The annual Arnold Sports Festival that takes place in Columbus, Ohio, March 2-5th is right around the corner. We’re already within a month of the expo that brings thousands of strength athletes, enthusiasts, and lovers together.
One of the bigger competitions the Arnold is known for hosting is the Open (aka men’s superheavyweight) strongman contest. This year will be the introduction of the new Arnold Pro Strongman World Championship, which strongman competitors had to qualify for through the Arnold Pro Strongman World Series last year. This championship features eight of the biggest names in the sport, including Icelandic strongman Hafthor Bjornsson.
Last year, Bjornsson finished in fifth place, but appears to be training harder than ever and pushing himself to new levels of strength. His latest video features a huge log clean and press personal best of 206.5kg (455 lbs).
In competition the strongman competitors clean and try to press the log (Austrian Oak) for as many reps as possible. It’s said this log’s weight varies, but is typically around 440-465 lbs.
This is important to keep in mind (assuming the Austrian Oak is used this year), because last year only two competitors were able to press the Austrian Oak for a rep or more. These athletes were Zydrunas Savickas (4-reps) and Vytautas Lalas (1-rep). Could Thor’s new PB log clean & press push him into the few athletes able to complete this feat?
Another event Bjornsson appears to be training hard for is the deadlift. In 2016 Bjornsson finished fourth with a one rep 442kg (976 lb) deadlift. Six days ago he shared a video crushing 382kg (840 lb) for a second set double.
Yes, there’s a difference in over 100lbs between the above deadlift numbers, but that double looked easy and it was his second set. Regardless, we’ll hopefully see a huge pull from Bjornsson this Arnold.
There’s only a month before the Arnold Pro Strongman World Championship and the competition is looking fiercer than ever. Bjornsson is crushing new numbers in training and aiming to make 2017 his year.
What’s your prediction for this year’s Arnold Pro Strongman World Championship?
Feature image from @thorbjornsson Instagram page.
