Of all the strength sports, strongman gives athletes perhaps the biggest advantage for being tall. Strongman events like the stone lift and weight over bar benefit bigger, taller athletes who can move weight further off the ground. While that’s partially balanced by events that may seem to benefit athletes closer to the ground – deadlifts, though some of the top pullers are also among the tallest competitors – strongman in the open weight class is very much a sport for giants and men of great height.
Click on the image below to see it in full size and detail.
For a little more evidence why height can benefit strongman athletes, check out the Instagram post below of 6′ 9″ Hafþór Björnsson breaking his own world record for weight-over-bar at the Arnold Classic. Hafþór is a former basketball player who is also known for playing The Mountain on HBO Game of Thrones.
Hafþór’s record wasn’t the only one to come out of the event. The Arnold Record Breaker’s event was sponsored by Rogue and also featured 6′ 8″ Brian Shaw setting a new record in the stone lift, clearing 555 pounds of concrete stone over a 4 foot barrier.
Eddie Hall – at a comparatively short 6′ 2″ – set a record on the first day of the festival’s strongman events, pulling a new world record on Rogue’s specially-designed elephant deadlift bar.
Now if you’ll excuse us, we’ve got some mass to build.
