STRONGWOMAN ADVENTURE

By: Samantha Davies

I am a 5-foot, 2-inch (and a bit!) woman with a can-do attitude. I love being fit and trying new things as I get bored easily, and I hate being told what to do. I don't know why, but that gets me particularly enraged then I get determined to do things my way.

When I was in my late twenties, I trained before work in a gym, and as I was one of the few women there, I watched a lot of World Wrestling Entertainment (widely known as WWE) whilst I was on the treadmill. A man in the gym was commenting on it, and I mentioned that I thought it was really cool. He immediately replied that I certainly couldn't do it and wouldn't even survive the training.

After tracking down a training gym for wrestling, I took myself to the darkest depths of Ilford (East London), and down a strange back alley in an industrial estate, I finally found my way in. Upon entry, a massive man asked if I was lost.

Now I did look young for my age, and I am a smaller person, but I was in my late 20s and I was fit

I explained that we had been in contact and I was here to train. He looked me up and down and talked to me condescendingly, "Are you sure you want to train, why don't you start by watching? This is a contact sport, but you know it's staged right?" Well, that did it, I was all in! We went through some jumps, falls, and pins.

I think he was surprised because at the time I was super fit and wellconditioned due to years of kickboxing training. The funniest part was when they had me pin a man on the floor. Picture this - he was massive, and laying on the floor in one of those wrestling unitards, and I was told to pin him by laying across his (not insignificant) belly. He was so big and I was so small that it felt like I was on a seesaw. I don’t think that move was very convincing. While my wrestling career didn’t go anywhere, the experience did facilitate the creation of my wrestling alter ego: “The Ice Maiden.” https://boudoirwithpersonality.co.uk/ https://www.instagram.com/boudoir withpersonality

Time went by and I became a mother. After getting back in shape after having two babies in two years, I was bored with the usual classes and my routine in the gym. A male friend had been competing in local Strongman competitions and thought that it might be something I could use as a focus for my training. I initially said no, but after a couple of weeks of thinking about it, I decided to give it a go.

He immediately booked me into a competition five months ahead and we started training. I was surprised by how much I could lift, and slowly I worked my way up to my one rep max in various disciplines.

As the weeks went on the other guys in the gym were noticing I was lifting heavier (not heavier than them, but heavy for a small person). I achieved a personal best in the gym, and I think it was purely because people were staring and thought I couldn't do it. I deadlifted 105kg, nearly 17 stone (and nearly double my body weight!). I have never managed to lift that weight since.

One of the elements of the competition was what’s known as “the yoke.” I had never heard of it so I looked it up. It was like a medieval milkmaid carrying a massive frame on her shoulders. There was no substitute for this piece of equipment, so I had to go to a local spit and sawdust gym which was primarily a men's domain. The first time I went, some eyebrows were raised, and I felt under scrutiny, but after my warm up when I got started working with the strongman equipment I was more at ease.

Soon the competition came around. It was a freezing February day, and I didn't know what to expect. It was so intimidating seeing both men and women who were built like bulls with muscles everywhere. I had my husband for support, but my training partner had to miss the competition due to a family emergency. Eventually, it was time to start. One of my childhood heroes, Geoff Capes, who had twice been the World's Strongest Man, was one of the judges. I couldn't believe he was chatting with me!

The first event was pulling a 7.5-tonne truck for 20 metres with a time limit of one minute. I saw a few women go before me and it dawned on me that although men were categorised by weight, women weren't. I was competing against women who were two or three times my weight and size! I tried to put that to the back of my mind, and as my name was called and I was being harnessed to the truck, I tried to remember everything I had learned whilst pulling my training partner's car across the sports centre car park.

Andrea Thompson, a very successful British Strongwoman was at my side talking to me and encouraging me as the starting gun went off. She stayed with me the whole time, cheering me on as I leaned forward and started the truck moving, small steps, deep breaths, I couldn't believe I was doing it! I was pulling a truck! My time ran out before I got to the 20 metre mark, but I wasn't far off. Andrea started to console me but I was overjoyed and so excited that I had pulled a truck! It is still one of my proudest moments ever and I have the video to prove that I did it!

The crowd was so supportive, cheering everyone on throughout the competition. I watched the last few women, they were amazing! Some of them actually ran with the truck - it was awe-inspiring.

If you ever get the chance to go and watch a strongman competition in real life, GO!

Samantha Davies is a talented boudoir photographer known for her unique and personalized approach to capturing sensuality and beauty.

Sam's current fitness obsession is pole dancing.