Sittingbourne strongman Matt Cole breaks farmer's walk world record

Strongman Matt Cole set a new farmer’s walk world record - while nursing a ruptured bicep.

Cole carried 170kg in each hand for 50ft to break American Mike Congdon’s record by 12kg in the under-105kg weight class.

It was some effort from the Sittingbourne man, who has one British and three UK strongman titles under his belt, achieved either side of the pandemic.

Cole, 37, ruptured his bicep during a competition eight weeks before his world record attempt in Ireland.

But he decided to go ahead and got his rewards.

“I’ve been waiting for the opportunity for a few years, so I didn’t want to miss out,” said Cole, who runs Mission2Condition in his home town.

“I wasn’t in the best shape because of the ruptured bicep but I didn’t want to wait another year.

“It’s when you put it in flexion that it hurts but your arms are straight for the farmer’s walk, so it didn’t cause too much grief.

“I did 170kg in each hand - that’s 26-and-a-half stone. I felt like I could have done a little more.

“Next year, if I’m 100% and everything goes right on the day, I can definitely add another 10kg in each hand.

“I’ve done it before in the gym, so I’ve got it in the bank, it’s just doing it officially at a world-record day.”

Cole, a former bricklayer, won his first title in 2018.

He works hard at his sport - there’s no other way.

“You can’t just jump in, first you need a bit of time to build up,” he said.

“You need a lot of determination and commitment. You can’t do it for one week and drop it the next. It’s about progression and improving bit by bit.

“A strong grip and core stability are important.”