Lancashire mum competes to become world's strongest woman

Andrea Seed, who works in Lancashire County Council's adult social care team, is flying to America to compete in the Official Strongman Games.

The competition brings hundreds of strongman and strongwoman athletes from more than 35 countries together in Madison, Wisconsin.

Ms Seed, from Longridge, is a previous title holder as she was named 'Britain's Strongest Natural Woman' in 2021, and earlier this year she came fourth in Europe's Strongest Woman competition.

She explained how she first started weightlifting after struggling with post-natal depression following the birth of her son.

She said: "I felt like I just didn’t really know myself, I'd lost myself a little bit.

"Then someone I know told me about a strong-man gym in Preston.

"They said just go down there and have a chat because there might be something different that you can do.

"They sort of took me in and it took a long time for me to come out of the shadows, but I felt that by having something for me that wasn’t about being a mum, it was just about me tapping into my own resilience that was already there, that I didn’t realise was there.

"I started lifting weights and I was ok at it, which is not something I've ever really experienced before.

"I wasn’t feeling too great mentally, but I found that by succeeding in something and making my body strong and going somewhere and doing something just for me, I started to find a bit more of a purpose and find myself back a bit.

"For me it was about finding my potential and believing in myself a little bit."

The competition brings hundreds of Strongman and Strongwoman athletes from more than 35 countries together in Madison, Wisconsin (Image: Supplied)

Ms Seed is competing in the 'masters' category, which is for those over the age of 40, and will have to get through four events to be one of the final 10 competitors.

First is the 'monster log challenge' where she will have to lift a metal log weighing 86 kilograms overhead.

That's followed by the 'Jocko fuel car walk' in which she will have to carry the frame of a car on her back along a 15-metre course as fast as possible.

There's a 60-second time limit and the car weighs 280 kilos.

The next day's events are an axle deadlift and sandbag medley.

In the latter event, Ms Seed will run along a 15.25-metre course while holding two sandbags, load them both onto a sledge and then push the sledge back.

Councillor Graham Gooch, cabinet member for adult social care, said: "We all wish Andrea the best of luck in her competition.

"It's great to see her using a strength-based approach both inside and outside of work.

"Andrea has supported social workers to bring in a new way of working at the county council through Living Better Lives in Lancashire.

"Through this, we encourage people to make use of what's strong in their community, such as support from friends, family and local organisations to stay well, achieve what they want and to live independently for longer."