Eddie Hall

Edward Stephen Hall (born 15 January 1988) is a British media personality and retired strongman. He is best known for his world-record setting 500 kg deadlift in 2016 which is widely regarded as one of the greatest feats in the history of strongmen. He is also known for winning the 2017 World's Strongest Man competition.

Hall has won national competitions such as England's Strongest Man, Britain's Strongest Man, and UK's Strongest Man multiple times. In 2022, he was defeated by fellow World's Strongest Man winner Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson in a boxing match that was taglined "The Heaviest Boxing Match in History". He has presented his own television series called Eddie Eats America (2018) and was featured in the History Channel series The Strongest Man in History (2019). He had his first acting role as an extra in the action film Expend4bles (2023).

Early life
Edward Stephen Hall was born in Newcastle-under-Lyme on 15 January 1988. As a teenager, he was a successful competitive swimmer in his age group; he competed in the UK Nationals swimming competition in 2001, winning four gold medals and one silver while setting two British records in the process. He attended Clayton Hall Academy, but was expelled at the age of 15 and began homeschooling. At the age of 16, he began an apprenticeship as a technician at Lex Commercials, the local DAF Trucks site in Stoke-on-Trent. Upon completion of his apprenticeship in 2008, he began working as a mechanic and technician at the Robert Wiseman Dairies site in Market Drayton until 2016.

Strongman
In 2007, Hall entered his first strongman competition, coming 5th out of 15. In an interview with DAF Trucks in 2020, he said, "From then, I entered competition after competition, at first staying local, before moving onto qualifying events for England's Strongest Man."

In 2010, Dave Meer of Tamworth had to drop out of the England championships organised by Elite Strongman because of an injury. He arranged for Hall to take his place, which led to Hall making it into the 2010 finals and winning on his first attempt by half a point.

Hall finished first at the UK's Strongest Man 2011 competition in Belfast, with Ken Nowicki in second and Rich Smith in third. His win was helped by setting a new national record in the "Viking Hold", hanging on to 20 kg (44lbs) axes in each hand at full stretch for one minute and 18 seconds. Hall tore tendons in an arm during the competition, but was hopeful of a spot at the World's Strongest Man (WSM) in September. However, his improved ranking could only guarantee a spot for 2012, and he did not compete at WSM in 2011. Winning the UK title meant that Hall became the first choice to replace Jono MacFarlane of New Zealand in the Giants Live Melbourne event in February 2012, when the latter suffered a back injury. He placed fourth in his first taste of international competition. Later, in April 2012, he was invited to compete at Europe's Strongest Man, another Giants Live event. This was held at Headingley Carnegie Stadium, home of the Leeds Rhinos rugby league team and Hall found himself competing alongside six of the ten finalists from World's Strongest Man 2011, including two-time World's Strongest Man, Žydrūnas Savickas. Hall finished in eighth place.

In 2012, Hall competed at the World's Strongest Man competition, but did not progress beyond his qualifying group.

In 2013, Hall failed to qualify for Europe's Strongest Man 2013. However, he was given a second chance when Ervin Katona was forced to retire due to injury. Hall competed in his place and came in eighth place. That same year, he was featured on BBC One's Watchdog series when the producers enlisted his help to test even the strongest of drivers in specific circumstances. He also competed at that year's World's Strongest Man, winning two events in his heat but narrowly missing out on qualifying for the final.

In 2014, Hall reached the final of WSM for the first time, coming second in the Squat Lift event and ultimately finishing sixth.

In March 2015, Hall achieved the world record for lifting the weight of 462 kg in the deadlift.

In April 2015, Hall finished fourth at the World's Strongest Man, an improvement of two places on the previous year. In December, a feature documentary about Hall called Eddie: Strongman was released. The film, directed by Matt Bell, follows Hall for two years as he strives to become the strongest man in the world.

In March 2016, Hall achieved a new world record for the Elephant Bar deadlift in the Arnold Strongman Classic by lifting 465 kg. In July 2016, Hall set a new world record in the conventional deadlift under strongman rules (standard bar with figure 8 straps and multi-ply suit) with a lift of 500 kg at the World Deadlift Championships besting the world record 465 kg he previously shared with Jerry Pritchett and Benedikt Magnússon earlier that same day. The 500 kg lift made Hall bleed from his ears and nostrils, and made him temporarily blind before he fainted to the floor. The record stood for 3 years and 9 months until 2 May 2020, when it was beaten by Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson with the current world record of 501 kg at the World's Ultimate Strongman Feats of Strength series.

Hall won the 2017 World's Strongest Man competition and announced his intention to retire from the World's Strongest Man and return to lower-weight competitions after expressing health-related concerns.

In 2018, Hall won his fifth straight Britain's Strongest Man competition and decided to retire from Strong Man competitions shortly after due to health concerns.

Boxing
Hall started his professional boxing career in 2020 when his rival Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson challenged him after breaking the world record for the deadlift. He confidently responded "I'm going to train the hardest, eat the hardest, sleep the hardest and recover the hardest" amidst having boxed before and with his swimming background, claiming superior levels of cardio and endurance. He incorporated a lot of explosive punches, punching boxing machines and many athletes including gymnast Nile Wilson, pop star Peter Andre and his training partners as hard as he can. Hall's extensive training regime also incorporated a lot of bench presses, squats, deadlifts, medicine ball slams and burpees.

On 19 March 2022, Hall faced Björnsson in Dubai, in a titan weight class boxing match which was tag-lined the heaviest match in history. Hall took the better of the first couple of rounds and managed to put Björnsson down while knocking him against the ropes at the beginning of the second round. But Björnsson bludgeoned Hall and knocked him down twice to the floor in rounds three and six. Hall sustained cuts on top of both eyes and lost by unanimous decision with all three judges scoring the bout 57–54 in favour of Björnsson. Hall's boxing stance during the fight (especially from the fourth round onwards) garnered a lot of attention because of its uniqueness, having kept distinctly leaning over to the right side mimicking the natural movement of a Fiddler Crab, trying to negate the reach and height advantage of Björnsson.

On 20 April 2022, Hall got a tattoo on his foot stating "World’s Strongest Man - Hafthor Julius Bjornsson" to commemorate the fight and his loss.

In other media
Hall has a YouTube channel, Eddie Hall The Beast, which has videos of strongman commentary, training, fitness and food challenges, and vlogs.

Since his retirement from World's Strongest Man competitions in 2017, Hall has provided commentary for subsequent WSM competitions.

In 2018, Hall appeared on the Channel 5 show Celebs In Solitary, where he attempted to spend five days in solitary confinement. In 2019, Hall presented the SPORTbible webseries Beasted! where he, along with Luke Fullbrook and Chris Peil, helped guide eight men through exercise plans and diets to improve their fitness.

Hall is one of four strongmen, together with Nick Best, Robert Oberst, and Brian Shaw, featured in the History Channel series, The Strongest Man in History, which premiered on 10 July 2019.

Personal life
Hall is married to Alexandra, a barbershop owner in Trent Vale, with whom he has a son named Maximus and a daughter born in June 2023. He also has a daughter named Layla from a previous relationship.

Personal records
Competitions:
 * Deadlift (standard bar with figure 8 straps and multi-ply suit) – 500 kg (2016 World Deadlift championships/ Europe's Strongest Man) (former world record)
 * Rogue Elephant Bar Deadlift (with figure 8 straps and without suit) – 465 kg (2016 Arnold Strongman Classic) (former world record)
 * Raw Deadlift – 360 kg (without suit or straps) (2013 UK's Strongest Man)
 * Bench press – 280 kilograms (617 lb) (touch and go, with elbow sleeves) (2015 Amateur Powerlifting Challenge)
 * Axle press – 216 kg (2017 Europe's Strongest Man) (former world record)
 * Log press – 213 kg (2018 Europe's Strongest Man)
 * Circus Dumbbell press – 100 kg x 4 reps (2014 Britain's Strongest Man), 124 kg Cyr Dumbbell x 1 rep (2015 Arnold Strongman Classic)
 * Keg toss – 6 kegs (18–22.5 kg) over 4.90 meters in 60.00 seconds (2014 World's Strongest Man)
 * Atlas Stones – 5 Stones (heavy set) 120–200 kg (264–441 lb) in 23.81 seconds (2017 Europe's Strongest Man), 5 Stones (light set) 100–180 kg (220–397 lb) in 17.94 seconds (2016 Britain's Strongest Man)
 * Húsafell Stone (replica) – 186 kg for 27.15 meters (2013 UK's Strongest Man)
 * Bate Tote (Super Yoke) – 680 kg for 2.67 meters (2015 Arnold Strongman Classic)
 * CrossFit Isabel – 60 kg for 30 repetitions in 50.9 seconds (2019 CrossFit European Championships) (world record)

Training:
 * Squat – 405 kilograms (893 lb) (raw, beltless)
 * Long bar Squat – 345 kilograms (761 lb) for 8 reps (beltless, on 8 foot bar)
 * Safety bar Squat – 360 kilograms (794 lb) for 6 reps (beltless)
 * Bench press – 300 kg (equipped), 275 kg (606 lb) (raw)
 * Bench press for reps – 265 kilograms (584 lb) for 6 reps (8 foot bar), 225 kilograms (496 lb) for 10 reps (8 foot bar)
 * Incline bench press – 260 kilograms (573 lb) (raw), 225 kilograms (496 lb) for 7 reps (raw)
 * Incline dumbbell press – 100 kilograms (220 lb) per hand for 7 reps, 90 kilograms (198 lb) per hand for 10 reps
 * Dumbbell shoulder press – 60 kilograms (132 lb) per hand for 40 reps
 * Deadlift – 450 kilograms (992 lb) with straps (two man bar)