Urged on by a vocal crowd and thinking he just might have a junior national powerlifting record dead lift within reach, Liam Miller grabbed the bar and pulled with all his might to lock his knees in a standing position.
When the light flashed to show he had a qualified lift, the 18-year-old dropped the iron and took a deep breath.
As it turned out, the weight he had on the barbell, 479.5 pounds (217.5 kilograms), was well short of the Canadian Powerifting Association record of 566.5 lb (257 kg) for 18- and 19-year-olds. But, record or not, there was still much to celebrate for Miller at the Northern Powerlifting Classic.
In his first-ever competition, a mere six months after he started training for the sport, Miller set two personal records, one for his dead lift and one for his squat, in which he pushed 457 lb (207 kg).
"That is the most weight I've ever lifted or even attempted to lift," said Miller, in reference to his dead lift. "I had three excellent lifts before that, all white lights, and didn't miss a single thing. It's my first lifting meet, too, so it's a huge thing."
Miller's previous best in the dead lift was 460 lb (208.6 kg). His old personal record in the squat was 435 lb (197 kg). He also exceeded his best bench press Saturday, clearing 259.5 lb (117.7 kg), which topped his previous best 255 lb (115.6 kg).
"I don't know how I did it, I came into this day not feeling good at all," he said. "I had only five hours of sleep. A lot of it was nerves, I think."
Miller, an aspiring pipe fitter now learning his trade at the College of New Caledonia, started working out in the gym just to get into better shape. He's the starting goalie for the Claude's Barbershop/BX Pub Bandits in the Prince George Senior Lacrosse Association and wanted to be more fit for the rigours of the 15-game season.
"It makes me a bigger goalie with better endurance," he said. "I just wanted a healthier lifestyle and started working out, and then I started pushing big numbers and decided maybe I'll become a powerlifter. I jumped weights like crazy.
"It takes a lot of work. I'm in the gym six days a week for two-and-a-half hours, give or take. It's very rough on the body. I'm very exhausted. My entire body is just dead."
Right after the meet at Xconditioining gym wrapped up late Saturday afternoon, Miller joined his lacrosse teammates on the two-hour drive to Mackenzie, where the Bandits were due to play the Mackenzie Lumberjacks Saturday night in the first of two-day doubleheader. He planned to sleep all the way up and said he wouldn't likely have to play until the second half of the game that night. The Bandits won 15-2 on Saturday and 18-1 in the rematch Sunday.
Since he started lifting, Miller has become a regular at The Gym on Opie Crescent, where heavyweight lifter Dom Toovey has been showing him the ropes of powerlifting.
"Being around all the big guys who lift more weight than me helps me want to become them and push more weight," said the five-foot-eight Miller, who lost 20 pounds in just a few days to make the 217-pound weight class for the competition.
Said Toovey: "He's absolutely amazing, he's a super-talented lifter and he's genetically gifted for it and has the drive for it - he's just found his niche. It's just his passion to keep driving forward and improve himself. He's got so many goals going on and at such a young age he's definitely going to reach those goals. He's inspiring, things like that drive me."
Toovey also excelled in Saturday's Northern Classic, winning the 308-pound open assisted raw (wearing belt and knee wraps) class after a 473 lb (215 kg) bench press and a 733 lb (332.5 kg) dead lift, both personal bests for the 37-year-old.
Forty-four lifters took part in the meet.
