Scientists discover ‘surprising’ secret of world’s strongest man

Sign up for our free Health Check email to receive exclusive analysis on the week in health Get our free Health Check email Get our free Health Check email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Jonathan Folland, professor of neuromuscular performance at Loughborough University’s School of Sport, Exercise and Health Sciences, said: “You would anticipate that someone who is extraordinarily strong, like Eddie Hall, would have very big muscles - and you can, kind of, discern that by looking at him. “These muscles clearly are more important for lifting and carrying very heavy loads than we previously thought.” Eddie Hall during the red carpet arrivals for BBC Sports Personality of the Year 2017 Hall, who won the World’s Strongest Man title in 2017, also held the record for the heaviest deadlift in history of 500kg until it was broken by Iceland’s Hafthor Julius Bjornsson in 2020. but the amount of scientific work studying people like Eddie Hall has been almost zero.” The researchers invited Hall, also known as The Beast, to take part in a series of tests at Loughborough University, including MRI scans and isometric mid-thigh pulls - a reliable way to test maximum strength without performing a deadlift. Hall said: “It’s been very interesting to sort of learn how your muscles react and the tendons react to the forces I’ve been putting through my body.” Dr Tom Balshaw, also from the university’s School of Sport, Exercise and Health Sciences, said: “Overall, the results suggest how adaptable the muscular system is, with the greatest muscular development of the muscles that Eddie trains and uses the most.