250kg Deadlift. 120kg Log. 130kg Stone. Sub-80kg Bodyweight.
In March 2019 I won England’s Strongest Man in the under 80kg division. Went down to Northampton, competed against 15-20 other athletes, and came away with the title by a clear margin.
I wasn’t supposed to win it. I’d only prepped for three months. I was running a business at the same time. And I had to cut 12kg to make weight on the morning of the competition. But it all came together on the day, and that one result has shaped pretty much everything since.
Here’s the full story.
How It Happened
I didn’t spend years building towards this. The entire competition prep was three months. Three months of specific strongman training, entered on a “give it a go” mentality. I’d won Wales’ Strongest Man before — a natural show, no performance-enhancing supplements — so I knew I could compete. But England’s Strongest Man was a different level entirely.
At the time I was running Clear Workspace, my office clearance and commercial removals business in London. So my days were split between shifting office furniture, managing jobs, and training in the evenings. There was no luxury of a full-time athlete’s schedule. It was work, train, eat, sleep, repeat.
The thing that made this comp particularly brutal was the weight class. I naturally sit at 90-92kg. The u80kg division means getting under 80kg on the scales. That’s a 10-12kg cut. And here’s the kicker: England’s Strongest Man has same-day weigh-in.
So you cut the weight, step on the scales, and then immediately go and compete. No 24-hour rehydration window like some federations allow. You perform at the weight you weighed in at. Trying to deadlift 250kg after dropping 12kg that morning is a very different game to cutting weight with a day to refeed and recover.
Getting the cut right was everything. Cut too aggressively and you have nothing left on the platform. Cut too little and you don’t make weight. In 2019, I got it exactly right. In 2024 when I came back, I didn’t — but I’ll get to that.
The Events
England’s Strongest Man u80kg 2019 had five events. Here’s how each one went.
Deadlift — The One That Worried Me
Going in, this was the event I was most nervous about. Deadlift is pure limit strength, and after a significant weight cut on the same day, your grip and your nervous system are compromised. The max was 250kg, which I hit. At sub-80kg bodyweight, that’s over 3x bodyweight. Respectable, but I knew other competitors could match or beat it. This wasn’t where I was going to win the competition — it was where I needed to not lose it.
Log Press — Solid But Not Spectacular
120kg log press, again as a one-rep max. The log is a different beast to a barbell overhead press — the neutral grip, the clean from the floor, the thicker implement all change the lift. 120kg got the job done. Not the biggest log in the field, but enough to keep me in contention.
Farmer’s Walk — Grip Under Pressure
110kg per hand, 20 metres out and 20 metres back. After a same-day weight cut, farmer’s walks are rough. Your grip is already compromised from the dehydration and 110kg per hand at sub-80kg bodyweight is properly heavy. This is where strongman is different from powerlifting. It’s not just about how much you can lift, it’s about carrying it somewhere while everything is burning.
Loading Race — The Moment Everything Changed
This was my event. Loading race: 100kg keg and 110kg sandbag, moved as fast as possible over a set course. I knew going in that my speed and conditioning would give me an edge here. Strongman at the lighter weight classes rewards athletes who can move quickly under load, not just stand still and lift heavy.
I absolutely nailed it. Fastest time in the field. That result jumped me into first place overall, and from that point I just had to hold it together through the final event. Everything else that day was about staying competitive. The loading race is where I actually won it.
Atlas Stones — Finishing What I Started
130kg stone over bar for reps. I got three. The mad thing is I’d never lifted a 130kg stone before that day. Not in training, not ever. I’d worked with lighter stones and just trusted that the strength and technique would be there when it mattered. Luckily it was.
Winning It
Won it outright in the end, clear margin. Consistent across all five events, quick enough in the loading race to build a lead, and held it together through the stones.
My partner was there watching. She’d seen the whole prep, the weight cut, the stress of juggling it with work. When the results came in it was honestly more relief than anything. Three months of “give it a go” and somehow I’d come away with a national title.
The moment I remember most clearly isn’t the trophy or the announcement. It’s right after the loading race when I saw my time and realised I’d moved into first. That was the moment I thought “I can actually win this.” Everything after that was just about not messing it up.
What It Gave Me
I’m not going to pretend it made me famous. England’s Strongest Man u80kg doesn’t get the TV coverage that the open-weight class gets. Nobody stopped me in Tesco the next week.
But it gave me credibility, and that’s turned out to be worth more. When I write about supplements or training on this site, there’s a national title behind it. When I approach brands, “England’s Strongest Man” carries weight that “keen gym-goer” never would. It’s opened doors I didn’t even know existed at the time.
Why I Stepped Away
After 2019, business and family took priority. Clear Workspace was growing. The Chair Exchange was expanding its charitable impact. I had kids. The reality of competitive strongman is that it demands a level of obsessive focus that’s difficult to sustain alongside building businesses and being present as a parent.
I kept training. I never stopped lifting. But the specific, event-focused preparation for competition took a back seat for five years.
The 2024 Comeback
280kg deadlift for reps — ESM 2024
In 2024 I came back. Same competition: England’s Strongest Man u80kg. The motivation was simple — I wanted to prove I could still do it.
The competition didn’t go the way 2019 did. The main issue was the weight cut. I’d been away from competition cutting for five years, and I got it wrong. Cut too much, struggled to recover on the day, and didn’t have the energy reserves I’d had in 2019. The same-day weigh-in that I’d nailed perfectly five years earlier caught me out.
I competed. I didn’t win. And honestly, I learned just as much from that as I did from winning in 2019. Five years earlier I got everything right. In 2024 I got the cut wrong, and it showed. Those margins are tiny and you can’t take any of them for granted.
What’s Next
Maybe 2027. Haven’t decided yet. The itch is still there but I won’t step on the platform again unless the preparation is properly dialled in. If I come back, I’m coming back to compete, not just to show up.
In the meantime, I’m putting energy into the content side. The u80kg division is brilliant and almost nobody is covering it properly. That’s what this site is partly about. Competition coverage, training content, honest supplement and recovery information from someone who’s actually competed. If you’re into lightweight strongman or thinking about giving it a go, stick around.
England’s Strongest Man u80kg 2019 — Event Summary
| Event | Weight/Distance | Result |
|---|---|---|
| Deadlift | 250kg (1RM) | Completed |
| Log Press | 120kg (1RM) | Completed |
| Farmer’s Walk | 110kg per hand, 20m each way | Completed |
| Loading Race | 100kg keg + 110kg sandbag | Fastest time — jumped to 1st place |
| Atlas Stones | 130kg over bar | 3 reps (first time ever at this weight) |
Overall result: 1st place, clear margin.