We have lift-off! Strongman contest to come to Dewsbury

Plans are being made to hold the Yorkshire’s Strongest Man competition at Caged Steel in Savile Town.

The gym is the first in the area to start holding special classes for strongmen to train. Sessions are led by coach Graham Bulmer, who makes training equipment, some of which has been used in the World’s Strongest Man competition.

“I was approached by Caged Steel through a friend who is a strength coach,” Graham said. “They came up and had a training session in my yard. They wanted some kind of strength training facility and I have been looking for somewhere to put my equipment and all my concepts under one roof.”

Caged Steel, in Bretton Street, is a gym that specialises in mixed martial arts. But now it runs strength training sessions on Monday and Wednesday evenings and a strongman tournament on Saturday mornings.

Graham offers a free taster session, so anyone interested can try out his equipment before joining. “Everybody that’s come for a taster session has joined,” he said.

Caged Steel operations director Daniel Welsh is pleased with the success of the new facilities. He said: “It’s just to try and evolve and try and bring something new to Dewsbury.”

Graham has already booked global-standard strongman Mark Felix to be a guest referee for Yorkshire’s Strongest Man competition.

The competition is a qualifier for Britain’s Strongest Man, which itself is used to select competitors for the World’s Strongest Man contest.