Prem Prakash: powerlifting world records

“The only people who belong in boxes?”

Prem Prakash, the yoga and mindfulness coach for Middlebury’s varsity sports teams, has another identity. Better known for putting athletes to sleep during Shavasana, Prem is also a quadruple world-record-breaking powerlifter. 

Last November at the International Powerlifting League’s Tested World Championships in Wolverhampton, England, Prem squatted 292.1 pounds, benchpressed 187.4 pounds and deadlifted 364.8 pounds — all world records within the 148-pound weight class of the 65–69 age bracket. Because powerlifting performance is measured by the sum of one’s three lifts, Prem naturally broke the world record for a competition total in his age and weight class as well. 

Prem’s journey to setting four world records can be traced back to Covid-19, the assembly of a home gym and father-son bonding. Prem acquired a power rack and weights so his son, who was training as an MMA fighter, could continue lifting at home during the pandemic. Having wrestled growing up, Prem was no stranger to lifting heavy objects, but four decades of practicing yoga had passed. It didn’t take long for Prem to find his old form. 

“In a relatively short period of time I started realizing I was putting up some good numbers for a guy my weight,” Prem said. “I looked online and thought, ‘oh, I think I can be competitive.’” 

Seizing the opportunity, Prem registered for a string of local meets. He performed well and ultimately qualified for the 2022 North American championships, where he won a gold medal. He returned the next year and increased his total by over 80 pounds. By November 2024, Prem competed in his first World Championship. Three years of steady gains, 60 state records and a couple of national records preceded Prem’s climb to the world stage at the World Championships in Wolverhampton last November.

The World Championships included the standard powerlifting procedure. Competitors have three chances to complete each of the three lift types. Lifting straps, which wrap around the wrist and bar, are forbidden, making a successful attempt as much a feat of grip strength as raw power. Powerlifters can never reduce the weight between attempts in a competition, and if one fails on all three attempts, they are disqualified. 

There’s no Goldilocks-ing your way to a weight that is “just right” — the first lift must be both light enough to guarantee completion and heavy enough to prime the body for more demanding subsequent attempts. The next lift is a strategic jump, and when well-calculated, the final attempt is an all-out push. Prem, however, had an additional attempt at the deadlift in last November’s meet. 

When chasing a world record, competitors are permitted a fourth lift. With the deadlift record in reach in Wolverhampton, Prem approached the platform for a final time and internalized the crowd’s heightened support for such an “unusual” lifter as himself. Acknowledging the spotters, Prem shifted his focus to his sole task at the moment and gave the lift everything he could. Raising nearly 365 pounds off the ground, Prem broke the previous record by one pound. His narrow success embodies a lesson many athletes have heard during his yoga sessions: adjusting your mind to become one percent better. 

Prem teaches a distinct optimism about our limits. All humans have the ability to improve themselves by one percent in any field — athletic, academic or professional. Making these slim improvements is contingent on fine-tuning the mind, the point at which Prem’s unique powerlifting advantage begins. 

“I know how to work with my mind directly,” Prem said. Decades of practicing yoga have allowed him to develop deeper control over his mind, an invaluable skill in powerlifting. For instance, elite powerlifters will often bear double their body weight on their back for the squat. Once one begins to descend, it’s inherent to feel a pang of fear— a reflex to bail on the lift and avoid getting crushed.

“The ability to override those impulses is part of the mysticism of a sport like powerlifting,” Prem continued. “I say it’s a little bit meathead and a little bit mystic.” 

Mastering the mysticism of powerlifting— the development of an intimate trust between mind and body— is what singles out a record-breaker. Powerlifters must accustom themselves to extreme exertion while suppressing momentary impulses of self-preservation. At a level where all competitors are strong, “the difference is the mental aspect.”

The mental aspect also involves accepting failure, another theme Prem embraces in powerlifting. To overcome the fear of the sport’s dangers and perform well, one must become comfortable with occasional failure. As Prem teaches his athletes, “it’s legit to try and not succeed. It’s part of being human.” The price for failure in powerlifting can be great, but until that moment comes, unfulfilled potential and undefined limits remain.

“Sometimes you get caught, sometimes you fly, sometimes you crash, but it’s a full life.”

Prem is confident he has room to grow, and new opportunities such as the prestigious Olympia Pro meet await. For now, powerlifting remains indispensable in Prem’s creation of a full life. His combination of powerlifting and yoga is a wonderful paradox: a way for him to exercise his competitive drive and explore his limits, an outlet to train hard, learn, and simply have fun. 

“An individual should be so multifaceted, multidimensional, messy, and paradoxical that they can’t fit into a box. That’s a full human being.”

So, who are the only people who belong in boxes according to Prem? “Dead people.”