ENGLAND’S strongest man bends an iron rod in half and makes light work of pulling a 4.2 ton tractor.
Paddy Haynes, 26, showed off his freakish strength during an exclusive interview with The Sun.
We saw the 6ft3 strongman thrust 220lbs agricultural bars and wheels over his head on his parent’s farm.
Muscle-bound Haynes, who hails from a long-line of burly farmers, has already bagged dozens of trophies.
He earned the title England’s strongest man – and is preparing to take the title of best of the UK next month.
The 275lb athlete consumes a whopping 7,000 calories a day, made up of bacon, salmon, chicken and plenty of carbs.
He spends a staggering six days a week training heavy at the site in Banbury, Oxfordshire, which sits just half an hour away from Jeremy Clarkson’s farm Diddly Squat.
While at university Paddy got hooked on lifting weights and began competing, taking home dozens of medals and trophies.
Such was his success that he ditched a well-paid job in finance to become a full-time strongman athlete.
Paddy – who cut his teeth in the sport by using homemade farming equipment during a Covid lockdown dumbbell shortage – told The Sun: “I’m going all the way. The show will be filmed live and I’m prepared to give it my all.”
He showed us his brute strength by lugging a John Deere 6310 tractor out of a barn into his courtyard.
Paddy said: “We built all of this kit ourselves. It’s s**t you won’t find in a Pure Gym.
“In terms of competition lifts, I pulled a 880lbs deadlift, a 530lbs atlas stone and I’ve pressed 308lbs above my head.
“The food is the hardest part of the day, we’re talking seven meals, each focused on being balanced as well.”
The unit wolfs down bacon and eggs, porridge oats, followed by chicken, rice, salmon, noodles and a big steak each day.
He packed on around 22lbs of bodyweight each year since the age of 18 – when he used to be an ultramarathon runner.
Paddy says he doesn’t drink alcohol and has never smoked, preferring to get his boozing out of the way while he was at uni.
The athlete is backed by dad Rob, 64, and mum Kate, 61, who got him working on the farm from a young age.
He said: “My dad is a farmer and has been his whole life. He farms every day and is responsible for a lot of the kit you see. He fabricates it.
“He has even sacrificed one of his barns for the gym.
“I’m very very blessed, my family is very supportive. I did an ancestry test and the family pack 200 years, it’s all farmers.
“Farm boy strength is 100 per cent a real thing. We are built to work.
“Growing up coming home from school. I never had a games console or anything like that, we helped out on the farm where we could.
“Now my mum doesn’t like me watching compete with the risk of injuries and that. My mum and dad will be watching me from the crowd in Cardiff next month.”
Paddy’s supportive girlfriend, civil servant Emily 28, will also be cheering from the sideline in Cardiff.
He hopes to succeed in his lifting career and continue amassing new clients for his business Haynes Strength, so the pair can focus all of their efforts working together.
With his sights set firmly on dethroning the nation’s current strongest man, 408lbs Scotsman Tom Stoltman, 29, Paddy said: “It’s a David and Goliath, kind of thing.
“I’m up-and-coming, and I’ve got a lot of time to get better, strength peaks and 30 to 35 so I’m playing the long game. All I care about is improving.
“I went in as an underdog and took the win my first time. Some of the Scottish guys at the minute are absolute monsters.
“Some of the events being released a really good for me. One of them is a bar bending competition for example and my grip strength is huge.
“Normally I wouldn’t go into a competition saying I’ve got a chance for winning, but I’m coming to the title this time.
“I’ve got a great chance in this comp. It’s the first time I strongman competition is broadcast live, on Channel 5.
The strongman consumes a massive 7,000 calories to fuel his workouts and aid in recovery. He splits this over four meals:
Breakfast – eggs, bacon, porridge
Lunch – chicken and rice
Second lunch – salmon and noodles
Dinner – steak, protein bar and snacks
“It’s just a huge step forward for the sport and I can’t wait to get involved. It comes with more pressure if you don’t want to fill in front of millions of people.
“I won’t take any time off if I win, I’ve got four more comps to come, including the defence of England’s strongest man in August.
“We will see what comes from the UK’s strongest man, but I will consider competing for the world title.”
An Ultimate Strongman spokeswoman said: “For the first time in strength sports history and across many other sports the UK’s strongest man will be live on channel 5 3 hours live programme for two days, we are also live in the USA.
“It will be a huge historic sporting moment and broadcast history.”
