Grant Connors won the Atlantic title for a ninth time in his professional strongman career at the Kingston Steer Barbecue and Village Fair July 11.
“It was my ninth championship, but they haven’t been nine in a row. I retired for a year in 2012, then came back,” said Connors.
Connors, who grew up in Black Rock and Berwick before moving to Kentville at age 19, has competed at the Canada’s Strongest Man competition each of the previous eight times he has won regionally, with a top result of fifth in Canada.
He has been “right there” with the national winners on most occasions, holding his own in head-to-head competitions over the years.
To put his fifth-place national finish in perspective, “all of the top people nationally were in Kentville in 2007, and I finished third, just one-and-a-half points away from second and four points out of first,” he said.
Love of lifting
Connors’ love of feats of strength began back in the late 1990s, when he watched the Strongman competition held as part of Berwick Gala Days.
“I’m not necessarily all that big, but I’ve always been strong. I watched for two years, then the third year, I decided to enter,” he recalls.
“I placed last or close to it in every event but one – the crucifix hold, which I won. From then on, I was hooked.”
He did his first local shows in 1998 and 1999, and ‘turned pro’ in 2004.
Of all the strongman events, Connors numbers the crucifix hold - where a competitor holds a 27.5 pound weight in each hand and holds them out straight for as long as possible - as arguably his favourite.
He first set the world record in the crucifix hold in 2005. At a competition in Kentville in 2007, Hugo Girard, six times Canada’s Strongest Man, set a new record of 91 seconds.
“I was the next competitor, and I broke his record with 98 seconds,” Connors said.
He currently holds the world record for the crucifix hold with a time of 2:10, and has been listed in the Guinness Book of World Records.
Connors, 41, is obviously passionate about strongman competitions.
“There’s not a lot of people who can do it. That’s part of the appeal,” he says.
“Anyone can get fit, or be a gym person, but very few people can pull a truck or flip a car. It’s nice to be able to do something not very many people can do.”
A few years ago, he also started training other potential strongmen. He currently trains Alex Barkhouse of Wolfville, Jordan Profitt of Coldbrook and Andrew Jennings Lindsay of Kentville, who recently won an amateur competition.
He has also worked with Alex Wallace from P.E.I., who finished second in Kingston. Teacher will compete against student at nationals in September.
“I like training the guys I train and watching them get better,” he says. “Everyone I’ve trained has finished second behind me at least once, and gone on to nationals.”
Hard on the body
Although Connors likes strongman competitions, he acknowledges it can be hard on the body. He ruptured a bicep in 2007; a week later, he competed at nationals.
At his first powerlifting meet in 2013, he had a pectoral muscle in his chest explode. He completed the competition, setting three national records. Following surgery to remove the muscle, he broke all three records. He competed at the 2015 Atlantics with a torn calf, did all eight events and won.
Asked about his brief retirement in 2012, he says, “I was doing a lot of high-profile shows, all across Canada. It was getting to be too much, and I was getting frustrated. Doing this kind of thing sometimes means being away a lot.”
For the next year, he “did nothing, no gym or anything. I completely relaxed for a year.”
Then he was asked to referee the Atlantic competition on P.E.I., which he found “pretty tough,” he says.
“On the way back home, my son Casey asked me when I was going to compete again. We had a family meeting, and made the decision I would start competing again.”
Good decision
“I feel stronger now, and in better shape, than I’ve ever been. There are still things I’d like to do, records I’d like to set,” he says.
“I don’t know if I can find that extra gear, but next year will be a big year. I’ll step up my training, and train smarter. My next Atlantic title will be my 10th. After that, I may retire from the national level, though I’ll probably still do some local shows.”
There’s a masters division in strongman, but Connors says he likes competing against the younger guys.
He can “remember like it was yesterday when Jamie Peppard and guys like him were competing at 280 (pounds). They seemed huge. I’m 295 now, but when you’re 150 pounds, 280 seems pretty huge.”
He says he will definitely continue to coach and train, which is something he enjoys.
“I don’t know if I’ll referee anything but a few local shows. I’m so competitive; it’s all or nothing for me.”
Connors acknowledges he wouldn’t have accomplished anything he had without the support of his family – children Casey and Mallory, and wife Crystal.
Casey, who will be 12 in September, “just loves this stuff. A couple of years ago, we asked him what we wanted for his birthday. He said he wanted to host a Strong Kids competition for him and some of his friends, which he won.”
Connors says strongman has changed over the years.
“Now you not only have to be able to lift, pull and push things, you have to carry them, and walk or run with them,” he said.
“Cardio-vascular-wise, strongmen and especially cross-fitters (Google ’Crossfit Games’, he says) are probably among the fittest people in the world.”
See a 2007 video of Connors’ competition at the Canadian Strongman event held at the Apple Blossom Festival. He placed third in the event.
Grant Connors won the Atlantic title for a ninth time in his professional strongman career at the Kingston Steer Barbecue and Village Fair July 11.
“It was my ninth championship, but they haven’t been nine in a row. I retired for a year in 2012, then came back,” said Connors.
Connors, who grew up in Black Rock and Berwick before moving to Kentville at age 19, has competed at the Canada’s Strongest Man competition each of the previous eight times he has won regionally, with a top result of fifth in Canada.
He has been “right there” with the national winners on most occasions, holding his own in head-to-head competitions over the years.
To put his fifth-place national finish in perspective, “all of the top people nationally were in Kentville in 2007, and I finished third, just one-and-a-half points away from second and four points out of first,” he said.
Love of lifting
Connors’ love of feats of strength began back in the late 1990s, when he watched the Strongman competition held as part of Berwick Gala Days.
“I’m not necessarily all that big, but I’ve always been strong. I watched for two years, then the third year, I decided to enter,” he recalls.
“I placed last or close to it in every event but one – the crucifix hold, which I won. From then on, I was hooked.”
He did his first local shows in 1998 and 1999, and ‘turned pro’ in 2004.
Of all the strongman events, Connors numbers the crucifix hold - where a competitor holds a 27.5 pound weight in each hand and holds them out straight for as long as possible - as arguably his favourite.
He first set the world record in the crucifix hold in 2005. At a competition in Kentville in 2007, Hugo Girard, six times Canada’s Strongest Man, set a new record of 91 seconds.
“I was the next competitor, and I broke his record with 98 seconds,” Connors said.
He currently holds the world record for the crucifix hold with a time of 2:10, and has been listed in the Guinness Book of World Records.
Connors, 41, is obviously passionate about strongman competitions.
“There’s not a lot of people who can do it. That’s part of the appeal,” he says.
“Anyone can get fit, or be a gym person, but very few people can pull a truck or flip a car. It’s nice to be able to do something not very many people can do.”
A few years ago, he also started training other potential strongmen. He currently trains Alex Barkhouse of Wolfville, Jordan Profitt of Coldbrook and Andrew Jennings Lindsay of Kentville, who recently won an amateur competition.
He has also worked with Alex Wallace from P.E.I., who finished second in Kingston. Teacher will compete against student at nationals in September.
“I like training the guys I train and watching them get better,” he says. “Everyone I’ve trained has finished second behind me at least once, and gone on to nationals.”
Hard on the body
Although Connors likes strongman competitions, he acknowledges it can be hard on the body. He ruptured a bicep in 2007; a week later, he competed at nationals.
At his first powerlifting meet in 2013, he had a pectoral muscle in his chest explode. He completed the competition, setting three national records. Following surgery to remove the muscle, he broke all three records. He competed at the 2015 Atlantics with a torn calf, did all eight events and won.
Asked about his brief retirement in 2012, he says, “I was doing a lot of high-profile shows, all across Canada. It was getting to be too much, and I was getting frustrated. Doing this kind of thing sometimes means being away a lot.”
For the next year, he “did nothing, no gym or anything. I completely relaxed for a year.”
Then he was asked to referee the Atlantic competition on P.E.I., which he found “pretty tough,” he says.
“On the way back home, my son Casey asked me when I was going to compete again. We had a family meeting, and made the decision I would start competing again.”
Good decision
“I feel stronger now, and in better shape, than I’ve ever been. There are still things I’d like to do, records I’d like to set,” he says.
“I don’t know if I can find that extra gear, but next year will be a big year. I’ll step up my training, and train smarter. My next Atlantic title will be my 10th. After that, I may retire from the national level, though I’ll probably still do some local shows.”
There’s a masters division in strongman, but Connors says he likes competing against the younger guys.
He can “remember like it was yesterday when Jamie Peppard and guys like him were competing at 280 (pounds). They seemed huge. I’m 295 now, but when you’re 150 pounds, 280 seems pretty huge.”
He says he will definitely continue to coach and train, which is something he enjoys.
“I don’t know if I’ll referee anything but a few local shows. I’m so competitive; it’s all or nothing for me.”
Connors acknowledges he wouldn’t have accomplished anything he had without the support of his family – children Casey and Mallory, and wife Crystal.
Casey, who will be 12 in September, “just loves this stuff. A couple of years ago, we asked him what we wanted for his birthday. He said he wanted to host a Strong Kids competition for him and some of his friends, which he won.”
Connors says strongman has changed over the years.
“Now you not only have to be able to lift, pull and push things, you have to carry them, and walk or run with them,” he said.
“Cardio-vascular-wise, strongmen and especially cross-fitters (Google ’Crossfit Games’, he says) are probably among the fittest people in the world.”
See a 2007 video of Connors’ competition at the Canadian Strongman event held at the Apple Blossom Festival. He placed third in the event.
