Eddie ‘The Beast’ Hall - The World’s Strongest Book

Published in hardback in Great Britain in 2022 by Allen & Unwin,
an imprint of Atlantic Books Ltd.

Copyright Eddie The Beast Hall, 2022

The moral right of Eddie Hall to be identified as the author

of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with the

Copyright, Designs and Patents Act of 1988.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced,
stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any

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the prior permission of both the copyright owner and

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Every effort has been made to trace or contact all copyright holders.

The publishers will be pleased to make good any omissions or rectify

any mistakes brought to their attention at the earliest opportunity.

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A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

Hardback ISBN: 978 1 83895 711 7

Trade paperback ISBN: 978 1 83895 859 6

E-book ISBN: 978 183895 712 4

Typeset in Caslon Pro by Avon DataSet Ltd, Alcester, Warwickshire

Printed in Great Britain

Allen & Unwin

An imprint of Atlantic Books Ltd

Ormond House

2627 Boswell Street

London

WC1N 3JZ

www.allenandunwin.com/uk

www.atlantic-books.co.uk

Dedicated to my Nan Sheila Jackson, my wife Alex,
and my Mum and Dad Helen and Stephen.

You know what I get asked all the time? Can you lift me over your head for a picture, pretty please?

Now I appreciate that sounds like a pretty odd request, but when you are known as one of the strongest men in the world, its to be expected. I usually say yes, too. Im always very happy to meet the fans and the lift is a little bit of free exercise. Plus, the photos do look very cool. Every now and then though, Ill get asked another question.

What does it take to be strong?

How do I respond to that? My entire career has been dedicated to answering that question, and Im still not sure that Ive fully figured it out. That said, Ive won multiple Strongman titles and Ive broken world records, so I probably know more than the average person in your local gym.

This book is an opportunity for me to go some way towards answering that question, What does it take to be strong? I reckon the best way to answer it is by taking you behind the scenes of my toughest challenge yet.

Youre about to go through ten rounds with me ten lessons Ive learned in my career and that I called upon in preparation for The Heaviest Boxing Match in History. That was the name given to the ring showdown between me and Thor Bjornsson, which took place in Dubai on 19 March 2022. Im going to introduce you to my team, as well as a few of my mates who happen to be elite in their fields. So welcome to the training camp, buddy. Welcome to Team Beast.

Ive competed in a lot of competitions in my life, but I think getting in the ring with someone when youre both trying to take each others head off is a hell of an experience. I mean, Ive been in a lot of fights in my life, but obviously you dont set fights up, you know, fights in general life just happen.

Boxings almost a surreal experience. I found I was walking into an arena, like the gladiators must have done thousands of years ago, and at the end of the day youre doing it to entertain people. And I suppose thats kind of how I felt, like it was a night of entertainment for everyone. And it was one of the worlds historic spectacles, in my opinion. Two of the biggest men on the planet going head to head Worlds Strongest Man versus Worlds Strongest Man. It was an experience Ill never forget.

After the fight, my pal Ross Edgley sent me a message, a quote from Theodore Roosevelt:

It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.

This book is a diary of me daring greatly. Its a record of my two-year odyssey to prepare to fight Thor. It details the highs and the lows, the good, the bad and the ugly. Its raw, its unvarnished and its the truth. Im really taking you behind the scenes and everything that you are about to read is 100 per cent me and 100 per cent authentic.

Ill let you in on a little secret I had done precisely zero boxing training before I signed on for this fight. You could say I had a mountain in front of me. In this book, I take you with me on my journey from total novice to a professional showdown in the ring. Along the way, Ill tell you about my life growing up in Stoke, Ill share with you what it takes to smash world records and Ill let you in on how much blood, sweat and tears it took for me to win the Worlds Strongest Man in 2017.

What does it take to be strong? Over the course of this book, youre going to find out. But heres a little spoiler for you. It aint just pulling weights in the gym, or hitting 12,000 calories a day, or staying hydrated. Sure, you have to do all that stuff. But to reach the top, theres another kind of strength that you have to work on. That is strength of mind. And it can only be developed through time and experience. As I share my story with you, youll begin to understand how my mindset was formed and the role it has played in getting me to where I am today. Over the course of ten chapters, I talk about harnessing the power of the fight or flight instinct, the role preparation plays in achieving your goals, and how to use setbacks and failures to power you to success. I also take you deep down to the dark place of pain and show you how to break the impulse to quit. I talk about how to deal with complacency, what separates the good from the greatest, and how to seize the opportunity for victory when it presents itself.

I am living, breathing, sweating, swearing proof that it is possible to achieve the impossible. One of my earliest memories, and this is no lie, is watching the Worlds Strongest Man with my parents and brothers in the room. I said, loud as anything, Im going to be the Worlds Strongest Man one day. What do you think happened? Of course, the whole room erupted in laughter. My older brothers both slapping me on the head saying, Oh, shut up, Eddie. Hows a kid from Stoke-on-Trent going to become the Worlds Strongest Man? Impossible. Impossible, Eddie.

Impossible. Thats the worst thing you can say to me. That word gets my back right up. When I hear it, something wakes up inside me. Ive always found a way forward no matter the obstacle in front of me. When I hear the I word, it just makes me want to go out and prove people wrong. I dont want to stick it to people in a nasty way, but I do want to show them that it is possible to achieve amazing things in life. It is possible to do things that everyone else says cant be done.