A Balzac-based powerlifter overcame considerable odds to make tremendous strides in the sport.
Doug Delainey, who took up deadlifting less than two years ago, already has a world championship title to his name. With a successful lift of 447 pounds, the 59-year-old placed first in his age group and weight class at the World Single Lift Championships in Virginia Beach, Nov. 1 to 3.
While he was excited to come out on top at his first world event, Delainey said, he was disappointed to fall just short of Canada’s deadlift record – 473.9 pounds – for his category.
Balzac powerlifter Doug Delainey's lift at worlds earlier this month. I believe this is his lift of 447 lbs. pic.twitter.com/qX487KhnuL
— Scott Strasser (@scottstrasser19) November 19, 2019
“I was trying for 475 to set a new record,” he said. “I don’t know if I psyched myself out or what, but I got it about six inches up, and then thought, ‘Oh, this thing is heavy,’ and I put it down.”
Delainey’s rapid rise in the sport comes after surviving three heart attacks and a renal cancer diagnosis. Now cancer-free for more than four years, he said he got into powerlifting to lose weight after one of his friends passed away two years ago, of the same disease Delainey was diagnosed with.
The first time he tried deadlift, Delainey said he could barely get 135 pounds off the floor, but his progress since then has been swift.
“They trained me on the proper way to bend, and I do a lot of stretching,” he said.
“You’d be surprised – it’s not a lot of lifting, but you do a lot of stretching. You work certain muscle groups so that you can do your lifts. It’s quite a science, actually.”
Since those early days, Delainey has managed to lose more than 40 pounds while more than tripling how much he can lift. His trainer, Alex Saretsky, said Delainey’s progress in the sport has been “phenomenal.”
“When we first started, it was mostly just to get in shape, lose some weight, feel healthy and release some endorphins,” he said. “But he noticed some of my other clients lifting some heavy weights and he got a taste for it.”
The championship in Virginia Beach was just Delainey’s third time competing. His first competition was in Calgary last December, when he lifted 429.9 pounds at the War of the Waitlist. Then, he competed last June at the Canadian nationals in Medicine Hat, with a successful lift of 440.9 pounds.
“He keeps getting stronger and stronger as the months go on,” Saretsky said.
Delainey said he only lifts weights twice a week. The rest of his training regimen comes in the form of walking every day near his home.
“We live out in the country here, and from range road to range road is a mile, so I walk back and forth three times every day – snow or no snow,” he said.
With Delainey’s first world championship competition under his belt, Saretsky said he has one more shot to overcome the national record before aging out of his current class. He is set to compete next February in Medicine Hat.
Saretsky added he fully expects his client to break the national record in Medicine Hat.
“This is a guy who can basically overcome anything,” he said. “A little national record, I don’t think is going to stand in his way.”
