A FITNESS coach is pushing himself to new limits to raise money for terminally ill children.

Tom Bottrill, from Witham, is setting himself a deadlift challenge, where he will lift 150kg for 150 times every day for a month.

Mr Bottrill, 27, of Halcyon Close, is a coach at the Fitness Factory in Crittall Road.

He trains on a daily basis, but said this challenge for Little Havens Hospice is bigger than anything he has ever done.

He said: "I set the bar reasonably but it's still going to be brutal.

"I haven't done anything to that extent before."

He said he loves to help people in the gym mentally as well as physically, which has put him in a good position for his challenge.

He said: "It's a place for me to escape and improve myself.

"It's where you can become the best version of yourself."

The competitive body-builder, who has taken part in the British nationals, trains for up to three hours a day.

He said: "The family think I'm mental but this does mean a lot to me.

"It's the message about being grateful for what you have got, people always focus on stress and anxiety and don't think about what they have."

When he was 16 he visited the hospice in Benfleet, and it changed his outlook on life.

He said: "The children there are happier than a lot of people as they know they have to make every day count, and that's what we tell everyone at the gym."

He lives with his partner, Chloe Jennings, and said she was a great motivator.

Mr Bottrill has set up a Just Giving page and will film his progress every day on YouTube.

His challenge will start on February 1.

To donate visit www.justgiving.com/fundraising/Thomas-Bottrill-Deadliftmarathon.