A Kilmarnock personal trainer had to make incredible sacrifices during a 15-week cut to get ready for Scotland’s Strongest Man – including going teetotal at his mum’s wedding.
Conor Dorrans couldn’t even have a slice of cake at the wedding which was a week before the event, but he admits it was worth it after scooping second place in the Under 80kg category.
Conor, who trains and PTs at KAMMA Gym on Kilmarnock’s Foregate, shedded over 33Ibs (15kg) during the 15 weeks of preparation for his first national strongman competition.
And he was delighted to bag the silver medal despite only being one point off of first place – who was his coach!
“I was delighted to place so highly”, Conor told the Kilmarnock Standard.
“I probably surprised myself a bit to be honest.
“A lot of training and stuff went into it, and the closer it got to it I knew I wanted to place well.
“I decided I just had to go for it, too much hard work went to it not to go there and do my best.
“It was flattering to come as close to first, especially in one of my first competitions.
“It’s the first time I’ve had to cut weight for something like this, I have done it for bodybuilding shows and going on holiday.
“But to do it and still work on my performance and still get stronger was something else.
“It required a great deal of sacrifice, I’m not going to lie.
“I had my mum’s wedding a week before the competition, I couldn’t touch alcohol at it or the buffet.
“My girlfriend had to deal with me in some of the worst situations because I was so hungry sometimes.
“But it makes you realise some things are more important like being nice to your family, going out with friends.
“That stuff is important, but I did all that for this event which was also important to me.
“It was a relief for the competition to be done, because it was 15 solid weeks of being hungry, training constantly and working through injuries.”
Conor added: “My mum was very understanding about the wedding, and my girlfriend... I don’t know how she put up with me!
“They were very understanding, they put up with a lot and I appreciate that.
“If the shoe had been on the other foot I don’t think even I’d have been able to put up with me because I know how crabbit I get without food in me.
“Just because I had this focus, I didn’t want my family to think I wasn’t focusing on them.
“It just took over my life massively, but in the end it was worth it, I never lost sight of family though.”
Despite how physically demanding the event was, Conor reckons the mental aspect was the most challenging part.
He said: “It was mentally challenging more than anything to be honest.
“Especially on the day the nerves were getting the better of me doing opening lifts.
“I was worried about stage fright, but in the end I was fine and got there.
“It was hard at my mum’s wedding though, that was the hardest. People were drunk around me, eating food and also there was cake being put on the table that I couldn’t eat, that was tough.
“Physical demands have never really bothered me, but in strongman the crossover mentally is crazy.”
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