RAPID CITY - Steve Howard, a professional powerlifter and Rapid City native, no longer competes on the national stage. But he still carries a lot of weight.

Howard, and his wife Brenda, were inducted as some of the first members of the South Dakota Powerlifters Hall of Fame, which began in March.

"He probably has, in the state of South Dakota, done more to promote powerlifting than anyone," said Jeff Blindauer, a fellow powerlifter and lifting-competition referee from eastern South Dakota. "He would be the first person I'd nominate."

Steve Howard was a body builder until 1987, when he decided to start powerlifting. His involvement in the sport took off from there. During his time as a competitor, which ended in 2002, Howard won five national championships - his last was in 2002 in a Masters division at Charlotteville, Va. The Masters divisions are five-year age groups starting at the age of 40.

His wife, Brenda, is also a powerlifter. She has two Masters national championships to her credit. She has also been invited to four world's teams, and was a member of two of them, Steve Howard said.

The Howards train together.

Steve Howard has not lifted competitively for four years, but he does not consider himself retired. Howard now operates the Steve Howard Strength and Fitness Studio at the Weight Room in Rapid City. He guides a variety of clients who want to be powerlifters or just want to get into shape.

As far as powerlifting, Howard has a new role. He fosters the sport in South Dakota and serves as a top official at the national level. Howard has invested of his own money into equipment for powerlifters. He supports area powerlifting meets, including regional meets in western South Dakota and a state meet in Sioux Falls each February. He is both an organizer and a referee.

He also hauls a great deal of equipment across the state, a duty that is not easy or cheap, Blindauer said.

"He does not get paid to do it," Blindauer said. "He does it because he believes the state needs a state championship."

He has also helped fund and support powerlifting in Colorado and Wyoming as well. He is the state chairman for powerlifting in South Dakota, but he will step down at the end of the year.

"We've had meets in Huron, Aberdeen, Sioux Falls and Rapid City," Howard said.

He has served as a mentor and a guide to the sport's leaders in the state - a fact to which Blindauer can attest.

"He has helped me to becoma a better and more enthusiastic coach, " Blindauer said.

On the national level, in addition to being named to several weightlifting boards, Howard has been elected to his third term on the governing body of USA powerlifting. He has also refereed every men's national United States Powerlifting competition for 10 years. He has been a head referee - the sport's top honor - and has seen 10 world records set.

"Maintaining control of a meet is pretty testing," adding that the competition is harder to judge with higher weights and larger lifters.

Howard said the toughest part of powerlifting is getting closer to the lifter's top potential. He said it is tough to break through plateaus during exercise - meaning that the body has set limits - and keeping in an injury-free state.

While most powerlifters continually work out, they do not continually compete. Howard said that the top powerlifters in the U.S. do not compete more than three or four times a year.

Howard's advice to beginning powerlifters is simple - Know the rules. Powerlifting requires more than lifting heavy weights, Howard said. There are guidelines that many competitive lifters need to know such as how long to hold to bar against your chest during the bench press and the required depth for squats. All the rules are set out by the International Powerlifting Federation.

"There are several technical aspects with lifts," Howard said.

Professional powerlifting competitions have three events - the squat, deadlift and the bench press. Each lifter has three attempts at each event and the top scores are combined for a total meet score, Howard said. At his best, Howard has bench-pressed 363 pounds, squatted 578 and dead-lifted 518.

For more information about Steve Howard and his studio, go to www.theweightroom.net/Steve_Howard_trainer.htm.