Saint Joe Alum Powerlifter Thomas “TD” Davis
January 28, 2021
Since he graduated from Saint Joe in 2011, Thomas Davis (TD) has been breaking more and more lifting records around the world.
185 lbs, that was Davis’ max bench press his freshman year at St. Joe. An impressive amount for most freshmen, but light work for TD. Davis began his weight lifting career with football his freshman year at Saint Joe. He had dabbled with lifting before, but football introduced him to heavy lifting. By the time Davis left Saint Joe he had broken Saint Joe’s bench press record at 465 lbs.
“I learned I was really strong when I was at St. Joe, and a lot about myself in that weight room. I’m not sure I would’ve learned all that if I went to another school because of the atmosphere we had.”
The atmosphere mentioned is the 2007-2011 football team which went to two state championships. The team really pushed TD to give lifting his all in the weight room, which helped him reach new limits. The football team also taught Davis lessons, Davis said the team taught him about life and he “learned the process of grinding hard to get where I needed to go.”
Football and lifting also taught Davis how to deal with adversity, “You learn to get over a plateau, as simple as it may sound, you learn that same skill for the rest of your life.” Davis was once stuck at 135 lbs bench press but found new ways to improve his weight to 145 lbs, then 200 lbs, then 300 lbs, then 400 lbs and eventually 700 lbs, showing he can reach new plateaus.
Football wasn’t the only sport that helped TD, “Not just with football, but also Coach McCarthy with track.” Davis was a lineman in the fall and a thrower in the spring, and ended up going to NAIA nationals for discus while he was at Bethel.
Although his football career ended after high school Davis continued to lift. He grew stronger and stronger, until he realized he could start competing. In 2016 Davis traveled to South Africa for the international power-lifting confederation championship. At the championship Davis set the world record for raw bench press at 622.5 lbs.
Davis finds his motivation to lift from his family- his newborn son and wife. He also finds motivation in himself to be the best. “Knowing I can get better every time I go in, there’s really no limit to what I can do. Why not push the limits that haven’t been pushed yet… I wanna be that guy to do it.”
Davis wants to continue to grow and be the best he can, as he has shown recently.
In November Davis competed in his second full meet which means bench press, deadlift and squat in one meet. He benched a new personal record at 705 lbs and became #6 all time in full power lifting.
Quarantine
The gym shutdowns during quarantine hurt most powerlifters across the country, but not Davis. “It was a blessing and a curse at the same time.” The blessing was the birth of his son Malcome. By not going to the gym, Davis was able to relax and spend time with his wife and new born son. The gym shutdown still did not completely remove Davis from working out. He continued to do body weight exercises and hit the bag in his garage, which gave his body a much needed break. “It didn’t shut me down, I was actually able to recover.”
Correctional Officer
While Davis was still lifting after high school he was also a correctional officer in Elkhart for five and a half years. Davis pointed out how theology classes at Saint Joe helped him stay faithful when dealing with the hardships of the people he interacted with as a correctional officer.
“I learned a lot about my faith at St. Joe. I kept my faith up, because you’re around a lot of demons.”
Davis loved his time being a correctional officer, as he enjoyed helping people.
“My favorite part about it was knowing I could help people at their worst.”
Although Davis is no longer a correctional officer, he still keeps in touch with the inmates he worked with. “They reach out to me because I was a good person to them, and nice to them, made sure I looked out for them if I could” He continues to communicate with them to keep them on track.
Davis developed a true relationship with the inmates, and loved doing it.
Although Davis has set records on the bench he said his biggest accomplishment has been, “Staying alive.” He said, “I made a lot of stupid decisions in life, and did a lot of stupid things, could’ve got me killed.” Davis stopped making the stupid decisions in life to focus on lifting and his family. “I’m one of the ones that didn’t do that, and I’m still alive. I got a kid, a wife, a dope powerlifting career, and I’m a sponsored athlete. I’m doing well.”
Davis still has many friends who haven’t been able to get back on track, and end up dying from their decisions, but he remains positive. He said one thing he learned was, “lose your best friend today, you still gotta move on and be positive.”
Today Davis is a security guard for the Elkhart community schools, and is still lifting for future meets. His next big meet is the U.S. Open in San Diego in April, where he looks to continue to climb the ranks in full power.
