Exercise scientist Dr. Mike Israetel is back taking a closer look at the training of strongman legend Hafthor Bjornsson. In a recent YouTube video shared on November 29, 2024, he offered fans workout advice after evaluating ‘Thor’s’ deadlift and bench pressing capabilities.
Hafthor Bjornsson is one of the most decorated strongman athletes to compete. He reached the pinnacle of his career in 2018, defeating a stacked crop of contenders to earn his lone World’s Strongest Man title. But that’s not all. Bjornsson has won the prestigious Arnold Strongman Classic three times and holds the world record deadlift, having pulled a jaw-dropping 1,104 pounds.
Dr. Israetel, meanwhile, is an established physiologist, known for his science-based workout breakdowns, techniques, and fitness content. Given Bjornsson’s reputation as a strength sports athlete, Israetel decided to dissect his training, enlightening fans on how they could improve their weightlifting skills.
“6’9″ 400-440 pounds depending on what shape he’s in, World’s Strongest Man winner, one of the freakiest humans to ever walk the planet Earth, and plays that one dude in the Game of Thrones, the Mountain. He’s just out of his mind unreal and he’s Icelandic,” he shared. “Let’s take a look at how he’s training.”
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Exercise Scientist Critiques Training of ‘Freakishly Strong’ Hafthor Bjornsson
To begin, Dr. Israetel examines Bjornsson’s deadlifting technique and power.
“Heavy deadlifts a few times a week don’t work, you might only be able to go heavy once a week or once every few weeks, however, if you go heavier on some weeks and lighter on other weeks, you get these crazy benefits.”
He specified that deadlifting takes a particular technique, underlining that there is value in alternating between heavy and lighter sets over time. As the world record holder for the deadlift with straps, Bjornsson’s approach certainly carries significance.
“Deadlift requires a technique, it’s not super complicated but if you practice even a complicated technique, you just become much better at it over time.
So if Hafthor is doing very heavy work some weeks and lighter work other weeks, the lighter work doesn’t add a ton of fatigue, or maybe not at all, maybe it even lets him dissipate while improving his technique on the deadlift.”
Dr. Israetel also took a closer look at Bjornsson’s ability to bench over 500 pounds.
“He is freakishly strong. How freakishly? He’s won the World’s Strongest Man world championship before so he’s the strongest human alive on the planet at one point and today, easily in the top five or 10 at any time. That’s insane. These are not so much human beings they are Icelanders.”
With Bjornsson taking on lighter workouts at times, Dr. Israetel discussed the importance of scaling back weight and intensity when necessary.
“This is smart shit. Listen to Hafthor. If your body is kind of fucked up you can always go a little bit lighter. Pump up the volume on your other muscle groups. Stop putting a lot of load through your spine and you’re going to feel way better.
You don’t have to take a whole week off. You can still train and you can still get some muscle growth but don’t pound your body into submission with hardcore basics all the time,” he adds.
Dr. Israetel offered tips to lifters after critiquing Bjornsson’s performance on the incline barbell chest press.
“It looks good. It’s tough criticizing the World’s Strongest Man. I will say, especially for injury comebacks, I would love to see a slower eccentric especially at the bottom portion because high rebound forces are probably not ideal for recovery from a tendon rupture. Maybe some slower eccentrics, a gentle pause at the bottom, and a slower acceleration to the top.”
This wasn’t the first strongman legend’s training that Dr. Israetel has picked apart. He also broke down the workout techniques and training executed by former four-time World’s Strongest Man, Brian Shaw. While he was blown away by Shaw’s strength, Dr. Israetel offered training tips and discussed whether his routine was conducive to muscle growth.
As one of the biggest and strongest human beings on the planet, Dr. Israetel was overly impressed with ‘Thor’s’ training. His top criticism was during the bench press, where he advised the legend to take the eccentric slower since he is still navigating life with a pec tear he sustained in April of 2023.
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