Mike Webber is Prince George's Louis Cyr.
He's not quite in the same league as the world most powerful strongman of the late-19th and early 20th centuries, who once used his back to lift 18 men on a platform - a weight of 1,967 kilograms or 4,327 pounds.
Webber can't duplicate the Quebec-born Cyr's one-finger lift of 534 lb (242 kg), and it's highly unlikely he hold back four plough horses (two on each hand) being urged to pull at full force with the crack of a whip, like Cyr once did.
But next week in Limerick, Ireland, there's a good chance the 46-year-old Webber will perform a full squat with a bar on his shoulders that weighs 1,000 pounds. For the metrically-inclined, that's 453 kilograms.
Webber and his 27-year-old training partner, Tara Green, are the only Canadians entered in the Irish Pro Invitational powerllifting competition. The single-day event, April 15, includes competition in squat, deadlift and bench press events.
Webber has met the magic 1,000-pound milestone several times in practice but never in competition. He came close in November at the WPC World Powerlifting Championships in Baton Rouge, La., when he squatted a world-record 950 lb (430 kg) and was just shy of a legal squat while hoisting 1,000 lb.
"When I started in '99 my goal was to squat 1,000 pounds, because there were only one or two guys who had ever done it," said Webber. "It's been all these years trying. At world's in Louisiana I just missed it at the top by an inch, I just couldn't finish it off. I've done it here (at the X Conditioning gym where he trains) but never in a meet."
In Ireland, Green is hoping to squat 700 lb, bench press 400 lb, and dead lift 500 lb.
"I've done 700 in training but not quite to depth," said Green. "I'm confident I could have gotten to depth but I just didn't want to push that hard, three weeks out from the meet.
"My best bench is 385. I'm always bad in training and can usually get a personal best at the meet, so I'm hoping to have that luck at this one and get 400 finally."
Green did the bench-only competition in Baton Rouge and won her category at 375 lb (170 kg). She hit 385 lb (174 kg) at the Arnold Sports Festival in March in Columbus, Ohio.
Green started powerlifting in 2010 when she weighed 137 lb and all that training increased her weight to 181 lb. She now competes at 165 lb and owns WPC world records in two weight categories in the women's multi-ply class and is fourth-ranked on the all-time list.
"In seven years, Tara has done more than most people do in their whole career in powerlifting, she's so far above anyone else in Canada," said Webber.
"She's the top dog for sure. We go down to the States for world's and the Arnold's and people know her and want to get their picture taken with her. It's pretty cool."
Green's multi-ply designation refers to the multiple layers of lifting suits (equipment) she wears. She puts on five layers which form a skintight suit and that provides elastic energy during her lifts. There are also single-ply categories. Equipped lifters wear squat suits, knee wraps, bench shirts, and deadlift suits. Lifters who don't use equipment compete in raw categories.
"You have to fight the suit to get down to the proper position, so you're kind of stretching it out," said Green. "It helps you get back up, but only if you keep proper positioning. If you're not strong enough, the suit will force you out of position."
Webber can bench press 666 lb (302.5 kg), which beats Green's best squat, 640 lb (290 kg). As training partners, Green and Webber play off each other strengths and weaknesses during their workouts as a way of urging each other on.
"She calls me out all the time," said Webber. "When you're not having a good day she's there to say, 'You can do more than that, let's go.'"
The good-natured teasing that goes on between the two of them is purely motivational to keep them making progressively heavier lifts.
"There's no one really here for me to compete against and that's how we keep it competitive," said Green. "Mentally, I'm not nearly as confident as Mike. He's always super-confident going into these things. I often think I'm not going to do well and then I'm pleasantly surprised. I'm getting much better with that."
Other than his squat target, Webber's goals for Limerick are to lift 670 lb (305 kg) in bench press and 730 lb (330 kg) in dead lift. Hs best dead lift is 705 lb (319.7 kg).
In addition to weight training, they do a lot of sprinting and jumping exercises to increase their muscle mass. Diet is also key. They eat a lot of chicken, beef and potatoes, and while they shy away from fruit, which contains sugars they don't require for lifting, they can load up on green vegetables.
Like Green, Webber has never gone overseas to compete. He knows strength sports have a much higher profile there, especially in Eastern Europe where weightlifters are looked upon as national heroes. Webber needs shoulder replacement surgery and says he's just hoping it holds out on him for the meet.
They heard about the Irish meet while they were in Baton Rouge. Green was approached by organizer of the Irish Pro Invitational and he invited her and Webber. She needed no convincing and told him she and Webber would be there. They plan to tour the country for 12 days after the competition.
"It's somewhere I've always wanted to go, it's so pretty," said Green.
