This is top 3 overall from Showlift in Kristiansand thsi weekend. It was 33 in the starting field. It was a qualifyer for Norway strongest man Saturday 26th of May in Gol. We are very happy to see that the sport is growing in Norway as well. Best debutant was a 16 years old boy who got inspired by looking at Svend Karlsen's training DVD- had never tried any strongman equipment before- came and lifted 160 kg. stone !!! Amazing !
Also a big man from Trondheim stepped up- 197 cm tall, 150 kg. heavy, 26 years old. Richard Skog was very impressive too and deffinitly a man for the future.
Arild Haugen won overall and 4 og 5 events as predicted. Arild took this as training before Norway strongest man.
Not compeating was Reidar Kvåle. He and Svend Viking Karlsen did refereeing.
300 people came to watch. 7 women started as well. Anne Sonesen from Norway won !!!
Kristiansand Strong Team did a great job !. Congrats everybody !

Boys are ready to go.

 
Yoy can always count on Hanne Bingle !. This time she came alone. Hello to Ian back in London. We missed a big fan !

 
Friday evening. Espen Aune drove 11 hours from Trondheim to compeat.

 
Ronny and Svend.

 
Today we had birthday party for Svend Alexander and his 10 friends at home. We almost lost the will to love-but after a relaxing bath we had found the spirit again !. Alexander turned 7 3rd April- but due to many  other projects we had to have the boys today. As you can see eveyrthing is "CARS" now. Glad it's 1 whole year to next time !!!

This a pix from Mohegan Sun. There was around 5000 in the audience. Great location.

Remember to meet us on Friday !!!. Love Lene

Saturday it's time for Showlift in Kristiansand. Svend VIking will be the referee, Lene will be MC.
Sat tuned for many new pix during the day -and most of all-AFTERPARTY !!!. Not......:(

Viking back home again. Long flight. After last episode of Desperate Housewives and some sleep it's time for food !

Mariusz and Svend on airport in USA. New York.

Well-things can change in a flash. This is a pix from last years training for NSM. Since than Svend is out, Reidar is out, Tommy is out, Lars Erik is out. But Svend Alexander is going to be tester for this years strongman competitions !. I guess he's the last man standing.....a small man !!!

Poster for Norway strongest man will soon be out. Look for it !

Oh-well Leiv. You have to do better than this man !!!

Alexander

Svend Alexander taking a bath.

Time to go home again. Can't say I look forward to 5 hours in bus, 9 hours flight and 1 hour by train.....:(
But if you have to-you have to !. Looking forward to find one small happy "rally driver "back home who misses his daddy very much !

Terry Hollands signing for Viking Power Challenge 70.07.07. We all look forward to seeing you all on Norwegian soil. Train good and well !

1.Mariusz Pudzianowski- POland. 2. Kevin Knee-USA. 3 Mark Felix- Grenada

Mariusz Pudzianowzki-Polska. It was a populare -in the crowd there must be like 2000 workers from Mohegan Sun that are from Poland. This was Mariusz 3rd win in Mohegan Sun !!!. His first Super Serie win this year.
Can he win all 4 ???
This man is coming to Norway 07.07.07. for Svend Karlsen Viking Power Challenhe WSM Super Serie 2007 !!!

Kevin Knee took second place in viking press.

Who else could it be as nr 1 ?????. Mariusz. 2 nd. Terry Hollands.
 

No Viking anymore......athletes testing equipment. This is the same arena that you can see fighting from.

You don't even have to say; smile....it's just there !. Love it !!!.You both look  pretty sharp !. Look out for the girls :)

It's up to you !!!!!. The man on the left side is 10 years older than the guy on the right side-can you belive it ???

Still got it my man -still got it !!!

Odd Haugen is the man. Everybody in Norway see and learn-this man is 57 years young-and still going !.
 I can't say it enough how you impress me Odd. Look at my man-retired right before 40 !!!
Odd and Svend goes way back now- this two men was 90 years old total in  a team competition 2 years ago !!!. If they haven't been so old they could have got 3rd place, but due to hight age they miss calculated and got 5th place.... :)

Bill Kaz and me in the hall.. Who is tallest ???

Body fitness is a light form of bodybiulding for women. The athlete is beeing judged by a total of shape, hair, face and beauty. It's 3 rounds. Oslo GRand Prix was devidedinto two days of bodybuilding Saturday and Fitness Sunday.

Today Helene and I went to see Oslo Grand Prix. We both got inspired to work out harder !!!
We HAVE to be in shape for Norway strongest man ----oh-ops, yes, we do- it's hard work for us too !!!.
We had so much fun today. See you soon baby !!!

The Viking 2001- The Viking 1994- The Viking 1995.

Viking up early in the morning for a light cardio training. Once he got there Odd has already been up for 2 hours !!!
Colin Bryce showing of his guns !!!

Glad to see that you guys take the job seriously- you have to be in shape to manage this tv job !!!

Jesper and Svend. Nice new hair cut man !!!. Looking forward to seeing you again Jesper. We had some good time in Poland last year !. What heppens in Poland-stays in Poland, right ???

There is always a rule meeting for the athletes 1 day ahead of competition. Here they draw starting order etc. Referees and staff people are introduced. Always, Athletes ONLY !!!

Oh- the guys ralaxing with a nice lobster. From left to right: Jouko Ahola, Svend Viking Karlsen, Uncle Odd Haugen and Ulf Bengtsson.

Odd strike a pose. Arild can you beat this man ???. Odd is mean, and serious about winning Norway strongest man in 5 weeks time !. It will be a thriller of a competition !!!

Haldor Berg called me up yesterday and told me that he's back in the game again. Haldor suffered from a back injury last year in the Yoke Race event and has struggled from time to time. Glad to have you back again !

Mark Phillipi is getting ready. Mark is a strenght coach. Always nice to hook up with old friends !.

That hat looked SO much better on a SO much less fat man !!! Cheers mate !!!. See you soon in our spa ???
Hello Andy !!!

Ulf Bengtson and Mariusz Pudzianowski shopping together !!!. Wonder what the big man bought ???. Mariusz is coming to Norway 07.07.07 for Svend Karlsen Viking Power Challenge !

Well, so this is Svend, Knee and his knee?????. Getting confused of all this knees man !!!

Say no more...............

Arriving in Olso after 6 hours drive Espen will work at tech Nutrition stand tomorrow. Come visit him there !
Espen is training hard to win Norway strongest man Saturday 26th May in Gol !.

The buffet is great !. Just perfect for a strongman-eat all you want !!!. We eat in the same area as the staff of Mohegan Sun. I think it holds food for 5-7000 people every day !. You cab get anything you want  here !. Love it !

Today lm in Oslo looking at bodybuilding. I met with Arild Haugen who will compeat in Norway strongest man.
"Mom" have to look after her boys.......!!!. This pix Arild took today in 8C. He had a photo shoot that took 4 hours.....

Terry Hollands and wife. Met with Svend and Jouko Ahola.

Here with Terry Hollands, and Mr.Ahola. We were told it was 1 hour drive from airport-it all ended in 4,5 hours bustrip !!!. MAn that is hard to take !

Today Svend Viking set sail for USa. The first contest this year of Super Series. Svend will work for TV together with Coling Bryce as last years sucess. Take a look at www.mohegansun.com For those of you who are in the area-go watch the show !!!. Svend will blogg all the way !. On the airport in Oslo Svend met an old friend in Tor Marthinsen. Tor and Svend compeated together in bodybuilding loooooong time ago !!!

I spent the whole day in Oslo today.  I went to see our  sponsor MXDC. Thay have training clothes that even Svend can fit into.

Today l went to see our training clothes sponsor,MXDC. Thomas Tangen. Thank you man !

Today we bought a new ab machine. Its the ab king pro machine ! Must be good. Its from tv shop!

My good friend Helene Rask will come to Gol !. Will you ???

Den 26.Mai er det duket for Norges Sterkeste Mann 2007 på Gol. Her vil den nasjonale strongmaneliten kjempe hardere enn noen gang om hvem som er best etter at Svend Karlsen la opp. Alle har alt og vinne og det kommer til og bli blod, svette og tårer fra Norges sterkeste menn.

Svend Karlsen Verdens sterkeste mann i 2001. Svend la strongman beltet på hyllen i 2006.

Først vil jeg gi en kjapp innføring i hva strongman faktisk er, hva slags øvelser de bruker og hvordan de trener.

Hva er strongman?
Strongman er en showsport der man skal kåre hvem som er sterkest. På en konkurranse er det flere øvelser som deltakerne skal konkurrere i. Noen ganger gjelder det å løfte mest, noen ganger flest ganger og noen ganger gjelder det å gjøre en øvelse på kortest mulig tid.

Hvilke øvelser er det i strongman?
I strongman er det rundt 40-50 øvelser og i samtlige er det forskjellige varianter. Her kommer det noen få eksempler på øvelser.

Farmers Walk/Bondegange: Her holder utøveren et tungt lodd i hver neve og det gjelder om å gå lengst mulig eller en bestemt distanse på kortest mulig tid.

Dekkvelt: Her er det et tungt dekk som skal veltes et bestemt antall flip (velt) på kortest mulig tid.

Atlassteiner: Runde tunge steiner som skal løftes opp til en plattform på en bestemt høyde. Vanligvis økende vekt på steinene og/eller økende høyde på plattformen.

TruckPull: Her skal utøveren dra en lastebil etter seg festet med en sele. Han har et tau som hjelp til å dra seg frem. Kortest mulig tid på en bestemt distanse.

Stokkpress: En stokk som skal løftes opp, vendes, og så presses over hodet. Tyngste press, flest ganger på en bestemt vekt, eller ?last man standing?.

Hvordan blir man god i strongman?
Tung trening, tung trening og tung trening. De fleste strongman utøvere trener tungt på gymmet, mye baseøvelser som markløft, knebøy, benkpress, militærpress og varianter av disse. Siden hver konkurranse har forskjellige øvelser og de ofte blir utført forskjellig er det ikke slik som i styrkeløft at man kan spesialisere seg på 3 øvelser og trene mye teknikk på dem. Det er derfor viktig og trene mye på forskjellige strongmanøvelser også. I strongman må man kunne løfte tungt i alle mulige styrke øvelser. Det er også viktig med bra kondisjon siden mange av øvelsene krever mye utholdenhet.

Hvordan trener strongmen?
Strongman er en ganske fersk sport og det finnes ikke noe fasitsvar på hvordan du skal trene. Noen utøvere trener opp styrken i gymmet nesten hver dag med økter på rundt en time mens de trener teknikk på strongmanøvelsene utenom. Mens andre utøvere kjører 2-3 timers rene strongmanøkter tre ganger i uken. Felles for dem alle er at dem trener tungt, blytungt.
Til slutt vil jeg komme med noen spådommer rundt resultatene og kommentarer om favorittene!

Det er litt over en måned til Norges Sterkeste Mann og alle som har klart og kvalifisere seg har gjort en sterk prestasjon allerede. Alle er kraftkarer av en egen klasse. Men noen navn kan være greie og følge ekstra godt med i år:

Espen "Bøs" Aune
Espen er i form og han skal gjøre det bedre enn i fjor. Han er utrolig hurtig og eksplosiv, noe som vises når han får fart bortover med et lodd i hver neve. Espen vil nok vinne en øvelse eller flere, og jeg tipper han på en tredjeplass i år.

 

Arild "Hulk" Haugen

Arild Haugen begynner å bli et kjent navn både nasjonalt og internasjonalt i strongman. Han er grapsesterk og veldig rask men uheldigvis ble han skadet i oktober, noe som har ødelagt en del for fremgangen hans. Selv om han er et av Norges største strongmantalent blir det nok for vanskelig å vinne i år når han ikke har fått optimal oppladning og har øvelsene i mot seg. Han vil nok vinne stein og vikingpress. Arild er en mann for fremtiden og bør satses tungt på, men i år vinner han ikke. Den 26.Mai har du sjangs til å vise at jeg tok feil. :-)

og Norges Sterkeste Blir...

Odd Haugen
Odd er råsterk, han er den med mest erfaring og det ser ikke ut til at alderen er noe hindring. Han har en helt sinnsykt grep og han liker alle former for løfting og bæring. Skuldrene er også friske nå så pressstyrken er bedre enn den noen gang har vert. I år så prioriterer Odd Haugen NSM som sitt viktigste stevne, og det tror jeg vi kommer til å merke.

Noen legger kanskje merke til at jeg ikke har nevnt Reidar Kvåle her, det er en grunn til det. Reidar er en av Norges beste og mest meritterte strongmanutøvere. Når han begynte forberedelsene til NSM trente han med 240kg i knebøy som gikk kjempelett og formen var på topp. Men så smalt det i ryggen og han ble skadet. Han må derfor dessverre melde avbud i år, men han lover å komme tilbake sterkt når han blir frisk igjen. God bedring til Reidar Kvåle.

Interesserte bør også følge Kristiansand Showlift 28.April som også har lettvekt klasser.
Show blir det uansett på NSM! Møt opp på Gol 26.Mai og hei favorittene dine frem!

Kilder: Strongman Norge og utøvere fra Pro-Strongman-Norway

Se på meg a- trener for å imponere deg til NSM 2007 !!!. Klem fra Svend Alexander 7 år.

Hard day at the office for young Mr.Karlsen !

Svend lover to watch movies and series. We were very happy with the cinema. Its seates for 7 persons.

Today we got a cinema in the basement !

Jarek and Janne waiting to go !!!

Svend looking and testing carpet.....

We even meet a snake on our walk today. It's the only snake here in Norway that is poisen; "Hoggorm"

Thomas Stellander and Svend Vikin g ar Sandefjord Open Saturday 14th April. Nest weekend it's Oslo Grand Prix !

Svend in his last contest Mohegan Sun 2006.
Funny story; There was a boy who had driven 12 hours to see Svend compet in Mohegan. When Svend told the crowd that this was his last show, the boy told us by email that he went to his hotel room and cried the whole night........Sad for him !!!. But great story !

Svend at Vøringfossen. Great nature  we have in Norway !

Hello to Ed and Hege from Norway !!!. When will we meet agein? It was GREAT fun in Stavanger !!!

Finally we have good weather so the summertime can start with tent and outdoor playing !

Svend is tired after 14 hours day.....

Today we have been around working for 14 hours !!!. I havn't been able to blog many news today-will be better tomorrow....

Today we are at Gym2000 who makes the new equipment for viking power production. This new special made strongman equipment is great !

 

This is another piece from the work......Kristian is making great progress now.....

 

Knut Ole is making baby equipment. And will also make Alexanders strongman equipment.

 
The tub has disco light inside !!!!. Radio and everything !. This is from a partner for Norway strongest man STR.

This is how I start every morning, with a walk to this hill. It's a 20 min Power Walk from my house !

Espen Aune and his training partner Skog-15o kg. before Showlift and Norway strongest man 2007.
Looking  good boys !!!

Reidar Kvåle was sad to tell us yesterday that he has to back out from Norway strongest man 2007 due to a back injury. Reidar will start again next year according to himself. We wish Reidar all the best in school, job and recovering ! See yahhh soon !!!

Happy birthday Mommo. Love from Svend Alexander, Oskar and Torbjørn.......Svend & Lene

A hello to you Randy from Norway !. Always nice and fun to meet you !. Looking forward to seeing you in Norway 0007 !!!

Svend Alexander and I went to see Mr. Bean. The bucket of popcorn is almost bigger than Alexander.....

First Svend didnt wanted the trophys on the back,but l convinced him too....

This is our new business card !

Jarek and Mariusz is also coming to Storefjell on  07.07.07. Are you ???

On the 9th of June Svend will be refereeing Askøy strongest man. Haijden sport will have a stand and you can buy the new supplement line form Svend Karlsen. World strongest man !

On the 28th of April Svend will be refereeing Showlift in Kristiansand. Lars Erik is the organiser for that. It is a qualifiers to Norway strongest man Saturday 26th of May. See you there?

Hello Janne, We all look forward to meet again in Norway !. This pix is from Rally Finland where Janne took us all over to see the WRC cars. We love you !!!!

Svend Alexander will be the tester for Norway strongest man 2007 and in Svend Karlsen Viking Power challenge WSM Super series 2007.His training has started- we asked him if he wanted to do tyre flip-but he said that a 2 good weeks should do it.............

Svend found a pix of himself on the wall at Ljuznik Olympic Complex in Moscow !

Svend Alexander plays playstation all day long-offcourse he has a driving dress, shoes etc.

Today it staredt to snow again !!!!!. This reminds me of the great weather we had on our big trip this summer to Prekestolen !. Svend, Johnny and Egil getting ready to start-didn't look so good on the top I can tell you for sure....

Today Svend and Daniel went for a walking in the mountains. We have beautiful powerfull nature just 1 minute from our house. Daniel asked for helicopter to come and take him down again.

The viking the summer after he retired !. Still got it !

Easter 2006 !

Espen Aune gearing up for Norway Strongest Man 2007. Weight 121 kg. Looking mean man !!!

Our good and strong friend Irene, Johnny's sister and Lene Alexandra. Having fun at a X-mas party !!!

Eating more.....

 
After storm weather we had to drive back to home again. It was too much wind to drive snow mobile !

Alexander won !. 2 times this week. Must be good !

Here we are again driving go cart !. Svend will not drive today due to a bad hair style after wearing the helmet.!.!.!.. Levan,our big "son" is with us !

These two cute children I'm lucky to be aunt to. Svend Alexander miss them both. It's my sister's kids, named, Karin Benedicte and Ivar Andre !.

Svend bought  new family member. His name is Torbjørn !. He's a huge polar bear  3m x 3m.
He is currently placed in the guest room due to our re-building of the living room !!!

Now we are at Eidsgaard Hotel Gol. Tomorrow we are driving snow mobile if the weather is good !

Gearing up for Norway strongest man Saturday 26th May. Who will be the next in line ???
Odd Haugen reporting very good training from Valhalla West. Arild Haugen is still growing, weighing 135 kg. last time we met !.
Norway strongest man will be at Gol in Hallingdal. The program air in a 1 hour tv show at TV2.
On the 28th April we will find the next 6-12 athletes that will compeat in NSM 2007 in Showlift in Kristiansand run by Lars Erik Nilsen our boss for the equipment !

Svend Alexander doing ice skating together with Svend. You can see Svend lying in the snow if you look very closely.......

God påske Johnny. Vi savner deg her hjemme !
Stay strong until we meet again !

Today our new spa arrived. Since svend has retired we had to ask for lifting help !

Svend Alexander

Today the mini viking is turning 7 years !!!. Happy birthday to you !!! Love from Mom & Dad !
We are spending the day driving go-cart and eating cake !!!
Pix will follow !

svend training at pro gym in Drammen. Leg day !

This summer we all went to Prekestolen. We are now training hard for a new trip this up coming summer. Anybody likes to join us???

Now we are going snow mobile in the mountains. We are going to Hemsedal for some fun in the snow !!!

gym2000 is making all our new strongman equipment. Knut Ole Koppland is fantastic !. Just wait to see.!.!.

bought a cool sticker today for svend.....

Jarek Dymek, The Viking and Jouko Ahola are all coming to Svend Karlsen Viking Power Challenge WSM Super Serie 07.07.2007- Storefjell Hotel Norway. Are you ???

Congratulations with 2nd place in rally Portugal Pettter !