VIDEO: Durban North powerlifting comp goes online in lockdown

JANA Louw got into a competitive spirit as she participated in the Raise What You Got powerlifting challenge on Saturday, 4 April. Louw, who is an assistant coach at Strength Club in Durban North completed a squat, bench press and deadlift challenge, all from her garage as lockdown prohibitions caused the club to cancel the competition that was planned at their Rinaldo Road gym.

In a bid to keep their members fit, the club called on would-be contestants to film their lifts and post them online. Since not all members have the right equipment at home, the club called on them to raise whatever heavy objects that had at home.

“Our gym was meant to be hosting a competition that would allow power lifters to qualify for a national competition. Everyone was really excited about it, but, obviously with lockdown, we have to postpone all of these events. We decided we could have a mock competition that our members could take part in. This inspires a sense of camaraderie and togetherness and gives members something to look forward to. It also gives us a bit of structure in our training,” said Louw.

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The online version of the competition was adapted to suit lockdown.

“For those who are fortunate to have equipment, like me, they can take part in the mock competition, as close to the normal competition as possible, but for those who don’t have equipment, we have encouraged them to lift what they have. The competition’s name was Raise the Bar, so we’ve renamed it, Raise What you Got,”she said.

Since Louw is fully equipped in her garage, she tackled the squat, bench press and deadlift-which would have been events at the competition. She lifted a whopping 140kgs in her deadlift, 95kgs in her squat and 60kgs in her bench press.

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