This Family Is Stronger Than Your Family

Elise Solé

This will make you feel lazy: A family of four who calls themselves "The Strongest Family in the World" is making headlines for their extreme fitness regime featured Wednesday night on TLC's "My Crazy Obsession."

The Best family, Dylan, 11, Jessica (JJ), 5, and parents Callie and Nick train for 240 hours per week, incorporating kettle bell exercises, pushups, and bicep curls into their daily regime. Dylan, who can dead lift 130 pounds, says, "I like working out; it's like my coffee in the morning. If I don't do it, I don't feel right," while Jessica, who weighs all of 46 pounds, can do a one-handed pushup. According to TLC, experts advise that 5-year-olds should train with one-pound weights (we wonder why they're training at all) but she can lift 100 pounds. 

"People think it's strange that Jessica can lift double her body weight but she loves doing it and she's not hurting anything," says Nick. "Our family's normal in the way that we love one another but we're not normal physically. And if that makes us bad, then I'm sorry, we're bad."

The Best's obsession with all things muscle began when Nick was a high school sophomore and at 5'3", weighed 130 pounds. He went through a huge growth spurt at around the same time he discovered weights and power lifting. Now he's a regular competitor on the strong man circuit where he also met his wife, professional strong woman, Callie.

"He walked off the elevator and our eyes locked," says Callie. "Obviously the first thing I noticed about Nick were his physical attributes. There's nothing more sexy than a big, strong guy. Period."

To fuel their bodies enough to keep up with their workouts, the Bests pay a pretty penny for groceries. "We spend anywhere between $500-$1,000 per week," Callie told Shine. Nick eats between 10,000 to 15,000 calories per day and often begins his day with 12 eggs; the entire family consumes 12 dozen eggs per week and mostly sticks to an organic diet of fish, meat, fruits, vegetables, and whole grains. "When you eat as much food as we do, it should be as healthy as possible," says Callie.

Weight training for children has always been a controversial subject. According to an article in The New York Times back in the 1970s, Japanese researchers who studied child laborers discovered that the juvenile workers tended to be abnormally short. The study concluded that lifting heavy objects for hours had stunted the children's growth and contributed to the belief that children shouldn't lift weights. However, in 2010 a study of children aged 6-18 published in the journal Pediatrics suggested that weight training is not only safe for young people, it can even be beneficial.

"Our goal for the kids isn't to lift weights but rather be strong and healthy," Callie told Shine. "We want them to think of fitness as fun and we also bond through exercise. Lots of lessons can be learned in the gym: The kids learn how to set goals, push themselves and act responsible. But I won't lie—I do feel a sense of pride when my kids are the only ones on the playground who can master all the equipment."