Meet the Pulborough teenager who hopes to be the world’s strongest man

Most teenagers want to get their driver’s license when they turn 17.
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But strongman Jack Wadman is more used to pulling vehicles than driving them.

The Seaford College student, 17, began weight training two years ago and can now deadlift 280kg, roughly the weight of a grizzly bear.

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The 6’ 2”, 104kg strongman, who lives near Pulborough, hopes to one day become the world’s strongest man.

Jack Wadman hopes to one day become the world's strongest manJack Wadman hopes to one day become the world's strongest man
Jack Wadman hopes to one day become the world's strongest man

He said: “My dad’s been training weights for 30 years but he’s never done strongman.

“He was the first person who got me into weight training. I started doing deadlifts and I got up to quite a good lift and one of the personal trainers said why don’t you do the strongman competition.”

Jack, who was 15 at the time, had to tell a ‘white lie’ to compete in the competition which was only open to people over 16, his mum Emma said.

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After his first competition Jack has gone from strength to strength and now eats 3000 to 4000 calories a day to pack on muscle while staying lean, something which Emma said led to an ‘extortionate’ food bill. The student returns from college around 6pm before hitting the gym for two and a half to three hours a day, four times a week.

Jack Wadman hopes to one day become the world's strongest manJack Wadman hopes to one day become the world's strongest man
Jack Wadman hopes to one day become the world's strongest man

He is trained by world’s strongest woman Rhianon Lovelace and strongman Luke Davies who run Kaos gym in Preston.

He said: “Going through the years I want to get better and better each year. Hopefully in five years time [I will] be on TV on Giants Live.”

Giants Live is the tour which gives strongmen the opportunity to qualify for the World’s Strongest Man competition and has previously featured Terry Hollands and Adam Bishop – both of whom Jack has met.

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His most recent feat of strength was pulling an 8.5 tonne lorry. Jack said: “It’s pretty crazy, I can’t lie. It didn’t feel that heavy either. It felt quite easy.”

Mum Emma praised Jack’s ‘incredible’ achievements, which recently racked up 1.8 million views on sports site SPORTbible. She added: “He’s very humble. He’s always been a very physically able child. He’s always been excellent whatever sport he’s done.

“I forget how special he is. We’re of course immensely proud of him and how he’s kept his feet on the ground and not let it get to his head.”

Jack is sponsored by Sussex Strength Store and BTB Sleeves. To follow Jack see @jack_wadman_strongman on Instagram

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