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Three Podium Finishes For Body Mentors Clients at Nationals

Alex Kerslake

Alex Kerslake


Recently three of our clients competed in the 2026 British Masters Classic Powerlifting competition in Edinburgh. Performing the squat, bench press and finally deadlift. Having all respectively qualified in previous regional competitions earlier in the year. All the hard training sessions paid off, with all three achieving a podium place and even giving us our first national champion.

Pauline

With Pauline competing in only her second competition ever in an extremely competitive age and weight category, she breezed through her opening squat of 100KG which carried through to her second squat of 110KG. Already beating her previous record in the squat of 107.5KG. Unfortunately Pauline then narrowly missed out on her third attempt of 115KG.

The same occurred for Pauline’s bench press, with 45KG and 50KG moving smoothly with her third lift only failing due to a technical error, despite Pauline actually completing the lift. This still gave her a competition best by 2.5KG.

At this point Pauline was tied third, leaving it all down to the deadlift to see who would get the podium spot. Opening with 125KG, Pauline took a big jump to 135KG. Which unfortunately just wouldn’t quite budge. Pauline was then in fourth place going into the final lift of a very long day. Because of this, Pauline attempted 137.5KG, which would secure her the bronze medal and a 2.5KG competition PB. And that she did, completing the deadlift with somewhat ease, a huge contrast to her previous attempt and securing third. Well done Pauline!

Brent

With this being Brent’s second national competition, he was eager to better his bronze medal in 2025. Opening his squat at 120KG which shot up with little effort, as well as his second attempt of 130KG. For Brent’s third squat attempt he went for a 5KG competition PB, unfortunately not quite getting it on the day.

Then we moved onto bench press. Last year Brent got the heaviest bench press in his category, after getting his first two attempts, again, just narrowly missed out on 100KG which would have been a 5KG competition PB. Ending with 90KG through his second attempt.

Sitting comfortably in second at this point, this allowed Brent to go for an incredible 10KG deadlift PB of 160KG on his third attempt. Which moved incredibly well with some definite room to increase even further. This allowed Brent to do what he came to do, and take another step onto the podium into second.

David

Competing within the same group as Brent, however in separate weight categories, this was only David’s second competition also. With his first only being in November 2025. Being the oldest competitor in his category and a point to prove that age is just a number, David opened at 60KG which moved effortlessly. Followed by an unfortunate fail on his second squat of 67.5KG due to mishearing some of the commands. Therefore, David went for a re-attempt for his third effort, achieving this with no issues. Giving him a 2.5KG competition PB.

David continued his brilliant start throughout the bench press, with his first two attempts of 60K and 65KG being successful, however whilst attempting a 5KG competition PB it was just a little too much on the day.

Coming into the deadlifts, David was in pole position with a lot of breathing room, his first attempt of 100KG and second at 110KG both moved seamlessly. David’s third attempt would be to match a previous competition PB of 120KG, but would be just out of reach on this day. Luckily, this made no difference for David, on his first time trying he managed to secure the gold medal and becoming British champion. The first client at Body Mentors to win British gold, and by no means will he be the last!

Everyone at Body Mentors are incredibly proud of Pauline, Brent, and David for their success at the national competition! Given all their countless hours of hard work and dedication we wish them all the best in the future for any upcoming competitions!


Alex Kerslake

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Alex Kerslake

I’ve spent the past decade in a gym environment, learning a variety of training approaches and methods. From beginners in their first lifting session, getting to grips with the fundamentals – through to professional athletes, such as England Rugby players, training at a very high level.
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