When mechanical engineer Simon Thomas entered his first strongman competition in 2009, there was nowhere to train in south Wales. Far from the glamorous competitions you see on TV, Simon had to use makeshift equipment and train from his garage when he first started out. From his home in Clydach, Swansea, Simon cut up telegraph poles and wrapped up sandbags to mimic the logs and axel stones featured in many strongman competitions. Fourteen years later, world-champion strongman Simon, 45, now owns a state-of-the-art gym in his local village which is kitted out with equipment he once could only dream of. From huge pillars which you can use to do something called The Hercules Hold - just the name is intimidating - to an actual car which brave competitors attempt to deadlift, Celtic Strength and Fitness is filled with unique equipment which until now has been hard to find across Wales. You can get more Swansea news and other story updates straight to your inbox by . Read more: Although Simon has come a long way from training with telephone poles in his garage to opening his own gym with his business partner, a warm welcome is given to people of all backgrounds and experience levels at his gym. "The feedback I get from people is quite humbling really. They say it's the best gym they've been to and I'm not bragging, I think it's the atmosphere. If somebody's struggling you'll have two or three people there helping them. We've created that kind of community," said Simon. The gym, which is tucked away in an unsuspecting industrial estate in the Swansea Valley, has a dedicated strongperson training section but this is just one part of Celtic Strength and Fitness. There are also cardio machines, weights and functional fitness equipment for your more everyday workouts and you can train in boxing, karate and muay thai at the gym too. "I wanted a gym for everyone, not just a strongman gym," explained Simon, "For a lot of people even just walking through the door of a gym is quite intimidating. " The gym opened in 2021 after months of delays in opening due to government restrictions during the Covid pandemic. On why the wait was worth it, Simon said: "There's nowhere really in south Wales where you can train strongman. There's a few small places where you can train outside in the rain or the snow. So, when the opportunity came I thought I'd go for it. It was probably the wrong time during Covid!" As a seasoned strongman, Simon wants to encourage new people to compete and aims to challenge some of the stereotypes associated with the sport. "People think strongman is all about big men and shouting. But it's nothing like that," he said. Big competitions like Wales' Strongest Man are hosted at the gym but Simon also holds smaller events for people who are new to the sport. On Sunday, Feburary 19, a mix of men and women competed in a first-timer and novice competition. "It's a relaxed atmosphere because everyone is new," said Simon. Despite his humble beginnings of starting out with charity competitions and training with makeshift equipment, Simon won the WHEA Strongman World Champion title last year - which involved deadlifting a sauna and pushing a tractor - and trains naturally to compete on the drug-testing side of strongman. "I only intended on doing one competition and then I got bitten by the bug, 14 years later I'm still doing it. You're just constantly pushing yourself for different events, different disciplines. The camaraderie of competitions- you can't beat it. " You can take a look around the gym in our pictures below:.