Saturday 29th July 2017, TuffWraps UK athlete James Williams is set to compete in the open's category at Peterborough's strongest man contest, not the most grabbing of statements but when we now mention he only trained for 7 days on the lead up to the event the story changes....!
Sponsored by Rebel Strength, Strongman Revolution and Saxon Muscle the opens class is a fierce one. With James giving away almost 15 KG to his rivals it's a tall order to compete, but hell, if you're gonna do something do it properly!
The opens class consisted of 5 events listed below:
- Truck Pull16 tonnes
- Log Press 135kg
- Car Deadlift 320kg
- Super Yoke 350kg
- Conans Wheel 250kg
Many of these numbers are our one rep max or actually way beyond that, so let's bare in mind that these guys are doing this for reps and not in you're average gym environment. In fact the ground is uneven concrete with dusty shale and pot holes!
Pulling a 16 tonne truck is no joke, but pulling across a distance of 16 meters in a time of 40 seconds isn't either! Because of the weight James is giving away to competitors the truck pull is not a great event for him but getting a solid 2rd place is a great start to the day. Thanking one of the Novice competitors for the loan of some rock climbing shoes as competing in classic white converse would not have cut it!
Up next is the log, 135kg for as many reps as possible. Managing 2 solid reps and giving away a potential 3rd from not totally locking out his arms at extension James receives a 3rd place. Now when you think that most of us don't even squat 135kg the effort suddenly becomes real!
The car deadlift simulates a trap bar, an exercise James is incredibly confident in and regally trains to numbers above 400kg. Set at 320kg and the target of as many reps as possible in 1 minute, James got to work. Pausing hallway through, but finally stopping to the shout of MC Martin Cee and one of the loudest cheers of the day, 17 reps and 1st place achievement unlocked! This is hero stuff.
The key to the Super Yoke se setup height and keeping steady as each touch to the ground while moving implies a 2 second time penalty. Unfortunately this didn't run in favour for James and touched down 3 times bringing his final time in at 3rd place. But with a 3rd, 2nd, 1st and another 3rd things are looking good for the final event.... An event James smashed at Worthing last year......
We were quietly confident but don't tell him that!
The Conan's wheel is a weighted bar that pivots on a centre spine, plate landed to a weight of 350kg. Now this doesn't sound awful at first but when that is resting on your arms and stomach, just try and work out how to breathe properly! James was last to go and with no one before him managing much more than a single rotation he came out the blocks flying to complete 2 full rotations and take another 1st place finish.
Almost collapsing at the end James was met to another cheer from the crowd and a huge hug from his son Lenny who was at the event all day with the TuffWraps team to support his dad. Lenny Tuff!
Final Results:
- Truck Pull - 2st Place
- Log Press - 3rd Place
- Car Deadlift - 1st Place
- Super Yoke - 3rd Place
- Conans Wheel - 1st Place
- Overall - 1st Place
Huge congratulations are in order as this was James's first Open Class event and to come joint first place with none other than Poland's Strongest man was a huge achievement.
Another member of the TuffWraps UK team was also competing in the novice class, so we must also say a huge congratulations to Leon Pegler for another Strongman event under his belt and wish him all the best of his winter prep for taking on 2018!
Thanks to everyone that stopped by to say hi to us and a huge thanks to James Neville from Saxon Muscle for organising the the day and making it all possible for us.
#StayTUFF
Check out:
TuffWraps UK Power Sleeve Bundle: https://tuffwraps.co.uk/collections/bundles/products/tuff-power-sleeve-bundle
TuffWraps UK Classic Bundle: https://tuffwraps.co.uk/collections/bundles/products/tuff-classic-bundle
James Neville - https://www.saxonmuscle.com
Martin Cee - https://www.facebook.com/StrongmanRevolution/
