Hall took tips from established professionals as he prepared himself for bodybuilding.
In early January 2023, former 2017 World’s Strongest Man (WSM) champion Eddie Hall revealed that he would be preparing for a bodybuilding adventure in the late stages of 2024. Time for one of the greatest strongmen of all to live up to those ambitions, Hall is already taking steps to prepare for this new career adventure.
On January 22, 2023, Hall posted a video on his YouTube channel where he tackles training for International Federation of Bodybuilding and Fitness (IFBB) Pro League bodybuilder Jamie “The Giant” Christian’s back. Each NPC News Online, the bodybuilder is perhaps best known for his fourth place finish at the 2020 British Grand Prix. At 6’5″, Christian is the self-proclaimed tallest men’s open pro bodybuilder in the world.
This filmed session appears to be Hall’s first foray into the bodybuilding phase of moving away from his usual strongman focus to create a more ripped and refined physique. Hall and Christian waste no time diving, allowing this unique exercise session to speak as part of Hall’s upcoming transition to bodybuilding.
Lat pulldown
With formal introductions, Hal and Christian begin the workout by tackling some wide-grip lat pulldowns. It is here that Hall notices a difference between the Christian focus on movement. While Hall can focus on pulling the weight down, Christian emphasizes keeping the tension on the lats. To close this part of the routine, the pair complete a heavy drop set, starting with a full weight stack and lowering two to three plates per set.
“You can feel your lats working more,” Hall said.
Seated rows
In subsequent seated rows, Christian again emphasizes keeping pressure on the lats while working through quality movements. The athlete explains to Hall that bodybuilding training is more about contracting muscles than leaning on “momentum” when lifting weights. In the final set, an experienced bodybuilder guided Hall through a rest-pause set — training to momentary muscle failure, resting for 20 seconds and performing additional reps to reach failure a second time.
“Momentum allows the muscles to relax,” explained Christian. “So, try to take the momentum out of everything.”
Heavy on the back
The pair closes the workout by diving into chest support rows, single-arm machine rows and supersets of lat pulldowns and seated rows. Overall, Hall and Christian performed approximately two high-rep working sets at high intensity while executing their final lat pulldown and seated row superset in an optimal four-set flourish.
For a successful foray into bodybuilding, Hall needs all the sport-specific knowledge he can get. Picking the brains of a seasoned professional like Christian is a quality start to ensure the strongman legend develops his bodybuilding journey the way he envisions.
Featured Image: @eddiehallwsm on Instagram
