Powerlifting is picking up in the Capital Region
If you’d been lucky enough to see Baton Rouge native Azariah Pierce break a 2025 powerlifting world record with an 873-pound deadlift, you’d be surprised by one of his consistent mantras.
“Anyone can do it,” Pierce says of the sport. “Anyone.”
He should know. The youngest of seven children, Pierce says he wasn’t the most athletic kid growing up. It was years later that he unearthed a hidden talent for powerlifting while serving in the U.S. Marine Corps. During deployments in Afghanistan and Okinawa, Pierce blew off steam with his buddies in the gym, soon realizing he had a knack for throwing around weights.
“I was like, ‘Hey, I’m actually pretty strong,’” he says.
A fellow Marine suggested he enter a powerlifting competition.
“I was like, ‘What’s powerlifting?’” Pierce recalls. “And he said, ‘You’re already doing it.’”
The sport, which started in earnest in the United States in the mid-1960s, tests competitors organized in age and weight classes in three lifts: the squat, bench press and deadlift. Powerlifting draws enthusiasts from a wide range of ages and backgrounds for competitions in high school, college and well into adulthood.
Since his first meet in 2013, Pierce has earned seven state records, two national records and two world records. After leaving the Marine Corps in 2018 and returning to Baton Rouge, he continued to compete and help train others in the sport. In 2024, he opened a private gym, DemiGodz Powerhouse, where he works one on one with competition-bound lifters. His oldest client is 60.
Strength sports have grown considerably over the last 20 years, Pierce says, with a broad swath of youth and adults finding their way to gyms and competitions.
More schools have programs, too, with many young women joining powerlifting teams.
“At most high schools, you’ll see more females powerlifting than you’ll see males,” Pierce says.
Baton Rouge is actually home to several athletes making their mark in strength sports on national and international stages. Earlier this year, teen weightlifter (a different sport from powerlifting) and Olympic hopeful Baron Baker broke three national Olympic weightlifting records at the American Open. The Episcopal High School senior hopes to make Team USA and compete in the 2032 Olympic Games.
Pierce’s friend and frequent powerlifting competitor, Baton Rouge gym owner Demerrius Slocum, has also set numerous state and national records. He also serves as a coach for the LSU competitive powerlifting club team.
And this month, the World Powerlifting Congress World Championships are taking place in Baton Rouge, bringing competitors from around the globe to the Embassy Suites for several days of competition.
While it’s a sport dependent on brawn, Pierce says powerlifting can be remarkably meditative. Competitors say it reduces stress and brings things into focus. The sport is often suggested for veterans with PTSD, he adds.
“As soon as my lifters cross the threshold, they’re able to channel everything from the outside world into the weights,” Pierce says. “Once you’re underneath the bar, nothing else matters.”
This article was originally published in the November 2026 issue of 225 Magazine.
