THE top strongmen from the region and beyond will be descending on Dalton in April to battle it out in the northern qualifier for England's Natural Strongest Man.

Cumbria Strength and Conditioning has been chosen as the venue for the event on Sunday, April 30, which could see as many as 20 competitors vying to earn a qualifying spot for the national stage.

It has already attracted entrants from across the North of England, along with some from Scotland and Wales, while there could be interest from competitors closer to home as well.

“I saw they were after venues all over the country to host these qualifiers, so I put my gym forward and received a reply back saying they'd let us know,” said Cumbria Strength and Conditioning's Matty Green.

“A couple of weeks later, I got the opportunity and they said was I still interested in hosting, and I said 'yes' and it has gone from there.

“It's drawing people from pretty much the whole North of England, so it's quite a broad spectrum. There might be one or two people who are local from our gym who might be competing, but they're just debating whether or not to do it yet.”

The day will see the strongmen tackling challenges such as farmer's walks, log presses, reps dead-lifting a car , flipping a 350kg tyre and a prowler medley, which involves pushing a 250kg prowler out and back 15m, then loading an atlas stone on after that.

Ticket prices are still to be confirmed, but organisers are keen to make it as much of a family affair as possible, with under-12s being admitted for free.

And Green hopes it will inspire people to try out the training, which is one of the classes his gym offers.

“Strongman isn't just for strongmen – that's something people can get misled about,” said Green. “The training is suitable for anybody, really, at their level. It's lots of carries, lots of presses and picking awkward things up, which we do in daily life anyway.

“It's just trying to get to grips with awkward things such as stones, beer kegs and things like that – it really does increase strength like no other exercise in the gym.

“My members will tell you anyone can do it, so it's not just about the strongmen. A lot of my members will be there, so I'm sure they will chat to people during the day.”