When Kyle Alexander was a freshman at Sierra High School he weighed 250 pounds.
If it had been pure muscle, the shy teen wouldn’t have minded but that just wasn’t the case.  Entering the most challenging years in a teenager’s life Kyle was very heavy and hated it.
 His one saving grace during his freshman year was joining the wrestling team.  Due to all the physical exertion of wrestling Kyle naturally began losing weight.  He dropped 60 pounds within a few months. Weighing significantly less he then found himself with another dilemma.
 “I was super weak because I lost the weight so fast so my wrestling coach told me to go get strong and lift some weights”, Kyle said.
 Kyle purchased a small weight set for himself and enrolled in a body conditioning class at Sierra.  He began lifting here and there until he was able to gain strength and getting to a decent size.  Before long the once shy, overweight freshman became a strong, muscular, 190-pound teenager with a new found confidence and positive outlook.
 By his sophomore year Kyle was completely dedicated to weight lifting and had set goals to beat high school lifting records which he did.  It was at that time that one of the school monitors, Ron Pagal, started talking to Kyle about the sport of powerlifting. 
 “I didn’t know what powerlifting was but when Ron explained it to me I thought, I would try it out.  He helped me get into the sport and helped me do my first meet.  Ever since then I just loved it.”
Pagal introduced Kyle to a man named Joe Bernazzani, a Realtor by day and a powerlifting mentor by night.  Supported by Pagal and Bernazzani Kyle began to prepare for serious competition.
 Achieving great success, Kyle eventually gained sponsorship by “Fight Labs” and “Feed Me Fight Me”, and now holds a world record in the 15-19 age, 220-pound weight class for a 667-pound deadlift, 628-pound squat, 341-pound bench with a total of 1,636 pounds.
As impressive as the world record numbers are, Kyle admits that they are not even his best lifts.   To date, his best lift is a 725-pound deadlift, 640-pound squat and 350-pound bench with a total of 1,715. 
Kyle will have the opportunity to prove his best lift on Nov. 12  at the IPL World Powerlifting Championship in Las Vegas, Nevada.  And while striving to break world records is a top priority for Kyle whose daily life revolves around his power lifting schedule, so is helping others along the way.
 Whether it’s simply losing weight, getting in shape or pursuing the sport of powerlifting, people are seeking Kyle for help in which he is more than happy to oblige.
Initially working as a personal trainer at a gym in Escalon after high school, teaching lifting basics, he has now branched out into more in-depth one-on-one training out of his home in which he is quickly building a steady clientele.
 “My very first client was a girl named Carolyn who wanted to lose weight.  She was 26 years old, played softball and was a bigger girl.  She had never lifted weights a day in her life and so I told her that I like to do workouts with big lifts, since that’s where you get more bang for your buck, burn the most calories and gain the most strength.  She said she was fine with it and began doing basic lifting with me.  
“ Carolyn got really into the lifting and I told her she should consider doing a powerlifting meet because she was pretty strong.  So she did and liked it a lot. Now she is doing the same thing I do and competing like me.”
 In addition to his effective one-on-one training, Kyle also teaches power lifting classes on Mondays and Wednesdays at 7 p.m., Tuesdays at 4 p.m. and Fridays at 5 p.m. at Savage Elite Fitness in Lathrop.
 He hopes one day to have a gym of his own where he can thoroughly train others as well as possibly explore a career in rehab and physical therapy.  Meanwhile, this once shy guy, now a bold power house encourages others by letting them know:
 “Power lifting is a great sport.  It is people pushing past limits, pushing past boundaries and dedicating themselves just like with any sport. Instead of sitting around doing nothing, why not push your body beyond its limits and see what you are made of.”
 For information on powerlifting classes by Kyle Alexander call Savage Elite Fitness at (209) 302-9242. You can also follow Kyle on Instagram at mr_squat_a_pony.