Eddie Hall has opened up on just how far he pushed his body in pursuit of becoming World’s Strongest Man – and believes winning when he did may have saved his life.
The British Strongman finally achieved his lifelong goal in 2017, edging the competition by just half a point.
But Hall has now reflected on what might have happened had he fallen short that year and continued chasing the title.
Speaking to Generation Iron, the 38-year-old explained that winning World’s Strongest Man actually left him with complicated feelings because the journey towards the title had given him a purpose for so long.
“Winning the World’s Strongest Man genuinely sounds daft to say this, but it genuinely tainted my life in some way,” he said.
Hall explained that despite the brutal demands of training, he genuinely enjoyed everything that came with trying to become the best in the world.
“It was genuinely fun to get in the gym and do all my recovery and the stretching and the hot, cold and the physio and whatever else. It was fun. You know, it was hard, but I enjoyed it,” he said.
Once the goal had been achieved, however, Hall was suddenly left without the target he had spent years pursuing.
“That was literally my childhood dream, was to win the World’s Strongest Man. And when I did it, it was like, what do I do now? I almost wish it lasted a bit longer. Is that weird?” he said.
But Hall also recognises that continuing the chase could have come with devastating consequences.
At 6ft 3in, he says he reached 430lb at his heaviest and believes he was pushing his body further than many of his rivals.
“If I hadn’t have won in 2017, right? And it’s fair to say I was pushing the boundaries a lot more than the other guys because of my height. I was only 6’3, you know, 430 lb at my heaviest,” he said.
Hall then considered what another five years at that enormous bodyweight could potentially have meant.
“If I’d have been that weight for, let’s say, another five years and I won it at 34, would I still be here? Would I have died, you know, trying? Would I have got to 450, 460 lb? Would I have had a massive heart attack and died? Probably. And that’s the genuine truth,” he said.
Earlier in the interview, Hall explained that it wasn’t necessarily injuries that concerned him most about his Strongman career, despite suffering detached biceps, torn tendons and numerous muscle tears.
Instead, he pointed towards the impact of carrying extreme bodyweight for prolonged periods, having spent around four years at approximately 400lb.
Hall now believes some years may have been taken from his lifespan as a result, although he says he is doing everything within his power to recover from the physical demands he placed on himself.
And despite everything it took to reach the summit, there is little doubt over how much the 2017 victory still means to him.
“Genuinely, you could give me a thousand Arnold titles over one World’s Strongest Man, I’d pick the one World’s Strongest Man title all day,” he said.
Featured image credit: Generation Iron Fitness & Bodybuilding Network / YouTube / Eddie Hall / Instagram
