A powerlifting team from Cranbrook has their sights set on Kamloops as they head to the Twin Rivers Strengthfest.
The two competitors from Cranbrook will be among about 100 others from around B.C. who will take part in the weekend’s competitions.
“It involves squats, bench presses and deadlifts. You get three attempts at each,” said powerlifter Liam Whalen.
“We’re lifting at the 105kg category in the Junior group, which is under 23. There are five competitors in our pool, so we got some competition.”
Both lifters from Cranbrook are new to the competitive scene.
“It will be pretty interesting to see some competition and see what we’re up against. It should be pretty fun,” said Whalen.
“This is a pretty big step for me because this is a pretty big competition,” said Liam Ferrier. “To be honest I’m a little nervous, but I’m very excited to meet people and compete. I feel like I’ve put in a lot of work, so to show that off will be huge for me.”
Coach Tyler Meester said they went through an 18-week training regimen to prepare for this weekend.
“We started them off with six weeks of small prep, then we did a mock powerlifting meet to get them ready for what to expect on competition day,” explained Meester.
“We got them into full gear in the gym and they did three attempts at squats and found some new personal records. After that, we went straight into a 12-week program, which concluded with a peak week ahead of the competition.”
The two-day Twin Rivers Strengthfest runs from June 15 to 16, and the local team will show off their strength on Sunday.
“I’m proud of these guys. They’ve made some great progress and we’ll see how it pans out this weekend,” said Meester.
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