At 53 years old, Mark Felix stepped up to the Hercules Hold world record challenge with an extraordinary reputation for grip strength — and then somehow managed to beat his own record again.
Filmed at the 2019 Giants Live World Tour Finals in Manchester, the challenge looks brutally simple: hold two enormous pillars in position for as long as humanly possible. Once Felix locks his hands onto the handles, however, the battle becomes fascinating to watch.
87.52 Seconds of Incredible Grip Strength
The Hercules Hold is a classic strongman event built around strength, grip and endurance. The athlete stands between two huge hinged pillars and grips handles attached to them, preventing the pillars from falling outward for as long as possible.
Felix had already produced a remarkable 83.62-second world record at Giants Live Wembley earlier in 2019. Just two months later, he arrived in Manchester and set out to push that record even further.
As the seconds accumulate, you can see the physical battle intensifying. Felix remains remarkably composed while the crowd realizes that another record is within reach.
He eventually reaches an astonishing 87.52 seconds, breaking his own Hercules Hold world record and adding another achievement to his legendary reputation for grip strength.
Why We Loved This Video
This is a brilliant example of why strongman competitions can be captivating even when the challenge itself couldn’t be easier to understand: just don’t let go.
What makes the performance even more remarkable is Felix himself. At 53, he wasn’t merely competing against younger elite strongmen — he was competing against his own world-best performance.
The growing crowd reaction makes the final seconds even better. You know exactly what Felix needs to do, you can see how much it hurts, and all that’s left is to find out how long those incredible hands can keep holding on.
