At 16, Tom Stoltman felt lost. Diagnosed with autism as a child and bullied for being different, the lanky teenager from Invergordon hid in baggy hoodies and sought solace in video games and sweets. Today, at 31, he stands as a three-time World's Strongest Man, a 180kg titan whose journey redefines strength, resilience, and neurodiversity in elite sport.
The Crashing Point and a Brother's Intervention
Stoltman describes his teenage years as hitting a "crashing point." Once football-obsessed, he retreated, swapping meals for multiple bags of sweets and days spent on his Xbox. His self-esteem was at rock bottom. The turning point came from his older brother, Luke, a bodybuilder at the time. Luke dragged Tom to the gym, introducing him to free weights. "At the start I was just doing the 20kg bar and the next day I’d be so sore," Tom recalls. Yet, within a week, a spark was lit.
That spark became a flame when Tom watched Luke compete in Scotland's Strongest Man. Seeing his brother lift cars and tow colossal logs was transformative. "Watching your brother do that, you’re, like, oh, he’s like a Hulk," he says. Tom knew he wanted that superhuman strength for himself.
Autism as the Ultimate 'Cheat Code'
Joining a strongman gym, Stoltman dedicated himself utterly. He swapped snacks for protein-rich meals, eating to fuel immense strength gains. It was here he made a powerful realisation: his autism was not a hindrance but his greatest asset. "Autism became my cheat code," he states. The condition allowed him to lock into a rigorous routine and block out all distractions with singular focus.
This focus enabled a phenomenal physical transformation. Over a decade, he doubled his body weight from 90kg to a formidable 180kg – a mass equivalent to a large lion. His daily regimen is built around this goal: eight boiled eggs with cheese and mayonnaise on sourdough for breakfast, followed by two meals of spicy mince and rice before his 12:30pm training session.
Redefining Health and Strength
Now a full-time strongman who co-runs the Stoltman Strength Centre with his brother, Tom approaches his health with scientific precision. His downtime resembles a biohacker's regimen, incorporating an oxygen chamber, red-light therapy, sauna sessions, and cold tubs. He works with a nutritionist and a sports doctor who monitors markers like cholesterol, which remains low despite his size.
"When I go to the doctor, I’m classed as obese," he notes, highlighting the limitations of BMI for athletes. "A lot of people think strongmen are fat guys lifting one rep. But you can be fit at any shape or size." His fitness is proven in feats like running while holding a 200kg atlas stone, deadlifting 350kg for 12 repetitions, and even pulling two monster trucks.
His pride in his body now stems not from mere size, but from what it represents: mental toughness and capability. He recounts recently helping a stranger push a broken-down car off the road – a practical application of his superhuman strength.
Winning his first World's Strongest Man title in 2021 at age 27, and securing it twice more since, Tom Stoltman has completely rewritten his narrative. The boy who looked in the mirror and asked "Why am I different?" now sees someone who harnessed that difference as a superpower. "I can look in the mirror and smile," he says, a champion in every sense of the word.
