*** Members' Interview with bigscottishbastard ***

bigscottishbastard has kindly agreed to answer your questions this week.
 
As usual,please use this topic to ask him any questions about  lifestyle, training, diet and progress,  - or anything else - though please, nothing too personal or invasive.

Please bear with him and give him time to reply.

Ken, thanks for agreeing to take part in this interview.

1) Can you give us a brief rundown of how you got into working out and how long you've been training?

2) What is your day job?

3) Are or have any of your family been into strongman?

4) What advice would you give to someone thinking about entering their first strongman comp?


Thanks 

Alright big man, can you state your s/b/d and bw. Also what can you do raw?

safe

"Half of the lads on here are batty's, 47% have low testosterone levels, the other 3% leaves me, you and a few others."

DonPaulo666- 02/04/10

It's cool to be able to call someone a bigscottishbastard and keep your teeth, so you bigscottishbastard , chocolate or ice cream?

It's hard to be humble when I'm so great...

If you even dream of beating me you'd better wake up and apologize...Muhammad Ali

hi

what are your top tips/reasons for where you are now(with your size and lifts)

Cheers!

Sex or lifting?

(no combining the two like that Durex advert - that would be cheating)

What's your favourite lift?

As a scot will you ever forgive England for being better at football than you?

Do you own a kilt, or if not do you know what your family kilt material is? (my foster brother was disappointed to find out that he came from a place too small to have it's own)

You have to choose either cutlers hair, or Priests facial tattoos - and then keep them for a year. What do you do? (at the end of 12months they will magically disappear).

Have you had any non-minor injuries - if so what was the worst one?

Another inspiring member.

Awesome pic, but Tony you're not doing yourself many favours posting up tips on preventing the gag reflex and then a picture of a guy touching his toes - Ak

Hazel


bigscottishbastard has kindly agreed to answer your questions this week.

As usual,please use this topic to ask him any questions about  lifestyle, training, diet and progress,  - or anything else - though please, nothing too personal or invasive.

Please bear with him and give him time to reply.

Ken, thanks for agreeing to take part in this interview.

1) Can you give us a brief rundown of how you got into working out and how long you've been training?

2) What is your day job?

3) Are or have any of your family been into strongman?

4) What advice would you give to someone thinking about entering their first strongman comp?


Thanks 

Hazel, thanks firstly for giving me the chance to do this interview.
 
1) I started trianing originally by just having the desire to be big. I think watch alot of Arnold films and WWF/WWE wrestling infulenced me in what a man should look like in term of size etc. I got a set of weights at about 12 and started training in my garage and then by 15 1/2 lied about my aged to get into a proper gym cause I was so desperate to actually train using a bench etc. I've been training for close to 10years now, 7 of those in a proper gym.
 
2) I currently don't have a day job as I'm a full time student at Strathclyde University in Glasgow studying towards a MEng in Chemical and Process Engineering.
 
3) Nobody in my family has ever been competitively involved in strongman. My Mum used to watch it at Xmas and my Dad watched it some what too. I've always loved the sport and the house had to be silent when it was broadcast at Xmas.
 
4) The biggest factor for someone who is going to do their first comp is to find somewhere to train event specific stuff. It's all well and good being able to squat 400kg or bench 200kg, but when it comes to things like yoke or log press things are totally different.

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FatFreeVanillaIce


Alright big man, can you state your s/b/d and bw. Also what can you do raw?

safe

Right now I'm sitting at roughly 300lbs BW which is 21stone 6lbs or 136kgs. Best lifts are as follows:
 
Squat- 220kg totally raw; 250kg belt only; 280kg belt and wraps; 320kg belt, suit and wraps.
 
Bench- 140kg, I don't train bench very often maybe a few times every 2months. 140kg is the same as my 1RM CG Bench so I must be good for like 150kg on normal bench.
 
Deadlift- 275kg totally raw; 300kg belt only; 310kg belt and suit.

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oasis


It's cool to be able to call someone a bigscottishbastard and keep your teeth, so you bigscottishbastard , chocolate or ice cream?

I think it'd have to be ice cream mate. I like chocolate, but nothing tickles me like a big tub of the frozen stuff!

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Who are your top 5 strongmen of all time?

Who do you think is the strongest guy to have never won WSM?

Which do you see as 'stronger' powerlifting or strongman?

Do you do much CV to accompany your strength training?

ac


hi

what are your top tips/reasons for where you are now(with your size and lifts)

Cheers!

I think the best thing I ever did was to stop being so strict with myself with regards to diet. I still eat pretty clean and pretty low fat, but I found that eating the same thing again and again just made me bored and I stopped enjoying food.
 
Don't get me wrong I was strict with myself for about 5, maybe close to 6years and then when I started eating a little more junk (all I'm talking about here is using a big bag of crisps a day instead of weetabix with a shake), strength increased more and I enjoy things more.
 
There's a fantastic burger bar here in Glasgow that me and my better half go to atleast once a week where they serve big burgers, that are still quite lean and that helps me enjoy eating more too.
 
I have had to diet and watch what I eat though. When I decided to move into the open division of strongman, I also decided that I needed to get bigger. This is when I found out that me and high levels or carbs don't go too well. I added 3stone in 3months, mostly fat, but I didn't care as I wanted to get bigger and that was all that was in my mind.
 
I messed around with my weight, leaned out, added some etc etc and now I'm at the point where I'm pretty big, but not fat as hell. Obviously you've seen the videos I post etc and I'm no bodybuilder, but this shape works well for me cause I seem to be able to hold alot of size and strength, but also move well when need be.

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essex_chris


Sex or lifting?

(no combining the two like that Durex advert - that would be cheating)

What's your favourite lift?

As a scot will you ever forgive England for being better at football than you?

Do you own a kilt, or if not do you know what your family kilt material is? (my foster brother was disappointed to find out that he came from a place too small to have it's own)

You have to choose either cutlers hair, or Priests facial tattoos - and then keep them for a year. What do you do? (at the end of 12months they will magically disappear).

Have you had any non-minor injuries - if so what was the worst one?

Another inspiring member.

I'm sure you can guess which I find better haha!
 
I don't follow football so such things matter not to me, and I'm too smart to ruin my public image ala Andy Murray (even if we are from the same town).
 
I don't own a kilt, but the tartan I usually wear would be one of the Stewart tartans as this is my Mum's side of the family and my Dad's side has Polish origins.
 
If I had to choose one it would have to be the face tattoo, it looks mean and scary whereas Cutler's hair would get me too much attention from the gay bars near my flat!
 
The only real injury I've had was at UKs last year where I suffered a grade 1 to 2 tear of the lateral ligament in my left knee, its all good now those so no need to dwell on such things. Just have to stay focussed and touch wood that nothing else happens in the future!

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Packup Pete


Who are your top 5 strongmen of all time?

Who do you think is the strongest guy to have never won WSM?

Which do you see as 'stronger' powerlifting or strongman?

Do you do much CV to accompany your strength training?

Top 5 strongmen of all time is very tough, I reckon Kaz has to be my favourite though. Also included in that list are Jon Pall, Mariusz, Svend and probably Biz Z. Make it top 6 and Poundstone is in there too. Just can deny Big Z from what hes accomplished (117 podium finishes in like 130contests over 17years)
 
I would have to say that OD Wilson is the strongest guy to never win. He had the comp in the bag until that stupid brick carry vs. Jon Pall.
 
In terms of functional strength strongman. For me it depends on what fed of powerlifting you're talking about as somethings I see now are just comical.
 
I do 30mins on the x-trainer twice a week and then sprints on the rower after my weights 3times a week. I've just found out Poundstones cardio routine so may have to try that sometime, but not sure if I should as it sounds like certain death!

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Hi Ken

Great to have you do this interview!

You're obviously very motivated for strongman competition and have big aspirations for your future in the game; what helps keep you motivated all the time?

James Collier
MT Co-Owner & Event Promoter
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James


Hi Ken

Great to have you do this interview!

You're obviously very motivated for strongman competition and have big aspirations for your future in the game; what helps keep you motivated all the time?

To be honest I think its just the thought of what I could achieve in this sport.
 
Since my Dad passed away at the start of August, I have a new motivation to achieve what I have set out for. I always thought he'd be here to see me achieve things and now he's not it just gives me more motvation to be the best, not only in Scotland, but on the international scene too.
 
There are two quotes from a documentary following Hugo Girard called Strongman which really hits a chord with me and helps keep me motivated too:
 
"I think life is too short not to have any passion and I think its the passion that keeps you alive, keeps you dreaming, keeps you wondering, keeps you trying. Thats how you know you're alive, when you have expectations, when you have goals, when you have dreams. My dream is to become World's Strongest Man, and my fear is not making it happen."
 
This one strikes something deep inside and what gets me fired up for a hard training session:
 
"I'm not doing it for the people, I'm not doing it to show off, I'm not doing it to impress people, I'm doing it to prove myself something, that I can achieve it, and if I can achieve that I can achieve anything"

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What is your fav cheat meal?

If you won the lottery would it change things for you and what would be the first thing you would buy?

WTF's 2012 SUC

"If you say you cant, your probably correct!"

Favourite cheat meal would be a big burger from the Glasgow Burger Bar I mentioned above.

If I won the lottery I'd finish uni then not work. First thing I'd buy would either be a flat or a Ford F150 SVT Raptor:



Then I'd build a custom purpose strongman gym for my personal use.

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How did you find you got into strongman? Was it something you noticed how you were stronger than the others, maybe you just liked the look of it and it appeared fun?

Where do you want to be in the next 5 years?

Thats a beast of a truck!! Whats the name of the Burger place and ill give it a shot when im over in a few weekends time?

WTF's 2012 SUC

"If you say you cant, your probably correct!"

theiopener


How did you find you got into strongman? Was it something you noticed how you were stronger than the others, maybe you just liked the look of it and it appeared fun?

Where do you want to be in the next 5 years?

One of the guys I knew in Aberdeen did it and put on a comp to raise money for the tusnami. I went along and watched and then competed the next year, the rest is history. When I started training it was for size, but I soon realised that I was getting stronger faster so just seemed the best way to go.
 
I'd like to be competing on the International scene and be at WSM by 2015.

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Pete_L


Thats a beast of a truck!! Whats the name of the Burger place and ill give it a shot when im over in a few weekends time?

Yeah its a great truck mate, shall be putting my numbers on twice a week of a good while cause I want it so much haha!
 
It's called Ketchup mate and is on Ashton Lane, just off Byres Rd.

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bigscottishbastard

Pete_L


Thats a beast of a truck!! Whats the name of the Burger place and ill give it a shot when im over in a few weekends time?

Yeah its a great truck mate, shall be putting my numbers on twice a week of a good while cause I want it so much haha!
 
It's called Ketchup mate and is on Ashton Lane, just off Byres Rd.

Nice one cheers, might take a wee jaunt over on Sunday if I get the time!!

WTF's 2012 SUC

"If you say you cant, your probably correct!"

No worries mate, I reccommend the Black & Blue Burger!

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How come strongmen and powerlifter types don't seem to bench that often?

Powerlifters do bench often as thats one of their diciplines in competition.

IME strongmen don't bench often due to bench not being in comps, I've only ever known of bench to be in two comps, both were put on my Magnus Samuelsson and thats his best event.

Overhead press is more important to strongman as thats the pressing dicipline in competition.

I only ever do CG Bench or floor press lockouts.

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If I remember Kazmier(sp) was an amazing bencher, he had a 300+ raw bench and I'd always thought the attitude may be, 'if it's good enough for him it's good enough for me'.

Thinking about it there doesn't seem many events in WSM based around pushing in front of you.

I didn't think powerlifters did it much because I read an interview before I think it was Cohen or maybe another bloke who was missing a finger and they said they rarely did bench, well one of them said it. I read both interviews in the same day so I'm getting confused.

I think one of the reasons that Kaz had a great bench was due to his imvolvement in powerlifting aswell as strongman.

Powerlifters definetly need to cause there are three types of powerlifting comp and they all include bench; bench only, push pull (bench and deadlift), and the full meet (squat bench deadlift).

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Kenneth

Do you think you living in scotland has had an impact, positive or negative, on your development in strongman, it would seem easier for you to get to uk's/bsm living in scotland or wales than it is if you live in england, but obviously once you are told you have got to that level, our training must go supersonic to go out there capable of making the final/winning

what do you reckon??

Carl

That is actually a very good question.

I think it has probably had a positive impact because once I reached the level I got to to qualify for UKs last year it opened my eyes a bit more to the standard of athlete outwith Scotland which then gave me more motivation to work harder towards my goals and redevelop my training.

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sivvy1


Kenneth

Do you think you living in scotland has had an impact, positive or negative, on your development in strongman, it would seem easier for you to get to uk's/bsm living in scotland or wales than it is if you live in england, but obviously once you are told you have got to that level, our training must go supersonic to go out there capable of making the final/winning

what do you reckon??

Been thinking about this a bit over the past day or so and come to the second conclusion that it may have been detrimental to my strongman development. MAybe, I wasn't ready for that level of competition becuase I came up the ranks so quickly, when I went to UKs I had only done 3 proper open level comps and I didn't have enough comp experience to perform how I should of.
 
My pressing definetly wasn't strong enough for that level, but I think that also helped me as it showed a definite weakness in my push press vs. my jerk which then made me focus on my push press more.

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I seem to remember through past discussion you are quite tall (hope I've got that right) - do you think height in strongman comps is an advantage or a disadvantage.

Bearing that in mind what would (in your view) be the perfect weight & height ratio for your discipline?

"A tight pant wearing bum lover from a popular training forum."  Daz FP
There's true hero worship, right there!! 

I'm probably on the shorter end of the scale at approx 5'11", but I don't think it's hindered me too much. I messed up stones to high platform at SSM in May, but that was more to do with lack of high platform practice.

I think that around 6'2" and like a leanish 140kg BW would be a good combo!

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Hey bud by the year 2019 what would you have hoped to have achived on the strong bastard scene?

Haha, not thought that far ahead to be honest mate.

I'd have liked to have won the Scottish a good few times, finished high at both BSM and UKs and been to WSM a few times too.

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Well good luck you've got the genetics for it. All the best, i hope you do well.

genetics for it??

thats like saying you could do **** all training and still do ok

the only reason ken is as good as he is is because he is very methodical with his training, nails weaknesses, and has a very good training programme, and trains with some top guys

Cheers bud, progress will be documented here on MT!

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sivvy1


genetics for it??

thats like saying you could do **** all training and still do ok

the only reason ken is as good as he is is because he is very methodical with his training, nails weaknesses, and has a very good training programme, and trains with some top guys

 
Very true mate, definitely wouldn't have progressed as quickly as I have done if it were not for guys like Andy Cairney and Stevie "Stainless" Murray!
 
I used to not be methodical at all, but Loz Shahlaei opened my eyes to more rep work and things have been going awesome since. PBs every session pretty much!

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Re: Gentics.

In the world of bodybuilding, genetics plays a huge part. We all know the guy in top condition who eats sh1te and trains pretty poorly. How much do you think genetics play a part in strongman? Some are naturally stronger than others but for example in BBing all the dedication, drugs, perfect diet/training in the world won't get you to the top without the genetics. How much do you think this does or does not apply to strongman?

I think its relavent in a sense, because a guy can be big and relatively strong without doing much, but when it comes to actual competition if you haven't used cartain equipment and gotten the technique right you're not doing much. You also have to be fit so its not just about being a big guy.

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Hi mate,
How do you cope with any injuries,i mean do you tend to work round them or stop untill fully repaird?
Also who is your strength hero currently?

Those who cannot fly seek to clip the wings of others.