Nombre de messages : 7374 Pts Actifs/Pertinence : 14877 Réputation : 105 Date d'inscription : 15/04/2009
Sujet: Brian Shaw; The Arnold Strongman Dark Horse Sam 5 Fév - 2:35
Written by Bryan Hildebrand Friday, 04 February 2011 09:59
This marks the first of several interviews with the 2011 Arnold Strongman Classic invitational athletes. This year will defiantly be a tight race with Brian Shaw fresh off his World’s Strongest Man virtual tie with Zydrunas Savickas. Derek Poundstone having won the 2009 and 2010 ASC contests. Travis Ortmayer coming off arguably his best year yet. Terry Hollands’ with his recent win at the LA Fit Expo Strongman event and several other high caliber athletes. The video posted here is from a January training session at his ShawStrength training facility. The stone is a 558 pound behemoth that he picks and places with ease.
Here is an unlikely scenario; basketball scholarship to finding the weight room to World’s Strongest Man phenom? At 6’8” the basketball part makes sense. And certainly, every young man at some point discovers the weight room at their university. But to become dominate so quickly in a quirky sports that eats up men and spits them out with frequent and often devastating injuries? Nah. Can’t be true. However, 29 year old Fort Lupton, Colorado resident Brian Shaw has convinced me otherwise.
Let me paint the rest of the picture for you:
BH: Good morning Brian.
BS: Good morning Bryan
BH: Brian, give me your physical stats?
BS: I am 6'8" and around 420 lbs.
BH: Holy mackerel. That puts you right up there with with biggest guys ever to compete in strongman. O.D. Wilson, Glenn Ross, Jeff Maddy et al. However, watching your videos, it’s clear you have excellent agility and athleticism?
BS: I played basketball all through college and I think that has really helped me in strongman to be very athletic even at a high bodyweight.
BH: So physically, you have the entire package to do some serious damage in the WSM and ASC ranks.
BS: I think I have come a long way in the last couple years and I feel like I still have a lot of room to grow and improve. I am really looking forward to the ASC and also to WSM later in the year.
BH: I learned you randomly entered your first strongman contest 5 or 6 years ago?
BS: I entered Denver’s Strongest Man at the end of 2005 without any formal strongman training and turned pro in June of 2006. My first pro contest was at the Fit Expo in early 2007.
BH: How did you go about training for more strongman events?
BS: I just started trying to build and buy all the equipment I could so I could train better. At that time I just entered every contest I could and I think I did like over 15 shows in 2007 which was brutal but gave me a lot of contest experience.
BH: Let’s fast forward to 2008. How did you qualify for the World’s Strongest Man event that year?
BS: I qualified at the Madison Square Garden Super Series by taking 4th place (top 4 got a direct invite)
BH: What was your experience like the first time you stepped into the athletes meeting with so many world class competitors?
BS: I was a little overwhelmed to be honest. It took me a few shows to feel like I had proved myself worthy of being there!
BH: Tell me about your WSM 2010 experience. Explain to us how you wound up placing second instead of tied for first?
BS: This is still tough for me to talk about! I had a good showing at WSM in 2010 but I made a few costly mistakes in the finals that hurt me. Zydrunas and I both ended with the same points after the 6 events in the final. Since there has never been a tie at WSM I don’t know if they knew what to do or not. Since Zydrunas and I both had two wins and tied with each other for first on another event the next thing was to go to second places. He had 1 second place and I had a third place so he got the win. The tough part of that decision is that head to head I beat him in three events, he beat me in two and we tied in one.
BH: Give us an idea of what a typical weeks training schedule looks like for you
BS: I normally train 4 days per week. One day is dedicated to squatting/legs. One day for overhead press/chest/triceps. One day for deadlifting. Then I normally train events on Saturday.
BH: What is your favorite strength event?
BS: My favorite event is the Atlas Stones. I just feel like it is a classic strongman event and a great test of overall body strength.
BH: Explain to us how that event works.
BS: In a normal contest you load a series of 5 stones that increase in weight to a series of boxes/platforms that decrease in height as the stones get heavier.
BH: Any tips or tricks to this?
BS: Not really any tricks. You just have to lift stones to get better at them.
BH: Do you have specialty equipment at your home or gym to prepare you for events like this and others?
BS: I have my own training facility...SHAWSTRENGTH TRAINING where I have almost anything that you would need to train for strongman. I’m a personal trainer/sports performance coach at my gym.
BH: What is your favorite moment in your strongman career?
BS: I have a few. My third place at 2009 WSM was a big moment. Being WSM Super Series World Champion the past two years and then my placing at WSM 2010.
BH: Tell me about your nutrition.
BS: I try to stick with lean proteins (beef, chicken, turkey) and complex carbs ( yams, whole wheat pasta, rice) and eat every 2-3 hours during the day. I drink lots of milk. I shoot for 8-10,000 calories per day but that number can vary.
BH: So many guys in this sport walk away with some pretty ugly injuries. How have you managed to stay so healthy?
BS: I feel like I do a good job of listening to my body and training smart. Also knowing how to warm up properly is a big part of staying healthy.
BH: What would your advice be to someone who is interested in training or competing in strongman?
BS: Focus on building up your gym strength with squats, deadlifts, and overhead presses. Know that strength gains take time and a lot of hard work over a long period of time will really pay off! BH: Now that Terry Hollands has won the LA Fit Expo and has been named the 8th invite for this years Arnold, are you going to win the ASC and if not, who do you think will make the podium? BS: I will tell you that I am coming to the ASC to win this year. I don’t think it will be easy to win as there are a number of guys who will be very hard to beat. The addition of Terry Hollands is a good one and could shake things up on certain events. In my opinion he deserved to be on the start list even before he won the Fit Expo.
BH: Thanks Brian. Looking forward to seeing and interviewing you live at the ASC!
BS: You got it Bryan! Thanks!
Watching Brian’s competition and training videos will put into perspective how incredibly talented this guy is. Physically, he is the most dominant specimen in strongman today. He may not be the lean Mariusz Pujanauski type, but sheer size and athleticism will get you far in a sport like this. Staying healthy is the other factor that is difficult to miss. Look for Brian to push Derek and Zydrunas to the brink for the coveted Arnold Strongman Classic Championship in 2011.