Video: Meet Freddie, the Milton Keynes teenager determined to become the Worlds' Strongest Man

A former overweight schoolboy who started weightlifting to shed the pounds has set his sights on becoming the youngest ever World’s Strongest Man.

Freddie Willis, who lives on Giffard Park, has already won the title of the strongest under-17 year old in the UK and has now started competing again adults.

At the age of just 17 he can deadlift an incredible 230kg – more than the weight of a piano – and carry a 300kg farmers’ yoke on his hefty shoulders. And he improves his strength daily by training with strongman equipment he makes at his dad’s local steelworks, RCW Steel.

The former Stantonbury schoolboy’s talent was spotted by city personal trainer and fitness coach Danny Williams of CoachDW and he has now become his mentor.

Danny said: “He was an overweight kid and initially started training in 2018 at the age of 14 to lose weight, but he preferred weightlifting to cardio.

“I saw a video he posted on Instagram deadlifting 140kg and I thought: ‘He’s very strong but he’s going to do himself a terrible injury lifting like that!’

"So I sent him a message and invited him to my PT studio for some proper technique coaching. I’m very passionate about getting kids into lifting at a young age and believe it should be taught at school…

"I often say introducing a barbell to kids playing heads, shoulders, knees and toes would wipe out the childhood obesity epidemic within a generation.”

By the age of 16, Freddie had scooped the the title of second strongest teen aged under 18, despite being the youngest competitor.

His goal for this year is to win the Strongest U18 outright and then start competing against grown men to become the youngest ever holder of the World’s Strongest Man title.

"He is naturally very, very strong and Eddie Hall is his hero,” said Danny. “I’ve been a personal trainer for 30 plus years and worked with many elite athletes including Olympians and world class sports stars, but this young man has real potential.”

“Strongman is very specialist so I introduced him to a friend, Phil Moss, a local Strongman competitor and coach, and he has started coaching him specifically.”

To fund his dream, Freddie is hoping to sell his brand of strongman equipment that he makes using scrap metal and offcuts from dad Robert’s business. These include yokes, racks and farmers’ carry handles, which he uses to train around Willen Lake.

“I would like to help him get his little business off the ground and also get some sponsorship for his training and competitions,” said Danny.

The current World’s Strongest Man is Mitchell Hooper from Canada, who is 6' 4” tall and weighs 140kg (308lb). He recently claimed the title from from British competitor Tom Stoltman, Scotland, who had held it for the previous two years,

Tom is nicknamed ‘The Albatross’ due to his sizeable arm span and holds the record for lifting the heaviest Atlas Stone, which weighed 630 pounds.