This content is imported from youTube. You may be able to find the same content in another format, or you may be able to find more information, at their web site.Former World’s Strongest Man title holder Eddie Hall has chronicled all kinds of fitness challenges on his YouTube channel, where he shows off his brute strength in everything from golf to wrestling. In his most recent video, Hall takes on STIHL Timbersports.Inspired by lumberjacks, timbersports combine strongman-adjacent displays of raw power with very real functional fitness, challenging every aspect of the upper body, especially the core’s rotational strength, which is crucial to that central wood-chopping motion. Hall is guided through the physically arduous—and highly dangerous—core three disciplines by British champion lumberjacks Jack Morris and Glen Penlington.The first test is the stock saw, where competitors cut through a log of wood with a chainsaw. The challenge for Hall here is maintaining technique and accuracy (he’s got to try to keep a straight line within 10 mm on either side), and ensuring that he’s not under- or over-doing the pressure he’s placing on the powerful saw, while also trying to complete the cut in as short a time as possible. Next up is the Underhand Chop, in which a competitor swings an ax horizontally between their feet to chop at a log while they’re standing on it.One of the best ways to prepare for the Underhand is to work on building strength in that rotational chopping movement; for instance, performing sets of sledgehammer slams on a tire.”Just to clarify, this is in their rules and regulations, we’ve actually got two paramedics on-site with an ambulance, ready to rock, no joke,” says Hall, on account of the incredibly sharp ax he’s using in this challenge.He soon works up a sweat, and taps out far earlier than he anticipated. “I can lift weights for an hour, two hours, three hours, then go swimming,” he says. “This? Five minutes, I’m done!” The third and final event sees Hall manually sawing through wood in the Single Buck with a 2-meter saw. He notes that, just like in strongman, sometimes the greatest difference can be achieved by securing just the tiniest bit more of a steady stance on the ground. The legs are the first part of the body to buckle during the Single Buck, and competitive lumberjacks build this into their prep routines with heavy squats.”They make it look so easy; it really isn’t,” says Hall. “It’s tougher than I thought, a lot tougher… I thought I was going to come in today and absolutely smash this, but you’ve proven that it’s not just about strength, it’s about technique, agility, speed.”Philip Ellis is a freelance writer and journalist from the United Kingdom covering pop culture, relationships and LGBTQ+ issues. His work has appeared in GQ, Teen Vogue, Man Repeller and MTV.
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