PHOTO COURTESY DANI MARTIN
Shane Martin from Medicine Hat celebrates after his World Championship winning bench press at the IPF Bench Press World Championships in Sun City, South Africa.
jtubb@medicinehatnews.com@ReporterTubb
Shane Martin knew when he got under the bar for his third attempt at a world championship lift, something special was about to happen.
The 35-year-old Hatter won first place and the title of world champion at the International Powerlifting Federation Bench Press World Championships with his bench press of 347.5kg (765lbs).
Martin, who competed in the 120+kg division at the championships held in Sun City, South Africa, says the championship lift felt good the second he had his hands on the bar.
“It felt right in my hands,” Martin said. “Since the other two attempts went very well, I had that kind of confidence and momentum from the earlier attempts to astern that the strength is there, the technique is there and that this is the day, this is the moment kind of thing.”
His first lift was 322.5kg (710 lbs) and bumped his second up to 340kg (749lbs). Martin’s championship winning lift was the heaviest bench press of the entire IPF Bench Press World Championships, and is also the heaviest bench press in Canadian Powerlifting Union history. He’s also the first Canadian to ever win an Equipped Bench-Only World Championship, an honour not lost on the local sheriff.
“Canada has been competing at this championship for over 40 years and to be the first Canadian to bring home that title, it was definitely a very special moment,” Martin said. “I’ve been training for benchpress for over a decade, I’ve had lots of help from athletes all over Canada with technique and stuff. So being able to prove to the world was very, very special.
“In terms of being the heaviest bench of the championship, that was just a really cool notch on the belt, I wasn’t really expecting that going in.”
Martin got into the sport of powerlifting after years of CrossFit when one of his friends, Tyler Pocsik, beat him in a pushup contest. With the frustration of being beat by his friend, Martin joined Pocsik in powerlifting training and has been in love with the sport ever since.
“The biggest thing I like about the sport is you can quantify your success and progress,” Martin said. “You know if you add 5-10 pounds to your lifts, it’s proven on the scoresheet so you can always see your progress. It’s easier to set goals and stay motivated because the work you put in the gym, the work you put into your nutrition and you prioritize sleep, all of those direct inputs are a clear indicator of a positive outcome.”
He plans on taking the summer off to relax, spend time with his family and smell the roses before gearing up to defend his world title at the 2024 championships in Austin, Tex. Martin says he owes a lot of his success to his wife Dani and says he’s learned a lot about himself and his confidence through powerlifting.
“Since I train at home in our basement she’s always there to help me un-rack the bar, give me help when I’m training for these competitions, she definitely is a key part in my success,” Martin said.
“It’s the ability to know if I set my mind to something, then it can be accomplished. Powerlifting is a perfect example of that, because it took me 10 years to slowly add weight to the bar until you get to the point where you’re like a competitor at the world stage. There’s always little checkpoints throughout that journey.”
