Powerlifting - Strongman - Sugden Barbell

29th July 2010 - Posted by Rob Our poll asking "Should there be a strongman federation in the UK" has now closed; with a resounding victory in the "Yes" camp. Whether a federation will be formed remains to be seen.

Moving on, our new poll asks members who their favourite lifting equipment manufacturer is. Powerlifting suits and equipment have become increasingly popular in strongman in recent years - with knee wraps and squat/deadlift suits often being used during events.

The choices include Metal, Titan, Inzer and Other.

20th July 2010 - Posted by Rob Full results of the weekends British Championships are now available.

20th July 2010 - Posted by Rob A post on the Strongman Champions League Limerick Facebook Page suggests that this years Worlds Strongest Man competition is to be held in South Africa.

We will provide confirmation on this as soon as an official statement is made. Get your vuvuzelas ready.

Update - official statement confirms the venue:

Sun City is a luxury resort, situated in the North West Province of South Africa. It is located about two hours' drive from Johannesburg, near the city of Rustenburg. It is surrounded by the imposing mountains of the Pilanesberg and borders the Pilanesberg Game Reserve.

Qualifiers will be filmed between the 15th and 18th September.
Final will be filmed between the 21st and 22nd September.

13th July 2010 - Posted by Rob Sugden Barbell favourite Misha Koklyaev will be performing in a seminar to be held at Glasgow's Palace of Arts on the 13th of August.

The seminar comes almost four years to the day since he last appeared at the location, when Sugden members Rob, Cuddles and Sparrow took a road trip from Manchester to see the Russian strongmen put on a display of strength not to be forgotten.

Koklyaev performed a 400kg deadlift, 240kg clean and jerk, 260x3 front squat and 150kg muscle snatch all in the same session. The Sugden Barbell video of the event has become one of the internets most popular strength videos - with close to 340,000 views. To reserve tickets (£10 per person), contact Paul Coyle using the following details: frances.newman@btconnect.com, Phone 07875124253 or 07817240388 or 07857971524.

26th June 2010 - Posted by Rob Today saw Paul Woods crowned England's Strongest Man U105 in a closely fought battle, where he took the title by a single point over the impressive Mark Clegg.

Unfortunately there have already been numerous complaints about the organisation of the competition from those in attendance - including:

• Inaccurate scales - rumoured to be 5kg+ out
• Lack of split timing on stones and overhead medley
• Competitors taking part despite not being confirmed
• Long breaks resulting in the competition taking most of the day on one of the hottest days of the year
• Lack of scoreboard and clarification of standings

One competitor, Paul Cater, left mid-way through the competition apparently unhappy with the way it was being run.

For further information please see the comments thread, to see the final placings view the full article.

» View full article.

20th June 2010 - Posted by Rob Today saw the England's Strongest Man U90kg competition take place in Lancaster, organised by the Olympic Sports Gym. In a closely fought competition, James Ward posted a consistent all-round performance to give him a 10 point winning margin over the next three competitors, who all made 56.5 points.

A full results breakdown has been posted by competition scorer WILLSAN on page 27 of the forum thread.

A special shout out goes to Sugden admin Boar for a fourth placed finish, as well as long time member Kenny for a second placed finish. The top four will all go onto Britain's Strongest Man U90kg.

20th June 2010 - Posted by Rob Various lifters have voiced a number of complaints with today's GBPF British Unequipped Bench Press competition held at Shenley Leisure Centre in Milton Keynes.

In a competition that sounded highly disorganised, lifting highlights included a 240 press by guest Dean Bowring. The Seniors title was taken with a 230 press (name unknown). Sugden members Rick Booth and Martin Flett both achieved medal positions with benches of 167.5 and 155 respectively.

Some of the complaints made include a complete lack of communication with lifters, frequent mistiming of flight start times, lifters placed into groups by age and occasionally different ones altogether if they needed to leave early.

19th June 2010 - Posted by Rob Two of Britain's leading strongmen have both suffered serious biceps injuries at the Europe's Strongest Man competition according to reports from members of the audience.

It is rumoured that both have suffered full detachments, and may be ruled out for the rest of the year. This would be a serious blow to Britain's chances of achieving a high finish at the forthcoming World's Strongest Man competition, with Hollands in particularly impressive form of late.

Bulgaria's Stoyan Todorchev is also rumoured to have torn his biceps - which would give an unusual total of three major biceps injuries all in the same competition. Further information will be provided as it is received.

19th June 2010 - Posted by Rob Paul Winwood is conducting a strongman survey that will form part of his master's thesis:

"The aim of this study is to help improve our understanding of training practices for the sport of strongman. The information could also help guide future competitors in how they should train for the sport of strongman.

We would be very grateful to you if you could take the time to fill out this survey and also email the link on to other strongman competitors. We will attach some of the primary results in public forums as well as seek to publish this data set in a scientific journal, like the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research."

Interested? Head here to take part.

8th June 2010 - Posted by Rob Details have been finalised for the forthcoming England's Strongest Man U90kg competition. The competition is being hosted by Mark Clegg's Olympic Sports Gym, with the venue kindly provided by Salt Ayre Sports Centre in Lancaster (previously used with great success to host U105 qualifiers).

The twelve men doing battle from across the country, which includes a selection of Sugden administrators and members, are as follows:

From the North
1. Jonny Wignall
2. Kenny Cardwell
3. Paul McCaffrey
4. Shane Jerman

From the Midlands
1. Andy Okane
2. Alex Williams
3. Stuart Parker
4. Richard Mini

From the South
1. James Ward
2. Glenn Kerr
3. Martin Debnam
4. Gavin Conway

The competition kicks off 12PM, Sunday 20th June. Full venue details can be found on the competition listing. Tickets are priced at £2 per adult and £1 per child.

For the latest discussion regarding the event, see the comments thread.