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Bodybuilder and fitness vlogger Matt Morsia, better known to his subscribers as MattDoesFitness, has worked out with some of the swolest athletes out there, including strength sport champions Tom Stoltman, Eddie Hall, and Donna Moore. In his most recent video, he takes on former World’s Strongest Man and Arnold Classic winner Hafthor Bjornsson, aka The Mountain, in a series of events designed to test their respective strength.
After quitting the world of competitive strongman and shedding more than 100 pounds over the course of two years to retrain as a pro boxer, Bjornsson recently announced that he is returning to the world of strength sports, setting new goals in powerlifting and strongman. So this little contest with Morsia in the Gymshark Lifting Club will be a nice warmup.
First up is the rope climb. On the one hand, Bjornsson has a height advantage: he can reach practically halfway up the rope while still standing on the ground. But Morsia would have to haul a lot less weight up the rope to get to the top, so to even things out, he straps some extra weight to his waist. Both guys admit to never having trained in this particular event before—”I don’t even know if I can,” says Bjornsson—meaning they’re starting out on pretty equal footing. Morsia ascends in 4 seconds, while Bjornsson narrowly beats him in 3.9 seconds.
Next is the bodyweight squat. Literally. As in, Bjornsson will squat Morsia’s bodyweight, and then Morsia will attempt to squat Bjornsson’s for as many reps as possible. Bjornsson completes 4 reps with Morsia—and the additional plate—on his shoulders, and then Morsia attempts the far more ambitious feat of lifting the 330-pound strongman… and proudly executes 5 reps, winning this round.
The third event is the sled pull, and similarly to the previous round, each man must pull the other along on the sled from one end of the gym to the other. “He’s a heavy guy, so I’m not holding out much hope,” says Morsia. “Also, literal World’s Strongest Man, so… I think we all know the outcome here.” He turns out to be correct: Bjornsson hauls him across the room in just 10 seconds, while Morsia takes 29.
In the fourth and fifth rounds, though, Bjornsson’s bodyweight will work against him: it’s time for dips and dead hangs. Bjornsson maxes out on the dips after 16 reps while Morsia completes 17. Then in the tie-breaker, both men manage to hang (Morsia once again with the weight strapped to his waist) for 1:38 before calling it.
“You beast,” says Bjornsson. “I have to admit, I was struggling, I just used the poker face.”
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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