Not only can three time New Zealand strongman Mathew Ragg be called the Bay of Plenty's strongest man, but he can also be called a record breaker.

Mathew took out the Bay of Plenty Strongest Man competition at the Tauranga A&P Lifestyle Show at the Tauranga Racecourse.

Matt Rossiter, who ran Sunday's event, says Mathew took out the title in record breaking fashion, setting a new BOP record in the log life with 160kg.

'Also a new record in the carry and drag pulling the 180kg sled the length of the course in 44.14 seconds.

'In second place was the reigning NZ strongest man in the under 105kg class, Jayson Woods, who set a new BOP record in the farmers walk carrying 214kg 50 metres in 25.73 seconds.”

Third place went to Tauranga's Andrew Wain, whose strong finish in the stone lifting took him clear of the rest of the 15 man field.

The strongman competition was first introduced to New Zealand in the early 1990s by former NZ strongman Colin Cox, and has grown to include 'a few hundred” competitors.

Typical strongman events in New Zealand include the Farmers Walk, vehicle pull, yoke carry, overhead log lift, stone lift and carrying a 160kg anvil.

The New Zealand record for the latter event is held by Mike Olsen, who carried it over a distance of 125 metres in 2012.