The giants turn heads as they enter the Men’s Health offices (walking through the door one at a time, of course): Brian Shaw, 6’8” and weighing in somewhere between 180 and 200kg, and Eddie Hall, 6’3” and a svelte 135 to 165 kg himself.
The two strongmen, who boast five World’s Strongest Man titles between them (four to Shaw, one to Hall) can be seen on the History Channel’s Strongest Man in History show, in which they take on some of the most legendary feats of strength ever recorded. But their own diets are remarkable in and of themselves. The two men consume close to 10,000 calories a day. Each. (Before you get concerned, know that both Hall and Shaw—as well as many strongman—work closely with dieticians.)
Shaw and Hall also each work out for close to three hours each day. Being big and strong is their 9 to 5. “It’s literally like doing an eating challenge every single day,” says Shaw.
Damn. Here’s how they do it.
Brian Shaw
“First thing in the morning, it’s very important to eat quickly,” says Shaw. “So I’m reaching for eggs.” That’s six to eight whole eggs. Scrambled. The eggs are served with two to three cups of cooked rice and orange juice with blended spinach.
From there, his meals get progressively less fancy. The second meal has Shaw consuming a 340g ribeye and two to three more cups of cooked white rice. Third meal: 340g of ribeye, rice, and a sweet potato—like a big sweet potato. Fourth meal: ribeye steak, two to three cups of white rice and carrots.
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After his son gets home from school, Shaw and son share a meal, “monster mash,” which includes ground up ribeye with rice. The strongman then gets to be a dad for a few hours before heading to his three-hour afternoon training session. During the session, Shaw mixes carbohydrate and amino acid powder into a shake, which he sips throughout the workout. When he’s done, he’s on to another protein shake.
Shaw’s final meal (would you call it dinner?) consists of another ribeye, more rice, and another massive sweet potato. And maybe a piece of cheesecake—he says it depends on the day.
Eddie Hall
Hall starts his morning morning with a litre of water. “Just to wash everything out and get the organs going,” he says. Then he has “first breakfast”: four eggs, five to six pieces of bacon, four to five pieces of sausage, toast, beans, and tomatoes. Then a litre of cranberry juice. Again, to help flush the system.
Second breakfast: bowl of porridge oats and four to five pieces of fruit (apples, pears, plums).
Hall then heads to the gym, earlier in the day then Shaw. He cranks out a two-and-a-half hour workout with more cranberry juice for carbs and beef jerky snacks for amino acids and proteins. When the workout ends, Shaw drinks a litre of protein shake with milk.
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Hall then heads to lunch: 340 to 450g of steak, 200 to 300 grams of pasta, 200 grams of veggies, and then half a family cheesecake. That’s a family cheesecake. Not a tiny individual serving cheesecake.
Hall’s fourth meal begins around 3 p.m. and includes burger patties, apples, and bananas. He picks his kids up from school soon after, when he might “indulge” in a chicken nugget. But then it’s back to more steak, more pasta, more rice, and more fruit.
Dinner time is prime time: 1kg of meat, two pounds of carbs … and then the other half of the cheesecake. Again, that’s a family size cheese cake.
He downs a protein shake and a protein bar before bed—then it’s up early with another litre of water to start the process over.
This article originally appeared on Men’s Health
