Newsome mum Emma Taylor scoops Strongwoman title at first attempt

She admits she struggled to get back her figure and her fitness after having her son.

But now Newsome woman Emma Taylor is celebrating - having won a Strongwoman title at the first attempt.

Emma, 38, saw off a host of challengers to grab the title in Northampton, beating them all on daunting tests such as the Farmer’s Walk, the Sledge Pull, the Dead Lift and the terrifying Giant Tyre Flip.

Now she has set her sights on another competition next February and said: “Once I set my mind to something, I have to do it”.

Emma lives in Wood Lane with son Beau, now five.

She worked as a part-time chef which added to her fitness problems after having Beau.

“It was hard to taste all that food and then have to spit it out.

“I wanted to get my figure back but I was running miles on the treadmill and getting nowhere.

“I was down at the gym at the old Huddersfield Sports Centre and decided I’d have a go at the weights. My first attempt was a disaster: I couldn’t even lift the bar itself, which is 20kg without any weights.

“I was determined to do it and I was down at the gym for 40 minutes a time, six days a week.

“I gave up the chef’s job and studied to be a personal trainer, but I always put an hour a day for myself.

“When I saw a piece on the internet about the Strongwoman contest it gave me a goal. I didn’t do anything different, cutting training back to just 30 minutes a day, and obviously Kirklees Active Leisure gyms don’t have sleds or giant tyres lying about.

“We improvised and I rigged up some weights for myself to have a go, but I must admit that when it came to the contest, the tyre was the thing I feared most. I had visions of it falling on me and killing me!”

In the end, the contest at Northampton proved a real triumph for Emma who won the novice section and now qualifies for the open category next February.

“I absolutely loved it and the nerves I had vanished after the first round”.

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Scott, too, is delighted. He said: “Emma was low in confidence and was wary of entering weights room as it’s male dominated.

“She is an absolute inspiration to mothers out there where anything is possible if you want it bad. I’m so proud of her”.