Photo By Spc. Benjamin Fox | Spc. Victoria Parker, 571st Military Police Company, lifts weights during a dead lift...... read more read more
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By Pfc. Ben Fox
3rd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division
BAQUBAH, Iraq – A Soldier stepped up to the weights on the stage and looked out at the crowd. Focusing, he bent down to grab the bar.
Shouts of encouragement erupted from the crowd.
"Through the roof!"
"Pull hard!"
"Pull it up!"
The Soldier suddenly burst upward with strength. His face was deep red and the veins in his neck were sticking out, but he kept pulling up.
Only about half way up he was stuck, pulling with what he thought was all of his strength. The crowd erupted again, yelling encouragements to bolster the Soldier's confidence.
Finally, the Soldier was able to pull the bar all the way up and the judge motioned for him to go back down.
The weights came back down and the judge gave the thumbs up.
This was all a part of a dead lifting competition at Forward Operating Base Warhorse, Iraq, June 30.
There were 22 competitors from all different weight classes including three females.
Sgt. 1st Class Alfred Jackson, 2-1 Cavalry Battalion, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division, won the competition after lifting 530 pounds.
Despite his victory, Jackson claimed that he wasn't in the competition just to win.
"Power lifting isn't about winning, it's about setting goals and accomplishing them," said Jackson.
Jackson said he has experience competing it weightlifting championships outside of the Army and likes to compete in all different types of events.
Sgt. Genaro Gutierrez, Company A, attached to Co. C, 1-12 Combined Arms Battalion, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division, joined the competition despite having never dead lifted before.
"I did better than I thought I was going to," said Gutierrez. "The only way to get better is to practice."
Gutierrez also said he was impressed with the females competing because it showed that the sport is not just for men.
"That was my third total time dead lifting," said Spc. Edward McMunn, Headquarters and Headquarters Troop, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division. "I'm happy with my results."
"I could have done better, but I was second guessing myself and didn't do it properly," said McMunn. "The next time we do something like this I just have to give it my all."
The event helped Soldiers break up their everyday routine.
"I like to see Soldiers come out and break up the monotony," said Jackson.
"It makes you want to compete like you are some kind of professional," said Gutierrez. "It relieves a lot of stress from being where we're at."
"It's a good stress reliever, especially when you are deployed from your loved ones," said McMunn. "It's a lot of fun and it builds character I guess."
McMunn said that seeing others lifting more than he did made him want to improve on the event.
"It's making me want to push even harder to lift even heavier," he said.
| Date Taken: | 07.02.2007 |
| Date Posted: | 07.02.2007 16:29 |
| Story ID: | 11085 |
| Location: | BAQUBAH, IQ |
| Web Views: | 438 |
| Downloads: | 401 |
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