Welcome to Forum 360, I’m Mark Wellfley.

Thank you for joining us for our global outlook with a local view.

“How did he do that?” That was my reaction several years ago when I watched a muscular guy in a harness on TV pull an airplane down a runway.

Later, I learned that I was watching what is known as the World's Strongest Man competition, a similar national competition, the Strong Man Corporation, holds its own annual national championships, the Arnold Strongman Classic each year in March in Columbus, Ohio.

One combatant who will be participating in Columbus in the 40 year old plus 176 pound division is from northeast Ohio and his name is Justin Hite.

And today we'll talk with Justin about how he has lifted himself onto the world's Strongman stage.

So welcome, Justin.

- Thank you.

- Yeah.

So how, when you were, you know, five years old, did you dream of becoming a strongman or how did you, how did you evolve to become a competitor in Strongman?

- Yeah, I was never athletic when I was a kid, I didn't find sports and fitness until I was an adult.

And, I was primarily a runner and then I was lifting weights to supplement running.

And I watched a documentary, it came out in 2016 called Born Strong, which is about the— I think that, well, the documentary came out in 2017.

It's about the 2016 Pro Arnold Strongman competition, and it flooded all of these memories of watching World's Strongest Man when I was a kid.

And a lot of people think it's sort of a novelty when it's on ESPN.

So you watch a documentary like that and, you know, I saw, wow, this is a real sport that people you can do, and presumably anybody could figure out how to get involved, so.

Did a little bit of internet research and refocused my training in the gym, really on getting stronger.

A little more internet research and found how to find local competitions.

And I think after about, I think I trained for maybe 18 months.

And then I found a competition that I thought I could do, and I signed up and, you know, that was in 2018.

So then I've just been doing it since 2018.

- We should, at this point, make a distinction, or you can help me, please.

Between bodybuilding and Strongman.

- Yeah.

Just a couple of definitions of each so that we're clear that we're in the Strongman category sort of bodybuilding.

- Yeah, especially when you start talking about Arnold.

So, bodybuilding is a physique competition.

It's about having the the biggest, most well defined, symmetrical muscles.

And Strongman is about, it's basically circus sideshow weightlifting.

And at a competition level.

So it's pulling cars, it's lifting big oversize dumbbells.

It's really not physique focused at all, but most of the people are, you know, we, we feed for performance, not to try to look good.

Thank you, that's important to me to know that.

Do you remember the moment you stepped out on the stage for the very first time after the 18 months of training?

Were you nervous?

Were you happy?

Were you excited?

Were you uncertain?

Were you sizing up the competition?

What was going through your head?

- I was so just excited to be there, and I was terrified.

I am extremely introverted.

I get really bad stage fright, and it was a pretty big competition.

It was a pretty well attended competition, so.

There was a giant crowd.

And the first lift was a long press.

So it's this 12 inch metal rod that you roll up your chest and then press overhead.

And I didn’t have access to one up until a few weeks before the competition, so I was really unsure about how well I was going to do on that.

And, I got the first lift, I got the first lift, and they added more weight, and I was supposed to do it again, and I failed the second one.

But, Strongman is such a supportive crowd.

Everybody's cheering, your competitors are cheering for you.

So it's, as hard as it is to be out there and do what you're trying to do, it's also such a safe and supportive environment to fail.

And everybody fails at some point, everybody has to have this moment where they say like, that's too heavy and they have to, you know, sort of, sort of take themselves out and you have to do it in front of a big crowd of people, and it's a really, it's a surprisingly safe environment to be able to do that, so.

- Yeah, that’s really interesting.

And the running, a lot of times we say amongst ourselves, you know, you're really not running against others you're really running against yourself.

- Yeah, exactly.

- And I think that is a description of perhaps your profession.

When I was looking through the internet, at the competitors who will be participating in March of next year, I noticed there were a couple people from Ohio.

Is Ohio like a hotbed or how is the size of Ohio in so far as, like, would you Strongman come from this area?

Or are they from like Iowa or they eat corn?

- Ohio has a really deep history for powerlifting.

So, there's in Columbus, there's the West Side Barbell gym, which is really famous powerlifting gym.

In the Cleveland area, we had Blacks Health Club, which was, not quite as well known outside of powerlifting as West Side is, but it's a name.

And people came from all around the United States to come to Ohio to train up these gyms to be strong.

Strongman itself, I don't think really has any... it doesn't, it's, there's not a hotbed for Strongman anywhere in the United States, but it's really big in Europe.

And it's speckled across the United States.

But we've got a good history in strength sports, and I actually have no idea why Arnold Schwarzenegger hosts in Columbus.

He has an MBA from Madison I think, Wisconsin University in Madison, Wisconsin.

But he likes the Midwest for some reason.

So he picked Columbus for some reason and now everybody comes to Columbus once a year.

- Yeah, and most people associate him with his the physique part, the bodybuilding versus the Strongman.

So when I'm doing research on this story, I'm thinking, I'm also kind of (unintelligible) Off the air before we started talking I wanted to make sure I had my, you know, t’s crossed and my i’s dotted on it exactly the difference between the two.

- He is an advocate for strength sports for all of the strength sports.

So actually, there are dozens and dozens of sports that are represented at the Arnold Strength Festival.

Powerlifting, bodybuilding, Strongman, gymnastics, CrossFit, all kinds of stuff.

So he's just an advocate for strength sports.

But the professional Strongman and the Arnold bodybuilding competitions are definitely the two big main stage centerpieces.

The amateur Strongman, as you know, we're very proud to be there too.

The main stage is here and the amateur stage is right outside.

And so we're competing right next door to the pros, and it's, it's an exciting, it's a really exciting environment to be in, so.

- As far as training is concerned, is there a difference in how you would train to become a Strongman versus a bodybuilder?

- Yes.

Yeah so, Strongman is first, we're really events focused.

So for when I'm getting ready for a competition, I’m focusing— We have maybe 100 different events that can be chosen from to go into a competition.

They pick 5 or 6 or 8, depending on the competition.

And so we start honing in and training for those events.

And then the, it's a combination of either the most weight that you can lift or the number of reps that you can do, or how fast you can get something done.

So there's a lot of max strength training, agility training, cardio conditioning or bodybuilders are really focussed on, generally slightly lower weights and more repetitions because that just builds muscle.

But they don't need to focus as much on the athleticism or on, it takes nervous system adaptations to be able to, to engage as many muscle fibers as possible to do a max effort, single lift.

So we're training our nervous system more than most bodybuilders would.

Just over, just the nature of the training is slightly different, but yeah.

- So as far as body contour or maybe even height, is it more advantageous to have a taller frame?

And we’re talking about Strongman.

- Yeah.

- Or a shorter frame because you lift car frames, right?

It's more of 100, right?

And I would think if you're shorter strong, you don't have to lift it as high, but if.

- Right.

- But then I'm sure there's a disadvantage in another event, so.

So does it all come out in the wash or is it better to have one physique versus another?

- In general it is better to be taller.

Most of the events do favor taller people.

There are things like the deadlift in particular, which is the event that I'm the best at, and it does favor being a little bit shorter, but, it's an uphill battle for me, being, I'm five foot six, so.

- Sure.

I watch the, those big stones that are put on top of the pedestals, you know?

And it's the same pedestal height for all competitors, - It’s the same pedestal for everybody, yeah so.

Yeah, there are some people who maybe have to lift it up to the middle of their chest and they can get over.

I have to lift it to my shoulder or up like this and try and bend my back to get it.

I wear boots so that I'm a half inch taller, and I try to take every advantage I can.

- I have to ask this question because it comes up every time, and at least in my own mind, about steroids.

- Yeah.

- Maybe you could speak to the World's Strongest Man competition and also the Strongman Corporation your federation, if you will.

Do you test?

Do you not test?

Are they strict?

I mean, just watching these guys back in the day, and I’m thinking, really?

- Right, right.

- Really?

- Yeah.

- So there are, in the United States, there are three main federations.

United States Strongman, Strongman Corporation, and then, Natural Strongman, which is up and coming sort of newer.

So U.S.

Strongman and Strongman Corporation do not test for performance enhancing drugs.

The Natural Strongman does.

It uses the same testing protocol that they use in the Olympics.

Performance enhancing drugs are, by and large, illegal federally in the United States.

It's a, you can get them by prescription, but.

So, but, in strength sports, there is always a good chance that people are that, a portion of the competitors are on performance enhancing drugs, but because it's not tested in the sport, they're not breaking any rules and at least in the United States, the culture around it is that most people really don't care that much.

I've competed in all three federations.

I don't take performance enhancing drugs.

I know people who do and it's just really not that big of a deal.

So.

Yeah.

And, you know, we've got options now.

So if you are an athlete and it is a big deal to you, there is the Natural Strongman and the idea of somebody going there and cheating is pretty low because there's lots of other options where it's not even a question that gets asked, so.

- Thank you for that.

I appreciate that.

If you're just joining us, thank you very much for listening and for watching.

My name is Mark Wefley, this is Forum 360, and I am here with Justin Hite, who is a Strongman and will be competing in the Strongman competition in March of next year.

And we just finished talking about steroids, and I'd like to move on to diet.

I'm a professor at University of Akron and I had a couple of bodybuilders come through.

And they would carry around small little containers of chicken with them and they were always eating it in the middle of class.

Just tell me the story about your diet.

Is chicken still the staple or?

- Chicken and tuna for me.

Yeah.

Yeah.

So, nutrition is very important for the open class athletes, the guys super heavyweights, the guys that are 3-400 pounds.

Nutrition is a little bit less of a concern for them, but being a weight class athlete, we have to weigh in.

We have to make sure that we weigh a certain amount, so.

We do focus on nutrition and the sport in general is moving towards being more athletic.

You know, if you watched in the 80s or 90s, you saw a lot of big overweight guys, guys that were really muscular, but who also carried a lot of body fat.

Now we have a lot more events, you know, I mean, you talked about pulling a plane, pulling a plane is like running up the steepest hill you ever ran up at full speed cardiovascularly.

You guys have to be cardiovascularly fit.

And so there is more focus on nutrition.

I work with a nutrition coach.

I'm actually a coach myself.

I have a coaching business.

And if my athletes want, you know, I focus on nutrition with them as well, so yeah.

We try to be good, well-rounded athletes and part of that’s eating well.

- Like three meals a day.

A lot of water.

You know, tuna and chicken you mentioned, but, like, steak?

- Oh yes.

So I eat five meals a day.

Yeah I eat five meals a day.

We really focus on getting enough protein and getting enough carbohydrates.

So protein builds muscle.

Carbohydrates keeps us performing well.

So, I try to keep it— I try to keep it clean because though, as a weight class athlete, I have to try and stay like, you know, I can't let my body weight sort of blow up.

So, I eat pretty clean most of the time.

And most athletes that I know do as well.

So yeah, it's broccoli, chicken, whole grains, a lot of rice and yeah, I eat five times a day.

- Does it ever get boring where you say, is it worth it?

- It gets boring all the time and nutrition is something that I struggle with.

Some people can, you know, it's easier for some people, but I like to eat, I like to eat good food, and I eat food that's like a little too rich sometimes.

And so I give myself times in the year when I can take a month and not think about food at all and eat whatever I want and then the rest of the year, particularly when I'm getting ready for a competition, I get more and more strict.

- So you can take your wife out to dinner and go to a restaurant and order something off the menu.

- In the off season, yeah.

- Is it something you pull out of your pocket you have to eat.

- Got it, got it.

So how many hours a week or however you want to quantify it do you spend working out, training, call it what you will.

- So I train four days a week.

And most of my sessions are an hour, maybe a little bit longer.

It's not really crazy it's just very focused.

Some people do a lot more, but, you know, in coaching, you start and call it junk volume.

So sometimes people are working hard to feel like they worked hard, and it’s not really strategic for what they really need to do to perform.

So, I try to focus on being strategic with my time and with my energy and making sure that it's something I can recover from because recovery is what I do in the gym is just as important as how I recover from it and what I'm doing outside of the gym.

- Do you know the five events for March of next year?

- Not yet.

I will find out in hopefully the beginning of December.

So yeah, maybe around the time this airs.

- Right, okay.

And so say, you know, the five events on a given day.

Do you work on just one of those events or do you spend a half an hour on each of them or are there this is another question, like, at any point in time, are you saying, “I really I don't like that event.” And you just gotta leave that log in the corner and just concentrate on the other four.

- Yeah.

- What goes through your head?

- Yeah.

So, I work with a coach and once again, we try to be strategic so if I'm working on legs one day, my legs are going to be tired the next day.

So the next day, I need to work on something that is more focused on upper body and can give my legs a little more time to recover.

So, things get divided up and sprinkled throughout the week in a way that's distributed so that my whole body— So that something can always be recovering while I'm working something else.

And then it's like fitting together a big puzzle, because then we have to figure out the progression.

Like, I don't, start off being able to deadlift however much I have to do it at the competition, it takes me 12 weeks to work up to that.

So we know what day the competition is going to happen.

As soon as we find the events, we work backwards 12 weeks and say, we're going to start here and we're going to build up so that I'm not too tired by the time I get to competitions.

I haven't beat myself up too much, and I can go on with the confidence to be able to know that I can pick up the weight, but without having it just, you know, battered my body for too long.

So.

- Sure.

Can your mentor also be your trainer?

- Oh, absolutely.

- Is it possible that isn't the case, that your trainer and your mentor are different people?

- Yeah.

I mean, and I think it depends on what you need.

You know, like, your, of course, your coach, you know, and when I work in a coaching capacity primarily there to look at the, you know, you look at the competition like a big puzzle or you look at any goal, like a big puzzle.

If you came to me and you want to and you said, I have a strength goal, whether related to competition or not, as a coach, I would help you break it down, and help you map out the steps to get there.

So that's what the coach does.

The coach helps you map it out.

And then if you... My coach is fantastic.

She also provides a lot of emotional and moral support.

We put a lot of stress on ourselves leading up to these competitions so she helps with mindset and with the strategy around lifting and getting your head in the game day of.

Not all coaches are able to to do that and of course, some people, some people, use their, you know, I mean, same with me.

Like, my spouse, my wife is a huge emotional support for me when, you know, I mean, I stress out a lot when I'm getting ready for competitions.

And so, yeah, she's a huge emotional support.

My coach is a huge emotional support and as well as a strategic support, so.

- Yeah, that's great.

So the, you know, the physical side and mental side.

- Yeah.

- And I think the the mentor as a mentor usually helps with the the mental side, right?

And that's really my question.

What percentage of, of your success do you attribute to mental.

- It's hard to put a number on it, but it's big.

I mean, because not only is it the day of the competition and me having to fight my anxieties and my imposter syndrome and my self doubts and my own insecurities, but, there's also all of that through the training to, training is hard.

And it takes a physical toll, it takes a mental toll.

And, you know, like, yeah, it's hard and so the mental component is really big.

And you can be, you can be the strongest person in the world and if you're not in the right headspace on the day of competition, you're never going to pick up the weight.

And so you really have to, like, know yourself and know what you need to do to get in the right mental space when it matters to be able to do it.

- Yeah.

Imagine that.

It's all puzzle.

So I have a question for you.

If you never win a competition, right?

Will you consider your, at the time, the energy in your career and your investment of success?

- 100%.

- Why?

- Yeah, I really do think so.

I really value participation.

You know, as a society, it's funny, we talk... People in the last handful of years have really lashed out against this idea of, like, participation trophies, but it's really hard to participate.

That's the hardest part, is showing up, putting yourself out in front of people.

Anybody can, you know, lots of people can go to the gym and work out and get strong.

But if you don't test yourself in front of other people, not that everybody needs the test, but, you know, it's to me, that's a point of pride and a mark of success and being introverted the way that I am.

You know, for me to put myself out there is a big deal to me.

So I love the idea of showing up.

And I think that, you know, whatever, whatever people love to do, you know, like, put yourself out there because, like, the act of putting yourself out there and doing it and being proud of it and doing it for other people is, you know, there's nothing else like it, so.

- That's a great message.

The Strongman competition is now in its 48th year.

So my assumption is that it's growing, and my question is why?

- I think that people like to see people do cool stuff.

And Strongman is so out of this world, it's so beyond what most people think is possible.

And I especially think that there's a lot of growth right now in the weight class Strongman.

So you see a guy who's, you know, Hafthor Bjornsson is one of the most famous Strongman.

He's six foot nine and weighs, like, 400 pounds.

And you look at him and you say, well, of course he can pull a plane, right?

But you see somebody like me pull a fire truck and I think that there's probably a lot of people out there who if you, if you pointed in the crowd and said, “Who do you think could pull a fire truck?” I don't think a whole lot of people would point to me.

And so people like to see, people like to see people do cool stuff and I think that that's leading to the growth.

And the sport is becoming more professional.

The organizers of the sport are putting a lot more, a lot more focus on sport standardization and things to make, to make it less sort of like... Come hang out in my backyard and we're gonna pick up some rocks and more, you know, oh, everybody all around the world picks up the same rock, you know, there’s a standard here, you know?

And I think that that helps professionalize the sport and helps grow it, so.

- I wish we had more time to talk.

This has been very fascinating Love for what you do and hard work.

Combine these with a mental toughness, and you have the recipe that will enable you to do the unbelievable and have others saying about you, “How did he do that?” I would like to thank my guest, Justin Hite, today for being here and we wish you well in March in Columbus.

And I ask each of you to keep your eyes and ears and minds open until next time on Forum 360.

Forum 360 is brought to you by John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, the Akron Community Foundation, Hudson Community Television, the Rubber City Radio Group, Shaw Jewish Community Center of Akron, Blue Green, Electric Impulse Communications, and Forum 360 supporters.