A Frome teenager has achieved a Bench British Record in the Welsh Powerlifting Championships and will be heading to Slovakia later this year to take part in the World Championships.
Liam Backhurst, 16, and a student at Frome College competed in the championship in Swansea in the 67.5kg T1 category.
“He competed in the championship when he was just 15,” explained his stepdad, Hugh Haines, who also took part in the competition and now competes in the Masters over 40s. “He had three attempts each at squat, bench press and deadlift. He had to choose his opening (first) attempt, and after successfully completing that, he decided how much he wanted to increase the weight on his second and third attempts.
“Liam was offered a fourth attempt on his bench press as, unbeknownst to us at the time, he was going for a British Record, which he achieved with a bench of 95kg!”
Hugh says that Liam has always been interested in training and used to do pressups and situps at home. “His mum then got him some dumbbells, which he began using,” says Hugh. “Liam also used to take part in parkour and has played rugby for Frome RFC since he was in primary school, taking a break to focus on his powerlifting.”
Liam trains at 6am four or five days a week at Falcon Fitness Gym in Frome. “Thank you to Dean and Dave for their continued support; his training is mainly heavy lifting on the squat, bench and deadlift and assistance work to build up the supporting muscles,” says Hugh.
In August, Liam will be going back to Swansea for the Young Guns competition, an invitational competition for teen and junior lifters, showcasing the best young lifters in the UK. He will then be heading to Slovakia for the World Championships in October.
“Liam said he feels very proud that his hard work has paid off,” says Hugh. “He really enjoys the training and competitions; it has allowed him to meet lots more people and talk about common interests that they enjoy.”
Natasha, Liam’s mother said, “This is a great achievement for Liam, he has ADHD and autism and has had a lot of struggles, but he definitely uses powerlifting as his super power.”
