This gut has to be ever girl's dream man. He's a firefighter, he looks good, and now a National Champion!
Local powerlifter Charlie Lyons brought home a national title in his weight class at the USPA National Powerlifting Championships earlier this month in Las Vegas.
“That’s the way I like it,” Lyons said. “It came down to our final pull.”
This had accomplished a longtime goal for Charlie Lyons, a Tuscaloosa fireman who’s been a competitive powerlifter at the state and national level for years. He won the United States Powerlifting Association’s 125-kilogram weight class (275 pounds).
This was not an easy task though, as Lyons hadn’t competed in the past couple of years because injuries and life kept him from pursuing powerlifting full-time.
“I thought I could compete, and that’s kind of the way I approached it when I got there,” he said. “If I could compete and hang with them, then I’d have a shot on dead lift. I have a decent dead lift, but it’s not as strong as it was. So I wasn’t sure but I knew if I could get there and have a chance, I could possibly pull for the win. That’s kind of how I approached the whole meet.”
He posted a 667-pound squat to begin the meet, but he injured his shoulder on his first attempt. He later learned he had torn his labrum and rotator cuff in his left shoulder, which will require surgery. But he still managed to complete two of his three attempts on bench press, with a best attempt of 430 pounds. That gave him an 18-pound lead entering the dead lift, the third and final lift of the day.
His closest competitor took the lead with a heavier attempt on the first dead lift pull than Lyons, so he adjusted his strategy. Lyons pulled 705 pounds on his second dead lift attempt and felt strong. He initially told judges he planned to pull 766 pounds on his final attempt, but that was meant to rattle his opponent and push him beyond his comfort zone. Lyons completed a 750-pound dead lift on his final attempt. His opponent tried to beat that to take the championship, but couldn’t lock out at the top of the lift.
Congratulations Charlie Lyons for bringing ANOTHER National Championship to Tuscaloosa!
Photo courtesy of Tuscaloosa News