Geoff Capes' 12k calories a day diet to be world's strongest man resurfaces after death

The late staggering 12,000 calories per day diet has resurfaced following his death aged 75.

Capes' family , with the cause of his death yet to emerge. The Lincolnshire-born athlete was named the world's strongest man on two occasions, 1983 and 1985, and won gold medals at both the and European Indoor Championships in shot put.

Capes also represented at three : Munich 1972, Montreal 1976 and Moscow 1980. Standing at 6ft 5in and weighing 170kg at his peak, he was renowned for being able to to tear phone books and bend steel bars with ease.

In order to keep up his size and strength, Capes needed to eat well and eat plenty. Two years ago, the shared archival footage from 1976 which showed him training and discussing his workout routine, most of which was built around weightlifting.

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A typical week would see Capes lift a staggering 120 tonnes, the equivalent of 18 double-decker buses. But his diet was even more jaw-dropping - four times what the average person eats per day.

• 2.7kg of red meat
• 680g of cottage cheese
• 450g of butter
• One pack of cereal
• Two large loaves of bread
• A dozen eggs
• A large tin of beans
• Two tins of pilchards
• One pint of orange juice
• Seven pints of milk

That set Capes back a few quid, too, but the British star was so popular that he had butchers offering to give him free meat and sponsors sending him tins of their food for free.

Back in 1976, the red meat cost £15. That might not sound much until you realise it equates to more than £149.79 in this day and age after factoring in inflation.

Capes still holds the national record for shot put, managing a huge 21.68m effort in 1980. Carl Myerscough surpassed that in 2003 but his performance wasn't ratified by UK Athletics. Capes' children, Lewis and Emma, also became national shot put champions and the family tradition has continued through grandchildren Donovan and Lawson.

He told during an interview last year: "There were stronger people out there - I met a lot of them in the fens of Lincolnshire. But it was about the application of strength. Can you apply it at speed? Can you run with 400 pounds?

"I basically did that on a farm when I was a kid with sacks of potatoes. And I worked things out technically. They would call me 'numbers'. If I went first, you'd see everyone copying. No matter what it was, I wanted to win."

Capes' family confirmed his death on Wednesday evening, saying in a statement: "The family of Geoffrey Capes would like to announce his sad passing today, 23rd October. Britain's finest shot-putter and twice world's strongest man."