Laurence Cristiaan David Shahlaei (born 25 December 1982) is an English YouTuber, strength sports commentator, analyst, coach, and a retired

strongman In the 19th century, the term strongman referred to an exhibitor of strength or similar circus performers who performed feats of strength. More recently, strength athletics, also known as strongman competitions, have grown in popularity. Thes ...

and

powerlifting Powerlifting is a strength sport that consists of three attempts at maximal weight on three lifts: squat, bench press, and deadlift. As in the sport of Olympic weightlifting, it involves the athlete attempting a maximal weight single-lift effor ...

competitor. Shahlaei is a winner of

England's Strongest Man Strength athletics in the United Kingdom and Ireland has a long history going back many centuries before the televisation of strongman competitions in the 1970s. The ancient heritage of the sport in the United Kingdom and Ireland lies in a number ...

, Britain's Strongest Man and

Europe's Strongest Man Europe's Strongest Man is an annual strength athletics competition which began in 1980. The event is held in various locations throughout Europe, and features exclusively European strongman competitors. Mariusz Pudzianowski holds the record for mos ...

competitions, and an 11 time entrant and 5 time finalist of the prestigious

World's Strongest Man The World's Strongest Man is an international Strongman competition held every year. Organized by American event management company IMG, a subsidiary of Endeavor, it is broadcast in the US during summers and in the UK around the end of Decembe ...

competition.

Early life

Shahlaei was born in

Cheltenham, Gloucestershire Cheltenham (), also known as Cheltenham Spa, is a spa town and borough on the edge of the Cotswolds in the county of Gloucestershire, England. Cheltenham became known as a health and holiday spa town resort, following the discovery of mineral s ...

, his father is Iranian from

Kermanshah Kermanshah ( fa, کرمانشاه, Kermânšâh ), also known as Kermashan (; romanized: Kirmaşan), is the capital of Kermanshah Province, located from Tehran in the western part of Iran. According to the 2016 census, its population is 946,68 ...

and his mother is

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

from

Newcastle upon Tyne Newcastle upon Tyne ( RP: , ), or simply Newcastle, is a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. The city is located on the River Tyne's northern bank and forms the largest part of the Tyneside built-up area. Newcastle is ...

. He attended Balcarras School, and later moved to

Stroud, Gloucestershire Stroud is a market town and civil parish in Gloucestershire, England. It is the main town in Stroud District. The town's population was 13,500 in 2021. Below the western escarpment of the Cotswold Hills, at the meeting point of the Five Va ...

Strongman career

Shahlaei started strongman training in 2005 and entered his first novice competition that year, where he finished 8th. Within two years, he entered his first Britain's Strongest Man ("BSM"), having won the Midlands qualifier. In that competition, he made a huge impact, making it to the final, only to tear his biceps in the tyre flip, which forced him to withdraw. He won the Midlands qualifier again in 2008, and once again made the final, this time finishing 4th behind Jimmy Marku,

Terry Hollands Terry Hollands (born 6 June 1979) is a British bodybuilder and the winner of the 2bros Pro Luke Sandoe Classic Beginners Class 2019 bodybuilding championships. Hollands was also a former strongman competitor and winner of Britain's Strongest M ...

, and

Mark Felix Mark Felix (born 17 April 1966) is a Grenadian-English strongman competitor and regular entrant to the World's Strongest Man competition. He has competed at a record 17 World's Strongest Man contests, reaching the finals three times. He is the ...

. This placing landed him an invite to the

in 2008. He did not make the final. In 2009, four years after beginning strongman, he became the UKSC Midlands Strongest Man and also won the UKSC

, citing this, alongside his WSM 2008 squat win, as the greatest moment of his career (the WSM qualifier titled "England's Strongest Man", which replaced the Britain's Strongest Man contest in 2009, was won by

and Shahlaei did not compete in that). His favourite strongman events are the Squat for reps, Farmer's walk and Super Yoke because those are a good test of natural strength coupled with his world class grip strength (having closed the Captains of Crush No. 3 gripper). His least favourite strongman event is the Atlas stones. In his career spanning across 15 years, Shahlaei has competed in 55 international competitions and have won 8 of them including his best win, the 2016

. He also managed to win the 4th place at the 2011

while securing 7th, 9th, 9th and 10th places in 2017, 2009, 2014 and 2016. Laurence also competed in the inaugural

World's Ultimate Strongman World's Ultimate Strongman is an annual strength athletics competition which began on October 26, 2018. The event has a number of rival and parallel competitions, including the World's Strongest Man, the Arnold Strongman Classic and the Giants L ...

competition in Dubai at the Bab al-Shams Arena in October 2018. He won the 5th place from a stacked field of 12. He also won the 7th place in the 2012

Arnold Strongman Classic The Arnold Strongman Classic is an annual competition featuring strength athletes from all over the world, determining who is the Strongest Man in the World. Created by Arnold Schwarzenegger, Jim Lorimer and Terry Todd, it is an offshoot of the Ar ...

which is widely considered the heaviest and the most difficult strongman competition in the world. His final competition was 2021 Giants Live Strongman Classic where he won 7th place. Since retiring from the sport of strongman, Laurence has become a popular analyst and commentator alongside his wife Elizabeth, affectionately nicknamed "Aunty Liz" by fans.

Personal records

''In powerlifting'' * Squat max: (2020 Tattooed and Strong) *

Bench press The bench press, or chest press, is a weight training exercise in which the trainee presses a weight upwards while lying on a weight training bench. Although the bench press is a full-body exercise, the muscles primarily used are the pectorali ...

max: (2020 Tattooed and Strong) *

Deadlift The deadlift is a weight training exercise in which a loaded barbell or bar is lifted off the ground to the level of the hips, torso perpendicular to the floor, before being placed back on the ground. It is one of the three powerlifting exercises, ...

max: (2016 Tattooed and Strong) *Total: (365, 220, 375) (2017 GPC-GB Salisbury Qualifier) ''In strongman'' *Squat: x 12 reps (2017 World's Strongest Man) *Log press: (2011 SCL South Africa) *Axle press: (2010 Giants Live Turkey) *Deadlift: (2014 Europe's Strongest Man) *Dumbbell press: x 4 repetitions (2018 Giants Live North American Open) *Dumbbell press: x 8 repetitions (2017 UK's Strongest Man) *Car Walk: for 20 meters in 11.05 secs (2016 Europe's Strongest Man) ''Other'' *Former world record in the Dinnie Stone carry in farmers walk style – 14 ft 10 in *Closing the Captains of Crush No.3 gripper

Other work

Shahlaei has said that he would like to set up a sports related business in the future, but his dream is to become an actor. He had a role in ''The Golden Compass'' (2007). On 19 August 2011, Shahlaei competed on ''

Deal or No Deal ''Deal or No Deal'' is the name of several closely related television game shows, the first of which (launching the format) was the Dutch ''Miljoenenjacht (Netherlands), Miljoenenjacht'' (''Hunt/Chase for Millions''). The centerpiece of this f ...

'', where he won £20,000 and lifted presenter

Noel Edmonds Noel Ernest Edmonds (born 22 December 1948) is an English television presenter, radio DJ, writer, producer, and businessman. Edmonds first became known as a disc jockey on Radio Luxembourg before moving to BBC Radio 1 in the UK. He has presente ...

up above his head. In August 2012, Shahlaei opened a

personal training A personal trainer is an individual who creates and delivers safe and effective exercise programs for apparently healthy individuals and groups, or those with medical clearance to exercise. They motivate clients by collaborating to set goals, p ...

business in

Swindon, Wiltshire Swindon () is a town and unitary authority with borough status in Wiltshire, England. As of the 2021 Census, the population of Swindon was 201,669, making it the largest town in the county. The Swindon unitary authority area had a population ...

. Laurence has since written various training programmes which he sells via his website, as well as various other merchandise labelled 'Team Loz'. Shahlaei and Liz maintains a

YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...

channel Big Loz Official which is sponsored by 'Mirafit', a popular strength and conditioning equipment Store in UK. Since 2016, the channel has covered many strongman related topics including training, event coverage, athletes and competition analysis, strongman history, and live Q&A sessions with strongman fans, and has released more than 1,000 videos. Known as the most knowledgeable person in the world of strongman Shahlaei considers Lithuania's Zydrunas Savickas to be the greatest strongman of all time and Iceland's

Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson (; transliterated as Hafthor in English, born 26 November 1988), is an Icelandic professional strongman, who is widely regarded as one of the greatest strength athletes of all time. He is the first and only person t ...

to be the strongest strongman of all time. On 2 May 2020, Shahlaei was the official commentator on Björnsson's 501 kg world record

deadlift The deadlift is a weight training exercise in which a loaded barbell or bar is lifted off the ground to the level of the hips, torso perpendicular to the floor, before being placed back on the ground. It is one of the three powerlifting exercises, ...

done in

Feats of Strength series during the 2020 Corona virus pandemic. He was also the official commentator alongwith

Brian Shaw Brian Keith Shaw (born March 22, 1966) is an American professional basketball coach and former player who is an assistant coach for the Los Angeles Clippers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He could play both guard positions, but wa ...

at the 2022

Rogue Invitational The Rogue Invitational is an annual sporting event that includes a CrossFit competition and a strongman competition. The event, organized by Rogue, started in 2019 as a CrossFit sanctioned competition, but has since become a major competition for ...

Personal life

Shahlaei and his wife, Elizabeth (Liz) Mason, live in

.Profile on archive.org's copy of Official WSM site
/ref> They have 3 kids daughters Ava, Alexa and son Lewis, whom Shahlaei described as his greatest achievements. Shahlaei has been open about his struggles with depression.

References

External links

Profile on Official WSM site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Shahlaei, Laurence 1982 births Living people English strength athletes Iranian strength athletes British people of Iranian descent Sportspeople from Cheltenham British strength athletes