Today I’m talking to Canadian strongman Maxime Boudreault, who finished third place at the 2021 World’s Strongest Man and fifth at the 2022 World’s Strongest Man. Maxime is sitting out this year’s World’s Strongest Man due to injury — by the way, the competition kicks off this week! That recovery time has given him new perspective on the sport, and he’s looking to come back stronger than ever. We talk about breaking through strongman’s professional ranks, competing against historically amazing athletes, and the toll of staying on top in one of strength’s most demanding disciplines.
We also discuss how Maxime has used the AIRWAAV mouthpiece — which generously sponsored this podcast — to improve his performance and recovery in both training and long competition days. AIRWAAV is now The Official Mouthpiece of World’s Strongest Man, and BarBend Podcast listeners can use the code BARBEND to receive 15% off. Now let’s get on with the show.
In this episode of the BarBend Podcast, host David Thomas Tao talks to Maxime Boudreault about:
- Max’s history with injury and why getting hurt can be an opportunity to come back stronger (3:10)
- Getting inspired (or scared away!) by a strongman in high school (7:30)
- Maxime’s strongman diet — it’s cleaner than we might think (9:55)
- Why it was so hard to break through as Canada’s top strongman against JF Caron (12:30)
- His second career as an event organizer and host (17:00)
- Focusing on recovery (20:00)
- Using the AIRWAAV mouthpiece (24:00)
Relevant links and further reading:
- Follow Maxime on Instagram
- Follow David Thomas Tao on Instagram and Twitter
