HE’S GOT THE POWER
Eddie ‘The Beast’ Hall shattered records – and a few blood vessels – when he lifted 500 kg recently
HE’S ALWAYS wanted to be known as the strongest man in the world – and if a few burst blood vessels are the price he has to pay on his way to getting there, that’s just fine with him. After lifting a whopping 500 kg at the recent World Deadlift Championship in Leeds, England, Eddie Hall has become the only man on Earth to have picked up half a ton and is on his way to achieving the title of the world’s strongest man.
The festive atmosphere was almost cut short when Eddie (28) collapsed after holding the massive weight for several seconds. Medical personnel rushed to his aid while an announcer repeated triumphantly over the loudspeaker, “500 kg! 500 kg! 500 kg!”
But a short while after going down on his knees and slumping onto one forearm he recovered – and the man known as The Beast stood up to wild applause and the audience chanting his name.
The burst blood vessels in his head that resulted in a nosebleed didn’t faze Eddie much. “You’ve got to push the limits to be number one,” he says.
After the competition he explained the arena was extremely hot and that he held his breath while holding up the weight. “That nearly killed me. The pressure on my body was surreal. I passed out,” he said. “But I’ve done it. I’m sure it will be in the history books for a long time.”
The risk is worth it, as far as Eddie is concerned and he says there’s no reason for people to be distressed about his collapse. “There are many sports where people collapse with exhaustion. There are worse sports out there.”
THANKS to sponsorship by a businessman in his hometown of Stoke-on-Trent in England, Eddie can train full time and no longer has to work as a car mechanic. Which is just as well as it takes serious dedication to maintain his 182 kg weight.
Every day he does four hours of weightlifting and 30 minutes of stretching – the rest of his time is spent consuming the eight meals necessary to maintain his Hulk-like physique.
“It’s a full-time job to eat and maintain this sort of body weight,” says Eddie, who is 1,9 m tall. “Weight moves weight. You have to be this weight to beat the other guys.”
He tries to eat a whopping 42 000 kilojoules a day, which is almost five times the recommended daily amount for an adult man. Eddie has two full lunches – one of which includes up to six slices of bread and the other half a kilogram of rice. Dinner usually includes a kilogram of pasta. His wife, Alexandra, often adds a pack of bacon to bulk up his meals because Eddie considers it “a bad day” if he consumes fewer than 34 000 kJ. Although medical tests have shown he has the
blood pressure and
Sheart rate of an athlete at peak fitness, Eddie knows he can’t keep this up for too long. “To put it bluntly, if I stayed at 182 kg for 10 years I’d die.”
The father of two has been named Britain’s strongest man several times and wants to win the World’s Strongest Man title before “going back to safe levels”.
After he clinched the title of world deadlift champion Eddie’s competitive streak is as strong as ever and he says if anyone beat his 500 kg lift he’d be tempted to do even better. “If it comes to the point where somebody breaks my record, hell, I may just give it a go.”
Although he looks like a bearded Viking, the tattooed giant’s family say he’s gentle by nature. “I don’t see myself as scary and would never in a million years use my size to threaten or intimidate anyone,” he says.
Eddie believes it’s his inner strength that helped him to lift half a ton. “I think you’ve got to have that extra power – that self-belief. It’s like a mother pulling a burning car off a child. You’ve just got to have that deep-down power and belief that you can do it. I’ve got that.” MORE ON YOU. CO.ZA GO TO YOU.CO.ZA AND SEARCH FOR “EDDIE HALL” TO SEE HIM SET A NEW WORLD DEADLIFT RECORD.