ADANA, Turkey - Four competitors flexed their muscles and tested their strength during a biannual powerlifting competition April 14 at Incirlik Air Base, Turkey.

The Incirlik Fitness Center hosted the event for those wanting to prove their strength. Ernie Fasoldt, 39th Force Support Squadron fitness and sports director, along with the fitness center staff set up the event.

The powerlifting competition allowed competitors to prove not only their strength, but also their endurance to lift large amounts of weight nine times. Each contestant entered in three categories: squat, bench press and dead lift.

"The squat is the king of the lift. It sets the meet off," said Jimmy Scott, 39th Force Support Squadron. "If you have a bad lift on the squat, it is very hard to make up the rest of the numbers."

Scott, who has more than 20 years of powerlifting experience, asked to be scored but not counted in the competition. As most of the contestants were new to competing, Scott took the opportunity to better his skills and share his knowledge rather than compete.

"I've been competing in active powerlifting since 1988," said Scott. "My goal [was] to, one, use this meet to try and get myself ready for my national competition, and two, to inspire the ones that are not quite as strong as me."

During the competition Scott shared some of his tricks of the trade with other contestants, using his experience and knowledge to motivate and inspire other competitors.

Prior to the event, the fitness center staff provided spotters to assist the competitors should they fail to lift their desired weight and safety briefings at the start of each category. Spotters ensured each competitor safely placed weights back on the rack without injury.

"We go over the safety with all of them because most of the contestants have rarely or never competed before," said Fasoldt.

To start each lifting category, the lifters declared a starting weight. Competitors had the opportunity to compete with or without the aid of weight lifting equipment, such as gloves or straps. After a competitor's first attempt, he decided upon the weight for the second attempt.

Fasoldt explained that contestants must stay at the current weight if they failed to lift the first attempt, they could not go up or down.

In order to limit the amount of missed lifts, it was recommended competitors start with a weight they were confident with lifting three times in order to receive a completed lift score. The final scores were added up using the Glossbrenner Coefficient formula, which used the contestant's Glossbrenner Bodyweight Coefficient multiplied by the total weight lifted in all three categories to produce the total scores.

The final results from all categories of the competition are as follows:

Squat:
Jimmy Scott, 675 lbs
Julian Clarke, 545 lbs
Adam Plummer, 355 lbs
William Jones, 350 lbs

Bench Press:
Jimmy Scott and Julian Clarke, 405 lbs
Adam Plummer, 230 lbs
William Jones, non-complete

Dead Lift:
Jimmy Scott, 625 lbs
William Jones, 500 lbs
Adam Plummer, 455 lbs
Julian Clarke, 435 lbs

Overall Score:
Jimmy Scott, 1,705 points
Julian Clarke, 1,385 points
Adam Plummer, 1,040 points
William Jones, 850 points

For more information on upcoming fitness or sporting events, call the fitness center at DSN 676-6086.

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This work, Team Incirlik raises the bar, by SrA Anthony Sanchelli, identified by DVIDS, is free of known copyright restrictions under U.S. copyright law.