It has been a whirlwind 18 months in Strongman, with events cancelled, rescheduled, or performed without crowds. At 2021 World’s Strongest Man our Mirafit ambassadors the Stoltman Brothers smashed it, with Luke Stoltman coming seventh in the final, and younger brother Tom achieving first place. We sat down with them to discuss what has been happening since then.

First of all, congratulations on winning World’s Strongest Man Tom! And congratulations on your performance as well Luke, you must both be very busy.

L - Yeah, we’re busy but it’s really cool to come back and hit the ground running. We have new offices that we’re doing and we’re training for The Strongman Classic at the Royal Albert Hall so plenty of things to do. Not enough time to do them all but it’s all good!

Because of Covid-19 regulations your partners and families weren’t able to travel out to support you. How did you handle that?

L – Initially we were told that we would be able to take our partners and we were hyped up about that, but a couple of weeks before the competition we were told that they couldn’t come. They’re an integral part of our team. Because we were in a bubble and couldn’t leave the hotel it would have probably been rubbish for them to be there, as there wouldn’t have been much for them to do.

The toughest part was the time difference as it made it harder to keep in touch. Hopefully in 2022 the restrictions will be lifted, and we can have a big party when we get first and second place next year!

Have you been able to celebrate your win?

T – I said if I win World’s Strongest Man that I’d party, and I’ve been partying! I’ve only done one day of training since I got back so far.

L – The night after Tom won, Brian Shaw organised a party for us and I had to be carried to bed, but I’m too old to be partying every night now. This year Tom and I had a laser focus with our training and nutrition and to have that blow-out after was a release.

We heard that you hurt your foot?

L – I hurt it on the Pickaxe Hold. I dropped it on the top of my foot and messed it up pretty bad. The final day of the Heats my toes were all black. I was worried they’d make me pull out, so I hid my foot in a sock and carried on. I can still train and still compete so it’s fine, I wouldn’t pull out for something like that.

Scottish people wouldn’t.

L – No, we’re made of tougher stuff than that. We just wait until we get home and then moan about it.

Big Loz will be rubbing his hands together about the injuries coming in because he’s got his eyes on the Classic.

T – We’ve both got eyes on that prize!

L – I think Tom should be given 10 extra points just for winning WSM. Loz will be looking forward to it though, it’s his first competition back. I think we just need a couple of weeks of training and we’ll be back to peak...

T – Maybe not quite peak.

L – Aye, 80-90% and we’ll be happy with that.

T – I’ll be happy at 60%.

A lot of people are going into the Strongman Classic with the attitude that they’re just going to have a really good time as the first show back for 18 months. That one’s for the fans.

T – Meeting and greeting the fans, that’s what I’m going for.

L – It’ll just be nice to see the crowd back and have some fun with the guys again. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a serious competition, but there’s no pressure. Just going out and having a bit of fun, chill out and compete in such an iconic venue.

WSM is so taxing on your bodies, how is your team helping you recover?

T – This week I’m being quiet but next week will be a serious week of training and then it’s tapering up. We only need two weeks of training to get back into things, so we just need to do a little bit here and there before then. I’ve just missed the crowd so much at live events. Even if you don’t feel 100% the crowd will give you a buzz. I’m pretty much recovered from World’s now, the jet lag took a long time to clear and I’ve had my partying but, finger’s crossed, it’s all good now.

What is your drink of choice?

T - Vodka… from the bottle!

L – If I’m in a chilled mood then whisky but if I’m in a party mood then a vodka and red bull will get me going but it’s not as much fun the next day!

T – Oh, I never get hungover. I just get up the next morning and go about my day.

L – Wait until you’re over 30 Tom, just wait.

T – That’s why I’m making the most of it!

You are building a Stoltman empire – what have you got planned?

L – We’ve just taken on a new premises in Invergordon, and it’s a big space. There are offices at the back, and we’ll have a studio at the front for some classes. We’ll have a physio and recovery suite as well. We’ll have a merchandise shop, our brother Harry Stoltman might work there. We want to have a podcast studio in there as well.

We’re preempting that after WSM airs at Christmas things will blow up again so we’re trying to be proactive and hit the ground running. We want to move from standard merchandise into a full gym clothing brand.

We would maybe open up other gyms as well and have a franchise of gyms. Plenty of ideas. You don’t get taught business at school so we’re learning as we go and appreciate everyone’s patience with us.

You’re working with the Mulligan Brother’s on a documentary, can you tell us more about that?

L – Tom and I have always said we want to be more than strongmen. We have a passion, and it gives us a platform; Tom’s a great ambassador for autism and I raise awareness for mental health. We want to make a difference and inspire happiness in people. When we compete and we speak I hope that people can see that. With Mam not being here to see us, we want to leave this legacy and let people know that with hard work, anything is possible.

The Mulligans are so good, we owe them an awful lot to changing our mentality around pushing ourselves in the business side of things. I don’t think going down the BAFTA route is out of the realm of possibility.

What is your advice for someone who is working towards a goal?

T – Just keep working hard, be consistent and do it with a smile on your face. You might get hurdles but just keep jumping over them.

L – Self-belief is such an important thing and learning to believe in myself is one of the biggest struggles in my career. Just enjoy the journey, it can be tough but what you do at the end of the journey is up to you, so embrace it. If you have self-belief you can achieve anything.

Mirafit would like to wish Tom and Luke Stoltman good luck in The Strongman Classic this weekend and say a huge congratulations for their performance at World’s Strongest Man 2021. Make sure you tune into the WSM TV show in December to catch all the action.

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Tags: Exercise Type > Strongman ; Misc > Mirafit Ambassadors