Can World’s Strongest Man OCR?

When the planet's most powerful human stepped onto one of the Army's toughest obstacle courses, the results proved what every serious OCR athlete needs to understand: brute strength without speed is a heavyweight anchor around your neck. Martins Licis, the 2019 World's Strongest Man, discovered the hard way that dominating an obstacle doesn't mean dominating a race—and his hilariously slow transitions between stations revealed the fundamental truth that separates elite OCR performers from everyone else.

Many of us remember when OCR star and Crossfit crossover, Hunter McIntyre first popularized the hashtag #bicepswinsraces. His point was that speed alone won’t get the job done. You have to back it up with strength. At the same time, let’s not get carried away. Hunter is one of those rare specimens who is big, strong, and fast. The first two usually come at the expense of the latter. 

The 2019 World's Strongest Man, Martins Licis, recently shared his experience completing the  Army Special Forces Obstacle Course at Fort Campbell Kentucky, and let’s just say he didn’t break any records. In fact, the course’s FKT is around 18 minutes, which Licis joked was how long he rested between obstacles.