Adam Ward is on a mission to be the strongest man in the world. What’s even more surprising is that he isn’t all that far from succeeding.
Ward will travel to Idaho Falls, Idaho, this September to compete in the Amateur Powerlifiting World Championships, a competition that’s anything from amateur despite its name. In order to even qualify for this event, he had to place top three at the state and national levels. At the national competition, Ward placed first and set world records by squatting 655 pounds, bench pressing 413 pounds and deadlifting 655 pounds.
But the 6-foot-4, 330-pound Maple Grove alum didn’t get this big—both literally and figuratively—without tribulations. His weightlifting career started when he joined the football team in seventh grade. “I was always the smallest, skinniest, weakest kid, and I wanted to change that,” Ward says. “I began lifting weights in my basement at home, because I wanted to become bigger and stronger. I have always had an innate desire to be the strongest man in the world.”
After graduating from Maple Grove in 2006 as captain of an undefeated regular season football team, Ward attended the University of North Dakota on a football scholarship, but several injuries forced Ward from the field. He then turned to his childhood fascination with powerlifting.
By training four days a week for three hours at a time at The Gym in Plymouth, Ward is hopeful for the competition this September. Success will get his name out in the international lifting community, allowing him to continue and thrive in his passion.
“The potential of the human body is limitless,” Ward says. “When I was a little skinny guy in junior high, people laughed when I said I would be huge one day. Well, look at me now.”
