OKC Firefighter Sets New Weightlifting World Record

Corporal Chad Ake is a man of many titles. He’s an Oklahoma City firefighter, a world record holder and a world champion.

Ake set a new world record with a bench press of nearly 408 pounds.

“It feels pretty good. It doesn’t seem real,” Ake said.

After about a 20 year break, the record holder thought 2016 would be the perfect year to start lift training again to compete nationally.

“I was thinking I’d just wrestle cause that’s what background I had and they actually didn’t have wrestling in the national games, so I started looking for something else and I saw powerlifting,” Ake said.

That year, Ake won his first title. Since then, he’s competed in several competitions and has earned several titles, but he doesn’t let that get to his head.

“I train for it every day that I’m off duty. I usually bench two or three times a week, but one day will be squat and deadlifting,” Ake said.

The world champion said he doesn’t even like working out, but he competes for his three daughters. 

“The whole purpose behind it when I started was I wanted to show them, that since I hadn’t worked out their whole life at the time, if you set your goals and you’re willing to do the work then you really can accomplish whatever you want,” Ake said.

Ake said there’s no time to celebrate. He is training now to beat his record at his next competition this summer.