Alex Doiron has some heavy goals — 661 lbs, to be exact
Alex Doiron entered his first powerlifting competition on a whim as a freshman.
Now he owns every state record in his weight class and is training to break the national deadlift record in December — all while managing his senior year and college search during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Right now I’m training four days a week — I’m working with a coach, virtually,” Alex said of his training regimen.
“Once COVID-19 hit, we had to create a home gym in the basement,” added his father, Tim Doiron. “We managed to track down 800 lbs. of plates before everyone started working out at home and they became harder to find.”
How do you move 800 lbs. of plates? Slowly. One at a time into the truck from the seller’s home, one at a time from the truck down into the Dorian’s basement. Consider it an extra workout.
“It really was a godsend,” Tim said. “If we didn’t have that during covid-19, he would have been bored out of his mind.”
While Alex is a Grafton High student, when it comes to powerlifting, he’s a bit of a freelancer. A friend at St. John’s High School introduced him to the sport and the pair goaded each other into a meet.
“We went to the meet and we had no idea what we were doing,” Alex said.
He kept up with the weights afterward, at least a bit. It was helpful for football — he’s a center and defensive tackle for GHS — and the challenge of lifting better, lifting more, became addictive.
For his second meet, sophomore year, the training paid off. Tim mentioned to his son with surprise “you’re not that far away from the state record.”
It was ON. He spent the next winter training.
Alex now holds the state records in both Raw Teen 2 and 3 — 250 kg for squat, 160 kg for bench press, 272.5 kg for deadlift. In December, he hopes to break the national deadlift record of 300 kg (661 lbs).
“It’s not going to be the easiest thing to reach in four months — that’s 60 more pounds — but I’m working on it,” Alex said.
Meanwhile, he’s looking at UMass Amherst, Worcester Polytechnic Institute, Ohio State and Penn State for college with an eye toward majoring in biochemical engineering — although, his father observed, the continuing pandemic may keep him closer to home.
“Unfortunately, powerlifting is not an NCAA sport,” Tim said. “Otherwise, I’d be the happiest dad alive.”
Alex plans to continue with powerlifting through college.
“It’s a big part of my life and will continue to be part of my life, so I think it’s something I’ll continue doing,” he said.
Alex’s Instagram account for his powerlifting adventures is @bigal.lifts
