Ryan and Rhaea Stinn are Moose Jaw-born and -raised powerlifters who travel internationally to compete in their sport. Their online store, Inner Strength Products, has a reputation as one of the best in Canada for strength equipment.
With brands like Inzer, SBD, Sabo Shoes, and Slingshot, all equipment needs can be filled at innerstrengthproducts.ca.
In the field of strength sports, powerlifting is generally seen as the classic choice. It has three lifts: squat, bench press, and deadlift.
The atmosphere of a powerlifting gym or competitive meet can be intense. The smells of chalk dust, sweat, neoprene, and the sharp, biting aroma of ammonia capsules fill the air. The music is usually some kind of (loud) heavy metal, and there are a lot of powerfully-built men and women warming up, bellowing encouragement at the top of their lungs, or waiting nervously for their turn at finding out just how much weight they can move that day.
Nevertheless, powerlifting is also approachable and relatively easy to learn. Olympic weightlifting requires years of technique work, while strongman and strongwoman require sheer size. In powerlifting, beginners are welcome, the health benefits are lifelong, and although competing is fun, it certainly isn’t necessary.
“There’re a few different ways of looking at it. There are age categories, and there are weight categories,” said Ryan Stinn, “It’s very accessible to a wide range of people.”
The age categories in competitive powerlifting are inclusive, all the way from eight years old up to whenever you stop lifting — some people win gold at every meet because they’re the only 80-year-old competing.
Then there are the weight categories.
“I compete in the super-heavyweight class, which is over 120 kilos,” Ryan said. “Rhaea competes in the 84-kilo class… and then there’s weight categories for youth lifters. I think they start at like 30 kilos. For open lifters, I think they start at 59 kilos for men, and 47 kilos for women. So there are weight categories that cover every spectrum of person. And then beyond that, there are a few different types of lifting.”
The many categories of age and weight mean that powerlifters are aware that comparisons have to be fair and relative, leading to a considerate gym atmosphere that allows people to progress at their own pace.
The two different types of lifting are equipped and classic.
“I kind of compare classic lifting and equipped lifting to high jump vs pole vault,” Ryan explained. “High jump, you’re jumping as high as you can. In pole vault, you’re using equipment to jump higher than you can naturally.”
The Stinns’ store began because Rhaea wanted to wear Canadian Powerlifting Union (CPU) apparel to the International Powerlifting Federation — she is a world record holder. They have since branched out to all kinds of personal equipment, although they don’t carry plates, bars, or racks.
The couple is looking forward to returning to competition. Ryan recently entered the Master 1 category, which will allow him to start claiming the CPU records in that category — he holds national records in the equipped open 120-kilo+ category.
“In typical years, we would travel to nationals in the spring,” Ryan said. “Then worlds in the fall.”
Part of their consideration is where they’d like to go as tourists. Rhaea competed at bench worlds in Japan in 2019, which they both enjoyed. This year, Ryan will compete in the World Classic & Equipped Masters Powerlifting Championships in St. Johns, Newfoundland. A month later, Rhaea will be at the World Equipped Open Powerlifting Championships in Denmark.
Ryan said that his 18 years in the sport have been a huge part of his life and that powerlifting builds confidence and self-esteem.
“It’s a great sport, and very accessible,” he added. “Certainly, if people are interested, they can reach out to me on Facebook, and I can chat with them.”
