The 2022 World’s Strongest Man (WSM) contest is scheduled for May 24-29, 2022, in Sacramento, CA. Thirty of the world’s top strongmen will compete for the most coveted title in the sport. One of those athletes is four-time WSM champion Brian Shaw, who will seek a record-tying fifth championship. Only Mariusz Pudzianowski has thus far accomplished that feat.
In his preparation for the 2022 WSM contest, Shaw hired Joe Kenn as his strength coach and has continued to invite other elite strongmen to his gym in Colorado to train. More specifically, he’s invited athletes to train deadlifts. Check out Shaw’s high-volume deadlift session with strongman Jerry Pritchett in the video below, courtesy of Shaw’s YouTube channel:
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Pritchett and Shaw warm up with accessory movements, including back extensions, reverse hypers, and cable pull-throughs. Once they moved onto the lifting platform, Shaw used a mixed grip through his early sets without wrist wraps, while Pritchett used an overhand grip with lifting straps. They both wore weight belts even when the load was as light as a single 45-pound weight plate on each barbell sleeve.
Once they upped the weight into what appeared to be the 300-plus pound range, Shaw adopted Pritchett’s technique. They went back and forth, pulling sets of three to five reps unbroken. When 12 plates accumulated on the barbell, the strongmen added a pair of chains to the center of the barbell so the weight would steadily increase as they got closer to the lockout of each rep. It’s yet another facet of deadlift technique training Shaw is implementing during his WSM prep — much like his vert pull deadlifts with Gabriel Peña — suggesting that he is preparing for a deadlift ladder event rather than a maximal deadlift event. However, the 2022 WSM events have not yet been revealed.
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[Related: 2022 Arnold Amateur Strongman & Strongwoman World Championships Results]
2022 World’s Strongest Man
At the time of this article’s publication, 29 of the expected 30 men who will compete at the 2022 WSM contest from May 24-29, 2022, in Sacramento, CA, have been confirmed. They are:
- Rauno Heinla (Estonia)
- Pavlo Kordiyaka (Ukraine)
- Rob Kearney (USA)
- Gabriel Peña (Mexico)
- Kelvin de Ruiter (Netherlands)
- Kim Ujarak (Greenland)
- Maxime Boudreault (Canada)
- Mark Felix (UK)
- Pa O’Dwyer (Ireland)
- Shane Flowers (UK)
- Jean-Stephen Coraboeuf (Australia)
- Bobby Thompson (USA)
- Aivars Smaukstelis (Latvia)
- Adam Bishop (UK)
- Evan Singleton (USA)
- Eythor Ingolfsson Melsted (Iceland)
- Konstantine Janashia (Georgia)
- Trey Mitchell (USA)
- Mika Törrö (Finland)
- Peiman Maheripourehir (Iran)
- Luke Stoltman (UK)
- Brian Shaw (USA)
- Tom Stoltman (UK) — Reigning WSM Champion
- Gabriel Rheaume (Canada)
- Martins Licis (USA)
- Gavin Bilton (UK)
- Oleksii Novikov (Ukraine)
- Mateusz Kieliszkowski (Poland)
- Kevin Faires (USA)
Who the final competitor will be remains a mystery. Whoever it is is unlikely to change Shaw’s game plan to improve one rank from his 2021 WSM performance and claim the title for the fifth time in his career. We’ll see if his decision to opt out of the 2022 Arnold Strongman Classic to continue his prep for 2022 WSM pays off.
Featured image: @jerrypritchettstrongman on Instagram
