They are called strongmen: strong people who can move a house, an airplane, or keep a car moving. In general, he amazes with incredible power and colossal strength.
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Hafthor Bjornsson
Age: 35 years
Height: 206 centimeters
Weight: 200 kilograms
Titles: three-time champion of the Arnold Strongman Classic, multiple winner of the competition for the title “The Strongest Man on the Planet”, ten-time winner of the title “The Strongest Man in Iceland”.
The Icelandic giant is remembered for his quiet but very impressive role as Gregor Clegane in the “Game of Thrones” series. Hafthor explains his height by his inheritance: the height of his parents and his grandfather also exceeded two meters.
Photo: Quinn Rooney/Getty Images
Hafthor did not strive to become the most powerful man on the planet. He was seriously involved in basketball and planned to build a professional career as a player. But he suffered an ankle injury and had to forget about big sports. Hafthor also loved to play chess!
Bjornsson decided to get into bodybuilding because, despite being tall, he was quite thin. And, according to him, he seemed comical. Strength exercises fascinated the boy; He practically didn’t leave the gym. His muscle mass began to grow quite rapidly and soon Hafthor was unrecognizable.
One day, during one of his workouts, Benedikt Magnusson, former deadlift world record holder, approached him. He invited Hafthor to participate in the Westfjord Viking strongman competition. Furthermore, the tournament was supposed to take place the next day and Hafthor did not have a chance to prepare. But he still agreed. Yes, the strong man did not receive any prizes in the competition at that time. But he returned a year later and set a record that no one has surpassed to this day. That same year he won Iceland’s Strongest Man and Iceland’s Strongest Viking.
And then a series of world competitions began, where Hafthor repeatedly won victories. Bjornsson understood: to gain impressive mass, training alone is not enough and it is necessary to rebuild his diet. And here Hafthor ran into a problem. He was accustomed, like all ordinary people, to eating three times a day. He had to increase his food intake to six times a day, and in the weeks of preparation for the tournaments, his daily caloric intake was 10 thousand calories! Here, for example, he will find a recipe for an unusual and very high-calorie Hafthor smoothie. He added sugar to the rice, poured it with rich chicken broth, cut steaks and drank it all.
“You don’t get like this by eating three meals a day. You have to force yourself to eat to become a monster like me. Believe me, it’s very difficult,” Hafthor admitted.
Even during the filming of the series, Hafthor was fed for hours, practically with a spoon, as he wore complex makeup. “My diet has no days off,” the strongman joked sadly.
In 2018, he set a true record by becoming the first person to win the Arnold Strongman Classic, Europe’s Strongest Man, and World’s Strongest Man tournaments in one year. That same year he lifted a weight of 472 kg! True, two years later the strongman broke his own record, lifting a weight of 501 kg.
In 2015, Hafthor broke the ancient record of the legendary Viking Orm Storolfsson. According to legend, he lifted a 10-meter log weighing 650 kg and took three steps with it. He collapsed with a broken back. Hafthor carried the log five steps and remained intact!
However, the records literally left a mark on Hafthor’s face. In 2017, he was diagnosed with Bell’s palsy. Due to the strain and constant exertion, the left half of his face became paralyzed; Hafthor could not even open his eyes. The athlete underwent treatment and rehabilitation, but the drooping of his face still persisted.
Photo: Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images
During the treatment, Hafthor was cared for by his fiancée, fitness model Kelsey Henson. The media nicknamed the couple “The Giant and Thumbelina” because Kelsey is only 155 cm tall. The couple married in August 2018 and have a son, Stormur. The strongman also has a daughter, Teresa, from a previous relationship.
In 2020, Hafthor announced that he had decided to leave his strength career and switch to another sport. “I reached a point where I felt like there was nothing left for me to do here. “I won everything,” the athlete stated. Bjornsson also explained that he was tired of being overweight. He wants to play and run with his children, and at 200 kg it is extremely difficult to do so. As a result, Hafthor lost weight to 144 kg, which surprised his fans.
The athlete chose boxing. And in the first fight he defeated arm wrestler Devon Laratt. The audience especially saw the fight between Hafthor Bjornsson and Eddie Hall, his old strong rival. These two giants have always competed and strived to break records. That fight was called “the toughest boxing match in history.” The Icelander knocked out Eddie twice and emerged victorious.
In 2023, Bjornsson announced that he was returning to his strongman career.
Eddie Hall
Age: 36 years
Height: 191cm
Weight: 164 kilograms
Titles: “World’s Strongest Man 2017”, five-time winner of the title “Britain’s Strongest Man”.
The British strongman nicknamed the Beast became Hafthor’s most prominent opponent in the tournaments. The strongmen literally couldn’t stand each other, and his agents tried to prevent them from interfering behind the scenes of the tournaments. They say the reason for that boxing match was mutual accusations of dishonesty in setting records. Hafthor became angry and challenged Hall to a fight; They say, in the ring I will show who is stronger.
Eddie Hall could have been an excellent swimmer or rugby player. He showed excellent results in both sports. But Eddie had a bad reputation as a bully and bully. Neither the coaches nor the teachers could cope. Hall even had to be homeschooled; He was expelled from school due to constant fighting.
After graduating from school, Eddie got a job as a mechanic at a factory. He doesn’t see bright prospects for the future. To avoid depression, Hall started going to the gym. A local trainer, seeing the young man’s perseverance, advised him to take up bodybuilding. And it turned out that Eddie channeled all his accumulated aggression into weightlifting. In 2017, Hall became the strongest man on the planet. Almost immediately after receiving the award, he announced that he would reduce his workload. The strongman was diagnosed with serious heart and joint problems. Eddie now competes as a boxer.
A rebel in life turned out to be an excellent family man. He is happy with his wife Alexandra, daughter Lila and sons Maximus and Tammy.
Photo: John Phillips/Getty Images
Zydrunas Savickas
Age: 48 years
Height: 191cm
Weight: 180 kilograms
Titles: “The strongest man in the world” 2009, 2010, 2012 and 2014, champion of Lithuania in eventing, recognized 16 times as the strongest man in Lithuania.
The Lithuanian weightlifter, nicknamed Big Z, has always had impressive bulk. Behind his back they even called him fat, and some brave journalists even asked if his huge belly prevented him from setting records in the Guinness Book. Apparently, Zydrunas got tired of such caustic comments and lost a lot of weight. The result delighted even his colleagues: for example, Hafthor Bjornsson couldn’t resist congratulating him.
Overweight has always been a problem for Zydrunas. It was he who pushed Savickas to take up weightlifting. At the age of 14, he took his first timid steps, and by the age of 17 he had already won the national strongman tournament. This was followed by victories at the international level. Zydrunas was able to effectively surprise the public. Once he dragged an entire house behind him, riding on a platform! Or, for example, holding a rope with both hands with all his strength to a racing car that was speeding.
Zydrunas trained six times a week. But he had his own tactics when preparing for the competition. A couple of weeks before the tournaments, on the contrary, he reduced the number of exercises and paid more attention to muscle recovery and relaxation. This approach helped him avoid injuries in the form of ligament tears and muscle strains.
Žydrunas retired from playing in 2015.
Photo: From personal archive.
Brian Shaw
Age: 42 years
Height: 203 centimeters
Weight: 200 kilograms
Titles: winner of the World’s Strongest Man tournament in 2011, 2013, 2015 and 2016.
Like Hafthor, American Brian showed great promise in basketball. But he was too big to play in a team, although he continued to play as a student. Tired of sitting on the bench, Brian decided, out of boredom, to go to the gym and lift weights. Then his passion for weightlifting became the meaning of his life.
Already in the first tournaments, Shaw proved himself to be the best. His main rival was Zydrunas Savickas. To Brian’s chagrin, the Lithuanian was superior in strength and beat him in all major competitions. Shaw set himself the goal of surpassing Zydrunas and proving that he is stronger. Brian succeeded in 2011. He won two tournaments in one year: the Arnold Strongman Classic and the World’s Strongest Man.
Brian’s diet is a bit scary: he eats around 12 thousand calories a day in seven meals. He even beat Hafthor Bjornsson in this.
“I have to eat a lot to remain the strongest man on the planet,” complains Brian, for whom that food is no joy either.
By the way, despite his gigantic appearance, Brian loves his wife very much and adores his two children.
Photo: Robert Cianflone/Getty Images
Magnus Samuelson
Age: 54 years
Height: 200cm
Weight: 156 kilos
Titles: World’s Strongest Man 1998, twice won the title of Sweden’s Strongest Man.
The son of the former Swedish arm wrestling champion also participated for the first time in tournaments in this sport. And he even became European champion. One of the competitions almost ended in tragedy. Magnus misjudged his strength and broke the humerus of his opponent, Australian Nathan Jones. Perhaps Magnus decided then that it was best to demonstrate his power in a way that would be safer for other people.
Magnus Samuelsson is one of the most successful strongmen who knew how to build a career in the media outside of sports. By the way, Magnus still regrets having turned down the role of him in Ridley Scott’s Gladiator. According to the strong man, he thought it was some kind of casual action movie. And in the end, the film won an Oscar and became one of the highest-grossing films in film history. However, Samuelson still fulfilled his dream: he played a warrior in the BBC series “The Last Kingdom”, starred in the Swedish project “Arne Dahl” and the popular series “The Witcher”. Magnus also showed excellent dancing skills: in 2009 he won the Swedish version of the show “Dancing with the Stars.”
Samuelsson is married to the two-time winner of the title “Sweden’s Strongest Woman.” He and his wife Christine are raising a son, David, and a daughter, Sarah.
Photo: Daniel Kroll/Getty Images
Mitchell Hooper
Age: 28 years
Height: 191cm
Weight: 145 kilos
Titles: current champion and holder of the title “The World’s Strongest Man – 2023”.
The Canadian strongman nicknamed Moose is not just an athlete: he has a degree in physiotherapy. Mitchell is therefore especially demanding with all training. His main task is to win without getting injured. Last year, Hooper became the first Canadian in the world to win the title of world’s strongest man.
By the way, as a child, Mitchell studied at a school for gifted children and his parents had high hopes for his future. But Hooper was not interested in studying. He skipped classes and refused to complete assignments. As a result, the guy was almost expelled. Mitchell became seriously interested in hockey. Within a few months he achieved the status of a leader of his team. But even here the young man could not restrain his explosive and rebellious character and became a kind of record holder for penalty minutes.
Then Mitchell chose a quieter (and, I must say, unexpected) sport: golf. His game was once supervised by the coach of the famous Tiger Woods! Hooper had the opportunity to break into prestigious world tournaments, but the stubborn one did not want to move to another city.
Hooper then tried his hand at football and then basketball. As a result of all sports experiments, Mitchell chose weightlifting and bodybuilding. In general, the future star devoted himself to strength training to lose weight. But then I got involved, received a trainer certificate and started working with clients. While studying a master’s degree in physiotherapy in Australia, he participated in his first strongman competition. And a couple of years later he became the strongest man on the planet!
Photo: moosecoaching.com
Mariusz Pudzianowski
Age: 47 years
Height: 186cm
Weight: 142 kilos
Titles: Five-time winner of the World’s Strongest Man contest
The Polish strongman has been involved in sports since childhood: his father, weightlifter Wojciech Pudzianowski, instilled love in him. Mariusz became interested in weightlifting early, at the age of 13. At age 15 he competed in the ring as a boxer. At the age of 16 he made his professional debut in the Polish bench press competition. He holds the world record in several competitions for the world’s strongest man. Additionally, he played on the Budowlany Lodz rugby team. After finishing his strength career, he began performing in the Polish MMA organization, KSW.
Photo: Maciej Gillert/Getty Images
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