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I’m the ‘UK’s strongest schoolboy’ at 10 – now I’ve broken 8 world records and the secret’s in my VERY grown up diet
A 10-year-old dubbed the "UK's strongest schoolboy" who has broken eight world records revealed that the secret to his success is in his very grown up diet.
Rowan O'Malley, from Coventry, began his training aged just one before he started smashing records abroad.
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The lad, who weighs 8.5st revealed earlier this year that he could impressively deadlift 115kg and squat lift 100kg.
And after appearing on This Morning today, he flexed his muscles while lifting up a couch while celebrity chef Phil Vickery was sitting on it.
Rowan discussed his weightlifting journey with the ITV hosts Rochelle Humes and Josie Gibson alongside his parents Gemma and Ben.
He told how after taking an interest in the extreme sport at the age of one, he soon realised that he was much stronger than his peers at school.
His passion has since led him to breaking an astonishing eight world records outside the UK.
Rowan is forbidden from competing in the sport in the UK, as the official age for entrants starts at 12.
Instead, he's taken his weightlifting prowess to Arizona, US, where he competed for the first time this year and won his world titles.
But the extra-strong schoolboy said a very particular - and grown up - diet is what allows him to be so successful.
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Rowan trains "two to three times a week" and keeps to a strict 3000-calorie-a-day protein-rich diet, despite boys his age being advised by the NHS to eat only around 2,000 daily.
On a normal day he eats three portions of scrambled eggs for breakfast and steak or fish for dinner.
His parents also play a part in ensuring that he gets a good night's sleep every day.
Speaking to the show hosts on his incredible beginning point in the weight lifting world, he said: "[When I was one] I started with no weights, just the techniques so I could know what I was doing first.
"I started because my parents ran fitness events and my dad worked with someone with a brain injury and they used the gym for rehab so I've always grown up in a gym environment".
He then revealed that his journey began to get serious after he took part in a competition at his gym last year and deadlifted the world record for a 10-year-old at the age of nine.
The boy said it feels "amazing" to officially hold the the world record for the "strongest 10-year-old athlete under 56kg of all time" and said that he's never been hurt or injured - despite the sport being extreme in nature.
His parents also say they are "proud" of Rowan who has a "desire to win and do well".
They say it's as much about discipline as it is about the lifting.
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And in a surprise show of strength, Rowan lifted the This Morning couch after Josie and Rochelle encouraged him to give it a go.
They were left stunned when he "didn't even break a sweat" and raised the large sofa with the 62-year-old chef still seated on it.
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