World champ returns to Wairarapa iron

POWER PAUSE: Junior world champion powerlifter Brett Gibbs, of Masterton, is training for his open class debut at the 2015 Fitness and Health Expo in Melbourne in April. PHOTO/DON DEWES

Junior world champion powerlifter Brett Gibbs is training back home in Masterton ahead of his debut open class showdown in Australia.

Gibbs, 24, will compete as one of a dozen elite Oceania powerlifters at the 2015 Fitness and Health Expo in Melbourne on April 11, and was hitting strategic goals at his hometown training base at Wai Weight Private Gym in Masterton, he said.

The Melbourne event had international recognition and world record attempts would be verifiable and legitimate, he said, "should any come about".

"It's my first open year and time to just keep raising the bar and keep stepping my game up," Gibbs said.

"Training is going great - lots of work, lots of volume - and I'm not stressing out about anything, not worried about that big single lift. It's all about putting in the work, staying consistent, and motivating myself to keep getting better and better," he said.

"Training is real good compared to the middle of last year when I had four big competitions in a row only weeks apart. I was just getting worn down."

Powerlifting consists of three events, the squat, deadlift and bench press, during which competitors lift successively heavier weights in three attempts and their best three lifts in each event comprise an overall total.

Competition is divided into two categories; equipped lifting that allows a supportive bench shirt or squat and deadlift suit or briefs, and raw lifting that is performed without the specialised clothing.

Gibbs took multiple regional, national and international junior powerlifting records and titles in his 83kg weight division last year, including the Junior Raw World Championship title at the IPF Classic Powerlifting World Championships 2014 in South Africa. Fellow Masterton powerlifter Joel Hintz also shattered world records at the same event.

Gibbs' final contest as a junior was in December at the 2014 Oceania Raw Championships in Melbourne, where he walked away with the Junior Raw Oceania Championship title.

The win capped his gruelling last junior year that also included the New Zealand central regional finals, and the Junior Equipped World Champs in Hungary, at which he took a silver - the second in a row for him at the annual event.

Gibbs has since shifted back to his hometown of Masterton to work as a personal banker. He also returned to training at the Wai Weight Private Gym, where both he and Hintz had first started powerlifting.

He said gym owners Bevan and Rachel Mackenzie were longtime sponsors, as was Powerhouse Gym owner Warren Trent in Wellington, SBD Apparel, gymeez.co.nz supplement sponsors, and fellow Wai Weight gym member Geoff Masters, of Superior Stoppers.

Mr Masters had approached him "out of the blue", he said, offering funding to help with Gibbs' open class bid at the 2015 Raw World Championships in Finland in June.

"It's the main event for me this year and Geoff came up and told me I had been such a motivation for him and for others he knew, he wanted to help out. It was very humbling."

Gibbs said he had been overwhelmed with the support shown to him.

"Just walking into the gym it's like I've come back to my roots - everyone who knows me or knows what I do is very supportive - and each conversation goes a long way and really helps motivation. It's so good to be home again."