By Kris Herndon
Fourth-graders at the Greenwich Country Day School (GCDS) know him as their teacher, Mr. Laubscher, but now Luke Laubscher has another title: powerlifting champ.
The 28-year-old Laubscher, who has been teaching at GCDS for the past four years, recently won his 93kg weight class in the Connecticut Spring Classic, a powerlifting competition.
Laubscher said he wasn’t focused on athletics growing up. But, like many athletes, things fell into place for him when he found the right sport. “I played sports in high school, but I actually quit all my sports to lift weights,” he recalls.
Laubscher began weight training at the Greenwich YMCA several years ago. He worked with a trainer, and became interested in competing as his training progressed. “I’ve been training for a long time, and it was always kind of like, ‘No, I need to hit a certain weight before I can compete,’” he says. “But I finally just said, ‘you know, I’m just going to find a competition that’s close by, and I’m just going to try it out.’”
That event was the Connecticut Spring Classic, which took place in Derby, CT on March 6. “It’s just an open event,” says Laubscher. “Anyone can sign up and pay the entrance fee and compete.”
Powerlifting is a strength sport in which athletes train and compete to lift their heaviest weight. Weighted plates are added to a barbell, and the athlete must lift the weight unassisted. There are three successive events designed to target different muscle groups. Those events are the squat, the bench press, and the deadlift.
In the squat event, the lifter begins with the barbell positioned on the shoulders, behind the neck. Hoisting the weight off the rack, the lifter bends his or her knees and hips, dipping to a deep squat position, then returns to a standing position, returning the weight to the rack at the referee’s command. In the bench press event, the lifter raises the barbell upward from the chest, then returns it. And in the deadlift event, the athlete must lift the weight from the ground in front of him.
“You get three attempts to hit your heaviest weight,” Laubscher explains. “The judges are watching your form, and so a good attempt means you can go higher. And if you missed, or you have something where your form falls apart, then you have to try the same weight again.”
Laubscher competed against some 40 people at the event, five in his weight 93 kg weight class. The entrants came from all over the U.S., with most hailing from Connecticut and surrounding states including Massachusetts, New York, and New Jersey.
Laubscher says his best event is the bench press. In competition, he lifted 140kg, or 320lbs, in the bench press event.
In the classroom, Laubscher stays focused on the fourth-grade curriculum. But like any good teacher, he uses real-life events to provide teachable moments. He says his students were thrilled that he won. “They were really excited,” he says. And, like any good teacher, Laubscher found a teachable moment in his journey to get ready and compete: “I used it as an example of working hard and perseverance.” He plans to compete again, in August and November.
As with most events right now, COVID had a slightly disruptive effect on the Connecticut Spring Classic. In past years, the winners would have been awarded a trophy at the event, but Laubscher will have to wait for his to come in the mail.
“Usually, they come and give it to you, and they’ll take your picture at the podium,” he says. “But we had to run out of there, so it’s coming in the mail.”
