Examining the muscles of Eddie Hall, a British strongman and deadlift champion, has given researchers greater insight into muscle strength, which could inform athletic performance, injury prevention, and healthy aging – and giving hope to even the non-athletic among us.
Eddie 'the Beast' Hall is the 2017 World’s Strongest Man who stands at 6 feet 2.5 inches (189 cm) tall and, over the course of his strongman career, has weighed between 313 and 434 pounds (142-197 kg). He’s best known for his 2016 blood-spurting, world-record-setting 1,102-lb (500-kg) deadlift, which you can watch in the video below.
But what makes the now-retired strongman and deadlift champ so extraordinarily strong? That’s something that researchers at Loughborough University in the UK were determined to find out, keen to see if what they uncovered could help athletes and non-athletes alike.
“Scientific understanding of muscular strength is important because of its role in athletic performance, injury prevention, and healthy aging,” said Dr Tom Balshaw from the University’s School of Sport, Exercise and Health Sciences and the lead author of the recently published study into Hall. “However, our knowledge of extreme human strength is limited.”
At the time of the study, Hall’s achievements included one World’s Strongest Man title, five Britain’s Strongest Man titles, second place at Europe’s Strongest Man, two-time World Deadlift Champion and holder of the aforementioned Deadlift World Record.
For the 15 years before the study, Hall had undertaken continuous, regular upper- and lower-body resistance training. Twelve months prior to testing as part of the study, his training typically consisted of lower-body squats, deadlifts, leg presses, knee extensions, upper-body bench presses, shoulder presses, dumbbell/barbell rows, and lat pull-downs. He didn’t do any strenuous activity for 24 hours before testing.
Hall underwent 3.0-T MRI scans to assess the size of 22 individual lower-limb muscles, five functional muscle groups, and the cross-sectional area of the patellar tendon. A 3.0-T MRI scan generates a magnetic field that’s twice as strong as a normal MRI (1.5T, or Teslas), providing clearer images, especially of bones, joints, and muscles. Hall also performed countermovement jumps (CMJ) – squatting to a self-selected depth and then jumping as high as possible – and isometric mid-thigh pulls (IMTP), which are similar to a clean or deadlift, except the bar doesn’t move. CMJ is a reliable measure of lower-body power, whereas IMTP assesses whole-body strength and force production capabilities.
The researchers compared Hall’s muscle and tendon form, shape, and structure to those of other athletic, trained and untrained males. They found that the total muscle volume of Hall’s 22 lower-limb muscles was almost twice (+96%) that of untrained men, 63% greater than the sub-elite athlete population and 32% greater than elite 100 m sprinters.
The biggest difference in Hall’s muscle volume was seen in the ‘guy ropes’ – the sartorius, gracilis, and semitendinosus muscles – which stabilize the pelvis and thigh bone (femur). Hall’s were 2.5 to three times larger compared to untrained participants; +140% for the gracilis, +157% for the semitendinosus, and +202% for the sartorius.
Large differences were also seen in the plantar flexors, the group of muscles in the sole of the foot responsible for things like toe extension and stabilization of the tendons under force: +120% vs the untrained population, +100% vs sub-elite sprinters, and +70% vs elite sprinters. The smallest difference was in the hip flexor muscles responsible for flexing the hip and raising the legs, as well as maintaining stability and posture: +65% vs untrained, +30% vs sub-elite sprinters, and +5% vs elite sprinters.
Hall’s gross IMTP peak force was 54% greater than the highest comparable group, sub-elite weightlifters. His net IMTP peak force was 100% greater than the highest comparable group, collegiate soccer athletes. His peak CMJ power was more than 2.5-fold (164%) that of the untrained group and 51% greater than the highest comparable group, professional basketballers.
“With Eddie, a strongman and deadlift champion, we expected the big muscles involved in extending the knee and hip would show the greatest development,” said Jonathan Folland, professor of neuromuscular performance at Loughborough University and the study’s corresponding author. “Whilst these muscles were certainly well developed, we were surprised that the greatest muscular development was of the long, thin ‘guy ropes’ muscles that stabilize the pelvis and thigh. This indicates that these stabilizing muscles may be more important for heavy lifting and carrying than we previously thought.”
Providing a novel insight into the musculature of an extraordinarily strong individual, someone close to the upper limit of human variation, gives researchers a better understanding of the continuum of muscle function, from the weak to the super strong.
“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,” Balshaw said. “This suggests that we can all change and develop our muscular system to improve the function and performance of our muscles.
The study was published in the Journal of Applied Physiology.
Source: Loughborough University
