The Impact of Strength
It goes beyond the weight on the bar.
This past weekend, I had the pleasure of helping my friend and coach, Jake Henderson, run a charity competition at our gym. Raising thousands of dollars for our local Mental Health America team, Strengthtoberfest 2023 featured a “push/pull” (bench press and deadlift) powerlifting meet, an “exhibition of strength” event, and 22 awesome lifters who gave it their all for a great cause.
I was already pretty enamored of the strength sport community after competing in my first two powerlifting meets earlier this year, but being on the other side of things was just as rewarding. I ran what’s called the head judge’s table, which is essentially the nucleus of a powerlifting meet. I kept track of lifter attempts and totals, called out prescribed weights to the “loaders”, and fed information to our master of ceremonies so he could keep the crowd engaged.
It was an absolute blessing to support Mental Health America and our lifters, who covered a wide range of age and ability. We had novices competing in front of a crowd for the first time, plenty of intermediates who crushed personal records, and even a 745lb-deadlifter. Selfishly, my favorite moment of the meet was seeing one of my closest friends (who I recently convinced to start coming to our gym) pull a 500lb deadlift in his first competition.
Following the push/pull, there was a Halloween costume contest (under a beautiful Hunter’s Moon), an address by Mental Health America, and our exhibition of strength. The exhibition of strength consisted of four lifters deadlifting a hot rod for as many reps as possible, raising more donations for MHA with each rep. The car deadlift event was absolutely electric; what a great way to cap off an incredible event.
Thanks to everyone who attended and donated, the sponsors and vendors, volunteers and lifters, and to Jake and Jo for putting it all together.
To learn more and support Mental Health America’s national efforts, click here.
For Mental Health America of Greenville County, click here.
mitochondria is the powerhouse of the cell, and hunty is the nucleus.