THE FRONT ROW with JASON ELLIOTT: Pressing on: Lakeland product Heim to take a shot at World Powerlifting Championships in September

Connor Heim has always been a competitive person.

From playing three sports at Lakeland High — football, wrestling, track and field — to his work in the weight room, rarely was there a day when Heim wasn’t busy doing something.

“I really thought about wrestling after high school,” said Heim, a 2019 graduate. “I kind of knew that playing football wasn’t going to work out. But wrestling was something that I went into trying to get better for football. But I found more enjoyment doing that than any other sport I was part of.”

So much so that he considered staying closer to home.

“North Idaho College has a pretty solid wrestling team, and I thought about walking on and trying to wrestle there,” Heim said. “But after graduation, I felt like it was just time to stop. I wanted to continue competing in something, but it was just time to let go of wrestling. I still enjoy watching it and going to the meets and watching college wrestling. But I just felt ready to move on after that.”

HEIM CONTINUED to train, but shifted his attention to powerlifting shortly after graduating from Lakeland High in 2019.

“In high school, I did a lot of weight training,” Heim said. “Maybe more so than the average student because I wanted to get better at football, wrestling and track. I really wanted to push myself within my own limits. After high school, I didn’t reach the level of proficiency that I’d sought in those other sports. But along the way, I discovered that I had a talent for powerlifting.”

Heim, 22, recently qualified for the World Classic Powerlifting Championships Aug. 24 to Sept. 3 in Romania.

Heim, who weighs 184 pounds, will compete in the junior division for Team USA.

Powerlifting consists of three attempts at maximal weight on three lifts: squat, bench press and deadlift. As in Olympic weightlifting, it involves attempting a maximal weight single-lift effort of a barbell loaded with weight plates.

“I’d seen some of the videos on social media and just thought it was incredible how some of these athletes were able to lift a tremendous amount of weight in those lifts that I’d done for years,” Heim said. “When I saw it, I wanted to see how I could compete in my weight class and age group. And my first meet had me hooked.”

Heim competed in his first powerlifting event at The Mecca Gym in Meridian on Dec. 5, 2020.

“I was just hoping to put up some numbers that were respectable in my own eyes,” Heim said. “It was interesting to go there and see some of the technique that was required, as well as the quality of the lift. I had to do things cleaner and execute better. It was kind of a rude awakening being forced to complete a lift in a way that I didn’t train in high school.”

On that day, Heim squatted 474 pounds, benched 573 and deadlifted 595 pounds to win his age group (20 years old).

“My big expectation was to just do my best,” Heim said. “I really didn’t realize that what I was doing was pretty darn good until I went there and won. I just thought I’d go there, maybe do well, but I ended up winning, which was pretty awesome to do in my first meet.”

Heim added he learned a lot from that weekend in Meridian.

“It was just incredible to be around the same kind of people that had that same mentality,” Heim said. “They wanted to train like me and it was something that brought me enjoyment and made me happy. I just wanted to see how far I could go and break my own limits and reach my full potential.”

Heim is on track to complete his Bachelor of Fine Arts in December at Idaho, where he’s also active in the theatre arts department.

“It’s certainly a process,” Heim said. “On a typical day at school, I’ll wake up at 7 a.m., eat breakfast and attend class from 8 to 11 a.m. or noon, and then hit the gym right after that. I’ll usually have another class from 1 to 4:30 p.m., then start to work on lines or whatever I need to do. Last semester, I had theatre rehearsals from 6 to 10:30 p.m. The school schedule doesn’t leave a lot of time for fun, and sometimes it feels like a continuous cycle, but I enjoy doing it.”

HEIM QUALIFIED for the world championships by winning at the Junior and Masters Nationals in Scottsdale, Ariz., on May 2.

On that day, Heim squatted 573 pounds, benched 369 and deadlifted 695 pounds for a total of 1,638 pounds, a new personal best.

“A couple of months ago, I would have been really nervous because I’d been stagnant in my progress,” Heim said. “I wasn’t feeling stronger than I was a year ago. But some things started clicking and I started to overcome a few minor injuries. Going into September, I’m not sure I’ll win, but I’m confident and like my odds going into the event. Right now, I feel unstoppable and I have to go do this and prove myself. To be able to get on the platform and train hard, it’s a goal of mine. Right now, I’m more ready to go than nervous.”

WEIGHTLIFTING IS an Olympic sport, whereas powerlifting, is not currently.

“I’ve got a good friend of mine, Shay Carlock (a 2018 graduate of North Idaho STEM Academy in Rathdrum), who is a fantastic athlete and an Olympic lifter,” Heim said. “And while that’s worked out well for her, my goal and hope is that powerlifting makes it to the Olympic Games someday. And I think we’re closer to getting there. In terms of making a switch, I have a lot of strength to do that, but it’s not the direction I really want to go. I think I really enjoy training for powerlifting more than I would for Olympic lifting. So while I think it’s incredible, I don’t think it’s a route I’d consider.”

Olympic weightlifting involves the snatch lift, where the competitor sweeps the barbell up and overhead in one motion, the clean and jerk (lifting to the front of the shoulders, then up) and the clean and press.

Just like his success in the weight room while at Lakeland High.

“They have a record board at Lakeland with all the top lifts in the history of the school,” Heim said. “My goal along the way was to break as many records as I could on that board. At one point, I might have had five of them. All I really knew was that I had my name on the board and won a few awards.”

Heim trains five days a week during the summer in Rathdrum, after training in Moscow during the school year.

“Each training day, I’ll do either a squat, bench or deadlift thing, or a combination of the three,” Heim said. “I’ll only do one day of hard training on each event and do more volume work the other days.”

Heim added that some of his workouts have caught the attention of some members of the Vandal football team.

“It’s really been how I’ve made a lot of friends being in the weight room,” Heim said. “U of I really has a lot of people that really care about fitness and deadlifting. When someone deadlifts 545 pounds, they take notice. It really helps bring people together with similar interests.”

Heim has won 12 of the 13 competitions he’s entered since 2020.

“Now, leading into competitions, I’ve got more of a fire burning inside of me,” Heim said. “When I’m out of season, it’s like reading the morning paper. Then, it was about being consistent and keep going through the harder and busier time being in school. Right now, it’s about pushing my limits on the world stage and a desire to prove myself that really gets me motivated.”

Jason Elliott is a sports writer for The Press. He can be reached by telephone at 208-664-8176, Ext. 2020 or via email at jelliott@cdapress.com. Follow him on Twitter @JECdAPress.