Strong Contenders pump iron

Cpl. Graeme MacGregor steps up to a steel bar with well over 500 pounds of metal bolted to it.

Three spotters watch him intently. Heavy metal blasts from a nearby boom-box.

He reaches down and psyches himself up.

“Get it! Get it!” roars a nearby friend.

“Urraahh!” Veins in his arms bulging, bar bending, MacGregor hoists the barbell up past his knees, stands tall, and then slams it back down with a clang.

The crowd roars.

MacGregor, a member of 1 Combat Engineer Regiment, was one of about 1,100 soldiers at the Edmonton Garrison this week taking part in Exercise Strong Contender, an annual competition that pits troops against each other for fitness and bragging rights.

Strong Contender is a five-day event that sees troops compete in hockey (ball and ice), volleyball, basketball, curling, soccer, tactical athletics (cross-fit), and – new this year – powerlifting.

The event is meant to give soldiers a chance to showcase their athletic abilities, says Col. Trevor Cadieu, commander of 1 Canadian Mechanized Brigade Group.

“This exercise promotes mental and physical resilience, determination and camaraderie – all of which are extremely important as we train our team for operations at home and abroad.”

Powerlifting showcase

Powerlifting co-ordinator Capt. Phil Olsen (3 Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry) says powerlifting is a growing trend in the Canadian Forces, especially in places like CFB Gagetown, which hosts a regular tournament.

Powerlifting has athletes compete to see who can support the most weight in three different lifts: the squat (weight on back), bench press (back on bench), and deadlift (from the ground to above the knees).

While it's technically an individual sport, you get a lot of teamwork and encouragement from your spotters and fellow lifters, Olsen says. It's also very objective, as you can see exactly how much better you are (or aren't) compared to your competitors.

Cpl. Chandelle Pilz (1 Field Ambulance) managed about 185 lbs. in the dead lift, or about 35 lbs. above her body weight.

Pilz says she started lifting last summer with the encouragement of her gym-mates and is thinking about entering a competition this summer.

“Being a girl in the military, I want to be able to lift my equipment,” she says. That can mean everything from a 100-lb. backpack to a 200-lb. patient.

MacGregor, a Prince Edward Island native, managed about 600 lbs. in the deadlift (about three times his weight), and decided to try 645 for the heck of it – about 10 lbs. over his personal best. (He got it about an inch off the ground.)

“Go big or go home,” he explains.

MacGregor says he's done cross-fit and hit the gym for years, but only started seriously powerlifting three months ago. He says it's a good workout that lets you meet a lot of great people, and that it's handy for when you have to lift the 300-plus-lb. bridge segments you get as an engineer.

Powerlifting is much more about technique than raw strength, says fellow athlete Cpl. Justin Spurr (1 PPCLI).

“Easily 70 per cent of it is mental.”

For the dead lift, for example, you want to picture yourself pushing your feet through the floor rather than pulling the weight up. If you do the latter, as he did on his last lift, you're not using your legs, arms and hips to their full extent, and you can't finish the lift.

MacGregor and several other competitors also tended to scream really loud, too, in an apparent attempt to raise the barbell off the ground with the force of their voice.

“It's kind of mind over matter,” MacGregor explains, when asked about it.

“If you can yell it, you can usually get it up.”

Olsen says powerlifting seems to have been very popular this year (about 150 people attended), so it may come back next year.

Strong Contender runs all this week at the garrison. Visit www.facebook.com/1CMBG for details.

Check out these videos from the event.

Video Credit: April Bartlett

Video Credit: April Bartlett