Eddie Hall’s journey to becoming World’s Strongest Man came at an extraordinary personal cost. In a discussion on a recent podcast, the British strongman revealed the reality of what it took for him.
Hall’s training regimen leading up to his 2017 World’s Strongest Man victory was nothing short of monastic. For two and a half years, he maintained an unwavering focus that left little room for family life.
His daily routine consisted of waking at 7 a.m. for breakfast, then returning to bed, followed by physio sessions, more rest, lunch, additional rest, dinner, and finally four to five hours of gym training. He would then visit another facility for hot and cold therapy before returning home for tea and sleeping in a hyperbaric chamber.
“When I say I wasn’t seeing my wife and kids for any more than an hour a week, I mean that,” Hall stated bluntly. “If I saw my kids for an hour a week, I was very lucky. And I did that for two and a half years solid.”
The strain on his marriage reached a breaking point just five weeks before the World’s Strongest Man competition. His wife Alex confronted him about his obsession with the title.
“She just literally said to me I’ve had enough. I’m going. I’m done,” Hall recalled. “She moved out.”
Hall’s response was equally direct. “I said I just can’t waste energy chasing you, asking you whatever. I said, just give me 5 weeks, let me win this title and I’ll come back and we’ll work on a marriage and I’ll be a husband and a dad again.”
The sacrifice extended beyond emotional presence. Hall’s physical commitment was absolute. He consumed between 10,000 and 15,000 calories daily, constantly eating to the point of near sickness.
“You’re eating for a purpose. Every single meal you would forcefeed,” he explained. “You’d be eating to the point you were nearly sick.. It was like an on the fence game all the time.”
After winning the title, Hall made the difficult decision to retire from competitive strongman. “I often think if I hadn’t have won that title, I probably would have tried again. And that would have been the end of my marriage,” he admitted.
However, retirement didn’t immediately restore family balance. Hall transitioned from constant training to constant travel, doing evening appearances, TV shows, endorsements, and sponsor deals.
“There was times where I was away for 90 days and I would come back and wash my pants and f**k off again for another 90 days. And I did that for two and a half years solid.”
Hall acknowledges that period was about capitalizing on his success. “That was like my money making time. It was time to grab and ride that wave off the back of the title.”
Today, Hall continues to balance multiple ventures including MMA, YouTube content creation, podcasting, and various endorsements.
