Meet Strongman Sean Gillen: A man of calories, carbs and competition

Like plenty before them and many since, Sean Gillen and Wendy Cunningham decided to sample a slice of life and go to Australia.

A native of Culdaff, Sean admits he participated in sports growing up - educated in Craigtown National School and then Carndonagh Community School - although never overly competitive. A bit of rugby, boxing and cycling before working as a carpenter - nothing out of the ordinary.

The couple landed in Melbourne in November 2012, and, over 10 years later they’re still there. Wendy Cunningham is now Wendy Gillen, there’s two-year-old Gracie and Sean is a professional Strongman.

“The plan was to come on a 12-month visa for a working holiday,” Sean, a 32-year-old concrete groundworker, told DonegalLive. “It was never the intention to stay. Tick it off the list, get it done, go home and do what you gotta do. But the lifestyle here is what keeps you. Work isn’t that difficult to get and the weather is good. It’s easier to be comfortable here.”

In Melbourne, Sean was enjoying the reps in the gym and had an interest in strength and conditioning. As a sport, Strongman was on the up. From taking part in a novice competition in 2019 and having a crack at a state title in South Australia later that year, on Saturday last he took part in his first as a pro.

He always found Strongman interesting. “It was like when you’re home at Christmas and there’s not much on TV,” he said. “I found it amazing what they could do.

“Gym training was good but it was monotonous sometimes. I took on a novice competition and next thing we knew there was Covid. It meant no competition, although I just kept my head down, trained away and tried to bring up my lifts. By early 2021, there were competitions planned for January, only for another blast of lockdowns so I just kept at the training. Working hard.”

When things finally lifted, Sean threw his hat into the ring for Compound Carnage, in “a pretty stacked line-up” and came fifth. In the same competition in January 2022 he placed second.

Australia’s Strongest Man was the hope, although it only became reality when two competitors dropped out. So, with three days notice, at the Meatstock Festival at the Showgrounds in Melbourne, there he was. He finished fifth, in a competition that involved eight events - 310kg squat for reps, max block press overhead, 170kg per hand farmers walk and five fingals fingers to finish - on day one. Then, a deadlift ladder four bars starting at 320kg, 340kg, 360kg and 380kg, log press medley fastest time, loading medley and it all finished with the iconic atlas stone series.

When Sean, above, left Inishowen he would stand on the scales at 105kg (16 stone, seven pounds) and in the 2019 novices he was 120kg (18 stone, 12 pounds) and his current weight is 170kg (26 stone 11 pounds).

“A lot of food, a lot of work and a lot of training,” Sean said as to how he got there, with his daily calorie intake between 8,000 and 8,500. “It’s the same as a car needing fuel, I need calories.”

Nutrient-dense food is essential, with the sheer quantity of it driving up the count. A typical breakfast is made up of 250 grams of dry oats, 700ml milk, 60 grams of Nutella, peanut butter, honey and 60 grams of almond meal, with bananas and berries. The calorie count for that first meal alone is touching the 3,000-mark.

Pre-workout might be pancakes with fruit and syrup and two or three of those might do most people, Sean’s is “probably double that”. Calories are added through fruit juice - orange being the choice mainly - with a two to four-hour workout supplemented with four scoops of pure carb mixed with one litre of cranberry juice, which is 1,000 calories alone.

In between, there’s lasagne, shepherd's pie and spaghetti bolognese - consumed in rotation, all three in a day, with never more than a four-hour gap between meals. Plenty of carbs, be it rice, potato or pasta. All in all, the supermarket till receipt reads $350 a week, which equates to around €225.

“I eat regularly and keep gaps to a minimum,” Sean added. “You've got to get creative and you have to be hitting those calorie targets. I notice if I miss a meal or two, which can happen with work, it really affects my performance and I can see it on the scales.”

Although not all gym disciplines are convertible to Strongman, Sean’s best deadlift is 370kg (58 stone, three pounds), squat is 350kg (55 stone, two pounds) and benchpress is 200kg (31 stone, six pounds). His overhead log lift is 185kg (29 stone, one pound).

On Saturday, in his first professional outing, Sean placed seventh at the 2023 Australia’s Strongest International competition, which was held in Yapeen. He competed with stars like Mitchell Hooper from Canada, who won the competition, ahead of Estonia’s Rauno Heinla, Australians Fadi El Masri, Jean-Stephen Coraboeuf and Tyler Helm, as well as Tiano Faapoi from New Zealand.

“Phenomenal athletes,” is how Sean described the competitors. “They certainly don’t mess around! It was a great experience to share the stage with them, men capable of lifting world level weights.”

At one stage, Sean lost hold of 175kg in the log press whilst raising it above his head, although laughed off the notion it was a “near death experience,” as hyped in some quarters and said “it wasn’t really planned and was only a bit of a bang on the side of the head.

“You feel a little beat up after serious competition as you push yourself to the limit but I’ll take a day or two rest, get plenty of hydration, and then get back at it with a light session or two.

“One of the main things that draws me to the sport is the camaraderie shown. Competitors share equipment, do a session together, travel with one another and cheer each other on. It's just like a gang of mates sitting around before and after events.

“Everyone wants to do their best and not for your opponent not to. Let the best man win. There’s a serious mutual respect as we all know the pain and effort that’s needed to even get into competition.”

The next target is Australia’s Strongest Man on March 18/19, with the Holzfaller Championship returning early May at Meatstock Sydney. To date, Sean’s biggest win to date came in that event last year and it's what has catapulted him to where he is now.

Žydrūnas Savickas is confirmed to be a judge at the Holzfaller, the Lithuanian idol of the sport who won the World's Strongest Man on four occasions and came second six times.

“I’ve a pro card now as a professional athlete,” he added. “It might not mean as much as in other sports and some might laugh but it’s certainly useful when creating a following. The sport is growing and competing at events of this level means good exposure, good opportunities and sponsorships and partnerships, which can certainly be useful.

“The aim is to take this further than Australia and that, for me, is what this year is about. There are opportunities out there. There’s a big year ahead.”

Anyone that may be interested in trying strongman in the Inishowen area Pure Grit gym in Carndonagh run strongman/woman classes on a Saturday morning look them up and give it a go. If you would like to keep track of Sean's progress, give @sean_gillen_strongman a follow