Brian Shaw may have resigned from competition strongman earlier this year, but he's still hitting the gym and maintaining his renowned size and strength, leading some to speculate that he, like fellow strongman retiree Thor Bjornsson, may transition to bodybuilding or powerlifting.
In a recent YouTube video, the four-time World's Strongest Man winner visits Torture Gym with four-time Mr. Olympia champion Jay Cutler to learn how the former bodybuilding pro exercises to grow his massive back.
To "get some blood" into the lats, they begin with a chest-supported machine row with a supinated grip. "I won't go super heavy," Cutler says, adding, "but I'm expecting you to go a little heavier."
Cutler displays the standing one-arm machine row with a calm, controlled extension of the arm and a forceful contraction on the pulling stroke. "I stretch so that I'm engaging the lat all the way out, then pull," Cutler explains.
Following that is a wide-grip lat pulldown, followed by a seated cable row, where Shaw can display some of his famed strength.
"When you train with the strongest guy on Earth... I wanna see how many plates you can do on this thing," Cutler says with a grin. "But we're trying to think about repetitions, not power training."
"When people trained with me when I was my biggest and worst, the hardest part was my speed," he continues. "I'd take 45 to 60 seconds off, so you go, I go."
I'd workout with individuals and they'd tell me, "My weight is the only weight that matters, so don't change the plate."
So they'd step back, and I'd walk in. The endurance was crucial, and the speed... assisted with my cardio, allowing me to stay slimmer. So while I started practicing for competition and losing weight, I just got faster and faster with recovery."
This is "way different," he admits, from the approach Shaw is used to as a strongman... but it could come in handy if he decides to pursue bodybuilding.
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