As the Legacy powerlifting team entered the doorways at Mansfield High School, a stench lingered in the air. Sophomore Neyantez Langston walked into his first meet. He began to squirm as he passed by boys that towered over him. After Coach Rodney Nutley told the lifters they only compete against students in their weight class, a sigh came from the powerlifting team.

“It was a relief,” Langston said. “But at the same time I really wanted to compete against those bigger guys.”

Coach Nutley has trained athletes for many years in football, track and powerlifting. Two of four days a week, the team works on upper body activities and the other two days are full of lower body exercises. The hard work junior Terence Bell put in at practice allowed him to surpass his goal of benching 305 pounds and squatting over 400 pounds.

“The atmosphere is very lively,” Coach Nutley said.  “The kids are excited to be working out and trying to see how strong they can get as the workouts progress.”

Bell joined the powerlifting team his freshman year because he liked lifting weights and wanted to see how strong he could get. Working out helped Bell relieve stress from day to day complications. During practice, he tried to remind himself of positive words in order to continue pumping reps through the pain.

“I like lifting weights and seeing how strong I can get,” Bell said.

Benching, squatting, and deadlifting are techniques practiced by the powerlifting team and they often need spotters. Spotters aided the person who was lifting, and this allowed the students to create bonds of trust essentially strengthening their pre-existing relationships.

“I trust them on the field and in the weight room,” Langston said. “[Because] we play football.”