A PERSONAL trainer is officially the third natural strongest woman in the world.

Emma Grunnill, 34. lives in Ings and leads outdoor personal training sessions in the Lake District.

Emma, who has only been training for competitions since November last year, competed in the Natural Strongman World Championships at The Oriam in Edinburgh. It was a two-day competition with eight events, and all athletes were subject to drug testing. 

Some of the lifts she had to do included an 80kg sandbag to shoulders, a 155kg Fingal's fingers and a 195kg deadlift. 

Emma won the deadlift event and the 195kg was a personal best for her by 25kg. She said it was an 'insane moment' when the lift was accepted by the referee. She was only one of two people to complete all four lifts (working from 135kg) in the deadlift event, and it took her from sixth place to third overall. 

She said: "The buzz of the whole weekend was incredible. Everyone was up against each other but so supportive of one another.

"I went down to fourth on the second day so it came down to a battle on the Fingal's fingers which was always going to be tough as I felt so fatigued after two days of competing. 

"I managed to get four reps which gave me joint first on that event taking to overall third place. The feeling of realising I was finishing on the podium was unreal - my family and friends had made the trip up and looking up in the stands seeing them all going crazy was the best feeling. 

"It's been a wild ride of a year with a lot of ups and downs so finishing off my 34th year being the 3rd strongest woman in the world is insane." 

READ MORE: Ings trainer will compete in Natural Strongman World Championships

Emma thanked her sponsors - Dales Butchers, Brownbag Protein and TNT gym at Cowan Bridge. 

She also gave praise to her coaches, conditioning coach Curt Woodburn in Kendal and her Morecambe-based strongman coach Mollie Wagstaff. 

Emma said that she receives messages all the time from parents saying how inspired their children are by her, and she hopes competing helps 'change the narrative' on body shaming or weight loss. 

She said: "If little girls continue to watch like me lifting weights, being strong and healthy and wanting to do the same when they grow up, that's reason enough to continue."

Emma is heading off to Madrid next week to compete in her final competition of the season.