“Do you even lift bro?” “What’s your bench max?”

These are the questions of a lifter. Whether you’re at a powerlifting meet, or if you’ve just insulted someone who lifts, odds are you will hear these questions sometime in your life. Lifting is something I know almost nothing about (I know it’s surprising considering how ripped I am, but I don’t actually lift), but I’m always willing to learn. So, if you’re like me and would like to learn, sit back and enjoy.

So, what do lifters do exactly? Well, from what I’ve gathered, they really really really like to bench press and deadlift. Like, a lot.

“I love deadlifting because you use your whole body, and I’d like to think I’m pretty good at it,” said sophomore Noah Cetnar.

So, as you can tell, each lift works a different muscle/part of the body. Choosing what to do/knowing what works out which muscle is a difficult task. From what I gathered, it is wise to find a mentor, whether that be a teacher, coach, or just an upperclassmen.

“Yeah if you’re going to start lifting, I’d recommend going to see Coach Whalen,” said Cetnar. “He always has the best workouts and will help you get on the right path.”

Now, I know what you’re thinking, “Why on earth would I want to start lifting? I’m super lazy.” I mean, that’s at least what I thought before I started writing this article. In order to combat this lack of any inclination to put effort into lifting, I decided to ask some lifting pros why they think people should start lifting.

“It’s honestly fun and I really recommend it,” said senior “Swole” Cole Coddington. “You just need to start light, work your way up, and eventually you won’t be able to live without it.”

Along with Swole’s sentiment, junior Andrew Mullen has his own reasons why lifting is important.

“You just need to get into the zone, shut down the outside world, and focus on the set,” said Mullen.

So now that you’re currently pumped up about lifting, you’re probably wondering if it’s too late or too early to start lifting. From what I gathered, people begin at all different ages:

“Yeah I didn’t start lifting until freshman year, but honestly you can start at any age,” said Swole.

When I heard this, I thought freshman year sounded pretty early. I mean, that was roughly 3.4 billion years ago for me. As it turns out, however, some people start way earlier than that.

“I started lifting somewhere around 6th or 7th grade. I can’t remember exactly because it feels like I’ve been lifting my entire life.” said Cetnar.

Well hopefully this article was as informative for you as it was for me. Honestly, before writing this I was one of the people to say lifting was stupid as often as I could. It has now become apparent to me that these kids who lift take it extremely seriously, and it seems that this has become more than just a hobby for them; it’s an entire way of life.

“Lifting is a good way to get away from the troubles of everyday life,” said Mullen. “You can do whatever lift you want, get in the zone, and forget all of your problems. It puts your mind at ease.”

**IF YOU ARE INTERESTED IN REPRESENTING KNOCH AT A POWERLIFTING MEET, PLEASE CONTACT MR. CARL EITHER BY EMAIL ([email protected]) OR IN PERSON IN ROOM 503**