Name: Mariusz Pudzianowski
Date of birth: 7 February, 1977
Lives in: Poland
Occupations: strongman, actor, singer
Height: 1.80 m
Weight:130 kg
Website: http://www.pudzian.pl (in Polish)
He is known by nicknames such as Pudzian, Dominator, Super Mariusz (Super Mario), Pyton (Python) and Pyton (Big Python).
Strongman career
He first took up strength sports at 13, in December 1990. “My 12-year-old friend and I tried lifting each other. I couldn’t lift him, but he hoisted me up and tossed me several inches into the air. He was strong. That motivated me to train and become the World’s Strongest Man.”
In May 1999, Mariusz competed in his first strongman competition in Plock, Poland. Wider recognition and his international breakthrough came in 2000, when he finished fourth in his first World’s Strongest Man competition. He returned and won his first WSM title in 2002, successfully defending it the following year with the largest winning margin in the competition’s history. In 2004, he also became the Strongman Super Series world champion. He initially placed third at the 2004 World’s Strongest Man competition but was disqualified for using banned substances. He returned his prize money to the International Federation of Strength Athletes and received a one-year competition ban. He did not dispute his use of banned substances and returned in 2005 to win the World’s Strongest Man title for the third time.
In 2006, he finished second at World’s Strongest Man behind American Phil Pfister. The last time an American had held the World’s Strongest Man title was in 1982. Pudzianowski led the competition until the final event, lifting Atlas stones onto barrels. Pfister placed the last stone just a second—or even less—ahead of him and won the title.
Earlier pursuits…
Mariusz tries to stay fit and energetic at all times. He practices Kyokushin karate, which he studied between the ages of 11–13 and again at 26–27. He also spent 7 years boxing from 1992–1999, taking it seriously and competing. He enjoys playing rugby and football from time to time, too, and occasionally represents Poland’s Budowlani team.
Pudzianowski’s father was also a large, powerfully built weightlifter and won the Polish Championships in his youth. Recognizing his son’s potential and size at a young age, he gradually began guiding him and advising him on strength training. They still enjoy that close relationship, and Mariusz still considers his father his coach.
Unlike most strongmen, Mariusz tries to stay lean and maintain a low body fat percentage, which gives him speed and endurance.
Mariusz is a favorite in every strongman competition he enters. He rarely loses!
Like Arnold Schwarzenegger, Pudzianowski has said that he intends to pursue acting after his strongman career. He has appeared in six Polish films.
Measurements:
* Height – 186 cm (6′ 1”)
* Weight – 130 kg (287 lb)
* BMI – 38.4
* Chest – 145 cm (57 in)
* Neck – 54 cm (21 in)
* Waist – 94 cm (37 in)
* Thigh – 80 cm (31 in)
* Arms – 56 cm (22 in)
* Forearm – 45 cm (18 in)
* Shoe size 45
Personal records:
* Press – 606.3 pounds (275 kg)
* Squat – 793.7 pounds (360 kg)
* Deadlift – 903.9 pounds (410 kg)
Music career
In 2005, Mariusz formed a group called Pudzian Band, in which he sings. Pudzian Band went on its first tour and released an album in 2006. The band’s other members are Krystian Pudzianowski (Mariusz’s brother), Anna Brzozowska and Ross Tweedy.
Training
Mariusz trains twice a day, five days a week. Here is a brief look at a couple of days in his routine. This is how he trained in 2004–2005, at least.
Do not try to follow this program yourself: it is extremely demanding, even for Mariusz’s close friend, who is also a Polish strongman.
The Python’s training:
Monday morning workout at 9.00:
Barbell back squats: warm-up: 8 sets, pyramiding up from 60 kg to 160 kg. Working sets: pyramiding up, 160 280 kg, in the 2–6 rep range.
Lying leg curls: 6 x 20.
Seated leg extensions: 2 x 20
Behind-the-neck pull-ups: 6 x 15
Chest-to-bar pull-ups: 6 x 10
Seated behind-the-neck lat pulldowns: 4 x 15
Bent-over barbell rows: 4 x 15
Abs: various exercises, 6 x 30 (sit-ups, leg raises)
Barbell Rows: 4 sets of 15 reps
Monday evening workout at 19.00, strongman-specific training:
Sandbag carry on the back (130 kg) 3 x 170 m
Yoke walk (290 kg) 3 x 2.5 turns
Tire flips 3 x 10 flips
Tuesday morning workout at 9.00:
Front squat, pyramiding up to 250 kg.
Various calf raises: 6 x 15
Standing barbell press: warm-up: 7 sets, 60 100 kg; working sets: 6 sets, building up to 140 kg for 4–5 reps.
Deadlift: warm-up: 6 sets, building up to 200 kg; working sets: pyramiding up to 300 kg.
Good mornings: 8 sets with 100 kg.
Tuesday evening workout at 19.00:
Bushman’s walk: 300 kg, 3 x 15 meters
Presses on a special machine used in competition: 3 x 10 120 kg
Parallel Crucifix (translator’s note: I cannot find a precise description): holding 40 kg weights for 30 seconds.
Wednesday morning workout at 9.00:
Bench press: warm-up sets: pyramiding up to 150 kg; working sets: 150 220 kg for sets of 2–8 reps.
Barbell triceps extensions: working up to 80 kg.
Wednesday evening workout at 19.00:
The same as Monday + lifting weights up steps.
This is just a glimpse of Mariusz’s training program. Before every workout, he jumps rope for 15 minutes, probably a habit left over from his serious boxing days. He usually trains his abs after every workout, too. Twice a week, he has a demanding karate session, and he also swims for active recovery. Mariusz also enjoys the occasional long-distance run.
A short interview with Mariusz Pudzianowski, published in “Zycie Warszawy” (Warsaw Life) in 2005. The original article was, of course, in Polish, and I will try to translate it for you as best I can. The article dates back to 2005, but since little is written about Pudzianowski and interviews with him are hard to find in the press, I think it is still a worthwhile read.
You were unbeatable again at Mokotowskie (Polish Strongman) on Saturday. Doesn’t winning all the time get boring? Are your opponents really that much weaker?
Boring? People really are hard to please! I win because I take what I do seriously. I prepared for this season and don’t intend to miss a single competition. Besides, winning here in Poland is far from easy. We have some of the toughest competitions in the world, plenty of serious, very strong competitors and lots of fans who support the sport. Just because I keep winning doesn’t mean my opponents are weak.
Are you planning to compete in World’s Strongest again this year?
Of course! I’ll do everything I can to win. The international community generally doesn’t like me. They tend to do everything they can to keep a Pole off the top of the podium. Strange things kept happening at last year’s competition. For example, I pulled a car with its handbrake on. I only finished third. I think all of this “happened” because otherwise I would have won for the third time in a row. A lot of people wouldn’t have liked that.
What about steroids?
Strongman is a professional sport. Naturally, there’s a lot that goes on behind the scenes here too, and of course I’m very familiar with it, but I’m certainly not going to go into detail in the press. I was tested for steroids and they found nothing. If success in strongman depended on that alone, the list of winners would be much longer. I’m constantly lifting tons of iron, and I also run, stretch, practise karate and occasionally play football.
How much do you need to eat to look like you? Bodybuilders follow a precise diet, with every calorie accounted for. How about you?
I eat as much as I need. If you want to compare me with bodybuilders, multiply the amount they eat by two. But I don’t like being compared with bodybuilders or having any parallels drawn between me and bodybuilding. In my opinion, bodybuilders are like women. What kind of man takes his clothes off and poses in tight trunks in front of a mirror?
Many fans would surely like to know why you didn’t compete in the Arnold Classic, which is considered a very prestigious event?
That event is only famous because Arnold Schwarzenegger was a famous bodybuilder and is a bodybuilding legend. But World’s Strongest Man (World’s Strongest Man) was and still is the most serious and toughest competition. Look at the Classic’s regular competitors. Zyndrunas Savickas has won the Classic three times, yet over the past four years, I’ve won seventeen of the 20 competitions we’ve both entered.
Most of this information comes from 2004 and 2005, and quite a few things have probably changed. Even so, I think it’s interesting to get an insight into Pudzianowski’s activities, training, philosophy of life and so on. All the more so because interviews with him and articles about him are almost impossible to find in English—there are only a handful, and they’re very short. I wouldn’t take what he said about bodybuilders too seriously. The man just said something; who knows what prompted it. I say that because you can find Pudzianowski himself posing in his underpants online!!! The training section really is brutal—you can read it and judge for yourself. As for steroids, the testing and the athletes getting caught do seem ridiculous. It’s obvious that most of the men in this sport are using them, so what’s all this talk about testing? It makes you wonder whether someone simply wanted to get one over on someone else??? I’ve also read that he’s 186 cm tall, while Wikipedia puts him at 180 cm. Go figure. His body weight has definitely increased, there’s no doubt about that, and so have the weights he uses in training. He seems like one seriously tough and versatile guy!!! Respect, in any case!!!
Compiled by: Janar Rückenberg
Come and train! ArtGym
