Dunsborough Police senior constable Adam Haines-Monaghan qualified to represent WA in the under 80 kilograms division at the Australian Arnold Strongman Championships in Melbourne earlier this month. To secure a place at the event, Mr Haines-Monaghan had to qualify in the top three at the state finals and won. He competed in five events at the Australian championships which included yoke and frame runs, the yoke weighed 290 kilos and the frame weighed 220 kilos. "You carry the yoke for 10 metres, then run with the frame for 10m, turnaround carry the frame back, then carry the yoke again," he said. "A yoke sits on your shoulders and you run with the weight on your back, a frame is just a big frame that you have to carry, it is a test of grip strength." Mr Haines-Monaghan finished sixth out of 14 competitors and moved onto the second event to complete a frame dead-lift which started at 240 kilos, he finished in second place. "I dead-lifted 340 kilos – that was a personal best for me – I was pretty happy with that," he said. The third event was a viking press – a machine with a lever which competitors press – unfortunately the officer did not go too well. "I though I would do better in that event, the way strongman works is if you come first in one of the events then you come last in the next event," he said. "It gives you an advantage so you can see what everybody else does, and I had that advantage after the dead-lift. "I knew the number I had to hit, but unfortunately by that time I was feeling a bit flat so I ended up coming sixth again." The next event in the championships was the power stairs where competitors lift an implement upstairs as fast as they can. There were three weights and five steps in the event, with competitors having to complete 15 repetitions in total carrying 150, 160 and 170 kilo weights. "It is a general rule that the shortest athletes struggle the most, there were a couple of tall guys in my division so I did not have high hopes," he said. "I gave it everything I had and did pretty well, I was third going into the final event which is called stones," he said. "Unfortunately, living in Dunsborough it was the one event I could not train for because I could not afford to get the stones, they are really expensive. "You need a set of them and the transport is a nightmare, the stones were 100 kilos going up to 140 kilos you have to lift them over a 1.3 metre platform. "Training for that event has been difficult, I had to travel to Port Kennedy to be able to use them and I had only been able to get up there twice. "That event did not go as well as I wanted which dropped me back down to fourth place overall out of 14 competitors, it was still pretty good and I was happy, but it was bittersweet. "I just missed out on a world's invitation which goes to the top three, hopefully I can make it next year." The next qualifier is on April 27 at Hillary's Boat Harbour in Perth, Mr Haines-Monaghan hopes to make an Australian record at the event

Dunsborough Police senior constable Adam Haines Monaghan.

Dunsborough Police senior constable Adam Haines-Monaghan qualified to represent WA in the under 80 kilograms division at the Australian Arnold Strongman Championships in Melbourne earlier this month.

To secure a place at the event, Mr Haines-Monaghan had to qualify in the top three at the state finals and won.

He competed in five events at the Australian championships which included yoke and frame runs, the yoke weighed 290 kilos and the frame weighed 220 kilos.

"You carry the yoke for 10 metres, then run with the frame for 10m, turnaround carry the frame back, then carry the yoke again," he said.

"A yoke sits on your shoulders and you run with the weight on your back, a frame is just a big frame that you have to carry, it is a test of grip strength."

Mr Haines-Monaghan finished sixth out of 14 competitors and moved onto the second event to complete a frame dead-lift which started at 240 kilos, he finished in second place.

"I dead-lifted 340 kilos – that was a personal best for me – I was pretty happy with that," he said.

The third event was a viking press – a machine with a lever which competitors press – unfortunately the officer did not go too well.

"I though I would do better in that event, the way strongman works is if you come first in one of the events then you come last in the next evenRead More

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Margaret River Mail

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