TRURO, N.S. — Think of a truck pull. It's the truck doing all the pulling, right?
Dillon Fraser prefers it the other way around.
As a strongman competitor Fraser’s been known to pull a truck or two. Just for fun.
“I wasn’t in a very happy place before I got involved in this,” he said. “I had nothing to work toward. It’s amazing what setting a goal can do.
“I absolutely love competing. It’s almost intoxicating when you’re around the crowd and the other competitors.”
He admits to being a lazy kid who didn’t really think about fitness until about Grade 10, at South Colchester Academy. He became serious about strength training at 22 and now, at age 27, he’s held the title of Third Strongest Man in Atlantic Canada twice, finished first in provincials twice, and placed sixth overall at the 2019 amateur Heavyweight Canadian Nationals. He also earned the title of P.E.I.'s Strongest Man in 2019.
“I want to turn pro, and to do that I have to win Atlantic Canada’s Strongest man or be first overall at nationals,” he said. “I take this seriously. I’m at the gym about five days a week."
Then there's his day job at Stanfield's.
"Between working, eating, sleeping and this, it takes up most of my life."
The maximum weight he’s lifted overhead is 340 pounds; he’s carried as much as 800 pounds on a yoke.
Standing 6-ft. 4-in., and weighing in at about 295 pounds, it takes a lot of food to keep that weight on.
“I eat 4,000 to 6,000 calories a day,” he said. “If I’m going somewhere to eat, I have to eat before I get there or there might not be enough for everyone.”
He's been to an all-you-can-eat buffet. By the time he left, they'd run out of a few things.
Fraser finds working out in the gym a good way to relieve stress and anxiety, but even he has days when he struggles with motivation.
“I drag myself to the gym on days I don’t want to be there and wonder why I’m doing this, but then it all comes together and it’s great.”
Local businesses are sponsoring him and he’s hoping to get a few more. Anyone interested in contacting him about sponsorship packages can email [email protected]. Pictures of past competition can be seen on Instagram at dillon.j.fraser.
His next competition will be at the Halifax Exhibition Centre, during Motorcycle Powersport Atlantic, on March 7.
