A powerlifter who realised his talent while recovering from a capsizing incident is set to represent his country at the upcoming Commonwealth Championships.<\/p>\n
Chris Pryor, 42, from Gloucester, won gold at the All England Masters Powerlifting competition in May, making him the English champion in his age and weight class.<\/p>\n
This led to the civil engineer being selected to compete for England at the Commonwealth Powerlifting Championships in Winnipeg, Canada, in September.<\/p>\n
Pryor said his journey began after capsizing a kayak in 2018 and tearing a tendon in his knee. Rehabilitation to regain his strength revealed he “excelled” at the sport.<\/p>\n
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“During the tedious months of physiotherapy that followed, a switch flipped,” he said.<\/p>\n
“If recovery was going to be this hard, I didn’t just want to get back to fitness. I wanted to get strong. <\/p>\n
“I walked into a gym powerlifting class at 35, decades later than most lifters.”<\/p>\n
Six competitions and one title later, Pryor currently holds a personal best of 270kg (595lbs) in deadlift, 250kg in squat (551lbs), and 180kg (396lbs) in bench press.<\/p>\n Powerlifting consists of three maximum-effort lifts in the squat, bench press, and deadlift events. Each type of lift requires three attempts.<\/p>\n The most successful lifts for each athlete are added together for a total score, which determines rankings within weight and age categories.<\/p>\n At the global competition on 17-27 September, Pryor said he hopes to beat his personal bests and “place as highly as I can to help my country”.<\/p>\n “I would never in a million years have expected to be where I’m at right now when I started those barbell classes,” he said.<\/p>\n “It was purely a way to get a little bit stronger and keep track of the strength. It still hasn’t sunk in.”<\/p>\n Though Pryor has dabbled in various sports throughout the years – including rugby, lacrosse, tennis, squash, and rock climbing – none have stuck quite like powerlifting.<\/p>\n “This is the one I seem to have excelled at, and dedicated more time and effort into training,” he said.<\/p>\n “A couple of people have said they’ve been inspired by me to take up powerlifting and get stronger, realising there’s no limit to when you can start.”<\/p>\n Follow BBC Gloucestershire on <\/em>Facebook<\/em><\/a>, <\/em>X<\/em><\/a> and <\/em>Instagram<\/em><\/a>. Send your story ideas to us on email or via <\/em>WhatsApp on 0800 313 4630<\/em><\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/hermes.media.static.aol.com\/media\/2026\/06\/08\/871f7b08-03e1-3fb9-99b7-030c234afaa1\/6cc93d44-30ac-487c-af1b-d1f6c785af78.jpg\"\/)
<\/div>From capsize to Commonwealth <\/h2>\n
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