My younger son Felix Strong competed in the Swiss Full Power Championships in Steinmaur on 28 September. He competed in the T3 (18-19 year) age category and in the 82.5-90 kg weight class.
He was the best male lifter of the competition. Swiss Champion 2024, with a total of 645 kg, beating the current world record for his age weight class by 15 kg.
Dad, Felix, Mum and Chris (Felix’s coach) in from of the 275 kg bar that he lifted.
He did extremely well, setting new Swiss records for all three lifts and for the total: squat 220 kg, bench press 150 kg, deadlift 275 kg and total 645 kg (1422 lb). His deadlift was 10 kg higher than the current world record of 265 kg. Short videos of his three lifts are below.
A little over a week ago, I competed in the WDFPF World Drug-Free Single Lift Championships in Aalsmeer, Netherlands, on 1-2 June 2024.
It is now a little over two years since I had a total knee replacement of my left knee, and then six months later also a hip replacement of my right hip (see here). After the surgery and a month or so of rehab work with a physio, I started doing some powerlifting training building up very gradually over 18 months to a national competition in September 2023 (see here). At that competition, I qualified to compete at international level in the bench press and deadlift.
I made an application to compete in the World Single Lift Championships in 2024. My son Felix Strong had competed in the 2023 World Championships in Sardinia and set a world record of 260 kg for the deadlift (see here and here). He decided not to compete this year, because his final exams were scheduled through most of May. However, at the last minute, he changed his mind and also decided to apply.
Three Swiss athletes competed at the World Championships in Aalsmer, close to Schiphol Airport in the Netherlands. Like Felix, Gina Berther had also set a world record for the deadlift in Sardinia last year (195 kg) and was also competing in all three lifts.
Felix Strong, Colin Mathers and Gina Berther, Opening Ceremony, World Championships 2024Continue reading →
My younger son Felix Strong competed at the World Drug Free Single Lift Championship in Sardinia on 2-4 June this year. My previous post included videos of his three lifts for squat, bench press and deadlift. He competed in the 16-17 year age category (T2) and the <82.5 kg weight category and set a new world record of 260 kg for the deadlift, and two Swiss records for the squat (180 kg) and bench press (115 kg).
We also purchased some photos taken by a professional photographer, Luca Antonio Piga, and I’ve posted some of them below.
After setting three Swiss records and a world record at the Swiss Full Powerlifting Championship in March this year (see earlier post), my younger son Felix Strong was invited by the Swiss Drug Free Powerlifting Federation to compete at the World Single Lift Championship in Sardinia on 2-4 June. This WDFPF competition was held in Alghero on the northwest coast of Sardinia. Felix, accompanied by his father (me) and mother, flew to Olbia on the northeast coast on 30 May. We spent a couple of days exploring the Olbia region before driving across to Alghero on 1 June.
Felix did extremely well, setting a new world record for the deadlift in his age-weight class, and new Swiss records for the squat and bench press. He competed in the T2 (16-17 year) age category having turned 17 earlier in 2023 and in the 75-82.5 kg weight class. As each lift was a separate competition on a different day, he had to weigh in each morning. His weight ranged from 81.5 to 82.2 kg.
The video below shows his world record deadlift of 260 kg. This exceeded the previous record of 255 kg for his age-weight class by 5 kg. Apart from coming first in his age-weight category, he also came third overall in the weight category (75-82.5 kg), which included around 30 men of all ages. As the Italian commentator said, “È straordinario!”
My younger son Felix Strong trained hard this year for the Swiss Full Powerlifting Championship in Lausanne on 25 March. He competed in the T2 (16-17 year) age category having turned 17 a month earlier, and in the 75-82.5 kg weight class.
Felix sets a new world record of 245 kg for the unequipped deadlift during a full powerlifting competition
He did extremely well, setting new Swiss records for all three lifts and for the total: squat 172.5 kg, bench press 110 kg, deadlift 245 kg and total 520 kg (1146 lb). His deadlift was almost 15 kg higher than the current world record of 230.5 kg and the Swiss Drug Free Powerlifting Federation has submitted it to the world body (WDFPF) for approval as the new world record. Short videos of his three lifts are below.
I equipped a garage gym during the Covid-19 lock-downs at the urging of my older son and my younger son has now also caught the strength training bug. My older son is focusing on Olympic weightlifting, which involves explosive lifts to chest or overhead. The competition lifts are the snatch and the clean and jerk. My younger son has shown an aptitude for powerlifting with its three competition lifts: the squat, the bench press and the deadlift.
I suggested he compete in the Swiss Drug Free Single Lift and Powerlifting Championships 2022 on 25 September. He set new Swiss single lift records for bench press (95 kg) and dead lift (210 kg) in the 16-17 year age category and the under 82.5 kg weight category. The short video below shows his 210 kg deadlift.
Approaching retirement from full-time work, the last thing I would have foreseen doing was to take up powerlifting and get involved in competitions. I had plans to spend more time walking and climbing in the Alps, but increasing knee problems (osteoarthritis) around 2014-2015 put that on hold. I stopped doing Crossfit classes in 2015 and instead started to focus on weight training apart from squats.
I had also been reading various books and research relating to exercise and ageing, and became convinced that to maximise my health and functioning into older age I needed to maintain and improve my strength, and that this was probably more important than the endurance cardiovascular training that I had been doing for many years.
I found that I really enjoyed training with heavy weights and low repetitions (usually in range 3-6) and that my knees felt a lot better after a workout. With some coaching on good technique, I was able to substantially increase the weight and volume I was working with and would often leave the gym with an endorphin high and pain-free knees. Occasional lower back pain (related to an old injury during jujutsu training) also became rarer.
Mountains and rivers 