PENDLETON — When you want to be the best, you seek out the best.

Pendleton’s Dan Logman did just that, enlisting the help of bench press world champion Ryan Kennelly to help prepare him for the USPA PAC Cartel Kilos on Saturday, May 8, at Power Athletics Compound in Richland, Washington.

Logman, who will compete in the Masters 308-pound class, has been making weekly trips to the Tri-Cities to work with Kennelly.

“He is an incredible guy,” Logman said. “In nine weeks, he took my bench from 501 (pounds) and I have hit 550. I raised my PR almost 50 pounds through techniques he has shown me. I am fortunate to have trained with him and his crew. The very first night I worked out with him, he let me wear one of the multi-ply shirts and I had 705 pounds in my hands. I will never be afraid of a 500-pound bench press again.”

Kennelly holds the World Powerlifting Organization (WPO) record, and held the all-time world record in the assisted (aid of a bench shirt) bench press with a lift of 1,075 pounds. He bench pressed an unequipped 650 pounds.

Logman, 49, will be joined at the meet by his son Christopher, 15, and lifting partner Donald “Eagle” Williams, 47.

Logman, who is a manager at Standard Plumbing Supply in Pendleton, plans to open with 501 pounds, which will set an Oregon masters record in the United States Powerlifiting Association.

“I think I will get around 540,” said Logman, who will be wearing a single-ply Super Katana bench shirt. “I will have one of the best bench specialists with me that day. If that doesn’t make you confident, I don’t know what will.”

A family affair

The road to the 500-pound club has not been an easy one for Logman.

He got sober six years ago and got back into lifting. He had a setback in July 2019 with a torn distal biceps tendon.

“That happened when I was deadlifting,” he said. “That put me out of commission for quite some time. A good six months after surgery I pulled 591 (pounds).”

The sport also has strengthened his relationship with his son.

“Doing it with my kid is the biggest joy,” Logman said.

Christopher Logman, a freshman at Pendleton High School, will compete in the Teen 275-pound class. He will compete in all three disciplines — bench, deadlift and squats.

“He is a strong kid,” Dan Logman said. “This will be his second meet. What the records are right now, he should set records for his age group.”

At present, Christopher’s top marks are a 240-pound bench press, 405 in the deadlift and a 385 squat.

‘It’s an amazing sport’

Whereas Dan will be competing equipped — a category that allows a power shirt — Christopher and Williams will be raw lifting with just the aid of knee sleeves, an approved singlet, a lifting belt and chalk.

Williams, who is a member of the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation, grew up in Oklahoma but returned to the Pendleton area in 2018.

He has been lifting for 11 years, and doing competitive powerlifting for five years. He will compete in the Masters 275-pound class in all three disciplines.

“It’s an amazing sport,” Williams said. “You are the only one on the platform. There’s a lot of adrenaline and a lot of fear, but it’s a beautiful thing.”

Williams, who works at Energy Trust of Oregon, won a USPA National Championship in Las Vegas in July 2018, shortly before moving back to Oregon.

He met the Logmans at a local gym, and they also train a few days a week at The Muscle Shack in Walla Walla, Washington.

“It’s a great place,” Logman said. “I’m blessed to be around a lot of knowledgeable people in the sport. There’s a lot of science behind this sport now.”

All three competed in a meet in March in Lewiston, Idaho, winning their respective divisions, but with the COVID-19 pandemic, competitions have been hard to come by.

“Through COVID, we just had to make it work,” Williams said. “Whatever we could do, we did. When you are a powerlifter, you make do. This pandemic was a unique situation, you just have to make do.”

Williams will be trying to set Oregon records for his division. His top bench is 350, with a 450 squat and a 505 deadlift.

He will be cheered on by his daughter Brylee, 9, who at times can be heard cheering over the grunts and groans of the lifters.

“She’s great,” Williams said. “She has been raised in the gym with me since she was a year old.”