Powerlifting helps disabled Blacklick man rediscover self-worth
James Spurgin turned plenty of heads when he hoisted the 176pound barbell into the air, balancing it perfectly with one brawny arm.
But many onlookers at the Arnold Sports Festival seemed just as impressed moments later, when Spurgin, 35, of Blacklick, helped a struggling opponent in the benchpressing contest steady his slipping feet. He stepped on them, anchoring them to the ground.
The gesture meant
Shawn “Chops” Vogelgesang, 38, of Dayton, might beat his lift, but Spurgin didn’t mind.
He was just happy to participate and help a friend in the process.
“The competition isn’t the point, it’s the fact that we can still do these things,” he said.
For years, Spurgin never believed that he could.
Severe nerve damage from a 2006 motorcycle crash left him permanently unable to use his right arm. After that, the former Marine Corps mechanic struggled for years with a nagging feeling that he wasn’t worth anything.
Then he discovered powerlifting, and with it, a newfound self-worth.
“I became motivated to do things again,” Spurgin said, such as going back to school, landing a new job and buying a home.
“It wasn’t necessarily the lifting that did that, but the idea that I could still do anything anybody else was doing. It turned my life around.”
Friday afternoon, Spurgin competed in the Arnold Sports Festival’s first-ever powerlifting competition for people with disabilities. Most powerlifting meets also include deadlifting and squatting — which Spurgin also competes in regularly — but this was solely a bench-pressing contest.
Six men participated and everyone received a medal.
Because disabilities vary greatly from person to person, it’s difficult to create sporting events that are equal for all competitors and determine who actually wins. For example, a one-armed lifter like Spurgin says the bench press contest is very challenging, but he excels at squatting. He was the only lifter who used one arm Friday.
Two competitors were in wheelchairs. One had a leg amputated just two months ago. Army veteran Chris Rege, 31, of Mogadore, who suffered a traumatic brain injury while serving in Iraq in 2006, lifted the most: a whopping 650 pounds.
Thunderous applause and cheers enveloped the Rogue Strength Stage when he accomplished the feat.
An announcer often shouted a statement plastered across the shirts of spectators: “The only disability is the inability to see ability.”
Dan Dague, president of the Xtreme Powerlifting Coalition and chair of Friday’s event, said he hopes the competition continues to grow each year and raise awareness about disabled athletes. The local gym owner’s decision to offer it at the festival stemmed from his encounters with a few powerlifters with disabilities at meets he’s hosted over the years.
Many of them competed alongside able-bodied people and beat them.
“They’d tell me ‘Someday, I want to go to the Arnold,’” Dague recalled.
He was so impressed by their skills and grit that he did all he could to give them a stage to showcase their adaptive talents at the world’s largest multi-sport festival.
The powerlifting competition is one of a few Arnold contests for people with disabilities. Others include pro wheelchair and the strongest disabled man, and an amateur strongman contest Spurgin will compete in Sunday morning.
When he started powerlifting and going to strength competitions about three years ago, Spurgin said it wasn’t with the intent of becoming a role model.
“People come up to me and tell me I’m inspiring, and the humble part of me still struggles with that,” Spurgin said. “I’ve never felt like I deserved that recognition.”
His favorite part about it is networking with other people with disabilities, something that happened rarely during the early years following his motorcycle crash, he said.
But as his hard work at Beyond Limits Training in Reynoldsburg continues to bring him success — he recently placed second in the America’s strongest adaptive man competition — Spurgin said he’s becoming more open to the idea of using his story to help other people, especially veterans, who are struggling with becoming disabled.
“If I had known about this sport when I was initially injured and had people coaching me and guiding me, it would have taken me a lot less time to get where I’m at today,” Spurgin said. “My goal isn’t to be a professional athlete. It’s to spread the idea that you can still be strong and still be worth something, even if you’re hurt.”