A BIG group of Fit Ayrshire Dads descended on Stevenston’s Glencairn Fitness Centre in Stevenston to try compete alongside one of Scotland’s strongest men.

John Pollock, who regularly competes in Scotland’s Strongest man, gave the guys a masterclass and spurred them on as they lifted, dragged and pushed weights and themselves to their limits.

Davie Hunter, one of the FADs helped get the event off the ground between John and FADs founder Kevin Brown and said: “I put the idea into big John’s head and put him on to Kev Brown to get the details sorted out.

“We had two groups of six guys and they were split into twos, me and John were spurring the groups on.

“I joined FADs two or three weeks after the group started and there are a lot of shy boys, but we wanted to see if they would like to try weightlifting.

“John Pollock shows what it is all about and is always there to help people.

“All the helpers from Glencairn, especially John’s wife for the cakes and protein shakes, were brilliant and the guys got medals on the day – all of the FADs are welcome to three days free at the gym too and they can see what it is all about.”

Big John, who is the current UK and European Masters Strongman Champion, was more than happy to help, he told the Herald: “It was a really good day. I’m all for helping anyone who wants it and everyone was interested.

“I think it is the first time I have done something like this and not one person has walked away, I think to have the help and being part of a group is good.

“We made sure the weights weren’t too light or too heavy and Davie set up a head to head event.”

John Bell was one of the FADs there on the day and he jumped right in with the weights and really enjoyed pushing himself on the day, he said: “It couldn’t have went better. We are trying to get people to come out of their comfort zone. I was nervous and expecting it to be really tough and I approached it as if I am strong enough to lift but I wasn’t expecting the cardio and breathing. It felt like I had run a marathon.

“John and his wife were great and everyone that was there were genuinely nice people.

“The whole FADs thing is to get fit, be positive and link it to mental health.

“We are seeing loads of progress already.”

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