Egos

[Steve Dohoney]

My confidence has been soaring since beginning my SM journey. Not because I am the best SM ever, but because I’ve put my mind to something and I am doing it. I am actually pleasantly surprised that most SM/SWM I have met has been well grounded but I could see how this sport could feed the ego. Are there a lot of huge egos in this sport and I am just not seeing it?

[Mike Landrich]

I'm sure there must be some big egos, but I've never seen them

[Ryan Wells]

egos are good. I like mine with syrup and sometimes with peanut butter and jelly.

Oops...that's EGGOS...sorry.

From my experience, I haven't ran into the stereotypical ego issues. Although, I do see a lot of athletes that think they are right about everything and have all the answers. Not naming any names, just a general observation. A lot of it could just be a conviction in their own training philosophies, which a good thing...as long as they realize that everyone is different and there are multiple roads to the same destination.

[steve-ferreira]

blueberry or chocalate chip!

ooohhh egos, not eggos!

[steve-ferreira]

damn it ryan!

great (or hungry) minds think alike

[jay lyttle]

when your good at what you do, you know you've put the time in training! i call that self confidence! people outside the sport may see it as an ego thing, but in all my days as an armwrestler and highland gamer i have always had an aura of self confidence becuz i know i put the time in to give me a chance to win. all athletes have egos! but i think we know when to control em'. ego will get you there, but self confidence will take you to the top!

[Scott Markowitz]

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[Tom Hutchison]

The immense weights that we try to move keep us humble.

[MarkSikora]

Since we started, 6 or so years ago I guess, we have run into very few guys with ego problems. There are a lot of self confident guys out there, for reasons that others explained.

The thing is, strongman is like MMA in a way, there ain't too many fellas that go undefeated. So.....the guys that we have seen with the "problem" ego's usually get their butt handed to them at some point and learn a valuable lesson.

Ego's I don't mind, but the guys that want to pull the tough guy acts at contests, like their hard stare is going to psych you out, now they crack me up. Especially when they aren't as good as they think.;)


a little ego is probably a good thing, being a jackass isn't.

That said, 98% of the guys/gals we've met have been awesome. I can't tell you how many people have given us great training advice or help on events throughout the years. I don't think there's another sport out there where guys help each other out so much while they are competing with each other.

see ya

Mark "no ego because he can't back it up" Sikora

[Michelle Ludena]

Quite honestly I think any sport can bring "egos"... some are a bit hard to swallow no pun intended lol, but seriously speaking I have so myself seen it

Tis is a reason why I like SWM better than bodybuilding. Although I love to train hard and look shredded for a show, I hate the fact that it is a very vain sport. I remember when I did my first show, I was so excited to the fact that I had actually achieved such a goal. I was friendly with everyone and helping others out. But you could tell who was in it and would cut your throat to beat you in it as well.

I remember doing the show at York, none of the SWM were catty and or acting with the "I did better or placed better" TUDE. We all helped each other and cheered each other on. I have made alot of new SWM and SM friends and they are really down to earth people that I can chat with about training and normal every day life. I would never come out of a comp and rave about how much better I did over the competition.. for the most part going in, I am not concerned about my placing or how much better than anyone else I can do moreso about how I am gonna tackle those implements and each and every time I hit a PR so its me and the implements, that is my only competition.

I do like the confidence that both sports has given me though. especially being a woman, it empowers me to work harder at everything else in my life.

I know I am a bit off the wall at times but I am a pretty down to earth humble gal that knows where she came from

[JustinLallemand]

I think money being light relative to NFL and NBA helps keep egos lower. A lot of guys seem to have also been overlooked for football or something and then excelled later. It depends on how fast you mature physically. I graduated at 17 y.o. and didn't really mature until 22 (or you could argue I still am). On the other hand, some guys are full grown at 16 and get football scholarships.

There are egos (and eggos, lol) but most are mild compared to some top NFL wide receivers or some NBA dudes. It may have something to do with the fact that skill got a lot of those guys (maybe) most of the way, whereas in this sport, you generally have to pay a lot of dues (although there are some guys that start out freaky strong too).

Like some posts before, there's a fine line between cocky and confident. I'd say most top SM on this board are confident and I can't think of any I'd consider cocky (at least consistently :) I know I feel really good about hitting a PR on a DL or OHP, but another reason egos might be kept in check is that the number of people that understand that PR are a lot fewer than the number that know if a NFL guy is good. Most that don't lift heavy probably think 400lbs sounds heavy and anything over is the same. We, however, know the difference and what all went into getting an 800lb DL, for example.

Just my 2 cents....but I noticed what you are saying early on as well. Jesse would answer questions or Terry Holland or Derek Poundstone. There's that respect for amatuers too.