Powerlifting!

Today we went up to visit Adam in Cambridge as we have not seen him for some time. It was also the annual Cambridge vs Oxford Powerlifting Varsity Competition in which Adam was competing, having secured a place in the Cambridge team (and thereby getting a half blue).

It is not a sport I have ever shown any interest in, and in my ignorance I thought it was something that people with huge muscles and small brains did to get rid of excessive testosterone. Firstly, being in a hall with some impressive athletes who are obviously also highly intelligent as they are students of the such academically rigorous institutions soon had me feeling humbled. Powerlifting is all about being strong in relation to your own body weight, so the best member of the Cambridge team is not really that large but is incredibly strong in comparison to his weight. It turned out to be so interesting to watch - 3 lifts each in squat, bench and deadlift. This image is of Adam doing his first squat - there are extras of one of their strongest team members with the chalk dust rising off his shoulders, and another of Adam achieving a personal best in deadlift of 245kg. Cambridge University retained the cup, and won by a huge points differential.

After it finished we took Adam out for a well deserved pizza and beer and then came home. We managed to avoid a huge tailback on the M25 due to an accident by using an alternative (and slow) route.