LOVELAND — Like many teenage boys, Res Stecker is hoping to make a push for a position next fall on his high school football team.
Some of them, Stecker included, will be in the weight room to help strengthen themselves for the cause.
But very few will miss the heavy duty weight-room workouts when football season starts.
Stecker will. Unlike many of his future teammates at Mountain View High School, he is more focused on the iron than the gridiron, and he has the credentials to prove it.
On May 17, Stecker, a junior-to-be at MVHS, broke six powerlifting records at the Natural Athletic Strength Association Colorado State meet in the 220-pound high school division.
At 206 pounds, Stecker competed in the equipped and unequipped divisions, though he never donned the bench shirt or squat suit to be qualified as equipped — items that are not used for safety reasons, but increase a competitor’s ability to lift.
Sans those items, Stecker broke the unequipped record in his weight class for total weight in the three lifts (squat, deadlift, bench press) at 1,035.46 pounds. He squatted 402.34 (a record in both classifications), 214.25 (the unequipped record) and deadlifted 418.87 (the record in each classification).
“The first one I did was the squat, and after that, I broke records every time,” Stecker said. “It was a great feeling. The only one I didn’t get was the equipped bench.”
He was 50 pounds shy of the equipped bench record, just 14 off the total equipped mark.
Stecker, who won the state title in 2007 at 198 pounds, started lifting about three years ago with his father, Curt McClanahan, giving Stecker an ideal mentor.
McClanahan, who has been powerlifting since 1985, owns or has owned 38 records throughout the years in his age and weight divisions. He was an Olympic Trials qualifier in 1985, and he’s still going, well, strong.
However, McClanahan sat on the sidelines this state meet to focus on Stecker. Watching his son compete caused a mix of emotions.
“I was really nervous and excited,” said McClanahan, who has trained a handful of lifters, a couple of them world class. “I knew what he was capable of doing. That’s a good thing and a bad thing, because I know what he’s capable of doing before he does. I had full confidence he’d hit every record we put before him.”
It paid off. Stecker’s first attempt at each lift produced a record, as did the two lifts that followed.
Stecker became interested watching McClanahan go about his craft, but acknowledges there are days he thinks the process is crazy.
So did the school lunch lady the day Stecker walked in, ordered three chicken sandwiches, six pieces of bread, two fruit cups, three cartons of milk and a bottle of water.
“All she said was, ‘I better get you two trays,'” Stecker recalled.
But that daily lunch proved to be the easiest part of his training.
Powerlifting is much different. He can’t use momentum on the bench to lift more weight — he has to delay with the weight on his chest. When he squats, his hips have to go below knee level for it to be official.
“I used to hate every single one of them, too,” Stecker said.
“I started out, and I’d be terrible at them. At first when I started out, bench was my favorite, because it was the easiest one to do. Now, I hate it.
“I thought at one point it was ridiculous. I’ve thought, I’m done, but I don’t like quitting. When you wake up and can’t move, that’s when it hits.”
While Stecker likes playing football, his main pursuit will be powerlifting.
His training schedule will slow down, but Stecker knows McClanahan will hit him hard before and immediately after the football season to get him ready for competition next spring.
“I train more for the powerlifting now,” Stecker said. “When it started, I loved football, and I loved playing it, but since then, it’s shifted. I love powerlifting more than football. I think it’s a lot more fun.
“It’s the idea that you can achieve great things by yourself, and everything relies on your own personal ability.”
McClanahan has seen many changes in the sport, which is exciting for both he and Stecker. Colleges are starting programs and giving scholarships, and at a higher level, professional opportunities are coming along with prize money and sponsorships.
Amateur Athletic Union meets are drawing colleges for these teams, and next April, Stecker will likely compete in one to get his name out there.
McClanahan is excited about watching Stecker continue to improve. He remembers the young kid with broad shoulders, long arms and big legs, realizing his frame was perfect for the task.
“I love watching the results, seeing him get stronger,” McClanahan said. “I want to see him enjoy it, but I also want to see him accomplish an AAU meet, maybe get him into one of these powerlifting teams.”
