Mark Felix Going from Strength to Strength

This month 24 Seven Lifestyle Magazine had the honour of chatting with legendary UK strongman Mark Felix. Mark has been at the elite end of the strongman sport for more than 25 years. Mark chatted about his long career, his bid for the World’s Strongest Man title, how people can get active and into the strongman sport, good nutrition and how he stays focused and at the top of his game even at the age of 50.

Many of our readers will know you from the World’s Strongest Man competition. Can you tell us how you got into the strongman sport?

“I was training at a local gym and doing bodybuilding when the owner of the gym invited me into a strongman competition. I came 3rd in the competition and I beat other athletes who had been to the (WSM) finals.

How did it feel competing in your first competition?

“It felt great competing. I’ve always liked to lift heavy stuff and I have always liked to test my strength”

Legendary strongman Mark Felix has quite a list of accolades to his name. Felix is a Grenadian-English Strongman competitor and regular entrant to the World's Strongest Man competition. Felix has made the World’s Strongest Man (WSM) competition for the last eleven years. Throughout Felix’s career he has come 3rd in England's Strongest Man in 2004 and in 2005 he went on to come 2nd to Eddy Elwood. This led Felix to the British strongman Championships which he won in 2005. Of the five events in the 2005 tournament, Felix won three (Deadlift, Farmer's Walk and Atlas Stones). Afterwards Felix credited his incredible victory to having “Big hands and a big heart"

In 2006 Felix placed 2nd in the Britain's Strongest Man competition and this led to a place in the 2006 World's Strongest Man in which he placed 4th in the finals. In 2007 he repeated his 2nd place finish in Britain's Strongest Man and finished 7th in the 2007 World's Strongest Man competition. In the same year he also finished 3rd in the Strongman Super Series 2007 Mohegan Sun Grand Prix. Felix credits his positive mind set for his achievements and says “to keep achieving your goals you need to believe in yourself and set small goals all the time”

In 2008 Felix came 4th in the Europe's Strongest Man competition and went on to finish 3rd in Britain's Strongest Man, qualifying him for a 3rd successive World Strongest Man appearance. Felix says that "Every year I gain more experience and learn more about what I am capable of."

How important is good nutrition in strongman training?

“Nutrition is important in anything you do. Good food and vegetables are key to keeping fit and healthy. Getting the right amount of protein and carbs is vitally important for keeping strong”

What advice would you give our readers who want to take up strongman training?

“A lot of people make the mistake of lifting heavy weights too soon. If you want to get involved in strongman training it’s important that you get someone to show you the basics first. It’s important not to add too much weight initially. The smaller muscles need time to develop, so you need to build up the weights gradually”

What’s next for you after strong man?

“I will always train and keep my body in good health, but when I do finally retire from competitions I will be training other athletes”

You can follow Mark Felix’s campaign for The World’s Strongest Man title this January on Channel 5 and you can also follow Mark’s campaign at the Giants Live British Open at the Doncaster Dome on the 28th January 2017.

For more information on World’s Strongest Man visit www.theworldsstrongestman.com

For more information on Giants Live British Open visit www.giants-live.co.uk

Article by Christopher Willingham Mncp

Christopher is a writer and health care professional. To book an appointment contact Christopher at christopherwillingham@rocketmail.com or Tel: 07779121743