Omar Isuf is a weightlifter and YouTuber who has been trying his hand at strongman training. Now he opens up about his knowledge on the use of steroids in strongman.
Isuf is a Canadian YouTuber who grew to prominence on the platform for his informative training videos. He took an entertaining approach to teaching others about fitness, and training. As a result, he has amassed over 800k subscribers to his channel, all of whom are drawn to his charisma and knowledge.
However, Isuf recently decided to try something that he was not very knowledgeable about – strongman. He has been putting together a video series chronicling his switch to strongman training. In the most recent video in the series, he decided to take some time to share some information, and answer some questions he had been asked, regarding the sport and his training.
The majority of the video sees Omar Isuf doing various training, with the atlas stone and Viking press. His trainer goes into great detail about the techniques involved in both exercises, helping him to reach the goal of a 200lb atlas stone lift. Although before they got that far, Omar addressed his subscribers to answer questions, and debunk some myths about strongman training and competition.
Isuf does a great job explaining the various types of events in a strongman competition. Moreover, he explains that he will not be competing in the same weight class as big competitors like Hafthor Bjornsson or Martins Licis. However, he wanted to make it clear that steroid use is not only unnecessary but that there are events specifically for those who do or do not want to use steroids.
This is what he had to say, regarding steroids in strongman:
“Strongman is actually a lot more nuanced than that. There’s actually a lot more categories. There actually is tested strongman, there’s untested strongman. I think the official stance from the World’s Strongest Man is that they do test, but I’m not trying to raise any controversy here. Some athletes have actually admitted; I think (their testing) is far more loose. But it’s cool, you do whatever the hell you want.”
Isuf then goes on to explain that he has two strongman contests he is looking to compete in. The first one is in May, and the second is in June. If he is successful in the latter of the two contests, he will be able to earn a spot at the Amateur Arnold Strongman Classic. Following that, he details his workout with his trainer, who goes into great detail on the technique involved in each exercise.
Omar Isuf does a good job going into detail on some of the finer point of strongman competition. It would appear that even though the testing in strongman is a bit lax, he has no interest in using performance-enhancing drugs. As a result, it will be interesting to see what kind of progress he can make, by the time he competes.
