Luke Stoltman will probably be out of competition for six to 12 weeks.
Last updated on May twenty second, 2024
The competitive strongman season may be brutal. Elite strongmen travel the globe to compete in high-stress contests featuring the heaviest weights of any sport. Strongmen routinely maneuver hundreds upon hundreds of kilos of strange objects on difficult terrains under time pressure, which may take a severe toll on the body.
The late 2023 into 2024 strongman season has been a story of countless injuries of the game’s best. From Trey Mitchell to Mateusz Kieliszkowski to Martins Licis to Oleksii Novikov to Bobby Thompson to Gavin Bilton to Adam Bishop and now to the reigning two-time Europe’s Strongest Man (ESM) Luke Stoltman.
On May 22, Stoltman published a video on the YouTube channel to relay that he had suffered a torn biceps tendon. While the tendon will not be detached from the bone, it would sideline Stoltman from competition. See what he needed to say below:
Stoltman felt pain in his right arm while familiarizing himself with objects on the 2024 World’s Strongest Man (WSM) contest, which his younger brother, Tom Stoltman, won. When picking up sandbags, Stoltman sensed something was awry. The Car Walk, featuring a narrow yoke, further cemented Luke’s awareness that he was injured.
Luke’s surgeon explained that there was a three-to-five-centimeter hole in Luke’s biceps tendon. So, while the tendon stays attached, it will not be healthy. The assumption is the injury was first sustained on the 2024 ESM in either the Webster Stones or the Atlas Stones.
I’ve had pins and needles in my hand.
If Luke continued competing together with his injured biceps tendon, he would almost definitely rupture it “imminently,” which might require surgery. A rupture would require surgery to repair. Fortunately for Luke, surgery will not be currently obligatory. However, he will probably be sidelined from competition for about 12 weeksthough he feels he may be back after six weeks.
Luke can still train using techniques that don’t load the biceps, similar to deadlifts, squats, and overhead presses. Luke intends to compete on the 2024 Strongest Man on Earth on the 2024 Shaw Classic in August but will play it by ear to make sure he can properly load the biceps before then.
