What Do Strongman Eat?

Strongman are notoriously known for their large frames and huge eating habits, but what actually do they eat in a single day? According to most strongman, everyday is like an eating challenge. They need the sheer amount of calories they need to consume to stay at their size. There is a misconception that strongman mainly eat junk, but like a sumo wrestler, they eat a high amount of good foods.

Every strongman has a different approach when eating when it comes to their diet. The only similarity is that you can expect each strongman to consume well over 10,000 calories per day! They tend to eat multiple meals per day, eating around up to 8 meals per day. On average, they eat a big meal every 2 hours, everyday!

To give away, the common theme with most strongman diets is that they eat well over 10,000 calories, involving a lot of rice, ribeye and fruits.

What Do Strongman Like To Eat?

The beauty in all of the strongman diets, there is not a lot of restrictions when it comes to selecting their food! They like to have carb heavy meals with a high amount of protein. Some of the top strongman in the world are known for their sweet tooth indulges. Like Eddie Hall with cheesecake and Mateusz Kieliszkowski with his donuts!

Though there is a few things that all strongman do like to do when it comes to their eating. Here are a few things that we have noticed when analysing their diets.

• They like to eat ribeye for the extra calories and protein. Strongman tend not to go for leaner meats, cause they need the size!
• Rice is always in their meals. To add more calories and flavour, they add chicken stock!
• A high amount of fruits. The wider the range, the better!
• Cheesecake! Full of calories and tasty!

If you are planning to eat like a strongman, you must be prepared to eat a high quantity of food. Brian Shaw has mentioned that his meal prep can be very time consuming. Eddie Hall has credited his wife countless times for helping him prep his meals everyday. Not an easy task for these gigantic men!

We talked about what they mainly like to eat, but strongman do like variety. In bodybuilding, they have a rigorous diet to get the best possible physique. Strongman are the opposite, they eat for size. As mentioned before, they need calorie dense foods and have to eat well over 10,000 calories daily. To help them with their eating, they will mix it up when it comes to midday meals.

Interestingly from our research, they tend to stay away from any foods that are deep fried. There are a number of health reasons behind this. Fried foods may influence risk of these diseases through several key risk factors: obesity, high blood pressure and high cholesterol. Strongman need to ensure that their blood work and heart conditions are fit for competing. Eddie Hall is a prime example, as he retired from the sport after his 2017 WSM win for his health.

Brian Shaw: What Does He Eat In A Day?

The two most well documented diets of a strongman are from Eddie Hall and Brian Shaw, who have shorn what they eat everyday multiple times on Youtube. Lets dive into what both of these strongman legends eat in a day.

One thing you will notice when Brian Shaw breaks down what he eats in a day, he loves his rice and bison! He hasn’t changed his diet that much over the years, with many believing he is able to eat a whole cow farm in a week!

He eats quickly in the morning, with his first meal containing 6-8 eggs, scrambled, with 3 cups of rice. Shaw also has some orange juice with some spinach blended into the spinach to get it down easier. Quite a first meal!

The second, third and fourth meal, he has 8oz of ribeye with 3 cups of rice. Sometimes he throws in a couple of baby carrots for more nutritional value. Now you see the pattern, and why he is known for being able to eat a whole cow farm!

By time his fifth meal comes, there is nothing different. Again he has 8-10oz of ribeye with 3 cups of rice but he tends to add some chicken stock. His meal can change as it this time, his family comes home and they will construct what he calls a ‘monster mash’.

His sixth meal comes after the gym, once he has tanked down his protein shake. Again he has 8-12oz of ribeye with 3 cups of rice, but to add more to the meal, he adds a sweat potato. He has said if he is hungry, he will throw in a slice of cheesecake, well known for its dense calories.

So to take away what Brian Shaw normally eats in a day. A whole load of rice and ribeye during the majority of his meals with some carrots thrown in! He has stuck to this diet throughout his strongman career and you cannot fault it due to his achievements and longevity in the sport! Don’t get the idea this is what he eats everyday! Shaw has shown that he does enjoy the odd food eating challenge here and there.

Eddie Hall: What Does He Eat In A Day?

At his peak, Eddie Hall was an absolute monster weighing in at 197kg during his 2017 World’s Strongest Man win. In 2016, he came close to winning the title, coming third. Hall knew in order to win, he had to increase his diet in order to gain more size, allowing him to lift more. His diet is completely different to Brian Shaws, with more food variety. Personally his diet is more attractive to try out, so lets dive into it!

First thing he does when he wakes up is drink a litre of water to ‘flush everything out’ and get his organs going. He has a full English breakfast first thing in the morning. To those who do not know, consists of eggs, bacon, sausages, toast and beans. Eddie has 4 eggs, 4 sausages, 5 slices of bacon, two pieces of toast, a whole can of beans while drinking cranberry juice. This is considered his first breakfast!

His second breakfast, is what he deems as a big bowl of porridge (oats) with fruits. Now if you have seen Eddie’s videos, his bowls are not normal bowls. So when he says a big bowl, it is probably over 2-4 times more than what you consider normal! He likes to have 4-5 pieces of fruits, which can be apples, oranges or plums.

His workout came after his second breakfast, and he doesn’t stop eating there! During his workout, he drinks a litre of cranberry juice for the carbohydrates while snacking on beef jerky for the extra protein. After all this, he has his protein shake with milk.

Eddie Hall’s third meal, he has 12-16oz of ribeye, 200-300 grams of pasta and vegetables. He loves his cheesecake, and has a half a size of a family sized cheesecake for pudding! His fourth meal is followed with multiple burger patties with an apple.

His fifth meal is when his family comes home and he likes to indulge on whatever his son is eating! Then he follows it with more ribeye, pasta or rice along with some fruit. His final meal, which is considered his family meal, and this is whatever his wife is cooking! The meal normally consists half a kilo of meat along with half a kilo of carbs. Then he likes to eat the other half of the family sized cheesecake along with a protein shake! But his eating doesn’t stop there, he likes to snack on protein bars before bed.

Can I Eat Like A Strongman?

Robert Oberst summed this question up perfectly. An average person cannot eat like a strongman, but if you eat like one, you won’t be average for long!

If you plan to pack on size like a strongman, do it gradually. Most don’t see the struggles that strongman have when it comes to eating their food and then digesting it! It really is a full time job, as mentioned by Eddie Hall. You wake up, you eat, and consistently every 2 hours of the day. Even before bed, you should be having something.

If you think eating 10,000 calories per day is easy, have a go! Many have tried the challenge, vlogging the process on Youtube. It is possible if you eat dirty, having a high amount of junk food. Strongman eat quite clean considering, so this can be harder than you think!

Final Thoughts

Strongman eat an insane amount of food every single day in order to retain their size and strength. This is not an easy task and can be a chore! The amount it takes to meal prep and to eat itself can be very time consuming. The common theme with most strongman diets is that they eat well over 10,000 calories, involving a lot of rice, ribeye and fruits. Their breakfast can involve near a dozen eggs, with oats, assorted fruits, yoghurts along with it.

If you want to eat like a strongman, you must be well prepared! You will get sleepy from eating the sheer amount and you will bulk out.