Warren council worker Rebecca Christian gave birth to her son Nick 11 weeks prematurely. 

“He was a tiny baby” she told the Western Plains App “And grew up a very small boy with a small frame”. 

A small boy through school, Nick got bullied when he reached secondary school. 

“When I intervened it actually made it worse” Rebecca told the Western Plains App “So we were at a bit off loss about what to do”. 

 ,

Rebecca told the Western Plains App that, about eighteen months ago, she had been working out in the gym and lifting weights when Nick who is now 14, asked if he could come along.

So she showed him correct technique and soon he was lifting impressive weights across deadlifts, squats and bench press. 

Nick had been lifting gym weights for fun for less than a year when in a conversation with a friend who lifted competitively in Orange, Rebecca just happened to ask what was being lifted. 

“It turns out we were both lifting at a competitive level,” Nick told the Western Plains App. 

He said he just wanted to join in because it looked like fun and there was nobody in the family who had apparent athletic gifts, but last October he set world records at the national championships in in squats, bench and deadlifts for his size, weight and age group. 

“I lifted 100kg in squats, benched 65kg and deadlift at 122.5kg” Nick said. 

He revealed that in the lead up to his world record lifts “One student in particular who knew he was about to compete in the national championships used to get in my personal space, and try to hurt me. He would put me down and put me off my game. He’d tell 'you are weak, you wont be able to lift.'"

ABOVE: Nick Christian powerlifting. Image: Rebecca Christian. 

However, his school printed his world record in their newsletter. 

“Nick has a small frame, but is very strong,” Rebecca said 

“He told those bullies he was lifts more than them, and now they have stopped bullying him and actually speak to him like he is just a normal person." 

Rebecca Christian told the Western Plains the people at Warren gym had been particularly terrific absolutely because “they knew what he had to go through in order to get here”. 

She says that since starting weightlifting Nick has become a whole new person.  

“His confidence has risen tremendously. I’ve had teachers ring me up to say how helpful he was. Whereas before he used to just kind of hide in the corner”. 

Tips for aspiring weightlifters 

As well as getting their technique right, the Christians told the Western Plains App they have learned almost everything from youtube and in particular from a Canadian weightlifter named Jeff Nippard. 

They recommend doing the big three - squats, deadlifts and bench press twice per week. 

The first time at a weight so you can do 3 to 5 repetitions. The next time you're in the gym drop the weight down again so you do 10 repetitions. 

Through this strength training your capacity to lift bigger weights will gradually increase.