Andrea Thompson is one of the more prominent names in active strongwoman. As a professional competitor since March 2016, the athlete from the United Kingdom has amassed quite the competitive catalog. Thompson revealed her next grand ambition in a recent interview and training session with a strongman legend.
On Sept. 30, 2022, Laurence Shahlaei, 2016 Europe’s Strongest Man (ESM), posted two videos to his YouTube channel where he trained shoulders and legs respectively with the athlete. In the former video, Thompson revealed she would soon make another attempt at the strongwoman Log Lift World Record at the 2022 World Log Lift Championships in Ipswich, UK. Notably, with a successful lockout, Thompson would be extending her own record mark of 135 kilograms (297.6 pounds) from the 2020 World’s Ultimate Strongman “Feats of Strength” Series.
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In the first legs video, after finishing some cardio (the treadmill for Shahlaei; an air bike for Thompson), the pair got after it with some safety bar squats. Thompson logged multiple high-rep sets of 150 kilograms (330.7 pounds). Afterward, the duo continued to seemingly center on endurance, powering through a leg curl and drop set leg press. To cap the routine, Thompson and Shahlaei decided to close with some high-rep leg extensions.
In the second video, it was all about overhead movements as Thompson announced her plans for the new World Record in the process.
To start, Thompson and Shahlaei did a few sets of respective log lifts together. They would finish the sequence by doing three one-rep sets of a massive 122-kilogram (269-pound) log lift. Here, Thompson emphatically noted that her record attempt would be for a significant milestone.
“I’m gonna break the record, then go for 140 kilograms (308.6 pounds),” Thompson told Shahlaei. “You heard it here first.”
Once they finished working through their log lifts, Thompson and Shahlaei shifted over to the viking press. The pair did not disclose what weight they were using, though Thompson capped the segment with an impressive set of 15 reps to showcase her shoulder power and endurance with the movement.
To close this workout, Thompson and Shahlaei focused on preventative maintenance training for different parts of the shoulders. With Thompson nearing a competition, keeping that part of her body healthy appeared imperative.
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The upcoming World Log Lift Championships aren’t the only competition Thompson has on her plate. The athlete will also feature in December’s 2022 World’s Strongest Woman (WSW). At the time of this writing, the precise date and location of the contest have not been announced. Per Strongman Archives, Thompson won the 2018 WSW and finished in third place at the 2019 edition — her last appearance at the competition.
The 2022 calendar year is starting to wind down, but for Thompson, it could be one for the record books by the time the clock strikes midnight in January 2023.
Featured image: Big Loz Official on YouTube
