Clint Taylor from the Lower Mountains likes to lift.
He and four Mountains mates flexed their muscles at the novice Redemption Powerlifting Competition held at the PTC Sydney gym in Lidcombe on November 20.
Competitive powerlifting consists of three sections – the squat, the bench and the deadlift.
On the day Taylor recorded the top squat at 275kg.
“I like that it [powerlifting] involves men and women of all shapes and sizes. It's a sport built around your performance,” the 25-year-old said.
His training buddies also performed strongly.
Kieran Brown was the top deadlift at 305kg, followed closely by Gavin Brown at 300kg.
Combining the weights of all three sections, overall Kieran had the second biggest total of the day at 740kg, followed by Taylor in third with 700kg, and then Gavin fourth at 675kg.
The trio train at Anytime Fitness in Springwood five times a week for two hour sessions, but have been lifting since high school. They train with Jordan Prendergast and Adam Kiem, and the five of them began competing this year.
Next year they hope to compete in sanctioned state competitions, and are developing an online powerlifting community offering online coaching to launch next year, called Empire Barbell.
“We're all looking forward to taking it a step further next year and hopefully making it onto the national circuit,” Taylor said.
