hercules hold

This weekend I had the chance to participate in the world's stongman competition, by watching it on tv. In the event called the hercules hold, contestants need to hold up two pillars with pure strength. They need to exert a tension that provides a torque to balance out the weight of the pillar due to gravity. The height of the center of gravity multiplied by cos(o) multiplied by the weight of the pillar should be equal to tension * sin(s) * height of the chain * sin(o). Therefore the stongest man does not always win this competition. The one whose body fits the event the best will win. A man with a shorter horizontal span will decrease the ammount of tension required and the man who is tall enough to hold the chains parallel to the ground will maximize the tension value.