Meet Andrew Flynn, the British dad, railway worker and strongman smashing 8,000-calorie days and epic garden workouts as he takes on the world’s elite at World’s Strongest Man 2025
A British powerlifter is gearing up for the fight of his life, taking on other titans of strength at the 2025 World’s Strongest Man competition. Andrew Flynn, from East Sussex, has officially made his debut at the iconic contest, which kicked off in Sacramento, California, on 15 May.
The man behind the massive lifts and even bigger meals is a down-to-earth dad juggling it all. Andrew has a full-time day job in materials control at Southern Railway and a homegrown training regime that’s anything but conventional, The Sun reports.
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From trains to tyres
Born on 12 April 1992, Andrew stands at an imposing 6ft 2in and weighs in at around 138–142kg (22 stone). He lives in Peacehaven but is from nearby Lancing.
The 33-year-old only entered the strongman scene nationally in 2021, coming seventh in UK’s Strongest Man. But he quickly made waves, rising to fourth in 2023 and bagging back-to-back third-place finishes in 2024 and 2025, which earned him a spot on the world stage.
At Britain’s Strongest Man 2025, Andrew came out singing, winning the medley event, taking second in the log lift, and finishing a solid fourth in the iconic Atlas Stones challenge. He’s also been making a name for himself in Europe’s Strongest Man and the Giants Live Strongman Classic.
Dad first, then strongman
Despite the brutal demands of training and competing, Andrew is a devoted family man, he regularly credits his wife and children as his driving force, saying their support has been vital in helping him climb to the top.
Gruelling training routine
Andrew keeps things simple, there are no glitzy gyms as Andrew trains four times a week in his back garden. Each session stretches beyond three hours, and often follows a full shift at work.
Andrew consumes between 5,200 and 8,000 calories a day to keep up with the physical toll. His meals are jam-packed with protein, carbs and fats, with hefty portions of meat, veg and complex carbs to power through punishing routines.
Early in his career, Andrew was sidelined by a major bicep injury, but instead of stopping, he came back stronger. Dubbed “Flying Flynn” in the strongman world, he’s earned a reputation for speed, grit and surprising resilience.
Andrew said: “My nickname in strongman is Flying Flynn. When I first started, I’d been playing rugby, so I was a lot lighter, a lot more mobile. I’ve still got that speed there, so I’ve always been good at the moving events. I don’t really feel pain if I’m doing an event like that.”
Just a lad from East Sussex
Andrew admits stepping onto the World’s Strongest Man stage still feels surreal especially going toe-to-toe with global icons of the sport. He said: “It’s easy to put people on a pedestal and think people are larger than life. On one hand, it’s hard to tell people it’s attainable because it’s obviously very hard to get to that level and it’s taken me ten years to do it, but they’re human as well.”
With the likes of strongman royalty including Scotland’s Stoltman brothers, Luke and Tom also vying for the crown, Andrew knows the competition will be fierce. Regardless of the legends around him, Andrew has proven he can hold his own and isn’t there just to make up numbers.