🏋️ live 2023 world's strongest man coverage!

You give us 750 words, we’ll give you the world. (Well, the world of strength, at least.)

Before we start: Today’s BarBend Newsletter is presented by AIRWAAV. Click here to find out how the AIRWAAV Performance Mouthpiece can boost your training sessions.

The 2023 World’s Strongest Man is underway! Keep up with all the action by checking out our live leaderboard, which we’ll update as the events unfold.

Knee sleeves are common in the gym — but do they actually help you squat more? We don our official BarBend deerstalker hats and investigate.

And we’re putting Lou Ferrigno under the microscope to determine just how strong the bodybuilding icon was in his prime. (Hint: Pretty gosh-darn strong!)

P.S.: Interested in the chance to win $250 and a whole bunch of swag from FITAID? Just fill out this quick survey to enter!

Strongman

Keep Up With the 2023 WSM

Buckle up, folks. It’s that time of the year again when flowers bloom, linen shirts emerge, and the largest men on the planet gather near a beach to lift weights heavier than you can fathom. That’s right — it’s the World’s Strongest Man competition (WSM). The 2023 WSM occurs in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, from April 19th through the 23rd.

Thirty of the world’s top strongman athletes will converge on the Palmetto State for the 45th edition of the competition. BarBend will update this leaderboard throughout the contest with live results and information. We’ll also publish event recaps, daily recaps, and any important breaking news as it happens.

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Training Tips

To Sleeve or Not to Sleeve?

Whether you’re a competitive athlete or a recreational lifter looking for a boost in your squat, you’ve probably seen someone roll up to the squat rack with compression sleeves on their knees. For most, knee sleeves are used as an additional layer of protection for your knee joints. Deep squatting isn’t necessarily bad for your knees, but that doesn’t mean years of hoisting heavy barbells won’t take a toll.

Protection isn’t the only reason that lifters from CrossFit to strongman slide on knee sleeves before competition. Strength training lore has it that knee sleeves can increase your squat max — but can they?

Bodybuilding

The Incredible Lou

Lou Ferringo is one of bodybuilding’s most iconic stars. He was the underdog in Pumping Iron and most famously tore through hundreds of pairs of pants as the Incredible Hulk in the landmark television drama.

He also took part in the inaugural World’s Strongest Man contest in 1977 and was known as one of the most powerful bodybuilders of his generation. But just how strong was Lou? And could he hold a candle to the likes of Ronnie Coleman and Arnold Schwarzenegger? We look back at some of his raw strength numbers — and a few unverified lifts — below:

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Everything Else

Cable Curls for All

• Next time you train your biceps, leave the dumbbells where they are and opt for the tried-and-true cable curls instead.

• Hafthor Björnsson suffered a complete tear of his left pectoral muscle during a recent powerlifting event at his gym in Iceland. Here’s the latest.

• Dana Linn Bailey is one of the most popular bodybuilders of her generation — but she hasn’t competed on stage since 2015. Find out why.