Target Audience: Aspiring Powerlifters
“It takes a village” to have long-term success in powerlifting. One of my 5 P’s to success is Personnel. Although a wealth of information is just fingertips away on your smartphone or keyboard, having a critical eye watch you live is unequivocal. And with no shortage of online coaches on Instagram, no matter their knowledge and background, nothing beats being surrounded by a group of experienced lifters and hungry amateurs. Typically, there is one alpha in the group who is competing at a high level. Their job is to lead by example, inspire and pay forward feedback to newer lifters. Occasionally, there may be multiple top lifters which is highly infectious the rest of the team. In my never-ending pursuit to the summit, I surround myself by loyal, experienced and motivated lifters.
After graduating college in 2006 it was no accident I chose not to move away to purse a PT career somewhere warmer than Chicago. Chicagoland had powerlifters in abundance. A friend, Tom Jacobs, invited me to train in the basement of a former Bally’s. Here I met my first mentors, Pete Arroyo and Jason Patrick. Pete followed Conjugate, which I immediately cringed at. In fact, I almost quit the sport before I even got rolling. I disliked band tension and chains, probably because it wasn’t true resistance. Jason was freakishly strong and looking, having deep paraspinal thickness. The width of your lats suddenly was irrelevant. Pete taught me the mechanics of bench shirts. The crew wrapped me with TPX 5000s, which made me want to cry. I jumped in a ply for bench, squats and deads designed by Ernie Frantz. The material was no tighter than Under Armour. From the start we only competed in the APF. My numbers were 635, 373 and 584 at 181, AAPF. When our team moved to Jakked, I bought a custom double ply Titan bench shirt and moved my bench up to 473, and a Centurion Squat suit which moved my squat to 683.
One day some of the remaining old timers from the Frantz gym appeared at Jakked. This is where I met Jose Garcia and Rudy Rosales. When I met Jose, judging a book by its cover, I thought this guy may have been fairly strong at best. But when I saw him take 100 lb jumps on the squat up to 1000, and made each set look just as easy as the prior, I knew ‘strong’ did not have to look like Jason. He packed great technique, understood leverages, equipment and was seasoned. I saw him rip 585 raw on deads with no warmups. Most importantly, Jose was funnier than hell to have around. Mr. Overkill came up to me and asked, “What the hell are these,” as he inspected my loose Titan briefs. I told him, “These are called briefs,” not knowing Rudy sewed equipment lol. He also told me, “We train for meets, not gym PRs.” What a contrast to today, where every lift needs to be recorded and validated on IG. After he tightened my briefs, I only bought Overkill. After two years of training with Pete, I decided to follow the Frantz men back to the Aurora gym because my philosophy lined with their style of training.
First stepping into Frantz gym I knew I was at home, because there were two monolifts: one for 1000lb + squatters and one for not. The musty basement smell, torn paint, limestone on the wall and no natural sunlight slightly reminded me of MetroFlex in Arlington. Ernie Frantz shook hands with me. In awe I noticed his hands were twice the size of mine. I was arriving at the time of a long list of stronger, older powerlifters who paved the way for me were on their way out. The women were beasts, too. I recognized my place as a newb, but also wanted to fit in. That came earned by lifting heavy. By now I was wearing an Overkill bench shirt double ply and a canvas suit. The guys helped me propel into the 600’s off boards, and 925 in the squat. I trusted Barzeen Viziri having my back. My pull still lagged in the low 600’s. Two men that really guided me were Tom Carnaghi and Mike Goldman. Tom set me up for success by laying out attainable attempts in meets, whereas other lifters may have opened heavy. His approach helped me 1 finish a meet and 2 build confidence during the meet. He shared his failures so I wouldn’t repeat his history. Mike was a master knee wrapper, who could rack pull well over a G. He helped me understand how to approach my accessory days. Both men told me tales of “back in the day” which lit up my face. Both Tom and Mike have traveled across the country to handle me in meets and I remain close friends with Tom to this day. A phrase that sticks with me Mike told me once, “Turn off your doctor brain and just lift.”
Looking back, I could not have trained with a better group of gentlemen than the ones at Pro Gym in Oswego, IL in 2011. The reason is in May I ruptured both my ACL’s, requiring extensive rehab. These group of charming men were all around the same age, dropping inappropriate humor and jokes. We saved our seriousness for only our top lifts. In a time where I needed a laugh to deal with the mental anguish of rehab, Angelo, Dennis, Vince, Louis, Joe A and Joe R brought comedy shows. Shaking our hips to LMFAO on the deadlift platform did not quite mimic the style of training in Ernie’s basement but that’s okay. Deep inside, I think Tom and Mike enjoyed it. The nerves were (almost) null before meets because we couldn’t keep our hands off one another in the hotel room. After our training session, the Lilliebridges paraded into Pro with their crew. I don’t think there was a stronger gym than Pro Gym for two years.
My network of friendships continued to grow at Barbell Central in Aurora. There were transplants from ZenZen Barbell, Frantz’s, Pro (since Pro closed) and appearances from Westsiders, Michigan and Chicagoland. Corey Miceli set the deadlift platform in the middle of the gym, which I thought was original. After spending hours over years of lost sleep trying to figure out my lagging deadlift, I finally found a good combination of light poly briefs and original, closed strapped poly Frantz suit. I pulled my first 700, and moved my bench into the 6’s. People come into your life at the right time, and no doubt Corey Akers was one of them. Corey was crazy strong, like his cousin Huck Finn, but perfected my squat and pull. We became friends and remains one of the best handlers. He handled me in my “breakout” meet when I totalled 1000 kilos in 2018.
One morning the front doors of Barbell Central got locked, so the hub of lifters scattered to smaller, local gyms. I knew what it meant if I wanted to get stronger. Monster Garage in Waukegan, IL was 90 minutes away so that meant sacrificing more of my Sundays to make it happen. The “Wolfpack” crew trained in a garage, and welcomed an outsider like me in. For two years every other Sunday the Wolfpack, consisting of Shaun, Steve, Bill, Matt, Rich, Pat, Johhny, and Vinny all got behind me to bring my squat into the mid 9’s and my deadlift into the mid 7’s. I bought Mike Strom’s briefs. There were many miles combined with this group. Rich would load plates. Johhny would give me killer wraps. Steve would yell into my eardrum to fire me up. Having big Bill, Barzeen or Matt behind me lifted my confidence. Shaun wouldn’t sugar coat my depth or form. I loved being one of the smallest guys trying to keep pace with the bigger boys. Without their help it is unlikely I would have broken the 2200 lb barrier and placed well in the WPO. To this day these guys remain my iron brothers, especially Steve, since he has been on my treatment table a couple times!
My bench historically has taken off when I had a “bench night” on weekly basis. To revive my stagnant bench I supplemented my training at a veteran owned gym, Champions, with Dave and Peter on Tuesday evenings. Peter was young but demonstrated maturity and eagerness to get stronger. Dave, a veteran, allowed me to blast Disturbed or Stabbing Westward on my top sets. Lupe and Matt would pop in and provide extra spots so I didn’t crush my face with 7 plus on the bar. Peter’s strength took off. I won’t forget those summer nights with the doors open, chalk floating in the air like mist, Metallica blaring and weights dropping on the floor.
When Matt Minuth opened Barbell 413 in 2018 he created an atmosphere for equipped lifters from Team Overkill (Rudy revamped his line), ZenZen Barbell, Jakked and other surrounding areas. Once again, I found myself in the mix of old and new school powerlifters. By now I had created a name for myself and took charge in the leadership role. Every Sunday and Tuesday I would contribute my knowledge and training intensity. Our group gelled quickly through pain, goals and gay humor. Dave and Andrew had helped me in past meets, but now we spot, load and lift heavy together. They brought other strong lifters along, like James and Raji and Chuey, who have added lbs. of beef to their frame. So much in fact, that their significant others almost notice them lol. We navigate the gear, wrap knees, initiate loading the bar and push our bodies past normal boundaries. We lost a great teammate, Bama, during our time together at 413. His charisma will never be matched. Anthony and his wife, Kristy, provided food & an IV for me at the 2019 WPO. Shawn made the travel to the 2022 WPO. My deads and bench reached new levels on those testosterone filled Tuesday evenings. Sundays the bar was loaded promptly by 8:30 and we wasted no time getting to work, no matter the subarctic conditions outside. Since 2018 this group has followed me across states to handle me because they want to see me succeed. Our time at 413 concluded last year and we have since moved back to Jakked for a change of atmosphere, but the team hasn’t changed.
There are 3 main components that factor in finding the right gym: 1 the equipment available, 2 the atmosphere (price, ownership, upkeep), and 3 the members. I would argue number 3 is the most crucial. Finding a good team depends on your personal goals and what you are willing to sacrifice to be a part of one. There should be equal give and take. For me personally, I have sacrificed my Tuesday gym evenings since my family moved further away so I can spend more with the fam (see Achieving Balance Blog). During transitions between gyms and BS times of government lockdowns good teams stick together. When pro football players retire from the sport, they don’t miss the hard hits on Sundays. They will miss the locker room banter. It is no different than competitive lifters. We won’t miss the agonizing heavy weights crushing us, but we will miss the manslap across the back, “Let’s go mother f—-!”
