When it comes to iconic powerlifting duos, who comes to mind? For us, one of our favorite training duos to watch and follow are powerlifting coach Bruce Orlando Leaupepe and his athlete Gabriel Torrence. On social media, you may have seen this duo before squatting big weight while motivating others.
Leaupepe has been working with Gabe for quite some time, and frequently provides updates on his social media page focused on Gabe’s training and mentality towards the gym. Like most powerlifting training duos, Leaupepe and Gabe met at the gym when Gabe decided to enroll in a powerlifting class. Gabe explained, “Before coming to train with Bruce, I didn’t workout.”
Every week, Leaupepe and Gabe come together to train on Tuesday and Thursday. Much like every competitive powerlifter, Gabe has his favorite and toughest lifts, “My favorite movement is bench Press and the toughest movement are pause Squats.”
In May, Gabe competed in his first powerlifting meet and ended up taking home first place for the Junior 18-19 198 lb weight class. At the meet, Gabe totaled a strong 512.5 lb, which consisted of a 209 lb squat, a 132 lb bench press, and 170 lb deadlift. To recap the meet, Gabe told us, “I need to fix my deadlift and balance the bar better during my bench press.”
While it looks like their training is always going swimmingly on social media, Leaupepe shared that Gabe’s progress had its fair share of hardships and now the hardship is just like every other lifter — to get stronger. He told us, “At first, it was just getting him [Gabe] used to the movements. We started with dumbbell Goblet Squats with just 20lbs. And now he [Gabe] can back Squat over 225lbs. Now the hardship is just like any other lifter trying to get stronger.”
The iron has a funny way of teaching us lessons outside of the gym. Gabe explains that the greatest lesson he’s learned under the bar is that,
“It has taught me to have a better diet and to be more disciplined with training. And the most important part — to never give up when things get tough.”
When it comes to goals, Gabe has his sights aimed high and told us that he wants, “To be stronger than Dwayne Johnson “The Rock”, and stronger than any strong man.”
And like any good coach, Leaupepe has explained to Gabe that times will be tough on the iron bound road ahead of him. Leaupepe told us, “I always ask him what don’t we ever do? And he [Gabe] always replies give up. I’ve told Gabe times will be hard. To push through no matter the circumstances, whether it’s working out or life. That he will never lose if he never gives up.”
As of right now, Gabe and Leaupepe’s next meet will be the The DCS Winter Open on February 2nd in 2019. If you need extra motivation, then we highly recommend checking out this powerlifting pair.
Feature image from @mr_orlando Instagram page.
