This past Monday, right after school, the Fitness Club hosted a powerlifting competition in the weight room. With help from PSP trainers and Mr. Maybe, the club’s advisor, three adults overlooked the contest and kept track of everyone’s PRs. Just like any other powerlifting competition, Oratory’s involved the three main lifts: the squat, bench press, and deadlift. In all three areas, the students were looking to achieve a new max (the act of completing a full rep with the most amount of weight they are capable of lifting).

The afternoon began with everyone warming up on squat racks. The two racks were adjusted to suit the students’ heights, so it would be easy and comfortable for all to take the weighted bars out from their original spots. Everyone worked their way up and kept upping the weight count until they reached a number they were looking to max out with. Each student was allowed to try maxing out three times and their largest lift would be recorded. For squats, the lifts ranged from 225 to 335, with Nick Jardim hitting the 335 squat. Steve Fudenna and Jack Mogen both put up an impressive 315 on their lifts. The bench lifting segment was up next and once again everyone had to warm up and work their way up. Jardim reached 250 here while Jacob Cordeiro and Steve Fudenna came in with a strong 225 lift. Finally, for deadlifting, just like the other two, a warm-up was necessary, and once again, Jardim came out on top. He deadlifted 415 and Jack Cuddihy along with Brendan McGovern deadlifted 365. As a result of his performance, Jardim became the first-ever student at OP to join the 1,000 club. His squat, bench, and deadlift together added to a total of exactly 1,000 pounds.

Other than Jardim who joined the 1,000 club, the OP Fitness club welcomed 7 new members in the 750 club. These members varied in age, some members being as young as a sophomore and others being seniors. The people who joined the 750 club were Jack Cuddihy, Brendan McGovern, Jacob Cordeiro, Jack Mogen, Logan Drone, Miles Madigan, and Peter Ainsworth. All seven of these students had a combined squat, bench, and deadlift of over 750 pounds. 

To decide who won the competition, Mr. Maybe used some prestigious calculations using everyone’s height and weight. He determined the exact BMI (body mass index) of every competitor to determine who lifted the most weight pound-for-pound with their body weight. After finding out the BMI of each competitor, Mr. Maybe got the total weight lifted by each competitor and divided the weight lifted by the competitor’s BMI to determine the competitor’s power index. The winner of the competition was decided by the highest power index. The top 5 of OP’s Powerlifting Competition was as following in order from 5th to 1st: Logan Drone (35.5 PI {PI stands for Power Index}), Peter Ainsworth (36.34 PI), Jack Cuddihy (37.15 PI), Steve Fudenna (37.83 PI), and Nick Jardim (44.49 PI). 

With more than double the participants from last year, the Powerlifting Competition was a great success! Many new students joined the competition after spending the past year getting yoked and strong, a great sign of determination and grit from the Rams. Although the competition is over, students can work for next year’s competition in the weight room every day after school, or on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays before school.