The 2020 World’s Strongest Man, Oleksii Novikov, is back in the gym training for the next season, after being one of the most consistent competitors in 2021, where he got a podium in every contest he entered, except the 2021 WSM contest. Novikov won three of the competitions in which he participated, those are the 2021 Worlds Ultimate Strongman (WUS) Dubai, 2021 WUS Bahrain and 2021 Giants Live Strongman Classic.
This workout marks the start of Novikov’s preparation for the 2022 Arnold Strongman Classic, his first elite competition of 2022, which is scheduled to happen March 4-5, 2022.
You can watch the workout video here:
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Novikov’s workout began with some heavy squats, and his first working set was 200 kg (440.9 lbs) with Novikov aiming to increase it to 250 kg (551.2 lbs). He also explained that he has not had many training sessions before this and that this weight is acceptable considering the lack of training.
“It’s approximately the 3rd training session… And Because we’ll have squat at the Arnold (ASC), it needs to be trained more frequently and in a bit different way” said Novikov.
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The full event list and schedule for the 2022 ASC has been released. One of the events will be a normal barbell squat where athletes will attempt three reps of barbell squat and subsequently, the person that lifts the heaviest weights emerges victorious at this event. Oleksii Novikov explained that his squat max in training is 350 kg (771.6 lbs).
Check out Novikov’s four squat repetitions with 280 kg (617.3 lbs) here:
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To continue the workout, Novikov increased the weight to 220 kg (485 lbs), and did four repetitions. After which, he came back to talk about the events in the 2022 ASC, and listed them in a random order.
“The first event will be the squat, three attempts to establish the max weight… Timber carry, 400 kg (880 lbs), up the ramp… Then dumbbell for reps (overhead press), it’s my event, 124 kg (275 lbs), thank you very much to the organizers. Then it will be the log lift for max… And stone to shoulder, that’s it. 186 kg (410 lbs)” said Novikov.
Novikov finished the squat session with four repetitions of 240 kg (529 lbs), followed by two repetitions of 260 kg (573.2 lbs). After which he transferred to the log lift.
Check out Novikov’s latest timber carry practice with 270 kg (600 lbs) here:
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Novikov starts the log lift session with 80 kg (176.4 lbs), with the intention to build up to 140 kg (308.6 lbs). He points out that the log lift is one of his weaknesses.
“I’ve never done 200 kg (440 lbs), nearly did it once, but I didn’t lock it out. Because of that I consider it my weakness” said Novikov
Novikov exceeded his expectations in the log lift, as his sets felt very easy. Novikov eventually surpassed his target weight by 5 kg (11 lbs) in his second-to-last set. He completed three reps at 145 kg (319.7 lbs) and did another set with the same weight, but managed to do 5 reps this time.
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The goal for Novikov is to continue putting up performances similar to the ones he did this year, and try to claim the WSM title once again. The first test he will face is the 2022 Arnold Strongman Classic, where he will compete against some great athletes, as the roster is stacked. Novikov needs to build up a lot of strength, but he has enough time to do it.
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