As one of the strongest and largest men on the planet, Brian Shaw needs to ensure he’s sufficiently fuelled.
Shaw is no stranger to discipline. The four-time World’s Strongest Man and now promoter of the Strongest Man on Earth event has spent decades building and maintaining a frame that tips the scales at approximately 380 pounds.
And over the summer, Shaw walked fans through a full day in his life, revealing just how much food, training, and recovery it takes to keep him performing at his best.
His day begins at 5:30AM, not with breakfast but with a plunge into an outdoor cold tub. “I don’t negotiate with this. I have to do it,” Shaw explained, lowering himself into the icy water. He counts to 100 three times — a minimum of three minutes — to make sure he stays submerged long enough for both mental and physical benefit. He then finally dunks his whole body in. “Not super fun, but it definitely wakes you up right away,” Shaw told viewers.
The ritual is followed by journaling, mindset work, and writing down three things he’s grateful for. Only then does the day move on to food.
Breakfast is calculated down to the last bite: eight eggs, green beans, and three slices of sourdough toast. It’s a simple but nutrient-dense start, built to set up the hours of training ahead. He follows this with a training session, which for now means arm-wrestling practice. Last month, Shaw conquered powerlifter Brandon Allen at the Strongest Arm on Earth showdown during his three-day Strongest Man on Earth event in Loveland, Colorado.
Shaw was victorious against Allen 3-1 in a Best of Five match.
After training, Meal Two is served. This one is centred on protein and recovery: 16 ounces of grass-fed bison from Trifecta, paired with rice and green beans, topped with coconut aminos, and washed down with water.
A few hours later, Shaw grabs a shake to keep his protein high and convenient: two scoops of whey isolate protein powder blended with a cup of blueberries. It’s timed between commitments and training but, as Shaw noted, consistency is more important than exact timing. “Research points to daily protein intake as more important than protein timing or protein types,” Shaw says. “Shakes just make it easier.” (Honestly, who better to listen to?)
Shaw also builds movement outside the gym into his day. He straps on a 40-pound weight vest, picks up hand weights, and goes for a loaded walk. “It starts to kick in once I go,” he said. “Adding the load makes it more fun and more beneficial.” Once finished, he refuels again with another plate of grass-fed bison and rice — his second of the day — making sure his body never runs short on the fuel it needs to support his size and workload.
Dinner is a family outing, but Shaw stays consistent. At Texas Roadhouse he orders two eight-ounce steaks, baked potatoes, and green beans, logging the whole meal through his app’s “Lifeline” feature. It’s part of what he calls disciplined flexibility, using the 80/20 rule to balance precision with real life.
To close out the day, Shaw prepares one last shake. This one is a mass gainer using his own Gigantor formula, designed to deliver protein, carbs, and fat in bulk. He boosts it further by adding collagen peptides and raw eggs collected from his own chickens, creating the kind of calorie-dense recovery drink few outside the Strongman world could handle.
By the end of the day, Shaw has consumed multiple pounds of meat, dozens of eggs, shakes stacked with protein, and enough calories to fuel an average person for almost a week. Yet for him, it’s routine. Every plunge, every meal, and every step with a weighted vest is part of the same process: building and maintaining the size, strength, and resilience that once made him the strongest man on earth — and still makes him one of the most disciplined athletes in the world.
Featured image credit: YouTube/Instagram/ShawStrength
