A Mother’s Intuition

 

First Family of Power

The Tawzer’s aren’t your typical gym-going family. In fact nothing about their workout schedule is typical, especially in light of the fact that at the end of the day Ken, Mary and their son Clay collectively hold more than 33 state, national and world records in a little-known sport called powerlifting.

 

Powerlifting, often confused with bodybuilding, is a sport where the participants are solely interested in lifting as much weight as is humanly possible. Unlike bodybuilding, there’s no oily bodies, no sculpted muscles, no points whatsoever for aesthetic presentation. It is a get in, get it done and move on kind of competition.

 

Sounds intense; that is until you meet the Tawzer’s from Los Alamos. A down-to-earth, easy-going family that has only recently discovered they have a shared talent for lifting unusually heavy weights and winning a lot of medals in the process.

 

The family “hobby” was initiated by Ken Tawzer, who grew up in Orcutt and lifted weights in his 20s to stay in shape for calf roping with the Professional Rodeo Cowboy Association. Although he’s a professional house painter by trade, Ken joined the Guadalupe Police Department in 1987 and stopped lifting weights about five years later, when he quite the rodeo. It wasn’t until four years ago that Ken was faced with a choice, go on high blood pressure medication or get back in shape.

 

“I’ve never taken any kind of drug in my whole life,” Ken said. His decision was easy; he set up a weight rack in his garage and started lifting again.

 

Clay remembers with amusement that first lifting session.

“When dad quit weights in his 30s he benched over 500 pounds. That first day back he thought he would warm up with 250 pounds. Good thing I was there or he would have killed himself.”

 

Ken was sobered by the fact that he could only lift 90 pounds and that he had fallen so far out of shape. This spurred on almost daily workouts in the garage with Clay. When the pair began out-lifting the set of weights they owned, Ken and Clay joined Gold’s Gym of Santa Maria, where it was quickly discovered by trainer Gerald Walker that during their routine father-son workouts they were each lifting well over the state record for competition bench lifting. After a quick internet search, Ken and Clay quickly enrolled in the Las Vegas National Championship Powerlifting Competition, and almost as quickly were laughed at all the way back home, tail between their legs.

 

“We didn’t know the rules at all, “Ken said. “We could out-lift everyone but we didn’t know any of the regulations for technique or posture.”

 

For the six months following that embarrassing competition, Clay and Ken worked out strictly according to competition rules. The very next competition they not only cleaned up in the bench, dead lift and strict curl categories, but they set new state and national records, to boot. Not bad for a couple of novices.

It wasn’t until fall of 2006 that Mary finally gave into her own curiosity about the sport. She started in the garage like Ken and Clay, and right from the beginning lifted enough to break state records. A breast cancer survivor for 10 years, Mary is eager to try things she never would imagine herself doing.

 

“When you’ve been through something like that and you get a second chance you use it,” Mary said.

 

Since her first official competition in March 2007, Mary has broken five state, seven national and three world records, besting her own records in the dead lift and or strict curl four consecutive times.

“If I can do this, anyone can do this,” Mary said.

Her humility and inner strength has given inspired and given countless cancer-survivors the motivation to once again pursue normal, healthy lives. 

 

“I can’t tell you how many women have approached me and asked me to tell Mary what an inspiration she has been to them,” Ken said proudly. “And I tell her, I always tell her.”

 

Since Mary joined the mix as a record-breaking phenom in her own right, the Tawzer’s have been deemed the “First Family of Powerlifting.” Often the targets of skepticism, Ken quickly clarifies that they have always been steroid free.

 

“Steriods never leave your body,” he said. “They cause heart attacks and hallow bones, kidney disease and thinning of the blood. Its nasty stuff and we just don’t use it.”

 

Clay seconds his dad’s sentiment.

 

“I don’t need a crutch,” Clay said, echoing his dad who points out that working out should be about getting healthy not taking drugs.

 

They attribute their easy success in part to genetics and their barrel-shaped chests that aid in easy muscle building and upper body strength. They also keep a strict workout schedule of eight hours a week, spread over four days, at Gold’s Gym in Santa Maria, which sponsors the Tawzer’s with free annual memberships. They also eat a diet loaded with meats, vegetables and protein shakes, and two weeks before a competition they cut out sugar, alcohol and almost all carbohydrates. The regime seems to be working as Ken’s blood pressure has gone from stroke-risk level to someone whose blood pressure could pass for a 30-year-old.

 

With Ken’s current bench max of 450 pounds, Mary’s dead lift max of 240 pounds and Clay’s 605 pound personal best in the bench lift, they are encouraging others to pursue the seemingly impossible.

“Take it slow and work your way up,” Ken said, simply. It’s the family’s guiding principle and has paid off in abundant, clinking, gold-plated medals hanging heavy around their necks.