While some high school teens dream of competing at the uppermost level of competition in their favorite sport, such basketball or football, one teen is doing more than dreaming — he’s living the dream.
Ryan Fekrat, 16, a Culver City High School student has been competing in powerlifting contests for the past two years and has several wins under his belt.
His first victory came at the Lake Tahoe Classic, where he competed in the 138-pound weight class, where he deadlifting 300 pounds.
A more recent win occurred on Feb. 10, when Fekrat competed at the drug-tested California State Powerlifting Championships at the SCU Center of Health Sciences in Whittier. It was this competition in which he broke the California and the national records for his class (16-17 years old and 165 lbs/75kg). All Fekrat did was performing a deadlift of 463 pounds, which happens to be three times his body weight.
Fekrat credits his highly competitive drive, encouragement and support of his family and his technique for the success he has had.
“Technique is very important especially with squatting and deadlifting,” Fekrat said. “It can be the difference between a good lift and no lift or between getting out of the lift alright and herniating a disk.”
He is careful during his practice sessions so that the risk of the more common powerlifting injuries, such as bone fractures, herniated disks, and torn muscles, are minimized. Such injuries like torn muscles can take anywhere from a few weeks to half-year to heal, he said.
Daily regimen
Rising at about 3 or 4 a.m., Fekrat likes to start his day with breakfast, following by vitamin supplements and then some time in his family’s garage where he has a set of weights that he uses for practice.
“I could be in there for hours practicing, feeling out the weight, what’s the right position for me to be in to begin a lift and trying to think of different exercises that no one else has done yet,” he said.
During practice, Fekrat targets specific muscles so that he can have an all-around improved performance when deadlifting. For instance, with a heavily weighted bar in hand, Fekrat will do shoulder shrugs and concentrate on maintaining a strong grip.
He will also do rowing exercises where he positions his chest parallel to the floor and then gets a wide grip on a weighted barbell. This allows Fekrat to pick to the barbell using the bicep muscles in his upper arms as well as the trapezius muscles in his back.
“Preparing myself for all the positioning translates into having a strong deadlift,” he said.
While Fekrat spends considerable time focusing on achieving his powerlifting goals, he has not forgotten about others who share the same goals. Recently, he started a strength and conditioning gym on campus for casual lifters and the more athletic student body so that they can enjoy the benefits of physical fitness and health consciousness.
Although the gym is popular among CCHS students, Fekrat is having a difficult time keeping it open due to his interactions with the Culver City School District office over liability paperwork. Fekrat says that the school’s insurance policy does not cover weight training outside of an approved weight training class offered by the school. So, he is looking to make his favorite gym off campus but has yet to secure a new location.
Fekrat’s schedule will start getting busier as the year wears on. After an untested practice meet at KO Gym’s March Max Madness in Ventura, Fekrat will hit the road hoping to continue garnering success as a powerlifter.
On June 23, he will compete in the USPA Drug-Tested National Championships in West Virginia. Following that, Fekrat will compete in the International Powerlifting League’s (IPL) International Drug-Tested Championships in Las Vegas on November 8. In December, Fekrat will end the year in Moscow, Russia where he will compete at the IPL International Championships representing the United States in the 165 pounds, 16 to 19-year age class for deadlift.
He said that once he’s done with powerlifting, he plans to pursue a career as a physician with an emphasis on sports medicine.
Till that day, his chosen practice will be heavy doses of iron lifting.
