The sport of strongman can be deceiving to those unfamiliar. While strongman and strongwoman contests seek to reward the strongest individual at a given contest, the events that determine who that is involve much more than brute strength.
Speed, agility, and technique with unique apparatuses often play as large of a role as strength. So much so that the many athletes currently sifting to the top of elite competition podiums, such as on the Giants Live circuit, are those with superior cardio.
The 2022 Canada’s Strongest Man (CSM) champion Maxime Boudreault is steering some focus to that aspect of his training. On Sept. 16, 2022, he shared a video on his YouTube channel wherein he, strongwoman Sam Belliveau, and their training partners competed against each other in a CrossFit workout. Check it out below:
[Related: Legendary Strongman Commentator Eddie Butler Died at Age 65]
The workout performed by Boudreault, Belliveau, and company was comprised of the following:
- 500-meter ski erg
- 500-meter row
- 1,000-meter exercise bike
Each athlete in the crew tackled the workout one at a time, with their score being their time to complete it. Boudreault went first, appearing to make relatively easy work on the ski erg despite his 300-plus-pound frame. There were no shots of the ski erg screen to display Boudreault’s pace. However, there were for his time on the rower.
Boudreault’s stroke wasn’t the smoothest due to his size and that he was in an all-out sprint on the rower. His split bounced from 1:36 to 1:38 to 1:43 to 1:46 to 1:47 to 1:57. He ultimately got the split back down to 1:42 by the time he finished his row.
Boudreault’s seat position on the exercise bike was high. During each cycle, his knees were not hitting 90 degrees, meaning there was less pressure on his quads during the workout since there was less knee flexion. He crossed the finish line in a time of 5:56* and admitted afterward that his abs were cramping (the workout took place outdoors).
*Note: split times on each apparatus were not shown.
View this post on Instagram
[Related: Tom Stoltman Uses Progressive Overload and High Volume for Shoulder Hypertrophy]
Belliveau tackled the workout second, though none of her screens for split times were shown on camera. She crossed the finish line exactly one second slower than Boudreault’s time. Belliveau acknowledged that not having performed CrossFit before and, therefore, not knowing her target paces for each apparatus may have cost her time.
There’s places I could have pushed myself more.
Boudreault’s next strongman contest is the 2022 Rogue Invitational in Austin, TX, on Oct. 28-30, 2022. He will compete against nine other elite strongmen for one of the sport’s most significant prize purses of the year.
Featured image: @max.boudreault23 on Instagram
