Shane Martin is President of the CPU, elected to his position in March 2020. He is the representative of and spokesperson for the CPU and is responsible for appointing committee members, reviewing and approving relationships with sponsors and other vendors, organizing and running the CPU’s annual general meeting, and developing and managing ongoing projects with the goal of improving the CPU. Prior to taking over this role, Shane was the president and a seven-year board member of the Alberta Powerlifting Union.

Shane has been powerlifting since 2010, competing for the first time as one of six lifters at a competition in Medicine Hat. Since then, he’s developed his strength and skill considerably, winning Bronze at the 2019 IPF Bench Press World Championships in Tokyo, Japan. Despite the fact that he is now obviously dedicated to the sport and the CPU, Shane says he began powerlifting for the community. “Community brings us to powerlifting,” he says, “and that spirit, whether it be the clubs across Canada, the training partners you never meet through Instagram, the meets you volunteered at, or those big PRs on platform, the community is behind you yelling in support or just being there. It is what keeps us here.”

The CPU is important to Shane for that same reason - it’s a community. The CPU offers the opportunity to meet other lifters, travel to new places, set and achieve new goals for yourself, and support others along the way.