Terry Hollands was born in 1979 in Dartford, Kent having a birth weight of 12 lbs 14oz. He was a keen sportsman in his childhood and teens, playing Judo and Rugby Union. However, despite sport being a big part of his life, he did not start serious gym training until he was 22 in order to help his rugby, and he typically focused on endurance training. In 2004 he contracted a leg infection and on his return to the gym he focused on strongman training. His training schedule has been described as "ferociously unforgiving" and he has espoused the benefits of visualisation techniques saying "you can't get by without it."
Strongman career
Hollands career as a strongman began in 2005, coming second at the 2005 England's Strongest Man and first at the 2005 UK's Strongest Man contests. In 2006 he lost his UK title to Glenn Ross but turned his attention to the Britain's Strongest Man competition. In 2006 Hollands qualified for the 2006 World's Strongest Man competition, although he did not qualify for the finals. In 2007 he took the title of Britain's Strongest Man and went on to finish third at the 2007 World's Strongest Man, the first time a British competitor had achieved a top 3 place in over 10 years. The 2008 Britain's Strongest Man saw Hollands conceding his title to Jimmy Marku, coming second overall. However, in the 2008 World's Strongest Mancontest he still made the final coming second in his qualifying heat. In the final he placed last out of the ten finalists. Hollands improved on this finish in the 2009 World's Strongest Man coming sixth overall. 2010 was a mixed year for Hollands. A series of strong performances and podium finishes in the Strongman Champions League, including a win in Ireland, was derailed by serious injury, when he tore his biceps in the Europe's Strongest Man contest in June. So strong had the early season been that Terry was still crowned the 2010 SCL overall champion on 18 December 2010. His return from the biceps injury was rapid and Hollands was able to compete at the 2010 World's Strongest Man contest where he made the final for the fifth consecutive year, and finished in 8th place. In 2011 he achieved a podium finish in the competition for the second time, placing 3rd, but in 2012 another biceps injury saw him withdraw from the final. Hollands is one of only five British men to have been on the podium at World's Strongest Man. In the 2014 edition, he became the only man to have qualified for the final in nine consecutive years. On 4 September 2015 he played rugby for England against the Rest of the World in a charity fundraising match. In October 2018, Hollands appeared in a series of YouTube videos with 4 Time WSM Brian Shaw where he and Shaw purchased food from Costco, cooked it, and engaged in conversation in Shaw's gym. In November 2019, Hollands won the 2019 World's Strongest Man Masters competition held at the Official Strongman Games in Daytona, Florida.
