RACINE — Peyton Jacobsen, who is about to enter seventh grade at Racine’s Wisconsin Lutheran School, deadlifted 345 pounds at Flex Fitness on Rapids Drive on Thursday.
The 12-year-old started powerlifting only two months ago. Now, he’s potentially breaking world records in the discipline.
In one clean lift, Peyton appears to have smashed the youth deadlift world record previously set by 12-year-old Kyle Kane, who deadlifted 308 pounds in the United Kingdom in 2010.
“It felt amazing,” Peyton said of breaking his previous personal best of 335 pounds. “I am so motivated to keep setting new goals for myself.”
The deadlift, often referred to as the king of powerlifting disciplines, involves grasping a loaded barbell resting on the platform floor, pulling the weights off of the floor, and assuming a standing erect position — locked knees and shoulders back, while subsequently holding the loaded barbell in a firm grasp. Once the correct position is achieved and held, the athlete then returns the bar back to the floor, completing the lift.
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Peyton’s training is definitely a family affair at Flex Fitness. The 12-year-old’s weightlifting trainer is his cousin Michael Jacobsen. He also trains alongside his proud dad, Drew Jacobsen; his little brother Riley Jacobsen; grandpa Robin Jacobsen; uncle Pete Jacobsen; and cousins Trenton and Tyler Tenner.
Alfonzo “June” Spencer II, owner and manager of Flex Fitness, 2400 Rapids Drive, started sponsoring Peyton this month. According to Spencer, offering a sponsorship to an athlete basically means that the athlete in question is branded by the gym — but added that it is a position that does not come without its caveats. “I told Peyton that every two weeks I need a progress report from school,” Spencer said. “I know that his grades were not necessarily the best last year and I never want this opportunity to cause him to lose focus on his education…
“Given his age and the fact that we only started training two months ago, Peyton’s raw talent is about one in a hundred,” Spencer said. “When I first met Peyton, he was lacking confidence; he was very shy, kept his head down, couldn’t maintain eye contact or extend a firm handshake … Now, Peyton comes into the gym with a swagger and glow. Peyton has found Peyton.”
Peyton admits that there were times last year that he was picked on for his weight. “I want to keep turning that weight into strength,” Peyton said. “Soon, I want to start lifting in competitions.”
Besides weightlifting, Peyton also plays football for Shoreland Lutheran’s JR Pacers in Somers. In order to keep his energy levels up, Peyton asserts the importance of incorporating lean meats and veggies into his diet, as well as consuming protein shakes promptly after every workout.
Peyton’s dad told The Journal Times that the family has reached out to the Guinness Book of World Records, but have only thus far been in the preliminary stages of communication.
“Never let someone tell you that you can’t do something,” Peyton concluded. “If you want it, go get it.”
Tips to avoid getting sick at the gym
How to avoid getting sick at the gym
A number of areas have decided it’s safe to reopen certain public spaces, including gyms. But while it may be exciting to finally return to your workout regimen, even in normal times, communal gyms carry a chance of passing along germs and sicknesses. Now, as coronavirus continues sweeping the nation and new hotspots emerge, the risks of visiting a public gym are even greater.
Tips from the CDC
Whether you’re visiting a chain or heading downstairs to the gym in your apartment, there’s plenty more you can do to keep illness as far away from you as possible. Here are a few tips from the Centers for Disease Control and Dr. Edward Nardell, a pulmonologist and professor at Harvard University’s T.H. Chan School of Public Health.
Stay close to home
The first thing you should do to keep coronavirus at bay during a visit to the gym is try to visit your closest neighborhood facility. According to the CDC’s advisory on visiting parks and recreational centers, the farther you travel from home the more opportunities you have for exposure. “Travel may require you to stop along the way or be in close contact with others with whom you may not otherwise have contact,” the CDC says. The CDC also notes that, “Travel may also expose you to surfaces contaminated with SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19.”
Call ahead
Whether you decide to stay in your neighborhood or venture out a little farther away from home to work out, doing your due diligence to keep from getting sick should also include contacting the gym you plan to visit to make sure their safety measures are up to par. According to Nardell, some of the risk factors of going to a gym include, “how crowded it is… what kinds of disinfection strategies are being used to clean the equipment on a regular basis and… the ventilation and the airflow issues in the building.”
Social distance
Once you arrive at the gym, make sure you stay at least 6 feet from others at all times. Some facilities are making this easier by moving equipment, canceling group classes and reducing locker room occupancy. But in the absence of any official policies, you can do your part by standing 6 feet away from others when waiting to enter the gym, using machines and facilities and even grabbing a protein shake after your workout.
Go solo
The CDC advises expecting group workout classes to be canceled along with access to other communal areas like children’s play areas and pools. But in the event these amenities are available, it’s best to avoid them. “I’ve heard stories of course of gyms that are decreasing intensive workouts to smaller numbers and that all decreases the probability of transmission but it’s always working around a probability factor,” Nardell says.
Make reservations whenever possible
If you decide to go to a group fitness class or take class at another studio like a dance studio, where they are open, the CDC recommends reserving your spot ahead of time online. Reserving your spot will ensure that you are able to take classes in a social distancing-compliant way and won’t wind up in a crowded class due to dropping in, or be turned away if a gym is trying to keep class sizes small. Using online reservation software also keeps an appropriate distance between you and gym staff, and will prevent you from having to use communal surfaces like scanners or sign-in sheets.
Wear masks (with caution)
As with any other area outside your home, the CDC encourages wearing masks. The heavy breathing and large quantities of people in the gym make this especially important. “(If) you have 50 people on … treadmills running and they’re more likely to be generating aerosol than standing still and there (are) quite a few people in that room who are going to be breathing quite deeply and who can inhale that aerosol,” Nardell says. The CDC also advises against wearing face cloth coverings in water as they can be hard to breathe through when they’re wet.
Sanitize and disinfect
If your gym has made sanitizing equipment more available, make sure you use it. The CDC recommends wiping machines down and not using items that can’t be disinfected between uses like weight lifting belts. You should also make sure you wash your hands before and after your workout.
