A Royal Marines veteran and local business owner has been making quite the name for himself in a sport he loves.

Paul Collinson, who owns FootGolf on the eXe, recently celebrated victory at the World Powerlifting Championships.

Having previously excelled at the British Championships in Horncastle, Lincolnshire in March, Collinson participated in the World Drug Free Powerlifting Federations [WDFPF] World Championships in Amsterdam on June 2.

Powerlifting is a far cry from regular gym lifting; it requires the participant to follow three verbal commands in order to demonstrate control over the bar throughout each element of the lift.

Training for these exercises was undertaken through a combination of resources, including the local and specialist Powerlifting/strongman gym, Synergy Barbell in Weston-super-Mare.

His routine, which included an extended tapered 11-week peaking programme, paid off as Collinson managed to successfully open his bid with a 155kg lift in the M5 under 90kg category.

The local business owner astounded observers and competitors as he managed to press 162.5kg, breaking his own world record, before lifting 165kg, setting a new competition personal best and increasing the world record.

Collinson beat 20 other lifters from nations as diverse as Australia, the USA, France and Moldova.

Having tasted international success, he now plans to compete in the European Championships, to be held in Dublin in September.

The Royal Marines veteran highly recommends powerlifting as a positive training method, stating it's not just to strengthen muscles and tendons, but it also helps increase bone density.

He believes training individually or with a group of like-minded people can be both enjoyable and sociable.