THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Bhaskar S, a 19-year-old powerlifter from the capital city, is breaking stereotypes by proving that you can muscle onto success strictly on a vegetarian diet. The youngster won gold for Thiruvananthapuram in 120 kg unequipped powerlifting at the Kerala state powerlifting championship held at Kattachira in Kottayam last week.
Born to a Tamil Brahmin family at West Fort, Bhaskar says that he was told that he cannot survive in the sport without having non-vegetarian food on his platter. “But I have always been confident and my diet consists mainly of cereals. I haven’t even taken any of the supplements that many of the weightlifters use to gain muscles,” he says.
“At first, I was taunted for being a vegetarian, but with my first medal at the state-level now, I think I have become a serious contender. It has been a huge challenge for me and a difficult one. At many competitions I participate, including the recent state meet, they only serve non-vegetarian food, which really sums it up,” says Bhaskar.
It was at the age of 15 that Bhaskar started going to the Veera Kerala Gymkhana at Vanchiyoor. Since then he has been competing in both weightlifting and powerlifting competitions at various levels. He attended his first district championship in 2011 and won silver in sub-junior category. It was followed by three golds and a silver in the same category over the next three years.
Along with the rich haul of medals in powerlifting, Bhaskar has also won a silver and gold representing the University of Kerala in 2014 and 2015 respectively in weightlifting. To win the silver last week, Bhaskar lifted 370 kg distributed over 145 kg in squat, 70 kg in bench press and 155 kg in deadlift.
Bhasker, born to P B Sreeram and Kaveri, is being coached by powerlifting instructor V S Sajikumar. He is a second year BCom student at Christ Nagar College, Maranalloor.