By Sydney Kornegay Photo by Sydney Kornegay

Tom Kauffman works out with the Atlas Stone.

In 2004, Tom Kauffman watched a Strongman Competition on ESPN and saw something he liked. A year later, he won one.

Last weekend, Kauffman, an athletic trainer at AC Flora, placed first in the 200–lb weight class in the National Strongman Competition in Louisville, KY. He competed against 22 other athletes in five events including the harness pull, car deadlift, log lift, farmer’s carry, and atlas stones.

These events test the athlete’s physical and mental endurance. The competition, which lasted eight hours, included everything from pulling a full armor–plated Hummer (the harness pull), to lifting the back end of a car (car deadlift), to loading 240–360 pound stones onto a platform.

“It can be pretty tiring,” said Kauffman. “You have to fuel up the day before with as much nutrition as possible and try to get physically and mentally prepared.”

Kauffman said that after watching the sport on ESPN, he met with someone who had the training equipment necessary to prepare for strongman competitions. He started training, and, within less than a year, he won four regional competitions before qualifying for Nationals.

Kauffman prepared for the competition by weightlifting during the week and training for the specific events on Saturdays.

“One of the hardest parts of competing is the uncertainty,” said Kauffman. “You can train with certain weights, but you never know what the conditions will be like at the competition.”

Kauffman said because he lacks height, his weakest event was the Atlas Stones. His strongest event, however, is the log press, in which Kauffman did 11 reps with a 12–inch thick log.

Kauffman also encourages high schoolers to get involved with the sport. AC Flora, which hosted the SC High School Strongman Championship in April, plans to hold the championship again this spring.