Manatee County man holds title for 'Florida's Strongest Man'

Meet Florida's Strongest Man

FOX 13's Kim Kuizon reports.

BRADENTON, Fla. - Brooks Larkin is all strength.

The backstory:

He’s played football as an offensive lineman for Manatee High School and the University of South Florida.

He’s a true competitor, and he’s also taken home the title of ‘Florida’s Strongest Man’.

It’s a title he’s never given up hope of achieving.

At Asgard Training Center in Bradenton, you’ll often spot Larkin training to achieve his next goal.

"Anything worth having is not easy to get," he told FOX 13.

On Friday afternoon, he lifted a log with extra weight at exactly 300 pounds.

At 17-years-old, he was already squatting 600 pounds with the Manatee High School Hurricane’s football team.

After playing college football at the University of South Florida, his strength training continued.

"Strong man, I could use my athleticism, my size and my strength and kind of just thought to myself, I don’t want to get to 50-years-old, 60-years-old and said I could have done this. I want to sleep at night knowing that I did do it," he said.

Brooks had his eye on taking first place with Florida’s Strongest Man competition.

"I like to shoot big. I like to go for Florida’s strongest, world’s strongest firefighter. Competitions where somebody there is better than me. I’ve learned so much doing it that way," said Larkin.

In January, after four years of chasing the title, he competed once more.

He did a 200-pound circus dumbbell lift,

He carried a 900-pound yoke, 117 feet and finished the competition by lifting a 320-pound stone for two reps to his shoulder.

He went home with the title as the 2025 Florida’s Strongest Man.

"When people come up to me and say, dude, you won, you’re the strongest man in Florida, that’s such a crazy thing to hear, but that’s my title right now, and I will use it as best as I can. It’s humbling," he said.

Larkin has also taken second, twice for the World’s Strongest Firefighter.

What's next:

There’s no stopping what he wants to achieve.

"The fact that you work through adversity is life, you have a choice to keep going and that’s what strong man has taught me," he said.

The Source: FOX 13's Kimberly Kuizon interviews Brooks Larkin for this story.

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