Spring Break
Muscle madness: SJSU's Power Lift Competition
Angelo Lanham
Issue date: 2/21/08 Section: Sports
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Held in the Events Center's Sport Club on Wednesday, students participated in events that included bench press, squat and deadlift.
Each competitor was allowed three attempts at each event, at their chosen weights. The heaviest successful lift of each was kept and totaled, and the winner was chosen based on highest total weight lifted, proportional to body weight.
There were two weight classes: 175 pounds and below, and 175 pounds and above.
Each time a competitor faltered, shouts of "it's easy" or "you can do it" would burst from all corners of the gymnasium.
"It's highly competitive," said Sport Club coordinator Andre Clemmer, "but they do a pretty good job of cheering each other on."
Nnamdi Iwangwa, a senior kinesiology major who won last semester's bench press competition, walked away with the 175 pounds and above division's first-place trophy, weighing in at 200 pounds and lifting a total of 1,270 pounds.
Iwangwa, who has been lifting since he was 12, said he wasn't too surprised about his victory. He said he'd been consistently working out since the bench press competition.
Across the board, he lifted the most for each event.
"I'm gonna take this one to work, too," he said of his trophy.
Manish Thinda, a senior business management major, came in second in the same weight class, weighing 178 pounds and lifting a total of 1,030 pounds.
"It was my first time," Thinda said. "It's quite the experience, but I had fun at the same time."
Clemmer, who organized the event, said the competitors were all SJSU students who signed up for the contest.
"I just wanted to do a lot more - introduce the campus to different fitness activities," Clemmer said.
Josh Almazan, a sophomore civil engineering major, took first place, weighing 155 pounds and lifting a total of 900 pounds. He also lifted the most in the squats event, 365 pounds, but was matched by sophomore kinesiology major Eric Hom.
John Meehan, a sophomore business accounting major, took home second place, weighing 172 pounds and lifting a total of 965 pounds, at what he said was his second competition.
Clemmer called the event a "huge success" and said there will continue to be weight competitions each semester, starting with next Spring.
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