2009 Arnold Blog

North American Strongman, Inc., the premiere governing body for amateur strongman athletes, will join forces with The Arnold Sports Festival to present the 2010 Arnold Amateur Strongman. The event will be held Friday, May 5 and Sunday, May 7 at The Greater Columbus Convention Center.

The competition will feature a selection of up to 50 amateur strongman athletes from around the world. Ten top amateur strongmen from the United States and Canada are expected to compete, including Texas’s Ryan Bracewell and Dan Harrison of California.

[ Read More About Amateur Strongman ]

Phil Phister (or Fister)

[ Watch It Free Right Here ]

[ Get Latest Arnold Sports Fitness Expo Updates Here ]

Thanks,
The Crush

View My BodySpace

Great News!

BONUS: Strongman competition to be added as part of the LIVE Arnold Class webcast coverage.

[ Watch It FREE Right Here ]

[ Get Latest Arnold Sports Fitness Expo Updates Here ]

Thanks,
The Crush

View My BodySpace

For the past eight years the strongest men in the world have come to Columbus Ohio for the Arnold Strongman Classic.

Zydrunas Savickas of Lithuania has won every Arnold Strongman Classic competition except for the inaugural event in 2002, which was won by former Olympian and current pro wrestler Mark Henry of the United States. This year a new champion will be crowned because Savickas, who will appear as a judge, will take the year off from competition.

Also on hand will be strongman celebrities Bill Kazmaier, one of history’s strongest men; Magnus ver Magnusson, four-time winner of the World’s Strongest Man contest; Vasyl Virastyuk, past winner of both the World’s Strongest Man contest and the IFSA World Championship; and Mark Henry, who has the highest Weightlifting/Powerlifting combined total in history.

[ Read More ]

Derek Poundstone, a police officer from Waterbury, Conn., is out to dominate Strongman in 2009 by winning all three of the sport’s major championships in 2009.

Poundstone’s quest begins at the Arnold Sports Festival, where he looks to improve on a second-place finish at the 2008 Arnold Strongman Classic, March 6-8 at the 2009 Arnold Sports Festival. The sport’s other two major championships are the Fortissimus Strongman in June and the World’s Strongest Man in September.

“I am going out to win all three events this year,” he said. “That is the only way to be the undisputed ‘world’s strongest man.’”

Poundstone, 27, finished the 2008 season with a second-place finish at his debut at the World’s Strongest Man contest in Charleston, W. Va. He was narrowly beaten by Poland’s Mariusz Pudzianowski, who won his record fifth World’s Strongest Man event.

However, Pounstone will not have to battle six-time defending Arnold Strongman Classic king Zydrunas Savickas of Lithuania Savickas is taking a year off before a planned return at the 2010 Arnold Strongman Classic.

“My only goal is to win all three events and I have to start my year off the right way to achieve the goal. First place is the only option,” Poundstone said. “It is kind of sad that Zydrunas is not going to compete. The only hope to instantly put you in the realm of the great champions is to defeat them at the competition that they dominate.”

Poundstone joins a strong U.S. contingent at the 2009 Arnold Strongman Classic that also includes Phil Pfister (Charleston, W. Va.), Travis Ortmayer (Cypress, Texas), Brian Siders (Charleston, W. Va.) and Dave Ostlund (Edina, Minn.). International entrants include Mikhail “Misha” Koklyaev (Russia), Andrus Merumets (Estonia), Vidas Blekaitis (Lithuania), Ervin Katona (Serbia) and Oleksandr Pekanov (Ukraine). Pudzianowksi has been invited to compete as well, but has not yet accepted.

Getting psyched for the Arnold Sports Festival yet?  LOL, well, we are!

Check out this hard-rockin’ strongman video from last year’s Arnold Sports Festival, courtesy of sports supplement giant MHP.

If this doesn’t get you pumped, nothing will!