Thetford
Today, the Thetford Academy senior has added more than 60 pounds to that frame, and one glance at him makes it obvious the extra weight is almost all muscle. He’s also now a powerlifting record-holder, having squatted 440 pounds at the Revolution Powerlifting Syndicate (RPS) New Hampshire state championship meet last month in Newmarket, an RPS record for the 181-pound division for ages 16 and 17.
Leib has benefited from the tutelage of Darrin Clement, a personal trainer and lifting instructor who began a weightlifting club at TA in 2015.
Though a share of Panther athletes have attended, especially from the track and field team, Clement had nontraditional athletes in mind when he started the club.
The chummy, unassuming Leib certainly fit that mold.
“I haven’t played team sports since soccer in kindergarten,” he said during a break in a recent workout in the Vaughan Gym weight room, where all of the club’s training is held. “I started lifting at home freshman year and had a pretty bad accident while doing an overhead press. I didn’t get hurt, but I broke some glass.
“I heard about this group at (a school) assembly. It’s changed my life in a lot of ways. I want to keep competing as long as I can.”
Clement, who co-owns a fitness center in York, Maine, and leads boot camp-style group fitness sessions at his home gym in East Thetford, also competes in weightlifting events and trains with the Lebanon-based Thor’s Stone Athletic Club.
At TA, Clement teaches both Olympic style events — the snatch (thrusting a barbell from the ground to overhead in one continuous motion) and the clean and jerk (a combination of maneuvers finishing in a lunge position with the bar overhead) — as well the three traditional powerlifting events: squatting, deadlifting and bench pressing.
Leib prefers powerlifting, and the squat in particular, in part because it simply allows him to move the most weight. His record 440-pound lift in Newmarket was a personal squat record, in either event or practice, while his PRs in the deadlift and bench press are 405 and 235, respectively.
Becoming a powerlifter has helped Leib cultivate patience. He’s learned to set realistic goals, adding weight weekly or monthly rather than daily. He’s augmented his progress with improved diet and sleeping habits.
“At first, I kind of felt like I was spinning my wheels, but it was basically because I was trying to do too much too quickly,” Leib said. “Once I learned to set goals for meets and things like that, that’s when I started seeing results.”
Clement has enjoyed watching Leib’s transformation and gives the pupil much of the credit.
“Matt really exemplifies what this club was meant to help kids do, but he’s the one who’s made it happen,” Clement said. “He’s very focused. He’s put a lot of time into his form and his diet. It’s all important, and that’s why you see what he’s like today. He’s really highly respected by his peers.”
Joining Leib for a training session last week were TA sophomore Camden Moffitt and freshmen Andrew Fortier and Stephen Prunk, all members of the Panthers’ track and field team. They were gearing up for an Olympic lifting competition held on Saturday at the CCBA’s Witherell Recreation Center.
“I like the Olympic-style lifts because there’s so much form involved; it’s a lot more than just strength,” said Moffitt, who throws both shot put and discus for TA.
Finbar Curtin, a 2016 Thetford graduate who recently returned to the area following his freshman year at the University of Virginia, is also hoping to progress in Olympic-style events.
“The goal is to get good enough to compete,” said Curtin, who played soccer and baseball for Thetford. “I’m starting with lighter weights and working my way up.”
Clement, whose daughter, Grace, also competes, has come to enjoy providing guidance to teenagers.
“It’s easier to get kids to do new things because they’re generally a little less afraid of getting hurt,” Darrin Clement said. “Sometimes you just need to remind them that no one’s forcing them to be here, so if they’re going to be here, then let’s work hard. Once they’re willing to do that, they also generally find that lifting is a lot of fun.”
Leib is bound for Johnson State College next fall and plans to continue participating in powerlifting meets. He hasn’t yet looked into whether a weightlifting coach may be available to him, but Clement hopes Leib will pursue the activity on campus.
“I’ve told him that if there’s no lifting club there, he should start one,” said Clement. “He wouldn’t need to do a lot of teaching, just get people together. They’d be inspired just by watching him.”
Jared Pendak can be reached at jpendak@vnews.com or 603-727-3225.