Apologies if the audio is a little off in todays video. A faulty wire meant we had to dust off and use a back up mic, but normal service will resume in the next video 🙃 - Liz and Loz
I have never seen a person be able to adapt their body the way Hafthor does. It's near supernatural. He's done it in so many different ways so many times.
@@upurkilt7246 That's the first thing that comes to mind but then since almost everyone is on it you have to ask whether it's benefitting him more and if so why? Either he's getting better drugs/ medical advice than everyone else (unlikely) or his body just thrives on it in a way that others don't. My feeling is that even if PEDs didn't exist he'd still be one of the strongest men in the world...
@@Buckers2202 not down to that. It's actually down to muscle memory. You will find that despite the time off he had it is really quite easy for him to return to the weights he was lifting before due to years and years of building the muscle fibers up and them geing repaired tougher and stronger as muscle has a memory. It applies to any exercise any one performes for a long time, and will make it very very easy to regain lost muscle mass compared to when building muscle the first time.
I think it’s a great idea that he’s doing icelands strongest man as a warm up. Should knock the rust off and get him as ready as possible in the amount of time he’s been working at it
He has a great chance because most likely he’s going to win that first event. I would love to see him and Tom push each other in the stones. Outside of Brian, no one ever came close to challenging Tom in stones. Now that Thor is back, maybe he can
The MVM Classic is my highlight of the strongman year. It's not as big but the team makes every event feel special and it is always exciting. And I love that Magnus doesn't put himself at the centre, it is all about the athletes unlike some shows
I would love to see the top 20,30 strongman at the moment have some good events and make it as an eliminator,I know it would be time consuming but that would be ace
Without question Thor has been one of the top pressers in the world pre injury. He narrowly missed the 330lb one arm rogue dumbbell lift at the 2020 AC and didn’t attempt it again because he had already won the overall comp. At that very same competition he manhandled the overhead stones lift that he struggled with at this year’s Arnold 2024. I am just unsure if he can ever achieve the same level of strength in the two hand pressing motions i.e. the axle and log press after an injury like that. I can’t think of one example where a presser improve a max lift after sustaining a torn pec.
Missing Mark Felix in the wrecking ball hold! Can remember Mark up against Evan Singleton and destroying him not long back even though he was nearly twice his age. What a legend.
Except when we remember that grip often improves with age as the strength stays a lot longer. Just look at Odd Haugen, a grip god when he was even in his 60s.
@@Adam-bw6dj I agree. It just doesn't cease to impress me what the older chaps can still do. I think they can also set their mind to take the pain after years of experience better sometimes too.
Looking good Loz, I met you at UK strongest man few years ago.. I'm a big bloke but you made me look like a child !! The man's a monster in real life 💪💪
All depends on his pressing. Can easily win all the non pressing events(baring a slip up) but if he drops enough points on press events it might drag him down to 3rd or 4th like happened at the Arnold. Either way I cant wait to see him in person next month
@@ryder6070 considering that both Eddie and Hafthor were scammed by the promoters and didnt get a single penny form that fight makes this speculation even more painful to think about. We all got robbed by that stupid fight
@@Kimera92 Makes one wonder if Hafthor's love for strongman is really the primary reason he got back into the sport, or if it's because he missed out on that 10 mil retirement plan...
@@Kimera92 What about Thor vs Devon? Presumably Thor got paid for that one or he wouldn't have come back to do the Eddie fight. I guess that would have been a smaller payday?
Thor?. I've never heard anyone but Tom Stoltman have a "mental block" from anything. Maybe Eddie Hall. No mate, Thor is taking care of his injury, he is bummed about his pressing not been back but he gotta go carefully, when Atlethes rush after an Injury it oftens results in a worse injury. And still he almost has 3 events in the bag ready, maybe 4.
@@antoniocenteno1483, just because Tom is autistic doesn’t mean he is the only one that can experience mental blocks. He’s just the only guy that uses it as an excuse for underperforming in shows that aren’t the WSM. The worst mental block this sport probably has ever seen is Janashia’s. Back in 2019 the man could press in excess of 200kg over his head and was only behind the likes of Thor, Mateuzs, Brian and maybe Dimitar in his dumbbell pressing ability. Then he misgrooved his dumbbell press and tore his tricep straight off the bone. Ever since the man never managed to press over 400lbs again. Even by the time his strength should have been back, you could just see the terror in his eyes whenever he was within an earshot of a dumbbell or a log. That’s what an actual mental block is like. None of this silly ‘I’ll just show up out of shape to the Arnold’s for three years straight because I’ve got a mental’ block crap.
All Thor needs is doing good damage control in the two pressing events to be honest. He argubly gonna take the top spot in Deadlift, Squat and Keg and can't imagine him lower than 2nd on the Stones, if not been Tom. He came better at carrying too so if he can keeps the damage in the ohp at minimum he'd had a great, great chance. And here is the thing, like in the Arnold's, is not just anout who can press heavier, but who can survive the deadlift and still press heavy, this is an advantage to a guy that has done it many times whereas other atlethes that should press heavier drop points
@DeadLifter-rl9en Thor got two questionable reps at the Arnold's. Both reps his left arm was bent. That was a 181kg axel. He has not pushed over 150kg on the log in training. This field is so much stronger than the Arnold's as well. He has never recoverd from his injury. Its a shame but I think his pressing will stop him ever winning a meaningful event again.
@@AlTaylor-gx8ln he didn't got 2 questionable reps, he got 1good rep the other 2 weren't given to him. Also with that kind of injury you can't expect him to be back in less then 1 year, saying his pressing strength won't be back at this time is beyond ignorant.
I mean... not trying to sound mean, but recently Gav broke down in every single competition I watched him participate and Pa is just not on the same level as the rest. They are super strong guys compared to the average human, but I''d be very surprised to not have them end in bottom 3 here
I am a huge fan of Thor but he is so busy (which is a good thing marketing himself and making $$) but his competitors are fierce!!! He has a a few young children now and the time to train to be No 1 may just not be there. He can easily be a top 10 but first place is another ball game.
I'm not sure Tom is a confidence lifter now, he seems to have really developed his mindset to grit things out. Didnt' Evan dislocate his fingers or something recently? Certainly going to be a big hindrance for the wrecking ball hold if not them all.
As much as that seems to be a theme. I would love to see him do the full comp. His 3rd place at giants live without even doing atlas stones proves that he can do well
@@wanderer_oti He hasn't done more than 3 or 4 full comps in his career. And yes he has the world records for the log and axle. But setting records in something you trained specifically for and only do that event dosen't carry the same clout.Big Z set world records while winning the full comp and he never trained specifically for the log or axle
He's literally not. He is a phenomenal yoke walker and fantastic at the farmers carry. He's a deadlifter capable of keeping up with the mid-pack on DL for reps. We haven't seen much/any of him doing stones. But if you can pick up, move with, and press heavy weight at that level of competition, you're not a one trick pony.
That's nonsense. Biby would legitimately have a shot at the podium in most shows. See his past Strongman Classic where he took third despite skipping an entire event.
@@SaulFemm 🤣 WOW he finished 3rd in one contest he's only entered 7 comps his entire career and he pulled out of 3 of those go look at his Wikipedia that would tell you all you need to know
Yeah nah...nice try, but ain't no way he's getting top 5 let alone anywhere near a podium. Waay too many monsters there that are stronger, hungrier, and more prepared than he will ever hope to be again...he had his days
I don't think Thor needs to be at full strength to win a competition. But neither does anyone else, for that matter. All anyone has to do to win is do a little better that day, than everyone else overall.. Thor is really good at some of the events even with the pec tear, which will probably give him good points in those events.... Every strongman is really good at certain events. But being good at more of the events and performing well is the key to winning the whole thing. Lots of really capable guys in this event, which makes it even harder to get good points in every event. But in the end all it takes is not doing good in one stage, and you might not even be on the podium. SMOE will be interesting just from how many events there are in the competition, and the number of people competing to split the points up. Splitting points between 16 people and 8 events, spreads those points out thin, and quickly....
