Major Strongman Strategy and Tactics - Episode IV: Pacing and Pace Control

In Strongman, pacing is not simply about moving slower. It is the management of how quickly an athlete spends the resources required to keep producing force, speed and valid repetitions. An event can be lost not because the athlete lacks strength, but because too much capacity was spent in the opening seconds.

Pacing should be treated as a dynamic decision. The athlete starts with a plan, observes the response of the body and modifies the pace according to the implement, time, distance, technique, opponents and competitive objective. Strongman-specific pacing research remains limited, but competition research shows that athletes already use RPE, perceived movement speed and recovery timing to regulate competition preparation.

1. Pacing is rate-of-resource management

In a timed event, the final result is not determined only by maximal strength. It depends on how quickly strength can be converted into repeated work without fatigue causing a major fall in execution quality. Two athletes may have similar maximal strength and still produce very different results because one uses a sustainable rhythm while the other starts too aggressively.

A useful tactical definition is: optimal pace is the highest work rate that can be maintained long enough to maximize the event result without technical degradation and physiological cost reducing the total output.

2. Speed, effort and output are different variables

An athlete can feel extremely fast without producing maximal mechanical output. Conversely, a controlled-looking movement can produce an excellent result when the implement is accelerated efficiently. Good pacing separates the sensation of rushing from the speed that actually produces points.

In practice, monitor three things: implement speed, perceived effort and the amount of time for which valid technique can be maintained. When these variables become disconnected, the strategy should change.

3. The opening seconds are a tactical decision

The start is where adrenaline and competitiveness can push an athlete toward a pace that cannot be sustained. In a farmer's walk, yoke, sled, sandbag carry or medley, the first seconds can look spectacular while still being strategically poor if they cause severe slowing later.

An aggressive start makes sense when the event is short enough, when overtaking or separation is strategically valuable, and when the probability of a late collapse is low. In a longer event, a slightly submaximal opening speed may produce a better total time.

4. Acceleration needs a purpose

Acceleration is useful when the change in pace creates a real gain: leaving the start, approaching a turn, passing an opponent or entering the final section. Permanent acceleration is not a strategy. It is simply additional resource expenditure.

In a medley, an athlete may accelerate through stable and mechanically efficient sections, then return to a controlled pace before the next transition. The objective is to gain time without paying for that gain with a larger loss later.

5. Deceleration is not automatically failure

Sometimes deliberately reducing pace is the fastest route to a better result. If speed increases respiratory cost, compromises grip or changes trunk position, a few seconds of control may save the final repetitions or meters.

Intelligent deceleration is different from collapse. The first is planned and reversible. The second occurs after the athlete has already exceeded sustainable capacity.

6. Inter-repetition pauses are a tool

In max-repetition events, every second between repetitions has a cost and a benefit. A pause that is too short can increase the probability of a missed repetition. A pause that is too long can consume time that could have produced a valid rep.

The strategy must be individualized. Some athletes benefit from a constant rhythm, while others perform better with short clusters followed by micro-rests. These options should be tested in training at competition-relevant loads and standards.

7. Breathing is part of pacing

In dynamic events, respiratory rhythm and mechanical rhythm influence one another. An athlete who tries to maintain a repetition frequency that cannot be supported respiratorily can enter a rapid fatigue spiral. Breathing therefore needs to be integrated into the technical sequence.

For repetition events, breathing can be synchronized with the movement cycle. During carries, it can be linked to steps or stable positions of the implement. These details should be practiced until they become automatic.

8. Grip is a tactical clock

In farmer's walks, frame carries, axle work and many medleys, grip can become the limiter that dictates pace. Moving too aggressively can increase implement oscillation and raise the demand on the forearms and hands. A more stable pace may cover the same distance with a lower probability of grip failure.

Pacing must therefore be linked to the actual limiter. If the legs are fresh but the grip is close to failure, accelerating the legs does not solve the problem. It only spends the limiting resource faster.

9. The posterior chain can dictate pace

Yoke, farmer, sandbag, sled and loading events can simultaneously demand hip extension, trunk stabilization and pelvic control. As posterior-chain fatigue accumulates, technique can change before total strength disappears.

Important signals include shorter steps, greater trunk lean, more implement oscillation and longer resets. These are pacing data, not merely technical problems.

10. Pacing must match the event type

Carries and medleys emphasize control of movement speed. Max-rep press events require control of the interval between repetitions. Loading events require management of the transition between pick, movement and load. Holds require a different strategy in which rhythm is replaced by tension and breathing management.

There is no universal Strongman pace. There is a pace appropriate to the event demands and the athlete profile.

11. Technique is a pacing signal

When technique starts to degrade, do not necessarily wait for failure before reacting. If breathing requires a different posture, steps become unstable or the implement begins to move differently, the body is providing information about the cost of the current pace.

Pacing is therefore also a form of technical feedback. The rhythm that produces the cleanest valid repetitions is often more valuable than the rhythm that produces the greatest sensation of intensity.

12. RPE and perceived speed as tools

Winwood and colleagues studied 132 Strongman athletes and reported that athletes used RPE, perceived movement speed and percentage of 1RM to monitor intensity during competition preparation. These findings are not a direct pacing formula, but they demonstrate that Strongman athletes already use internal and external signals to regulate effort.

In competition, the useful question is not only “how hard does this feel?” but “what does this sensation tell me about the pace I can sustain?”

13. Build the pacing plan before competition

A useful plan can include an opening pace, working pace, adjustment threshold and finishing strategy. For example: controlled opening for the first 10 seconds, steady working rhythm, then acceleration through the final third if technique remains stable.

The plan should not be rigid. It should work as a map. If the actual implement is heavier or less stable than expected, the athlete changes the route without abandoning the objective.

14. When you are stronger than the opponent

If mechanical capacity is superior, there is no automatic need to turn every event into a sprint. Sometimes the objective is to secure enough points without spending disproportionate resources for an advantage that already exists.

This extends the strategic principle developed in earlier episodes: the target is not the largest absolute performance, but the performance that maximizes the competitive result.

15. When you are weaker, pacing can become a weapon

An athlete without the highest absolute strength can compensate through efficiency, rhythm and error reduction. If an opponent starts too aggressively and slows dramatically, a steady pace can turn an initial disadvantage into a close or superior result.

That is why the final time matters more than the opening speed.

16. Pacing in medleys and loading events

In a medley, every transition is a decision. The key variable is not only how quickly the first implement moves, but how much time is lost during release, turnaround and pickup of the next object.

A very fast first implement can be strategically useless if it creates a slow transition and a fatigued second event. In loading, approach speed must be matched to pick quality and stable completion. A slightly more controlled approach can sometimes reduce total time.

17. Opponent pressure changes pacing

Seeing an opponent ahead creates the temptation to accelerate immediately. But visual information should become a decision, not panic. The question is how many seconds need to be recovered and what that attempt costs.

If an opponent is two seconds ahead and one second can realistically be recovered without technical collapse, attacking makes sense. If closing the gap requires a pace that almost guarantees a stop or miss, the reaction may cost more than the original deficit.

18. Between-event pacing matters too

A competition is a system, not a collection of independent events. Excellent pacing in one event can be a poor decision if it leaves insufficient resources for the next. Strongman competition research shows that athletes pay close attention to preparation and perceived recovery time between events.

After each event there should be a recovery phase, nutrition, hydration, psychological reset and preparation for the next task. The day's pacing begins immediately after the clock stops.

19. Tactical example

Imagine a 30 m farmer's walk with a 60-second limit. Athlete A has a higher maximal speed, but grip begins to fail after roughly 20 m. Athlete B is slower at the start but maintains a constant speed.

If A starts at 100% and drops the implements at 24 m while B starts at 90% and completes the 30 m without stopping, A's maximal speed has no competitive value. A better strategy for A might be a controlled opening followed by acceleration in the final meters if grip remains stable.

This is a tactical framework, not a universal physiological prescription. The appropriate pace must be calibrated through event-specific training.

20. How to train pacing

Pacing should be trained explicitly. Time events, record splits and compare strategies. For the same load, test an aggressive start against a controlled start. For max reps, compare constant rhythm with clusters and micro-rests. For medleys, record the time of each implement and each transition separately.

Mock competition is especially valuable because it reveals whether the strategy survives accumulated fatigue. A pacing strategy that works in isolation may fail during the fourth event.

21. The competitive pacing sheet

For each event, record the target result, total time, opening pace, acceleration point, warning signals, breathing strategy, reset point and the criterion for abandoning an overly risky attempt.

This turns pacing from a feeling into a decision process. It does not need to be complicated. The important part is knowing what you are trying to achieve and what signal requires a strategy change.

22. The tactical Failure Point of pacing

The Failure Point occurs when the chosen pace creates a greater cost than the benefit it produces. It can be the moment acceleration compromises grip, a pause becomes too long, a rushed repetition becomes a miss, or the first event consumes resources needed later.

The most dangerous pacing Failure Point is not always a missed repetition. It can be a decision that looks correct in the moment but reduces the total competition result.

Conclusion

Pacing is one of the least spectacular forms of competitive intelligence and one of the most important. Strength gives you the capacity to produce a result. Pacing determines how much of that capacity can actually become a result when time, fatigue, technique and standings enter the equation.

A good Strongman knows how to accelerate. A very good Strongman knows when to accelerate. A mature competitor also knows that the fastest route to the finish is sometimes not starting too fast.

Selected references and methodological note

1. Winwood PW, Pritchard HJ, Wilson D, Dudson M, Keogh JWL. The Competition-Day Preparation Strategies of Strongman Athletes. Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research. 2019;33(9):2308-2320. DOI: 10.1519/JSC.0000000000003267.

2. Hindle BR, Lorimer AV, Winwood PW, Keogh JWL. The Biomechanics and Applications of Strongman Exercises: a Systematic Review. Sports Medicine - Open. 2019;5:49.

3. Abbiss CR, Laursen PB. Describing and Understanding Pacing Strategies during Athletic Competition. Sports Medicine. 2008;38(3):239-252.

4. Tucker R, Noakes TD. The physiological regulation of pacing strategy during exercise: a critical review. British Journal of Sports Medicine. 2009;43:e1.

5. Strongman.Training. Using Pacing Strategy to Maximize Reps on Press Events. 2024. Practical coaching material used as an applied example, not as a primary physiological source.