Powerlifting Strengthens Volga family
January 13th, 2010
Originally posted by: The Brookings Register
Tuesday, Jan 12th, 2010
Every morning, Jay and Kelly Trenhaile of Volga have breakfast with champions.
The two are parents of Kara, 12, and Westin, 9, both of whom have set American and world records in powerlifting.
Jay started powerlifting as a teenager and actually introduced his family to the sport, but it has been the children’s enthusiasm and achievements that truly made the activity a Trenhaile tradition.
Through their own success, the family is now helping others discover and compete in the sport. Flexible for kids
Powerlifting and weightlifting are not the same sport. While weightlifting is a test of muscle endurance, powerlifting is about limit strength trying to lift as much weight as possible one time.
Jay said powerlifting is comprised of three types of lifts: squat, bench press and deadlift. USA Powerlifting and the American Athletic Union are the two main national organizations that participate in sanctioned powerlifting meets.
The American Athletic Union meets are more focused for kids and more flexible for competition. “You don’t have to do all three lifts if you don’t want to,” said Jay. “You can do bench only, or a deadlift and a squat.”
In August, Kara set four American and world powerlifting records in her age category at the AAU Junior Olympics in Des Moines, Iowa. She lifted 137.79 pounds in the squat, benched 82.67 pounds and deadlifted 192.9 pounds for a total of 402.24 pounds. Reintroduced sport
Jay has been interested in powerlifting since his high school days in Redfield.
“As a young kid I was really round,” said Jay. “I wanted to become stronger and less round, so I went to this meet in Aberdeen, and ever since then I was hooked.”
Not only did Jay establish power lifting in his household, he recently reintroduced powerlifting to Brookings after a 23-year absence.
With the encouragement of Brookings resident and national AAU wrestling chairman Bob Johnson, he organized the Powerlift on the Plains Meet, which was held Nov. 21.
At that event, Westin won the American record for deadlifting 143.25 pounds. He also finished the meet with a squat of 88 pounds and a bench press of 55 pounds, for a total of 286.25 pounds. Family encouragement
When asked individually how Kara, Westin, and their brother, Thayer, 15, became interested in the sport, they all agreed it was due to their dad’s influence.
But although his dad gave Westin the idea, it was Kara who really made him want to compete.
“I watched Kara at the first two Orchard (Neb., ) meets, and the second one I videotaped her, Westin said. “That made me curi ous to know how much I could lift.”
Although dad was happy Kara, Thayer and Westin have chosen to follow in his love for the sport, he didn’t pressure the kids to start lifting.
“I wasn’t encouraging them to compete,” Jay said. “Kara kept advocating to be able to go and lift in a meet,” he said. “Finally one day, she grabbed the 45-pound bar and benched it four times as a 10-year-old . ”
In April 2007, Kara went to her first meet, where she set four American records. “When I break a record, I’m just happy,” she said. “It makes me look forward to the next time when I can break some more.”
Westin said he kept his cool right before his own recordbreaking feat. “Dad told me, ‘It’s light you can do it.’ And I knew that I had lifted close to it before, so I just went out and there and did it,” he said. Training, safety
To train properly, Kara and Westin work out twice a week, for about 30 minutes at a time. Because he’s older, Thayer does a little more, especially in the summertime.
“When I’m not in a sport in the summer, then I usually go three times a week for an hour,” said Thayer.
“You don’t need to train for very long,” said Jay. “You can get stronger in short workouts.”
Jay said that along with his kids training at such an early age comes the need to address safety concerns.
“All the new research is show ing that lifting is safe,” Jay said. “The stress and pressure from jumping and turning and twisting when you are doing other standard sports put more stress on your joints than lifting does.”
“But we still do the other sports, too,” added Westin. “But like any sport, if you do the lifting wrong, you could get hurt if you don’t know what you’re doing.”
When she’s not in weight training, Kara participates in soft ball, basketball, track and volleyball .
Westin is involved in baseball and wrestling and will be in foot ball next fall, while Thayer competes in football, baseball and track. Personal goals
Westin and Kara said they wouldn’t mind someday going the Olympics, but Jay says that due to organizational inconsistencies , powerlifting is “in and out” of the games.
“Weightlifting is more popular in the United States,” he said. “In European countries, (powerlifting ) is taken more seriously . Powerlifters over there make the sport a fulltime job.” In the meantime, all of the Trenhaile athletes have set some specific goals. Westin said he would “like to get stronger in other sports.” He also plans to attend the AAU regional meet in Orchard, Neb., in April, where he wants to improve on his American record and move his deadlift weight higher. Kara said she looks forward to the Junior Olympics in Virginia Beach, Va., where she hopes to get “four more world records.” Thayer says he doesn’t stress powerlifting as a main sport but uses his training to make gains in basketball and football. “Thayer is our varsity longsnapper,” says Jay. “Lifting has definitely helped his speed to get the ball back there.” Thayer added, “I see how much time Division I players put in the weight room, and I someday want to become a Division I college football player. “I realize I have to put in lots of time, so I thought this would be a good way to put in that time.” At the Brookings meet, Thayer benched 200 pounds and deadlifted 354 pounds. “He’s come a lot farther than I was at his age,” said Jay. “I suspect by the time he graduates, he’ll be deadlifting 500 pounds.” Jay took 10 years off from steady training due to career and family needs. He said in the last few years, he has found time in his schedule to resume lifting.
But his personal goals in regards to the sport go from competing to judging.
“I would like to focus my time to become a national judge, so that when we have an event, I can certify a national lift,” he said.
Jay said his meet in November was sanctioned. “You have to apply nationally through AAU, and you have to have specialized judges and specialized equipment,” he said. “The weights themselves cost about $4,000.” Lifelong lessons
The Trenhailes say they feel that powerlifting will be a lifelong sport for them, as it has given them may positive influences to carry with them outside the weight room.
Jay says powerlifting builds confidence and stresses the importance of goals, which are “things that spill over into the classroom,”
“If you put the time and effort in, you see positive results,” said Jay. “You compete against yourself to get stronger.”
Kara says becoming stronger through powerlifting has helped her become more aggressive in basketball.
With such active athletic lifestyles, is there a sport the Trenhailes won’t tackle?
“We have a golf membership that doesn’t get used,” said Kelly.
