Athletics… or strength sports? Part II
Well, friends, that excellent, informative overview in the previous article was really just an introduction, or a warm-up, to the subject that truly interests me. For a long time, I’ve felt an urge to show people what actually goes on “behind the scenes” in elite athletics. Once again, my inspiration for exploring this subject comes from discus throwing and the exploits of our own Olympic champion, Gerd Kanter.
The hidden strength sports behind discus throwing
What I mean is that many people probably have no idea just how important gym work and weight training are in athletics. That is especially true at the elite level. I’ll freely admit that, despite being involved in sport myself, even 3 years ago I didn’t know what sort of weights discus and javelin throwers lifted.
As we’ve just read in the previous article, exactly the same applies to sprinters and jumpers. But it’s the strength of throwing athletes that particularly amazes me. If even I, as someone involved in sport, had no idea how much Gerd Kanter needs to squat, press or clean to succeed at world level, what could the average person be expected to know?
I suspect most people haven’t the faintest idea. They imagine these are simply tall, strong, burly men who eat hearty servings of porridge, and that’s what makes the discus fly. In reality, judging by the training these men do, the throwing events—at least the shot put, discus throw and hammer throw—could all be classed as strength sports.
Gerd Kanter’s incredible strength
I don’t think I’m exaggerating when I say that discus thrower Gerd Kanter is stronger in the basic lifts than most Estonian powerlifters. Let me quickly add: EASY NOW. This isn’t intended as an insult or a criticism, but Gerd’s lifting numbers really do give me that impression.
Yes, I’m well aware that relative strength—how much you can lift in relation to your body weight—also matters. I’m also well aware that discus throwers bench press explosively, bouncing the barbell off their chest, that their squats aren’t always to full depth, and so on. Even so, as a strength athlete myself, I can’t ignore the weights discus throwers lift.
On the subject of bench pressing, discus throwers do indeed press quickly and explosively, using that so-called bounce, but those numbers are still very high for ATHLETICS COMPETITORS. Or take the squat. Even if you can “explain away” the bench press because of the bounce and so on, their squats are still very respectable.
I wonder how many powerlifters or bodybuilders we have who can squat 250 kg for a set of three without a squat suit. All right, let’s suppose Gerd might have been wearing knee wraps under his tracksuit bottoms in the video of him squatting. Even then, how many can do a set of three with just knee wraps? And before anyone brings it up, let’s not start debating squat depth. For a man that tall, with that much weight… those squats are more than exemplary. And this is an athletics competitor…
Or take the barbell clean, 3 x 165 kg:
Simply astonishing! And if the back squat isn’t enough for you, Gerd also has a 241 kg front squat to offer. I’d venture that perhaps only Andrus Murumets, for example, could manage a front squat with that much weight—and even then, only when he’s in good shape.
Robert Harting snatches 130 kg:
Athletics vs strength sports—where do you draw the line?
In any case, I find discus throwers’ training and what goes on behind the scenes fascinating, and I believe it’s a completely unexplored, unfamiliar world for most people. I would even compare this athletics event to bodybuilding. Strength training plays a crucial role in an athlete’s preparation for both bodybuilding and discus throwing. Yet what they do in competition is entirely different from what they do to prepare.
In bodybuilding, you display your muscles on stage; in discus throwing, you send a discus flying. In either sport, neither the audience nor the judges really “give a damn” how much weight you lift in the gym. What matters is a muscular, well-proportioned physique with a low body fat percentage, or, in discus throwing, how far the discus travels.
If bodybuilding is a strength sport, then, judging by their training methods, all the throwing events could easily qualify too. The only real difference between strength sports and athletics is weight classes. I’m not talking about jumps and running events, but weight classes in throwing events are hardly a far-fetched idea. As things stand, everyone effectively competes in a single open category. It’s simply clear that a man who is 175 cm tall with an arm span of 182 cm has no chance in discus throwing. Relative strength would still matter; there would simply be even more emphasis on who could increase their strength without increasing their body weight.
Strength figures for the world’s throwers
Unofficial strength figures for throwers, gathered from forums:
Randy Barnes (shot putter) – performed incline bench press sets with 200 kg; squat 3 x 272.5 kg
Jason Tunks (discus thrower) – clean – 200 kg
Joachim Olsen (shot putter) – squat x 250 kg
Robert Fazekas (discus thrower) – clean 210 kg; snatch 185 kg
Jarred Rome (discus thrower) – squat 317.5 kg, push press 215 kg, bench press 247. kg; clean 185 kg; snatch 140 kg
Ian Waltz (discus thrower) – push press 190 kg; clean 195 kg; bench press 245 kg; squat 355 kg; snatch 130 kg
Seppo Räty (javelin thrower) – front squat 215 kg; barbell pullover from the floor 145 kg, clean 180 kg; clean and jerk 170 kg (from the floor to overhead); snatch 140 kg; bench press 180 kg; squat 280 kg; deadlift 20 kg
Al Feuerbach (discus thrower) – snatch 155 kg and clean and jerk 190 kg
Ramona Pagel (female shot putter) – bench press 185 kg; incline bench press 155 kg; squat 250 kg – x; clean 135 kg; push press 185 kg
Astrid Kumbernuss (female shot putter) – snatch 120 kg
Christian Cantwell (shot putter) – clean 180 kg – 5 x, personal best 1 x 220 kg; snatch 170 kg; bench press 275 kg; incline bench press 220 kg
John Godina (shot putter) – squat 360 kg; bench press 290 kg (lowering the barbell over his throat); bench press in official competition 210 kg, squat in competition 347.5 kg
Werner Gunthor (shot putter) – clean 200 kg; squat 300 kg – 3 x; bench press 240 kg – 5 x; push press 240 kg – 3 x; clean and jerk for 5 consecutive reps with 170 kg
Dallas Long (shot putter) – standing dumbbell press 70 kg – 5 x; parallel bar dips…performed sets with 90 kg of added weight; close-grip bench press 227.5 kg
Al Oerter (discus thrower) – squat 237.5 kg; deadlift 317.5 kg
Udo Beyer (shot putter) – two days before setting his world record, he performed half squats with 450 kg for 4 x 6, four sets of six. He also performed behind-the-neck push presses with 300 kg for 10 sets of one.
Ilona Slupianke (female shot putter) – 330 kg – 3 x, to parallel; bench press 200 kg
Ulf Timmerman (shot putter) – height 193 cm, body weight 119 kg. Bench press 250 kg, squat 365 kg, clean 220 kg, standing long jump 3.40, vertical jump 92 cm
Colin Jackson (sprint hurdler) – snatch 97.5 kg; bench press 140 kg; clean 145 kg; squat to a bench 240 kg
Of course, I realize that not all these results are officially documented. Most of the figures come from unofficial reports on various forums, the way the lifts were performed may be open to question, many of the results date back to the heyday of doping, and so on and so on. Still, even if you took a third of the weight off every lift by every athlete listed here, the figures would remain very high and impressive.
In any case, knowing this will undoubtedly make the ongoing World Athletics Championships more exciting for all of us to follow.
Let’s keep our fingers crossed for Gerd and the other athletes on our national team!
Author: Janar Rückenberg
Come and train! ArtGym
