Martins Licis, the 2019 World’s Strongest Man, doesn’t always use conventional training methods. As a strongman, that’s part of the job description.
For a recent YouTube video, Licis went to Houston, Texas, where he set out to make a splash at the Monster Jam rally event. His goal: pull one of the most iconic vehicles in the world, the monster truck Grave Digger, which weighs in at about 12,000 pounds.
This isn’t Licis’ first time pulling monster trucks.
“Last time I got to pull monster trucks was at World’s Strongest Man 2019 when I pulled two of them. That was brutal,” he says in the video. “I hope this won’t be as difficult.”
Part of the challenge is exactly where the event takes place. Licis talks about how the landscape, and how the truck is oriented, can make the pulling experience incredibly difficult.
“If it’s even 1 or 2 degrees uphill, that can be impossible very quickly,” says Licis. “And in addition, if the tires are filled up, that can help me. But if they’re on the flatter side that will work against me.”
Licis notes that because this particular pull will also be done in dirt, it adds another degree of difficulty. (He’s never pulled a monster truck in dirt before.) For some extra help, he’s planning to wear baseball cleats to get some extra traction.
Licis takes on the stunt to promote the Monster Jam event—so there’s something at stake. Every 10 feet he pulls results in a radio promotion for listeners and viewers.
He starts to pull, grinding his feet in the dirt and pulling on the rope. He pulls it the entire 40 feet, and afterwards remarks it “was brutal”.
“Holy crap, dirt sucks. You can’t get momentum, it feels like every step it’s going to completely stop in its tracks,” says Licis.
He finishes the video by comparing his last monster truck pull.
“For World’s 2019 I pulled two monster trucks, it was on asphalt. That was doable, I did good. I gotta say this thing kicked my ass today. I don’t know if I’m just out of it or if the dirt really makes it that difficult. Cuz it just felt like I could not get momentum on it,” he says. “I am humbled.”
“Maybe it’s just the Grave Digger,” he says. “The Grave Digger is not meant to be pulled.”
Licis also posted about it on his Instagram, where he showed off an impressive single leg pistol squat on the monster truck’s wheel.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CLNDvD1gppZ/
A post shared by Martins Licis (@martinslicis)
“They didn’t let me drive The Grave Digger at @monsterjam in the @nrggram stadium. So I did the next best thing, and challenged my fear of heights by doing a pistol on this beast!” he captioned the post.
Source: Read Full Article