Strongman

In 2007, Hall entered his first strongman competition, coming 5th out of 15. In an interview with DAF Trucks in 2020, he said, "From then, I entered competition after competition, at first staying local, before moving onto qualifying events for England's Strongest Man."^[13]

In 2010, Dave Meer of Tamworth had to drop out of the England championships organised by Elite Strongman because of an injury. He arranged for Hall to take his place, which led to Hall making it into the 2010 finals and winning on his first attempt by half a point.^[16]

Hall finished first at the UK's Strongest Man 2011 competition in Belfast, with Ken Nowicki in second and Rich Smith in third.^[17] His win was helped by setting a new national record in the "Viking Hold", hanging on to 20 kg (44lbs) axes in each hand at full stretch for one minute and 18 seconds. Hall tore tendons in an arm during the competition, but was hopeful of a spot at the World's Strongest Man (WSM) in September. However, his improved ranking could only guarantee a spot for 2012, and he did not compete at WSM in 2011.^[18] Winning the UK title meant that Hall became the first choice to replace Jono MacFarlane of New Zealand in the Giants Live Melbourne event in February 2012, when the latter suffered a back injury.^[19] He placed fourth in his first taste of international competition. Later, in April 2012, he was invited to compete at Europe's Strongest Man, another Giants Live event. This was held at Headingley Carnegie Stadium, home of the Leeds Rhinos rugby league team and Hall found himself competing alongside six of the ten finalists from World's Strongest Man 2011, including two-time World's Strongest Man, Žydrūnas Savickas. Hall finished in eighth place.^[20]

In 2012, Hall competed at the World's Strongest Man competition, but did not progress beyond his qualifying group.^[21]

In 2013, Hall failed to qualify for Europe's Strongest Man 2013. However, he was given a second chance when Ervin Katona was forced to retire due to injury. Hall competed in his place and came in eighth place. That same year, he was featured on BBC One's Watchdog series when the producers enlisted his help to test even the strongest of drivers in specific circumstances.^[22] He also competed at that year's World's Strongest Man, winning two events in his heat but narrowly missing out on qualifying for the final.

In 2014, Hall reached the final of WSM for the first time, coming second in the Squat Lift event and ultimately finishing sixth.

In March 2015, Hall achieved the world record for lifting the weight of 462 kg (1,019 lb; 72.8 st) in the deadlift.^[23]

In April 2015, Hall finished fourth at the World's Strongest Man, an improvement of two places on the previous year. In December, a feature documentary about Hall called Eddie: Strongman was released. The film, directed by Matt Bell, follows Hall for two years as he strives to become the strongest man in the world.

In March 2016, Hall achieved a new world record for the Elephant Bar deadlift in the Arnold Strongman Classic by lifting 465 kg (1,025 lb).^[24] In July 2016, Hall set a new world record in the conventional deadlift under strongman rules (standard bar with figure 8 straps and multi-ply suit) with a lift of 500 kg (1,102 lb) at the World Deadlift Championships besting the world record 465 kg (1,025 lb) he previously shared with Jerry Pritchett and Benedikt Magnússon earlier that same day.^[25] The 500 kg lift made Hall bleed from his ears and nostrils, and made him temporarily blind before he fainted to the floor.^[26][27] The record stood for 3 years and 9 months until 2 May 2020, when it was beaten by Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson with the current world record of 501 kg (1,105 lb) at the World's Ultimate Strongman Feats of Strength series.^[28][29]

Hall won the 2017 World's Strongest Man competition and announced his intention to retire from the World's Strongest Man and return to lower-weight competitions after expressing health-related concerns.^[30]

In 2018, Hall won his fifth straight Britain's Strongest Man competition and decided to retire from Strong Man competitions shortly after due to health concerns.^[31]

Boxing

Hall started his professional boxing career in 2020 when his rival Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson challenged him after breaking the world record for the deadlift. He confidently responded "I'm going to train the hardest, eat the hardest, sleep the hardest and recover the hardest" amidst having boxed before and with his swimming background, claiming superior levels of cardio and endurance. He incorporated a lot of explosive punches, punching boxing machines and many athletes including gymnast Nile Wilson, pop star Peter Andre and his training partners as hard as he can.^[32][33] Hall's extensive training regime also incorporated a lot of bench presses, squats, deadlifts, medicine ball slams and burpees.^[34]

On 19 March 2022, Hall faced Björnsson in Dubai, in a titan weight class boxing match which was tag-lined the heaviest match in history. Hall took the better of the first couple of rounds and managed to put Björnsson down while knocking him against the ropes at the beginning of the second round. But Björnsson bludgeoned Hall and knocked him down twice to the floor in rounds three and six. Hall sustained cuts on top of both eyes and lost by unanimous decision with all three judges scoring the bout 57–54 in favour of Björnsson.^[35][36] Hall's boxing stance during the fight (especially from the fourth round onwards) garnered a lot of attention because of its uniqueness, having kept distinctly leaning over to the right side mimicking the natural movement of a Fiddler Crab, trying to negate the reach and height advantage of Björnsson.^[37]

On 20 April 2022, Hall got a tattoo on his foot stating "World’s Strongest Man - Hafthor Julius Bjornsson" to commemorate the fight and his loss.^[38]

Film

Television