Gladiators might just be the greatest show ever to have graced British TV.
As ’90s kids, we watched in awe as poor contenders did battle with hulking Gladiators like Rhino, Shadow and Wolf. The combination of gob-smacking physiques, mad events, snazzy ’90s lycra and the classic theme tune was a winner.
But there was one Gladiator who reigned supreme above them all – and that was Hunter.
The former bodybuilder was a unstoppable and proved it when he won The Ultimate Gladiator title in The Battle Of The Giants show against his fellow male Gladiators in 1999.
He was famed for being a strong, powerful and athletic all-rounder – especially on The Wall where he was beaten only once in nearly a decade.
But more than 20 years on from when he first joined the show aged 19, James Crossley is still an absolute machine.
Now 42 years and working as a PT and running Chelsea Fitness he’d still put us all to shame in the gym.
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He has trained everyone from pop stars to rugby players – but specialises in fat loss and body transformations.
His own training has changed from the days when he was bodybuilding as a teenager, working to put as much size and muscle on as possible.
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The one-time Junior Mr England now focuses very much on strength and aesthetics in his training.
He recently told Muscle & Fitness magazine: “I eat like a bodybuilder but train like a strongman.”
He incorporates a lot of strongman exercises into his workouts like yoke walk, single arm dumbell clean and press and Atlas stones.
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He also hits some really metabolically demanding exercises like the farmer’s walk and sled pushes.
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But more traditional style bodybuilding strength stuff never seem to be far away. With squats, leg presses and deadlifts, which he can pull close to 300kg on.
Crossley recently took part in an amateur strongman competition and tackled events including a truck pull, deadlift, atlas stones and farmer’s walk.
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We can’t imagine many blokes in their forties still hitting it this hard and putting up huge strength numbers. Massive respect to a Gladiator legend…
