Strongmen flex their guns at Midlands competition
FOUR strength athletes from a Barwell gym have flexed their muscles at a strongman competition in Tamworth.
The Iron Generation Gym’s “strength division”, consisting of co-owner Dwayne Gilchrist, 31, Tin Mayfield, 43, Matt Burgess, 30, and Andrew Glyn, 28, battled it out with scores of lifters at Tamworth Strongest Man 2016.
The gym buffs have been training with experienced Barwell powerhouse Dean Evans, 28, for around a year and some were making their competitive debut.
The event opened with an 18-inch max deadlift round starting at weights of 220kg for level two athletes and 260kg for level three.
Matt, who had never attempted an 18-inch deadlift before, achieved a personal best of 280kg.
Tin finished in second place with a mighty 360kg lift, while Dwayne pulled 340kg and failed attempting 380kg, finishing in third.
Andrew opened at 260kg and finished on 300kg.
The next round involved running 30m with either a 250kg or 310kg yoke on the shoulders.
Matt managed another personal best, carrying 250kg for 15m before the time elapsed.
Tin, hoisting 310kg, finished quick and secured third, while Dwayne was just pipped to gold with a time of 21 seconds.
Andrew finished in fourth moving 310kg over 30m - a personal best.
Other challenges involved overhead pressing a log of up to 110kg, 230kg squats and a medley of carrying huge barrels and flipping tyres.
Overall Dwayne scooped gold in the level three category, Tin finished in third and Matt came 12th, while Andrew finished 12th in level two.
James Wright from Iron Generation Gym said he is “extremely proud” of their efforts.
He added: “The people in the group and who competed on the day are normal, everyday, people. They’re not elite lifters and they do not have all the time and money to train.
“They work normal jobs and have families. They came to The Iron Generation Gym and decided to ‘give it a go’. We are extremely proud.”
Coach Dean Evans said the four have made “incredible progress” since they starting training together.
He said: “When Matt first came he could barely lift 10kg and now he’s deadlifting 280kg - he’s done really well.
“And Tin is 15 years older and smaller than most competitors, but he’s like a Jack Russell and works very hard. Well done to all.”
For more information on The Iron Generation Gym visit @irongenerationgym on Facebook.