TOPEKA, Kan. (WIBW) - Vashon Perryman can definitely carry his weight. Actually four times his weight.

At 165 pounds, he deadlifted 661 at a recent RAW powerlifting competition - breaking a world record.

In RAW powerlifting, athletes don't use any gear, such as a bench shirt or a squat suit to lift the weights.

"This time I beat a lot of others around the wold," he said of the RAW Meet 5 competition in Corpus Christi on January 21.

"Next time, I'll consider myself my competitor," he said.

That philosophy, and surely the weight, has kept the Ottawa native grounded.

"Every competition, I try to beat myself, not necessarily the other people in the competition. If I do better than I did before, I'm still winning, regardless of where I place in the actual meet," he said.

The 25-year-old spends sixty plus hours working as a personal trainer at Maximus Fitness & Wellness and working out at the gym.

He's also trying to finish a degree in Kinesiology at Washburn.

As if all that wasn't grueling enough -- last year, he began challenging himself as a bodybuilder.

"Bodybuilding, I like that because there's always something to improve upon," he said.

A competition last October earned him the title Mr. Kansas.

For the 5-foot-5 Perryman, it's validation that you can start small.

"All my life, I've been kinda overlooked, because of my size. When I was younger, maybe I didn't get a spot on a football team, just because I didn't weigh enough, or wasn't tall enough. At a young age, I figured out that if I can't do it myself, then it may not happen," he said.

Now Perryman is striving to go bigger with each competition. But at the end of the day, a title is not his goal.

"I just want to make sure that anybody that feels they are or don't have what it takes to win, hopefully they can realize through me that they achieve through working hard, no matter what.

Vashon Perryman's next bodybuilding competition is April 7 in Iowa.