CatersProving size doesn’t matter when it comes to lifting heavy things, a powerlifter with dwarfism has taken to social media to display his extreme workouts and super strength.
Standing at 4’5″ tall, Jeremy Michael Smith hasn’t let his dwarfism get in the way when it comes to reaching his goals and pushing himself as far as possible in his passion for power lifting.
Jeremy, a 22-year-old student from Pennsylvania, has a body weight of 132lbs. However, thanks to his intense workout regime, he can squat more than 551lbs, bench more than 235lbs, and deadlift more than 240lbs. After struggling to carry the shopping home yesterday I think it’s high time I joined a gym.
You can watch Jeremy in action here:
Talking about his workout routine, Jeremy said:
Having dwarfism does not really impact my training in the way most people would think it would.
I obviously have to make some accommodations to the equipment that I use, but other than that nothing really stops me from working out like regular people.
The 22-year-old got into the lifting life when he was a teen in high school, taking to the sport to build up his strength as a wrestler.
He said:
I got into lifting when I was in high school. I was a wrestler who was going to be Varsity in my senior year and I wanted to pack on some strength before the season so I started lifting. Ever since then I have not been able to stop.
Since leaving high school, Jeremy has garnered almost 70,000 followers on Instagram, using the platform to display his skills as a weightlifter and inspire others to not let anything hold them back.
Jeremy said:
I work out to better myself and to become the strongest possible version of myself. I hope to become one of the strongest people, dwarf or not, at 132lbs.
Some people’s reactions to my videos are positive, while others are negative. In my mind, it’s all just about inspiring people and to give motivation to say if I can put up with this and do this so can you, there is no excuse.
If I just impact one person and motivate one person, that’s my goal.
However, it’s not just for the fans that Jeremy does what he does.
As he said:
I feel amazing when I deadlift; the adrenaline is going and it’s like a feeling that I cannot compare to anything else.
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Charlie Cocksedge is a journalist and sub-editor at UNILAD. He graduated from the University of Manchester with an MA in Creative Writing, where he learnt how to write in the third person, before getting his NCTJ. His work has also appeared in such places as The Guardian, PN Review and the bin.