If you think the title of most strongest man in the world is a permanent crown, you haven’t been paying attention to the absolute chaos of the 2025 season. Most people just assume there is one guy, somewhere in Iceland or Texas, who is the strongest. Period. But that isn't how it works. You have the World's Strongest Man (WSM) winner, the Arnold Strongman Classic champ, and the guy who holds the heaviest deadlift on paper.
Often, they aren't the same person.
Right now, the conversation is dominated by a name that took the world by surprise: Rayno Nel. In May 2025, this South African rookie didn't just show up to Sacramento; he dismantled the veteran guard. He became the first person since Jouko Ahola in 1997 to win the title on their debut. It was a half-point victory over the legendary Tom Stoltman that shifted the entire landscape of the sport.
The Current Hierarchy: Who Actually Holds the Power?
When we talk about the most strongest man in the world, we have to look at the big three: Rayno Nel, Mitchell Hooper, and Tom Stoltman. Honestly, it’s a coin toss on any given Sunday.
Rayno Nel is the reigning WSM champion. He's a former rugby player who brings a level of explosive speed that makes the "static" lifters look like they're moving through molasses. He isn't the biggest guy on the field—weighing in around 326 lbs—but his performance in the Hercules Hold and the Zercher Carry in 2025 proved that raw grip and "farm strength" still win titles.
Then you've got Mitchell Hooper. The "Moose."
He won the 2023 WSM and has been basically inescapable on podiums ever since. In early 2025, he secured his third consecutive Arnold Strongman Classic title. That’s a massive deal. The Arnold is often considered the "pure strength" show compared to the "athleticism" of WSM. If you want to know who can move the heaviest inanimate objects without the flair of television cameras, many experts point to Hooper.
- Rayno Nel: Current 2025 WSM Champion. Speed and grip specialist.
- Mitchell Hooper: 2025 Arnold Classic Winner. The most consistent podium finisher in history.
- Tom Stoltman: Three-time WSM winner (2021, 2022, 2024). The undisputed "King of the Stones."
The Science of Being the Most Strongest Man in the World
It isn't just about eating 10,000 calories and lifting heavy rocks. It's about central nervous system (CNS) management.
When an athlete like Tom Stoltman—who stands 6'8" and weighs over 400 lbs—attempts a max deadlift, his body isn't just fighting the weight. It's fighting itself. The Golgi tendon organs in the muscles are screaming at the brain to shut down the lift to prevent the tendons from snapping off the bone. Being the most strongest man in the world requires "reprogramming" that safety switch.
The Deadlift Barrier
We can't talk about strength without mentioning Hafthor Bjornsson. While he’s stepped away from the traditional WSM circuit at times, "The Mountain" just recently hit a 505 kg (1,113 lbs) deadlift in Germany in 2025. He’s currently eyeing the 2026 Enhanced Games to attempt a mind-boggling 515 kg pull.
Is a guy who can deadlift 500+ kg stronger than a guy who wins a medley of carrying sandbags and pulling buses? It depends on your definition. If strength is $Force = mass \times acceleration$, the guys winning the WSM are often applying more "functional" force than the static powerlifters.
Why the "First-Year" Win Changed Everything
The 2025 World's Strongest Man final was a tactical masterpiece. Nel knew he couldn't beat Tom Stoltman in the Atlas Stones. Nobody can. Stoltman is a freak of nature when it comes to loading stones onto platforms.
So, Nel built a "buffer."
He won the opening medley. He took second in the deadlift. By the time they reached the Stones, Stoltman had to finish significantly ahead of Nel to take the overall lead. Stoltman won the event, but Nel did just enough—finishing his fourth stone a fraction of a second faster than Mitchell Hooper—to keep the title by a measly 0.5 points.
It was a reminder that being the most strongest man in the world is as much about math and recovery as it is about bicep size.
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Training Like a Giant (Don't Try This at Home)
Most of these guys train in 3 to 4-hour blocks. It’s a full-time job.
Mitchell Hooper, for example, is a clinical exercise physiologist. He approaches his training with a level of data that would make a NASA engineer blush. He tracks heart rate variability, sleep quality, and eccentric load speeds.
For the average person, "strong" means a 405-pound squat. For these men, 405 pounds is a warm-up they do while talking to their camera crew.
The Recovery Secret
You've probably seen the videos of Eddie Hall or Brian Shaw eating massive amounts of food. While the 10k calorie diet is real, the "secret" to modern strength is inflammation management.
- Hyperbaric Chambers: Increasing oxygen saturation to repair micro-tears in the muscle.
- Contrast Therapy: Switching between near-boiling and freezing water to flush the lymphatic system.
- Passive Tissue Release: Not just "massage," but deep structural work to ensure the fascia isn't restricted.
Misconceptions About the "World's Strongest" Title
One of the biggest myths is that the most strongest man in the world is the guy you see on the old re-runs on ESPN. The sport has evolved. In the 80s and 90s, it was about giants moving slowly. Today, if you can’t run a 40-yard dash with 300 lbs in your hands, you won’t even make the finals.
Another misconception? That it's all about steroids. While the sport has a complicated history with PEDs, the top-tier guys like Hooper and Stoltman are genetic outliers who have been lifting since they were teenagers. No amount of "supplementation" can make a person 6'9" with hands the size of dinner plates.
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What’s Next for the Strength World?
We are heading into the 2026 season with more questions than answers.
Can Rayno Nel defend his title, or was 2025 a fluke of the Sacramento heat?
Will Hafthor Bjornsson actually pull 515 kg and move the record even further out of reach?
If you're looking to improve your own strength based on what these pros do, don't start by trying to pull a truck. Start with the basics:
- Prioritize "Static" Strength: Build a base with deadlifts and overhead presses.
- Don't Ignore Grip: Your back is always stronger than your hands. Train your grip specifically.
- Move Under Load: Don't just stand in a rack. Walk with weights. It builds a "core" that a thousand sit-ups could never touch.
The quest to be the most strongest man in the world isn't just a sports competition. It’s a laboratory for human potential. Whether it’s Nel’s speed or Stoltman’s sheer size, we are watching the limits of biology being pushed in real-time.
To track the 2026 season, keep an eye on the Giants Live tour. That's where the qualifying points happen, and it's the best way to see who is actually putting in the work before the big show in May. Following individual athletes on YouTube is usually better than waiting for the TV broadcast, as the lag time between the event and the airing is often months. Get the raw data from the athletes themselves to see the true "why" behind the heavy lifting.