The Extra Mile: Powerlifting Club

Calin Green ’24 was looking to escape from the rush hour of cadets at Virginia Military Institute’s regular gym. Every Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday around 4 p.m. he’d run into an influx of other cadets trying to get a workout in.  

With a background in wrestling, he was looking for options in strength training. Plus, he wanted to stay in shape in preparation for commissioning into the Marines, while also participating in ROTC. 

“Powerlifting was really right up my alley, and I fell in love with it really quickly,” the psychology major said.  

As the cadet in charge of the VMI Powerlifting Club, he said even though the club is a team, the sport itself is a competition with yourself.  

“You’re trying to better yourself,” he said. “This is such an individually-focused sport. You can really focus on what you did right and what you did wrong. There’s no other confounding factor, like an opponent you’re going against.” 

You can be your greatest competition, Green continued.  

“IIt’s just you and that bar and whether you get it up or not,” he said. “Usually you can see or feel what exactly went wrong. Whether there was a missed groove in your form or if you just chose too heavy of a weight for your next lift.  It’s also something that you can constantly improve at and you can track your improvement very easily.” 

Although it’s an individual sport, the club is very team-oriented. When someone is going for a personal record (PR), the rest of the club is there to back them up and cheer them on. The powerlifting gym, which is in the basement of Cocke Hall on post, is completely outfitted for heavy lifting — plus it has an amazing sound system that allows for music to be blasted while members work out.  

“I like the type of people that it attracts, and the environment of the gym, especially,” Green said. “Everyone’s very supportive of each other and their lifts and their goals. I think it’s good to have people that support you and I think it’s good to support other people and their goals. I just think it fosters growth better than anything else.” 

Powerlifting club also provides a good mental break.  

“I think being able to give your maximum effort in something and just say that I trained the hardest that I possibly could today, that it makes you feel like you’re worth something, makes you feel like you can do something and it makes you better off,” Green said. 

Owen Clifford ’24, a civil engineering major, got into the club post-Breakout after he started hitting the gym more. He was looking for a club sport to participate in and he had heard from several friends that powerlifting was a good option.  

The assistant cadet in charge for the club said his favorite part about the club is the separate space and equipment allotted for the club. But also, being surrounded by people who are working towards the same goals.  

“That creates a very encouraging environment and people to kind of compete with internally,” he said. “Having the guidance from the coaches to make sure that I’m doing the best I can so I’m reaching a much higher goal, much higher lifts than I would just on my own in the normal gym.”

Both Green and Clifford said having the powerlifting club is a good departure from the demands of being a VMI cadet.  

“Having a little outlet — the hour and a half, where you’re not really worried about anything else, you don’t even worry about how long you have to be there because that’s your time to be there,” Clifford said. “So it makes it super easy to just focus on that. Go as hard as you want to, have the music pretty much as loud as the speakers will handle, and just work on yourself before finishing up the day.” 

The club centers on three main lifts: deadlift, back squat, and bench. The club, which has about 40 members, participates in various competitions throughout the year, where members are broken up into different weight classes. On average, about 20 cadets participate in the club practices regularly.  

Coach David Henson, police captain for VMI Police, and Coach Rebecca Owen enjoy interacting with the cadets and boosting their physical power. Henson has been coaching the team since 2013 and became head coach in 2016. The two work with cadets on their form, technique, programming, and preparation for competitions or meets.  

“Working with the cadets doing something they are very passionate about not only helps them but helps us as well,” Henson said. “Powerlifting is tough not only physically, but mentally. It’s a maximal strength sport and you have to have an appreciation for strength to enjoy lifting heavy weights a majority of the time.” 

The sport, he says, is beneficial in increasing overall strength and requires “sacrifice, discipline, discomfort, and determination.” 

“What makes it worth it is when you lift a weight that you previously thought was impossible,” he said.  

This is Owen’s ninth year coaching the team.  

“As coaches, we are trained to pick apart the power lifts (squat, bench, deadlift). We are pretty good at picking out weaknesses due to technique or muscle imbalances,” she said. “The strength aspect definitely helps with physical fitness tests, but one of the biggest benefits is being a part of the powerlifting family. We tend to develop strong relationships as we support each other in the trenches — tough training, maximal efforts in competitions, etcetera.” 

The two coaches said they most enjoy seeing the progress and transformation of the club’s members.  

“I really enjoy interacting with the cadets at practice and when we travel to meets,” Henson said. “Powerlifters go out of their way to support one another and that creates a great atmosphere to be in, especially here at VMI where nothing is really easy. Watching the cadets hit a PR at a meet and being able to celebrate with them makes it all worthwhile. It shows them that hard work pays off and that carries over to other aspects of life.”