Eddie Hall is a retired strongman competitor who won the prestigious World’s Strongest Man competition in 2017. He also held the record for being the first person to deadlift 500 kilograms (1,102.3 pounds) from 2016 until it was broken by his archrival Hafthor Bjornsson in 2020. Following a short stint in professional boxing that saw him locking horns with Bjornsson in a back-and-forth battle, Hall has now decided to explore new horizons and compete on the bodybuilding stage by the end of 2024. He wants to see ‘how far he can go’ in competitive bodybuilding. To achieve the necessary body composition, the Brit has already started bodybuilding training and routinely collaborates with elite bodybuilders to learn the craft. He has trained with the likes of Jamie Christian-Johal and four-time Mr. Olympia Jay Cutler so far. Recently, Hall partnered with Larry Wheels for a shoulder workout.
Wheels is a powerlifter, bodybuilder, arm wrestler, and popular internet celebrity. He is known for breaking several powerlifting records. Wheels is also a few years into learning arm wrestling and often challenges the sport’s aces. After using performance-enhancing drugs for almost a decade, the 28-year-old decided to stop their abuse and resort to hormone replacement therapy (HRT) instead. He has significantly downsized as a result but admits that training and life, in general, feel a lot better without PEDs.
Hall and Wheels had a tense relationship in the past. However, the duo settled the beef with a friendly arm wrestling match. The video of their recent shoulder training session was posted on Hall’s YouTube channel. So without further delay, let’s take a closer look at the detailed account of this training session.
Eddie Hall and Larry Wheels go through a shoulder workout
Wheels was attending the 2023 Arnold Sports Festival in Columbus, Ohio when he collaborated with Hall for the shoulder workout. The duo trained at the Pro’s Gym in Columbus. Hall plans to compete in the Classic Physique division in his bodybuilding debut, and Wheels will probably be on the same stage as well. The duo trained with each other to further their journey in the bodybuilding world.
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Wheels stated that he has been training shoulders with dumbbells a lot lately and led the training session being the more experienced of the two as Hall followed suit.
Seated Dumbbell Shoulder Press
The duo started the workout with the seated dumbbell shoulder press to work the anterior deltoids. Doing this exercise while seated eliminates the role of core muscles for stabilizing the body. As a result, a lifter can focus more on the shoulder movement.
Wheels and Hall cranked out some solid sets of dumbbell shoulder press with incrementally heavy weights and jumped into the next exercise.
Incline Machine Overhead Press
Wheels and Hall took to the incline machine overhead press on an iso-lateral machine next, and pushed through a few heavy sets to work the anterior deltoid muscles. After this, they performed a medial deltoid movement.
Dumbbell Lateral Raise
Wheels shifted the focus to the medial deltoid muscles and took to the dumbbell lateral raises to work this muscle. Hall followed in Wheels’ footsteps and did the exercise with a controlled and slow movement.
Reverse Pec Deck Fly
The posterior/rear deltoids are extremely difficult to activate with common shoulder movements like overhead presses and lateral raises. Therefore it is essential to incorporate rear delt-specific exercises in the shoulder training routine for overall shoulder development. Hall and Wheels took to the reverse pec deck fly to work the posterior deltoid muscles and performed three sets of the movement.
Machine Lateral Raise
The training partners went back to working the medial deltoids next and performed a few sets of machine lateral raises to isolate the muscle. This exercise served as the finisher to the shoulder training session, as Wheels and Hall called it a day in the gym after this exercise.
Hall and Wheels Shoulder Workout
Overall, the workout included:
- Seated Dumbbell Shoulder Press
- Incline Machine Overhead Press
- Dumbbell Lateral Raises
- Reverse Pec Deck Flyes
- Machine Lateral Raises
At the end of the workout, Wheels explained his plan of action to prepare his physique for competing in the NPC league and said:
“I want to give it at least a good six months to have a small bulk and then cut down to where my NPC Amateur Classic weight cut-off is 220 pounds or 100 kilograms. I have to drop 15 kilograms where I am at.”
Wheels has to bulk up at approximately 120 kilograms and then cut down to 105 kilograms. It is a challenging prospect for the famed powerlifter as he has not weighed 100 kilograms since he was 16 years old.
“I’m weighing this all up because I am going to cut 45 kilograms in six months. So more than double the weight and double the time. We’ve got a long road ahead,” Eddie Hall reflected on his goals.
If we know one thing about Hall and Wheels, it is that they have the discipline and work ethic to achieve the goals they set. It will be interesting to follow their journey to the bodybuilding stage.
You can watch the full workout video below, courtesy of Eddie Hall The Beast YouTube channel:
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