Abbotsford’s senior strongman has succeeded again.
Jon Wolbers, 67, traveled to Las Vegas earlier this month to compete at the World Association of Benchers and Deadlifters world championships, and set a new world record in the push and pull competition for his division.
The challenge sees lifters combine their bench press and deadlift totals. Wolbers posted a combined weight of 904, smashing the old world record of 777.8.
The WABDL hall of famer admitted his bench press and deadlift totals were down a bit due to a back injury he suffered before the competition, but he’s pleased with the win.
“It’s always a lot of fun to compete,” he said. “I don’t want to brag, but I’ve been world champion in my division for five years running now.”
Wolbers trains four days a week at Generation X Fitness in Mission, and has a bench press he works out on at home. He started the sportat the age of 42, after discovering that running wasn’t his favourite activity.
“I ran a few marathons and my last one I was halfway through and I decided this isn’t for me,” he said. “I wanted to try something different, and fooled around in the gym for a while and tried a meet. It just went on from there.”
He’s regularly won awards at WABDL events since 2011, and has the second all-time deadlift in WABDL history for the 61 to 67 age group at 600.7 pounds.
At the same event last year, he dead-lifted 585 pounds to set a new record in his age group.
Wolbers said he’s competing at an event in Portland in March, and is also planning on going to the Olympia in 2016. He’s not planning on retiring the barbells anytime soon.
“I want to keep going as long as I can,” he said. “Us old guys have to train even harder than the young guys.”