Varun Lal never set out to be a powerlifter. He just wanted to be strong, strong enough to carry the life he was building.
That life began in Navau, a small sugarcane farming settlement in Ba.
The kind of place where days begin early and end only when the work is done, where strength is measured by how much you can carry, not how much you can bench.
Now, at 27-years-old, Lal has gone from hauling cane in the backblocks of Ba to hauling steel on a national powerlifting platform in Australia.
Last week, he made history doing it.
Lal lives in Brisbane, Australia, where he works in the mechanical field and runs his own engineering firm, Pasifika Renewables Consultant.
It’s a career built on years of dedication and personal drive, something he says was shaped by his childhood in Fiji.
But between long workdays and running a business, Lal also found time for the gym.
Strength training had always been part of his life, though never seriously structured. That changed in mid-2023.
“I took up powerlifting seriously around mid-2023,” he said.
“Before that, I’d always been into training and strength work, but I never thought I’d compete.”
It wasn’t until he met his coach, known in the gym world as Big Jack, that things began to shift.
“It was actually my coach and a few teammates at the gym (Fortitude Barbell) who encouraged me to give equipped lifting a try,” Lal said.
“The idea of testing my strength on the platform, under pressure, really appealed to me and once I started, I never looked back.”
Unlike the more common “raw” powerlifting, where athletes lift without specialised gear, equipped lifting involves the use of bench shirts, squat suits and other supportive gear that allow athletes to push their limits even further.
But the gear demands more than strength it requires precision, patience and strict technique.
And that wasn’t all Lal had to master.
He still had to balance his full-time work, personal responsibilities and running his business all while preparing for one of the toughest competitions in the country.
“The preparation was tough,” he said.
“Balancing full-time work, personal responsibilities, and intense training isn’t easy. There were days I trained after 10-hour shifts. I also had to learn the technical side of equipped lifting, which is very different from raw lifting. But I stayed disciplined, trusted my coach, and gave everything I had in the lead-up.”
Last Friday, Lal competed at the 2025 CAPO National Powerlifting Championships, held in Brisbane, his first major meet in the equipped division.
“It was my debut at this level in the equipped division, and it turned out to be a very special day for me,” he said.
At the event, Lal competed in the 125kg single-ply open division, putting up the kind of numbers most athletes work years to achieve: a 200kg squat, a 145kg bench press and a 240kg deadlift.
That 145kg bench press wasn’t just a personal best, it shattered the existing Australian record in his division, previously set at 130kg.
“Yes, I’m honoured to say that I set a new national bench press record in the 125kg single-ply open division,” he said.
“It feels surreal, especially as the first Fijian to ever compete in equipped powerlifting and to break a national record.”
He didn’t do it just for himself.
“I dedicated this lift to my family back in Fiji, especially my parents, who have always supported me even from afar,” he said.
Behind the scenes, the journey was not easy.
“Being away from family during such a time is very difficult,” he said.
But instead of being a weakness, that distance became his fuel.
“I used that pain as fuel. I wanted to honor him with my performance and show him that all his sacrifices weren’t in vain.”
Lal entered the competition with two clear goals: to represent at a national level in equipped lifting, and to break the bench press record in his division.
He did both.
“Yes, I had two main goals for this competition: to represent at a national level in equipped lifting and to break the bench press record in my division,” he said.
“I’m proud to say I’ve achieved both. But I’m not stopping here, this is just the beginning of what I want to do in the sport.”
When asked on what’s next for the Fijian born lifter, Lal said that now he will focus on the World Powerlifting Championships, to be held in South Africa this November.
There, he will proudly become the first Fijian to compete in the equipped division on a world stage, another milestone for the boy from Navau.
“It’s a huge step up, and I’m working hard every day to be ready,” he said.
“I want to make Australia proud, and show young Fijian born that even if you come from humble beginnings, you can still rise and achieve great things.”
Lal proved that real strength doesn’t just come from the gym, it comes from knowing exactly where you come from and how far you are willing to go.