Robert Oberst's Workout & Diet (Strongman Secrets Revealed)

• Age: 36 years
• Height: 6’8″ (201 cm)
• Weight: 375-395 (170 kg-179 kg)
• Waist: 44 inches
• Chest: 45 inches

Robert trains 7 times weekly, one workout daily, and he goes hard and focuses on intensity.

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Robert Oberst (@robertoberst)

Most of his workouts consist of hard compound and multi-joint exercises in the beginning and isolation or single-joint exercises towards the end of the workout.

If you are still a beginner or slightly inexperienced, I suggest avoiding a 7-day split workout routine since it is easy to injure yourself and prevent you from making further progress.

Here is the entire workout across a span of a single week.

"Like many competitive strongmen, Oberst is known for consuming a lot of calories to keep his weight high and lift heavier in competition. He’s previously been on camera eating a 12,000-calorie cheat meal and stating how he would consume upwards of 20,000 calories per day the week leading up to a competition if he could."

- Phil Blechman, Certified Personal Trainer

Day 1

On day one, Robert focuses mostly on his upper body strength and hypertrophy program.

Here is the upper body day:

• Push press - This exercise activates anterior delts, pectoralis major, and lateral delts. You should perform up to 8 heavy reps and then strip off 15% of the weight to do AMRAP workout (as many reps as possible).
• Strict press - Strict press follows the same pattern and activates similar muscles. Complete 4 sets of 8 reps with around 65% of your 1 rep max.
• Lat pulldowns - Perform 8 reps for 4 sets, but increase the weight for each following set until you can barely perform the 8th rep.
• Rear delt raises - Do as many reps as possible and when you reach failure, switch to rear delt swings again until failure. Do a total of 2 sets.
• Cable front raises and cable lateral raise superset - Perform 3 sets of 12 reps and use dumbbells if you don't have access to the cable machine.
• Snatch grip barbell shrugs - Do fully controlled reps when performing a snatch grip barbell shrug for two sets. A set should consist of up to 20 reps if possible.
• Hammer curls - Perform up to 3 sets of 8 quality reps.
• Tricep press downs - Do the same as hammer curls.

On the second day of the week, Robert mainly focuses on lower body strength and hypertrophy:

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Robert Oberst (@robertoberst)

• Single-leg deadlift - Perform up to 8 reps for 3 sets on each leg separately. You can perform the exercise with dumbbells, kettlebells, or a loaded barbell.
• Glute bridges - Complete a total of 8 reps for 3 sets and focus on squeezing your glute muscles at the top portion of the movement.
• X band walks - Perform 3 sets of 50ft walks on each side.
• Deadlift - Complete 8 reps for 4 sets with 65% of your one rep max. You shouldn't rest more than 90 seconds between each set.
• Romanian deadlift - Perform 8 reps for 3 sets and load the barbell with 40% of your one rep max.
• Barbell hip thrusts - Complete 5 reps for 5 sets.
• Barbell rows - Perform 8 reps for 3 sets.
• Farmers walk - Complete EMOM (every minute on the minute) with 60% of your one rep max - 6 sets for 50ft and use dumbbells.

Day 3

Robert claims that the third workout in the week is optional for him:

• Hill sprint - Perform sprints on a 50 ft hill and give yourself 10 minutes to complete the set. You should stay in the effort zone of 60-70% of your maximum. Make sure to rest enough between each individual sprint.
• Ab circuit - Pick three ab exercises, such as crunches, ab rollout, and Russian twists, and complete 8 reps for 3 sets without stopping.

On the fourth workout of the week, Robert focuses mainly on his chest and tricep muscles through different bench press variations and inclinations:

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Robert Oberst (@robertoberst)

• Seated overhead press - Perform 8 reps for 4 sets and put the bar almost vertical. Lean back to achieve an 80-degree angle and use a load you could do sets with 12.
• Close grip bench press - Complete 5 sets for 5 reps at a shoulder-width grip.
• Slight incline dumbbell press - Perform 3 sets of 8 reps at a 30-degree inclination.
• Skull crushers - Complete 3 sets of 8 reps.
• Standing dumbbell curls - Do the same as for the previous exercise.

Day 5

Oberst claims the fifth day of the week is optional for him, but when he trains, here is what he prefers to do:

• HIIT sprint - Sprint a hill of about 50 ft and give yourself about 12 minutes to complete the workout. You should stay in the effort zone of about 60-70%. Make sure to fully recover between each sprint.
• Ab circuit - Pick three ab exercises of your choice and perform 4 sets for 8 reps without stopping.

Day six is a squat-focused day targeting lower body hypertrophy and endurance:

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Robert Oberst (@robertoberst)

• Front squat - Perform 4 sets of 6 reps, but pick the load as if you will perform 8 reps.
• Barbell walking lunges - Complete 8 reps for 3 sets and start with the light weight.
• Leg press - Perform 2 sets for 20 reps until burnout with lightweight.
• Snatch grip barbell shrugs - Use a load of 30% of your one rep max deadlift and go to failure without stopping for 2 sets.
• Loading over bar strongman event - Perform 5 * 1 EMOM (every minute on the minute) with atlas stones, kegs, or sandbags.

Day 7

The last day of the week is also optional, but here is what Oberst prefers to do:

• Hike - Pick a trail that will take no less than 25 minutes to complete, but it mustn't be too strenuous for you. You might pick a different sport on the last day of the week if you prefer to.

The first workout principle is progressive overload, increasing the total training volume, reps, sets, and external resistance each following workout.

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Robert Oberst (@robertoberst)

The next principle is to avoid optional days if you feel like you are entering a state of overtraining, which, according to the National Institute of Health, is bad for developing strength, hypertrophy, and endurance [1].

The last principle is to use strength and hypertrophy methods and programming for each workout in the week.

This includes specific rep ranges, rest intervals, number of sets, and percentage of 1 rep max.

Diet Plan

Robert is known for consuming a lot of calories to keep his weight, and when I say a lot, I mean up to 20000 calories in the week leading up to a competition.

He eats foods such as scrambled eggs for breakfast, bison with rice and veggies for lunch, and steak with potatoes for dinner. 

His morning snack combines a quarter cup of mixed nuts and an apple.

Also, he has a pre-workout meal consisting of one banana, one tablespoon of honey, oats with milk, and fruit of choice.

There aren't many principles in Robert's diet, and often, he eats whenever he is hungry.

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Robert Oberst (@robertoberst)

However, the one thing consistent in his diet is the post-workout meal. The post-workout meal Robert never misses is a protein shake consisting of a banana and high-quality whey protein powder.

Lately, Robert has been experimenting with the intermittent fasting diet.

Supplements

The main supplement Robert takes is a protein powder. He prefers to have whey protein powder mixed with banana in a shaker thrice daily. He also uses pre-workouts to get ramped up for the intense training sessions in his weekly regime.

Creatine monohydrate is also something Oberst consumes daily, but the intake may shift during the pre-competition period.

Branched-chain amino acids (BCAAs), multivitamins, and omegas are also supplements Robert includes in his primary supplementation plan.

However, strongman Robert Oberst claims that if he could choose one supplement for the rest of his life, it would be a protein powder.