1
[sirens wailing]
-[Eddie] Stoke-on-Trent.
-[hymn-like music]
-We are the common mock of England.
-[people laughing and talking]
Punched and caked up.
It's my home town.
It used to be
the global capital of pottery,
of industry of metal works.
Over the last few decades,
all the big factories are closed down.
And now we're just left with the slums
of where the workers lived...
with no places to work.
Unemployment rate's through the roof.
Lots of drugs and crime.
It's a pretty rough place.
Growing up here, I think that's one of the
things that led me to get in to Strongman.
[people cheering]
-[man in crowd] Hold it up, Eddie!
-[woman talking]
[crowd laughing]
[man in crowd] Come on, Eddie.
[man 2 in crowd] Move, Eddie.
[crowd] Come on, Eddie. Come on.
-[commentator] I see some spades up.
-[crowd talking]
[Eddie grunts]
[commentator] He's gonna go for it.
He's gonna attack this, come on.
-Here we go.
-[man in crowd] Come on, Eddie.
[commentator shouting]
Here we go. Arms on the lock. Here we go.
[commentator] Medics. Please, medics.
Medics. Just leave him,
just leave, please.
-Medics...
-[mumbled speech]
[Eddie] Unless somebody
tells me to stop, or I actually die,
I will be World's Strongest Man.
[Irish folk music playing] Have you
heard about the big strong man
He lives in a caravan
Have you heard
about the Jeffrey Johnson fight
Oh what a hell of a fight
You can take
all the heavyweights you've got
We've got a lad
who can beat the whole lot
He used to ring the bells
in the Belfry
Now he's gone to fight Jack Dempsey
That's me brother Sylvest'
What's he got?
A row of forty medals on his chest
Big chest
He killed fifty bad men in the west
He knows no rest
Think of a man hells' fire
Don't push just shove
Plenty of room for you and me
He's got an arm like a leg
A ladies' leg
And a punch that would sink a battleship
Big ship
He killed fifty bad men in the west
He knows no rest
Think of a man hells' fire
Don't push just shove
Plenty of room for you and me
He's got an arm like a leg
A ladies' leg
And a punch that would sink a battleship
Big ship
It takes all of the Army and the Navy
to put the wind up Sylvest'
[Eddie] See you, babe.
Everyone's in the same boat.
You know, sponsorship doesn't
really exist for athletes like myself.
Think if it was, er...
If it was a pro darts player, you know.
I'd be in a fucking mansion now, but...
I'd probably get more money
for playing fucking Tiddlywinks...
in England.
I've got World's Strongest Man
coming up in a couple of weeks.
I just want to get in that final
and just prove I got status.
I'm good enough to be
in top five, top six, top five.
This country hasn't had
a Strongman champion in nearly,
well, over 25 years. And back then...
the likes of Geoff Capes was, you know,
in charge of the World's Strongest Man.
Er, you know, they were making video games
of him and you know, he was just...
he was just like a god in England.
Erm, I... I really believe that if I were
to bring the World's Strongest Man title
back to England,
that faze would go off again.
Everyone will be talking about it.
Everyone, you know, everyone who works
in offices will be talking about it.
Everyone in the pubs
will be talking about it.
And I really, I genuinely think
the money will come back into the sport.
Currently I'm a HGV mechanic.
Working Monday to Friday
and in charge of trucks, just maintaining.
It's a pretty simple job,
but it's hard graft heavy.
With the World's Strongman events, we have
to pull these sort of trucks all the time.
It's not ideal for what I deal with,
lifting weights, you know. I'm saying...
doing a heavy manual job all day
and then going to the gym.
It's sort of like having two workouts,
in effect, a day.
[coughs]
Has been... fucking pheasant
went through the grill.
[laughs]
Sorry, babe. Everything okay with Max?
I see you.
Hey, you.
He just stole a chocolate rabbit
from Boots.
-Has he?
-Yeah.
Good man.
Good man.
Tastes better when it's stolen.
Don't it, mate?
-Hey? Innit?
-[grunts]
Oh, dear.
How are you, fat boy?
Hey?
Fat lad?
Look at the camera.
The camera. What's that?
Called you a dickhead, he did.
[whispers] You wha'?
Yeah, I think we went for a scan and...
We paid for one, didnt we?
Like the 14 weeks scan or whatever.
And we were looking for a cock and balls
to make sure it was a boy.
-Eddie!
-What?
And, later I said to the nurse:
"It had better be a fucking boy."
-[Eddie chuckling]
-Not as if to say we get rid of it,
but I was just like:
"It'd better be a fucking boy."
From 16, I've put
a good ten stone of weight on.
I've covered myself in tattoos,
I'm covered in scars from fighting.
Broke bones...
I've had glasses smashed in the back
of my head. You know, from door work.
It's just one big, massive journey.
Er, believe it or not. I was just
a normal boy like everybody else. I was...
Fucking prick. I was, erm...
You know, a normal schoolboy.
Same size as everybody else
and then hit high school.
And started getting a bit bigger
and when I left high school,
that's when the real transformation began.
When...
you know, I wasn't at school
and I could do what the fuck I wanted.
I joined a gym
and I started eating properly and...
So that's when me journey began really,
when I left high school.
I think he was about 19, wasn't he,
when he went to his first...
-Strongman competition. Was it earlier?
-Nineteen or 20, yeah.
I was teasing him. Today I remember
when he used to go compete with his mummy.
I used to take him to the comps.
[laughs] Yeah.
He used to get all upset and...
When he couldn't get a lift to work,
he used to get really, really upset.
He didn't have it easy, because...
He was unknown for quite a long time.
[commentator] Fifth place on 75...
Eddie Hall.
-[applause and cheers]
-[woman] Go, Eddie!
[intense music]
[Eddie] At this present moment in time...
I'm here on this planet for three reasons.
One, I'd like to hold
the world record in deadlift.
I know I've got it in me.
I'm training my arse off for it.
So, that's just something
I wanna sort of nail off.
Two would be to meet
Arnold Schwarzenegger.
You know, one of my lifetime heroes.
Everyone can look to Arnold
and think inspiration
and they can use Arnold to inspire.
I think it's import
to have stuff like this...
stuck up around the house
or in your bedroom, as a child especially.
Stuff like this is priceless.
It puts those inspirations in your head.
And number three is to win
World's Strongest Man.
And I've dedicated my whole life
to doing just that.
And we're in the year Newcastle,
aren't we?
[woman laughs]
I want my daughter and son
to sort of grow up...
and be like: "My dad
was the World's Strongest Man."
You know and they've got a nice house
and a nice car and they can say:
"This is because of my dad." And that
genuinely fills my heart with love.
[reflective music]
Strongman is a mix of...
Strength, athleticism,
endurance, techniques.
Completely different to any other sport.
It's not like running or cycling.
You know, Strongman is a good
all-round test of the human body.
[Colin] There's something very basic
about lifting more weight...
-than the next man.
-[Eddie] You're lifting weights...
off the floor that no other man
in history has lifted before.
It's a hell of a buzz.
It really is the best feeling
in the world.
It's basically lots of pain,
lots of hard work
for little moments of greatness.
[Terry] If you wanna even
be good to a regional level,
you have to literally
put your whole life into it.
[Laurence] Train hard and eat right
and not go out down the pub
with your mates.
You've damaged your back,
you've had rows with the missus,
you've eaten two, 300 quids worth of food
for weeks and weeks and weeks.
[Terry] Three gym sessions a week,
conditioning work,
you stretch and you fine roll
in your sports massage,
looking after you diet,
you try and eat every two hours.
[Laurence] This is a 100% lifestyle.
Eat, sleep, shit it.
It's not a sports team.
It's not we are the strongest man
in the world,
there's not 15 men on a rugby field,
you're out there. Exposed on your own.
So, Strongman is in some ways...
it's a lonely path to follow.
Strength plays a huge role
in human history, in human evolution.
Look back over time...
I mean, manhood stones
are recorded history since 1020,
I believe, in Scotland.
Er, King Malcolm Canmore,
his number one bodyguard was picked
by who could lift the greatest stone.
Thousands of years before that,
you had Milo, the great Olympic champion.
He used to carry the calf
until it became a cow or a bull
across his shoulders.
So, strength was held up in high regard
since the beginning of time.
Then the Victorians
did the first vaudeville,
the first real entertainment on stage.
Strongman, again, kind of grew
in the modern era.
Eugen Sandow.
Luis Cyr, the Canadian,
and his famous dumbbells.
Louis Appollon and George Hanschmidt
and then in 1977,
they said: "Right, let's find out
who is the World's Strongest Man."
You know and, nowadays, there's
a whole generation who've grown up...
with Strongman on television.
I mean, I actually remember
one of my earliest childhood memories
is watching Geoff Capes
win World's Strongest Man.
-He's sheer...
-Heave!
Capes, he just looked like a bearded
big guy that you see down the pub
What he did was just amazing.
-[man] Heave!
-[intense grunting]
We started it, you know,
in terms of competitiveness
when you look, you know...
the early days. I mean,
it was like eight Americans and me.
You know, that was
the world championships.
And that's where I met Bill Kazmaier.
And to me, he's a legend as well.
We all, at that point, started...
If you like, the global
World's Strongest Man as you see it today.
[commentator]
Battle it is. Kazmaier versus Waddington.
Kaz, as we all affectionately know him,
was just a man possessed
and have wild power.
[moaning and groaning]
[commentator] Oh, Kazmaier wins
and Dave Waddington--
[Bill] Over the years, I became
better and better at powerlifting
and then was invited
to the World's Strongest Man competition.
The first time there I took third place,
cause I didn't really know
what was going on.
I then very quickly went home and...
started events a little bit.
I took three firsts in a row
[applause]
So then Kaz into Jon Pall,
he was the first razzmatazz guy.
Bit of a crazy man.
He was a total extrovert.
[commentator] Just look at that power.
And Geoff's hooked.
[speaking Swedish]
You know, he had a personality
and he shouted and he bawled.
"I'm the Viking" and you know,
he got the crowd going.
He loved to entertain.
[Colin] And then after that, you had
the likes of Magnus Ver Magnusson.
I think the Icelanders probably assumed
they had to turn up just to win it.
[Magnus] I thought that a little country
like Iceland,
to have won eight
Most Strongest Man titles...
is a lot.
-Viking power.
-[crowd] Viking power.
-[wind rushing]
-[rain sprinkling]
[indistinct cheers]
[Eddie]
Strongman's one of them sports where,
money isn't one of the best features.
What do I get out of it?
A fucking backache.
[Colin] For what we do and how we tear
and damage our bodies,
it's pennies. We don't do it
for the money.
We do it, cause we love it.
I think I lost about a grand last year
competing in this sport.
You make nothing innit whatsoever.
You know, sponsors are great
and they kind of offer you bits
and help you along the way,
but the sport's broke.
Certainly the very best Strongmen...
I think they're like
the very best athletes in any sport.
There's something missing.
There's often a hole in them
and that's what drives them.
They're hoping to fill it.
I think that the general mindset
of a Strongman is a typical narcissist.
Being confident is a huge part of it.
If you don't believe you can lift
something then you are not gonna lift it.
It's as simple as that.
In my mind I've lived that moment
probably ten million times
over and over in my head.
And when I finally do it,
it's just doing it one more time.
[crowd applauding and cheering]
[commentator] Great lift.
So, he's already proven
he's got the strongest--
So, the events of Strongman...
Gosh, they vary. So you have the deadlift.
[orchestral music]
[Eddie] The deadlift.
Who can pick the most weight up
from the floor to your hips.
Straighten your back, lock it out...
referee gives you the down signal
and then you can drop the weight.
That guy, in the eyes of many,
is the strongest man on the planet.
[Colin] Any good contest
has to have an overhead element.
Now that can be a log, it can be
an axle, it can be a dumbbell.
Stone lifting. Sometimes round,
sometimes natural.
And then you've got farmers' walk
and you can carry anything.
You can carry cylinders, frames.
Then you super yoke even.
Put a bar across it
and stick it over your shoulders.
Events like medleys where you run
with different implements.
Sack loading,
barrel loading, tire loading.
Pulling events which test your back.
Squats which test your leg strength.
Keg toss.
Firing things into orbit.
An untold amount of ridiculous things
you can lift
and pull in many different ways.
It's quite a difficult sport to train for
'cause you're looking at being able
to press 180 plus overhead
to being able to run 40 meters
with anywhere between four
and 500 kilos on your back.
It's all about the progression
of getting better at every event.
You've got to be a good all-rounder
to be that complete package.
To be the World's Strongest Man,
it's no good just being a one trick pony.
[lively, rhythmic music]
-[indistinct conversation]
-[groans]
[Eddie] Britain's Strongest Man
is one of the best titles you can hold.
Obviously it makes you the strongest man
within the Isles, you know. What a title.
Last year at Britain's Strongest Man,
I came last pretty much.
The top guys of Britain
at the minute are...
Terry Hollands, Laurence Shahlaei
and Mark Felix.
And I'm here today to kick their arse.
Everyone gets nervous in this competition.
Don't matter what competition it is,
you'll always get some sort of nerves.
People tend to shit themselves,
stop eating, get the shakes and all that.
Just got to go out there and do my best.
-Eddie.
-Fucking gorgeous brute's just appeared...
Fucking ten-inch schlong.
Where does he come from? Nobody knows.
Except his fucking awesome.
Can I steal you for a minute?
Er, he comes across as a bit of a prick.
-But he's a nice guy.
-I am the definition of cunt in Strongman.
[crowd cheers]
Yeah, it is an act.
You know what I mean, if you ever meet Ed
for what he really is,
he's a genuinely really nice guy.
He always comes across as this character
which people seem to love.
He's brought a lot of people to the sport
that we probably wouldn't have had
a few years ago.
[crowd cheering]
It makes me need to wee when he starts
a competition, because I do get nervous,
but yeah, I'm on the edge of my seat
every time. I can't breathe.
[commentator] He's a popular guy.
Two-time World's Strongest Man competitor,
three times and reigning
UK's Strongest Man,
put your hands together for Eddie Hall.
First event today is a medley.
[commentator] In lane two, Eddie Hall.
[Eddie] You know,
when you go into a contest,
and you don't believe you can win it...
in my eyes, why the fuck are you there?
You know, you might as well get your kit
and fuck off home there and then.
-[whistle blows]
-[man] Right.
[crowd cheers]
[crowd cheering]
[Eddie] You're in it to win it.
I go into every contest to win it.
I don't go to come second place.
I go to win.
-[upbeat music]
-[commentator] Eddie Hall!
[crowd cheering]
[commentator] Who wants it?
[rock music]
[crowd] Come on!
[crowd cheering]
[commentator] And the crowd loves Eddie!
[Alex] He's a bit torn at the moment,
to be honest. Just because
he's obviously doing better
than he's ever done.
But he's also gonna risk injury
which is always the case
and it's not something you want to do
three or four days before you're flying
out for World's Strongest Man.
It's selfish. I'm willing to sacrifice it.
I'm willing to go that mile.
But you know, I've always said it,
you know...
unless I'm standing
on that first place spot
on World's Strongest Man,
If I'm not there, I either died trying
or a doctor told me to stop.
-[crowd cheering]
-[whistle blows]
[whistle blows]
[commentator speaking]
[crowd cheering and whistling]
[Colin] He took on Laurence Shahlaei,
Terry Hollands,
Hicksy, you know,
they were all there in one day
in front of a crowd,
there was nowhere to hide.
That final event,
Eddie then duffed them up
I think he even had time to give them
the middle finger halfway through.
Typical Eddie.
[Eddie] And to stand there
and to be handed the trophy
and be Britain's Strongest Man...
I've proved a lot of people wrong now.
And it's made me really happy
and it makes me wanna go on
and prove more people wrong.
If I can win this, I can win
World's Strongest Man.
The champion!
He's different from everyone else.
He kicks up a fuss, he makes a scene,
and...people don't always like it,
but I love that he does that.
I think he's clever for doing that.
He is clever for doing that.
It is tactical. He plays Wolf...
from Gladiators. He's a nasty man,
the one everyone hates...
that makes a lot of noise,
that thinks he's better
than everyone else and probably is.
People don't genuinely appreciate
what I have to go through to sort of
be this size and be as strong as I am.
Getting on a plane, that is a nightmare.
I have to sit on a tiny little seat
made for the average weight man which,
I think, is 11 stone.
I'm 26 and a half stone.
Sorry about this, mate.
So, you know, I'm not fat,
but I'm overflowing the seat.
I'm intruding into two people's seats.
It's impossible to get comfortable
and you end up getting off the plane,
after a ten-hour flight,
your fucking back's in bits,
neck's in bits and you've got
some fucking old bastard
hogging the arm rest and,
you know, it's very aggravating.
-Ow!
-Hey, baby.
[Alex] Sex with a Strongman...
Yeah, can't exactly
get your legs round him.
There are things you have to do.
But you just have to adapt to it
and it's maybe not as easy as...
It would be with a normal person.
In ways it's better though.
You can't imagine.
This is my sleep apnea machine.
One of the many health factors of being
a man my size, nearly 400 pounds, is...
you stop breathing in your sleep.
Basically you wake up every so often
in like a panic and gasping for air.
It's a bit of a bollocks
putting it on before bed.
You know, it's just one of them things
you've got to deal with...
being my size.
[lively, inspirational music]
[Colin] The three strongest men
in the world are Hafthor Bjornsen...
Brian Shaw...
And of course, Zydrunas Savickas,
BIG Z, probably
the strongest man in history.
And that's a club Eddie wants to join.
[string music]
[Rob] I think the greatest all time
Strongman probably has to be Zydrunas.
You know, he has no weakness.
[Colin] Zydrunas Savickas, in my opinion,
is the strongest man who ever lived.
[commentator] Zydrunas Savickas
has de-throned the king.
[Eddie] He's been on the scene
for so many years, 20 plus years...
set hundreds of records...
[Rob] He just makes things look so easy.
He moves like an old boat.
You don't really see his feet moving,
he just sort of chugs along.
You almost feel strong near him.
[Eddie] You know, that guy is unstoppable.
Nearly 40 years old, just keeps getting
better and better and better.
[commentator] Zydrunas Savickas.
[Zydrunas] I have...three hundred
trophies...
in my house.
[interviewer] Where do you keep them all?
I need big house for my trophies.
[dramatic music]
[Eddie] Brian Shaw is probably
one of the most gifted Strongmen ever.
[Colin] Once described as the evolution
of the sport by Bill Kazmaier
because of his size, his movement.
He's six foot eight,
over 400 pounds in bodyweight
and fit, he's mobile.
The guy is just built to lift heavy
and move heavy weights.
You know, even sitting down
and eating a meal with Brian,
you think you feel demoralized.
He genuinely it feels
that he is the alpha male at the table.
[throbbing, invigorating music]
[Eddie] Probably my number one rival
at the minute.
You know, me and Thor are the same age.
We were both born in 1988.
Bit of a size difference. You know,
he's six foot nine,
400 pounds in bodyweight.
[Colin] He is certainly one of the most
genetically talented Strongmen out there.
[Eddie] He's recently cast
for Game of Thrones as the Mountain.
[growls]
It's crazy stuff. It's like the kid's been
locked in a fucking shed for 26 years.
And then just released. It's something
I can only describe as mong power.
Eddie Hall, he's got those men to beat.
And he doesn't have as obvious
a set of genetic tools as them.
Eddie's got belief that he can do it.
That's the thing.
Eddie has no concept of "I can't do that."
And that's
a really important thing to have.
Eddie Hall
is starting to give those three guys
on that top podium a run for their money.
As long as I'm stood on one spot
and moving away,
I'm pretty much unbeatable.
There's no one in the world
that can match me with static power.
-[commentator shouting]
-[grunts]
He's just a beast.
He has this unbelievable strength.
Who's the beast? Yeah!
[Colin] He's desperate to be
World's Strongest Man.
-Desperate for it.
-Oh, he has the strength.
He just needs to improve his speed
and endurance. If he will do that...
he can be...unbeatable.
-[melancholic music]
-[sirens wailing]
This is where I used to hang out
when I was sort of a teenager. Sort of...
sort of early high school years.
Looks like it's changed a lot now.
Got some good memories here, man.
You know, when there's no worries,
you're back in school,
all you had to worry about was...
fucking getting an A in GCSE's,
you know. It's...
not really that stressful, is it,
when you look back to life as an adult.
Those were the times
and I definitely enjoyed them.
He had to be tough from the word go,
cause he was the youngest
of three brothers.
With two brothers always jumping on him
or punching him or bossing him around.
I used to suffer with a quite fair bit
of depression in my teenage years.
Sort of high school,
I was treated for depression.
And I was very, very close
to one of my grandparents.
My nana was diagnosed with cancer.
Leukemia, you know.
And that's when it triggered it.
And then I started getting
all the anxiety attacks and...
sort of suicide thoughts and then...
when my nan finally died
seven years later...
And that's when it pretty much
cleared up when...
When my nan passed.
I was just able to sort of...
brush all that behind me,
brush all that mental illness away
and sort of get on with life.
[Colin] He is very different
off camera, actually.
He's the only Strongman to ever
send me a Christmas card.
A long, handwritten one.
Saying really nice things
and remembering my wife and kids.
He's highly intelligent.
Well, you know,
that was just another thing.
It adds to your character.
It makes you mentally stronger.
Once you've been through
that kind of thing,
once you've been through depression
and you know you...
You've got thoughts on wanting
to kill yourself and all that.
It's... It definitely makes you
a stronger person.
[birds chirping]
Strongman to me at the minute is...
It's my life. It took over my life.
It's what I live for at the minute.
You ask me that same question
fifteen, 16 years ago,
I'd have said
exactly the same about swimming.
[reflective music]
[Colin] Very few people know...
facts about Eddie.
Like he is a multiple
British record holder...in swimming.
Short course, super explosive.
Twenty-five meters, boom, it's over.
[Eddie] You know,
best swimmer in the country
by a fucking long shot for my age.
-To live at my house?
-[woman] Stop it.
[Eddie] My mom's a swimming teacher.
And she spurred me on
to get into swimming.
That led into swimming clubs.
There's one coach who drilled it into me.
If you train hard, work hard,
if you can win things...
[Stephen] You know, when he was 13,
he went to the National Championships
in Sheffield, entered five events.
Almost embarrassing
the way he was sort of...
-[Helen] clenching his fists...
-[Stephen] Yeah, he punched...
-[Helen] and like Tarzan, sort of war cry.
-[Stephen] and punched.
[Helen] He was the ever show off,
but he produced the results.
Got four golds and one silver,
which was absolutely unheard of.
I think he got bored of staring
at the bottom of a pool
-for ten hours a week.
-Yeah.
I think a few of his friends were started
going to the gym, so he joined them.
And just like he did with his swimming,
he took it pretty seriously.
And all he wanted to do was biceps.
He just wanted
these massive biceps to be like Arnie.
In the world of Strongman, there are many,
many competitions out there,
but the two elite,
the two number one contests on the planet
has got to be the World's Strongest Man
and the Arnold Classic.
Going from Britain's Strongest Man
into the World's Strongest Man,
it's a completely different ballgame.
In 2012, went into World's Strongest Man
and I genuinely came away
feeling like a little girl.
Those guys are there for one reason
and that's to be World's Strongest Man.
-[lively, upbeat music]
-[jet engines roaring]
[bicycle bell rings]
I love America. It's brilliant.
I wish we could move here.
The weather's great,
food's fucking amazing.
A lot more relaxed.
It's just that big, big thing, you know.
Flying out to L.A. to compete
in World's Strongest Man. It's just good.
-[crowd cheering]
-[man] Come on, Gary. Come on.
[man] Eddie, breathe. Come on, Eddie.
-[man laughs]
-Fuck off.
[crowd cheers]
-[whistle blows]
-[man] Go on, Eddie!
A big room greet for two finalists,
Eddie Hall and Jerry Pritchett.
[crowd cheering]
[Eddie] I've just qualified for the final
of World's Strongest Man.
I promised my family I'd get through
this year and it means a lot to them,
more than it does to me
to be honest. So, I'm happy.
[vibrant music]
-[whistle blows]
-[man] Come on, Eddie.
-[buzzer rings]
-[crowd cheering]
[whistle blows]
The 2014 Commerce World's Strongest Man.
From Lithuania, Zydrunas Savickas.
[ Eddie] I've just come sixth.
I feel a bit disappointed.
Uhm, I made a few mistakes.
It's an eye opener.
Obviously never been in a final before...
It's just, there's so much
to sort of take away from this
and it'll definitely help me towards
getting closer to the World's title.
I think my wife's been keeping
up to date back home.
Obviously with the time difference...
she'll be in bed, you know.
She's got work tomorrow.
And it just feels like
a bit of a slap in the face
to hear an hour later over the phone
and not see it happen.
Especially when he does
something this amazing.
That'll make me cry
just hearing it over the phone,
because I wanted to see it.
I wanted to be there.
[Eddie] From day one she's said:
"I'm so proud of you."
I'm gonna be in the final.
I get another message saying:
"Whatever you get from here on
is amazing."
So, I've just sent her a message saying
I've come sixth. I hope she's happy.
Uhm, cause all this is for her.
I just wanna make my wife and kids proud.
If I was to never win
the World's Strongest Man,
I think it would fucking ruin me
a little bit subconsciously.
I'd see myself as a big fucking failure.
And I've always said
to my wife and kids, you know,
if I don't make the World's Strongest Man,
I'd probably fucking die trying.
[ethereal music]
[Eddie] So, I'll do my ten-hour shift
at work. I'll drive straight to the gym.
And the training regime is very vigorous.
Pretty typically,
I train like a bodybuilder.
Pretty basic.
One or two body parts a day.
But I fill Strongman events in there now
which I've only recently started doing.
The last sort of year and a half.
I'll get in the gym
at sort of five, six o' clock
and I'll stay in there until I'm done.
There's no fucking about.
In an average week of training,
I put in at least four sessions a week.
On the weekends maybe another one.
For these four sessions, I'm looking
at least three and a half hours a session.
Sort of 14 hours a week.
You know, just solid weightlifting
and that. That's not fucking about.
You know, I'm in the gym.
I work hard. I go to train.
I don't go to piss about.
Unlike these pretty boys who go
and do a bit of disco muscles,
a bit bench pressing and triceps.
You know, I go
and I lift big fucking weights.
The great Mohammed Ali said:
"I hate every fucking minute of training."
But it was... He had to do it
to be the greatest.
And this is why I'm doing it.
I've just got that massive...
massive fucking dream that I wanna get to
and this is the only way to do it.
I've always been, believe it or not,
the same age as I am in weight.
So, when I was five years old,
I was five stone.
When I was 11 years old,
I was 11 stone. 16, 16 stone.
I'm 27 years old now
and I'm getting on towards 28 stone.
So, I'm a bit ahead of myself.
Food. Food is the...
Is number one in my sport. You know,
you can train as hard as you want...
and you can recover as much as you want.
But if you're not eating enough food,
you might as well not fucking bother.
[playful, joyous music]
I probably spend 200, 250 quid a week
on food.
Me and the wife sat down
and worked it out once.
And that's just for me. That's not
including her food and the kids.
[whistling]
[farts]
My wife also kids
she works just to pay Tesco.
Even though I do the shopping.
There's some days where you get up
and you're not that hungry
and you've got to sort of
force feed yourself.
You know, you're making
your porridge and you're thinking:
"Bloody hell, I've had porridge
now every day for 365 days.
I've got to just force it down.
It's got to get the nutrition in there.
I got to get the calories in there.
Cause if you don't,
then you don't train hard.
You can't train hard
cause you haven't got the energy.
Guernsey Gold Top milk. One liter
of that is about eight, 900 calories.
So, you know, I'll have one of these...
every day pretty much.
I'll blend like spinach, raspberries...
blueberries, strawberries...
ice cream, put protein in there
and I'll have like
a liter protein shake every morning.
For a good dinner,
I'll have a full Goodfella's pizza.
And like a full cheesecake. And that's,
you know, three, 4000 calories.
That's a good day. That's a good meal.
You know, 10000 calories
a day is essential.
Absolutely essential. If you're not
heading towards the 10000 calorie margin,
you're not eating enough.
Half a kilo of carbs,
three, 400 calories of steaks and chicken,
porridge, flapjack, protein shake,
pudding, apple, an orange, beef jerky,
rice, pasta, yogurts, ham sandwiches,
chips, chicken, pasta...
[people laughing]
It's good. It's good.
To me, it's essential.
And I don't care how much it costs,
because for me it's my job.
You know, this is my job. This is my body.
-See that lady there?
-Yeah?
-Will you have a selfie with her? Please.
-Yeah, sure. No problem.
[chuckling]
-She's run off, though.
-[lady] She ran off?
-Yeah.
-[Eddie laughs]
-Oh, I'm a bit red now.
-[people laughing]
[Eddie] I think I came in Tesco
the other week and I got literally stopped
about 15 times in one shop.
Just for pictures and autographs. So...
It's nice that...
that people appreciate it around here.
When we met,
obviously he was just starting out
in Strongman and he..
Not to sound big headed,
but he needed me to get where he's been,
because he needed someone to feed him.
He needed to not do
any of the little jobs.
He need to basically just be fed, cleaned,
and allowed to have
all his time dedicated to training.
I think I can take
a bit of credit for that.
[Eddie] We have a curry every Wednesday.
And she'll cut a full pack, you know.
She'll cut a full pack of bacon
and chop it up in the curry.
Just so it's got like added calories
in there, you know.
She knows... And then
she puts all the greens in.
The spinach, the vitamins, the minerals.
She doesn't leave it out.
She leaves no stone unturned
when it comes to nutrition.
She knows exactly what I want. So...
It's not just... You know,
I couldn't do this alone.
You have to have someone by your side
helping you with these sort of things.
I did a pretty spectacular proposal
for my wife.
He took me away for a spa weekend.
And then he took me to an airfield,
piled me onto a plane...
and flew me over my dad's house.
And I actually wrote out
on his lawn, a big massive
sort of letters: "Alex, marry me."
With a kiss.
And we flew over her dad's house and he
turned the plane sideways and she was...
-fucking gobsmacked.
-[Alex] I didn't see it at first.
I don't think I even said yes,
cause it was just one of them.
I was just smiling
and he knew I was gonna say yes.
[Eddie] That would have been
fucking awkward in the air...
You know, sort of flying back
if she said no. Imagine that. Just like...
Fuck. Yeah.
Really cute of him. Probably
the cutest thing he's ever done.
For me, being a dad's great. I love it.
I'm split up with the ex.
I've got a five-year-old daughter
who doesn't live with me.
And I only get to see her
at the weekends.
And obviously I've got my
eighteen-month old son, who...
I only see at the weekends
as well, because you know,
I'm working
and training all week. So, it's...
I love it and I love my children
and I love spending time with them,
but I don't spend
enough time with them. It's tough.
I really wanna push my boy into some sort
of sport. Whether it be boxing...
wrestling, fucking football.
Whatever he wants to do. I'll push that.
But obviously with me being a Strongman,
I've got my expectations
of when he gets old enough,
sort of five, six years old,
I will take him to the gym
with me. And I will...
make him lift weights.
And if he doesn't like it...
Then fine. Go home and play
on the fucking PlayStation. Whatever.
But I've definitely
got big expectations for my son.
That's why I called him Maximus.
I didn't call him Maximus
for a fucking giggle.
That's a great name
and he's gonna be a great person.
I'm fucking confident in that.
Where's mommy's nose?
Oh, that's Max's nose.
Where's Max's eyes?
No, that's mommy's nose.
[Alex] Just recently, obviously
with Eddie going away more and more...
as well as me being in a bad place,
now Max has just started speaking.
He's actually saying to me:
"Where's dadda? Where's dadda?"
And that is the hardest thing for me.
I think that's made it so much worse.
It makes me wanna cry. It makes me...
It makes me angry that he's not there.
It makes me angry that we're not there.
[Eddie] I was doing 50, 60 hours a week
at work.
I was training four hours a night.
And I wasn't seeing my wife and kids
for more than one or two hours a week.
It got to the point, you know,
where I've got to do something.
You know, I've got to do something where
I can cover my mortgage, cover my bills...
-and do what I love.
-[people talking]
Oh, thank you. You really
shouldn't have though.
[Eddie] I kept kidding myself.
And I think that's what you've got
to do to be successful.
Is just keep fucking kidding yourself
that what you're doing
is gonna lead to a big...
you know, a big dream one day.
And that's what I've been doing
for the last ten years, is just...
just fucking kidding myself
that it's gonna get somewhere.
And then, the day came.
The realization that I was a pro Strongman
hit me. When I was handed a job.
And just fucking said: "You know what.
This is what that ten years has been for."
All those fucking hours in the gym
and not seeing my family and friends.
And basically not having a life
for the last ten years has paid off
and I'm now a pro Strongman.
Last couple of months
I've been talking to a few companies.
You know. Just sort of got
a good deal with a few guys.
You know, spit a bit of deal with them.
Sort of said: "How can you help me?"
I've just said:
"You can help me financially.
Donate any products
or any of that crap."
And I ended up with
a good amount of sponsorship.
You know, enough
to quit my job and sort of...
turn full time Strongman.
So, I can actually call myself
a pro Strongman for once.
So, I'm gonna sip
on my Protein Dynamix Gainer.
That tastes absolutely amazing.
Like little drops of heaven.
And that's what I do. I'll just put my
Xplosvieape hoodie on
to keep me nice
and warm during the winter.
This is definitely the...
What's gonna make the difference
to me winning World's Strongest Man
and not winning it.
I've got it where I can sort of quit
my job and literally do nothing.
I can just live
off the sponsorships. So...
I'm in a great place at the minute.
So I'm feeling really good.
Anyway. Suck my sausage.
[laughing]
Knob.
[playful laughter]
[Eddie] There's a saying, you know,
"That behind every great man,
there's an even greater woman."
And my wife,
she genuinely is a great woman.
Everything I've said,
she's supported and backed me up and...
You know, she's... Over the years
she's been through some fucking shit
with me, you know.
I haven't been there for probably the
first two, three years of relationship.
And it's great that now I've sort of...
turned pro.
And I'm spending a lot more time
with my wife and I'm sort of realizing...
[exhales]
[interviewer]
What have you realized about Alex?
[sniffles]
Just sort of realizing
how amazing she is and...
[clears throat]
That...
You know, I've basically missed
the first two years of my child's life.
And she always say, you know,
she would kept nagging me and saying...
I'm a shit dad and...
-But you know, uhm...
-[clears throat]
I always kept saying to her: "You know,
it's for a reason. It'll pay off one day."
And it finally has.
Instead of getting up every morning
and working
for a multi-billion-pound company,
I'm now getting up and working for myself.
And that is a great feeling.
I'm so glad I did it. So glad I did it.
I don't want to be the granddad...
in 20 years' time,
that says:
"Oh, I could've won World's Strongest Man.
But I couldn't afford..."
You know, I'll be the granddad
in 20 years' time that said:
"You know, I quit my job,
I took a fucking risk,
and I won World's Strongest Man."
I wanna be that guy.
Today, I drove nearly 300 miles
to Kalmora, Plymouth.
I've been invited down to do like
a seminar, talk about my life
-and a bit about my training, diet.
-[applause]
It's nice when people
pay money to actually wanna learn...
you know, from me, from the best.
So, I've got huge legs. Why not use them.
So, I had to consume
over half a kilo of protein a day...
which is again, is like
five or six chickens.
I'm sat in front of a hundred people
and I'm giving lectures.
You know, I'm a lecturer in a certain way.
I'm giving people life coaching.
You know, I'm telling them
how to be better than they are now.
I'm telling them how to progress.
My eyeball actually came out of my skull
and I had to push it back in.
That's the kind of intensity I train to.
It's a 100 percent all the time.
You know, to the point where
your eyeballs are popping out your face.
That's nosebleeds...
passing out, I've done it all.
I've pushed myself to the limit
in every session.
That's what it's all about.
You know, I genuinely appreciate the fans.
You know. And I love to give back and I go
and do these seminars and appearances.
It's cool. It's very tiring.
You know, I'm here for three days.
And this is what I'll do basically
for ten hours a day for three days.
This is my way of sort of
paying back to the fans a little bit
and showing my appreciation.
These guys is how I made my living, so...
The least I can do is sit here
and do some photos and signatures.
You all right, guys?
I've had a little dabble in promoting
my own Strongman event and...
actually running an event
in my hometown, Stoke.
It was the World's Strongest Team event.
Team events are fun,
cause normally Strongman
is obviously an individual sport.
With a team event you can
obviously rely on your team mates.
So, it makes it easier. You know,
play on your teammates' strengths
and your strengths and...
basically come up with a strategy
that way to do the best you possibly can.
-Hey up, brows. What you up to?
-[muffled speech over telephone]
There'll be some finer touches
and barriers to put up, no doubt.
All right. Sorry about, dude.
That's not my fault. It's fucking Glen.
-[Eddie] All right. See you in a bit.
-[man] All right.
-[Eddie] Bye.
-[man] Bye.
-[belches]
-[Eddie] This is a big day for me,
because it's my first big show
that I've run.
And it could be the first of many.
So, I hope it's a fucking success.
Me and Terry Holland.
We have Brian Shaw, Dave Ostlund.
We've added all the guys
from all round the world.
Weve got Americans over, Germans,
Polish, Lithuanian. I organized it myself
with Glenn Ross.
Yeah, like every show...
If there's no stress in it, no hard work,
you haven't done enough.
And one thing about
the Ultimate Strongman,
all the team,
we all worked our arses off...
-to produce a great show for everybody.
-You know, this has been in...
in planning stage for well over a year.
It's been a dream of Eddie's.
It's just amazing
that it's obviously coming off.
[upbeat, lively music]
[Eddie] And it was such a great,
proud moment when...
I actually came out,
walked out to compete...
at my own event. And I looked
to the crowd and the stand was full with,
you know, 5000 people.
You know, I'm making a difference.
You know, I'm grow--
I'm helping to grow the sport.
-[crowd cheering]
-[cheerful music]
[Eddie] Nothing's really come out of Stoke
for many years, but Robbie Williams.
So, it's pretty cool that people are sort
of backing me and getting behind me.
Well, it's been cool
and I've enjoyed myself and I've...
genuinely believe that the crowd
enjoyed themselves.
And hopefully they'll be back next year.
[door clicks open]
Hey up, fucker.
Europe's Strongest Man today.
It's a big deadlift competition
that I'm quite eager to...do well at.
Fucking nail a world record hopefully.
A bit nervous really.
I've been up all night fucking running
the events through my head and...
bad night's sleep, but it's all good.
Means I'm on fucking...
means I'm alert, means I'm...
means I'm fucking like
head-on for this, really.
So, it's a good sign.
Looking at the events today,
I have to say... Well, obviously Thor,
from Iceland,
the big six foot ten fucking freak,
you know, he's number one probably.
In my eyes, you know, If I had to fucking
get uptight, you know, he's got it.
[rhythmic, laid-back music]
We're totally here today to see Ed Hall.
He's an absolute beast. He's a monster.
To think that somebody
has that kind of strength
at such a young age, it's crazy.
Again, we share the same haircut,
so it gives me hope one day...
that I'll pull some numbers
above 300 off the floor
Of course he's got a shot at the World.
He's really, really good and...
It'll be nice to see him
on the World stage
and be
the World's Strongest Man one day.
Another UK competitor at the top.
[commentator] Kicking it off
with the world deadlift championships.
Simple contest of who can lift
the longest off the floor.
It's a basic test of strength, deadlift.
And we're gonna start
at 400 kilograms, 880 pounds.
And then we'll go up and up
and try and break the world record.
Four fifty, 460 kilos. Who knows?
-[inspirational music]
-[crowd cheering]
-[crowd cheering very loudly]
-[commentator speaking muffled]
[crowd cheers]
[crowd cheering, groaning]
[crowd roars]
[crowd cheering]
[man] Come on, Eddie.
[crowd cheering]
[crowd cheering]
[Colin]
What was most impressive about that day,
is Eddie throwing down a double at 435,
had a chat with Caroline Pearce.
[crowd cheers]
[Colin]
Everyone assumed he would be exhausted.
[crowd cheering]
[crowd chanting "Eddie"]
Fuck yeah!
[Colin] He then came out and did 450 kilos
which is a Strongman
world record, matching Bennie.
And then...four six one.
[Benedikt] Four hundred and sixty one.
The world record in deadlift.
I've never had to pull that much
in a competition before.
[crowd cheering]
[inaudible speech]
Eddie was going
for the biggest deadlift in the world.
And I think Benedikt already pulled it.
[Colin] Strongest weights, in history,
ever lifted off the ground.
-[Eddie shouting]
-[crowd cheering]
[crowd shouting]
[music intensifies]
[crowd chanting "Eddie"]
[Terry] I remember sitting there.
The whole crowd's going nuts.
And we're all screaming for him.
Everybody was. You know,
the whole place went crazy.
[crowd roars]
He lifted it. Magnus Ver Magnusson's hand
went down. It was a good lift.
And in a lot of Strongman contests,
you can drop the bar...
and he just lost his mind and dropped it.
I walked up to every athlete
before we started the deadlift...
I said: "Don't drop it.
That I hate to take anything
away from you. I hate to red light you."
[Colin] It was clear as day,
in the athlete meeting the night before...
you had to lower it.
Yeah, I felt...
I really felt for the guy, but...
rules are rules.
Mate, in my eyes I'm fucking number one.
-Along with fucking Magn--
[interviewer] Yeah, yeah, Benedikt.
Benn-- Yeah, along with Benedikt.
I'm fucking number one.
-Don't give a fuck what anyone says.
-[interviewer] Will you think about it?
Let's get you in the lockers. Come on.
Come on.
[inaudible speech]
[Eddie] I was just that psyched up
and that, you know...
over ecstatic to feel the lift,
I forgot to lower it down.
But in my eyes, you know,
I've got a world record.
I don't really care. I'm happy.
[commentator speaking muffled]
[Alex] Rules are rules, aren't they?
But Eddie tends
to not follow them anyway, so...
He's got a lesson to learn, hasn't he?
He was physically...
destroyed.
And mentally as well.
You know, he hit a low point.
[Alex] We both were just like:
"What do we do now?"
This is everything we worked for.
Uhm... And what's just happened
is something he didn't expect.
Uhm... I didn't expect.
It was the worst I've ever seen him.
It was a genuine kick in the dick.
You know, I came back from that weekend,
so distraught, so down.
Near to the point where...
I thought, you know, fuck it.
I can't be asked anymore.
I don't know. I had such mixed feelings,
you know. It's just like...
I did the lift,
but I didn't get the lift. It's like,
Can I do it? Can't I do it?
Shall I carry on?
But then you know, the wife
was right by my side and she sort of said:
"Eddie, you've just proved to yourself...
that you're the best in the world
at something. You're the best."
You know and it just clicked a switch.
It genuinely clicked a switch in my mind.
And I thought: "You know,
you're fucking right. This is it now."
[crowd chanting "Eddie"]
[man] Do it! Do it!
Obviously the Brits
did the World Log Lift record first.
When I locked up above my head...
sort of dug my heels to finish it off,
but as I was bringing my head through,
just sort of blacked out, lost balance.
[crowd cheering, gasping]
[Eddie]
Dropped the fucker on the back of my neck,
bent the fuck out of my back and...
threw me into the wall
like a stick insect.
Uhm, smashed me up pretty bad.
Quite lucky I didn't snap
my fucking neck or back to be honest.
I had physio...
a few days after, you know.
We found a few bulged vertebrae
in the middle of my back.
Obviously where it bent
my fucking spine. And I got bad bruising.
Uhm, so I'm very lucky,
really to be still standing.
I worry about Eddie when he's
in competition. Obviously it's not...
the safest...
sport in the world. It puts
a lot of pressure on the body.
He's obviously always trying
to push himself that little bit harder.
And that scares me, but I have to
let him do it, because if I don't,
he's not gonna be happy.
Injury. Obviously we're pushing ourselves
at 100 percent at a 100 miles per hour.
Uh, getting an injury always
is a huge spanner in the works.
I've had a fair few injuries
in Strongman, you know.
I've pulled ligaments and torn muscles.
[Magnus] I've torn my knees,
I've torn a bicep.
[Geoff] A new hip,
operations on my knee,
abdominal operations.
I've got problems with my vertebrae.
I've sort of half torn hamstrings,
I've torn pecs.
I've had sort of half detachments
on my triceps.
Compressed nerves...in my spine.
-[clears throat]
-Basically, I'm buggered.
You end up getting
to a point where you just...
you know, a little bit of pain is normal.
You know, you just don't even
acknowledge it. It's there.
And in some case, some people
go further than that and lose their lives.
Britain's Strongest Man, 2012.
There was an incident where a young man...
actually collapsed after an event
and had a cardiac arrest.
We worked on his heart
for about six to seven minutes.
Thank God
we had an emergency doctor there.
When somebody shouts: "Begin CPR"
at you, you know, it's a bit of a shock.
"What was that again?" You know fine well
what an emergency doctor means
as he ran off
and got his heart defibrillator.
Ping! Kid came back to life again.
[Eddie] This guy was...
miraculously, you know, revived,
sent off in an ambulance,
fully recovered and is alive today.
You know, but if it wasn't
for people like Colin being there...
who has got a little bit of know-how
how to keep people alive,
-[melancholic music]
-that guy would have died.
Genui-- He wouldn't be here now.
-[whistling]
-Viking power!
Viking power!
[Geoff] And then hearing...
that Jon Pall died in the gym.
And it reminded me of what Jon Pall
said to me. He says "I'm gonna die early."
My uncle died. I've got the same...
genetic...frailty.
And he says: "I won't be around after 30."
And he wasn't.
To me, he was a mentor,
a friend...And, uh...
an all-around great guy
and I learned a lot from him.
[Eddie] You know,
it's very sad that the guy died
at such... so young.
You know, he had
an amazing future ahead of him
and he definitely touched
a lot of souls when he...
when he did leave this world.
[Geoff] He's in Valhalla
and he'll be long remembered.
[birds chirping]
Being such...huge, big strong guys...
the...
quickest and easiest thing
is to say that we're on steroids.
I mean, drugs in sport is...
you know, plagues sport.
And...you know...
I competed at the Olympics.
I competed in...
Strongman myself. So, I've got
a pretty good idea of what people do.
Do you know what I believe?
I believe...ability...
is far and away the most important thing
and determination to back it up.
You know, I've never...
actually seen anyone...
take any
performance enhancing drugs, but...
I'm sure as with a lot of sports
and especially...
strength sports, it does go on.
All steroids purely do, is purely
help you with the recovery process.
Okay? So, they help you enable you
to lift heavy weights...
more frequently, more regularly without
feeling fatigue. Without feeling drained.
Without the risk of injury.
It's for injury prevention.
Good aminos, that's all it is.
If you research it and do your homework...
anything can be used safely.
You have to take it responsibly.
You can't... It's the same as anything.
You start overdosing on MultiVites,
you're gonna get a secondary...
you know, problems as a result of it.
End of the day,
we want the biggest, strongest...
man alive to lift
that biggest, strongest weight ever.
So, why not?
If they're gonna go balls out and do it...
why not let 'em do it?
Crack on. They're not...
doing nothing to hurt anyone else.
They wanna be the best.
They wanna be the strongest.
So, why not?
I don't believe that you can win
World's Strongest Man
without taking
performance enhancing drugs.
The Arnold Classic is basically an expo...
of fitness, strength...physiques.
You know, it's an all-round sort of
get together and celebrate...
the ambition, you know,
the achievements of all these people.
The Arnold's Club
is a brutally strong contest.
It doesn't have the name
of the World's Strongest Man,
but some people consider that to be...
the strongest contest in the world.
The person that is the strongest man
on the planet, would normally win.
As in Zydrunas.
He's won it maybe seven times.
[Eddie] You're in front of a crowd of...
two hundred thousand people.
And the adrenalin from that is amazing.
It's all televised around the world and...
organized by Arnold Schwarzenegger.
And it's just one of those events where
you've got...
You do nothing
but feel privileged to be a part of.
Whoever wins this is...
is the world's strongest man.
Even though it might not be the title.
No, the flight wasn't that bad, really.
I had three seats to myself, so...
As long as I've got
my bollocks spaced, I'm pretty happy.
You know, take away my bollock's space...
and I get pretty angry.
So, as long as I can sort of
just open my legs a bit
and let my bollocks breathe...
not too bad.
[reflective music]
Narcissism...is a...
is a trait that goes through
many successful people.
Uhm, people get mixed up
between confidence and arrogance.
Narcissistic people think they're God
and better than everyone else.
Uhm, but that's also what pushes them.
Arrogance...is thinking you're better
than everyone else.
Confidence is knowing
you're better than everyone else.
But to be confident...
to get to that confidence,
you've got to be arrogant.
I just found out, just by chance really...
someone called me a narcissistic prick...
on Facebook once.
I looked it up. I was like...
"Fucking Bob on. I am."
You know, I am a narcissistic prick.
And more.
You've got to be a narcissistic prick
to get to that number one spot.
And that's what keeps you training harder
and keeps you doing the right thing
and eating the right foods.
And it's the arrogance that gets you
to that number one spot.
And that's when the confidence comes.
Arnold Schwarzenegger,
he was arrogant as fuck.
Fucking most arrogant bastard
on the planet.
But he's got to number one
and he's a movie star...
and he's fucking amazing.
Everyone loves him.
And now he can be confident.
Twenty, 30 years,
everyone's called him an arrogant bastard.
Now he's got confidence.
Do you think he gives a fuck
how arrogant he was back then?
And I bet you his 70, 80 million dollars,
he doesn't give a fuck.
-Hey, that's nice.
-You gotta have them...here.
-Fucking, that's a small gun. Do you mind?
-Yeah. Not a problem.
-Nothing in the barrel, no?
-Nothing in the barrel.
That's tiny.
-[barber] Twelve shots.
-[Eddie] Twelve shots? That's good.
You fucking need 12 for some
fucking cunts, don't you?
-That's right.
-Someone like me.
-Someone big enough.
-[laughter]
I wasn't gonna go there,
but you go ahead.
[interviewer] My chance. Brits ahoy.
[woman] You know, it's very congested--
[woman 2] Ten slips of paper
in here. One through ten...for the order.
This'll be the order
for the first event tomorrow.
-[man] Somebody's gotta go now.
-Who's next?
Who wants to be next?
[Colin] You might think these guys
are big alpha males with big egos...
and sure... of course
they have their own ambitions...
colossal ambitions.
But they also are...
are now in the fraternity.
Especially right at the top level.
You know. You know how much
it's taken the other man to get there.
And you appreciate it.
[Eddie] You do find that when you get
to these contests, that certain...
people hang around certain people.
So, you know, I will purposely
cling onto like the Brian Shaws,
you know,
the Zydrunas Savickas, the Hafthors.
I wanna learn from these guys.
These guys
have been there and done that.
You know, Brian Shaw
has won it two or three times.
That's why I'm there.
I'm all the time picking his brains.
But you'll be surprised. When I'm sat
with him and talking with him,
he's actually picking my brains.
You know, you're learning off each other.
Cause I've done things he can't do.
And he's done things I can't do.
-Whats your weight man?
-No. I don't know.
-Two twenty?
-No, shit.
-[laughter]
-Two twenty? This guy...
-[sirens wailing]
-[serious, reflective music]
[Eddie] Today is the uhm...
day one of the Arnold Strongman Classic.
So, I've got to take every event
like it's like the last day on the planet.
I've gotta go in
and just for that 90 seconds,
just fucking nothing else matters.
It is just...90 seconds.
That's what matters.
You don't think about wife, kids...
I don't even think about me own health.
It's just I've gotta get that object...
lifted above my head,
lift it up, whatever. That's it.
[crowd cheers]
[commentator] You are in
for truly exciting action.
Every year we tweak a little bit.
We add more weight.
This is tougher than any other
Strongman contest held on this planet.
Our next competitor.
From England. Eddie Hall.
Twenty-seven years old,
6 feet three inches tall, 385 pounds.
Four times United Kingdom's Strongest Man.
Seven times, Arnold Strongman champion,
Zydrunas Savickas.
[crowd cheering]
From Fort Lupton, Colorado...
Brian... Shaw.
These are your Strongman competitors.
How about for them.
Let's go!
[crowd cheering]
Were going to start
with Benedikt Magnusson.
[tranquil, soothing music]
-[music intensifies]
-Here we go. It's up to his shoulders.
-[crowd cheering]
-Now he has to press it overhead.
Abort.
He's got plenty of times.
[muffled speech]
[Eddie] This level is just the elite.
This is beyond top ten in the world.
[commentator] Knees starts
to shake and tremble.
He digs down deep.
His nervous system starts to fire off.
And he's ready to go.
-[crowd cheering]
-It's up to his shoulders.
Help him. Help him. Help him.
All right. He's got this in him.
You can see that he can do that.
He's got plenty of time.
He's got 50 seconds.
Here we go. Eddie Hall. Second attempt.
[crowd cheering and whistling]
He's got it on his shoulders.
He's got to get his balance.
That is close.
[crowd cheering]
Here we go.
I see that Brian is still hanging around
to see if Zydrunas can do it.
And the clock has begun.
Ninety seconds for Zydrunas Savickas.
[hymn-like music]
-[crowd cheering]
-Right! Oh... my!
Two. Oh my. Oh my God.
Three.
And there you go. Zydrunas Savickas.
Look and he's not stopping. Holy moley.
Oh! Oh!
He's got time.
He's got to keep moving though.
Come on, Eddie.
It's all about how far he can carry
this thing now. He's got...13 seconds.
[whistle blows and beeper goes off]
We ran out of time, but it looks like
he was moving real well there in the end.
Eddie Hall!
Feeling pretty disappointed
after that, I think.
Potentially two of my best events.
The log press and the frame.
No excuses on the log.
Just couldn't fucking press it.
And I'm sitting eighth place
and I thought I would be
genuinely lying third or fourth place
at this point at worst.
-So...
-[people laughing]
-Hey, Dad.
-Better day tomorrow.
Yeah, I hope so.
-[indistinct conversation]
-[melancholic music]
[lively, upbeat music]
More than just another pretty face.
[Eddie] Yeah. Yesterday
was fucking dog shit.
So I'm feeling a lot better today.
Uhm...Yesterday was potentially
two of my best events
and I fucking totally fucked up
on both of them. So...
You know, there's fucking no excuses.
You just got to fucking crack on.
[vibrant, exciting music]
[crowd cheering]
[Commentator] Great job!
Currently in first place.
Zydrunas...Savickas.
[crowd cheering and whistling]
Zydrunas Savickas.
And he did it. He made it.
[crowd cheering]
Eddie's gonna get there.
He's gonna get there.
-Eddie Hall!
-[crowd cheering]
I think I'm in fourth position.
So, uhm...
Not too bad. I...
Thirty point of the lead. I only want
to be five or six points off the lead,
so I'd have to win the next event....
to stand any chance of winning.
So...Just gonna go out and give my best.
[inspirational music]
[commentator] They are... huge.
Here they are. Your athletes.
[Eddie] Competing for me is...
always feels very surreal.
I'm all prepped and I've trained
all year for a competition.
So, I've done all me...
ritual set ups and I've done
all me stretching and rehabs
and I've been
drinking right and eating right.
And then when the whistle blows,
you're just in a very surreal moment.
-[crowd cheering]
-[bell rings]
[commentator] Well, we've seen
some men with really big muscles.
Now we're gonna see some really big men.
[girls screaming]
Now, the word big is kind of thrown around
like it means something...big.
When I say big man...I'm talking about
the strongest man in the world.
[crowd cheering]
You may have seen
Strongman competitions...
but it isn't really pure, brute strength.
This is the dumbbell.
And here on the side it says 274 pounds.
And it's all of 274. Believe me.
So what they have to do, is pick it up,
bring it to their shoulder.
And here's the thing.
They can do it any way they want to.
As long as they pick this thing up
and they press it with only one hand.
[muffled speech]
From England. First time
in the competition. Eddie Hall.
[inspirational music]
[Eddie] It's almost as if you're
in an outer body experience.
I'm doing the event...
but I can almost see myself stood...
you know, ten meters away,
watching myself doing it.
-[crowd cheering]
-[commentator] A wall of desire.
In this event, there's a tremendous torque
on the wrist on the lift.
There we go. That's one.
[muffled speech]
Clock has begun at 90 seconds
is what we've got for Eddie Hall.
How many repetitions can he do.
It's up the shoulder on the right side.
And he locked it up. That's one.
Oh my gosh. He looks strong. Here we go.
[crowd cheering]
Six, five, four, three, two...
That was time. Eddie Hall!
[applause]
[reflective music]
[Eddie] When your life ambition
is to win a contest...
you dedicate your whole life
to do that one thing.
You get a way
and absolutely fail, that is hurtful.
[commentator] Coming in sixth place...
-Eddie Hall. Sixth place.
-[crowd applauds]
[Eddie] Just being a fucking number is...
is fucking embarrassing.
Sixth place. It's fucking dog shit.
[commentator] Now we have a tie
for fourth place. So that means--
[Eddie] You know, all these guys
like Brian and Zydrunas...
would have a good
six month lead up into this.
A good solid six... You know,
training, heavy fucking training.
[commentator]
Zydrunas Savickas. Second place.
[applause]
[Eddie] I wanna be great.
I wanna be famous.
I wanna be number one
in the world in Strongman.
Other people are just happy
having a few kids and fucking...
you know, dying happy that way. That's
fine, you know. Everyone's different.
[commentator] And the winner
of the 2015 Arnold Strongman Competition:
-Brian Shaw!
-[crowd cheering]
[Eddie] You know, people like me
are here to be legends. People need...
People need legends to people
to look up to inspire...
inspire the kids.
This is what keeps the world evolving.
Hey, Thor.
-Congrats man.
-Were shit. Both shit.
-Both shit.
-I've heard a lot--
-Yeah, I've been the same here.
-Fucking... Makes you train harder, mate.
[Eddie] My aim going into that
was to be in the top three.
Didn't achieve that.
So, for me that is a big hit.
I went straight from the Arnold's, Ohio...
to Australia,
to another Arnold's Classic in Melbourne.
I've got to get three planes
to get here from Ohio.
Uhm, one of them is 17 hours.
Which is actually the best flight
out of all three flights.
Tony Doherty, the organizer,
said to me: "Colin...
You're not longer on at 1 pm on Sunday,
you're on tomorrow morning at 10 o'clock."
[muffled speech]
Phoned Eddie up.
"Tomorrow morning?
Deadlift for a record?
Oh man, I'm so beaten up
from the Arnold's.
All right then. I'll give it a go."
I thought: "Come on."
[Eddie] Landed, had tea. Pretty much
eleven o'clock the next morning....
was asked to pull world record deadlift.
[muffled speech]
[commentator]
Going for world record, Eddie Hall.
Four six two kilograms.
That is 1020 pounds.
One thousand and twenty pounds.
Fifty years of weightlifting
and this will be the biggest ever lift.
[inspirational music]
[Eddie] I've got to be honest.
There was doubt there.
You know, there was doubt there.
[Colin] Eddie turned to me: "Colin...
I don't know if I can do this
or not. I'm tired.
I gotta give it a go now or..."
I could see in his face he was beaten.
[commentator] Good lift.
[muffled speech]
Sod it. You know,
I've got to give it a go. I got to.
[commentator] From Stoke-on-Trent...
to break the world record...
by one throwback...
one thousand eighteen point five pounds.
He's about to do it.
Eddie put his hands on the bar...
[man] Come on! Switch on!
Break the record!
[crowd cheering]
He was just rising.
And going up past his knees.
Come on, Eddie. Give it a good attempt.
[Eddie] I heard the crowd getting louder
and louder and louder.
Just as I lifted that weight,
Arnold Schwarzenegger...
rocked up by my side...
screaming in my ear to do that lift.
Bloody hell. It's going past his thighs.
He's locked out.
[dramatic music]
[crowd cheering]
[music crescendo]
[crowd cheering wildly]
Yeah! Whoa!
[Arnold] Eddie. You're the man.
[Eddie] It was genuinely, er...
just the most amazing moment of my life.
-Thank you, Arnold.
-You had another ten pounds in there.
-Yeah, at least.
-I'm telling you. Unbelievable.
Look how pumped up you are.
-Thank you.
-Ready to go.
-Thank you.
-Very nice. Very nice.
Ladies and gentlemen,
let's hear it. Eddie Hall.
-World Champ.
-[crowd cheering]
Yes! Boom.
-Lightweights.
-How much training did you do for this?
Literally...
Three hundred and sixty-five days a year.
Everything in my mind is just for this,
you know, one world record.
It's upset me so much.
Last year I did it. I dropped it.
And being allowed to do it now is amazing.
You're a great winner. A champion.
Someone that has failed
in various different events.
Every time you got up again.
You got going.
That's what winners do.
They get up and they get going.
Congratulations
and I hope you're saying...
[both] I'll be back.
[crowd cheering]
Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen,
Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Who is the only person on this planet
that has done what you've done?
Me. I just pulled 462 kilo.
With probably the shittiest bar.
With the shittiest bar
in the shittiest circumstances.
-With lots of pressure.
-With lots of pressure.
And I did it. Fucking easy.
We never share records, huh?
-I don't share records.
-Yours. Yours.
I don't share records
-Roll on World's Strongest Man.
-[mumbled speech]
[Arnold] It's the real deal.
I mean, there's no trickery.
It is all pure strength.
And I think this is why,
as you can see today...
the... real, big standing ovation...
was for the Strongman.
Every time the people see these guys
moving this huge amount of weight...
I mean, they go crazy.
I'll probably be telling
that story till... till I die.
You know, that'll be
definitely a down the pub sort of...
You know, "you-listen-to-me-young-man"
sort of story. Definitely.
-That was very, very special.
-Yeah. That was special.
So... Congratulations. That's fucking...
-kind of, kind of amazing. Isn't it?
-'Cept I didn't take off my box this year.
Sure did feel awful good...
seeing that happen.
And you know,
I said to Eddie afterwards...
"I think... this is worth more than
a World's Strongest Man title.
You know.
This is something special, Eddie.
You'll go down in history for this."
And...in a way it's quite good
he doesn't realize that
cause he's still hungry for more.
And that's quite good.
You know, once you fill the hunger up...
he might go off and just drink beer
and do nothing. And I'd lose Eddie.
Which will be really sad.
I genuinely believe...
in fact, I know, I will win
World's Strongest Man one day.
Will it be next year? I hope so.
I don't know when it's gonna happen.
But I know it's gonna happen.
All I've gotta concentrate on,
is beating...myself and Thor.
If he ever gets
the World's Strongest Man title...
I hope it's enough to fill that hole.
Because he might get there and realize
he's just Eddie Hall from Stoke.
And that's when we'll find out
the true test of his character.
He's proved he can be the best...
at what he does.
Maybe just for that moment.
-Daddy!
-Hey, baby. Hallo!
-What's he wearing?
-[Alex laughs]
-Hallo. Is he wearing your ears? Hi, baby.
-You okay?
Let me in. Hey, guys.
How you doing?
The most important things
in life, to me...
are...
are family.
Definitely. Number one, family for me.
Uhm...
Number two is to do what you wanna do.
You know, don't let
anyone tell you otherwise.
If you wanna be the world's strongest man,
go out and be World's Strongest Man.
Someone says you can't do something,
go out and fucking do it.
That's the two most important things
for me in my life.
Family and be what you want to be.
Be a champion.
[uplifting music]
[mellow music]
Oh, I've got chain marks on my arse.
Come on. What does it look like?
-Has it got proper grooves?
-[laughs]
I was tires... I was like sitting
in a fucking baby chair.
That was fucking horrible.