Dean ‘the machine’ Mason will soon compete to become UK’s Strongest Man 2026 after he was crowned England’s Strongest Man last year. Truck pulls, lifting cars and loading massive Atlas Stones all require a great level of strength, but Dean says the key to doing well is“the boring things”.
Dean, from Boston in Lincolnshire, says his discipline includes “being consistent, turning up to the gym, making sure you’re in bed on time, drinking water and eating the right foods”.
The 36-year-old National Grid worker says, despite the stigma that strongman competitors should be “big, strong blokes”, he believes the sport is “for anyone”.
Ahead of the Boston’s Strongest competition in the town this Sunday, Dean, who will be a referee at the event, shares his own journey into the world of strongman.
Dean, who works as a cable jointer, first got into strongman competitions just after the Covid-19 outbreak.
He happened to come across a car deadlift and some Atlas Stones at his gym.
“I thought ‘that looks quite fun’, I went and gave it a go and that was it,” he says, going on to compete in his first strongman competition in King’s Lynn, Norfolk.
He then worked his way up the ranks – from novice, to inters, opens and then national qualifiers, which led to his victory at England’s Strongest Man 2025.
Dean, who says his wife Orinta is his biggest supporter, previously told the BBC he weighs 25 stone (about 160kg) and preparation for strongman events involves consuming 7,000 calories a day, with a breakfast including eight eggs.
But what draws him to such a gruelling sport?
“The adrenaline and buzz you feel is why I do it,” Dean says.
He is describing the moment when the crowd roars after he has managed to complete one of the challenges.
He says he has more of a “calm approach” to competing these days, after focusing on aggression previously.
Now, he takes a deep breath before heading into events.
Dean believes the Conan’s Wheel, which involves picking up a heavy weight of about 200kg (441lbs) and walking around in a circle, is one of the hardest challenges to tackle.
“Anything with a max distance is painful. You’ve just got to keep going until something gives out,” he explains.
Dean says strongman is a “sport for everyone” despite its name suggesting it is only for strong men.
“I go to the gym and see older people, disabled people, women, just people from all walks of life getting involved.
“Even the people you’re against, everyone’s supporting and trying to help each other,” he adds.
Dean will be overseeing Boston’s Strongest this Sunday.
The event includes free entry and a food festival, and will take place in the market place from 10:00 to 18:00 BST.
Dean says the event attracts “full crowds” and there will be different categories of competing groups, including women’s, beginners, novice, inters and opens category.
Challenges will include pulling trucks with a harness, a car deadlift where competitors aim to lift a car as many times they can, and a sack toss, where five bags have to be thrown as high as possible over an apparatus.
Boston’s Strongest Man will then be crowned from the opens category.
“There’s big competitors – you never know, there could be another England’s Strongest Man coming from Boston,” Dean says.
Despite coming joint fourth this year and losing the title, Dean is aiming even higher and hoping to secure victory at UK’s Strongest Man 2026 in August.
He says: “Normally if I meet someone who says you’re big, do you lift, I say I was England’s strongest man.
“They normally just laugh. I say ‘no actually look, I’ve got a trophy’.
“It feels like when you’re in school, even when I say it. But I actually was.”
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