The previous World’s Strongest Man has a recent outlook on competing.
Hafthor Björnsson sent a transparent message to the strength sports world by announcing he’ll shift his focus from powerlifting to competing in strongman again.
The 2018 World’s Strongest Man and three-time winner of the Arnold Strongman Classic made headlines in February of 2023 when he officially got here out of retirement. Nonetheless, just two months later, Björnsson encountered a serious setback in his quest to prove his dominance again when he tore his pectoral muscle during a powerlifting competition held at Thor’s Power Gym in Kópavogur, Iceland.
Nearly six months since suffering the injury that forced him to change his training plans, Björnsson shared a video on his YouTube channel on Sept. 21, 2023 detailing his decision to take his profession in a special (but familiar) direction.
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“As of now, due to injury, I feel prefer it’s the neatest decision for me to step away for just a little bit, keep training, keep increase the static strength,” Björnsson explained. “Then in some unspecified time in the future in a while in my journey, perhaps a yr from now, two years from now, three years from now, I would pick it back up.”
This isn’t the primary (or likely the last) time the 2023 International Sports Hall of Fame inductee has switched his athletic priorities. After earning a fame as an all-time great strongman, Björnsson retired from the game in August 2020 and subsequently competed in each boxing and powerlifting.
Although he didn’t fare quite as well within the ring, the experience of adjusting sports provided some vital perspective.
“When I made a decision to do powerlifting in the primary place, after being in boxing for 2 years, I set my goals so high and I used to be getting strong so fast that my body wasn’t ready for it, and that’s why I got injured, for my part,” Björnsson said. “I should be smart with my training. I want to present myself more time to accumulate that static strength.”
After providing his rationale for putting his powerlifting aspirations on pause, the legendary competitor gave an easy explanation behind his decision to return to strongman.
“The major reason is simply because I even have a lot love for the game,” Björnsson said.
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Motivated to make a successful comeback, the person known for portraying “The Mountain” in the tv series “Game of Thrones” plans to take a patient approach to the method. Björnsson said he’ll take things at his own pace as he prepares to compete again.
“I’m obviously going to set big goals for myself, but once I’m going to enter a contest I’m going to do my best,” he explained. “What which means is I’m not going to be chasing a person, chasing a record, chasing something immediately. I want my body to get used to the heavy lifting. I want my tendons to get stronger, and that just takes time overall.”
Despite being three years faraway from his last strongman contest — a championship title at Iceland’s Strongest Man in August of 2020 — it won’t be long before Björnsson captures his thirty ninth victory in the game.
Once he returns to lively status and competes again, he can be robotically qualified to enter the 2024 World’s Strongest Man due to his status as a former champion. After all, if that happens, the Iceland native would face a tall task to take down reigning winner Mitchell Hooper, who became the primary Canadian-born victor in April 2023.
But when Björnsson wins his second World’s Strongest Man title six years after earning his first, that may just be essentially the most impressive accomplishment of his decorated profession.
Featured Image: Hafthor Björnsson / YouTube