are still 3 events to go.

The next event would be the Hummer Tire Deadlift. While I love the sport and the competition of strongman, I equally (probably more-so) love the spectacle of strongman. Deadlifting a bar with hummer tires simply looks cool and it feels cool and that’s a big factor in what shows I choose. I knew at this point I wasn’t in the running for a podium spot so my goal here was to hit 2 big hummer tires which would be 545lbs. I opened conservatively at 455. Easy single. 500lbs. A little more effort but the bar still flew up.

Next up was 545lbs. This took more effort and I felt my back starting to round, but the bar broke the ground and lockout felt strong.

For a moment I wondered if I should have opened heavier and possibly been good for 595lbs. However, especially looking back, even if I had been successful in lifting the heavier weight it likely would have required much more of a breakdown in form. And this show took long enough to recover from as is.

Event 4 was a Front hold. You stand with your back against a wall and hold a 40lb hammer in front of you with straight arms for time. Endurance holds aren’t typically a fan or an athlete’s favorite. They’re not much fun to perform and they are boring to watch as it boils down to just holding the weight in front of you and … wait. While we weren’t exactly enthused about this one, it was nice to have an event that didn’t feel like it was going to break my spine. The hammers had been made/forged for this show, and they looked pretty cool.

Other than that, it wasn’t too noteworthy. I don’t remember my time for the hammer hold. I believe it was mid-pack and by event 4 of a strongman comp your muscles are starting to tighten up and the overall fatigue is setting in. It was nice to get one more event checked off the list and on to the last one.

Well actually…I guess there was one more noteworthy part of this event that happened far away from Quarryville, Pennsylvania. As we were all going through the hammer hold, a competitor ran in and told us all that Eddie Hall had pulled off the impossible and deadlifted 500kg. For context, the deadlift record (and most world records) typically rise in increments. 460kg by Benni Magnussen in 2011. 461kg by Benni Magnussen in 2014. 462kg by Eddie Hall in 2015 followed by 463kg a few months later. The next logical progression would have been 465kg. Maybe 470kg for a big leap. But Eddie Hall called his shot proclaiming loudly that he would deadlift 500kg. An 80+ pound jump. 1100 pounds lifted from the floor. Unheard of. Some believed he would do it. Many more thought it was bravado that wouldn’t be backed up. They said it would be 50 more years of strongmen chipping away at the record before one would be able to lift 500 kilos. That’s how world records typically go. You don’t make giant leaps, you chip away. But at the Strongman World Deadlift Championships in Leeds, England Eddie Hall pulled off that feat which the crowd had deemed impossible. He lifted half a ton from the floor and the arena erupted with the sound of thunder.

I, on the other side of the Atlantic was a bit sobered knowing that a man had just lifted more than double my hummer tire deadlift max. I was also quite sore and ready to finish strong in this last event of the day.

Event 5- Finally, at long last I was looking at absolute favorite event in Strongman and the perfect way to end a show. This would be an atlas stone run- 4 atlas stones of increasing weight loaded to a long platform. One minute time limit. The weights were 200lbs, 250lbs, 300lbs, and 330lbs. I had previously loaded stones in the 250-260lb range for repetitions, but I had yet to hit 300lbs. That was my last goal for the show, and I was hoping I had one more good burst of energy left in me. Me and my friend taped up our forearms and helped each other apply tacky. Tacky is a tremendously sticky pine resin-based adhesive. It will help you grip the stones and will require WD-40 and baby oil to get off your skin afterwards. Once the tacky is on, anything you touch will be stuck to you, so you had best hope the next thing you touch is an atlas stone.

My name was called, and I stepped up to the platform. 200lb stone flew up. So did the 250lbs. Now came my challenge stone. I took my time, got my stance, and gripped the stone, trying to get as much of my arms around the “equator” of the stone as possible. 300lbs broke off the ground and it was in my lap. I wrapped my arms over the top of the stone, hugged it close to my chest and extended my hips, hoping it would rise. And it did. Landing on the platform, much to my satisfaction.

You never forget your first 300 lb stone.

There was still time remaining in the minute. I gripped 330lbs and to my surprise broke it from the ground and got it to my lap. But that was as far as she would go. I tried to grip and load but my body, my mind, my arms, legs, and back were spent. The stone returned to the ground, and I was tired and relieved to have made it through another show.

There was a post-show feast at a local restaurant and then a long drive home. The following week I would begin working at a new gym which is where I would spend the next year and a half. In between my a.m. clients and my p.m. clients I would have a few hours of free time at home which were useful hours to rest up my aching body and watch that new show, “Stranger Things”. As I’m sure you all know that ended up becoming one of the most popular and iconic shows of the last decade, with its series finale released in the closing hours of 2025. Looking back on this show, this time, and these moments it’s amazing how fast 10 years go by. In 2016 I was newly out of college, nervous & excited about training my first personal training clients, still living at home, and not knowing what the next decade would bring. I begin 2026 working as the Exercise Physiologist of a senior living community while living with my girlfriend and her wonderful son as we await the birth of our daughter (due February 2026). 2016 feels like just yesterday to me but to the kids I’m sure it will sound like the stone age. Yes, pun intended.

Thankfully I am not just 10 years older, but also 10 years wiser. MY 2026 goals differ from my 2016 goals and do NOT include carrying a car frame as that has thankfully already been checked off my “strongman bucket list”. I’m 33 now and too old for such ridiculous goals.

I have always wanted to pull a fire engine though… perhaps that’s next on the bucket list

Until next time,

Miles

Editors Note:

Congratulations on your upcoming baby girl! And thank you for the Strongman meet report. The spectacle of strongman is part of the inspiration for USAWA.

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