Pumping more than iron

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The 800-pound tire he was lifting hit the pavement with a whoosh and a thud. But it was drowned out by the sound of Ward's own exertion, as he prepared to flip the massive piece of rubber over again.

''It feels good to be able to do something like that," said Ward, of Bellingham, after flipping the tire several times. ''But it's definitely not easy."

Every week, Ward joins a group of similarly hulking men for a regimen of exercises that look like unique punishment but are actually part of the growing strongman sport. Working out at the Body Shop in Milford, one of the few places in Massachusetts where athletes can practice the sport, the men lift heavy stones, pull trucks, and run while carrying bars designed to mimic monstrously heavy suitcases.

The gym is a rarity because most strongman training centers across the country are in warehouses or in athletes' homes. Gyms usually shy away from strongman equipment because it takes up a lot of space and isn't used as widely as regular gym equipment, according to William Wessels, president of the North American Strongman Society.

The sport has been popular in Europe for decades but is still working its way into America. It's been gaining attention here because of ESPN broadcasts of ''The World's Strongest Man Competition." In the last few years, small regional competitions have been popping up around New England.

At first look, strongman challenges seem barbaric. They often involve timed races in which athletes move extremely heavy objects -- and appear more for show than sport. But the men at the Body Shop said strongman skills are gaining the respect and interest of athletes from all backgrounds -- including basketball, baseball, and martial arts -- because the endurance and balance the sport builds are hard to acquire elsewhere.

Ward first started using strongman training to help him as a football player at Worcester State College. He was used to getting slammed on the field, but said that after the first time he flipped a tire, he felt like he was going to die.

As Bruce Tessier, a Blackstone resident who competes in national strongman competitions, said, strongman exercises can make a 250-pound linebacker seem like a less formidable challenge.

''If you're able to compete in one of these events, it makes anything you're training for seem that much more simple," he said. ''You can come to the gym and say, 'There's nothing I can't accomplish, because I just lifted an 800-pound tire.' "

But that accomplishment can carry risk. Like any other athlete, strongman competitors may tear a muscle or break a bone by pushing their physical activity to extremes, according to Bertram Zarins, chief of sports medicine services at Massachusetts General Hospital.

''What they're testing is the maximum capacity of the muscles and tendons, and one of three things can happen. One is they can lift it, two is they can't, or three, something breaks," he said. ''Whenever you're at the extreme maximum, you're at the verge of maybe failure."

But many strongman competitors thrive on extremes. Nick Biello, a gym member from Milford, turned to it because he decided power-lifting competitions were too stagnant for him. In that sport, athletes do one lift at their maximum capacity, usually on traditional gym equipment.

With strongman, he said, athletes aren't just competing for strength. In fact, strength may be the least impressive part of the challenge, he said, because it's not worth much without agility.

''You have a group of guys that are strong enough to pick stuff off the ground," he said. ''Now it's who can run with it, or can put it over their heads."

The Body Shop was once a more traditional gym, but that changed when martial arts fighter Steven Mograss bought it two years ago. He asked Tessier to bring some of his strongman equipment because, he said, he wanted to give members opportunities to develop more than one type of muscle.

''It builds parts of your body that you use realistically," Mograss said. ''When you go to pull a truck, it's everyday type of life at the extreme. The average person might not pull a truck, but they pull a wheelbarrow."

Although Mograss emphasized that not all Body Shop members are extreme athletes, the strongman equipment stands out starkly at the gym. At one corner, standard gym machines give way to the ''Atlas stone lift," tall metal platforms set next to large, heavy stones designed to allow lifters to mimic the act of loading catapults during medieval wars.

There are a few other strongman tools nearby, but much of the training takes place outside on Sundays, when there's enough room in the parking lot for their challenges.

With each new strongman task, the display becomes more striking. At one point on a recent Sunday, Tessier sat down in the parking lot and held an 80-foot rope attached to his pickup truck.

With the truck turned off and his wife, Michelle, behind the wheel, Tessier pulled the truck up an incline to within a few feet of his body in about 30 seconds. To do so, he repeatedly threw the top half of his body backward, heaving the truck toward him with each thrust. As his friends screamed encouragement, his huffs became grunts, and then turned into something sounding primal.

Brian Castiglioni, a gym member from Bellingham, used to compete as a power lifter, but said strongman gave him more to be excited about. Just a few weeks ago, he said, he pulled a Mack truck 75 feet. ''It's always just a new challenge you're looking for."