On 28 May 2017, Eddie Hall achieved his 'lifelong dream' of becoming the World's Strongest Man – an accomplishment made all the more remarkable given how he started off the day. Watch The Beast explain his unorthodox prep here:
To reach the pinnacle of any sport requires extreme levels of talent, training and dedication, and Hall grafted for years to reach the very top of Strongman.
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Hellbent on becoming the very best, every decision revolved around this sole objective, and as such, you'd think necking half a litre of vodka the night before the final of the World's Strongest Man (WSM) would be the last thing on his agenda – but that's exactly what he did.
"I had a bottle of vodka, two tramadol [pain medication] and a diazepam [Valium]," he told LADbible. "And I think that probably covered all bases really.
"I slept that good. I went to bed in this position [sat upright], and I woke up in this position eight hours later."
However, while The Beast may have enjoyed a top notch slumber, he awoke from his hibernation to find he had paid a messy price in his hotel room in Botswana.
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The 34-year-old recalled: "I p***ed myself and s**t myself.
"I remember coming back, because that was the final of the World's Strongest Man, I remember I came back at the end of the day to my hotel room and the f***ing cleaning lady had a bit of a grumble at me, because she had to clean up my s**t off the bed.
"And I had to tip this cleaning lady a bit of cash and sort of say sorry, you know, I don't want to take the p**s out of the cleaners. But yeah, I had to basically pay extra to get my s**t cleaned up off the sheets."
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Wow. Speaking on behalf of all humanity, I would like to say that our thoughts go out to that cleaning lady.
But why the hell would Hall get obliterated the night before the big day anyway?
"You know, the night before the competition is so, so, so f***ing important," he explained.
"End of the day, the best thing for performance, you can train perfect for 10 years, you can eat perfect for 10 years – you get one bad night's sleep the night before the contest, all that training and all that nutrition, all that prep goes out the f***ing window.
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"So, it's important; it's the most important thing is a good night's sleep. 100 percent."
And with that in mind, his prep actually worked perfectly.
"I never slept so good in my f***ing life," he added.
Well, the ends justify the means, I suppose.
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Since this rollercoaster of a day, Hall has very much spread his muscular wings, starring in numerous films and TV shows, amassing millions of followers on social media, and physically transforming himself for a recent boxing match against fellow WSM winner Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson.
Now you can hear him retell his remarkable story in his own words in The World’s Strongest Audiobook, which features 'training diaries, 10 rounds of mental preparation and documentary clips'.
"I suppose it's about all the stresses and strains of life, the ups, the downs," Hall said.
"Of course, there are more ups than downs, but everybody has down moments. I don't think there's anyone on this planet that's always up on that pedestal, always got that World's Strongest Man feeling of being the best.
"I suppose that's the story really, is chasing it, and the tools that I've used to keep chasing it, and keep my mental health good."
You can buy The World’s Strongest Audiobook on Audible here and on Google Play here.
Topics: Sport, Eddie Hall
Jake Massey