Strongman competitions are held across various countries of the world where competitors display strength by lifting very heavy weights in different styles.
It’s expected that competitors have a very dense weight that enables them to lift very heavy objects.
Let’s take a look at the heaviest strongman competitors of all time:
1. Žydrūnas Savickas
After watching a Lithuanian strongman contest on television in 1989, Žydrūnas Savickas developed a keen interest in strength sports.
A few years later, he took part in the same strongman contest and beat several more experienced and older competitors. Savickas began powerlifting at the age of 17.
The Lithuanian record in powerlifting was broken in his second powerlifting competition.
During the 1998 Lithuania’s Strongest Man competition, Savickas won his first prize. After that, he won it 16 times in total. Later, Žydrūnas Savickas competed in the 1998 and 2000 World’s Strongest Man competitions but did not reach the finals.
With a total of 1,020 kg (2,250 lb), he earned the silver medal in the World powerlifting championship in Japan, just 2.5 kg (5.5 lb) behind Brad Gillingham.
Žydrūnas had a total body weight of 375 lbs which immensely aided his career and made him one of the heaviest strongman competitors of all time.
2. Brad Gillingham
Brad Gillingham is the reigning world champion in powerlifting and strongman. Brad has won 34 major powerlifting events and is a six-time World Powerlifting Champion and 14-time National Powerlifting Champion.
At the 2011 IPF Pacific Invitational in Melbourne, Australia, Brad set the IPF Open World Record for the 120+ kg Class with a deadlift of 395 kg (870), and at the 2011 IPF World Championships in Pilsen, Czech Republic, he broke the record with a deadlift of 397.5 kg (876).
At the 2013 IPF Classic World Championships in Suzdal, Russia, Brad set the IPF Open Classic (RAW) World Record deadlift of 375 kg (826 pounds).
The highlight of Brad’s career consists of a 400 kg (881) deadlift set at the 2010 IPF World Championships in Potchefstroom, South Africa, and a 1057.5 kg (2331) total set at the 2008 IPF Masters World Championships in Palm Springs, California.
Brad is one of the heaviest Strongest man competitors of all time with a weight of 330 lbs.
3. Brian Shaw
He won the World’s Strongest Man 2011, 2013, 2015, and 2016 competitions. Shaw was born on February 26, 1982. In October 2005, Shaw won the Denver Strongest Man contest, launching his career as a strongman.
Despite not having formal training, he entered the contest. After joining the professional ranks in June 2006, he continued to succeed as a professional.
Having won both the Arnold Strongman Classic and World’s Strongest Man contests in the same year in 2011, he repeated the feat in 2015.
Shaw finished fifth overall at the 2020 World’s Strongest Man competition, missing out on a podium spot. In addition to placing seventh in the Giant’s Medley, Shaw placed fifth in the partial deadlift, sixth in the Hercules Hold and seventh in the Log Ladder.
Brain Shaw is one of the heaviest strongman competitors of all time with a gross weight of 385 to 440 lbs.
4. Eddie Hall
He is a former professional strongman and was born on 15 January 1988. In 2017, he won the World’s Strongest Man competition.
Besides winning the UK’s Strongest Man and England’s Strongest Man competitions multiple times, Hall is also an accomplished athlete.
Despite his win at the 2017 World’s Strongest Man competition, Hall announced that he was retiring from the competition and returning to lower-weight competitions due to health reasons.
Genetic analysis revealed that Hall’s large muscle mass was due to a genetic mutation that caused myostatin-related muscle hypertrophy. However, he remains one of the heaviest strongman competitors of all time at 345 pounds.
5. Terry Hollands
He won Britain’s Strongest Man and England’s Strongest Man in his time as a strongman. During his career, he participated in the World’s Strongest Man and European Strongest Man competitions.
Hollands began competing in strongman contests in 2005, placing second in the 2005 England’s Strongest Man contest and first in the 2005 UK’s Strongest Man contest.
Hollands became the first person to qualify for the World’s Strongest Man final for nine consecutive years in 2014.
Overall, he came in fifth place. Holland broke a lot of world records and this was possible due to his gross weight of close to 450 lbs. This was before he decided to shed off some weight in 2018.
6. Robert Oberst
In 2012, Oberst was awarded the “Pro Card” at the Dallas Europa Amateur Strongman Competition. Each year he competes in World’s Strongest Man competitions and was a finalist in both the 2013 and 2018 competitions.
Robert won a lot of Strongman competitions between 2013 and 2018. These wins were majorly between first and third place. Robert is also one of the heaviest strongman competitors of all time with a weight of 410 lbs.
7. Nick Best
He is an American powerlifter and professional strongman competitor. In 1996 and 1997, Best won both the USAPL National Powerlifting Championships in the 125kg class and the WDFPF World Powerlifting Championships in 1996.
His best career achievement was winning the All-American Strongman Challenge in 2010. He also competed in the 2010 World’s Strongest Man competition for the first time, qualifying for the finals and finishing in sixth place overall.
Best finished second behind Brian Shaw at the Swedish Grand Prix of the Strongman Super Series on December 17, 2010. Nick is one of the heaviest strongman competitors of all time with a gross weight of 315 lbs.
