Maria Krzesinska, who enjoys eating Chicken Selects, Big Tasty burgers, McFlurrys and drinks McDonald’s milkshake at work, has been crowned the world’s strongest woman over 40

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McDonald’s worker named world’s strongest woman

A McDonald’s worker who kept up her protein rich diet by munching through burgers during shifts has been crowned the world’s strongest woman over 40.

Maria Krzesinska clinched the title at the world championships in Finland after being previously crowned one of Britain’s strongest women.

The mum-of-three credits her success to bulking up by eating Chicken Selects, Big Tasty burgers, McFlurrys and drinking McDonald’s milkshake at work.

The 40-year-old trains several days a week for between one to three hours to keep herself in shape for competitions when she’s not flipping burgers and serving customers.

And her hard work paid off when she won first place at the World Heavy Events Association World Championship in Kuopio just before Christmas.

She was named the winner of the Masters (40+) category and the Natural (drug tested) World’s Strongest Woman by flipping 200kg (30 stone) tyres and carrying sandbags.

Maria also had to dead-lift a 200kg quad bike, carry a 60kg (9 stone) axle and hurl heavy objects over a distance of 3.5 metres.

Maria, of Dudley, West Mids., said: “I am obviously delighted because I’ve worked so hard to get to this point.

“It was an honour to be Britain’s strongest woman in my category but to do the same on a global scale just feels amazing.

“There was a lot of competition but I was always quite confident.

“Because of Covid they crammed every event into one day rather than over two days like they normally do – so by the end of it I was completely knackered.

“We had to lift an axle which was just like massive barbell, do a tyre lift, carry 75kg sand bags over long distances – which are all things I practiced for.

“There was also a loading medley, where you just have to go along lifting an item and placing it on a platform and they get progressively heavier.

“I was actually the only person who was able to lift the 90kg weight up so that gave me a more comfortable lead come the end.”

The committed weight lifter had to book time off work to compete.

“McDonald’s have always been really supportive and understanding,” she said.

“I didn’t need to alter my training routine, I just intensified it a little bit in the run up. You know what events you are competing in so you just focus your training to that.”

Maria took up the hobby after she started power-lifting in a bid to build up her muscle from a knee injury a few years ago.

She says her strength can prove handy at work when she helps male colleagues with heavy deliveries and at home to lift out her washing machine when it needs fixing.

The heaviest thing she has ever lifted was a 1.3 tonne (1,323 kg) Renault Clio which saw her clinch another title.

She added: “I fell in love with strong man and strong women competitions as it’s just a community like no other and so much fun.

“I started boxing at first but I injured my knee and doctors said I needed to rebuild the muscle which got me into power-lifting.

“But I found it a bit rigid and repetitive so I went along to a strong man event and had a go tipping over hay bales.

“People were amazed when I managed to tip a couple over and urged me to take it up properly and I’ve never looked back.

“I don’t have to keep to a strict diet which is handy because I absolutely love cake and ice-cream.

“I try and eat as much protein as I can and at work there’s obviously plenty of food so I often have a Big Tasty with bacon, chicken breast strips, McFlurry and a milk shake.

“I just train in my back garden at home and down the gym and I have a brilliant trainer in Rhiannon Lovelace who won the 2018 World’s Strongest Woman.

“She is pound for pound the strongest woman in the world for her size and can lift four times her body weight.

“It takes a lot of hard work and dedication but I enjoy it so much and love the variety, there’s no end of things to lift and carry.

“It even helps at work when unloading deliveries, some of the men just sit back and let me do the hard work.

“And at home if something heavy needs lifting such as the washing machine to fix it, I can quite easily lift it out and plumb it back in.”