It appears that one of the strongest men on the planet now wants to be the Fittest Man on Earth®. 2017 World’s Strongest Man winner Eddie “The Beast” Hall, posted a video to his YouTube channel of him completing the 2020 CrossFit Games WOD Damn Diane. He filmed with fellow YouTuber and CrossFit athlete Craig Richey and set out to finish three rounds of 15 reps of deadlifts and 15 strict deficit handstand push-ups for time. You can check out the video below, courtesy of Hall’s YouTube channel (Damn Diane starts at 14:00):
The workout was scaled to the women’s version, which is done with 205 pounds versus 315 and on a 2.5-inch deficit compared to 3.5 inches; Hall also chose to perform the handstand push-ups facing the wall and at an angle, which would not pass in competition. Hall’s goal was to beat three-time Fittest Woman on Earth Tia-Clair Toomey’s Damn Diane time of 2:28. That didn’t happen, however, as Hall ended up finishing the workout in 4:37.
The deadlifts were a breeze for Hall, who set the deadlift world record in 2016 with a 500-kilogram (1,102-pound) lift. (That record was broken in 2020 by Hafthor Bjornsson, who added one kilogram to the lift.) Hall also owns a CrossFit world record in the Isabel WOD, snatching 135 pounds overhead 30 times in 50 seconds, so he’s not a total CrossFit newbie. All that said, the strict handstand push-ups did slow Hall down. After all, The Beast is 6’3″ and 358 pounds or almost a full foot and 230 pounds heavier than Toomey.
Toomey is no easy target either. She and Mat Fraser both dominated stage one of the 2020 CrossFit Games, winning four events each and both setting records — Fraser for the most event wins of any Games competitor (19) and Toomey for winning three Games events in a row. Both are now moving on to the finals in Aromas, California, to defend their titles and compete for $300,000 each. You can learn more about Toomey’s historically dominate performance below:
Overall, Hall’s time is pretty good. And that’s not too surprising. Even for a guy his size, Hall is quite athletic. The man has done a full backflip, and, more recently, he took on the Navy SEAL fitness test. He’s also been dieting down on 6,000 calories a day to prepare for a boxing match with 2018 World’s Strongest Man Hafthor Bjornsson — who he predicts knocking out. If his past accomplishments are any indication, then we don’t suggest counting Hall out.
Feature image courtesy of Eddie Hall’s YouTube channel
