Grab your pre workout and turn up that volume.
It is time for a new episode of The Power Lifters Den with your
host Cam Smith. Hello everybody.
Welcome back to another episode of the Power Lifters Den.
I'm your host Cam Smith and today I wanted to bring on a
2000 LB Raw totaler at the 242 weight class.
Bobby want you to introduce yourself all.
Right. My name is Bobby Hume and I
trained out of Hell Bent Barbell in Bridgeport, CT.
Awesome. So I guess to start off, maybe
what kind of got you into powerlifting?
I know on open powerlifting, I'm not sure if I read this right or
if they just didn't have it updated, but looks like you
didn't start competing until you were about 30.
So I just wanted to hear more about your background.
So originally a girl that I trained well, we kind of, we
were both doing personal training.
And it's a girl that like we always bounced ideas off each
other. She messaged me one day and
she's like, hey, I'm doing a powerlifting meet.
I know it's not your thing. I was always like anti
powerlifting because what from what I knew about powerlifting
was just the big belly guys I was always into like being in
shape and being athletic. So that's what I saw.
So she messaged me and she's like, hey, I need a training
partner. I'm eight weeks out for my first
meet. I'm just looking for someone to
do it with or at least train with.
I said, you know what, just sign me up, Let's do it.
I knew nothing about it. I didn't train any differently.
Like I didn't train how you and I would train now.
Anything. No conjugate?
No. You know, there's nothing.
I guess 531 was the closest to what I was doing.
So we trained for eight weeks and we jumped in some random
local meet and we knew nothing about it.
We had some fun. And then like to me that I
thought that was it, You know, I had some fun, but I still had no
interest in it. And then fucking, you know,
Skiba harassed me for about, you know, two years on social media.
Kept saying, dude, you need to get into this.
You don't understand. You know, he saw potential there
and he just kept harassing me. And.
And one day I went down to hell, bent its original location.
Met up with him. We were benching together.
We both benched like 3-15. Then we were about to go up.
He throws on this shirt. Now.
I I never, I knew nothing about multiply.
Now at this point I'm probably 31 or something and I've never
seen multiply in my life. Dude throws on a shirt benches
like 550, and I'm like, what the fuck is happening?
You know what I mean? Like, and at the time, I'm just
like still like, trying to be Mr. Fitness.
Like, I cared more about ABS than anything else.
You know what I mean? And he throws that on And then
and then his boy comes in with a bag full of double cheeseburgers
and he's just handed them out to everyone.
So I'm just like, at that time in my life, I was like, this is
fucked up. Like, this is, this is not what
I'm into. So I like disappeared for like a
year or so. And then after harassing me
forever, he was like come down, do this push pull and just see
what's up. I went to a push pull that he he
ran. That was like an unsanction.
It was more like a cookout thing, real cool thing.
And I ended up doing well. At the push pull, I met his
father and then this guy also on Jay Picarillo who who runs the
CT Powerlifting Hall of Fame. And they were both there and
they were like, you know, who the hell are you?
And I was like, what do you mean?
He's like, they're like, you don't power lift And I'm like,
no. And they're like, you're
starting Monday. It was like a Saturday.
And and Mike's father, Skip was like, you're starting Monday.
I don't care if I have to pay for it.
And then that was like, that was just about three years ago.
That was 33 summers ago. So August of 2020 it was.
And that's when I really. That's when I started, like
actually powerlifting. Yeah.
And so when you started pilot, like I know you train clients as
well you do, you have your own personal training business if
that's something that you were doing beforehand, like were you
coaching any athletes for competing or are you just doing
like Gen. Pop relative fitness?
Not competing powerlifting wise. I had a lot of athletes.
As far as athletics go, like sports go, I I trained.
I was the strength and conditioning coach at West Haven
High School where I live, and I also had, you know, some high
school athletes, college athletes, stuff like that.
And then your normal Gen. Pop and like, you know, weight
loss clients, stuff like that. You know what I mean?
And then you know, after maybe two years of being in the
powerlifting scene on and off and then you know, getting
familiar with with Mike and learning from them and then
getting Westside certified and all that, then I started
probably two years ago really taking on powerlifting clients.
Yeah. So I guess one of my big
questions for you, I think I saw this on one of your story posts.
It was kind of like, why do you hang around, multiply guys but
compete raw all. Right.
So I never thought, and this has now changed, but I never thought
I would go multiply. I do see it coming in the
future. It's inevitable because I I like
the camaraderie of it. I like the team atmosphere.
I was a baseball and basketball player growing up all the way
to, you know, college. I was supposed to be, you know,
a baseball player in college, but I ended up dropping out.
But you know, I was always a team sport guy.
I love the team atmosphere. I love energy.
You've been to hell bent. You've seen the energy there.
You know it's like meet day every Sunday.
So, So you know, even though I train alone in a sense, you
know, being around those guys and seeing them, seeing, seeing
you guys coming and and and ten guys are in one monolith, like,
that shit is sick to me. You know what I mean?
Everyone's spotting and loading and helping, you know what I
mean? And you've seen it too, even
though you're a raw guy. Like it's inevitable at some
point you want to join into that, even just even just have
some fun, you know what I mean? I'm looking forward to I start
Meet Prep Monday, but I'm already looking forward to the
end of it, just so I can like jump in a random variation and
just be with everybody. You know what I mean?
So I just like that that team camaraderie, I've handled Mike
and a bunch of other multiply guys at at a lot of meets and
you see the same people and and everybody's pushing for
everybody. Even though it's a competition,
it's like, oh, you need briefs here, you need raps here, you
need everyone's friends, everyone's cool.
And then in the raw world it's it's kind of like you know,
knuckled up dog eat dog, you know, shady shit.
And it's, it's, it's like a soap opera, you know?
And now it's become kind of like WWE, like the online personas
are kind of. Corny to me and you know.
Yeah, for sure. I mean, like I said, I I'd
compete raw, obviously. But I I associate like most of
my training partners and people that I train with are equipped
people. And any of the people that I do
train with that are raw, that like talk shit on multiply.
I'm like, you just aren't around it.
You don't understand how more connected it is, how much more
shit you have to go through to like, be a part of it, and how
much you have to rely on others. That's what I mean.
The people, you just watch people pay their dues and and
the pecking order it comes in. You know, we get young guys in
there and Mike's like this is what you do.
You're going to come in, you're going to spot, you're going to
load, you're going to shut up, you're going to listen, you're
going to learn and everything flows.
And and you know from guys that have been in the game 30 years
to guys that have just been in the game, everyone's on the same
page, everyone's helping everybody.
It's just that the atmosphere and the camaraderie, and it is
so much better. You know, raw people tend to,
for the most part you know, stay to themselves and I'd much
rather lift with a group of guys and and and you don't have fun
with it, not just being there, you know, treating it like a job
all the time. Yeah.
So where do you, where do you think that whole like separation
come from? Do you think it's the the
reliance on multiply guys to need each other or just the kind
of I guess increase in like social media of raw lifting and
kind of just people doing that whole lone wolf bullshit?
Yeah. I mean, I've talked about this
before. I think it's a little bit of
both, you know, multiply, you obviously need help.
So, so they're going to have, they're forced in a way to
develop some sort of team, you know.
But at the same time, I don't think social media helps because
like you said, everyone's, you know, their version of
motivational post is I'm doing this shit by myself, for myself.
And I don't need nobody. And and it's really, you know, I
get what people are saying when they're in that mode.
Like I understand the whole like you versus you and this and
that. But I've always been the type, I
think because I was an athlete, if you want to get better, you
got to play better, you got to play against better, You know,
you want to be the best, you got to beat the best.
I I don't want the the whole reason I got to where I am is
even when I just started lifting, one of my friends was
just like a local, like in my town, like legend as far as
lifting goes. So I was like, I'm going to lift
with this dude and I'm going to chase him every day.
And I get buried by 200 fucking pounds every fucking day, you
know what I mean? He'd beat me in every variation
no matter what, but eventually I just chipped away, chipped away,
chipped away. I'm always looking for somebody
better to lift with so I can learn from them and try to keep
up, you know what I mean? My first day at Hell Bent, I
walk in, I'm nervous. Mike's like, you're going to
squat with this dude over here. So I'm looking at like, what's
his name? And he's like, oh, Chris Della 5
And I'm like, I don't know nothing about him.
Come to find out, he's like the best multiply lifter in the
fucking world. So now I'm I'm squatting with
him against bands and I end up with like 550 on the bar against
bands, and then he puts 1000 on the bar and I'm like, what the
fuck is going on, you know? What I mean?
Super humbling. But then for the next six
months, it was me, him and Mike in the mono every Sunday.
And my goal was just to get a little bit closer to them every
fucking week. Even if I was wrong, You know
what I mean? And not use that as an excuse
and not be like, oh, it's because you have briefed.
Oh, you could. It's just no.
I'm just doing my best to keep up and learn.
You know what I mean? And I think, I think we can, We
can both learn from each other. As far as multiply and raw go,
there's there's things that we could pass to each other.
And I've never taken anybody I've come across in powerlifting
for granted, whether they've been in the game one day or 100
years, you know, I I feel like everybody can learn from
everyone a little bit. And I think that's kind of
what's pushed me along because I know how to just kind of shut up
and listen. I like to learn.
I learn every fucking day, you know, And I just, I don't think
a lot of raw guys for whatever reason, going back to what you
said, for whatever reason, they they already think they have it
all figured out. So that's kind of the reason
I've sat with a lot of people and they asked for tips and then
when you give them to them, they don't want it to, you know, if
it's not, if it's against what they believe in, they don't want
to hear it. I mean, I mean, I've learned,
like you said, I've learned so much from Rupo and like anyone
in the multiply game that there's just so many small
things. And especially with multiply,
when you have to be so like detail oriented and intricate,
they pick up on things that you might not ever notice raw
because you're just lifting the weight.
For sure, For sure. I mean, and raw, I talked about
this the other day with someone there.
There's a There's a time you know where you can muscle
weights up. You know what I mean?
And in multiply, you can't really do that.
You have a very much smaller margin for error.
So what I was saying is like the intricacies inside multiply raw
lifters don't understand. There's just a small margin for
error that they have, you know what I mean?
So I think there's plenty of raw guys I've talked to that think,
oh, we'll just throw these things on and we'll add £300 to
each lift. And it's just, it's not like
that, man, because I've put on a bench shirt once, I've put on
briefs. Once I put on briefs and
squatted the same thing, I squat raw, you know what I mean?
So I wish it was as easy as people think it is, but it's
it's it's very different and it's a different sport.
You know what I mean? But I think, I think more people
have to appreciate what it is. So that's why I tend to
gravitate towards that. I'm I'm intrigued by it now and
I just, I I love that whole team aspect, you know what I mean?
For me, I don't know if someone told me this or I came up with
it on my own, but I I say like raw versus multiply is like prod
jump versus pole vaulting. Like it's it's still a jumping
sport, but you're using a tool for one.
Obviously you're not going to compare someone's prod jump to
someone's pole vault because obviously the pole vault is
going to be higher, but that's why you're not competing against
that person. Yeah, that's a good point.
That's a good point. I like that.
But more to you, I guess. You said you're starting prep
soon. What?
What do you got coming up? So I'm going to do the Ghost
Clash pro day April 7th down in Miami.
It's Ghost Clash 3, and that'll be my first meet since last
year's ghost class. So I think last year's was in
February, this one's April. So it's been a it's been a good
while. I was.
I was signed up for the American Pro this year, and I ended up
backing out because I just didn't feel like I had the time
to dedicate myself to a prep the way I'd like to because I coach
high school baseball and stuff. So I was in high school baseball
season and I just knew I couldn't give it.
Like, I I want to bring the best product I can to the platform.
I don't want to go and say, yeah, I did it just to do it,
you know what I mean? So I knew I didn't have it might
kind of, you know, started talking to me about it and was
like, look, you know, this is your hardest time of the year to
to be in here. So why don't we call that and
try to sign up for something different?
And then like a month after I backed out of that, Ghost Clash
came up. So here we are.
Yeah. So what are what are some of
your biggest goals for this meet?
Just PR anyway I can. You know what I mean?
I had AI, had a bad run. I hit two Ki went to the first
American pro. I bombed out.
I came back to Ghost. I hit 1943, I think it was or
1941. I don't, I don't know the kilo
conversion. So I I just want to go out there
and if I hit 2001, I'll be fucking happy.
You know what I mean? I think I'm.
I think I'm on track for for a big meet, but well, I'm at a
point now where I realize I I don't want to be so dead set on
numbers. I just want to, you know, go out
there and and do better than the last time.
You know what I mean? I used to be so, so stuck on one
specific number that it fucked up a lot of meats.
It also fucked up a lot of training.
You know what I mean? I'd be so dead set on a number
going in that instead of taking a 5 LB PR I'd go till I missed.
And then next thing you know, your CNS is fried for a week and
then it fucks up a week of training and you know, so I'm
being a lot smarter this time around.
Yeah, that's actually something I've been kind of going through
recently too, is like I'm approaching the four O 5 bench
and like a 700 squat. So every time I'm doing training
or like with any sort of AR, I'm like it's got to be over 400 on
the bar. It's got to be over 700 for
squat. And it just like you said, it's
it's making the jumps fucked up because I'm overshooting because
I hit, I don't know, hit 375 to the three board.
I'm like, all right, we're going to go for four O 5 instead of
taking 385 and then 395. South exactly.
Exactly. And a couple people have told me
you know kid Andrew out of hell. Bent said to me like don't be
scared of a of a 5 LB plate. You know what I mean?
Not everything's quarters and and and plates quarter plate
quarter. We want it to be every jump to
be 1/4 or a plate. But he's like, you know, don't
be scared of that. And then and then, you know, I
got with Mike and and my coach, like, I consider Mike a coach
too from. He is a coach, obviously.
But I I use Ben Pauley. But Mike's like my second coach
and my handler and he's like, look, let's just focus on like
base hits. No more home runs.
Like, you know, let's, let's try to go a prep without missing.
Let's go back to your last prep or whatever time you hit that
last variation and let's just chip it or beat it by 5 lbs.
If you beat it by 5 lbs and it's like an RP7, then we might take
a second. But if I beat it by 5:00 and
it's a little grindy, I'm taking that win and I'm getting the
hell out of there. You know what I mean?
And then hopefully next time around I could go back and you
know, chip it again. But but I'm not, you know,
getting too greedy, you know. And also as we as we get older
and it then it takes longer to recover.
And I'm not very good at recovering to begin with because
I'm a terrible sleeper. But we got to take what we can
get and know how our body's going to react to it, especially
like a deadlift, right? Like a deadlift takes me fucking
forever to recover from. So.
So I I just take the small wins now and and hope for the best,
you know? For sure.
And I think taking a small wins is something that a lot of
people overlook because even if it's a 5 LB PR, you're still
making progress. So you got to, that's what I
mean, take the wins as they come.
For sure. And I I guess one of my big
questions for you as well as I for a 242, it's kind of rare to
see a £500 raw bench, if that's something that you've just
always been particularly good at or is there something that
you've been kind of using throughout your training that's
been like helping your bench out a lot?
So with that, I'd say a little bit of both.
I was always naturally a good bencher for whatever reason.
Like in high school I was a tiny, tiny kid and like my first
day ever benching, I think I benched 185 and everyone was
like, what the? Like, I had big kids on my
baseball team that were like, you know, I've been trying to
hit that for a year and I didn't lift at all.
And I just went in and like, hit it.
So like I've I've kind of been naturally a good venture, but
then it's something that I've been like very meticulous with,
you know, you know, picking apart my form, trying to do
every little thing, technically speaking, to get an extra 5, an
extra 5. Because once you get to a
certain point, you know how it is.
It's it's easier to gain pounds from technique changes than it
is strength once you get to a certain.
Point. You know what I mean.
So you know. I think it's a mixture of both.
I'm naturally, for whatever whatever reason, very explosive
off my chest and that helped. And then I had to pick apart all
the lockout stuff. Every miss I had would be
halfway up or more. So like I can, I can probably
get 600 off my chest. But then, you know, it's about
locking it out. So I had to drill triceps.
I had to drill the high boards. I had to drill bands, you know,
to get through all those little plateaus that I kept hitting
because all my all my misses tended to be lockout.
Misses, You know what I mean? So.
Yeah, a mixture of both, but something that you know, as it
gets heavy, like you know how much like you said, how many 242
guys are hitting that? How much can that body take
before you have to make all these little adjustments because
you can't gain that much more strength on it specifically?
You know what I mean? Without gaining size and then
that pushes me out of a weight class.
You know what I mean? Like dudes are like, when are
you going to hit 600? I don't see myself ever hitting
a 600 bench at 2:42. You know what I mean?
I I just don't. I think only one person's ever
done it at that weight class. So I I just don't.
And especially my frame I I'm a leaner 242 compared to a lot of
the guys that I see and compete against.
You know, a lot of them tend to be shorter and very stocky,
short arms, you know what I mean?
And they're more built for the bench.
I'm not necessarily built like a lifter.
I've just, like, chipped away, you know?
For me, a lot of the things that have been working for my bench
recently is the three boards and the two boards and a lot of
bands and chains at the top. But a lot, a lot of the lockout
work because like you said, my my chest is strong like, but
right off the chest, like 6 inches off the chest is right
where I stall out. And and I mean those, those
little things are the things you can't take for granted and
sometimes you may not want to do it.
Like every day we want to look at our program and see straight
bar, straight weight to the chest.
But you know, you may have to do waves of three block 3 board,
two board, heavy band on the top.
I've been doing pin presses, which I fucking despise, but
they've worked. You know what I mean?
You know, pin press right at that.
Like if that 6 inch point is your where you die out, pin
press from there. You know what I mean?
It's going to be fucking miserable for a while, but you
will see a change, you know? And that's what this shit is all
about. I mean, people want that instant
gratification and they don't realize that the process is the
part. You know, I I get new clients
that want to put £100 on each lift every year and and maybe
they can in their first year or their first two years.
But then it's like, you know, I I I went 18 months without a
squat PR, you know what I mean? And then just recently I hit a
30 LB squat PR and it was like I thought a fucking miracle
happened, you know what I mean? So people don't understand how
hard it really is when you get to certain levels, whatever that
level may be. I'm not saying my level.
I'm just saying for each person they have a different, I don't
want to say ceiling, but they're your plateau points, let's call
it, you know what I mean? And then you got to figure out
how the fuck you breakthrough it and you got to do whatever it.
But it might take a year to breakthrough, especially a bench
plateau. The bench moves the slowest.
So you know, it may, it may take forever to do that.
Like I don't, I don't know what happened, but my bench was at
like a plateau for like basically two years and I think
most of it was from football. Like I probably hurt my shoulder
at least twice a season and was gaining and losing 1520 lbs
every season. So that I think actually too.
Another thing is the the body weight to like bench strength
correlation is insane. Like you lose like 3 lbs
overnight and like I swear to God your bench dropped 10 lbs.
£10 off? Yeah, 10 lbs.
Right off your bench. Oh, I always know.
I weigh in Friday's before I go to the gym and Friday night I
bench and I could tell you when I step on the scale if it's
going to be a good or bad night, you know what I mean?
And step one and I'm and I'm two 3 lbs under what I want to be.
I'm like, shit, it's going to be a grinder tonight, you know?
For sure. So what do you what do you
usually sit at in the? Offseason.
Right now I'm 250 on the dot. I've been trying to get up to
255. Two 50s where I've sat for my
last few meets. That's pretty much the heaviest
I've been once. Once I like refeed after weigh
insurance. I could get up to like 250-4255
for bed, but I float like a ton when I sleep.
Like I'll I'll wait. I'll go to bed 255 and wake up
to 40. Eight.
You know what I mean? Like, I lose a lot.
I've. I've always been.
What do they call it? Like a hard gainer, I guess.
So I want to put 5-6 more pounds back on because I know the, the
240 twos, especially the ones that go to ghost, they walk
around 270 sometimes, you know what I mean?
Big, big boys. So I want to get another five, 6
lbs of like steady weight on me that stays and sticks.
But it's fucking tough. It's tough, man.
It's a full time job to eat the way I need to eat and I'm not.
I don't have a huge appetite like I'm.
I'm struggling just to maintain the 250, you know, If I have one
bad day where I'm busy running around and I'm not like diligent
with meals, I'll wake up tomorrow, 2:46, and then I'm
like, fuck man, I got it right back, you know?
I'm the exact same way. Like this is probably the first
offseason that I'm actually like above 242.
Like before, I was chilling anywhere from 2:40 to 2:45, and
now I'm at like constantly sitting at like 252.
And I was like, just the strength gains alone just for
being that much heavier have been phenomenal.
Just by like fucking five, 6 lbs, right.
Yeah, I know. And that's.
And that's what's crazy. I mean, before last Ghost clash
or no, before the American Pro, I was like sitting at 240 all
the time and people were like, well, that's where the two 20s
sit at. So why don't you just cut down
to 220? But I didn't want to.
I've never made a cut bigger than like 8-9 pounds.
Yeah and and I never really wanted to because I know how
strenuous it is on the body and and you know if you don't hit it
just right and then re comp just right you can be weak as hell
that next day. But I'm at the point now and I
have enough, you know, good people with good education on
this stuff on my side where I can, I want to try to push it
and you know, the 255 or high 250 range and see what I can do
when I water cut and then refeed.
Yeah, so with the the upcoming meet, who are some of the the
competition that you'll be facing, some of the big names in
the 240 Twos? Oh man, 242.
They haven't released the official roster yet.
I'm not 100% sure. As far as the 240 twos go, I
know. Oh, what's that guy's name?
He had a good year last year. He's a Canadian lifter.
It'll come to me in a minute, but I know like Hussam is is in
retirement right now. He was a big 242 guy.
Carlos Reyes is competing in February locally.
So like, I know a good group of 242 is from last year.
I don't know if they're going or not.
I haven't talked to a lot of them yet.
I tend to the guys I talk to more out of my weight class for
whatever reason. There's no reason behind it.
It's just that's just what it is.
But like, I know, you know, hacks, obviously going to be
there doing his thing. I think he's going to go 220,
which would be interesting because he won't make the big
cut anymore. I think Chad Penson's doing it.
And Chad Pence, Penson mentioned 240 twos.
I don't know if he's going to go there yet, but I know he's tired
of cutting to 2:20, so he might be a 242 guy and at that point
he'd be a top dog. I don't know if Derek
thistleweight death grip Derek he might be doing it.
I I got to see the the roster before I could pick.
I just 242 is so stacked. I all those guys I named they
could all back out and it's still a stacked class you know
what I mean. I think, I think two 20s and 240
twos raw is the best. Are the best classes in all of.
Powerlifting, I totally agree. I think just the the sheer
amount of strength that you can get at that size and still be
like a lean bodied freak is like because I was even down at
Baines Barbell Club. They just opened last year in
Utica and there was some 240 twos there.
I'm like, fuck, I have to compete against these guys like.
I'm like, oh, that kid RJ Butcher.
Yeah, yeah, RJ and this other kid.
His last name was Stewart, but totaling like 21 hundred 2000 /
2000 RAW. It's just at that weight class
is just fucking insane. And the and the kid RJ Butcher
looks like he could step on stage you know with an 8 week
cut he could be a a bodybuilder and that's how a lot of these
guys. Carlos Reyes looks like that
Chad Penson looks like that hack.
You know what I mean? Like he's got these guys are
fucking yoked and shredded and Jason Legrand will be doing
Ghost at 2:42. That's a good that's a good
that's a good competition of mine.
I'm trying to get my good friend Ronnell Leftwich to do it but I
think he's doing something local in Georgia.
But he's he won 242 at the at the first American pro, he
totaled like 2111 or something. And he does and he doesn't go
spoken about enough in that in that class because he's not a
big social media guy. He's kind of quiet.
He's been he's been branding his social media a little bit
because now he's training people.
But he's not like a big persona in the game.
But he's quietly, you know, squats over 8, pulls over 8,
benches over 5, you know, and just just just quietly fucking
does it. And nobody talks about it.
And I'm like, it's just crazy. Yeah.
So I guess that's a good little segue into becoming like a
powerlifting coach. So obviously there's a lot of,
like, for me personally, like I I do coach athletes and I I
don't have like the greatest total, but I am more surrounded
with people and take a lot of knowledge from the people I
learn. But I see some of these, like,
kids that are my age coaching people and I'm like, do I look
like this to them? Because it's fucking horrible to
watch. So I want to hear your opinion
on that. On on what I think of you, like
you coaching or just in general? Just just younger people
coaching and just people that aren't like, up there.
So, so my take. I've been open about my take,
but there's never enough time or space on like an Instagram story
to save my whole piece. So this is good.
You bought this up because I've made comments about like a big
total should be part of coaching and that that's not necessarily
all. I mean, but I think a big total
comes with a unless you're completely gifted like this kid
Trey, I train who he's only competed twice and he went 2000
and then 2100. He's a fucking freak.
You know what I mean? And he doesn't know anything
about powerlifting. And he'll be the first to tell
you he doesn't know shit. You know what I mean?
He loves bodybuilding. He wanted to be a bodybuilder.
And I met him and I said bro, you're a power lifter.
Just give me. I said give me like 12 weeks to
work with you. If you don't like it, go back to
bodybuilding. And he's taken off since.
But aside from those flash in the pan.
Flash in the pan is a bad word. But aside from those freaks that
just pick it up right away I I even came up fast.
I guess you know what I mean. But but you these guys with the
big totals for the most part comes with years and years of.
Experience. You know what I mean.
And. I don't think there's anything
better to look for in a coach and powerlifting than
experience. And I I say that because, you
know, there's there's a million guys with a lot of book
knowledge that are coming straight out of college and then
they want to tell you how 700 lbs should feel on your back.
And they've never felt 400 lbs on their back.
You know what I mean? And.
And it's or or. But even if 400 is their full or
complete Max let's say or like how we said, you know their
their plateau point, you know, they don't even know what it's
like to just have like an eye busting grinder of a lift.
You know what I mean? Like these guys are.
It's more than just book smarts, you know what I mean?
I've met some guys that never even finished high school that
can break down lifting like you wouldn't believe.
You know what I mean? Or didn't go to college for
that, for bio mechanics or sports medicine or whatever it
may be. And I think that these are
things that you pick up through just years and years of
experience. One of the best guys at breaking
down a lift I've ever seen is Chris Delafrov.
And then you look and he's been competing since he was 17 and
now he's 35. You know what I mean?
That's just 18 years of hands on real experience and I don't
think if there's any amount of books that can teach you that.
It definitely helps as a guide and as an aid, but also in books
you learn that everything's one way, right?
You know what I mean? And the more you do this shit
and and you'll learn it as you continue to coach and I've
learned it a million times, your opinions eventually change on
things and you learn that everybody's completely different
and everyone's leverages are different.
There's no one way to squat, one way to bench and and the book
guys will tell you that this is how you squat and if you don't
do it that way, it's wrong. You know what I mean?
So I I just think you know the experience in the sport.
It does not necessarily with age.
You can be 20 years old but if you've been to handled and
coached and competed in a 20 meets total that's good
experience. If you've been around it and you
learn and you soak it up, there's some people that just go
to meets and just go to meets. But when I'm at a meet, I'm
soaking in everything. I'm watching how people are
wrapping knees. I'm wondering why they're doing
that. I'm asking questions.
You know, I I've never worn gear besides, like the couple times I
tried it. But I've handled multiply guys
because every Friday and every Sunday, I'm next to Mike saying,
well, why do you do it this way? Why do you do this?
What are you doing here? Show me that.
You know what I mean?
And that's just because I'm so eager to learn as much as I can,
because it'll help me both as a lifter and a coach and just a
training partner. You know what I mean like.
You know, when you come down, we shoot the shit.
You might teach me something, I might teach you something.
And that's just all experience stuff that books I don't think
could ever teach. You know what I mean?
And I think the the way Chris said it too is like nothing
beats time under the bar like just being like I So over the
course of this year now I've officially pretty much been a
handler, been a spotter, A loader, a judge.
So I've been around the sport a lot more and something I've
noticed like for the kids my age is, especially in USAPL, but
it's because collegiate in general.
That kind of was where collegiate athletes tend to go
towards. But I've noticed that all the
coaches around my age seem to just circle the same
information. That doesn't get them anywhere.
Yeah. So.
Well, that's what you know. A lot of them are what I call
regurgitators. Yeah, they hear something and
then they spew it back and they spew it back.
And it even goes with cues, right?
And now cues. I laugh when I hear all these
cues I hear at meets because cues aren't A1 size fits all
thing either. You know what I mean?
You hear everyone yelling. Like you know when someone picks
up a deadlift, they're all yelling like glutes or whatever.
But you don't know if that person's weakness is their
glutes or if they're miss time. If they're miss timing their
lockout because of their glutes, you're just screaming a random
cue. And and the best part, the
hardest part. I think about coaching and
cueing people just to find a cue that's going to stick with them.
I could tell you a cue five different ways.
You're only going to get one, the best for you.
I might tell the next person that same cue and they don't
understand it. You know what I mean?
Some people you got to, you know, pinch your ass like you're
trying not to shit yourself. Might be the best cue they ever
heard. You know what I mean?
Other people need it more technically sound, and it's just
it's figuring out what each lifter needs, how each lifter
translates what you're saying and puts things into action.
You know what I mean? Yeah, and kind of going with
that too. I think I saw this on your
story, the other two about like D loading, about how some of
these D loads are way too fucking heavy and you're like
why? Why are they getting programmed
such a Heavy D load when they're either in prep and they're D
loading through prep or they're in the offseason, They're not
taking a proper rest to actually peak?
Well that's that's what I'll never understand like and I I
won't call anyone out by name because I don't want to, you
know, it's not a beef thing or anything.
But like I saw a lifter and if he hears this he might under he
might see no, it's about him. But I saw a guy the other day
take a deadlift and it was very, very grindy and he wrote like
deload deadlift on it and it looks like ARP 9.
And I'm not kidding. And then I looked up his best
deadlift and then I did the math and it was like 87%.
And what in what world are we taking 87% as AD load?
Some people I know open around 8788% as our opening lift.
You know what I mean? Depending on what their
philosophy is on 2nd and 3rd attempts, someone usually people
open between like 8788 and 93% and then they push from there.
You know what? I mean it.
And I'm just like that. I'm looking at my plan and like
my D load is like 200 hamstring curls against the band.
You know, 200 quad extensions with 25 lbs, four sets of 20
incline dumbbells with. 50s You know what I mean?
Like. Just blood flow and active
recovery. Work.
You know what I mean? And you got these dudes doing
SPD days with 7580% as their D load, and then they're wondering
why they're not seeing the progress.
And it's like because you didn't really take a week off that that
wasn't even recovery work, MM Skiba posted the other day.
He wouldn't program anything over 65% for a deal, you know
what I mean? I'd go even lower than that,
probably. I would say, yeah, that's 60.
Five would be probably the actual absolute Max, but I
don't. When I deload my clients, I
don't give them any barbell work.
I don't want them touching a barbell that whole week.
It's bands. It's dumbbells.
You know, I If you're going to squat, it's going to be like a
goblet squat. If you're going to bench, it's
going to be like an incline, dumbbell, or you know, flat,
flat flies, something like that. You know what I mean?
PEC deck. And then you don't pull at all.
If you do anything in that motion, it's going to be like
light RDLS or you know, belt, squat hinges, something like
that. Like I'm not having anyone touch
a barbell on their deloading. Yeah, I usually do the same
thing, and I know some people if they do, it's like 50% like you
should not be. You should barely be breaking a
sweat. Like it should be like your
third warm up set if you were going to Max out that day like.
And and not only that, these guys that are doing these Heavy
D loads are the same ones that are doing SBD days, so they
should be less apartment to touch on a barbell.
You've done all, you've done all three lifts 3-4 times this week,
and now next week for your D load, you're still doing the
three movements. You're not really D loading.
Even if he took 70 or 60%, that's still not really
deloading because you should be getting away from the movement
completely. Yeah, like the meat and potatoes
of the movement, you know what I mean?
So I guess kind of more into not necessarily accessories but
different variations. What are some of your favorite
like specialty bars or like? Do you like bands or chains more
or what do you hate? All right, let me think about
this for a second. So we were laughing because I'm
like when it comes to powerlifting, I'm built like
backwards, like I'm what everybody doesn't like to do.
I love squatting with the SSB. Like like if I could make a
federation, I would compete SSB squat Buffalo bar bench and and
a stiff bar deadlift and everyone's like, what the fuck
is wrong with you? But like my Buffalo bench is
actually my Max is higher with the Buffalo bar than a straight
bar. Something about that deep
stretch I get more like, I don't know more give more stretch and
more pushback from it. But I like, I like Ari, like
chains. I like bands.
I prefer chains with squats. I probably prefer bands with
bench and deadlift. I I've never really.
I've only probably deadlifted against chains like three or
four times. I've used bands a lot though but
bands beat me the hell up with deadlifts.
But but they work. You know what I mean?
That's I've I've again just like my bench.
I'm very fast off the floor and I miss that lockout.
So that band work is is a necessity for me.
You know what I mean? That top end overload.
What? What do I hate?
I hate the camber bar. I hate benching with the multi
grip bar. The football bar, I hate
nothing. I I like all the pole variations
you do. Basically.
I I don't have any problem with any pole variations.
I mean I suck off of like blocks and I think, I think for the
most part, conventional people do.
You know what I mean? Blocks is great for sumo
pullers. They get to swing their Dick a
little bit but but conventional, I suck.
But yeah, I I I hate benching with the football bar.
I've grown to like benching with the axle bar a little bit more,
but I still don't like it that much.
But I hate camber bar squat, and that's about it.
I hate front squats. I don't think there's carryover
for power lifters. That's just my opinion though.
And I hate pause deadlifts and I've posted about this many
times. I don't.
I don't see a point. I I see what they're trying to
do. But as a lifter that that wants
to control speed and be fast and explosive, I don't want to be
slowed down because then it just puts it just it trains me.
It gives me the habit of getting in a bad position.
Yeah. So my my counterpoint to that
would be in terms of what about using it As for a sumo lifter
for the just breaking the floor and then going as like a wedge
as a way to practice their wedge.
Yeah, I guess. I guess that's more that's more
specific and that's you know what I never really thought
about it but I don't see as much of a problem with sumo pulling
and pausing. It's more a conventional thing
because sumo, you have to train. You have to train patients to
begin with and that and that's why I struggle so much.
When I was trying to train sumo, I was so used to being fast and
explosive. And then you took that away from
me and I'm like, Oh no, I don't got it.
And Mike's like it was it was leaving the floor.
You just have to give it time. And I'm like, no, no, I didn't
have it. You know what I mean?
Like I want all my lifts to be a Max of one second.
And if they're not, I'm, I'm, I'm out of there.
My coach was making fun of me for that because I had AI had a
lift Sunday. I squatted with reverse bands
and he told me to only work up to 725 and cut it.
And then I went into AD load this week.
I hit it and it looking back now, it was it was fine.
The lift was completely fine, but it wasn't as fast as I
thought it should be. And he's like dude, like he made
a post and he's like if Bobby doesn't if Bobby's lifts don't
move like a speed Rep, he's suicidal the next day.
You know what I mean? It's like I'm so used to just
every like I need everything to be like, so like if I have a
grindy lift, that's three seconds let's say to me it feels
like 12 seconds. I watch the video that, you know
what I mean. Like, it just feels, you know
how time slows down when you're under the bar.
You can have a whole conversation with yourself, you
know, so it feels like an eternity under the bar.
And then I'm like, damn, I can't.
I can't handle another jump. Yeah, and I noticed that
especially when you're doing movements with heavier AR, it's
like, it's so if you have like an RP, say your goal is RP8 that
day you'll hit something nobody do that felt like a fucking
nine. And then you'll watch it and
it'll be like, that could have been a 5.
It's better, but it's so like to say you're using bands on a
squat, like it feels fucking 10 times heavier at the top, so.
Oh yeah. I'm like, This is why you need
to record your shit, but not everyone needs to just record to
get an Instagram video. It's a.
Lot of the recording should be done to analyze, you know what I
mean? But it's funny you said that,
because also what I noticed with with AR is that that window from
like A7 to A10 comes a lot. It's a lot closer.
Like you may hit a lift at like an RP6 or seven, you'll be like,
all right, I'll jump up like 25 lbs and then next thing you know
you're out of 10. It's like, holy shit like that
AR gets heavy fast. Especially with bands, dude.
Yeah, it's like it almost like there's a certain weight
threshold that all of a sudden it's like, all right, this AR
turning on, you know what I mean?
Like it's not on until it hits a certain amount.
For sure, yeah. So you said you don't like the
camera bar, but you like the SSB.
That's like the complete opposite of me.
I I I think the Rackable Camry bar.
I think I like that bar better than a straight bar for squats.
Like really? I don't know.
Something about it just feels so natural.
But the SSB can go fucking die in a hole.
I think I just like the SSB because I'm good at it.
I mean it's it's miserable but like you know I see guys lose,
you know, Mike said, you know I lose about 100 to 200 lbs when I
use the SSBI took a wrapped, I took a wrapped SSB squad and hit
like 735 when my when my straight bar squat was 755.
You know what I mean? Which doesn't make sense, but I
I guess you know just that leverage for me maybe that upper
back, you know I I tend to cave and I think with the SSB you can
push against it with the back and here with a straight bar if
you cave, you cave. You know what I mean?
So like, I think it just works for the way I squat.
It's just beneficial to me. And then I always see a huge
carryover in my pole when I do a big SSB wave.
So I just, I think I like it more for the the benefits for me
personally than actually the motion of squatting with it.
You know what I mean? Yeah, so I because Kirby, I have
Kirby Goodrich as my coach and he this is like a running joke
that any time he programs SSB, I'm like, dude, I'm going to
fucking. Yeah, I see.
I see the memes. I'm like, I'm so sick of this,
but it's working. And like I've gotten much better
at it because my weak point is my upper back.
And like any time I miss a squat or anything, it's because my
back is. So I could see the application
for it. But I'm so fucking sick of that
bar. You see, you will see carryover.
It's just going to be miserable wave of drilling that bar, you
know what I mean? Yeah.
But I'm I'm excited to get in the prep.
I'm competing in April, so I'm hoping again try to aim towards
1700, trying to cross that mark and I think depending if I cross
1700, not the the meet later in the year that I'm going to do is
either going to be single ply or sleeves.
So we'll see. We'll see where it goes from
there. So you're going, you're going
wraps in April. Yeah, Nice, nice.
See. And that's in 1700s of still a
big total. I think that's where people get
messed up now because they see these 2000 LB totals and stuff.
But I made a post about it a week or two ago.
You know, there's been a lot more than maybe five years ago
or 10 years ago when 2000 was like the Holy Grail or whatever.
But they're still you know, so I I looked it up.
There's like 400 and something thousand people on open
powerlifting and they're still under 1002 thousand pound
totals, you know what I mean? So 17 and 1800s still.
I know a lot of good lifters that are in that range that I
consider good lifters. So that's nothing that, you
know, sneeze at. And I don't.
I don't, you know, there's been a lot of, again, due to the
influx of social media and and who's popular, there's been a
lot of like, oh, that ain't shit.
That ain't shit. That ain't shit.
But realistically, how many people are, you know, in the
grand scheme of things? Let's just say, like for the
average person that looks from the outside at powerlifting,
that's a big fucking. Number You know what I mean.
So. All right.
Well, I think we can kind of wrap things up here.
So I'll ask my question if if you could give a new powerlifter
or someone going into their first meet a word of advice,
what would that be? Going into their first meet, I
told someone this the other day. It's funny you asked that.
So the first meet I put, and we all probably didn't put so much
pressure on it, but the first meet is honestly probably the
best meet of your career if power.
If you want to make a powerlifting career, let's say.
Because that just sets. That just lays the the
groundwork, You know what I mean?
Everything's APR. That's when you realize gym
lifts no longer matter. You know what I mean?
Like, I don't care if you squatted 500 and bench 300 and
pulled 600 in the gym. Now you put it to the test and
if you only hit 8590% of that and the meet, that's what it is.
But that's what you now have to shoot for.
Those are your real numbers and those are the real percentages
you start building off of. You know what I mean?
And that's how you pick your percentages and go from there.
So I think people you know should put less pressure on
themselves for the first meet, have a little more fun.
Remember that. I hate saying it, but it's only
lifting, you know, because to people like you and I have
talked about it, the passion behind it, to me it's not only
lifting, but to that to the average person or most people,
it is only lifting. It's a hobby, sport or whatever.
But but you know, a lot, a lot of people like myself, like
yourself need this shit, you know what I mean?
But you know, have just have more fun, have fun with it, lay
the groundwork and then build from there.
And I think not that you want to add pressure to yourself, but I
think a little pressure is good, you know.
So start adding pressure each meet, you know what I mean?
Then that's when you, that's when you start saying I got to
beat this number, I got to beat that number.
But this one, you have no numbers to beat.
You just got to put the number. You just got to put it down.
You got to get one squat, one bench, one deadlift.
That's it. Obviously you don't want to go 3
for 9:00, but if it happens, if it happens, it fucking happens.
But this is the one where you go out there, you learn, you have
fun. You, you, you watch everybody.
You just take it all in. You just enjoy being there.
You enjoy the moment. You try to learn something and
you try to pass something on and then you just keep.
And that's the groundwork. And then from there, from there,
then you pressure yourself a little bit.
But the first one, have some fucking fun.
Enjoy it. Well, I want to thank you to
take the time for coming on. It was a good talk and of
course, I'm sure I'll see you around and then maybe we can hop
on yours on sometime.