ROWAN O’Malley has broken world records in powerlifting… And he’s only 11 years old. He started competing when he was nine years old and in the powerlifting competition this year, he broke records with a 115kg squat, 135kg deadlift and 310kg total. Rowan said: “The feeling of getting a PB in powerlifting is amazing.” Despite Rowan’s hard work and achievements, his parents Ben and Gemma have faced judgement about their role as his parents. Gemma said: “We’ve had a few that have said ‘he needs to have a proper childhood’ and that really upsets us because Rowan is so busy, he does loads of amazing things.” Ben and Gemma are extremely proud of their son and assert they want to ensure he and his sister, Hettie, three, have amazing opportunities. Rowan added: “My parents are not pushy at all. They don’t push me to go to the gym, they don't push me to eat my protein. I want to do that myself. I know a lot of people think that they are pushy, but they're not. I push myself to be my best.”
With thanks to Barbell Productions for their work featured in this episode. You can see more of their work here barbellproductions.com and on Instagram @barbellproductions
With thanks to Barbell Productions for their work featured in this episode. You can see more of their work here barbellproductions.com and on Instagram @barbellproductions
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00:00I'm the world's strongest 11-year-old.
00:01The feeling of getting a PB in powerlifting is amazing.
00:04When people have criticised parenting,
00:06it tends to be someone says something like,
00:08I've pushed Rowan to do this.
00:10I know a lot of people think that they are pushy.
00:12First guy in the world of champions.
00:13It might sound pushy, but I've always told Rowan,
00:15if you want to be special, you have to do unusual things.
00:19I do two to three hours a day of training.
00:22Do you think training thereafter could be seen as too much?
00:25As soon as I get in from school, I'm out the door straight to training.
00:33My name's Rowan Amali. I'm the world's strongest 11-year-old.
00:37Okay, mate. Squat in.
00:43Yeah, keep the pauses when you're warming up, mate.
00:46Keep that shelf a little lower.
00:48Get your feet under the bar.
00:50Yeah, put some tempo in.
00:52My name is Gemma.
00:53And my name's Ben.
00:54We have two children, Rowan, who's 11, and Hetty, who's three.
00:58I would describe our parenting style as very proactive.
01:01I would say our parenting style is we're very loving.
01:03We're very supportive of the children.
01:05How old was Rowan when he first took an interest in strength training?
01:10So Rowan, probably about one and a half.
01:13We used to use his garage for my client's rehab.
01:15And we'd just find him grabbing an object.
01:18So even before he was two, he's been interested in training.
01:21How did you nurture this interest?
01:23We didn't really bring weights in until he was a little bit older,
01:26about five to six years old.
01:28We don't necessarily have a background in athletic performance or competition,
01:32but my background is in rehab for people with more complex needs.
01:36So that's where Rowan has found the gym, through that angle.
01:40But we also used to run fitness events.
01:42Yeah, we did run fitness events, yeah.
01:43Yeah.
01:43How does it get? I ran a gym for three years.
01:46My first proper memory in the gym was when I was about five or six years old,
01:49and I was hanging off a pull-up bar doing pull-ups,
01:52and everyone was clapping me.
01:53My training now is a lot harder than it was when I was younger.
01:56But now I have to lift heavy, or else I'm going to lose my strength easily.
02:02I hold seven world records, four from last year, three from this year.
02:05My squat is 115 kilos.
02:08My deadlift is 135 kilos.
02:11And my total is 310 kilos.
02:13And that is the heaviest total of all time for an under-12.
02:16The feeling of getting a PB in powerlifting is amazing.
02:19Was it Rowan's idea to enter powerlifting competitions?
02:22Rowan had asked me if he was able to compete in a novice competition in our old gym.
02:26So I asked the owner if he was able to compete, and he allowed him to at nine years old.
02:29It sounds bonkers, but you have to realise that that was the environment that he was in a lot.
02:35I wanted Rowan to get some recognition for how good he was.
02:38I mean, the bottom line is, we could see kids from all over the world
02:41on social media and YouTube and things like this,
02:43saying that they were the best this and that.
02:45And we always felt a little bit of grief, because Rowan would see that and think,
02:49I'm a year younger than that child, but I'm lifting much heavier.
02:52But in the UK, we didn't have the chance to compete at that age.
02:59I'm preparing an omelette with peppers, onion, cheese and bacon.
03:03It's very important for me to eat the right food,
03:05because if I want to, let's say, hit a new world record,
03:08and if I don't eat the right food,
03:10then I'm not going to see the progress that I want to see.
03:12From an early age, he's kind of shown an interest in cooking.
03:16He's not very fast.
03:16He's not very fast.
03:18But he's good.
03:23Good girl, Hetty.
03:24What are you saying?
03:27Cheesy omelette makes me feel very good.
03:33Hetty, she's just a dream.
03:35She is.
03:35She's very different to Rowan,
03:37in that she's not really into fitness in the way that he was at that age.
03:41Omelette.
03:43Good.
03:45What would you score Rowan's dish today out of 10?
03:47I'll give it a solid 8.
03:49Bad kabo.
03:516 out of 10 for presentation.
03:538 out of 10 for taste.
03:55Which number?
03:5710.
03:59I do roughly about two hours of training a day,
04:01and I train four times a week.
04:03But in rugby training, I don't train as much.
04:05I don't train as much.
04:07I do roughly about two hours of training a day,
04:09and I train four times a week.
04:11But in rugby training, I train one hour twice a week.
04:13The main thing I love about powerlifting
04:15is it gives me a good strong foundation.
04:17It's just going to help me if I want to go professional in rugby,
04:19which I do.
04:21None of my friends compete like I do,
04:23but some of my friends do train with me.
04:25Do you think training that often,
04:27five to six times a week,
04:29could be seen as too much?
04:31I think lots of people would see
04:33Rowan's schedule as too much,
04:35but they don't know Rowan.
04:37When Rowan has a day off,
04:39or he has a day where there's just two things going on,
04:41he will complain that he's bored,
04:43and he's asking us to do other things.
04:45He'll still do the drums.
04:47He'll have rugby training.
04:49He has boxing.
04:51He does see his friends, though.
04:53He does do nice things.
04:55It's not all relentless.
04:57So we have experienced some judgment,
04:59but I think on the whole,
05:01it's been quite positive.
05:03One of the things when people have criticised parenting,
05:05it tends to be someone says something like,
05:07I've pushed Rowan to do this
05:09because maybe I was a powerlifter,
05:11or whatever, but they don't understand
05:13that I wasn't a powerlifter.
05:15We've had a few that have said,
05:17oh, he needs to have a proper childhood,
05:19and that really upsets us,
05:21because Rowan is so busy.
05:23He does loads of amazing things.
05:25Are you pushy parents?
05:27I don't think we're pushy parents.
05:29I think that what we do
05:31is give Rowan an opportunity
05:33to excel in anything he wants to excel in.
05:35If Rowan said to me tomorrow he wants to be a painter,
05:37we'd be painting every day.
05:39I just feel like we're giving our son and our daughter
05:41the best opportunities that we can,
05:43and it's not the sort of thing
05:45that you can push a child to do.
05:47You have to want to do it.
05:49You can't force somebody to lift heavy weights.
05:51It's a very, very difficult world,
05:53and if you haven't got a work ethic
05:55and you haven't got a will to achieve,
05:57then you're going to struggle in life.
05:59If you want to be special,
06:01you have to do unusual things.
06:03You have to push yourself out of your comfort zone.
06:05My parents are not pushy at all.
06:07They don't push me to go to the gym.
06:09They don't push me to eat my protein.
06:11I want to do that myself.
06:13I know a lot of people think that they are pushy,
06:15but they're not.
06:17I push myself to do my best.
06:19They don't push me to do anything.
06:21So we've asked our audience these questions,
06:23and we would like for you to have a look at the responses.
06:25So the first question is,
06:28Top one says,
06:38I think it's a bizarre comment.
06:40I mean, what's regular lifting?
06:42The comment is total nonsense on many levels.
06:45It's completely against anything
06:47that you would find in modern research.
06:52No, I would not, because it's too dangerous
06:54for a little child.
06:56And no, their skeleton isn't fully grown and fused.
07:02Well, I think when people comment
07:04about a skeleton being fused,
07:06I think we don't need to reply to them.
07:08Bones develop from resistance,
07:10from running, jumping, pushing, pulling.
07:12And what we've done with Rowan is an example of that.
07:14You know, he is strong.
07:16He has strong, stable joints.
07:18He has strong bones. He's never been injured.
07:20And that's a testament to the lifting
07:22that we've done with him.
07:25Congratulations.
07:27There you go.
07:28There you go, Rowan.
07:33Thank you very much.
07:34So we have chosen to feature Rowan on the wall
07:36as the first person to be on the wall of champions
07:38because of the achievements which he has achieved.
07:41He's an 11-year-old boy.
07:42As humble as they come, Rowan is amazing.
07:45It's an honour.
07:46Out of everyone in this gym, I'm the first.
07:48It just feels amazing.
07:50Intense.
07:53What do you hope the future holds for your family?
07:55I just want our kids to have a really good opportunity,
07:57a good start in life.
07:58Making Rowan strong is just the baseline
08:01for him to do other things.
08:02That was it.
08:03I hope the future holds a lot of happiness for our family.
08:07I hope that Rowan fulfils his dreams.
08:09It's amazing to see him achieving all of this.
08:11We're really, really proud of him.
08:22For more UN videos visit www.un.org