Photo By Marcy Sanchez | Spc. Stephanie Morris attempts a lift during warm-up exercise during powerlifting...... read more read more
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Powerlifting introduced at 2018 Army Trials
Marcy Sanchez
FORT BLISS, Texas - The sounds of weights clinging and clanking are not new to most Soldiers as part of their regular fitness routines. This year’s Army Trials at Fort Bliss, Texas, is welcoming the chimes of plates and the grunts of athletes during the inaugural Powerlifting competition, March 2, 2018.
More than 70 wounded, ill or injured Soldiers and Army veterans are participating in the Army Trials, vying to compete for a spot on Team Army during the 2018 Department of Defense Warrior Games slated to be held at Colorado Springs, Colorado.
“(The powerlifting event) is tremendous,” said powerlifting coach, Adriane Wilson. “Everything can be adapted and we’ve adapted powerlifting with special equipment. That’s a big deal when you’re recovering and think you don’t have the same physical capabilities that you used to have.”
The competition is divided by gender and weight class. Competitors are allowed three lifts each, with judges accepting the maximum lift of those three. Athletes perform a bench press on a modified bench, set up to allow competitors to lay with feet up while strapped at the knees, limiting range of motion.
“It’s just different. You’re still busting weight, you’re still sweating, and you’re still doing the lift,” said Wilson. “You have to discover your new capabilities in the new body that you have while still getting to work out and perform in the sport.”
Although the sport contradicts traditional healing modalities for wounded or injured individuals, the event does allow individuals the opportunity to push themselves in a way not offered at the Army Trials or Warrior Games before.
“The weight we want to move is kind of against what most doctors and physical therapist we work with would recommend until we’re significantly coming along in our recovery,” said Spc. Nicholas Cathcart, who is taking his first shot at competitive lifting during the Army Trials.
“You do come across a lot of doubt,” said Wilson, a native of Irmo, South Carolina. “Putting everybody on a flat surface and taking the legs out of the equation makes powerlifting a level playing field especially for athletes who are amputees or have issues where a normal bench press would inhibit them.”
Cathcart, an infantryman who tore his anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee three times, will not only compete in this year’s powerlifting event but is also contending for a top spot in archery, field events, swimming, indoor rowing and wheelchair basketball. A devoted athlete, Cathcart would train with weights 4 – 5 days a week, particularly while deployed to Lithuania, which he and others dubbed “Lift-thuania” due to the amount of time they would spend in a gym. During the deployment, Cathcart injured his knee for the third time and was sent to Joint Base Lewis-McChord for treatment and recovery.
“After my injury I was in a real low spot,” confessed Cathcart, a native of Fishers, Indiana. “My confidence was a little low, I felt sad. Getting into the (adaptive sports) program has been a big morale booster and confidence building.”
This year also marks the competition’s introduction at the DoD Warrior Games, but is a returning event at the international-level Invictus Games, which welcome wounded, ill and injured service members from around the world.
| Date Taken: | 03.02.2018 |
| Date Posted: | 03.04.2018 16:49 |
| Story ID: | 268069 |
| Location: | FORT BLISS, TEXAS, US |
| Web Views: | 160 |
| Downloads: | 2 |
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