Hafthor Björnsson Places Powerlifting on Pause for Return to Strongman Competitors
The previous World’s Strongest Man has a brand new outlook on competing.
Hafthor Björnsson despatched a transparent message to the strength sports activities world by saying he’ll shift his focus from powerlifting to competing in strongman once more.
The 2018 World’s Strongest Man and three-time winner of the Arnold Strongman Basic made headlines in February of 2023 when he formally came out of retirement. Nevertheless, simply two months later, Björnsson encountered a severe setback in his quest to show his dominance once more when he tore his pectoral muscle throughout a powerlifting competitors held at Thor’s Energy Gymnasium in Kópavogur, Iceland.
Practically six months since struggling the damage that pressured him to change his coaching plans, Björnsson shared a video on his YouTube channel on Sept. 21, 2023 detailing his resolution to take his profession in a unique (however acquainted) course.
“As of now, because of the injury, I feel like it’s the smartest decision for me to step away for a little bit, keep training, keep building up the static strength,” Björnsson defined. “Then at some point later on in my journey, maybe a year from now, two years from now, three years from now, I might pick it back up.”
This isn’t the primary (or possible the final) time the 2023 International Sports Hall of Fame inductee has switched his athletic priorities. After incomes a status as an all-time nice strongman, Björnsson retired from the game in August 2020 and subsequently competed in each boxing and powerlifting.
Though he didn’t fare fairly as effectively within the ring, the expertise of fixing sports activities supplied some essential perspective.
“When I decided to do powerlifting in the first place, after being in boxing for two years, I set my goals so high and I was getting strong so fast that my body wasn’t ready for it, and that’s why I got injured, in my opinion,” Björnsson stated. “I need to be smart with my training. I need to give myself more time to build up that static strength.”
After offering his rationale for placing his powerlifting aspirations on pause, the legendary competitor gave a easy clarification behind his resolution to return to strongman.
“The main reason is just because I have so much love for the sport,” Björnsson stated.
Motivated to make a profitable comeback, the person identified for portraying “The Mountain” within the tv sequence “Game of Thrones” plans to take a affected person strategy to the method. Björnsson stated he’ll take issues at his personal tempo as he prepares to compete once more.
“I’m obviously going to set big goals for myself, but when I’m going to go into a competition I’m going to do my best,” he defined. “What that means is I’m not going to be chasing a man, chasing a record, chasing something right away. I need my body to get used to the heavy lifting. I need my tendons to get stronger, and that just takes time overall.”
Regardless of being three years faraway from his final strongman contest — a championship title at Iceland’s Strongest Man in August of 2020 — it may not be lengthy earlier than Björnsson captures his thirty ninth victory within the sport.
As soon as he returns to lively standing and competes once more, he can be routinely certified to enter the 2024 World’s Strongest Man because of his standing as a former champion. After all, if that happens, the Iceland native would face a tall activity to take down reigning winner Mitchell Hooperwho grew to become the primary Canadian-born victor in April 2023.
But when Björnsson wins his second World’s Strongest Man title six years after incomes his first, that may simply be essentially the most spectacular accomplishment of his adorned profession.
Featured Picture: Hafthor Björnsson / YouTube
