28 years later I'm still as Driven as the first day I picked up my first weights (which were those concrete weights with plastic coverings) and my first muscle and fitness magazine hoping to be as strong as the men I saw flexing and pumping iron. This is not a hobby to me. This is a part of who I am and what makes me, well me. Hobbies are collecting baseball cards and stamps. Lifting weights and training is a lifestyle for me. Everything I do is predicated around training. Everything. It has taken me a lifetime to do what I have in this sport. I have learned alot from the steel I have battled with for almost 3 decades. It has taught me humility, it has taught me loss, respect, honor, how to overcome and what I am truly made of. That weight pile has never lied to me. It has always pushed me to become more than I thought I could. To set my sites high and to be prepared. I love this sport. I love the folks I have met through the years. I love the comradery this sport brings. Each of us that knows this knows the sacrifice and dedication training takes, which garners the respect we each have for each other when we step on that platform to compete. I'm not done. That weight pile keeps calling my name. That drive still pushes me. The need to become more still fuels my soul. This is not a hobby to me. This is my life and This is who I am....
I joined team elitefts™ in 2007. I have been competing in powerlifting for 20 years now. During these past 20 years I have competed raw bench only, multiply bench only, raw push/pull, multiply push/pull, multiply deadlift only, raw full power and multiply full power. I got my start as a raw bench only lifter. My best raw bench-press in competition is 530 pounds in the 242 weight class. I competed raw bench only many years then switched over to multiply bench only. My best multiply bench-press in competition is 805 pounds in the 308 weight class weighing in at 286 pounds.
I have remained ranked as one of the top 15 multiply bench pressers in the world for my weight class for the past 10 years. My best ranking for the year is currently 4th place for my weight class. I hold several APF and SPF Federation state, national and world records. I also have an elite total for full power raw and an elite total for full power multiply.
I am 41 years old. I am a circulation manager for two NC newspapers. I live in Nebo, NC and train at my own private training facility – Nebobarbell. My Greatest achievement is that I am a father of one magnificent, wonderful, smart and beautiful daughter - Katelyn Smith. She trains with me, she is a McDowell High Lady Titan Basketball Player, Lady Bandits Travel Basketball Player, throws shot-put and discs for her High School Track Team, competes with Team Nebobarbell in powerlifting meets and above all is a straight A student with a current 5.0 GPA.
I am currently in off season training and still rehabbing from 2 major surgeries in the past 18 months. The first surgery I went under the knife to have repaired was a complete anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) tear and a lateral meniscus tear. Both of these injuries were done on the right knee. 7 months later the second surgery was to repair a complete distal biceps tendon tear. I had this reattached to the bone. The injury was to my left arm.
I am currently in off season training preparing for a multiply bench only meet some time this year….