by Randall J. Strossen, Ph.D. | ©2010 IronMind
It had the impact of a bombshell in the strongman world yesterday when it IronMind reported that Arild “The Emperor of Stones” would be competing in Giants Live–Poland in a bid to gain an invitation to World’s Strongest Man 2010.
Arild Haugen is ramping up his heavy training in a bid to compete at this year’s World’s Strongest Man contest and by all early indications, his re-entry into the strongman world should be accompanied by a fair warning to the other competitors: Look who’s coming to get you! IronMind® | Photo courtesy of Arild Haugen.
“Yes sir, it’s true that I really want to go to WSM this year,” Arild Haugen confirmed for IronMind. “And therefore I will have to qualify through the Giants Live competition in Poland.
“I did a competition in beginning of June in London. I had train only for 3 - 4 weeks and did a couple of good lift and enjoyed the competition and the meetings with all the other strongmen. But after being away from the strongman events and the heavy weights I felt that I still had some power left, and after doing 12 reps in deadlift with 310 kg I started thinking about how good I could be if I trained some months more.
“So right now I am increasing the weights every week but still I haven`t started the heaviest part. The competition in Poland is heavy and not my favorite events, so it has made me train on my weaknesses

“A friend of me told me once, ‘If your good at something, you should stick with it.’ And I guess I`m a better strongman then a boxer. But I am also an idealist. I`m on my way, but I don`t know where I am going. The worlds is a competition that fits me well.
“My current stats are: 150 kg with better endurance then ever. I feel like I am weighing 125 kg and I am doing a lot of cardio and events training. I will try to get better on my weakness and keep my best events like they were

“If I get invitations for the worlds, The Viking [Svend Karlsen] will train me until eat chains and s*** chains he told me

