Cailer Woolam got his start in powerlifting as a high school student. Not long after graduating, he realized he could probably take the deadlifting world record within a year or two.
But he wasn’t the best powerlifter in school. In fact, he bombed out of the squat at his first powerlifting meet at the age of 15.
Cailer attributes this experience to a couple of things: one, he was a late bloomer who didn’t really hit puberty until he turned 17. Second, he was inexperienced.
“I really just had no idea what I was doing. I had zero guidance at this point. I remember after that meet, I was so embarrassed.”
He wasn’t allowed to go on and bench. He’d started to get his bench shirt on, only for his coach to pull him aside and inform him that he was done. Worst yet, he heard his teammates and other people talk about him, the kid who bombed out on the first lift.
“I was ready to quit.”
But he did another meet, but he did much better, and his total was enough to get him to the regional meet.
It’s a testament to the nature of powerlifting. Cailer isn’t someone who could lift 700 pounds as a 10-year-old. It took a lot of time and training to get him to where he is. Now he’s known as Doctor Deadlift, one of the youngest people to hit the deadlift world record.
