With The Help Of A Sports Psychologist, Bobby Body Has Convinced Himself That He’s Stronger Than He Actually Is

For years, Bobby Body’s white whale had been successfully completing a 500-pound bench press.

At last August’s Para powerlifting world championships, Body successfully completed a lift of 210 kg. (463 lbs.) before two failed attempts at 215 kg. (474 lbs.).

That performance earned the 49-year-old silver medals for best lift and total lift in the legends division — for athletes 45 and older — but Body left the world championships “discouraged.”

“I believed I could do better, or I could do more,” Body said in April at the Team USA Media Summit in New York. “There was something missing.”

When the Eaton Rapids, Michigan, native came home from the world championships, he went to the United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee’s website and looked up what mental health resources were available to him. He had previously met with Emily Clark — a senior psychological services provider for Team USA athletes — at the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Upon reconnecting after the world championships, Clark followed up with clear instructions for Body.

“We’re going to set you up with someone, and we’re going to talk about everything that we need to talk about to get you to that next level,” Body recalled Clark telling him.

Once that happened, the results spoke for themselves.

“They’re very good at their jobs because two months later, my bench went from 217 kg. to 228 kg.,” he said. “It wasn’t because of my training that I got that much stronger — they got me to believe that I was stronger than I actually was, not just physically, but emotionally and mentally.”

Feeling stronger while training is one thing; proving it in competition is a completely different animal.

Body put his new mindset to the test at the 2023 Parapan American Games last November. He opened the competition with a successful lift of 216 kg., already surpassing his best lift at worlds. Body then secured the gold medal with a Parapan Ams record lift of 228 kg., or roughly 503 pounds, officially crossing the threshold he had been chasing for years.

He now describes lifting 500 pounds as “a walk in the park,” and he’s currently benching up to 535 pounds in training.

The U.S. Paralympics Powerlfting roster is set to be announced Monday for Paralympic Games Paris 2024, and Body hopes to be on it. The top eight powerlifters in each weight class at the end of June will qualify for Paris. Body finished last season ranked No. 6, and he’s given every indication that he’s only going up from there.

Body has gotten support from more than just sports psychiatrists in his recent surge up the world rankings. When he competed at the Parapan Ams, his wife, Erin, made the trip to Santiago, Chile, to cheer him on.

Due to the cost of international trips, Erin can’t make it to all of Body’s competitions. However, they already have a plan in place for the Paralympics.

“She’ll be at Paris and her job told her, ‘You better be there,’” Body said. “Her job was not going to let her (miss Paris). … They want her to be able to be there for opening ceremonies to closing ceremonies.”

Body credits Erin for getting him involved in Para powerlifting, which he did in 2021 after strictly competing against able-body lifters since 2015. Erin herself is a powerlifter, although Body said she hasn’t competed since 2018. Still, her strength hasn’t gone anywhere.

“She is 52 and can deadlift 400 pounds,” Body said.

Confident he’ll qualify for his first Paralympics this summer, Body made his goal for Paris abundantly clear.

“Gold is the mindset,” he said. “If I want to get on the podium and get that gold medal then I have to think beyond what the guy that’s ranked No. 1 in my weight class is, and right now he has a 550 bench, so I have to be thinking 560, 565 so I can pass him.”

Luke Hanlon is a sportswriter and editor based in Minneapolis. He is a freelance contributor to USParaPowerlifting.org on behalf of Red Line Editorial, Inc.