BUILT UNDER LOAD.

In 2020, I walked through the doors of Hafþór Björnsson's gym in Iceland for the first time.

At that time, strongman was still a sport I watched more than I practiced. Two years earlier, I had done very little sport. I had joined a gym at the end of 2018 and, almost at the same time, I had started following the major strongman competitions available online: the Arnold, World's Strongest Man, and everything else I could find.

Gradually, it began to influence my own training. By the end of 2019, I was gradually abandoning classic training to try deadlifts, squats, bench presses, and overhead presses. But there was still a world of difference between watching strongman on YouTube and actually doing it.

It was in Iceland that this world became a reality.

During that first day at Hafþór's gym, I had the opportunity to talk with him about strongman and competition. During the discussion, he told me about Iceland's Strongest Man, organized a few weeks later: if I was interested, I could come back to watch the competition.

The opportunity arose. I returned to Iceland for about ten days.

This time, I wasn't just visiting anymore. I trained every day in that gym, surrounded by Hafþór and other Icelandic strongmen. What I had previously only seen on a screen became something I could see, try, and experience from the inside.

The trip ended with the two days of Iceland's Strongest Man.

My first strongman competition seen in person.

I returned to France with an idea I hadn't had when I arrived: the next competition, I no longer just wanted to watch it.

After my shoulder injury in 2023, I made the mistake of waiting before truly addressing it. I removed overhead movements from my training and continued to work on what I could: legs, back, deadlifts, and some strongman movements. Despite this, I managed to finish the year with a first deadlift at 350 kg.

In 2024, I finally began proper treatment and rehabilitation. Attempts to return to training followed one another, but the scenario remained the same: a few encouraging weeks before the pain returned. The year passed without competition, with less regularity and that frustrating feeling of not really making progress anymore.

Yet, something else was being built in parallel. My garage gradually filled with equipment and slowly became a true training space. I created the conditions around me to be able to practice strongman differently.

At the beginning of 2025, the change also became professional. I started my own business to gain more control over my time and organize my life around my family, my work, and also my training.

After a long period of stagnation, it's time to give direction to all this work.

And a first goal is increasingly taking shape: a 400 kg deadlift.

Surpassing 400 kg was a milestone. But the goal was never to build my strength around a single event.

Today, the work is much broader: to raise all the indicators and become a more complete strongman. To achieve this, I also chose to invest massively in the conditions that allow me to progress.

Log, Monster Dumbbell, Farmers Slater… Several thousand euros worth of equipment have gradually completed my training space. In addition, there is the equipment developed with Cecil, particularly replicas of events that are still difficult to find in France, and the work with Cyril which allowed me to access the Slater equipment.

This development also involves the people and partners who now support the project. The collaboration with Rehband today provides me with equipment, but above all real support in my practice and my progress.

The goal is no longer simply to push my deadlift.

It is to reduce my weaknesses, strengthen my strengths, and build a level capable of performing in all events.