WEYMOUTH strongman Shane Flowers described his first taste of arena competition as “ridiculous”.
Flowers, who won the coveted title of England’s Strongest Man in August, earned an invitation to Giants Live in Sheffield off the back of his stand-out performance.
Taking the step up in standard and surroundings in his stride, Flowers again excelled – although he kept his final position under wraps.
Fans can watch how the Dorset man got on via Channel 5’s catch-up service, with the event televised on terrestrial TV on Boxing Day.
His display was so strong, he has been invited back for another round of Giants Live in late February to contest Britain’s Strongest Man.
Flowers is due to face up to reigning World’s Strongest Man Tom Stoltman, while the likes of Adam Bishop and Graham Hicks will also offer stiff competition.
READ MORE: Shane Flowers crowned England's Strongest Man
Speaking to Echosport about his exploits, Flowers said: “It was ridiculous.
“The one I’m doing next is the same arena in Sheffield and they’re looking at filling it out. There’s going to be upwards of 9,000 people. It’s going to be even bigger.
“Since that competition I’ve been getting prepared for the next one. I’ve been training for two months solid and I’ve already added 12 kilos of bodyweight.
“I’m upwards of 24, 25 stone now. That was one of the things I took away from the competition.
“Out of the 10 guys, I was one of the smaller guys there. At England’s (Strongest Man) I was one of the biggest and heaviest.
“When I went up to pro, I was one of the lightest. The heaviest guy there was 32 stone. They’re all six-foot-eight, six-foot-nine and 30 stone!”
Discussing his experiences on the day in Sheffield, Flowers added: “The standard was ridiculous.
“There were cameras everywhere, commentators everywhere.
“Some of these guys that were coming up and asking me for interviews are people that I’ve looked up to and idolised over the years.
“Then, out of the list of athletes some of them I’ve really looked up to, then your idol becomes your rival.
“The first event I was bricking it! But I settled after that. You don’t really notice the camera crews and TV production stuff there.
“Once you’re there and the whistle goes, you’ve got a job to do. It goes to the back of your head.
“In our competition as well we had to stay for an extra hour to do a meet and greet with all the crowd.
“We ended up staying there until about 11 o’clock at night signing stuff and taking photos with the crowd. It was pretty crazy.
“I’ve been invited to several arena shows this year, so hopefully within two years I’m looking at the Worlds.”
Flowers wished to thank loyal sponsors Karl Manton of Jurassic Muscle & Fitness, Keith Adams from JW Scaffolding and Josh Eiles-Clarke from Woodmace Ltd.
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