It’s the beginning of February already and that means we’re just over a month out from our next competition, Spring Into Strongman! Which is our Novice only competition. As we start getting more and more excited for this one I want to take a minute and tell you why this is an important competition for us.
Since my first competitions in 2008 and 2009, I have gone from one of the youngest athletes on the field to knocking on the door of Master status. I don’t bemoan the greying of my hair and wrinkles forming around my eyes, but rather I proudly wear them as hard earned stripes that experience has given my over the years of competing combined with the joys and sorrows that life outside the gym bring. With this experience comes my love of the sport and desire to see it continue to grow with good people. One of the ways we encourage this growth at Ironclad Performance is through promoting competitions. Some of our favorite competitions are our Novice only competitions, and continue to encourage athletes with even a slight interest to jump in and give it a go. We love this one because it gives us a chance to introduce people to an awesome sport in a way that celebrates my first experiences in the sport where everyone competing rallied together for everyone to have a great day, athletes competing against each other gladly offered anything they might have to help a fellow athlete. Against this backdrop of athlete support, we love being able to provide an experience where athletes can put it all on the field and discover a strength they didn’t even know they have! This is what makes a great competition to us, everyone competing at their best and helping each other out. There aren’t many sports I know of where one can walk away from a weekend of competing with lifelong friendships. A lot of times a competing can be intimidating, especially when it’s a bigger one competition, the hustle and bustle alone can be overwhelming for an athlete dipping their toe into the deep end for the first time. So with our novice competitions we try to set the field perfectly for someone coming into the sport to have their most successful day. We go back to classic events that look familiar to everyone with weights that challenge one just enough to overcome some fear.
Our goal with Novice events is to give such a fantastic first experience to our athletes that they are compelled to dive deeper into the sport. We take the time between events and pace it in such a way that athletes are challenged without being overwhelmed and can perform to the best of their abilities. When I look back at my own start in the sport it was the community of people freely giving away all the help they could that cemented my love of the sport. I’ve never experienced such an outpouring of help in any other sport as I have in Strongman. We strive to provide that experience for our novices especially. The ethos of the sport to me has always been “I want to beat you when you are at your best” so the old guard was always quick to offer tips or even their own equipment for someone who needed it. This is the experience we try to recreate with our own competitions and what we really prioritize with our Novice only competitions. So if you’re interested in learning what the sport is about come out and join us as a spectator or athlete celebrating strength in all forms!
Follow the link here to sign up for an awesome experience! https://ironpodium.com/browse/event/spring-into-strongman-novice-only-event
