After Scottish powerlifter Fergus Crawley survived a suicide attempt in 2016, he turned his life around with the help of an unlikely ally–a French Bulldog puppy. Then, he set his sights on one of the most grueling strength records out there: the most weight squatted in 24 hours. We did deep into his incredible story, and geek out on all the training deets.

Highlights:

- How he went from a normal student and lifter to depressed and suicidal

- "It got to the stage where I think five days passed where I didn't say a word to anyone, other than to a coffee shop checkout employee or to someone at the local supermarket or something like that. I just sat back and thought, 'This just isn't me. This isn't the person I am. I'm sociable, I'm outgoing.' I couldn't understand why I was in the position I was in, but it came down to the fact that I'm a man. You don't talk about these things."

- "The irony is I was training for strength but ultimately feeling like self-help was a complete weakness."

- How getting a puppy—and talking to it—led him out of the abyss

- Why he's talking about it now: "There's thousands upon thousands of men around the world in similar situations who feel like they can't talk about it. That is the crux of the issue. It was for me."

- How he landed on the idea of attempting a grueling record on his favorite lift

- "I want my attempt to be a symbol of strength in and of itself, but I also want the process and the story behind it to become a symbol of strength as well, rather than people seeing the mental health as a weakness."

- Why his coach programmed his training "like an ultramarathon"

- "So my training has involved horrifying amounts of cardio that I kind of didn't see coming, to be honest. But here we are."

- His programming plan: 10 reps OTM... for a long, long time

- His "baptism by fire" to get his body accustomed to lactate

- His secret weapon: Many, many walking lunges. "As a leg movement for overall strength, stability, and positioning, they've just done wonders for me and my lower back and upper back and shoulders especially."

- The overall arch of his training, and how he's peaking before the event

- How he has managed recovery from workouts with 1,000-plus reps of squats

- The challenge of nutrition: "During my 22 years on this earth, I've always been hungry. I've never been full."

- How the terms "endurance" and "endurance athlete" lose all meaning when in the face of feats by hybrid athletes like Fergus and Ross Edgely

- The detail questions: High bar or low? Squat shoes or flats? Belt or no? Supplements or junk food or both? Classical music or Slayer? How deep is he squatting?

- The, shall we say, "digestive" concerns of the challenge

- What comes next for him after the challenge—whether it succeeds or not

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