A back injury wasn’t going to lift a Foothills teen away from the record books.
Osten Barnhart, 17, battled through an injury to his SI joint that limited training and came away with four national records at the Canadian Powerlifting League Provincials on Sept. 18 in Rocky Mountain House.
“It’s been hard because competing the last two years has been sparse,” said Barnhart, a 2021 graduate of Foothills Composite. “For me, that definitely wasn’t the state that I wanted to go into a meet, but I just wanted to get on that platform and compete because I’ve been trying to for years.
“I had an idea of what the records were going in and I knew that even though I could do a lot better, but being hurt and de-trained I’ve still got this.
“I went in with that attitude of let’s see what we can get from the day.”
Quite a lot, in fact.
Barnhart established provincial and national Canadian Powerlifting League records in the Junior 16-17 age group and 90 kg drug tested category in squat, 177.5 kilos, bench press, 127.5 kilos, deadlift, 215 kilos and total at 510 kilos.
He attributed his breakthrough to the support of the powerlifting community.
“It’s a lot of really great people, at that meet I was new with a lot of nerves and a lot of learning and everybody there was so helpful,” he said. “There was lot of support, every lift I got lots of congratulations and motivation.
“If it was a different crowd I don’t know if I would have been quite there mentally.”
The 17-year-old had to halt his training a month in advance of the meet. With the help of Dr. Jason Baietto and the team at Thrive Family Chiropractic in Okotoks, he was able to compete on the day.
“I actually came into that meet with zero training which in powerlifting is a really big problem,” Barnhart said. “I just had to take a lot of Biofreeze and Ibuprofen and did what I could.
“Dealing with an injury wasn’t great, but at Thrive they were really great, welcomed me with open arms and (Dr. Baietto) gave me a few free sessions just to try and help me out.”
Barnhart has higher personal bests in all three lifts, with the bench the closest to hitting the mark at the provincial meet.
"There was plenty more in the tank,” he said. “And I’m excited to show that at the next one, but I did what I could.”
Barnhart, who plans to attend Mount Royal University to study business next year, picked up his diligence and determination on the ice as a high-level hockey player in the Foothills.
“I played hockey from Novice all the way up until Junior and was super passionate about that, played AAA hockey and took that like my life and was very serious about that,” Barnhart said. “At about 15 year’s old, our team started doing more of the dry-land weight training and I just found that I had a knack for that side.
“Whenever we went to the gym I got more and more excited and started going by myself at about 15. As hockey continued, I kind of did 50-50 on time and in the gym working out as well as playing hockey.
“Then when COVID came I really switched my focus to lifting weights because that was all we could do. A lot of dominoes fell in the right place and I found a new love for a different sport.”
The competitive nature crossing over has given him a leg up in powerlifting, he added.
“That gives me a big edge on some of my competition because when that day came it was nothing new,” Barnhart said. “I’ve played in big games, played in front of big crowds, I think that had a huge affect on me.
“My goals are set really high, just like they were for hockey.”
After working out of the Good Life gym in Okotoks, Barnhart shifted to a home set-up following the initial shutdown of the pandemic.
The home gym, in the Aldersyde area, features a squat rack and bars with everything the powerlifter has needed for the better part of the past 18 months.
“Being from around here, you don’t hear about (powerlifting) much, but it’s really big in the U.S.,” he said. “When I started training, I just started looking at the numbers of the nationally competitive guys around here and started to realize that I probably had a pretty good shot at it.
“Realizing my numbers were competitive right off the starting spot I started to focus on that. I have a great group of buddies around here, too, and they’re all into it, we all feed off each other and they all pushed me to compete.”
Being in the competitive world means counting every calorie and being extremely regimented on a daily basis.
“The eating is a really big piece, I spend most of my day planning meals and getting more meals ready,” he said. “The training is pretty intense, I’m in there for two to three hours every day on a full powerlifting day.
“I have to put a lot of things aside in order to get the full training in, a lot of days I have to miss going hiking or playing baseball with my buddies because I need that stimulus from my training and I need to get those meals in.”
Having a goal to work towards and a disciplined routine to follow has been absolutely huge for Barnhart during the uncertainty of the pandemic, he added.
“A lot of the days, it’s all I have to do,” he said. “It’s been the biggest blessing I’ve had from all of this, having powerlifting and having it here at home because I can’t have that taken away from me.
“It’s been my purpose the last year and a half and I don’t know what I would do without it.”
