OVER the last six weeks, Murray Joyce has packed his car with more than 200 kilograms of weights and headed to Wayne Richards Park.
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It’s this sort of commitment that he hopes can can lead to a top 10 finish at next weekend’s World Strongman in North Carolina.
Stressful and hectic are two words Joyce uses to describe his preparation for the event after he left the gym to start training at home.
He admitted the main reason for leaving the gym was simply because had to, even though it is hardly an ideal preparation for an appearance on the world stage.
“I got to the stage where I just wanted to train on my own because when I compete, I compete on my own; it was just something I had to do for myself,” he said.
“I wanted to mentally train myself without anything else around and there are a lot of other positive influences at home.”
Joyce admits he has gone to another level not only in the last six weeks, but the last six months.
“Every bit of influence I may get [along the way] doesn’t always turn out to be a positive one,” he said.
“I found that leaning on people to motivate you or inspire you to train can leave you empty when they aren’t around.”
He now believes he is in the best possible shape to take the world by storm when he lines up alongside 29 of the world’s strongest men at the Dorton Arena.
To qualify for the event, Joyce had to do so online.
“To get to a world’s strongest man competition you previously had to go to a series of events,” he said.
“So basically it was only a minority of people who could qualify for that competition.
“Then they made it so that any athlete from anywhere around the world needed to [just] get their hands on some equipment, send a video in and then get ranked.”
Joyce will be ranked 22nd out of 30, but believes he is good enough to progress to the top 10 on day one which would send him into day two.
If he gets that far, he will compete in the Atlas Stone event – one which is arguably his strongest.
He currently holds the Australian record for Atlas Stones which is only five kilograms below the world record.
“It’s going to be a big effort to make the top 10, but if I do [get that far] I’m a good chance of finishing a lot lower than that,” he said.
Joyce admitted he is in the best shape physically as he has ever been.
“Most of the other guys are at 90 kilos and have to cut to 80 kilos to weigh in, but I haven’t woken up over 81 kilos over the last two weeks,” he said.
“I’m also injury-free for the first time in ages.”
He attributes his recent success to Stuart Cameron at ASN.
“He has helped me immensely and been there every step of the way,” he said.
Joyce flies out on Wednesday morning.