articles.elitefts.com-the education of a powerlifter

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articles.elitefts.com http://articles.elitefts.com/training-articles/blast-from-the-past-the-education-of-a-powerlifter

The Education of a Powerlifter

Blast f rom the Past: The Education of a Powerlifter

When I start working here at elitefts I asked Dave what article, of the hundreds he has written,

he feels was his favorite. Which article flowed onto the paper with such clarity of voice and raw

sincerity of spirit that he felt it spoke to readers in a way that is often difficult to achieve? Without

hesitation, he declared this article (originally posted on T-Nation in March of 2004) as his magnum

opus. I recall reading the article when it was originally posted, but as I reread it eight years later, it

resonated even deeper with me. It definitely is worthy of another viewing and if you dont get at

least a little bit choked up at the ending, then you have NO heart. Steve Colescott

Want to know how to become a powerlif ter? Believe me, theres no Powerlif ting f or Dummies book at your

local Wal-mart. Being a powerlif ter is a s trange blend of mysticism, drive, st rength, and a litt le bit o f crazy. To

be one youve got to want it bad; got to want it so bad that youre willing to devote years to its pursuit. Still, a

rough as it is, those that are indoctrinated into its s trange world rarely leave.

This is part a st ory about one mans journey into the cult o f powerlif ting.

Jonathan Among The Giants

When Jonathan walked into the ho tel lobby he f ound himself among giants . Huge men milled around the room

all of them loo king like they lif ted boulders f or a living. What was going on here? Some type of prof essionalwrestling event? A cast ing call f or a gladiato r o r barbarian movie? Jonathan had never seen anything like it.

Hed come to the hotel to meet a f riend for lunch, but as t hey ate all he could do was stare at these powerful

looking leviathans. Finally, he asked the waiter what was going on.

Powerlif ters, the waiter said. And were running out of f oo d.

Af ter lunch, Jonathan walked out of the restaurant and noticed a commotion coming f rom the hotels grand

ballroom. Peeking through the door he saw hundreds of people cheering these giants o n. He paid the entry fe

and found a place in the back of the room to watch what he thought was called the deadlif t event.

Lif ter af ter lif ter would approach the bar with a crazed look of intensity and pull with his greates t ef f ort . Eachpull would f inish with the lif ter either making the weight or missing it, but either way they all had a look of pride

and accomplishment.

Jonathan didnt really know what was go ing on here. Hed never att ended a powerlif ting meet bef ore. He knew

only one thing: this was coolest thing hed ever seen.
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Tom Gets His Total

For t he f inal deadlif t o f the day, we have a world record att empt, the loud speaker announced. Tom

approached the bar. Hed trained his whole life for this moment. Weighing in at a ripped 275 pounds, Tom was

ready to go .

With a look o f controlled rage on his f ace, he approached the bar and began to pull with everything he had.

The bar slowly lef t the ground as the crowd all got to its f eet, some standing on chairs, so me standing in the

aisle, all cheering as loudly as they could. To Jonathan, the scene was unreal.

Tom kept pulling. The t ension in his back and hands was insane but he knew if he just stayed with it t he lif twould be his. Seconds later he was standing with t he bar locked out and heard the head of f icial say down. It

wasnt until the bar hit the ground that he no ticed the roar of the crowd. The lif t was his; the day was his. This

he thought, is what its all about.

When the meet was over, the lif ters made their way back into the warm-up room to exchange sto ries about th

days batt les. Some were excited about their new records; o ther were disappointed but were already planning

their next training cycles. They had all put in countless hours in the gym f or t his and wanted to extend it as

much as they could.

Tom sat in a circle of chairs with f riends and training partners. This was Toms day. Hed hit a record squat,

bench and deadlif t the biggest to tal of his lif e. All the pain, injuries, sacrif ices and training hours f inallyseemed worth it.

Whats next? asked one of Toms training partners.

Tom didnt have to think about his answer. Its back in the gym Monday. I know I have more lef t in me. This is

what he said af ter every meet, what top powerlif ters always say. For t hem, sat isf action isnt an option. When

you become sat isf ied, you become obsolete.

The Decision


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Jonatho n couldnt believe what he was feeling. Half way through the giants lif t, hed found himself up on his

chair screaming encouragement to a man hed never met.

When the event was over he knew one thing f or certain: he had to become part of this.

Jonatho n was never an athlete in high school and hadnt done anything f itness related since he graduated

f rom college a year ago. He did work out f rom time to t ime in college but nothing with any structure or

consist ency. At his best he was about 185 pounds at 511 with a personal best bench press o f around 250,

but t hat was years ago . He loved what hed just witnessed but had no idea where to begin. It was then he mad

a decision: he had to talk to the giant.

Making his way to the back room, he had no idea what he would say. What would these huge men say to him?

Would they laugh and kick him out o f the room? Would they make fun of him? Jonathan didnt know, but he ha

to try.

He f ound Tom packing up his bag. Hesitant ly, Jonathan asked, Excuse me, but how does one get involved in

the sport of powerlifting?

Tom and the other lif ters turned to look at him. Jonathan couldnt help but f eel he was being sized up.

How serious are you? Tom asked.

Pretty serious, I guess, Jonathan said. That was, well, the greates t thing Ive ever seen. He waited f or the

giants to laugh at him. They didnt.

Tom took out a piece of paper and scribbled some notes on it. Sweat was st ill running of f his bald head as he

handed Jonathan the paper. Meet us here Monday at 5:00. he said. This is my gym.

Shut Up and Spot


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Jonathan couldnt sleep at all Sunday night ant icipating the Monday training session. He was now going to be

powerlif ter. Time couldnt go f ast enough Monday, but 5:00 did f inally roll around. He was f ired up to f inally be

oining a gym.

As he drove through the commercial developments , he kept looking f or the neo n sign f or Toms gym. The

businesses soon turned into residential neighborhoods and he began to wonder why Tom would ask him to

pick him up at his house. He pulled into Toms driveway and honked the horn. After a f ew minutes he began to

wonder if Tom was home. Then it dawned on him that maybe hed been blown of f and sent o n some kind of

wild goose chase.

In a last attempt, Jonathan got o ut o f the car to go ring the doo rbell. As he walked toward the house he heard

loud metal music coming f rom the garage. Tom must be working on his car or something, Jonathan thought.

When he walked through the door, he couldnt believe what he saw. This was Toms gym. He had no idea what

the equipment was but t here was nothing in there like he used in college.

Hey, we thought you werent coming! Tom shouted above the music. There were about seven guys crowded

around a power rack. They were doing some st range movement in the rack with some type of yolk bar

suspended by chains. One more rep! shouted Tom as the lif ter s f ace turned beet red under the strain.

Jonathan couldnt believe how great this was. The bar was loaded with more weight than hed ever seen. Thes

guys were crazy st rong and he couldnt wait to become one of them. He walked over to Tom and asked what

he should do.

Your job today is to spot and keep your mouth shut, Tom said.

Jonathan spent t he rest o f the day loading the bar for all the other lif ters. This was st ill one of the best days

of his lif e. When the sess ion was over, Jonathan was in awe. This place was hardcore, these guys were

hardcore and the weights were certainly hardcore. When the last lif ter was done Jonathan was ready to learn

how to be strong. With litt le conversat ion all the lif ters packed up the gear and lef t. Jonathan was lef t with To

and asked again what he should do.

Go home, Tom replied. Come back Wednesday.

Jonathan knew instinctively not to argue. He drove home st ill psyched up over the days events but wondered

why he didnt t rain. Two more weeks passed and Jonathan st ill hadnt touched a weight. Hed asked a f ew time

what he should do and the lif ters kept telling him to shut up and spot . He began to wonder if he was brought

only to load the weights. But he was st ill excited to be there and was having a great time. The weights these

guys were moving were unreal! It was a privilege to be there.

The last t ime he asked Tom when he could lif t, Tom to ld him f lat out t hat he wasnt ready. Jonathan was a bit

set back. He really wanted to be a powerlif ter and all he was doing was spo tt ing. This continued on f or anothe

week. He was now bored out o f his skull. As he sat in silence at the end of one of their bench sess ions, Tom

walked over and said, Now youre ready.

Why now? Jonathon asked.

Tom explained that when he came in he was in awe of the lif ters in the group and that you can never become

what youre in awe of .

Its okay to have idols as a kid, Tom said, but when you grow up you have to become what you dream about

Then he said something Jonathan would remember for t he rest o f his lif e. We know what we can do f or you;

what we really want to know is, what can you do f or us?


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Jonathan understood. They already had all the spot ters they needed. What they really wanted were lif ters.

Jonathan was about to become one.

Becoming Bullet Proof

Monday rolled around and f rom the past weeks experience Jonathan f igured out this was a lower body, heavy

day. As he drove to the gym he wondered what they would have him do today. He arrived early at 4:30 and

f ound a f ew of the guys were already there. Some of them were doing extra abdominal movements, so me we

dragging a sled and others were stretching out. The one thing that stood out is that they were all doingsomething dif f erent. He would have to ask Tom about this.

Tom f inally got there and they all agreed to do some type of good morning movement. Jonathan had no idea

what this was but was game f or anything. A couple of the guys placed the bar on their back and began to bend

over at the waist. He f igured this was pretty easy and took his place in the line up. As he walked up to the bar

Tom asked, What the hell are you doing?

Good mornings, Tom said.

No, Tom said, youre not. You arent ready. Come with me.

They walked out back and Jonathan was given a weight belt attached to a s led with a couple of plates on it.

Drag this f or ten trips down to the t ree and back, then come get me, Tom said.

While he really wanted to t rain like the o ther guys, at least he wasnt spot ting and loading the bar. After a f ew

trips he could f eel his legs getting tired and it was gett ing harder and harder to breathe. Hed do a set, rest ,

and then do another. He could hear the intensity of the session go ing on inside and wished he was part o f it.

Af ter he f inished, he went back into the gym.

The guys were now into their top sets and he walked over to Tom and asked what to do next. Tom to ld him to

spot and hed get with him af ter they f inished. Jonathan spent the next ten minutes watching the guys just

about blow their heads of f under the st rain of the good mornings. Jonathon asked Tom why he was spott ing

again. Everyone spots with the big weights, Tom replied. This is part o f your job. No one is above spot ting

and coaching here!

When the movement was over, the guys split up and began doing dif f erent exercises. Once again he wondered

why they all did dif f erent things. Jonathan was told to do f ive sets o f something called reverse hypers. He wa

pos itioned on a bench with a st rap attached around his ankles. He began to swing the weight up and was to ld

to arch as hard as he could at the top. He couldnt use much weight at all. The o ther guys were using around

500 pounds but all he could use was 50. When he f inished his lower back f elt tied up in knot s.

Next he did incline sit-ups and straight leg raises. He did f ive sets of each with coaching coming f rom many

dif f erent lift ers. He was taught how to f lex and tighten his abs. From time to time they would come over and

push their fingers into his abs to make sure they were being held tight.

The last movement he was asked to do was called band good mornings. For t his he stoo d on a big rubber

band, placed the other end around the back of his traps, bent over at the waist and then stoo d up. He was to

to try and f eel the movement in his lower back and hamstrings. He could feel it all right.


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Crap Work

While he thought hed be so re, he actually f elt prett y good. He couldnt wait f or Wednesdays heavy bench

press session. When he got to the gym he was told once again to hit the sled for ten trips. When he came bacin the guys were doing a bench press movement where they would lower the bar down to a couple of boards

and press back up. He couldnt wait to give this a sho t as he was sure he could handle some decent weight.

To his surprise he was to ld to do band good mornings and abs again. When he was f inished with this he was

to ld to do 100 push-ups and to do them in as many sets as it would take. He had to use good f orm and with

his hands placed on a pair of hex dumbbells. His grip width had to be in the same position hed eventually

bench in.

This was f ollowed up with some work f or the rotato r cuff and rear shoulders. Jonathan was told that t his

would be his workout f or the next month and that he was to try and do more weight and/or reps on each

training s ession thereafter.

Two weeks passed and he was ready to do some of the movements the o ther guys were doing. Tom wouldnt

budge. The kid had to st ick to the plan. Once again he was get ting f rustrated with this t raining plan and began

to wonder if these guys really knew what they were doing. He already knew that none o f them did the same

thing. Finally, he asked Tom why he had to do all the crap work and why no one else was doing it. He wanted

to be a powerlif ter and all he was do ing was s issy movements.

You see Jim over there? Tom said. Jim has weak glutes and is doing extra work f or them. This is what he

needs to do to get his deadlif t to go up. You see Matt over there? Matts doing extra lower back work. He

needs to make his back stronger to keep the bar in a better position when he squats. And Mike over there?

Mikes doing extra ab work to help with his transf er of power out o f the hole when he squats. You need to doconditioning work to be able to handle the work well ask you to do later. Youll never be 100% injury free, but

you bett er be prepared to handle the s train.

Technique, Technique, Technique

It had been six weeks s ince Jonathans f irst conditioning session and he was eager to begin real powerlif ting

This was the day hed waited f or.

As he walked into the gym he saw the guys were sett ing the rack up to do high bo x, Manta Ray squats.

Jonathan was ready to walk up to the rack when he was s topped in his tracks by Mark. Mark was one of the


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best squatt ers in the gym and pulled him aside to let him know he wasnt go ing to be doing box squats today.

Today he was going to squat and squat correctly.

Mark took Jonathan aside and first explained how to do a squat with perfect form; next they watched a few

training videos detailing squat f orm. Mark then explained that to f ully learn how to squat, Jonathan had to f irs

understand t he squat. This is accomplished by hearing the squat explained, then seeing it done properly, then

doing it so many times it becomes automatic.

Jonathan was handed a broomst ick and given the instructions:

1. Place the bar on the center of your back.

2. Squeeze your hands on the bar as hard as you can.

3. Pull your shoulder blades together and make sure your upper back is tight.

4. Pull your head up and drive it back into your traps.

5. Stand with your f eet out wide.

6. Push your feet out to the sides of your shoes.

7. Force your knees out to the side.

8. Arch your lower back as hard as you can.

9. Keep your abs tight.

There were a f ew other steps but all Jonathan could remember is doing rep af ter rep while Mark barked at him

to squat back and sit on the bench. Squat back? he said, Im already tired!

Loo k, man, Mark said, youll never squat 100%; none o f us do . The key is t o get as close as you can. Right

now youre at 0% and are piss ass weak. Now squat!

Rep af ter rep they worked on f orm. Jonathan must ve perf ormed 300 reps that day and actually made his way

up to using a 45-pound bar. The weight wasnt a problem, but Mark wouldnt let him use more as long as his

f orm was sub-par. Aft er what seemed to be 45 minutes of squatting he was to ld to move onto reverse hypers

and ab work, then f inish with the sled fo r a f ew trips.

By this time Jonathan was pretty fond of the sled and asked if he should do more. From the corner of the gym

Bob shouted, Oh no! Not another Mr. GPP! Tom then pulled Jonathan aside and explained that GPP, General

Physical Preparedness, is very important but you dont compete in GPP. What Jonathan really needed was

opt imal conditioning f or powerlif ting and anything too much over that is po intless.

About this time there was a knock on the door. Tom answered it and t urned around with a huge grin on his

f ace. It seemed Tom had ordered a new piece of equipment and it was here! This was not just any piece of

equipment but a glute ham raisenot only a GHR but the best you can get: a prof essional GHR from Elitef ts .

For t he rest o f the session they were all doing wide stance GHRs, close stance GHRs, ab work and anything

else they could think of .

It was business as usual f or Jonathan though. He was to st ick with this plan until he got the nod of approval

f rom the rest of the guys. He watched videos and worked on his f orm any time he could f ind the time. He even

f ilmed his sess ions to compare against the f orm of the guys on the tapes.

Af ter his f orm work he was told to train right along with some of the o thers guys and get used to the many


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supplemental and accessory movements t hey were using. He was now beginning to f eel his body getting

st ronger and not iced that hed already gained 15 pounds. Finally, he was becoming a powerlif ter, but he knew

he had a long road ahead of him.

The Program

It had been four months since Jonathans f irst visit to Toms gym. He was beginning to become part o f the

crew and was eager to get on t he same program as the rest o f the guys. His body was now much bigger and

st ronger than the f irst day hed walked into t he garage. He knew he was ready f or t he intense training hed

been watching over the past several months.

Over breakfast one Saturday, Tom reviewed how the program worked.

How are we going to get you st rong, kid? Tom asked.

I guess by following the program youre going to give me, right? Jonathan said.

Tom explained that a s et program isnt a bad thing, but t o reach the higher levels Jonathan would have to lear

how to come up with his own program. The number one secret all top lif ters know is that the best program f or

them is the one they come up with, not the program someone hands to t hem on a piece of paper.

You see, to be the best you have to also be the best at figuring out what works for you. You have to be able

to f ind and f ix your weaknesses while always keeping your eyes on the higher goal, Tom explained.


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But how do I know what my weak points are? Jonathan said.

Tom laughed as he dug into his mountain of f oo d. Your weak point right now is you dont know how to

discover your weak points! So tell me, where would you like to be f ive years f rom now?

Jonathan thought f or a moment and replied that hed like to have his Elite status in the sport o f powerlif ting.

Okay, Tom said, At what weight class? What will your specif ic lif ts have to be? Lets s et some long range

goals.

They put together a plan that would have Jonathan lift ing in the 275-pound weight class (he was currently 245

with an 800 pound squat, 500 pound bench press, and 700 pound deadlif t. Jonathan felt great that he f inally

had goals to shoot f or, but he knew he had a very long way to go . Now, how to get there?

Tom explained that there would be two days per week for max ef f ort work and two days per week fo r dynamic

ef f ort training. The template would look like this:

Monday Max effort squat and deadlift day

Wednesday Max eff ort bench day

Friday Dynamic ef f ort squat day and deadlif t day

Saturday Dynamic eff ort bench day

The max ef f ort days are intended to make you s tronger, Tom said, while the dynamic ef f ort days are

designed to make you f aster. That s it, nothing f ancy. Strength plus speed equals new personal records.

Jonathan was then handed a series of articles t itled The Eight Keys and was to ld to read them f or the details

All he needed to know would be t here.

Jonathan showed up to the gym on Monday f ired up about t he Eight Keys article and wanted to s tart with th

chains and bands. Tom turned to Jonathan and asked one very simple question:

Can you compute the gravitational f orce exerted on a mass of two pounds located f ive f eet above the cente

of a circular disk with a radius of ten f eet and mass o f three pounds per unit o f area?

Jonathan looked at him like hed lost his mind. What does this have to do with training? he thought. Tom wen

on t o explain that you cant understand calculus without f irst understanding basic math. The same is t rue with

st rength training. No need for chains and bands until you get the basics down f irst.

But dont I have to use chains and bands to get strong? Jonathon asked.

No, Tom replied, You have to get s trong to use chains and bands! Chains and bands arent the program;

theyre only a function o f the program. You f irst must understand the program. The f irst thing for you is to

build a strong base of st rength to the point where you can get on a platf orm and display it.

Okay, said Jonathon. I get it.

Good. Now lets talk about the methods thatll make up your program in basic terms youll understand.

The Method to the Madness

To explain the dynamic ef f ort method, Tom asked Jonathan to jump onto a small box. Jonathan did this with n

problem. Next, Tom asked that he repeat the jump again but this time he had to jump in slow motion. It didnt
http://articles.elitefts.com/training-articles/efs-classic-the-eight-keys-a-complete-guide-to-maximal-strength-development/http://


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take Jonathan long to learn this was impossible to do.

That s right, Tom said. You go tta have speed to generate f orce. The good news is this is a component that

can be trained. This is what the dynamic ef f ort method is for.

They moved on to what Tom called the max ef f ort method. He set up a 50-inch box and asked Jonathan to

ump onto it. Jonathan looked conf used.

I need to be f aster to get up there, Jonathan said.

No, f or you to get way up there youll have to get st ronger. We can make you very fast but as long as your

strength stays the same youll only improve your current strength level. Let me explain it this way: you may be

st rong enough to jump to 21 but now are only fast enough f or 18 inches. Speed will help you get to 21 but to

go higher your st rength will have to increase. This is where the max eff ort method comes in. See, theres a

need for both speed and strength to be developed at the same time.

Jonathans max ef f ort work consisted of the f ollowing movements:

1. Good mornings with various bars (cambered, buf f alo and safety squat).

2. Low box squats with various bars.

3. Various deadlif ts : standing on mats , pin pull and of f -t he-f loor.

Jonathans dynamic squat wave was set up in three-week cycles. He also used a box squat set at parallel for

all sets:

Week one: 8 sets o f 2 reps with 50%

Week two: 8 sets of 2 reps with 55%

Week three: 8 sets o f 2 reps with 60%

On all the days where he felt good and the speed was on, Jonathan did a few extra sets af ter the f irst eight

sets and added weight on each one. These were never taken to f ailure, but were heavy enough to get a goo d

f eel fo r where his strength base was. After the three weeks the cycle was repeated.

Jonathans dynamic bench wave was set on a f lat cycle using 50% f or eight sets of three reps. On all the days

where he felt goo d and the speed was on, Jonathan did a f ew extra sets, same rules as above.

Leave Jonathan at Home

Af ter some time, Jonathan began t o underst and the importance o f speed and strengt h but needed to know

more. He had to know what to do af ter the main exercise o f the day. He remembered Tom telling him about theweaknesses several of the lif ters had and what they were doing with their accessory work to overcome them.

The problem was, he had no idea what his weaknesses were and had no way to f ind out how to f ix them. All h

knew was that he was s till much weaker than everyone else, so he f igured everything was weak and he neede

to do everything . He was totally los t.

Later that day they were all doing low box squats with the cambered bar. Jonathan was f ired up fo r this as it

would be the first time he was doing a max effort movement for a second rotation. His max effort movement

was set up to ro tate every three weeks and would later come down to every week like the rest o f the guys.

The objective of his f irst week was to get used to the movement f or sets o f three reps. The second weeks


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objective was t o set a one rep max while the third was a balls t o the wall st rain lif t. He accomplished a 275

max during his f irst ro tat ion with the cambered bar and was geared up to break this record. His warm-ups wen

well as he completed three reps with the bar and then 95, 135, 185, and 225 pounds. He then dropped to

singles and completed the f ollowing sets with 245, 265 and then a record at 285 pounds!

He was jacked up about this and was ready to quit f or the day when he heard the loud s lam of a 45 plate on

the bar. He was called to the bar and not iced three 45s on each side. The crew shouted, Youre up!

Jonathan f elt the adrenaline running through his veins and rage beginning to build up inside. As he approached

the bar he heard the batt le cries f rom the crew:

Get this bitch!

You go t it!

Get ya some!

Kill this mother!

Get t ight!

and Come on, J!

He lif ted the bar out o f the rack and f elt the load bearing down. As he sat to t he box the rage kept building. He

paused fo r one second and began to stand up. He lef t the box f ast and at the mid-point began to stall. Up,

Up, Up! and Head up! is all he heard. He pushed with all he had and the bar kept moving. He f elt the pressure

building in his head. His back, legs, and torso f elt incredibly strained, but he pushed on.

When he racked the bar he opened his eyes to s ee silver lights f loat ing around. He f irst t hought it was chalk i

the air but then realized it looked more like glitter. Then he realized he was seeing stars f or t he f irst t ime in his

lif e. He turned to Tom with bloodshot eyes and a huge grin on his f ace and said simply, Holy cow.

Welcome to the world of powerlif ting, Tom said. Today you became J and Jonathan is a thing of the past .From now on leave Jonathan at home and bring J to the gym every workout. Hes t he one wholl take you whe

you want to go . Jonathan was no longer a guy who worked out. He was a lif ter.

Af ter the max, J was pret ty messed up the rest of the day and could only manage to do some glute ham raise

and ab work. He asked how he was supposed to do all the other work f or t he day. Tom to ld him he was done

and that he had to learn to listen t o his body.

So what are my weak points? J asked.

Tom explained to J that weak point t raining was a very advanced concept and that he just needed to f ocus on

bringing up the basics f or now. For the squat and deadlif t t hese included training f or t he hamstrings, lowerback, and abs. The bench press movements should target the triceps, delts , and lats .

This may seem very simple, but just do t he basics and your lif ts will jump, Tom said. As time went o n, Tom

would teach him that the best way to f ind weak points was to look at where the lif ts break down during max

ef f ort lif ts . With T he Eight Keys Part III and the crews help, hed be able to bring up these weak points and his

lif ts would go through the roo f .

The Payback

J kept t raining and breaking records with the crew for t he next two years. With newf ound mot ivation and


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determination, he went back to schoo l to become a strength coach. He could no longer train with t he crew as

the university of his choice was hours away from home, but he kept t raining and entering local powerlif ting

meets f or t he next f ive years while he earned his degree.

Due to his hard work in the gym and classroom, J was then of f ered an assistant st rength and conditioning

coach pos ition and over the next six years worked his way up to being the head strength and conditioning

coach. The methods he learned from the crew have been the core o f his training programs and the results

were amazing. J would call Tom from time to time for the first few years after he left, but then lost touch with

him and the crew.

Tom, now ret ired f rom competition, has moved the gym from his garage to a small private t raining center. His

center has been producing great lif ters f or t he past eleven years. Toms main goal with all his lift ers was to

help them achieve their elite status, hoping theyd pass on what theyd learned to the next generation o f lif ter

His crew was now gearing up f or the Nationals. Tom remembered the last t ime the Nationals were in his

hometown twelve years ago. This was one of the best competitive days of his life, the day hed set the

f ederation world record f or t he 275 class.

The Nationals were a great meet f or Toms crew and, with no lif ters in the last round, he found himself relaxin

in the back row watching the deadlif ts . The f irst round of guys t ook their opening attempts and the f inal lift er

opener was 100 pounds over the next guy. He didnt know the lif ter s name but the guy was jacked and had

perf ect f orm.

The loud speaker crackled, The next attempt will be f or a new 275 pound class world record!

The crowd stood and Tom could f eel the adrenaline building up inside him. Sure, his record was at risk, but thi

was what people train their entire lives f or. Through the chalk and dust emerged the jacked lift er. He had a

look of determination and a thousand yard stare that only another powerlif ter could understand. As he chalke

his hands and made his way top to bar, Tom could hear the lift ers helpers shouting words of encouragement

Back tight!

Tight grip!

Shoulders back!

Get some!

.and Come on, J!

That last one hit Tom like a ton of bricks. He was taken back twelve years ago where he f irst met Jonathan at

this very meet. Tom looked very close at the lif ter as he approached the bar and realized that this was the

same kid hed helped bring into the s port so many years back. Now, the kid was here and go ing af ter his

record. Tom jumped up onto his chair so he didnt miss a thing.

J grabbed the bar and began to pull. Veins began popping out all over his f rame. The weight rocked of f the

f loor and began to stall right above his knees. The crowd was going nuts and everyone was now on their

chairs. J kept pulling with everything he had. This was exactly what he go t into the sport f or.

The barbell kept moving inch by inch until he stoo d at lockout with t he huge load in his hands. Down! the hea

udge shouted. J held the bar f or a f ew extra seconds to savor t he moment. Hed f inally realized one of his

longtime dreams!

Tom had to make his way back to the warm-up room to congratulate J f or t he awesome lif t. As he approached


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Tom noticed a young novice lif ter s peaking with J.

Sir, that was a great pull, said the kid. I didnt do so well myself . This was my f irst meet and I really dont kno

what Im doing yet.

J loo ked the kid up and down and took out a piece of paper and handed it to him.

My names J and this is my direct phone number. Give me a call anytime and Ill help you set up a program for

your next meet.

The kid thanked him and walked away with a look o f hope and excitement in his eyes. One of the o ther lif ters

looked at J and said, That was smart. Now that kid will be calling you everyday.

J looked at the lif ter. I hope so. Someone too k the t ime to help me once. Its what makes powerlif ting such a

great sport.

Tom heard the whole thing and recognized this f or what it was: the greates t gif t hes ever been given. J had

become a champion powerlif ter and had learned more along the way than just how to bring up his weak points

Tom made his way over. You st ill pulling that sled around every day, J?

J looked up and his mouth f ell open. Tom! Its great to see you, man, its been a long t ime! Ive been wanting t

get in touch with you again fo r years to thank you for what all you did f or me.

It was no big deal, Tom said.

Thats when J told Tom the story of how hed been at the end of his rope twelve years before, how hed quit

school and started sleeping all day and drinking and drugging all night.

You t oo k the t ime to help me out, J said. You gave me something to live f or. Training is great, but I also hav

a great job and family now. You and the crew were a big inf luence on my life and I can only hope to repay you

f or this someday.

Tom looked at J. Youve already paid me back more t han youll ever know.

And thats how a real powerlifter gets educated.

Your Turn

We would love to hear who, how and when you got involved in the sport.

What was your Education of a Powerlifter?

In two paragraphs or less share your journey at the very least take a moment to t hank those who

introduced you to the iron game.

Make sure to use your real email because we will hook up those who post the best stories.

articles.elitefts.com-the education of a powerlifter

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