Nenagh powerlifter breaks world records
By Simon O'Duffy
Nenagh sport is this month celebrating a world record-breaker among its ranks after Graeme Quirke successfully raised a staggering total of 792.5kg in an international powerlifting contest.
Graeme smashed three WPC (World Powerlifting Congress) world records on his way to becoming an elite powerlifter at the Irish Powerlifting Organisation/Amateur Irish Powerlifting (IPO-AIPO) championships in Limerick.
Competing in the M1 (40-43) age category, Graeme lifted 212.5kg in the bench press, breaking the previous record (held by himself) of 210kg. His dead lift of 265kg was five kilos above the previous M1 record, while he also back-squatted a whopping 315kg.
Graeme broke the combined total record of 775kg by a considerable margin - his 792.5kg now stands as the best M1 competitive record in the IPO, which is affiliated to the WPC and International Powerlifting League.
It has also elevated him to elite athlete status (any total over 785kg qualifies as elite), a goal that Graeme had coveted since before he began competing in powerlifting in 2008.
"I'm delighted with it," said Graeme, who is credited with pioneering powerlifting as a sport in Nenagh some 20 years ago.
"This is a real milestone for me. I've achieved what I always wanted to do personally, and it is a great feeling."
Judged by international referees, the competition saw dozens of entrants converge at the Southside Barbell gym earlier this month. Competitors endured an intense series of lifts with no breaks for the two groups (split up in line with Covid-19 protocols), members of which alternated between warm-ups and lifting. Each entrant had to power out their one-rep maximum effort - performed with perfect technique under the judges' scrutiny - and the best lifts on the day won.
What made Graeme's success all the sweeter was the fact that he had been training hard and was ready for the competition when it was originally scheduled back in March. To have it all thrown up into the air then was a devastating disappointment, but Graeme refused to give up and continued preparing in anticipation of another opportunity coming up in October.
He adhered to a strict 16-week training programme ahead of the event. In that time, he worked hard on the strength and technique of each of the three powerlifting disciplines every week. He worked out a diet that involved consuming 4,000 calories per day to keep up his 90kg body weight. He also focussed on getting at least eight hours of sleep each night, something Graeme regards as a key component of successful training.
He did all this while also balancing his business, Nenagh's busy Fitness Factory gym, with the support of his partner Kristi and daughter Aila. The date of the competition – October 3rd – was also the date of Aila's eighth birthday, a lucky omen for sure!
At 41, Graeme is in the optimum age range for powerlifting and said he may go on to try and even better this achievement, aiming for an 800kg total - maybe more. But age also brings sense and, having literally lifted something positive out of 2020, he is now enjoying some down-time, having finally fulfilled that long-lived ambition.
"You get older, you train smarter, not harder," Graeme commented. "If I need a rest, I'll take it."
The Fitness Factory has already produced young powerlifting champions like Amy White and Jesse Moran. Graeme is hoping to quickly cast aside the shackles of Covid-19 and reopen his gym so that he can share his experience with the many Nenagh lifters now following in his footsteps.
"This is part of my life. I've achieved what I wanted to do, and I want to keep on helping others with what they want to do. I'm looking forward to getting back to that as soon as we can."