Blairgowrie butcher fuelling Viking strongman’s bid to take on the world

A Perthshire strongman is preparing to take on the world after battling back from serious illness. And he’s doing it with a bellyful of best Blairgowrie butcher meat.

John Beattie has secured sponsorship from butcher Wendy Donald to help him train for the World Strength Games in Utah in the US next May.

It’s a prestigious invite-only contest.

And it will mark a major milestone for the Blairgowrie stone-lifter, who’s known to his fans as the Scottish Viking.

It’s only a couple of years since John, 37, was told he’d never lift a barbell again.

The dad-of-two spent more than a month in hospital – some of it in an induced coma – after suffering organ failure.

At one point, his family were told to gather by his bedside as medics feared the worst.

But this Scottish Viking is made of sterner stuff.

After a year off, John started work on his fitness, taking it one step and press-up at a time.

And after nine months, he felt well enough to enter a strongman competition in Edinburgh, his first since his illness.

He finished last. And it felt like he was on top of the world.

“To be honest, that was my best competition ever,” John said.

“Just the fact that I was there, doing something I’d been told I’d never do again.

“That’s when I thought ‘I’m not going to let this slip away’.”

Every day a bonus for Scottish Viking

John is back in peak condition now, and working as a weights coach and personal trainer at Results gym in Blairgowrie.

And with partner Stacey and daughters Poppy, 11, and Freya, 6,  behind him, he’s right back on the competition circuit too.

He has events across Scotland, in November, December and January, before he sets his sights on Utah in 2025.

Competing for his country will be a dream come true for the Scottish Viking.

“It feels like putting a full stop on everything that happened,” he said.

“I know it sounds cheesy, but every day really does feel like a bonus.”

You don’t get to that level in the strongman game without the right kind of fuel though.

John gets through about 5,000 calories a day when he’s training, devouring four eggs and bacon for breakfast, a couple of portions each of chicken and rice and mince and rice, and steak and potatoes for dinner.

And that’s where Wendy Donald’s Blairgowrie butcher shop comes in.

Strongman fan Wendy delighted to help

John popped in to the unit on the High Street a few months ago in search of bone broth to add to his “monster mash” of rice, lean beef and vegetables.

He and Wendy got talking and it turned out he’d come to just the right place.

Wendy’s a big fan of bone broth and its health properties. She stews it to her own recipe for 24 hours and has prepared it for people going through cancer therapy in the past.

But she’s also been a big fan of strongman competitions since she met Geoff Capes when she was a little girl in Ballater.

And so she was only too happy to sponsor John’s strongman career, in the form of a steady supply of best butchery products.

The shop is now keeping him in fresh bone broth for free. But it’s also supplying him with all the meat he needs for training at trade cost.

And Wendy is even stocking £20 Scottish Viking packs, containing two 6oz steak burgers, four pork medallions, two chicken fillets, steak mince and six extra large eggs, for anyone who wants to emulate John’s training regime (or just fill their freezer).

“When John told me what he was doing, I was really impressed,” she said.

“I’m delighted we can help him.”