What first started off as a suggestion, soon turned into motivation for Cameron McKerrow to compete in the Mount Isa Stack City Fitness Push Pull Contest.
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Focused on his fitness, McKerrow spent the last five months trimming down from 146 kilograms to 115 but power lifting never crossed his mind.
Having never participated in power lifting before, the local rugby player had no intentions of entering in the competition until it was offered to him as a bit of fun.
“Entering the competition helped motivate me with my training as it gave me a short term goal: to push to get as strong as I could in the month and a half of preparation that I had,” he said.
“I was stoked to hit that goal last Saturday. I didn’t hit any personal best (due to an injury) but I was still able to lift respectable numbers in front of a lot of people which made the day extremely enjoyable.”
McKerrow placed fourth in the Heavyweight Men’s with a 130kg bench and a 230kg dead lift.
“I was pleased I was able to lift anything on the day so it certainly gave me a burning desire to do better in the next competition,” he said.
“Being my first ever competition I had no real idea how to go about my meal preparation or training schedule leading up to the competition.
“In the end It was an amazing experience and I had the best support crew led by my mother and sister. They had shirts made up for the event which made me crazy proud.”
Leading up to the competition, McKerrow was also approached by his first sponsor, Jack Of All Trades (JOAT) Maintenance.
“I was a extremely shocked to think someone thought that highly of me,” McKerrow said.
“Kodie Kuskopf first approached me at the gym after noticing how hard I was pushing myself to try to do well – then began talks of the sponsorship.
“Kodie hooked me up with some new lifting equipment and some apparel to wear on the day personalised with my nick name ‘Yogi Bear’.
“I cannot speak highly enough about Kodie who has only recently started up JOAT Maintenance. It was awesome to see his company really trying to get involved with the community and supporting locals.
“He was stoked about the competition and how I went and has vouched to keep backing me into the next competition.”