An Cosantóir

www.military.ie the defence forces magazine | 31 During his first overseas tour, to Lebanon in 1999, Niall com- peted in a strongman competi- tion. This piqued his interest in powerlifting and he changed his training to include it. He now focuses mainly on powerlifting. Niall told us that the world championship is split into two tournaments, Full Pow- er and Single Lift. Full Power consists of three lifts, squat, bench press, and deadlift. Competitors are allowed three attempts at each and their heaviest successful lifts in each category are added together to give a total weight. The Single Lift consists of lifts in bench press and deadlift, with three attempts at each, and the heaviest successful lift representing the individual's score. Due to a knee ligament injury, Niall is unable to compete in the Full Power tour- nament, as he told us that it would be too dangerous for him to perform squats of a sufficient weight to be competitive, so he will only compete in the Single Lift tournament. Last April, Niall competed in the Irish National Championships, held under the auspices of the Global Powerlifting Committee (GPC), where he won two medals in the Single Lift tournament; gold in the bench press, with a lift of 155kg, and bronze in the deadlift, with a lift of 210kg. He also competed in Single Lift element of the GPC European Championships in England in June, where he won silver in the bench press (155kg) and bronze in the deadlift (215kg). Niall's training is very intense with Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays set aside for heavy weightlifting and Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays for cardio work and light weightlifting. He likes to break up his cardio between running, cycling and swimming to keep his weight close to his competition class of 82.5kg. Along with his training, Niall's diet is just as important, with simple meals con- sisting of protein, carbohydrates and fats. He eats from seven to eight meals a day, starting at 7am with a protein shake and further meals every two to three hours throughout the day, with his final meal at 10pm before bed. Niall has over 20 years of lifting experience, and says he loves the discipline re- quired by the sport. He feels his training is going very well thanks in a large part to the support he gets from his Co, Comdt o'Connell, and other members of his unit. Niall also expressed his thanks to his wife Louise for her support and for putting up with the demands of his training and diet.

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