Ever watched a man weighing 400 pounds try to run with a refrigerator on his back? Honestly, it’s one of those things that makes you question everything about human biology. Most people think of world's strongest man champions as just giant humans who eat a lot of steak and lift heavy things. That's part of it, sure. But there is a weird, technical, and often political side to this sport that most casual viewers never see.
Back in 1977, when CBS launched the first competition at Universal Studios, they didn't really know what they were doing. They just invited a bunch of guys from different sports—powerlifters, bodybuilders, even a Kung Fu guy—to see who was the toughest. Bruce Wilhelm, a shot putter, won that first one. He won the next one, too. Since then, the sport has transformed from a quirky TV novelty into a massive global phenomenon where athletes have to be both super-strong and surprisingly athletic.
The Myth of the Unbeatable Giant
You probably know the names. Mariusz Pudzianowski. Brian Shaw. Zydrunas Savickas.
We often think these guys are just invincible, but the history of the sport is littered with "what ifs" and crushing injuries. Take Franco Columbu in 1977. He was a legendary bodybuilder, tiny compared to the others, but pound-for-pound incredible. During the refrigerator race, his leg basically exploded on national television. It was gruesome. That moment changed how events were designed forever.
The Pudzianowski Era: Speed Over Size
People forget how much Mariusz Pudzianowski annoyed the "pure" strength community. He didn't look like a traditional strongman; he looked like a Greek god carved out of granite. He won five titles (2002, 2003, 2005, 2007, 2008), which is still the record.
Purists argued he wasn't the "strongest" in terms of raw static lifting. They said he was just faster. He could sprint with the heavy anchors while the bigger guys were still lumbering out of the starting blocks. Honestly, they weren't entirely wrong, but the rules of the game are the rules. If you can't move the weight, you don't win.
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Big Z and Brian Shaw: The Clash of Titans
Then came the era of the true behemoths. Zydrunas Savickas (Big Z) and Brian Shaw.
These two traded the title back and forth for years. It was a genuine rivalry that lacked the social media "beef" we see today but had way more weight behind it. Big Z is arguably the strongest presser to ever live. His log press records are legendary. Brian Shaw, on the other hand, was a 6'8" tactical mastermind. He approached strongman like a scientist. He'd measure the friction of the stones, the humidity in the air, everything.
The Drama You Missed: 2017 and the 501kg Feud
If you want to see where things got heated, look at Eddie Hall and Hafthor Bjornsson.
The 2017 competition in Botswana was a mess of controversy. Thor (the guy who played The Mountain in Game of Thrones) had a rep disallowed on the Viking Press. He claimed he was robbed. Eddie Hall won by a single point and then immediately retired, basically saying, "I'm done, I've achieved my dream, and my body is falling apart."
This started a years-long feud.
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- Eddie's 500kg Deadlift: In 2016, Eddie Hall became the first human to deadlift 500kg (about 1,102 lbs). He literally almost died. His nose bled, and he lost consciousness.
- Thor's 501kg Reply: During the 2020 pandemic, Thor pulled 501kg in his home gym in Iceland.
- The Controversy: Because Thor did it at home and not in a "standard" competition, Eddie and Brian Shaw refused to acknowledge it as the official world record.
It ended with a boxing match in Dubai in 2022. Thor won. It was weird seeing two giants move that way, but it settled the score—sorta.
The Shocking 2025 Result
If you haven't been keeping up lately, the 2025 World's Strongest Man in Sacramento just turned the sport upside down.
For the last few years, Tom Stoltman (the "King of the Stones") and Mitchell Hooper have been the guys to beat. Stoltman is a giant from Scotland who treats the 200kg Atlas Stones like they're made of Styrofoam. Mitchell Hooper is a Canadian kinesiologist who came out of nowhere to win in 2023.
But 2025 belonged to Rayno Nel.
He’s a former rugby player from South Africa. He came in as a rookie and won the whole thing by half a point. Half a point! He’s the first champion from outside Europe or North America. He was trailing going into the final event—the Atlas Stones—against Tom Stoltman. Now, nobody beats Stoltman on the stones. It just doesn't happen. But Nel stayed close enough that his points cushion from earlier events, like the Zercher carry, kept him on top.
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Why We Get Strongman Wrong
The biggest misconception? That it's just about who has the biggest muscles.
It’s actually about grip strength and recovery.
Most of these guys can lift the weights. The challenge is lifting them for five days straight in 100-degree heat while your skin is literally peeling off from the friction of the implements. If you lose your grip on the Farmer's Walk for even a second, you're done. Your title hopes vanish.
Also, the "Hercules Gene." Eddie Hall actually has a genetic mutation that limits myostatin, allowing for extreme muscle growth. Not everyone has that. Most of these guys are just outliers who have spent decades eating 10,000 calories a day and moving heavy metal.
What You Can Actually Learn from These Giants
You aren't going to wake up and deadlift a car tomorrow. That’s a given. But the training methods of these world's strongest man champions offer some surprisingly practical insights for regular people.
- Prioritize the Posterior Chain: Strongmen don't care about "mirror muscles" like biceps. They care about the back, glutes, and hamstrings. That's where real power lives.
- Move Under Load: Doing a bicep curl is one thing. Walking 20 yards with a heavy sandbag is another. Functional strength is about moving while holding something heavy. It fixes your posture and builds "real world" stability.
- Mental Resilience: Tom Stoltman has been very open about his autism and how he uses the repetitive nature of strongman to find focus. The sport is as much about the brain as the body. When you're under a 1,000lb yoke, your brain is screaming at you to stop. You have to learn to turn that voice off.
Practical Next Steps
If you're looking to get into the sport or just want to get stronger:
- Find a local Strongman gym. Standard commercial gyms usually won't have the gear (stones, logs, yokes).
- Start with "carry" variations. Grab two heavy dumbbells and walk for 30 seconds. It’s the simplest way to build that "strongman" base.
- Watch the old tapes. Check out the 80s footage of Bill Kazmaier or Jon Pall Sigmarsson. The equipment was rawer, the athletes were colorful, and the spirit of the sport was pure chaos.
Strongman is evolving. The 2026 season is already looking like a three-way war between the Stoltman brothers, Mitchell Hooper, and the new king Rayno Nel. The weights are getting heavier, the athletes are getting faster, and the margin for error is getting smaller every year.