MISTER STRONG

Three-time Strongman Challenge winner Corporal (CPL) (NS) Jen Li Sheng is the strongest of them all.

It is probably not a good idea to shake hands with someone like CPL (NS) Jen Li Sheng. This is a man who can single-handedly lift and flip a 350kg tractor tyre six times, run 15m while carrying 300kg of weight on his back, pull vehicles weighing 6,000kg over a distance of 15m, and then some.

These are some of the feats which Strongman Challenge contestants are expected to complete. With this year's win under his belt, CPL (NS) Jen is a three-time champion of the annual competition organised by HomeTeamNS which began in 2005.

The full-time personal trainer chows down about 2kg of meat and hits the gym daily. The result of that regime shows. Barrel-chested and broad-shouldered with huge arms, the 27-year-old is the kind of man every scrawny schoolboy dreams of becoming.

"I do whatever I can, whenever I can. If I can push that one more rep, I'll do it. If I can stuff down that little more meat and if I can rest that bit earlier, I'll do it. It's hard sometimes but I just keep pushing." said CPL (NS) Jen, who stands 187cm tall and tips the scale at well over 100kg.

Trained as a Chemical, Biological Radiological and Explosives (CBRE) pioneer in the 39th Battalion, Singapore Combat Engineers, CPL (NS) Jen remembers when he had to juggle training and his NS duties. Back then, he was trying to break into the national team as a bodybuilder.

"I was lucky to have had superiors who understood my passion and gave me the space to develop my talents," said CPL (NS) Jen. While his peers were enjoying their evenings off, he would head to a gym and train on his own. "It was tough but that period in my life taught me tenacity and the value of perseverance."

Not all brawn

Two months before the finals held in March, he started training for the events in earnest. With the equipment at his workplace, he worked on the best ways to heave the enormous weights. "I'm more athletic than some of the contestants, so I looked for ways to use that to my advantage," said CPL (NS) Jen.

For example, in the Samsui Yoke Walk event where contestants are required to carry heavy loads on their backs two times (with weights of 250kg and 300kg respectively) over a total distance of 30m before loading the weights into customised boxes, he heaved the barrels directly into the boxes.

This was faster than rolling the barrels before slowly tipping them into the boxes like most of the other contestants did.

"It's about marrying what you know about yourself with how you can best complete each event," he explained.

Finding his game

With that sort of attitude, it comes as a surprise that he wasn't always on top of his game. Attempts at breaking into the national team as a shot-putter and a bodybuilder came to naught, by his own admission that he just wasn't good enough.

"I felt that there was no better way to prove your sporting prowess than to be a national athlete," explained CPL (NS) Jen.

"It was a young and foolish thought," he added with a laugh.

That perspective changed when he realised that there was simply no end to his quest to best every sport he came across. "I told myself it's really about doing your best; putting effort into your diet, your training, your sleep, whatever. Then you see what results you get and that's the best anyone can do."

In 2007, he took part in his first Strongman Challenge and was placed 13th. Fresh out of a bodybuilding competition, CPL (NS) Jen wasn't at his strongest then. So he gave himself a year to train for the next one. In that year, he would hit the gym four times a week, working on a particular muscle group each time with the aim of increasing his strength.

All that hard training paid off when he tasted victory at the 2008 Strongman Challenge. He finally found his niche.

Sporting a job

His second win (in 2010) netted him more than sporting glory. Said CPL (NS) Jen: "I had just graduated from university and also won my second Strongman. My boss contacted me and asked if I would be interested in a job with his gym.

"So I said yes, just to give it a shot." It was a field which the theatre studies graduate never expected to be in.

Two years on, he's now a certified level-two Poliquin International Certification Program (PICP) trainer. The five-level programme is internationally recognised as one of the most rigorous courses for strength coaches and personal trainers.

He will also have you know that strength is often the thing which sets elite athletes apart. "Beyond a certain level, athletes have almost the same level of skill in their sport. Often the victor is the one who is just that little bit stronger."

That is where he sees value in being a personal trainer. "I help people to achieve their fitness goals. For the serious athletes, I help them to improve their performance."

He just might make the national team yet, as a coach to our next generation of sportsmen and women. They'd better be ready for strongman Jen.

What it takes to be Singapore's strongest man

(1) Tyre Flip
Flip a tractor tyre weighing 350kg for at least six times.

(2) Red Rhino and Police Jeep Pull
Pull vehicles weighing over six tonnes over 15m.

(3) Samsui Yoke Walk
Lift, walk and load barrels (weighing a total of 250kg and 300kg) into customised boxes over two waves.

(4) Log Walk
Carry two 120kg logs, one in each hand, and move 40m.

(5) Car Pull
Stand within a specified area and pull a two-tonne vehicle over 20m.