 mae'n rhoi meddwl mewn i allwch i mewn grau cyfa yma, i ddweud i'si gweld chi yng nghymru來說 ni, ac ydych yn rhoi'n cael ei hynny'r tynnu'r drwg yrym yn rhaglen a'r ddarbyn sgwno'r bydt, ac mae'n rhan o'n rhoi'n rhaglennydd ar gyfer mae'r newid yn eu gwybod Ar y gofyn ar gyfer hynny yn ei gweithio yw'r llas, mae'n rhan o'n hamdod i'n gwneud newid am trwy'n cyfrifonol ac mae'n rhan o'n rhan o'n cyfrifonol yn yr hynny dda'r holl Roeddwn i ddim yn gallu mynd i'i gael fel y ffordd. Roeddwn i wedi gael ffodol, dyma dda i ddigon, gallwch i ddisad ewfan, y fourfyr, ar fynd yn y brosol, a dal yn rhywg iddyn ni. Roeddwn i'r gwahanol gyda fewn cymdeilio ond y mae'r ysgolwch yn ddrillio. Roeddwn i ni'n gwleidio, roeddwn i folfod daddiw y modd i chi. Roeddwn i ni'n fath o'r iawn, roeddwn i ni'n gweithio'n arbyn i'n cilydd. Roeddwn i'n gweithio. ac mae angen yn y bwysig wedi ei wneud o'r ffalu yn ymlaenadell. Farfodd yw'n rhan o'r llawer i'r bodd ddod i'ch gael cyffredinol. Mae'n cael wneud eich bydd i chi wedi'i tyfn yn y stryd yn wrth fel hyn. A dyma eholwg yma hen wedi ddechrau yn ddisseltio i'r arddangos fel gwybodaethu. Mae'n uch yn ddaf yn ei amser.odle ond iddyn ni'n golygu sut yn ei wgig? Rydw i'n mynd i am ddod ac rydw i'n holl gwellam yn colli, a dyna ni'n gyflodio ar y cwysinwyr? G Fy ydych chi wedi'i gweld eich bod cychydig ond gwyl, a mae gennym hwn i mi'n gwybod i mi gydิrio mewn cwysinwyr Gydig i mi ddim yn coli ddiolch chi i gydig i mi gydig, na wnaeth yn gweld eich rhan o blwyddyn lle, mae'n ffraith fynd i ma'n mewn gwirionedd. Ond gwych, ond mae'n gwirionedd, a mae'n gwirionedd, rwy'n credu, ond mae'n gwirionedd, ond mae'n gwirionedd. Mae'n gofio'n ddull i mi, mae'n gofio'n gofio. Mae'n gofio, mae'n gofio. Ond mae'n gofio, mae'n gofio, mae'n gofio'n gofio. A mae'n gofio'n gofio'n gofio'n gofio'n gofio'n gofio.響wch i ni i gym, I knew what the phone call was going to be, I knew it was going to be, she's got cancer and it's terminal. Just in my head, I just knew it, I just fucking knew it. She told me and I had to pull over at the side and I was just like... I couldn't believe it, she had six months to live. So I drove home that night from Newcastle, I can't do this, so I went home. I went down to the doctor's surgery to see the doctor that misdiagnosed my mum and I would have killed him. I would have like... Point blank, I would have killed him if he was there. I was shouting, I said to the receptionist, I need to see this doctor and she says, why? I says, well, he's just murdered my mum because he's misdiagnosed her for a year. Pym yn rhaen, a today's guest, we've got the strongest brothers on the planet. Tom and Luke, how are you brother? Yeah, good man yourself, good to see you. Good to see you. You're flying the last couple of years, obviously Scotland's strongest men. And now, second in the world, the first brothers ever to be top ten, am I correct? That's right, yeah, that was our claim. 2019. Phenomenal achievement, two boys from the Highlands just doing their thing and it shows that from our small village that anything can be achievable, especially from upcoming power lifters or whatever you are doing it. Still young, Tom. A one of us. We'll give you other sports though. Phenomenal achievement, it's an absolute honour to be sitting across from these guys. I see all these up the mountains as well doing the cold water stuff, massive Wim Hof fans including myself and we'll touch on all that shit but I always go back to the start of my guess, kind of where up and how it all began. We'll start with yourself Luke. Yeah, so I mean, I was writing the football on that when I was younger. I was always quite sporty and stuff and our grandparents, our dad's grandparents, they came across in the war from Germany and Poland so our grandma was German, our granddad Op was Polish and all the member of my opa when I was younger was this big strong, like just a typical man. He was working the peep fields, he was like employed a lot of guys doing that and any time I seen him he just looked powerful and then go to dad as well. Dad's a big guy, he was kind of over six foot and for me just in my head when I was younger I just, when I was like 12, 13 I just wanted to lift weights, I just seen these guys, sounds a bit weird. I used to look at the magazines and see these big strong men and think fuck me man, I want to be like that. And when I turned 16 I went straight to the gym and just started lifting, I just loved that feeling of kind of, for me it was like improvement every day, I could always improve so I'd go in and do bicep curls, I could always do one more and bench press and all that kind of good stuff. And then it was just been from the Highlands for me watching obviously William Wallace, Braveheart Bullshit kind of thing but having that vision of like the modern day kind of Highland Warrior kind of thing. But I don't think, for me back then there wasn't that many big strong men in Scotland to look up to as such and it was always questioning why, as a nation, why don't we have these big warriors that we did have when William Wallace and that was there and that's how I kind of, in my head, that's what really got stuck into my head, I wanted to be this kind of strong man and really kept pushing on and I think my first competition was, I was 27 when I first started competing so I was quite late into it, it wasn't like an instant thing, it wasn't a flash in the pan, so I had to really work hard and just loved it man, it was just, from that first wee competition I did in Inverness, it was a deadly competition, we had maybe, it was maybe like 10 or 15 people watching. And like from the instant it was like I was ripping my shirt off and that kind of, that buzz I got from competing in front of a crowd and I think you're touching it being from a wee village, you don't have that many people there, we didn't have like a big school or a lot of people in the town in the village so as soon as you start going to competing in front of 10,000 people I was just a busy man and I was just that kind of adrenaline just took me and then, yeah that was it, just thankfully my face fit, I've kind of fitted into the sport, promoters seemed to get on well with me, I got on well with them. And yeah I just started to kind of grow and grow and grow and here we are now, you know, talking to yourself. Yeah lucky bastards there. How did that affect you then Tom, seeing your big brother doing that, did that enhance you? Did that help you a lot or were you thinking I want to beat him straight away? Yeah I mean well obviously when I was younger as well I was football you know, football daft, anything like that, you know it was Glasgow Rangers when I grew up all through my life and then when Luke started the gym and started kind of the strawman I thought I'm never ever going to do this sport like I was like a skinny Peter Crouch you know a Scottish version of that so I was just like it's not for me you know and then I think I was 13, I was watching it on TV you know the Marius Puskonowski's, the Derek Poundstone's those were the Viziks, they had like the abs and then I seen other strawmen that were the guts and I was like these guys aren't athletes you know like fat guys smoking fags and stuff lifting weights so I was like you know I wasn't really into that and then I think it was like 15, Luke said you know I come to the gym with me so I started up my local gym and yeah I mean I hated every kind of minute of it I mean the pain I was feeling the next day girls lifting more than me, other people lifting more than me they know the muscles of like guys that would be going for five, six years him just like benching I was like benching 140 at the time I was like benching the bar I was like how the hell are people doing this and then I think it was more when Luke did do his first competition I went down to support him and it was like when these guys were lifting the cars and the logs and I was seeing it face to face I was like this is different on TV this is different just going to the gym and the crowd as well like there was a few files in there and seeing Luke do what he was doing and then I did the fan event I was just doing some big farmers carry and one that and I was like I'm quite strong so went back home joined a gym in Inverness and kind of took off from there Luke took me under his wing a few other boys that are in Inverness took me under their wing as well and kind of just show me the direction to go in I mean had mates that did it but they went off in the wrong direction and I just wanted to be like focused on setting you know sport was my whole life and I just wanted to be good at setting you know prove that I could do something and to like kind of following Luke's footsteps and kind of I wanted to quit all the time I mean I was in the most uncomfortable position in the gym you know I hated talking to people I hated being around people but to kind of force myself in uncomfortable situations to following Luke's footsteps and then to enter my first competition I think it was like 18 years old Luke threw me in the deep end as well I mean I wasn't allowed to do the junior stuff it was more the opens and stuff and I remember I think it was the first one 15th in Scotland I made Luke win the title so that again was a special feeling I'm seeing your brother win the title me come top 5 at 18 years old and then that was when I was like yeah jeez I can be good at this sport and that's when I went to UK seeing Eddie Hall and I was like this is next level this now I'm never going to get near any of him I thought he was big and then see Eddie Hall and Lawrence Sharrer like this is just I was just like fanboying but for me it's the buzz as well when you lift those weights and you see improvements every day it's like a drag to me you know the buzz you get the adrenaline in your body it's just unbelievable and you can't really explain it but like I hate it sounds weird but I hate doing the barbell and dumbbell work I think that's the most boring thing but then when you get your hands on a log atlas stones lifting cars it's like that's a buzz that any human needs to try Did you doubt yourself a lot then Tom did your brother play a massive part on helping you progress all through school everything in my life I doubted myself on even kind of being a decent footballer as well I doubted myself I couldn't get to the next level wasn't confident enough but then Luke was always at my side from day one saying you can be the next big thing and then again as well but that was getting and then I had other athletes as well like Eddie Hall saying you're going to be the next big thing but then that got a lot of pressure on me so I couldn't drill in that pressure and I was like Tom's going to be the next big thing I thought I'm going to be the next big thing and started getting lazy and not working hard just to think if Eddie Hall is saying that already then I kind of stopped working as hard and then was getting beat at competitions I should have won and I was like I need to kind of kick up the arse here and actually train to be the best I hate labels but you were dinos with Asbergers I was dinos with Asbergers at a young age I can't remember roughly I think it was just when you were in the academy it was before I think it was through primary school I was getting tested but I think it was in the primary school secondary but that was a massive hurt on my life I mean like Luke going in and out I would be phoning and screaming like where are you not going out I couldn't even go on a bus I went from Invergordon to Fyrn which is a 10 minute bus journey and that was my first time doing that I think when I was 13, 14 it was a massive massive achievement and like for other people it was not but for me it was and to get past hurdles in school they never gave me a really big chance I mean some teacher said to me you're never going to be like successful in life you're never going to get a wife you're never going to move out your house it played on my mind for a long time I was like what am I going to do I don't have any grades in school less school, fourth year just dropped out of that as well so then it was like when I said when I got to the gym I was like I need to do something in my life I know I moved out my house my parents house got my son a girlfriend got married then started getting more successful in the sport and yeah having Luke there to kind of push me through like you know being in the interviews like I said I couldn't even put my head down and say yes or no and that was the hard part about strongman physically I knew I was capable of doing stuff and I knew I could do the lifting but then the interviews before it interviews after the fans I was like Jesus not football I didn't expect this to be strongman so going from like a car park to 15,000 people that just put me all wrong I just could not cope with that in my mind like I said I'd have to look there even after events Luke would have to come out and be like your brother did good and I would be like yeah so it's kind of stuff but yeah I mean I just want to get autism out there but I'm not different than anybody else and I've proved I'm one of the strongest guys in the world getting successful Luke as well and building a profile that I'm proud of and like I've worked with a lot of people that are the same as me and I'm a big advocate for it and I love everything about it Phenomenon mate I love that that even the teachers I used to listen to a man called Liz Brown he says people's opinion of you doesn't have to be a reality and for people telling you this and that it shows you how strong a character you are now labels people who's got a great life from the outside got all the money in the world that are committing suicide you've been labelled with something but you've not let it stop you you've kept pushing through and I don't know if it was Einstein it says it but don't let your schooling get in the way of your education that everybody sees the world differently and you're fucking second strongest man on the fucking oh that's planet earth which is a phenomenal achievement so I take my heart off to you and especially people watching this they'll take inspiration that don't matter if you get labelled you can do what the fuck you want you can make changes you can kick on you can strive to keep constantly burden yourself when you know your brother was diagnosed with that was that another push in a scent for you to keep training hard when you know he got the buzz for it yeah man for sure I mean for me I'm like a big family guy I'm the oldest of five siblings so I've got a a duty I suppose in my head to look after them all even though Tom's six foot eight second strongest man in the world but like mentally Tom wasn't quite there yet you know when he started to come on the scene and stuff and I remember when Tom did get diagnosed and stuff it was mum that bless mum Jesus she went through hell and back again you know to kind of make it that a lot of teachers just thought Tom was a bad kid you know growing up it wasn't like he didn't have any additional needs it wasn't it wasn't autism it was just Tom didn't want to go to school and they weren't they were it was like a fight from him to kind of take it up to whoever it was she had to deal with so it was years she had to do this you know and then when Tom actually got diagnosed with with Asbergers it was like a relief almost you know it was like right okay now we can get the teachers and the support teachers to help Tom and kind of we can analyse it a little bit more and that took a lot of time so like Tom says a lot of teachers said you know you're not going to do anything but there is you know that's just I suppose the stereotypical view maybe that they have of people with additional needs but I mean but for me it just made me seeing Tom from a young age kind of Tom just touching and getting on a bus from Invergoorn to Fyrn it's only 10 minutes but doing that little things that's what I took inspiration from it's like it was so far out of Tom's comfort zone to do that but he went and did that and he's proven he's breaking down these boundaries I can do stuff by myself I can do that I can't get a job I can't have a girlfriend I can't do this I'm going to compete with you so for me that's driving me more because Tom's it's a million times harder for Tom to do that than it is for me I'm okay I've got my own issues but fortunately I can speak in front of people I can go on a bus I can do all this this is just things that me and you probably take for granted whereas Tom like I say it's just a little bit more difficult so then Tom comes more of an inspiration to yourself as well if you're having a down day if you're losing a bit of motivation you see Tom showing up you're thinking well he's making moves 100% I mean you can't not I mean when I watch Tom train especially now how strong Tom is you know when you see one of his stones and stuff it's such an inspiration but for me it's more of an inspiration that the story that Tom has the journey that Tom's being on to get here there's no one else in our strongman game as successful as Tom with you know Asbergers or kind of additional leads and that's for me that's a huge inspiration it's an inspiration to anyone out there that's watching Tom you know it's like we've said it before it doesn't matter what people label you as or where you're from those are just kind of I think that's the generation or the world we live in people are too used to making excuses and stuff you know so whereas Tom's got all the excuses in the world not to be successful just stay in his room be a recluse but he's not he's smashed at boundaries and I mean here he is you don't get him to shut up now which is awesome so I'm just so proud to see how Tom's evolved into this person it's phenomenal what he's achieved I know he's brought world records which we'll touch on but you are very well respected in the circuit of other bodybuilders and strongmen and he's a very well liked very humble guys he's come across very well educated as well and even striving towards a very I can see you're the sensitive one but it shows that things can be achieved by your mindset your mindset is a powerful tool no matter what you set it to I believe I'm the best dinner of your on the planet and people laugh but I just genuinely believe that if you don't believe it yourself nobody else will there's no point in dumbing yourself down to try and fit into everybody else's boxes and people say oh he's arrogant he's got ego fuck that shit like I'm not going to stop my beliefs and visions to make you feel any better or make your life feel better I believe I've all got one life that is what we can achieve anything can be got everything is limitless you guys have set your goals out and you've smacked everyone out of the park is it strong you're a Scotland strongman 5 years in a row what's the lead up to it what's the planning to do that for me it was quite quick I went from doing a competition in Burness met one of my good friends now Peter he's like why don't we do Scotland strongest man I'm like fuck off me I'm just some dafty some wee scrawny whatever and I was working off shore so I was working the oil and gas industry and I was working in Hamburg at the time of Scotland strongest man so I was I was due to fly back to Edinburgh on the Friday morning from Hamburg and on the Thursday I was like fuck just doubting myself you know I'm like stupid what am I doing what a stupid thing to try and become Scotland strongest man I've just been training bodybuilding I'm not even lifting that much and that so finished work at 7 went out and in the pub I was drinking till about 5 o'clock in the morning my flight was at 6 and I'm like speaking to the barmaid she's like look you must go and pack your taxes here in half an hour and I'm like fuck off I'm done I don't want to do it and then she's like no you've got to do it you'll kick yourself so I was like right fine fine I'll do it went up got my bag got in the taxi blazing I was steaming got to Edinburgh I had to drive from Edinburgh to Dumfries when the Scotland strongest man was held and we got there on Friday evening slept woke up Saturday morning I was the first one into the competition venue it was a guy Stuart Murray that runs Scotland strongest man really nice guy introduced myself to the ice chair he said I look pleased to meet you just take a seat and then all these big fuckers come in and I'm like Jesus Christ and I've seen them on TV and I'm like oh it's a fucking Ken Noecky that's fucking whoever and all these guys are competed on TV and I'm like oh this is so stupid I'm going to make a right twat myself long story short I didn't make a twat myself I won the first that first show I did I won and I went on to win every show for the next five years so you know we talk about self doubt I almost sabotaged my chance by going drinking for almost 12 hours before a competition but that's because of my head that's because I was doubting myself and I'm thinking these people are better than me in reality they're probably doubting themselves thinking that everyone's better than them and you've just got to go and do it and just don't worry about it really just go and have a good time and that's what I did and like I say if I didn't do that competition I wouldn't be here today chatting to you Traff in the world How does that then to win that five times and then your younger brother comes in and wins it is that is there a lot of competition between yous because I know I've seen your videos when you're constantly backing each other when you're no matter what event it is but then does it because you want to be a winner so you've got one up in them but you do want to win how was that then did you see how I'm going to knock him off his crown of being Scotland's number one and do you then think I need to keep putting the pressure on Tom how does that work to being two brothers in that competition I mean I think you were on your I always came second I think to him twice and he won his first three titles and then I came on and I think it was twice and I was just like I'm on my third time luckier side and then I finally did it but Luke came second I think we want to keep the title in the Stoltman household you know and that's what we've said for every competition if we can one or two first and second every come it's coming back hometown for Gordon so we don't care and I mean for the last seven years it's been in the Stoltman household which is a mental achievement in Scotland but it was always going to come for Luke I didn't let him keep winning it I mean I I don't mean it's a rivalry there you see the videos of how supportive Luke is shouting at me while the world's just passed and then vice versa so we always want the best of each other and that's what brings it out on us if we can just help each other as much as we can and that's what the advantage we've got we travel to these comps together and he's like in my corner I'm in his corner where there's nobody else has anybody else You think you could do that Tom if your brother wasn't there No way It's the biggest example for me I didn't really think much of it until World Strong was Man that's just past stats when you could hear him on the TV I mean I had one bad event and my head went right down having him to give me the positive talk and say like you can still do this you're still in this comp and then to go through and kind of battle out to the end and him shouting was that's when I knew like Jesus if he wasn't here I would have probably crumbled at the first hurdle so 100% if it wasn't for Luke there wouldn't be like the Stoneman brother wouldn't be Tom, there wouldn't be him What's the training like for that will start off with the Scotland strongest man how do you go about pulling cars and throwing up logs and if you've got all that stuff planned because I know you've worked on oil rigs obviously you've went full time now into what you're doing but how is it hard then because I'd imagine there'd be a lot of funding involved to do that kind of shit It's a lot of money when I first started doing Strongman whatever there wasn't anything in the Highlands there was no atlas stones there was no log presses there was no cars anything like that so Tom and I basically have taken Strongman equipment into the Highlands and now we've got our gym which we have it's like fully equipped we've got log presses, yolks, farmers full range of atlas stones it does take a lot of I mean I usually quote £1,000 a piece of equipment so see if you need a log press £1,000 and if you're buying like 100 pieces of equipment you know it's a lot of money so thankfully with oil and gas the money that was earning there was reasonable it was good so that helped me finance the gym we now have but that was over I mean I was 16 years in oil and gas so it was a long time it wasn't just a one year thing it kind of that progress and that journey again I keep talking about it doesn't just happen and I think that's where Tom and I have that more, like our feet are more on the ground because we appreciate it because we've both done that and I've done 16 years and some God awful places working around the world and I really appreciate what I have now being home they don't see my wife every night being able to train with Tom and the gym that to me is such an amazing feeling compared to what it was there is companies and thankfully now sponsorship people send up equipment to us it's not cheap but it's invested in yourself so this is our business this is our gym this is our office so we need to have so saying you're buying an office work has our computers whatever we have long presses atlas stones 4000 kilos worth of weights whatever else we need all these special bars it's just investing in ourselves and that's what we need it's your life, it's your business because I've seen your videos on YouTube you've got your own YouTube channel as well we'll put a link in the description for people to come across and watch your videos daily vlogs in the ice eating over 10,000 calories a day what do you consume that food? do you struggle or do you enjoy it? food's the hardest part of it all 100% I've been with a nutritionist called Nathan I went on before I think it was about a year ago so before him I was doing it myself chicken rice basic stuff when I went to him that's when I learnt Jesus he was 11 eggs in the morning 4 bits of bacon, 2 sausages a bowl of cereal I thought a bowl of cereal was enough that's since we're worlds I was about 181 kilograms it's just bigger comp so when you're peaking for a comp the food is unbelievable I was peaking at 12,000 calories burger but it's not all healthy food that's the thing with bodybuilding strongman we're using calories and carbs to fuel our workouts so we need the burgers I eat donuts every day for a day some people would say that was actually okay it's a good diet burgers and everything 10,000 to 12,000 but even like burgers and donuts get sick after eating them every day 7 days a week for me diet is 100% the hardest part because people say you are about to eat so how does that affect you mentally how does that affect the heart all the sugars and salts does that play a massive part for sure the diet gets more severe the closer we get to a competition so it's for the peak that's when we're on the most severe diet your 12 eggs whatever that higher calorie but then we'll drop it back after the comp we get health check ups we get our blood tests, ECGs done in our hearts so we're in pretty good shape considering you know it's not the most obviously a lot of red meat we eat because it gives us a lot more strength to me personally I find when I'm eating steaks can anything red meat my energy levels are up as well my testosterone seems to be more enhanced should we say but yeah it's a worry I mean we're not we're not idiots you know you're pushing your body to that extreme for our goal is to be the strongest man in the world so you have to be prepared to take that put your body through anything so if you want to be the fastest man in the world you're going to put your body through us marathon runners swimmers you know all these elite level athletes to be the best in the world you have to make sacrifices you know so it's like yourself you're the best podcast guy in the world you're going to have to make sacrifices that's what we're doing at the moment with our bodies so it's just it's weighing up that risk and reward kind of ratio also having kind of support of wives and family you know that see that vision we're getting checkups we're looking after our bodies we're not idiots you know I'm not going to do this for another 20 years that's not my goal I want to do this maybe for another couple of years capitalise as much as I can Tom and I win world strongest man right that's it you know look at Eddie Hall he won it one time he pushed his body to the absolute limit I mean I was there when he won it and it was like yeah it was like on the edge of dying basically um would we be willing to do that I would you know to reach my goal I'd be willing to push my body to that very limit where I'm like right if you do this for one more month I think that's what Eddie got told you do this one more month he might die so it's that's what you've got to do to become the best man in the world that's what you've got to do to become the best yeah man for sure and that's that's what we're looking at so let's do that and then then we can concentrate on other things the doors will open they're already opening for you because of the successes we've got but you know yourself the doors everything just tenfold and that's the plan it's trying to secure your family's future as well and for people we'll get a better understanding of this it's not just strong men who everybody thinks that they're fearless this and that to get a better understanding of the sacrifices they pay in the misery like anything in success there's always sacrifice there's always we spoke earlier let's keep trying to level up but every time you try to level up there comes a new wave a hate, there comes a new wave of problems it's to keep pushing through the barriers and probably every month you'll think fuck this I'm just going to quit, I'm just going to get back in my bed and not achieve anything how you spoke there and supported your wives and stuff how does that affect him seeing he's eating all the time with a lot of tears, a lot of injuries a lot of pain thinking I'm not good enough how does that affect everyone around you it's tough for me last year I'm not making the final of worlds I was a miserable fucker coming home and I felt like everyone down so that was tough for me so cushy my wife she takes a brunt of that it takes a big person be that punching bag that's where the support of family members of wives, partners, whatever that is really so critical sometimes because we're although Tom and I are brothers we're still touched that we're there to win for ourselves if we don't win we lose ourselves that's the thing we lose on our own we win on our own as well it's tough for them there's not holidays there's no nights out parties, weddings birthdays, we can't really go to them because we've got a train it does create a lot of kind of problems I'm not going to lie our relationships aren't perfect we have gone through ups and downs it's just part of this is all new to us as well so it's like where we're from and in regarding there's nothing like this so it's like you're thrust into this semi limelight and you're now people are wanting to speak to you people are wanting to get your attention and stuff and it's kind of learning to deal with all that and kind of trying to stay focused on that goal that we have of being the best in the world and providing for our families and making sure that they know that that's what we're doing it for because you've got world record holders as well is it atlastone for you Tom how did that come about did you just keep getting stronger every year was that always a goal for you I mean it wasn't really a goal to do the heaviest one but it came about I got invited to the Arnold's classic in America there's like a pro show but you can go over there to do record breakers so it went for the log and I was like I'll give the stone a bash so I think I had to beat two five six was it I think it was two five six well I got two six five in America two months later I broke it again and got two eight six so the atlastone that's unbelievable that was possibly one of the hardest training cycles I've ever gone through in my life like you say about the wise the sacrifice with me I'm still young I'm a wise young we're twenty six and you want to go out with your mates you want to have some fun and go on holidays but with that it was pushed her to the side pushed my family to the side stayed in my house and was eat, sleep and gym and that was all I did but like they find it hard but then once you do the rewards you know it's unbelievable but like the wife for the support support for that with the autism and the gym I mean it was unbelievable but yeah I did the two eight six world record but then I've got also the longest stone run in the world's ten stones did 41 seconds that was a hundred to two hundred kilograms and then the five stone run at a giant slive Europe Strongest Britain Strongest 19 seconds 16 so that was a 200 as well so I'm known for the art of stones that's phenomenal and you get the log press yes I've got the British record for the log press 221 kilos I got the world record in training but then when I went for the world record I just missed it a ball here so it was what's the difference from doing it in training and then doing it in arena is it a massive difference because of the pressure more pressure I think it's it can be different as well as different equipment so it's the log press for me for example I use my own log press but in competition it's a different log press so that kind of hinders it could be the grip and it could be like the space and the handles like a few mil off here and there and you know when you're lifting that type of weight you know a few mil here and there can make all the difference so it's just like you say that added pressure when you've got crowds there you know it's you don't want to make a you don't want to back up because it's like oh Jesus he was lifting 230 kilos in training he's only lifted 180 and doesn't you know it's like things I got but for me personally I usually prefer to do it in front of a crowd because I get that adrenaline and I think you just get that boost from the crowd and people are like cheering your name on that man it's class because I've seen videos of who has it to shit themselves was it you doing the atlastone do you must because of the pressure because people's fucking eyeballs have popped out and legs have broke that's the first time I've ever shit myself doing something I was doing that pit for the world record but that was bad man I tried to toilet roll on on my hands because you have the sticky it's like leg wax you put on the stick of the stone and he's like look I'm not coming in the middle of you mate so he came out with all toilet paper stuck to him and it was a disgust eye but it's some pressure the pressure that you put on yourself in your body to the extremes but that goes like I watch a lot of David Goggins in the running that he does just 200 mile runs at somewhere we're doing 300 mile now it's unbelievable how's the guy who done the mile under four minutes it was never broken soon as he done it then everybody started smashing it out your record somebody will bone your aster I think I want to beat that bastard so it's constant improvement the bodies and the mindsets they are improving, human beings are improving a lot of majority are getting weaker mentally but there's people out there pushing the boundaries and user loving proof that he's pushing them to the new limits and it's good to see do you know what I mean that people from Scotland I don't think Scotland gets a recognition that it deserves there's so many talented people in that country that are smashing it and user to you then just now that it's doing it seeing an event is it 10 events in a competition in the worlds is it 10? in the worlds it's 10 in the worlds strongest man you get put in heats initially so there's 5 5 events in the heats the top two of the heats get to go to the final and 5 or 6 events so in the one day shows it's maybe 5 or 6 events that we do but then the worlds is over kind of 10 days or so 7 days or so whatever it is it depends on the budget sometimes it's 10 days how many events all in do they just choose from 10? so maybe 15 different events but they'll choose 10 on a day do you just get to know what's coming up? yeah we get to know so we get to train and preface the bodies for them usually a 90% of the time we do there's a couple of sometimes they're throwing like a mystery event yeah a mystery event or something so then you just find out when you get out there it's quite funny a lot of guys get a bit freaked out when he's mystery events I wonder what it could be and it's like nothing that we haven't trained for but a lot of guys get very anal over it all like the measurements and that but like the kind of principles the same we're picking up stuff and putting it down again that's all we do so if we can't kind of get our brains to work even though we don't know about the events you know we're doing something wrong we should be prepared enough if they want to throw on a different event like in worlds they did they changed one of the events because there was a hurricane at the time so we had to do a farmer's walk which is a grip event run but it was for distance so that was like a wee curve ball they threw in inside as well first time we've all just been inside we were prepped for outside there's just a few different things but usually we know we get like a couple of months kind of notice imagine people would panic because anybody ever think it gets a favour of a certain type of competitor that's how strong is the events there can that piss you off a bit because obviously if you've got the atlastone you can only smash it every time if you've got a log pressure I think you just got to go on with that an open mind and think well usually everyone's going to in that set of events at five or six events someone's going to have a good event and you've just got to accept that but as an athlete we should go in there and think all those events are good for us we shouldn't have a weak event and that's your mentality needs to be like that me personally I don't care what events are you know I've just got to go on and focus and worry about myself if I'm thinking about other people or that's Eddie Hall's event that's Adam Bishop's event I can't be worrying about that because I can't do anything about what they're going to lift all I can do is control my own it's quite balanced out as well because everybody's different heights different weights so some not necessarily the height was being advantage for some events these find that as well that is there a certain weight there's a limit to be maybe 23 stone plus there's a people out there who's low 20s and that's smashing it I mean the world strong is one Novikov hold he's so on 35K so like 135 he's pretty light for he's one of the lightest guys to win it but anything over 105 kilos in bodyweight is classed as like heavyweight or open level so then you've got a under 105 category and then there's under 90s 80s and so on but if you're over 105 kilos you can compete against something like Tom's size so it could be like 75 kilos between you in reality but yeah there's not really any cut off there was a guy Gavin Bilton he was 230 stone or something big Welsh lad he was the heaviest world's competitor ever that's the two much now for me personally it's more endurance in our world carry that much weight it's a lot more dynamic it's a lot more functional fitness you're doing a lot of running there's a lot of repetitions now it's max distance, max reps it's not so much as when you see the world's strongest man of old a lot of max lifts so static weights back then but now there is a lot more moving about and you've got to be ready for that so maybe carrying that 200 plus kilos is kind of it's nice to watch the old school ones I think it was John Paul Siegmer he died he's heart popped or something and then is it Magnansson remember him he Iceland or Finland it's funny how everybody watches he's a strong man it's so popular worldwide I think every man thinks he's strong people go to the gym with a bench of 80 kilos 100 kilos and they think they walk and let me a tight t-shirt and then I've got used fucking monsters pushing 28 stone and they're thinking fuck me how small actually am I does it make you do you feel overpowering when you walk into places like constant there must be constant eyes on you everybody's quite their short asses here do you know what I mean the fella you've got people are big to be big but they use same a lot of eyes like fucking size of those boys I think there's a lot of people intimidated by us before we even talk even in our gym people are scared to come because it's owned by two big guys and some women or guy walks in and they're like I shouldn't be here so by eye contact there's a lot of people because I'm like 6 foot 8 I walk into shops and everyone's just like who's this guy how big's your bed is it king size I'm growing out of that I thought you were going to ask him what else great to the cameras are all for that one what's the planning then for a world strongest man what is the planning for he's just going to hibernation or do you connect with other strong men to do your own thing yeah so that's what I said earlier I kind of put everything to the side so like loads of sacrifice it's like for me those kind of competitions I come first and the world strongest man the gym comes first so like the wife will get pushed to the side the family it's a bad thing but like you said to achieve your goals you need to do that and for me to be world strongest man it has to be 24 7 the gym I don't care what Luke does out the gym he can do what he does but I'll do me and I'll just do the best I can and it's 100% it's like before world strongest man that was like an addiction I never felt like that and my mind was so focused I was so focused and every day it was eating at the same time recovery at the same time training at the same time and it just it flows that's what I do I just get obsessed and that's all you've got to be obsessed your mother passed away that shit can affect you we don't know how to handle death in life we don't know how especially being strong men people think they'll be fine but we don't know how to handle it people can go in their shell and think fuck this because I've know you've spoken in your videos that your mum was at every event you never let that make you quit you've kicked on you have pushed yourself massively to keep kicking on how did that play a massive effect how did your mum pass cancer my dad was leukemia strong man part of me always thought it would survive even though he was in remission then he got the phone call look come back up to the hospital and look at three mums to live part of me is thinking it will still survive it will be okay always nah not that bad it's not going to happen then obviously when they pass you think fuck me I spiraled my drug abuse and everything went worse but if I use you seem to have knuckled down and think fuck it I'm going to keep pushing did you battle with that to keep going yeah even now like you say I'm the most alone so I probably cry every day about mum every day there's certain things I remember of that's like sunflowers that's why we got sunflowers and stuff that was mums favourite flowers but it's I also cry but I cry because I'm sad but also because she inspires me all the time you know it's having that someone said to me it was a therapist I still see a therapist but it's just because they're gone doesn't mean that relationship is gone you know so I can still hear mum in my head I can still see her driving in front of our house walking with the dogs that relationship is still there for me with mum at the time it was like I didn't deal with it I didn't deal with that grief mum passed and then five days later I went back to work offshore wait for three weeks offshore in the oil rig you know so I didn't deal with that grief and then that I spiralled not necessarily with the substances drugs or alcohol but in my marriage you know I kind of spiralled a little bit there I went into resenting my wife for having her family so anytime we'd go round to her her parents for dinner I would create a fight I didn't want to go because she still had her mum and dad I felt that she didn't understand that and she was like not getting it mum for me was the most important person in my life she was the person that I went to I kind of confided in we built a house dad's house or mum and dad's house is there we're literally 20 seconds walk so when mum got diagnosed with cancer we got the land built a house because I knew dad was going to be alone so fortunately we've got the house there but like you say it's seen that person that you think is invincible and just deteriorate that cancer it's like in every day it's like 500 plus people die in the UK of cancer something stupid it's phenomenal it's so fucking pissed off that we haven't dealt with that you know we're letting people die that's what I think like the doctors so mum was going to the doctors early doors and she said she had this pain in her chest so the doctors diagnosed her with I think it's called born homes disease for it here and then we had to go private get a CT scan year passed by then we went private got a CT scan tumours everywhere in her body and I was working down in Newcastle at the time and I was just on the way to the gym and mum phoned me and I knew what the phone call was going to be I knew what it was going to be she's got cancer and it's terminal just in my head I just knew it I just fucking knew it and she told me and I had to pull over at the side and I was just like I couldn't believe it she had six months to live so I went home and I went down to the doctor's surgery to see the doctor that misdiagnosed my mum and I would have killed him point blank I would have killed him if he was there I was shouting I said to the receptionist I need to see this doctor and she says why he's just murdered my mum because he's misdiagnosed her for a year and to me he doesn't get held accountable you know that doctor gets to go home with his family and I'm wanting to know if he's got that guilt I don't think he's got that guilt because the medical industry and they do great jobs I'm not slagging them off at all but if you make a mistake in diagnosing someone wrongly for a year when in that year she could have had treatment could have survived she could still be here you know you need to be held accountable and that's an issue that we have so thankfully I didn't see the doctor he wasn't there and that was the anger the anger initial and then that passed and then it was the grief and the sadness and the confusion it's all those different things and I still haven't dealt with it it's the full devoid which is never going to go away like the constant working to progress to be better it's the kind of escape as well for the method of thinking the fucking pain that we're thinking every day is a battle like the bitterness towards the doctor you're thinking my mum passed because of him in life as well though everything does happen for reasons it's to learn to adapt to the pain keep kicking on but that's where it shows you your characters to go okay you know you get tattoos but we still feel a presence there when we're having our down days we'll feel somebody okay somebody you have a wee moment I go up the mountains and I see a robin and I think right that's my dad to say that I'm on the right path or if I hear a song on the radio I think okay I'm still getting guided it just makes sense for me and it can be difficult is that why you went into psychologist to get therapy yeah just I was struggling because for me it was like people die all the time and no one wants to really listen to my sob story okay my mum's died but so is your old man and for me talking about it and going on about it I felt a little bit kind of self absorbed and kind of this is my problems and I thought people were looking at me in a way that I don't really people didn't care but it wasn't really me talking about it to people wouldn't make it any better and I was getting judged I just felt I was getting judged so me going into therapy and seeing a therapist and talking about it it gave me that safe place I guess to talk about just me and not be judged for talking about me she was there to help me and kind of make me see things with Cush with my wife I never saw that I resented her for having that family it was the therapist that picked up on that it's like well you're fighting with Cush you're doing these other things have you ever thought about that she's still got her family and it's her form of resentment towards her and that really hit home with me I was like fucking hell you know what that makes sense I don't think she knows what I'm going through but in reality she does because she's with me every day she sees me in my happy times down times whatever and yeah it's a tricky one it's painful but do you think people treat the Jews differently because she's a strong man as if they'll be fine we're all kind of scared we're all kind of battling how did you battle with it Tom? yeah so obviously my mum was kind of my biggest person to go to as well with the autism and stuff dad worked away, Luke was away so every day of my life I was with her and obviously with the competition she was there all the time from day one she would travel with me I struggled I kept all my emotions in I kind of put that face on you know just went back to my normal life didn't believe she was gone so I've seen her every day deteriorating like from walking to then being in a bed I was like how is this possible you know someone out in the garden all the time not smoking no drinking nothing so to me I was just like it's not right and then yeah even my wife I just couldn't talk to my wife don't talk to no one but I kind of just started talking to myself and trying to bring memories back up would go somewhere myself in a hill and do like talk just try and have 5 minutes to myself and then again for me it was just as hard as kind of saying to someone I had the autism you know because I was like my biggest person in my life is gone you know like what do I do you know it's yeah I've got Sinead but I was thinking should I just quit strongman I didn't want to do nothing you know and then I mean that's kind of when I mean not addiction but like I do have a few drinks and I kind of drank a lot then as well you know went out with my Mrs a lot but like it was more just not just weekends it was during the week and then I kind of was like you know I need to kind of get my life back on track my mum wanted me to you know get a wife move up the house and be successful at what I do and I did the first two get a wife and moved out the house and then I you know I promised her I wouldn't be as strong as man within 4 years of doing it like so so then I was just like then I need to get shit together you know and then started talking to Sinead and she understood I mean because like for me like mother's days and all that kind of stuff I absolutely hate I don't I know obviously Sinead still got her mum and you know dad and stuff but like I try and celebrate now because you know there's still Sinead still got her mum I try and just she's like my mum figure now you know so but my mum's never obviously I've got a tattoo of the sunflower that's a representer I put my world strong as a man trophy up beside her so I always like Luke said think about her and that's what the gym is for for me it's like a coping mechanism mechanism yeah it's like the lockdown if we didn't have the gym and I was locked in that house like there would be no way I could coat I mean there's been some days I'm in the house and not being at the gym I'm just like I wish my mum was here she would understand this because obviously you can't tell your wife everything you can't talk to them and like for me it was just really hard especially with the autism I just was like it's my life over you know what do I do but I said it was just another hurdle you know and I kind of had to live with it and then support my dad you know we got brother sister we all just came together and kind of was like right you know we need to do something and I'll be successful in life and not just straw man but just be humble and be the guys who mum and dad brought us up I started doing that but yeah hiding my feelings for a while and not letting me like accept that she's gone was the hardest part that's the painful thing but I tell you is what lads man she will be fucking proud of what he's achieving the fact that he's just sitting here wearing your heart and your sleeve is unbelievable because every Christmas in that as well it doesn't matter how well you you're sitting there still thinking fuck you would give everything up just for that one minute just to sit at a park bench and have that discussion there's always something missing and I don't know if I've dealt my grief properly with losing so many family members and friends but I just know working is hard it kind of takes away the pain sitting here talking to you guys for 90 minutes two hours I feel free I had Paul Gas calling on me and he says he played football he felt free he lost friends and all his shit his went through and this is what used a lifting weight so you just feel free the pain's away everything's away and for what he's doing man is brilliant and like I said he's there she'll be proud man for everything he's achieving but again you know yourself there is always that something missing and we do become selfish because you're a strong man so people will not think you've got feelings or emotions and that could probably be more difficult for these but you've kicked on you've kicked on, you've broke world records is it second in the UK as well Tom? Britain yes Britain how was that? That was more hard to take because I got beat by 0.5 so yeah I mean I was always improving I came third in 2019 and then second 2020 and obviously this year I'm going to win it no doubt about that hopefully Luke can get second but yeah that was hard to take because I mean losing by a 0.2 0.5 you're like How do you lose by a 0.5? Is that time? I think I had to win the stones and the guy first had to come 3 or 4 places down but he had finished one higher so it was 0.5 and I was like here we go but every year you've improved yeah every single year I've done this sport I've gone up a place so it's big pressure this year because it went from 50 seconds and I have to win it to get better When does the world start this year? It's meant to be in May Do you get a pass or anything if you finish top 3 or do you still have to go through your prelims? Top 10 is automatic so the finalist get an automatic How many can peat? Is it 30? 25 to 30 and do you need to do prelims this year? Yeah so we all have to go out and do the heats so usually this year it was 5 groups of 5 so I think this year will be the same so we'll all have to do the heats so even Tom and the guy that won it at Novikov Alex you'll have to do the prelims or the heats and then the top 2 How long are the heats before the main event? It's usually a day Do you don't get time to rest? No they're tight with the budget used to used to have a couple of days rest in between but obviously last year with Covid and everything it was kind of crashed in a week I think 70 but it's good for us because I think we're we perform better in that sense where we don't have to hang around for a couple of days in between events it's like you're out there you just want to get on with it and crack on and kind of get it done so it's probably better having it when you both finished in the top 10 to be the first brothers ever to finish in the top 10 how was that feeling to be the strongest brothers on the planet? I mean that was possibly better than coming second because my dad was out there it was father's day the day after and obviously having a wife there and without that I said I just want to be in the final same with Luke to do it two brothers doing it it was just I would speak to this man I was lost for words I've done what I wanted to do and then next year just push up especially having dads because that was just an emotion thing my mum was looking down on us and having the whole family there just to celebrate that day Is there a lot of emotion after an event? I point out to the sky because when I'm competing I always say that's my mum's there and I always push that extra I couldn't care if I died if I'm doing an event and I do 10 events and I have a heart attack I'll die but I always picture my mum there deadlift barn she just gives me that extra 10% 100% with stones as well I go to a place with stones that I don't go with any other event and I think that's how I can channel just like a cycle Why do you think that is that you're so good at the Atlas stones? I don't even train much with them I mean in my training I'm possibly one of the worst in training with them why not? I feel like I don't train as hard but I think in competition it's just I don't know if you've seen it I hit myself in the head and psyched myself up in a way that when I do other events I'm more relaxed and chill I think it might just be the anger I'm thinking of my mum being passed and my wife and stuff I don't know I just kind of not put pressure I just lift them up I don't know how I think the height for the top half of the stones beneficial for me because I'm taller than the platform but it's hard to explain because it looks good at one of the best at Atlas stones as well and other boys but it's just I don't know how I picked them up differently There's Tom and then there's the rest of us basically that's what it is Tom was in the league of his own Tom did the 10th at Atlas stone run in Dubai a couple of years ago so the previous world record was just over a minute 10 seconds something like that Tom then came up and did 40.2 seconds so he broke a world record by over 20 seconds which is huge it's like 2 seconds of stone which is massive so Tom is Tom's the Usain Bolt of Atlas stones he's just untouchable and every time Tom is maybe too kind of I don't know he says it's like that that's because people ask me all the time are you getting baddest about it? I know I'm good I know I'm good at the event and it's one if it came to me and I finally took your Atlas stones last event I know that I'm going to win it that's what I'm always in I just don't know how I'm not good at it because when I'm training everybody else but I think I just go in it like a cycle and it goes fast and hard as I can and if it drops it drops I don't hold back I let you just go 100% other people will hesitate a wee bit with it all but I can trust the tacky I've got on and trust myself so it's just 100% but I'm confident with the stones it's always at the last event of every competition you do that's my event how's the come down after it because what goes up must come down imagine with the training boxers going to 12 week camps and after the fight it's like a release how's the come down after an event? for me I get a major come down I mean especially after Worlds because obviously it was in November then Christmas come up but I lose a lot of motivation straight afterwards because I've achieved what I did there and you're just like a month for a few months I just kind of a major crash it's all that kind of buzz and adrenaline you've had just goes out your body but it's like instead of like that 10 hour crash it's like two or three week crash and I'm just getting out of bed at like 10, 11am eating two meals a day just no motivation just drained just because of all that kind of pre-workout energy you've just used for that whole prep it just hits me hard but I think that's okay to recharge and the pressure to try to be the best then do you end up losing weight after an event because usually if a boxer will put on weight obviously if you're just eating 12,000 calories imagine those calories drop significantly yeah well I mean I went from 188 Worlds to then after Christmas it's been like 166 so I dropped quite drastically you know and again that's just where they come down and everything and it just lack of food no motivation but yeah I dropped like 15kg that's a lot though I think that was a bit too much because like I said you know it's just sitting you can't be bored doing nothing it's just you've gone and battered your body for four or five months you want that month where you can just do what you want and not have to worry about anything the worlds you'd set a target to be worlds number one the strongest man on the planet which is a phenomenal achievement did you set out to win it when you finished second were you going in a frame that I'm feeling good everything's great or were you still battling for second last year yeah I mean it was when I went to the final there was a good event for me and the thing that kind of I was confident before the first event and then when I did that slip in the first event I dropped the anvil before the keg I was like it's not going to be my day this is going to be when I kind of crumble and I was going to like but then I still came fifth in that first event so then obviously too I was like fuck my chances up you know I could have won that I was on track to winning and then that was when I was like to myself nah I'm going to crumble but then it was kind of then again the hurt least hold is my weakest event by an absolute country now any time that's an event I'll come last so I prepped myself for the events around it and then it was after I won the keg and then I won the law press I was like sitting in third place so I was like I was the stones are coming up I could win but the guy was first had to do something like drastically wrong so I mean like I said I was going there for podium third, second or first place but when you get second place and you get that close and you're like you made that one mistake that could change you from being number two to number one it was on me I mean over cough the guy who won it deserves it but if I just didn't make that mistake or held on for that two setting longer I could be sitting here as the best in the world but it's just one of them things you know you don't dwell on it I went home got the trophy and just it's in my back in my head now it's at my dad's house I'm not going to look it into the gold ones there that's the motivation I need 26 years old man I'd imagine you hit your peak when you're 29 30s 31s I don't know I genuinely don't when I hit the peak the strong winds I'd imagine you're still growing which is fucking madness to think it's probably like mid 30s mid 30s when you say your strength but it depends when you start as well so it's Tom's got a next 10 years to be to burp theirs where it's at Brian Shaw's and Seagruston so you could potentially have five, six sitting with a man oh yeah do you know what I mean and then you can just fucking sit and retire with the bulls out yeah Robert y Seaw how long do you think you've got left in a game look have you set a mindset for that or do you think? I'm kind of thinking like maybe I don't know I just look for progression in myself that's all I ask so like I'm progressing now I gave up offshore this time last year so I'll give up that profession as it were so really I'm only a year into full time so I'm still progressing I've got goals I want to win world strongest man you know so I don't know however long my wife is that hard to think about because I had Liam Harrison on who's Muay Thai fighter and he's in his 40s but there's people in their 40s there's people in their 40s that do the world man so it's all down to your mindset but to come up and think I've only got maybe five years left three years left, can that affect you? it affects me more on a positively I think because I look back to when I started at 27, how far I've come on and I'm still progressing and I'm progressing a lot more than some of the younger guys so I know I've still got loads in the tank but for me I'm quite confident in my own ability so last year I think it was just a combination of I put a lot of emphasis into trying to get the log press world record and that was like that took a lot out with my body and maybe I wasn't prepared as well as I should have been but this year when we talk about what's the prep for world's strongest man my prep is starting now since world's strongest man last year has stopped my prep for this year has started so it's that continual preparation for it that's the biggest competition in our season so I mean I look at Tom Nova Coff that's won it before Brian Shaw I mean there's great athletes but we've both beat these guys before so there's no reason in any given day why I couldn't beat anyone else in the world yeah so if you see Tom finishing second and you're training with each other and you're beating him that must give you the incentive that okay well why can I not be world champion 100% man yeah I mean we've got a kind of added kind of extra over anyone else in the world I'm training we get to train with each other to the top strong men in the world we have that every training session so like you say Tom's the second best strongest man in the world that I'm getting to train with him so I'm keeping up with him that I'm there, I'm there there about so usually training is training but it's what you do in the competition obviously that matters but it gives you a good insight into how things all go to be top 10 strongest men on the planet as a phenomenal achievement how did that affect you when you never made the finals last year it was tough you know it was it was just a tough one of the kind of events I got I kind of felt a bit I was kind of fucked over a wee bit I was like fucking hell I didn't get log press in my group and I'm like well that's weird I'm the best log press in the world surely you'd have given me a shot normally you know I'd think I'd get squat they gave me deadlift which isn't and it's just excuses but I should have been more prepared all in simple answer is that me personally I wasn't as prepared as I should have been I can assume that I would get log press and squat didn't hit the dumbbell as hard as I should didn't hit my deadlift as hard as I should so that was me that kind of fucked up there that was my own I'm quite critical of myself and how I prepare for things and if I don't prepare as well as I should have done that's on me but it was tough coming back home especially after Tom did so well everyone was buzzing for Tom it was a bit of a kick in the dick because it's tough and people don't see that and I'm not taking any way from Tom because I was busy and I was in tears the whole time watching Tom so happy for him and still I watch it back I get emotional watching it back even talking about it I'm so happy but on my own self I was very disappointed in my performance it just gives me that bigger fire See that can be hard though even though he's a training he's the strongest man on the planet training with each other the positives of that but there's also the downfall when you should be celebrating being a part of you thinking you're gutted for your brother so you can't really enjoy it as much even though you're buzzing for your brother you're still thinking I wish it was me kingdamit it's constant so I'd imagine it would be difficult why do you do that for people who don't know I mean obviously there's a mental health which Luke would probably talk about but the autism for me as well obviously with these hard times the lockdown people like Aspergers need a routine need the same thing every day need to escape from these kind of times you're locked in your house well I did it I started it for the world straw like the recovery the hot and cold in the gym but to do it in the sea going to locks really just makes me escape from the life we're in right now just takes me to a different world you're like the buzz as soon as you go in there everything in your body just lights up in your life this is like your eyes ping open it's like the best drug you can take so for me it's like another one like the gym it's an escape mechanism when I'm not at the gym going a sea for 15-20 minutes and just enjoy life and it's just like wow this is unbelievable so that's why I just think it makes you so positive you know it makes you your day if you do it in the morning it starts your day right positive energy that you get after that as well like doing it's changed people's lives and you can see that it's when you take 8 or 9 people there they're a bit depressed in the morning as soon as they're out of there the positivity they have is unbelievable and I think that's a massive thing especially today the mental health and the positivity of people that needs to come together and cold water therapy is 100% the easiest thing possibly it's free nature you can do it anytime you want so it's unbelievable definitely because we're cavemen we're living luxury heated seats heated house and jacuzzi when you get to cold water it's like a switch flips you go wow and then the buzz after that I've been getting tired actually after doing it last couple of weeks but it's the feeling after it kind of balances everything out the health benefits from it mentally, physically do you think it changes your body shape a bit not me personally I don't but one of our friends he was my best man at wedding by Glos he could have suffered a wee bit of drinking and whatever else you know a bit of addiction stuff so 27th of December so Tom and I have been doing it for a couple of years now but the 27th of December I said to him let's get together, go out in the sea he's like right, right, yeah buzzing buzzing no worries so we get out and I'll get to the body changing shape sorry but he's like right, right, we got there and we went out and we're chanting in the sea we're all like that and it wasn't like we didn't think about it just what came naturally to us and since then we've done it every day since and Lewis has actually lost he's 70m, he's down 125m I think he's lost about nine kilos and I think that is a lot to do with the cold water as well he hasn't necessarily changed an awful lot, he's gone a bit more walking and stuff but in four weeks he lost eight kilos and he did cold water every day I'm not saying cold water I'll make you lose all this weight I think it does something to you I don't know the science behind it yeah I think it's proven that you can lose weight from it and it's all to do mentally because in life when we hit an obstacle we just want to turn away and run but if you actually just breathe adapt to it, you realise that because people have survived 100% of their worst days people are a lot stronger than what they think when you get into cold water the first thing you want to do is run you want to get your towel around you to get the heating on in the car you understand what I'm in it you become stronger to things so when you do hit obstacles in life you realise it's actually fuck all I can sit in icy baths for 5-10 minutes I ain't going to worry about what somebody is saying online or whatever pressure you've got in life so you handle it better but for me obviously we spoke about Wim Hof and stuff earlier and he changed the game obviously the breathing techniques and nice exposure has been here for hundreds of thousands of years obviously people have put their own spin to it I know a lot of boys in Glasgow are doing a battle with addictions they do the cold water stuff I think there's a 30 day challenge there from people that are doing it every day and the amazing feeling after it is second to none what about Eddie Hall how much has he played a massive part in your success he's I look to successful people so Eddie's the most him and Brian's all probably but certainly UK Eddie's the most successful strongman so if you're looking for a blueprint Eddie Hall's that Eddie Hall I was saying that earlier on we went down to see Eddie last year and we were driving around looking for this house and we parked at this big mansion phoned him right mate we're outside some big house don't know if it's yours or not he's looking at the window high it's mine it was the biggest house in the estate man it was stunning but Eddie's given us that path to fall obviously we're taking their own path and I paved that way he's that kind of the first person to be that new age successful strongman in the UK and he's thought about changing the game Eddie's changed the game massively he's just such a such a smart switched on guy and his self belief and his realisation of what he wanted to do we've talked about life and death basically and Eddie was that he was like willing to risk everything to be the world's strongest man and then he's like right that's me done that and now he's switched to acting he's on TV, he's YouTube he's boxing he's nailing it man everything he does just and that's the thing it's that even though you're pushing yourself to the limits you know there's rewards at the other side of that pain you know there's rewards at the other side of that misery and sacrifice and if he's had any opportunities to do it have you ever imagined two strong brothers acting yet has that came yet no opportunities yet? there's been a few things kind of coming through but personally I want us to finish strongman you know if we went away and did other stuff it would be kind of unfinished business strongman so yeah we're on that cast and certainly Tom you know so that takes a lot of energy and time as well I've seen it like half far when he did a lot of his acting his strongman suffered you know and that's what I don't want that I mean I think doing our own documentary and maybe people seeing that will then be like that these guys are good you know because you then you get further more opportunities it's more sponsors how do you deal with the business side of things is that difficult to do you? Tom doesn't it's just so like the career I had before I was more in engineering you know so it wasn't really prepared for anything now we've got our own merchandise company youtube, jam, meal prep all these kind of things that are coming it's all very new so it's quite challenging to you know we're reading contracts we can't sing that because it's full exclusivity we can't have that and going back to the guys without I don't like to I don't like to get into ahhh kind of heated debate and I don't like that yeah I feel like like anxious and stuff you know you've got to kind of phone someone and say look I don't think we can sign this or I don't want to do this feel as if you're letting them down yeah and I get all anxiety and stuff I don't like it but then I'm like well I have to do it because that's part of business now and it's like I've got to we've got to have these awkward conversations and you should realise that it is just business you're not offending anyone you know it's like if someone didn't want to buy any of our merchandise it's not a direct attack on us it's just that's what it is we are going to buy your merchandise so we can give it a plug Stoltenbrothers.com send me a link I can put it in the description was it t-shirts, hats hoodies, socks we're doing tracksuit soon you know that will go through the roof if somebody brings home a world title isn't it oh well he's got it it's going through the roof right now it's unbelievable it's funny why do you think it's so popular strongmen it's a massive event worldwide that is watched globally I think in the UK for what it's like the working class it's attainable I think people see it as like like Eddie Hall he was like a truck mechanic you don't have to be this I don't know you don't have to be this kind of elitist looking athlete you get guys with big beer gats going in giving it a go it's all different shapes and sizes it's more catered to the bigger gentleman should we say so it's maybe more attainable and people I think with that working class ethic whatever or background people really seem to buy into that it's mental the fans they're so supportive it seems like a good day out put it in strong as man it's probably the best day out we've actually got a show in Glasgow coming up in October where's that it's in the seas I'll come along man it's but people get so amped up it's like you hear people screaming for you and it's just incredible I always rip my t-shirt off and throw it to the crowd just show boating but there was a an old man he had it I think he was in a wheelchair and this woman went to grab it off him she must have been pissed up but I think he was like 60 odd and this wife grabbed it and she ripped it in half and I was like Jesus violent sometimes I don't know why people like it maybe people can just appreciate it entertaining as well I think people appreciate what we put our body through it's not like watching guys lift cars you're like that's cool you know cool trucks and other planes it is mad though what the body can do how do you deal with injuries touch would have actually not had anything so it's a but I think mentally I think playing I've had a few niggles and stuff but for me I can just fight through it if you tear your quad you can still train your upper body stuff you just have to be smart about it but I think nowadays there's a lot of physios and a lot of help you can get with the injuries more prevention isn't it it's more injury prevention I think that's what we look to do we've got our physios that we seek two times a week I'm not going to stretch I did a bit of yoga a couple of classes and the yoga instructor said for us what we do if we become too loose it's actually detrimental to our training so we stretch in the sense that if we're squatting we'll warm up our legs and do a bit of mobility work there but not when you see other athletes stretch it's not as as a necessity I wouldn't say it in Strongman it must be hard for athletes though to be doing the Strongman planned all year for it working hard and then maybe get an injury first event have you seen that? you've just got a psychologist at the side or anything? no it's the injuries that's the worst one seen at the giant slide there was a guy called Phil Roberts on the Atlas Stones I missed a platform it came back and snapped his leg in half and I was like I can't do Atlas Stones he had a big cage over his leg and was out but that was you see it on Facebook and Instagram and stuff and to see it in real life you're like nah this is you can hear it so say when you tear a peck or a bicep I went the wrong way that's tough when you see it maybe we should see sports psychiatrist and stuff and have a chat about it because it does play in your mind but I think I don't know for me if I'm training I've got to train everything in my body so all my small muscle groups need to be strong my big muscle groups need to be strong and in my head as long as I know I've done that that again we said injury prevention that prevents injuries so I think a lot of guys come in and they get strong really quickly they don't maybe forget about the smaller muscle groups the assisted muscle groups and they don't train them as much and that's when the bigger muscles your quads, your pecks, whatever else I'll tear because the supporting muscle groups aren't as strong so there's a lot of science behind it as well it's not just a case of lifting heavy weights there's so much more to it than people think very much certainly in nowadays when big Jeff John Paul they were competing it was more of a gung ho kind of just get stuck in there wasn't as much research the recovery wasn't there the science mind wasn't there we have nutritionists, physios chiropractors, acupuncture hot and cold everything is geared towards being the best athlete we can how is it between men and Mr Universes is there a competition or is there respect there or how do they treat these if there are any in all that kind I think Arnie loves it Arnie is a huge fan so we haven't actually met Arnal yet but he's we're doing a Arnal competition it's an expo in the UK sometime this year so he's going to come over hopefully we'll get the crack with him then he loves his strength cos I think he just when he was coming up through his bodybuilding career bench pressing whatever deadlifting he knows he's got an appreciation of it but with a lot of the kind of Mr Universes bodybuilding it's so it's so alien there was quite a funny photo with Brian Shaw Eddie Hall and Jay Cutler and they make Jay Cutler look honestly it's Jay's a big boy when you've got a 400 a couple of 400 pound monsters to next you just it's totally 19 days totally different but I don't know if there was rivalry between it and our not really no bodybuilders reach out to socials and stuff you see a lot more fitness models and bodybuilders adding some strongman compounds into it cos it's a bit of fun crossfit's next level if you want your mindset good man go and do crossfit I can go to the gym and I just pose up walk about don't do fuck all but when I'm in crossfit you're a different animal your ego's left at the door you become totally vulnerable to whatever's going on and everybody just works their asses off going forward for the future lads what's your plans first of all do you want to look so just push on pull down that world strongman's man that's my goal certainly this year I'm kind of changing now I'm wanting to keep competing in strongman I'm winning the shows and stuff but grow the business that's what's getting me excited now seeing the business grow and kind of do more with the mental health I'm an ambassador up in the Highlands Mikey's line it's a charity for mental health to do more keep promoting cold water the benefits of cold water immersion therapy and get people just realising that you can battle it you can be okay we talk a lot about it's okay to not be okay and I do understand that but at the same time it's not we need to do more to make people okay for me it's my responsibility to make sure people are okay it's not just a tagline that we say it's taking the time to speak to people and I really want to do more more with that because it kills me some of the stories you hear it really gets me I just want to help more with that grow the business, win world strongest man be a Hollywood movie star and apart from that but you know what you're on course for it you're on course for it that tagline it's okay not to be okay I'm the same it's true but you don't need to fucking live there don't just sit there for 5 years and 10 years because people use that slogan get off your ass, get out of fresh air no matter what weight you are get some fresh air, get some nature switch off your phone, connect and you will gradually start feeling better what about yourself Tom? so well obviously strong one but I want to be a positive role model for everyone with autism since I started the sport and started gradually getting better I've always wanted that the amount of messes I get from younger kids and their mum saying you're changing people's lives just for lifting weights and being on YouTube and getting people to I mean I've had kids that wouldn't talk to now talking and opening up to people from just lifting weights and expressing myself on YouTube you're like jeez that's just unbelievable for me that means more than anything than winning titles but obviously winning world strong as man is a massive goal as well and then growing the business of Luke I want us to take over the UK take over the world and win world's 5 or 6 times but also just get our name and our brand to the top of the sport and make everybody know that we're the Stolmans and we're here to take over but yeah that's just you know that's big goals and we're going to smash but yeah I'm starting to look at the business stuff as well and obviously you can't do strongman for the rest of my life and I don't want to do it til I'm 40 I want to like be done with this sport quick I want to win world's and then go on a different path maybe get into the art dean and just travelling the world I love travelling the world, I love all that kind of lifestyle so I just want to do that kind of stuff I think it's phenomenal guys for what he's achieving he's one of the nicest guys I've ever met for what he's going to achieve somebody will bring the world title home this year I believe and I'll have you back on with the trophy I don't want to fucking get knocked out mate so I'll just let yous find that out in the day for what he's doing for pushing forward Tom it's unbelievable your mum will be proud amazing effort for the trophies that you've won for what you're doing for mental health it's fucking unbelievable you should be proud lads I genuinely appreciate it God bless for the future Check out more of my podcasts on the right and be sure to like share and comment your thoughts on this week's podcast Thank you