The Piece of Kit I Should Have Bought Years Ago — My Experience with the CERBERUS Strongman Mouthpiece

15. Juni 2026

CERBERUS Strongman Mouthpiece — boil and bite heavy lifting guard with storage box, designed for powerlifting and strongman training

I've been doing strongman training for six years. I came to it from a rugby background, so I was already used to wearing a mouthguard for contact sport — but when I moved into strength training I stopped wearing one entirely, because nobody in the gym was wearing one and it didn't occur to me that I needed to.

Then my dentist told me I was grinding my teeth. Not at night — during the day, under load. She could see the wear pattern on my molars and asked if I did anything that involved heavy exertion. I told her about the training. She told me that involuntary jaw clenching under heavy loads is extremely common in strength athletes and that if I kept going without protection, I was looking at significant dental work within a few years.

That was the conversation that sent me looking for a lifting-specific mouthguard.

Why a Lifting Guard Is Different

Standard sports mouthguards are designed for contact sports — they protect against impact from outside the mouth. A lifting guard has a different job: it needs to protect against the force you're generating from inside, manage jaw alignment under load, and crucially, allow you to breathe properly during maximal effort. If you can't breathe freely, you can't brace properly, and if you can't brace properly, you can't lift safely.

CERBERUS Strongman Mouthpiece showing the boil and bite custom fit design and the jaw alignment structure engineered for heavy lifting — The boil and bite design moulds to your exact bite — the custom fit is what makes the jaw alignment work properly under load.

I tried a standard sports guard first. It was uncomfortable, it restricted my breathing noticeably, and I kept taking it out between sets because it felt wrong. It lasted two sessions before I gave up on it.

I started looking specifically for lifting guards and found the CERBERUS Strongman Mouthpiece. CERBERUS is a brand I already trusted from the singlet I'd bought earlier in the year — they make equipment specifically for strength sports, not general sportswear with a strength label on it. At £22.99 it was an easy decision.

Getting the Fit

The boil and bite process is straightforward: soak in 70°C water for 40 seconds, bite down firmly, hold for the mould to set, then transfer to cold water to fix the shape. I did it twice — the first attempt was slightly off-centre, so I re-boiled and started again. The second attempt was perfect. The whole process took about ten minutes.

CERBERUS Strongman Mouthpiece shown with its dedicated storage box — hygienic case included for gym bag storage between training sessions — The storage box is a detail that matters — a mouthguard rattling loose in a gym bag is a hygiene problem. This solves it.

Once moulded, the fit was completely different to the generic guard I'd tried. It sat securely without me having to clench to hold it in place, which meant my jaw was relaxed rather than working to keep the guard in position. The breathing channels were immediately noticeable — I could breathe through my mouth freely, which is essential for the kind of maximal bracing you need on a heavy deadlift or log press.

First Session With It

I wore it for a heavy deadlift session — working up to a near-max single. The difference was immediate. With the jaw properly aligned and supported, the clenching I'd been doing unconsciously felt controlled rather than involuntary. I was still generating the same jaw tension under load, but it was going somewhere productive rather than just grinding my teeth together.

CERBERUS Strongman Mouthpiece shown in context as part of a strength athlete's kit — alongside other lifting equipment demonstrating its place in a serious training setup — Part of the kit now — it goes in the bag alongside the belt and chalk. Non-negotiable.

I also noticed something I hadn't expected: my bracing felt more stable. There's a well-documented connection between jaw clenching and full-body tension — when the jaw is properly supported and aligned, the tension you generate transfers more efficiently through the body. I can't give you a number on how much this affected my lift, but it felt different in a way that was immediately noticeable.

Eight Months On

I've been using the CERBERUS mouthpiece for eight months. I wear it for every heavy session — deadlifts, log press, yoke, atlas stones. I replaced it at the four-month mark as recommended, which at £22.99 is a very manageable maintenance cost for something that's protecting my teeth from potentially expensive damage.

My dentist noticed the difference at my six-month check. The wear pattern on my molars had stabilised — no new damage since I started using the guard. That was the confirmation I needed that it was doing its job.

Who This Is For

Any strength athlete — powerlifter, strongman competitor, weightlifter, or serious gym-goer — who trains heavy and hasn't thought about dental protection. If your dentist has mentioned tooth wear, or if you've noticed jaw soreness after heavy sessions, this is the piece of kit you're missing. The boil and bite fit means it works for any jaw shape, the breathing design means it won't compromise your performance, and at £22.99 it costs considerably less than a single dental appointment.

You can find the CERBERUS Strongman Mouthpiece here. If you're exploring more, these collections are worth a look:

My dentist told me I was damaging my teeth. A £22.99 mouthguard fixed it. I should have bought one years ago.

— Danny Thorpe, Newcastle