Last weekend, Lee competed in his first ever powerlifting competition and the girls and I made the trip with him to take in the action. He joined four other members of Team Refuge at the Iron Asylum Gym in upstate New York and together, they raked in the awards. Lifters traveled from as far away as Michigan and Canada, as well as New Jersey, Philadelphia, Albany and Ohio, plus our team from Connecticut. Almost every member of the team went home with a trophy, including Lee who took first place in the Submaster 198 Raw Push/Pull with a bench press of 365 and a dead lift of 525 (also a PR). Competing in a meet is completely different from simply working out. There were judges on three sides of every lifter to make sure that the lifters complied with federation rules - pausing during the bench press at chest level and then locking out both arms to finish the lift; squatting to a certain position before going up again; and holding the dead lift to a certain height before dropping. Overall, the meet was a great way for Lee to get some experience and an awesome way to begin competing. The girls and I are so proud of him - and of all of the other members of Team Refuge, all of whom welcomed us like part of their family.
Mentally preparing to put up 365 on his first attempt.
Making 365 lbs look easy.
First dead lift attempt at 475 lbs.
500 lbs dead lift.
525 pound dead lift - a winning lift and a new PR.
Submaster 198 Raw Push/Pull 1st Place Award
Lee, Nick and Sarah - three of the four Refuge winners.
Lee and the girls - when the awards ceremony was over, the gym owners rustled up some little tokens for the girls, which was a testament to how unbelievable they were. We were at the meet for close to 12 hours and they hardly complained - they were troopers and pretty much cast a spell on the rest of Team Refuge, all of whom posed for pictures with them.
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