Q&A with World's Strongest Man competitor Travis Ortmayer

[erikhutson]

Thanks for being so useful and contributing to this thread.

Your welcome. Why would you ask a strongman how many pushups he can do? The way you put it off I can see you saying lols i do more then you I must be stronger.


40 yard dash means nothing also unless you want to know his 40 while carrying something.

[dannyautrey]

Your welcome. Why would you ask a strongman how many pushups he can do? The way you put it off I can see you saying lols i do more then you I must be stronger.


40 yard dash means nothing also unless you want to know his 40 while carrying something.

jeez.. it's just a question.. no different than the guys above askin how much he and fellow strongmen could drink. neither question has any bearing on how well they do in competition. it's just somethin he was curious about.

i'm kinda curious about the pullups and 40 times... he's large, but very powerful and explosive, so i bet he is better than most in both

[81Ort]

Inquiring about some stats I don't think have been asked about yet.

How many pushups / pullups / chinups can you do?

Also for the pullups / chinups, how much weight can you do them with?

How high is your vertical jump / box jump?

40 Yard Dash time?

1. Not sure on the pushups. I did 13/12/10 pullups in a workout at 320 lbs.

2. The last time I checked my vertical it was 36". I haven't trained it in a long time but I can still jump over the side of my truck into the bed... about 4'.

3. I did a 40 a few years ago and it was 4.8. I weighed about 250-260 then but I have never trained for a 40 time. I think I could still get down to a 4.7-4.8 at 320 with a little training.

[the_pupil]

3. I did a 40 a few years ago and it was 4.8. I weighed about 250-260 then but I have never trained for a 40 time. I think I could still get down to a 4.7-4.8 at 320 with a little training.

One of these days we need to have a foot race at the unit. See if us fatty's can outrun all the lightweights.

[dannyautrey]

1. Not sure on the pushups. I did 13/12/10 pullups in a workout at 320 lbs.

2. The last time I checked my vertical it was 36". I haven't trained it in a long time but I can still jump over the side of my truck into the bed... about 4'.

3. I did a 40 a few years ago and it was 4.8. I weighed about 250-260 then but I have never trained for a 40 time. I think I could still get down to a 4.7-4.8 at 320 with a little training.

holy jeez, man! I ran a 4.7-4.8 40 in high school........... @ 200lbs.. lol. and that vertical is ridic for a big man..

i had a feeling it'd be like this, though..

[dannyautrey]

One of these days we need to have a foot race at the unit. See if us fatty's can outrun all the lightweights.

this reminds me of a funny story from high school track..

each year we used to pick one of our smaller meets and run a "Fat Man's Relay". Basically, it was just our 4 best throwers running the 4x100 meter relay. Well, we had it all set to go with a team that would actually qualify for regions, state and possibly break the school record at the time. 2 of the guys on the team could run sub 11.5, I ran a sub 12s and the biggest guy on our team ran somethin like a 12.2s 100m. At the last minute, one of the guys bails cuz he had some pain in his hamstring or something..


/hijack

[Cyborg Surfer]

1. Not sure on the pushups. I did 13/12/10 pullups in a workout at 320 lbs.

2. The last time I checked my vertical it was 36". I haven't trained it in a long time but I can still jump over the side of my truck into the bed... about 4'.

3. I did a 40 a few years ago and it was 4.8. I weighed about 250-260 then but I have never trained for a 40 time. I think I could still get down to a 4.7-4.8 at 320 with a little training.

Cool, thanks for answering bro!

[skaffer]

Hey, i've been BB training for a year now, used to be really fat, i'm 205lbs now, 5 foot 11..and I think BB is boring with all the high reps, i love moving heavy weight as of right now I turned 17 a couple months ago my lifts are
305 bench press
375ATG quat
275 front squat
455 deadlift
205 clean and press (tried with no form that was the best I could do)
495 BB shrug
225 shoulder press
What i've noticed while BB training is that my lifts go up way quicker than my size, and i read your routine at the start of this forum with the 70% 4x4, 80% week, 80 and 90% week. Where can I find some REAL info on this, do you have a book you could refer or website, or could you recommend a good way on how to get started?

Also could I train with you lol? just kidding...not really

[erikhutson]

my bad for the douchebaggery, bad day at work.

[holbee]

Here's a two parter:

What was the first piece of strongman apparatus/equipment that you had and how old were you when you got it?

Followed up by...

What's in your collection now?
I've seen some of the Unit training vids and just curious how much stuff you have access to. Seems like EVERYTHING lol.

[81Ort]

Hey, i've been BB training for a year now, used to be really fat, i'm 205lbs now, 5 foot 11..and I think BB is boring with all the high reps, i love moving heavy weight as of right now I turned 17 a couple months ago my lifts are
305 bench press
375ATG quat
275 front squat
455 deadlift
205 clean and press (tried with no form that was the best I could do)
495 BB shrug
225 shoulder press
What i've noticed while BB training is that my lifts go up way quicker than my size, and i read your routine at the start of this forum with the 70% 4x4, 80% week, 80 and 90% week. Where can I find some REAL info on this, do you have a book you could refer or website, or could you recommend a good way on how to get started?

Also could I train with you lol? just kidding...not really

There are 2 reasons you are getting stronger before you get bigger. Your body is still growing (bone lengthening streches the muscles out) and muscles get denser before they get larger. The muscle fibers need to fill the fascia surrounding them before they can stretch this really tough tissue.
I think the routine you are referring to is the Magnusson/ Ortmayer deadlift routine. I have no literature on this. Benedikt Magnusson told me about the routine he (inadvertently) used before he broke the deadlift world record at 971 lbs. (didn't work out the details until way after). I have modified it a little to make it better suited to Strongman. I used this routine before I hit my 870 lb. deadlift, my father used it and went up 70 lbs in 12 weeks to hit a 475 lb deadlift at age 61; that's about as concrete as the eveidence gets on the effectiveness of this routine. I strongly suggest you give it a try if you want to improve your deadlift!

Here's a two parter:

1. What was the first piece of strongman apparatus/equipment that you had and how old were you when you got it?

Followed up by...

2. What's in your collection now?
I've seen some of the Unit training vids and just curious how much stuff you have access to. Seems like EVERYTHING lol.

1. A 700 lb. tire. My friend Marshall White (guy who got me into Strongman) saw one at a construction site on his way home from work one day. He took a guy over there and threw it into the back of his truck and brought it home to his parents' farm. We were 20. I think I flipped it 4 times my first try on it. Then we would spend about 2 hours flipping that thing for sets of 8 and trying to press his keg filled with water as our early event training. At this point I didn't have any inclination to do a contest. I just liked the different style of training.

2. Remember that all this stuff is packed into a 10'x 20' storage unit...
Farmer's Handles- 6 - 2sets-90 lb cylinders, 60 lb. bars, 15 lb. pipes, 60 lb. cylinders w/ 1.7" handles, 242 8" mean as hell pipes
Yokes - 3 -2-380 heavy duty, 140 lbs. shakey whip your ass thing
Kegs- 50, 150, 200, 265, 300, and a couple more...
Ropes-60' 1.5" manila, 150' 1.5" poly
Husafell Stones- 270, 330
Atlas Stones- 150, 225, 250, 265, 308, 330, 400, 460, 520, 600+
Platforms- 7 -6', 5.5, 5, 4.5, 4.5, 4, 4
Tires-3 700, 900, 1400
Conan's Wheel
Logs- 4 - 8"-50, 12"-100, 12"-200 beast, 12"-150 wooden (home made)
Loading pin for power stairs
Pulling Harness
Fingals Finger
Blocks for pressing - 240, 320
Axle- 2 -75 lbs each
Car deadlift apparatus
Car wheel barrow attachment (not sure about this one- shakey and untested...)
Weight for Height
10 - 100's
8 - 45's
6 - 25's
4 - 10's
4 - 5's
4 - 35's

I think this is all... I have other stuff at my house.

[Dominik]

Not sure if these have been posted already. Just stumbled on them.

[greatestathlete]

do you think speed pulls are any good?
do you think they are better for starting lifters?
could someone really make gains on 60-70% for triples, just by conditioning the CNS. then max out every month or so.
thanks brother

[greatestathlete]

sorry man, another question
how important to do consider abs to be in the deadlift, do you do heavy ab work.
thanks

[holbee]

1. A 700 lb. tire. My friend Marshall White (guy who got me into Strongman) saw one at a construction site on his way home from work one day. He took a guy over there and threw it into the back of his truck and brought it home to his parents' farm. We were 20. I think I flipped it 4 times my first try on it. Then we would spend about 2 hours flipping that thing for sets of 8 and trying to press his keg filled with water as our early event training. At this point I didn't have any inclination to do a contest. I just liked the different style of training.

2. Remember that all this stuff is packed into a 10'x 20' storage unit...
Farmer's Handles- 6 - 2sets-90 lb cylinders, 60 lb. bars, 15 lb. pipes, 60 lb. cylinders w/ 1.7" handles, 242 8" mean as hell pipes
Yokes - 3 -2-380 heavy duty, 140 lbs. shakey whip your ass thing
Kegs- 50, 150, 200, 265, 300, and a couple more...
Ropes-60' 1.5" manila, 150' 1.5" poly
Husafell Stones- 270, 330
Atlas Stones- 150, 225, 250, 265, 308, 330, 400, 460, 520, 600+
Platforms- 7 -6', 5.5, 5, 4.5, 4.5, 4, 4
Tires-3 700, 900, 1400
Conan's Wheel
Logs- 4 - 8"-50, 12"-100, 12"-200 beast, 12"-150 wooden (home made)
Loading pin for power stairs
Pulling Harness
Fingals Finger
Blocks for pressing - 240, 320
Axle- 2 -75 lbs each
Car deadlift apparatus
Car wheel barrow attachment (not sure about this one- shakey and untested...)
Weight for Height
10 - 100's
8 - 45's
6 - 25's
4 - 10's
4 - 5's
4 - 35's

I think this is all... I have other stuff at my house.[/QUOTE]

*Whistles appreciatively* Dang. That's awesome!
Thanks for taking the time to type that all out too. I appreciate it.

[ichigeki]

Greeting's from Lawrenceville, Ga Travis. First I just want to congratulate you on all your success. Me and a couple other people from Collins Hill class of '99 were talking about seeing you on WSM on ESPN.

My first question is about diet. I know you've answered how many meals you eat and you favorite cheat food and such. But my question is as a taller guy what foods helped you gain the most weight. Was there a high-calorie dense meal you liked to eat on a regular basis or did you just kind of eat everything in sight to gain your weight.

[Ohio33]

Hey Travis What sort of warmup set routine do you use for deadlift and squat?

[LessThanLuke]

Hey travis. Just wondering why you do so many competitions in a season. Would it not be more beneficial to have a longer off season and target a smaller number of events e.g WSM?

[CWeaver225]

I totally neglected the fact that you probably have tendonitis... Have you done any treatment for this? Ice your arms after all workouts, take some anti inflammatories, and use some type of linament on your arms before training. On off days, or several hours after your post training icing, do some hot/cold therapy. Ice the area for about 10 minutes (until really cold) then heat it for 5 or until it's hot. Then repeat this a few times ending with ice.

First off, congrats on all your accomplishments, and thanks for taking the time to answer questions! It's nice to see someone stay down to earth after all your accomplishments.

My question is centered around the above post. Since I started pushing heavier weights, my elbow (and now knee) joints are really starting to bother me. I've thought about going to my doc for some anti-inflammatories, but I figure thats just a band-aid. I'm assuming your joints probably hurt just as much, if not more then mine. Is that your routine you posted? Any other ideas? I've thought about icing, but I wasn't sure if it would be effective, and I'm lazy. Right now it's pretty much icy hot, Ibuprofin, and glucosamine.

Thanks again and good luck with your training!

[str8flexed]

First off, congrats on all your accomplishments, and thanks for taking the time to answer questions! It's nice to see someone stay down to earth after all your accomplishments.

My question is centered around the above post. Since I started pushing heavier weights, my elbow (and now knee) joints are really starting to bother me. I've thought about going to my doc for some anti-inflammatories, but I figure thats just a band-aid. I'm assuming your joints probably hurt just as much, if not more then mine. Is that your routine you posted? Any other ideas? I've thought about icing, but I wasn't sure if it would be effective, and I'm lazy. Right now it's pretty much icy hot, Ibuprofin, and glucosamine.

Thanks again and good luck with your training!

stop being lazy. ice it

[CWeaver225]

stop being lazy. ice it

yea yea I know, I know. I've added some band therapy into the mix with some success, but I suppose ice is the real answer.

[str8flexed]

not a cure, but will help

[81Ort]

do you think speed pulls are any good?
do you think they are better for starting lifters?
could someone really make gains on 60-70% for triples, just by conditioning the CNS. then max out every month or so.
thanks brother

I think they are beneficial while doing them as part of a routine where you still deadlift somewhat heavy on a regular basis. I wouldn't rely soley on them to bring up your max.

sorry man, another question
how important to do consider abs to be in the deadlift, do you do heavy ab work.
thanks

Very important. Your core muscles have to support your back while it is doing a tremendous amount of work. I think the upper back is important for this reason also. I personally don't do enough core specific work as far as I'm concerned, but I get a lot of indirect work from all the Strongman training I do.

Greeting's from Lawrenceville, Ga Travis. First I just want to congratulate you on all your success. Me and a couple other people from Collins Hill class of '99 were talking about seeing you on WSM on ESPN.

My first question is about diet. I know you've answered how many meals you eat and you favorite cheat food and such. But my question is as a taller guy what foods helped you gain the most weight. Was there a high-calorie dense meal you liked to eat on a regular basis or did you just kind of eat everything in sight to gain your weight.

That's awesome! I still keep in touch with a few people from school even though I moved to Texas right after graduation... and I mean right after. My parents picked me up and we left. No graduation parties or anything.
Eating until I hated it really helped me gain more than any other plan. Some things that helped were weight gainers right after a workout- high carbs and high protein. I even went as far as blending Serious Mass (2000 cals) with ice cream when I started Strongman! You just have to eat a lot all the time, not just here and there.

Hey Travis What sort of warmup set routine do you use for deadlift and squat?

I almost always start with the bar for 10-15 reps. Then I'll go up a plate at a time starting with 10 reps, then 8, then 6, and so on. You have to feel it out when you get to your heavy sets but don't be lazy and just do 1 or 2 reps all the time in your warm-ups. For contests I may not have the luxury of a barbell with all those plates so I have to improvise and almost always I'll end up with only a couple sets of some lift or another. I used a fellow competitor on my shoulders to warm up for a squat once.

Hey travis. Just wondering why you do so many competitions in a season. Would it not be more beneficial to have a longer off season and target a smaller number of events e.g WSM?

Because I LOVE my job!!! I can't help it. This is my passion.

First off, congrats on all your accomplishments, and thanks for taking the time to answer questions! It's nice to see someone stay down to earth after all your accomplishments.

My question is centered around the above post. Since I started pushing heavier weights, my elbow (and now knee) joints are really starting to bother me. I've thought about going to my doc for some anti-inflammatories, but I figure thats just a band-aid. I'm assuming your joints probably hurt just as much, if not more than mine. Is that your routine you posted? Any other ideas? I've thought about icing, but I wasn't sure if it would be effective, and I'm lazy. Right now it's pretty much icy hot, Ibuprofin, and glucosamine.

Thanks again and good luck with your training!

Constant prehab and rehab. Use linaments (something better than icy hot, absorbine, capsacin, etc) while you warm up and ice after as many workouts as you can- DON'T BE LAZY!!! Anti-inflammatories help but you can't use them for long periods of time. Save them for something serious. My bicep is hurting right now so I just spent the last hour rotating heat and ice while watching a movie. Drives my wife crazy because I never sit still.
Also, you need better joint supplements. I like glucosamine, chondroiten, MSM (very important), and bromelain (or pineapple extract).

stop being lazy. ice it

Damn right!!

[CWeaver225]

Constant prehab and rehab. Use linaments (something better than icy hot, absorbine, capsacin, etc) while you warm up and ice after as many workouts as you can- DON'T BE LAZY!!! Anti-inflammatories help but you can't use them for long periods of time. Save them for something serious. My bicep is hurting right now so I just spent the last hour rotating heat and ice while watching a movie. Drives my wife crazy because I never sit still.
Also, you need better joint supplements. I like glucosamine, chondroiten, MSM (very important), and bromelain (or pineapple extract).


Damn right!!

Thank you for the advice. I finally stopped getting lazy and bought some ice packs and an electric heating pad. I've been using them on my elbows and knees and it's like a freaking miracle, it literally erases the pain. Thanks again!

[dannyautrey]

even better than ice packs, imo, is actually rubbing ice on the intended area... in track, we would freeze small paper dixie cups full of water, and when we were done with practice we would rub our shins down with ice.. this helped a LOT with shin splints, knee injuries and ankle injuries.. it takes some gettin used to, since you're actually just rubbing ice all over your skin.. very cold..

[CWeaver225]

even better than ice packs, imo, is actually rubbing ice on the intended area... in track, we would freeze small paper dixie cups full of water, and when we were done with practice we would rub our shins down with ice.. this helped a LOT with shin splints, knee injuries and ankle injuries.. it takes some gettin used to, since you're actually just rubbing ice all over your skin.. very cold..

Not a bad idea either, I'll give it a go. Hey I was looking at your sig, you meet your March 09 goals?

[dannyautrey]

squat and deadlift, i'm not sure.. bench, yes.. met that in february, actually.. haha.. i compete next weekend.. iffy on the squats and deads, but i'll be within 10 lbs of each, ihope

[CWeaver225]

squat and deadlift, i'm not sure.. bench, yes.. met that in february, actually.. haha.. i compete next weekend.. iffy on the squats and deads, but i'll be within 10 lbs of each, ihope

Well good luck...and don't worry about being iffy on them. If your 10 pounds within reach, then you can hit it...confidence is 90% of the battle!

[dannyautrey]

Well good luck...and don't worry about being iffy on them. If your 10 pounds within reach, then you can hit it...confidence is 90% of the battle!

oh, i'm gonna go in there confident as a motha.. lol.. thanks mang..

/threadjack!

[ArmstrongMike]

hey travis congratulations on Orlando i wasn't able to attend but all my friends there said you tore the show up.