Three local athletes are traveling to Denver for the 2024 United States Strongman Nationals.

Greenfield’s Joe Doyle, Millers Falls’ Russell Johnson and Turners Falls’ Alfonso Neal, who train together at Franklin County's YMCA, qualified for Nationals last summer and are currently in Colorado preparing for Saturday’s competition, which included 575 athletes competing.

“It was a heck of a year preparing for it,” Doyle said.”Going into the first competition, none of us were thinking that Nationals would be a thing. I’m still learning at this point, from lifts to the community, I’m learning just how far you can go with it.”

While Johnson and Neal had competed in strongman events before, last summer's second place finish at a qualifier in Vermont was Doyle’s first time competing in a strongman competition. 

A former football player and wrestler, Doyle, 32, wanted to stay in shape when he came back from the Army, which helped get him into strongman competitions. 

“I’ve always been a smaller guy,” Doyle said. “I was undersized in football and undersized in wrestling. I liked being able to be able to lift something heavy as a smaller guy. After I got back from basic training with the Army I joined the Y to keep in shape. Russell and Alfonso convinced me to go out for the strongman competition last summer so I did and qualified for Nationals.” 

Neal, 36, has been involved with strongman competitions for years. He moved from St. Louis to Turners Falls in 2021, joining Franklin County’s YMCA where he’s continued to train. Johnson is also a veteran of strongman competitions, though this will be his first time at Nationals. 

He qualified for Nationals last year after placing second in a competition in Leominster.

“This is a once in a lifetime experience,” Neal said. “If you told me last year that I would qualify for a national strongman competition I would have said you’re joking. I like lifting things to keep my mind and my body healthy. I grew up watching the strongman shows and what really propelled me to do the competitions was COVID. There was nothing to do and that gave me an opportunity. I changed jobs, moved and that gave me a chance to focus on lifting and strongman.”

On Saturday, athletes begin with the circus dumbbell, where they will have 60 seconds to complete as many clean and press reps as possible. The weight is selected based on weight class of the competitors.

Then comes the yoke walk, where athletes will pick up the yoke — what is essentially a squat rack with weights on it — and carry it 50 feet down. Once the tip of the yoke crosses the line, the athlete will drop the yoke, turn around, pick the yoke up again and carry it 50 feet back. The entire implement must cross the finish line on the way back before time stops. If the athlete does not finish the total run in 60 seconds, a distance will be taken. 

Third is the deadlift, where athletes have 60 seconds to do as many deadlifts as possible. The weight for the deadlift once again will be set based on competitiors’ weight class.

Next is the sandbag to shoulder carry load, where three bags are placed 25 feet from the yoke. Athletes will pick the first bag and bring it to their shoulder and once the bag is shouldered, the athlete will carry the bag down to the yoke and load it over the bar set at 56 inches. Athletes will then return back for the second bag, then the third bag, which they will shoulder and carry down to load over the yoke. 

The final event is stone over bar, where athletes will have 60 seconds to pick and load the stone over the bar, set at 52 inches, for as many reps as possible. 

With such a wide range of events, and with typical strongman equipment not available at most gyms, a different style of training is required.

“It’s one of those things where you kind of have to wing it,” Neal said. “You look at the events and try to find what I can train to develop the strength and technique. When I have the instrument and tools in front of me, I use them. It’s a lot of work with squats, a lot of heavy lifting, hip mobility, core, shoulder strength. I’ve been picking up and putting down 200 pound sand bags as much as possible so doing the stones won’t feel bad.”

Franklin County’s YMCA has ordered new equipment to help the trio, and any others looking to get into strongman, prepare for the big weekend.

“You have to travel a bit to work with some of the implements,” Doyle said. “The Y has been amazing. We’ve gotten some equipment in here that’s really helped us prepare. I’ve been fortunate to work here and have the bosses I have.”

What are the expectations out there? For Doyle, it’ll be trying to score as high as possible, competing in a weight class with nine others. Neal and Johnson are in heavier weight classes that each have 50-plus competitors, with the trio looking to gain valuable experience at the event. 

“I want to keep pushing myself and take this as a big learning experience,” Doyle said. “I want to come out of this respectable and having put in an effort. If they give me a minute, I’ll do everything I can to get as many reps as possible. I want to put an effort in and not walk away with my tail between my legs. I hope to learn a lot and really network with everyone out there.” 

Neal said he’s also looking forward to the networking part of the competition. 

“I’m most looking forward to meeting so many great strength athletes from across the country,” Neal said. “It’s a great opportunity to be part of this experience.” 

Franklin County’s YMCA is getting deeper into strongman events, and will host its own national qualifier in August.

“So far we officially have 33 people signed up,” Doyle said. “It’s awesome seeing the interest. People will have a chance to qualify for nationals in North Carolina which is great.” 

While strongman can be intimidating for some, Neal noted it’s a nice, most supportive community.

“We want to build a positive gym environment,” Neal said. “We want to show people that strong human games are welcoming for anyone. They’re one of the friendliest competitions I’ve ever been in. It’s competitive but at the end of the day, everyone is happy for each other.”