We are about 4 months away from the most prestigious Strongman event of the year, The Arnold Classic. Yes, I said most prestigious, even more so than the World’s Strongest Man event. Anyway, the current reigning and defending Arnold Strongman champion-Hafthor Bjornsson has revealed the first look at the ASC events. Of course, there’s a chance the events get changed over the coming weeks but the list is pretty interesting- none the less.
First off, I really have to stress that this is an unofficial list. Arnold Classic is in March and we are barely halfway done with November. That’s a lot of time and room to make event changes and modifications. However, as things currently stand these are the events:
Day 1, Friday
Event 1: Stone Medley With Natural Stones
This event will be contested in three parts. The first part is picking up two natural stones (weight unknown at this moment) from the ground to overhead. Then the second part is the loading part, Strongman will have to take natural stones(not clear if will be the ones they just overhead pressed) and load them to a platform of sorts or some kind of plane on which they will be loaded. The third and final part of this event will be the legendary, 186kg Hussafel stone carry for a distance. As you may have guessed this will be a timed event.
Event 2: Bag Over Bar
This is a standard Strongman event, nothing new. Strongman will get a set of awesome Rogue sandbag kettlebells which they will have to throw over a bar(height of the undetermined) and as they progress through the set of kettlebell sandbags the weights will progressively get heavier and heavier. This is usually a timed event and the best time wins. Will this also be the case at the next year’s Arnold is yet to be seen.
Event 3: Wheel of Pain
Aw yissss, the most badass sports contraption ever constructed is back-allegedly…hopefully. At this year’s event, they measured the distance Strongman pushed the wheel. If you are not familiar with the sport of Strongman or haven’t seen last year’s “Arnold Strongman Classic” here’s a bit of clarification; Wheel of Pain is an event entirely inspired by the famous montage scene from Arnold Schwarzengger’s classic move “Conan”. In it, we witness Conan pushing that ridiculously large wheel for what seems the majority of his childhood and early adulthood.
Day 2, Saturday
Event 4: Elephant Bar Deadlift
The dreaded Elephant bar deadlift. This year’s Arnold Strongman Classic, the elephant bar event took out nearly everyone who competed. One by one Strongman approached the bar and as the weights went up they went away limping with minor or major injuries. Hopefully, they play around with the mechanics of the event and allow the guys to survive the event without everyone tearing a hamstring.
Event 5: Frame Carry
This a standard Arnold Classic event, which will be coming back with a bit of a “facelift“. The frame will be a bit lighter(Bjornsson says it will be 400kg this year) but no straps will be allowed. Supposedly the ramp will be a bit also be a bit different this time around, but Ser Clegane didn’t drop any further hints or information about what exactly will be different.
Day 3, Sunday
Event 6: Cyr Dumbbell
Yes, event 6 and day 3. This is a supposed major change to the Arnold Classic as it usually goes on for 2 days and five events. If this turns out to be true, it will be the first year that introduces the third day of competing. If you are asking yourself; “wait…why aren’t 6 events spread out evenly throughout the three days of competition“?I am afraid I don’t have an answer for you and neither does Thor and I’m guessing neither do the event planners…but maybe they will, we will see.
Cyr dumbbell is also an old Arnold Strongman event that disappeared for a while and is now making a comeback. In 2016, the last time this event took place-Strongmen had two choices; go for the lighter(274 lbs/124.5 kg) dumbbell and rack up the reps(and points) or try your luck with pressing the heavier one (300 lbs/136.5 kg) and edge out the rest of the guys on weight alone. This year, the heavier dumbbell is going to weigh 150kg-which is also a world record held by Mateusz Kieliszkowski and the lighter one is going to be 128kg. The winner will be determined by the maximum number of reps performed, with the guys who manage to press the 150kg dumbbell will get the automatic point advantage.
