2018 World’s Strongest Man Hafthor Bjornsson has had a busy year so far. In March, he won the Arnold Strongman Classic for the third year in a row and he followed that up with his historic 501 kg deadlift in early May. In recent weeks he had been focusing on losing weight and training for his September 2021 fight with Eddie Hall.
In recent days, Bjornsson has shared that for the time being he is shifting gears to focusing on training for the 2020 Iceland’s Strongest Man contest. Should he be victorious, it would be the 10th time he wins that title in his illustrious career. He posted about his training on June 17th in an Instagram post which features him deadlifting 370 kg (771.75 pounds) for a double.
“370kg deadlift 2 reps. Preparation for Iceland’s Strongest Man 2020 has started.”
He also posted a video on YouTube where he showed his entire workout including the deadlifts, upper back, and biceps training.
There have been some fans and people in the sport of strongman who believed Bjornsson had retired completely after announcing he would no longer compete in the World’s Strongest Man or Giants Live events. This was believed even more after he had shared content about changing his training and diet recently, including one workout with Annie Thorisdottir.
With his entry in this contest, he has clearly not retired from the sport as a whole. He had stated in the recent past that he was unsure if he would compete in the 2021 Arnold Strongman Classic.
The dates of the Iceland’s Strongest Man contest hadn’t been officially published as of this writing but traditionally it had taken place in the month of August. Even with his weight loss following the record-setting deadlift, Bjornsson would be the overwhelming favorite for this contest. He has competed in the Iceland competition every year since 2010. In that first year, he placed 3rd. He has won every year since.
Should he win that 10th title this year, he would break a tie with fellow Icelandic legend Magnus ver Magnusson for the most victories in the contest’s history.
Featured Video: Instagram/thorbjornsson