Going from strength to studies
He broke five national powerlifting records and still holds two.
He also competed this year in the world's largest powerlifting competition in Texas, World Classic Powerlifting Championships, coming eighth out of the 12 contestants in the under 66kg category.
But he is not all brawn - Mr Randy Loke You Jie is also blessed with brains.
The 25-year-old is graduating tomorrow from NUS with a Bachelor of Science in Life Scienceswith the highest distinction honours after four years of study.
Mr Loke, a relatively recent addition to Singapore's powerlifting scene, was first intrigued by the sport during his first year at NUS in 2013, when a friend who was organising a powerlifting meet invited him along.
Thinking "why not?", Mr Loke agreed to go, and ended up training for three months.
He then joined a competition, in which he emerged the winner in the 59kg category.
"I was quite surprised that I won with just three months of training and thought I should pursue it since I was good at it," Mr Loke said.
Of his parents' reaction to his new-found hobby, he said: "My parents generally support me in my (powerlifting) endeavours, but they don't really know what I'm doing.
"My mother is always a bit worried I'll injure my back."
As powerlifting is not a team sport, Mr Loke could adjust his solo training schedule based on his workload.
But he still struggled with finding enough hours in the day to juggle training with work.
He tried to train three to four times a week, with each session stretching up to four hours.
"When I was in the lab (for biology work), I felt like I should be training, and when I was training, I felt like I should be in the lab," he said.
NATIONAL RECORDS
But now that he has his degree and has also maintained national powerlifting records - the deadlift record at 255kg and the total record at 562.5kg - he is proud of his achievements.
"I am happy that it paid off on both ends," he said.
"I enjoy what I study and I also enjoy my powerlifting training, so it wasn't a chore to be doing both."
Mr Loke will be furthering his studies at Duke-NUS Medical School.
He plans to take a hiatus from powerlifting after a local meet next month.
"I have been pushing my body hard for a series of competitions since last year. I need a break from training," he said.
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