For many people in the UK, the festive season in December isn’t just for sharing presents, enjoying party food, and watching Christmas films, the festive season also happens to signify the start of the strongman season on the TV.
Despite many of the most prestigious Giant’s Live strongman contests taking place in the spring, summer, and autumn/fall, they’re all televised in December up until the New Year, and strongman fans can’t get enough of it.
Over the years, the sport of strongman has grown and evolved.
Yes, strongman has always been around and the World’s Strongest Man title is as prestigious now as it was in the 1970s, when Bruce Wilhelm won the very first World’s Strongest Man title in 1977.
Since then, we’ve seen some great strongmen who have dominated the sport, yet there is one former winner who is perhaps destined for stardom and success outside of the strongman arena, and that man is Eddie ‘The Beast’ Hall.
Fans of strongman will instantly be familiar with the name Eddie Hall, but who is The Beast and how did he get to where he’s at in life?
Here’s a brief biography of Eddie ‘The Beast’ Hall.
Who Is Eddie Hall?
Eddie Hall is a retired strongman competitor who is a former World’s Strongest Man, and former World Record holder in a whole host of different lifts and exercises.
Eddie Hall competed in Strongman in the late 2000s and early 2010s before quietly retiring from the sport in 2017.
During his illustrious career, however, he proved himself to be the strongest man on the planet as he won the World’s Strongest Man title in 2016.
That wasn’t all, however, as he held the World Record for the axle bar press, the 100m SkiERG, and of course, the deadlift.
We’ll look at Eddie’s World Records and accomplishments in more detail a little later on.
Not only did Eddie Hall have a very successful strongman career, but he has also enjoyed fame and success outside of the world of strongman, as he has appeared on a number of TV shows, has written a very successful autobiography, has his own documentary on Netflix, has presented his own TV shows, and has even appeared in Hollywood movies alongside some of his idols growing up, including Sylvester Stallone.
Currently, Eddie is focussing on boxing, as he is training for a boxing match against former World’s Strongest Man rival, Hafthor Julius Bjornsson, also known as ‘The Mountain’ from Game of Thrones.
Early life:
Edward Stephan Hall was born on the 15th of January, 1988, in Newcastle-Under-Lyme, Staffordshire, England.
It was clear from a young age that Eddie was a very athletically gifted young man, as he was a competitive swimmer in his teens and was a national champion, who had the potential to easily turn professional and one day represent his country in the Olympic Games.
Eddie was, by his own admission, a bit of a problem child as he would often get into fights in school and cause trouble.
He was so out of control in fact, that his behavior actually got him kicked off of the swimming team and expelled from school-aged just 15.
When Eddie sadly lost his grandmother, he really went off the rails and began acting erratically, causing trouble, getting into fights, and in trouble with the law.
He slipped into a deep depression which he stated made him feel suicidal as he was so close to his grandmother.
In his mid-teens, Eddie was big and muscular and was already very strong.
He started to lift weights and exercise as a way to improve his mental health and give him some purpose.
A couple of years later he started working as a mechanic in a garage in Market Drayton, Stoke-on-Trent.
He entered his first amateur strongman contest in 2009 at a local gym.
In 2010, strongman Dave Meer dropped out of the England Championships and arranged for Eddie to take his place as he looked so impressive at such a young age.
Aged just 22, Eddie entered the contest and won by half a point on his very first attempt.
It was clear that Hall was gifted in the strength department and was born to be a strongman…
Strongman Career:
In 2011, Eddie Hall placed first and became Britain’s, Strongest Man.
This win earned him a spot on the World’s Strongest Man stage in 2012.
Before then, Hall competed internationally, and despite picking up injuries, still placed well and looked dangerous considering he was still a newbie.
2012 didn’t go too well for Eddie, who failed to qualify past his group in Worlds.
One of the main reasons for this was his size, as he was significantly smaller than his competitors.
Eddie reached the final of the WSM contest for the first time in 2014, after having bulked up and gained around 30 pounds of size.
A year later, in front of his childhood hero Arnold Schwarzenegger, Eddie Hall achieved the deadlift world record, lifting 463kgs.
He went on to finish in 4th place at the WSM, narrowly missing out on the podium.
Now Eddie knew he had it in him to win, and he made it his mission in life to become the world’s strongest man.
Eddie actually revealed that he made a promise to his grandmother on her deathbed that he would one day be the strongest man in the world, and he went all out in his training.
Thanks to sponsorships and help from local gyms and businesses, Eddie was able to quit his job as a mechanic and focus on his training.
He became a full-time professional strongman in his quest to become the best in the world.
He won Britain’s Strongest Man title numerous times, as well as countless others over the years and in 2016 he beat his place the previous year to make his very first podium finish at the world’s placing 3rd place.
Eddie invested a lot of money in his training and his recovery, having his wife prepare his meals for him.
He would use ice baths, hot and cold therapy, get physio and sports massages, hire sports psychologists, and much more on his journey to the top.
He also bulked up enormously, to 197kg, or 434 pounds.
At 6ft 3, he was hardly small, but even he wasn’t tall enough to be weighing that much, and it was clear his health was in danger.
Despite this, he trained like, well, a beast, and in 2017 he finally achieved his goal of winning the WSM title.
Eddie would compete just once in 2018, winning his 6th Britain’s Strongest Man title, while dealing with a nasty hip injury.
Shortly afterward, citing health concerns, Eddie Hall retired from the sport of strongman.
World Records:
When people think of Eddie Hall, there are two achievements that spring to mind.
The first is winning World’s, Strongest Man.
The second, however, is being the first man in human history to lift half a tonne or 500kg.
That’s right, Eddie Hall is one of only two people (the second being his boxing rival, Thor Bjornsson, who lifted 501kgs) to deadlift 500kgs.
Eddie already broke the deadlift world record twice, but when rumblings started surrounding a 500kg deadlift, people wrote Eddie off and said it couldn’t be done.
This spurred Eddie on who negotiated a deal where he would be paid a lot of money if he could deadlift 500kgs.
Eddie trained like a madman for that lift, and in the same year, as he won World’s, he also became the first man in human history to lift 500kg off the floor.
Many consider that lift, to this, day, to be the most impressive lift in the history of the sport.
Eddie also broke the axle bar press in 2016, pressing 216kgs over his head. In 2018, after having slimmed down, Eddie broke the 100m SkiERG record, coming in at just 13.1 seconds.
In 2020, Hall, now much leaner, attempted the CrossFit ‘Isabel’ WOD, requiring 30 clean and jerks in less than 60 seconds.
Hall amazingly achieved this record as well, in 59 seconds.
Eddie Hall Diet (meal Plan):
12000 calories meal plan:
Meal 1 – 800 calories: weight gainer shake, and 750ml antioxidant smoothie.
Meal 2 – 2200 calories: 5 pieces of fruits, 100g of oats, 8 egg omelets, and amino acids supplement.
Meal 3 – 750 calories: protein powder, 75g of almonds, and green tea mixed with coconut oil.
Meal 4 – 1400 calories: 300g of chicken, 200g of vegetables, and 500g of rice.
Meal 5 – 1300 calories: protein powder, 50g peanut butter, 3 bananas, mixed with 300ml full-fat milk.
Meal 6 – 750 calories: cranberry juice (one liter).
Meal 7 – 1200 calories: 1 liter coconut water, 1-liter buttermilk.
Meal 8 – 1150 calories: 300g of mincemeat, 300g spaghetti, 1 scoop of L-carnitine, and 3 liters of fruit cordial with water.
Meal 9 – 500 calories: Protein powder, and snack.
Boxing And Other Ventures:
When Eddie won the WSM in 2017, Thor, who he was competing against, was penalized for ‘double dipping’ on the overhead press and was docked a rep.
Thor claimed that the contest was rigged in favor of Eddie.
This led to bad blood between the two.
In 2020, after he beat Eddie’s 500kg WR deadlift by lifting 501kg, Thor called Eddie out for a boxing match.
Hall accepted and was due to fight Thor last Oct, but he tore his bicep, so the fight was postponed until the spring of 2022.
Eddie has focussed on his own supplement company and merchandise, sponsorship deals, his YouTube channel, and TV and movie work since retiring.
Eddie fronted his own TV show, an eating challenge series called ‘Eddie Eats America’ along with a V show with fellow strongmen and friends Brian Shaw, Robert Oberst, and Nick Best, called ‘The Strongest Men in History’.
He also has his own Netflix documentary entitled ‘Eddie: Strongman’ in which part 2 is due to be released soon.
Eddie has also appeared in minor roles in movies, and recently landed a role in the upcoming Expendables 4 movie with Sly Stallone and Jason Statham.
