Ellsworth's Strongest highlights profession of arms

  • Published
  • By Airman Ashley J. Woolridge
  • 28th Bomb Wing Public Affairs
ELLSWORTH AIR FORCE BASE, S.D. --  Muscles were flexed and iron was pumped during the Ellsworth's Strongest weightlifting competition at the Bellamy Fitness Center, Nov. 16.

Participants in the first event of its kind weighed in and then declared the weight they expected to bench press, dead lift and squat. Each competitor had three chances to achieve their goal in each event.

Airman 1st Class Austin Payne, 28th Force Support Squadron Bellamy Fitness Center event coordinator, oversaw and refereed the challenge that was open to all base personnel and their families. He said the fitness center sponsors two free events a month, and this one was geared toward serious weightlifters.

"(Ellsworth's Strongest) is an event to show their hard work - people who put in hours in the gym just to get five or 10 more pounds of weight added to their maximum," Payne said. "It's a chance for them to perform out there and show their peers all their hard work."

Approximately 15 people participated in the challenge. Dawn Williams, spouse of an Ellsworth Airman, decided to compete in Ellsworth's Strongest just a few days before the event.

"I work out over at Crossfit, and we do a lot of one-rep maxes for all of the Olympic lifts," Williams said. "I just wanted to see how I'd do."

Williams said she enjoyed the squat and the dead lift the most because those are her strong points - she was able to squat 195 pounds and dead lift 225 pounds. She added she looks forward to participating in more strength competitions.

"It's something to work toward, and it brings fun into working out," Williams said. "It's fun to see what you can do - especially as a female - and I love representing the (Ellsworth) spouses."

To determine where the lifters stood in relation to other participants, Payne used each person's Wilks Coefficient - obtained from their body weight - and multiplied it by the weight they lifted during each exercise.

"The Wilks Coefficient is a numerical system used to justify where you are in relation to other people for your body weight," Payne said.

Payne said he hopes to make Ellsworth's Strongest a recurring event, adding activities like this are just one of the ways to help Airmen maintain their physical fitness - an essential part of a healthy Air Force lifestyle.

"It (physical fitness) is one of our cores, and it (Ellsworth's Strongest) will help promote it," Payne said. "It's contagious - people see other people in these events, working out and doing good things, and it tends to lead them to do the same."

For more information about upcoming events, call the Bellamy Fitness Center at (605) 385-2266.