Mark Oxer hopes next month's 2014 Provincial Powerlifting and Bench Press Championships in Olds will change people's perceptions about weightlifting.As a strength and conditioning coach for the Olds College Broncos, he wants those in attendance to see that power lifting doesn't necessarily turn one into a hulking behemoth.“Having people come in and see the build and size of some of the athletes and the amount of weight that they're lifting is … going to change people's perspective, open people's eyes up a little bit to what power lifting is,” Oxer said. “It doesn't mean you have to be a 250-pound guy to be able to be good at power lifting.”Oxer is also the president of the Olds Barbell Club. Thanks to a partnership between the club, Olds College and the Alberta Powerlifting Union (APU), the weightlifting competition will be held at the Ralph Klein Centre from July 4 to 6.By then, he expects close to 80 athletes to be pumping iron.They will span across all ages and weight classes.Some athletes will be younger than 19 years old and others as old as 70.There will be women in the 57-kilogram weight class all the way up to men above 120 kilograms.“So it's not just limited to big, heavy guys, which I know is kind of the stereotype,” he said.The main event will see lifters perform three exercises: bench press, squat and dead lift.Groups of 14 compete at a time and have three attempts at each exercise, trying to lift the most weight each time.“The athlete that (has) the best strength-to-weight ratio is the winner,” he said. “If you have two athletes that both bench press 400 but one weighs 88 kilos and one weighs 86 kilos, the 86 kilo lifter is the stronger lifter.”Because the APU is part of the Canadian Powerlifting Union, in turn part of the International Olympic Committee-recognized International Powerlifting Federation, drug testing and equipment rules and what counts as a valid lift will be enforced.The provincial competition is a qualifying event for the national championships, which is a gateway to the Commonwealth Games, Pan Am Games and World Championships.There are at least two local athletes trying to advance, Oxer said.One is Tanner Pochapsky, an Olds High School graduate.Another is Ariel Chessall, who holds five provincial records.Oxer, who has been to similar competitions, says those in attendance can expect a family-friendly event: music playing but no alcohol.He adds the atmosphere will also be a supportive one.“Everybody gets really behind everybody. It doesn't matter if you're squatting a hundred pounds or 700 pounds,” he said. “The crowd gets behind and cheers you on and is excited for you because for that person, a hundred pounds could be their max lift and people want to see them be successful so the other lifters are cheering.”As a person who works in fitness, he hopes to see people empowered by what they see and to challenge themselves when they work out.“I spend a good part of my day in the gym and I see lots of people, community users at the gym and I think to myself, I'm like, you could do a little bit more,” he said. “And maybe this will inspire them to look at some of these people and go, hey man, I just saw a 120-pound girl deadlift 400 pounds. As a 200-pound man, maybe I need to step it up.”[email protected]
