Matt Watson hits the total of his career!

Swindon Barbell attended the Devon and Cornwall Powerlifting Championships on Sunday 16th October for 1 purpose: Matt Watson to hit the qualifying total in the -93kg Men’s equipped category.

Matt took up equipped powerlifting less than 1 year ago in training and competed equipped for the first time at the South West Championships in April 2016. He managed to hit a 621.5kg total and took 2 of the 4 South West records for his weight category. Although he was happy with his first equipped competition, this was short of the 680kg qualification total required to compete at the British Powerlifting National Championships and so his work was unfinished.

Matt competed again in September managing 675kg meaning he was only 5kg shy of the qualification total. Not willing to wait another year for a shot at Nationals (which gives the potential to qualify for the GB team and international powerlifting competitions), he decided to try again this month to hit the elusive 680kg total he needed.

The competition went to plan with Matt achieving a 262.5kg Squat, 170kg Bench and 247.5kg Deadlift and the magical 680kg total required. He therefore successfully achieved his goal and qualified to compete at the British Powerlifting National Championships in February 2017.

“I was very happy to hit the 680kg total that I needed. With the help of Swindon Barbell, I’ve managed to add 58.5kg to my total in 6 months getting me to the required standard to qualify for the National Championships. I will be competing at the British Championships in February 2017 and am looking forward to the opportunity to prove myself. I would like to say a massive thank you to the coaches at Swindon Barbell and all the people that make it such a great place to train”.

“Matt shows unwavering dedication and commitment to his training and his competition preparation, since he took up the sport in late 2014. We are very proud of Matt stepping up to the mark and improving so much in the last 6 months” claims Coach Charlie.

“Initially, I was writing programs and guiding Matt through his introduction to Equipped Powerlifting, however for the last 3-4 months he has been writing and experimenting with programming himself and the combination of his application of knowledge and listening to advice has led him down a very successful path.”

Both Matt, and girlfriend Christie Civetta also of Swindon Barbell, will be competing at the Home Nations Championships in December representing England. Coaches Charlie, Helen and Karl will be right by their sides supporting them all the way.