RESCINDX DECEMBER 2012 by RescindX

Strength From The Shadows

7 View From The Bar 10 Morning Training 12 Importance of Mental Prep 13 Competition Training 17 Building a Fat Bench 20 Foam Rollers 24 Getting Toned? 30 2012 Last Chance Ottawa OPA 37 Fuelling the Machine 45 2012 CPF Provincials 53 Shockwave Therapy 58 John MacDonald - Machine? 70 Lance Lavallee Strongman

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74 Why do you lift? 76 British Columbia Fall Classic 77 Fat Attitude 78 Warm up, lift more 79 Iceland’s World Disabled Strongman 81 Chris Fudge Profile 83 Rich “Tiger” Singh Profile 84

2012 IPF World Masters

2012 Bavarian Strongman

101

Spotlight on Kevin Sedore

103

2012 Amherst Autumn Armageddon

Our first issue is now in the books. While there are so many incredible people to thank ,I am sure I would forget someone. Let us just offer a huge thank you, to all the organizations and federations, our advertisers, all the people that contributing with writing or just brainstorming but mostly to the Strength Athletes. This magazine is dedicated to you. Without any of you, none of us would be involved in this wonderful world of strength. If you have any ideas, criticism or you want to write an article for us. Drop us an email to sales@rescindx.ca. Same if you are interested in advertising. Strength From the Shadows, it is within all of us. Strength From The Shadows

Editorâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Corner It really is true when you put in the effort, the benefits come quickly and often. This could be referring to lifting heavy weights and objects or to your business practices. All of us at RescindX went all in this year. In order for us to brand ourselves correctly, we identified a particular niche in sports that truly appealed to us. We have met the most incredible people and dealt with the most incredible organizations and federations. And for 2013, that is only going to get more intense and much bigger and much more involved in the strength sports. We are also hoping to add arm wrestling to our coverage and sponsorship chances. If you are interested in helping write on any of a large variety of topics, please feel free to contact us at sales@rescindx.ca. We look forward to even more chances to sponsor and give exposure to the sports of powerlifting and strongman in the coming year. We thank you wholeheartedly for all the support and encouragement we have received from federations, athletes, fans and supporters. RescindX is becoming more well known due to all of you and we plan on giving back even more in 2013. Wishing all of you a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year and look forward to your feedback on the latest issue of the magazine. Bruce Millward President RescindX Apparel www.rescindx.ca

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every fibre of your being. Gather and direct all your strength in that moment of ‘inhale’.

My View From The Bar Sunday morning, one of the first of the Fall season and I sit here in the morning sunshine, looking out over a patchy sod field, noticing how the leaves on the tree in my backyard are just starting to turn colour or get those dried curly edges. Cue the sound of birds chirping and crickets humming. And I hate it!

Deep breaths. Rests. Pauses. How many times do we either take this all for granted in our everyday lives or fluff it off as phooey? If you read my last diatribe, you know that I have been going through an emotionally hurtful time. Haven’t we all? To get me through that, without totally deciding to get in my car and drive away as far as my Visa limit would take me, I rallied some friends, hired some mental coaches, bought a lot of books and every single one of them told me something I didn’t want to hear. Pushed me to do something I fought every step of the way.

This can only mean one thing. The beginning of the season of “stop and wait”. The season of ‘repose’, if I want to get all philosophical. The season of rest. And I accept ‘rest’ about as good as a bunch of cats being thrown in a bag!

Just breathe. Just pause. Feel the heaviness. Allow the pain. Welcome it. Sit with it. Accept it. Feel the ‘uncomfortable’ and then know that the only way to the other side, to really and truly get strong again, is to accept the time it takes to get past this. Past the season. Use the pause. I cannot tell you how much I Seasons. Cycles. In the wisdom of my 50 years, I’m despised doing this. No matter how many schools starting to see a pattern. Yeah, I’m a slow learner. you went to, how many degrees you have, how much When I first started any sort of physical training, on you think you know, this causes me pain. Mental, my quest to become “perfect” (as well as world domi- draining, exhausting, temper tantrum, I don’t want to nation), my coach made out my program in 5 week do it anymore - pain. segments with a built-in 6th week ‘rest’ week. There’s a rest? A break in this madness?? I knew this had to be a match made in heaven! I looked for- But - and there’s a big but - I’ve had a whole lot of pain from growing my muscles, strengthening my ward to this period of no lifts, no runs, no walks, no body, conditioning my so-called “aerobic capacity”. nothing but what Linda wanted to do.... long bubble I’ve had no trouble enjoying the stiffness that a ‘good’ baths, book a massage, evenings watching TV, leiworkout brings. I’ve bragged about how I can barely surely cooking meals. Cue the ‘spa music’. brush my teeth because my arms are toast from dips and close grip bench presses. How it’s a yoga pant However, the IDEA of rest and the reality of rest day because my legs are swollen from heavy deadwere two different birds! Two days in and I was lifts. How my ‘chesticles’ ache from sets of paused ‘sneaking’ in power walks, just for fun grabbing the bench work. barbell and doing curls for amrap, throwing the treadmill on incline just to see how much difference there And then it occurs to me.....There is strength in the was in how long it took my heart to explode into my pause. throat. I’m a fun girl like that. I felt so uncomfortable in the ‘rest’ that I fought it every step of the way. On seasons; off seasons; high carb days, low carb days, sprints, walks, de-load week, peak week. All Then, I come across this sport called Powerlifting and one of the demands of the sport is rest. Rest be- terms that the athletes inside us know, accept and tween sets, rest between lifting days. Deep breath in, honour. hold it - SQUAT! Deep breath in, fill your chest PUSH! Set your body, deep breath - LIFT!! Push back against that moment’s rest with all your might,

We’ve all had our backs on the bench, under the bar, pumping out reps. Got the rhythm, got the stroke, to

Strength From The Shadows

the chest or to the board. Smooth as silk baby! Add some weight. It presses down a bit harder. You tighten your body, adjust your set up, and plant your feet and push! Then along comes the pause rep. You knew it was coming. Just a matter of time before it had to be done...overcome...conquered. There’ is no getting around the pause. I remember the last competition I was at. My last bench attempt was a weight that I had never lifted before. I had benched a kilo or so under it, but had never managed to get that particular weight off my chest. I’m all set up, got the lift off, control the bar down to my chest... and wait for the command. Pause. Pause. I’m thinking, where has the judge gone? Lunch time? Pee break? Why is it that no one else’s pause seemed to take as long?? Is this not the story of my life??! Of course, it was only a matter of seconds, but I wasn’t strong enough to press it out. I accept that. My body knew what its limits were at that point in time. Since then, I have kept the analogy in my head that I NEED to train the pause - in whatever form it comes in. Feel the weight. Accept the burden. Revel in the re-set. Then, when the PRESS command comes, I will respond - body, mind and spirit - and it’s 3 white lights all the way!! So this time, my view is from under the bar and the lesson I’m learning to accept: There is strength in the pause. When is the last time you truly made time to pause?

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This is Ontario Strongman - home of the Ontario Strongman Association, and your Internet source for Strongman information in the Province of Ontario since 2003. Check out our Resources section for articles and workout spreadsheets. Although rapidly increasing in popularity, Strongman is a relatively new sport in Ontario. This site exists to promote the sport, provide training resources, advertise all levels of provincial competitions, spotlight the athletes, and to provide a tool to bring promoters, athletes and fans together.

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Morning Training: To Eat Or Not To Eat Kyle Grieve

Perhaps you have set your alarm earlier then you would like to get some grub in before you train. You did this believing that it is a prerequisite to eat before you train in the morning in order to reap the benefits of the anabolic (muscle building) window and stave off catabolism (muscle wasting). Maybe on your deadlift day you forgot to set your alarm and weren’t able to get breakfast in before training. “Well it looks like a wasted day of training,” you tell yourself…

stimulate the anabolic effect even more so than training in a fed state. This study used a mixture of carbohydrate, protein hydrolysate, and leucine. I wouldn’t worry much about the particulars of the amino acids or dosing, what does matter is that you get some sort of carbohydrate in after you train, as well as protein. Something incredibly simple might be a high carb sports drink with a couple scoops of protein mixed in or two separate beverages. So how can you use this information to help you get leaner and/or bigger and stronger? -

Have you ever felt uneasy after eating then maxing out on squats? Maybe you had to make a trip to the nearest garbage can? Train fasted. Strapped for time and don’t want to eat breakfast then digest before you train? Train fasted. Do you have zero appetite in the morning? Train fasted.

Lucky for us, we’ve got scientists in lab coats whose very job is researching these kinds of things. The emergence of research that’s been broken down by such names as Brad Pilon, Ori Hofmekler, and Martin Berkhan have allowed The important thing to understand is that you shouldn’t notice us to seek new methods to be lean, and still remain as any kind of decrease in performance, nor should you worry strong, or even stronger than we ever thought possible. about losing any hard earned muscle. Feel safe about training The main reason for proponents of eating before you train fasted. is this: carbohydrate depletion! The period of the fast is a whole different and largely reBasically, when we train we use mainly carbohydrates to searched topic. Unless you have researched a particular methfuel our exercise (yes fat is also heavily utilized depending od of fasting, don’t worry about the length of the fast. Eat on training duration and other factors). If we train hard your last meal of the night, and then either sip BCAA and have no carbohydrates in our muscles, liver, and cir(branched chain amino acid) beverage during your training, or culation it is hypothesized that our performance will deeat immediately following a training session. crease. Resources: On the other side of the coin, research shows that training Van Proeyen K, Szlufcik K, Nielens H, Ramaekers M, Hespel in a fasted state actually increases the bodies’ ability to P. “Beneficial metabolic adaptations due to endurance exerefficiently make glycogen (the storage form of carbohycise training in the fasted state.” J Appl Physiol. 110(1) drate). What this means is that if you want to train fast(2011) 236-45. Epub ed, you probably do not need to worry about a decrease in De Bock K, Derave W, Eijnde BO, Hesselink MK, Koninckx performance if you train in a fasted state. This is still an E, Rose AJ, Schrauwen P, Bonen A, Richter EA, Hespel P. individual thing as I’ve had clients who absolutely must “Effect of training in the fasted state on metabolic responses have carbohydrates before they train otherwise they notice during exercise with carbohydrate intake.” J Appl Physiol. a marked decrease in performance. 104(4) (2008):1045-55. Epub The beauty of the human body is its’ efficiency at storing energy. In the case of carbohydrates, our muscle and liver Louise Deldicque, Katrien De Bock, Michael Maris, Monique Ramaekers, Henri Nielens, Marc Francaux and Peter Hespel. is king. They both store glycogen for use at a later time. Whether you are hunting your next dinner or deadlifting a “Increased p70s6k phosphorylation during intake of a protein– PR, that glycogen will be waiting there for you until it carbohydrate drink following resistance exercise in the fasted get’s depleted. Fortunately, we can replenish whenever state.” EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF APPLIED PHYSIOLOwe want and still have stores to use at a later time. GY Another possible benefit of training fasted is the anabolic Volume 108, Number 4 (2010), 791-800. Epub rebound effect, which occurs when you eat after training. Simply put, when you eat after a fasted training bout, you

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How Important is Mental Prep? Written by Shantelle Szuch

From a psychological perspective, mental preparation is good for just about anything. Got an exam? You should probably prep. Got a job interview? You should probably prep. Got a tough conversation? You should probably prep. What about sport? Got a big event? Yes, you should probably prep. Now, what happens here though, people think “I go to the gym, I train, I practice so I am prepared.” In a physical sense, you definitely are. And, in a psychological sense, you have done much of the work that will benefit you. Rehearsing your events, lifts, etc in real life is critical to psychological preparation, but you can do more.

simply thought about the skill of shooting baskets were able to perform almost as well as the ones who had actually practiced! Richardson's study is now used to suggest that peak performance is obtained through 75% visualization and 25% physical practice. Neuroscientist Dr. Karl Pribram explains this for us through his research that shows visualizing an event activates the same neural networks and patterns as actually doing the event. Our brains are pretty powerful things!

So, now that I’ve convinced you to do this, how about I tell you how to do it?! Generally a quiet place where you’ll be left alone for awhile works best. Create an image in your head of how you perform the exercise. When I’m preparing for a meet, I run through a few lifts mentally – my squat opener, my 3rd squat (my goal number), my 3rd bench (goal) and my 3rd deadlift (goal). I rehearse these lifts executed perfectly. Sometimes my brain tricks me and makes me mess up – performance anxiety takes over for a second there. In these instances, I immediately reorient myself and get back to practicing correctly and then rehearse several times correctly. It’s like physical over correction for a movement done wrong, except this is mental over correction. I also imagine the setting, the Most athletes have heard of visualization, and this is one big part of mental preparation for sport. You want to cre- sounds, the smells, anything that can really put me in the moment. I imagine the feeling of my knees being ate a vision of what you want to have happen. This does wrapped, I rehearse the cues my brother/coach tells me for something important. It boosts confidence in a big way each lift, I imagine him and the things he hollers at me and it creates a reality in your brain where this happens. during the lift. I rehearse the commands and I allow myUsing powerlifting as an example, if I can’t see myself deadlifting 200 kg then even if I have the physical strength self to experience the feelings that accompany the lifts. to do it, I won’t be able to. The brain is THAT powerful. That leads me to one of the things that can be very benefiNow, if I visualize myself deadlifting 200 kg a hundred times a day and don’t have the physical strength to do it, I cial; imagining the emotion and feelings that accompany still won’t (the brain isn’t quite that powerful - ha!). But, the success. Emotion is incredibly powerful and when we connect a positive, powerful emotion to a success, we furlet’s put these two together and the likelihood that I will make that pull is much higher than if I never saw it as my ther increase our likelihood of success. So, when I rehearse my goal lifts for a meet, I imagine what it will feel reality. like to be successful. I imagine my own internal celebration and what it will feel like to walk off the platform havAlthough I cannot find the specific article and citation, Australian psychologist, Alan Richardson, used the skill of ing gotten that lift. I really let myself experience it! shooting baskets as a way of testing the effectiveness of visualization. A third of the test participants (group A) were told to practice their free throw technique twenty minutes per day, the second third (group B) were directed to spend twenty minutes per day visualizing but not actually attempting successful free throw attempts, and the third group (group C) were not allowed to either practice or visualize. At the end of the test period, the group’s skill levels were measured. Predictably, Group C did not improve at all, however, both groups A and B showed nearly the same degree of improvement. Essentially, people who

This sounds like it can take a very long time to do, and initially it might. But, it’s definitely worth it and as you get more rehearsed in doing this, it will get faster. I don’t necessarily visualize the entire meet all at once or even all 3 lifts at once. I might visualize my squats one day when I have 5 minutes. Then another time when I have 5 minutes I will practice another visualization. The more you can rehearse the lifts in your mind, the better, but always be sure to finish visualization with several successes and a content feeling. You still have to get your butt to the gym,

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Competition Nutrition Whitney Garrah

When you think about the sport of powerlifting, clean eating isn’t necessarily the first thing that comes to mind. But just because you’re getting on a stage in a singlet and not a bathing suit, doesn’t mean your nutrition shouldn’t be just as accurate as a body builder. In fact, how you eat is just as important as how you train and ultimately affects how much iron you can lift. Remember that a good nutrition program for any athlete is very important when it comes to performance. For powerlifters, nutrition is can sometimes be the weakest link, but with the right amount of dedication and coaching, think of it as your secret weapon.

about your nutrition program as your secret weapon to lifting more iron.

Whitney Garrah is the co-owner of Taylored Training Inc., Canada’s first Hybrid Gym, based out of Kingston, Ontario. While pursuing an honours degree in Sociology at Queen's University in Kingston, she was certified as a Fitness Instructor Specialist then Certified Personal Trainer and most recently as a Certified Fitness Nutrition Coach through the ISSA as well as being a Level 1 Precision Nutrition Coach. As a business owner, trainer and nutrition coach with over 10 years experience in the fitness industry, Whitney believes that we must always have fitness goals to motivate and challenge our mind and body. Our bodies are incredible machines that need to be pushed, challenged and well maintained.

For our powerlifting team, we carefully plan and track nutrition focusing on a macronutrient split of 30% carbohydrate, 40% protein and 30% fat. Perhaps lower in carbs www.eatcleanandtraindirty.ca than you might have thought, but in order to keep our www.tayloredtraining.ca team as lean as possible in their designated weight class, it is the most effective program. Our plan when it comes to our nutrition programming is to increase strength (aka lift as heavy as possible), decrease or maintain lower levels of body fat (more muscle, less fat) and ensure that proper nutrition protocols support the muscle recovery process (and also prevent nasty injuries). All calories come from foods in their most natural state. The majority of carbs come from fruit, vegetables, and some whole grains. For protein, we focus on animal proteins (beef, chicken, eggs…etc) and fat sources include nuts, seeds and oils. And yes, just in case you were afraid, bacon does make an appearance on our breakfast meal plan! In terms of supplementation with a 5-6 day a week training schedule, pre and post workout nutrition is key to daily training performance, increasing strength and allowing for muscle recovery. Our lifters use beta-alanine pre-workout, a BCAA supplement peri-workout and a large whey protein shake with fruit within the first 30 minutes post workout. They also supplement with a slow digesting casein protein about ½ hour before bedtime to ensure that muscle breakdown is prevented during their fasted state while sleeping. This snack is usually a cup of cottage cheese with some cinnamon or cocoa. The best advice I can give is to keep it simple, focus on foods in their most natural state, decrease foods you need to unwrap before eating (aka cut the junk food) and think Strength From The Shadows

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Calendar of Events Ontario Bench Press and ON 3-Lift Classic Champs. December 15-16, 2012, Belle River ON MD: Jerry Marentette - Ph: 519-727-6096 2012 Rhaea Stinn Last Chance Invitational December 29, 2012, Moose Jaw, SK MD's: Rhaea Stinn & Ryan Stinn Entry form in MS Word or Adobe PDF 2013 PEI Provincial Championships January 12, 2013, Souris, PEI MD's: Tom Nicholls, Larry Leblanc 902-687-1963 & Jason Mosher 902-367-7224 Entry form in MS Word or Adobe PDF 1 Optimyz Live Championship January 19, 2013, Halifax NS MD: Rob Snow Entry Form in MS Word or Adobe PDF QPF Provincial Classic Championship January 19, 2013, Jonquiere, Quebec, G7X 3K2 MD: JoÃ«l Boulianne, Tel.: (418) 290-7808 2013 Ontario Equipped Provincial Championships January 26 & 27, London, ON BCPA Winter Open February 10, Richmond Oval, Richmond BC Canadore College "Classic" Challenge March 16 2013m North Bay, ON

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Calendar of Events 2013 CPU Nationals March 18-23, 2013, Richmond BC MD: Joe Oliveira Website: www.cpunationals.ca/ - Facebook Page Belle River Open May 11, Belle River, ON Toronto Super Show May 31, Toronto, ON BCPA Provincials June 2013, location to be confirmed. BCPA Fall Classic November 2013, location to be confirmed. Info on Ontario Meets can be found on the OPA's website.

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believe that when it is used in the way we implemented it, it can help anyone build a much stronger bench press. There were several factors that we ensured were in place for our pin press with a fat bar. First, we set the pins as close to the lifter’s chest as our power rack would allow to avoid shortening the range as much as was possible. Second, we did the exercise off of pins instead of off the chest because we wanted to minimize the stretch reflex. The bar came to a dead stop each repetition and the lifter Building a Fat Bench would even sometimes wait several seconds between repeBy Michael Petrella titions. Any weight you can drive up and lockout from a dead stop is a weight that you will be able to lift in compeIn the early days of the STG Strength and Power powertition form. In fact, if you decide to add this to your own lifting team, I was working with a pair of young powerliftprogram, don’t be surprised when you need to lower the ers to help them get ready for a National powerlifting weight substantially at first. meet. Since the Worlds were too far away for them to travel to, the National meet was their largest meet that year. Third, we used a 3” fat bar. There are many reasons for Bo th lifters had a big this. The tracking that your body gets used to in the bench go al in mind: to go press is thrown out the window. Instead of relying on getov er 400 lbs in the ting the “groove” perfect every rep, you need to focus ben ch press at the more on the driving and muscular contractions. Done me et. One of the lifters properly this has an interesting effect on benching with a had accomplished this normal bar. Best lifts will always come with perfect form, just once before, while but the body now seems to be able to move outside the the other had not. Eight “groove” and still complete a good lift. It is almost like we eks away from the enlarging the sweet spot on a golf club driver - the ball can me et, we started 1-rep be hit outside of the middle of the club and still achieve a max training, as great straight shot. just like any sport, practicing the skill is necessary for you to succeed. In the case of powerlifting, this means perThe last factor to the fat bar pin press that we used was forming maximum lifts in competition form. that the athletes performed this exercise hard. Many powerlifters are afraid to take movements to failure because of As the competition grew near, we encountered a problem. the potential to burn out or fall into overtraining. The risk Both athletes had become too good at bench pressing. of this increases as you train harder, but I truly feel this is Now, before someone jumps all over this statement, let me the exercise you want to push the intensity on. With most explain – when each of the athletes setup properly, tracked bench pressing motions, you need to make sure you have a the bar properly, breathed properly and, in general, pervery good spotter, or, for the stronger lifters out there, sevformed a well-executed lift, both could easily go over 400 eral good spotters. However, this exercise can be done lbs. However, they had become so primed to this specific safely without anyone else present. When you hit failure, movement that if one factor was off just a little bit, 400 lbs you simply lower the bar onto the pins. This fact alone is was out of the question. For all the time we were spendone of the reasons fat bar pin pressing is so effective. To ing perfecting the lift, we had lost that brute strength that really increase stimulus, this is the perfect exercise for had got them there in the first place. rest-pause training. Also, as a bonus, using a thicker bar is an excellent teacher of how to hold on tight to the bar – I Naturally, we continued training the lift exactly how it wouldn’t try suicide grip with one of these. should be performed in competition, but we had to make some alterations to the accessory work to get their power So what were the results? The first lifter hit a 425 lb bench back. The exercise we came up with was pin pressing with press at the meet. At that point, this number represented a a fat bar. I do not believe this is an original idea, but I do new PR (and not just a competitive PR). The other lifter hit a 413 lb bench press. His previous best, which had Strength From The Shadows

been performed in a competition earlier that year, was a 385 lb bench press. The fat bar pin press was, of course, only part of the entire program used in their training, but I do feel it was an integral part. Also, in case anyone was wondering, both of these lifts were done raw and drug tested. Authorâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s note: Thick bars can be expensive to buy. An inexpensive solution would be to weld two fixed Olympic collars to a thick bar with a diameter of your choosing. An even cheaper option is to buy a pair of Fat Gripz and put them on the bar. I donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t feel this is as effective as having to press a real thick bar, but it is a substitute for a lifter on a budget.

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Foam Rollers – Do They Work? Justin Lewis I have seen many competitors using foam rollers during their training, as well as a precompetition routine. But do foam rollers actually do what they’re said to do? Do they improve your performance? There hasn’t been much research performed on the topic of foam rollers. There are two studies that have been performed1, but both contain basic research flaws. This however does not mean that the results are correct or wrong, but must be read with a grain of salt. Both studies discuss the need for further research into the topic on how using foam rolling for self myofascial release can aid in performance. So what are foam rollers supposed to do? A number of sellers of foam rollers claim that they are used to inhibit overactive muscles. Others claim that they are a way of performing self myofascial release. Another claim is to combat reciprocal inhibition. There are more claims, but let’s focus on these three for the sake of time. Let’s look at inhibiting overactive muscles and reciprocal inhibition together, as they are basically one in the same, depending on which muscle you us the foam roller on. The term reciprocal inhibition basically means when an agonist muscle contracts, the antagonist becomes inhibited and simultaneously relaxes. A simple example is when the quadriceps contracts, the hamstrings will relax, allowing the knee joint to be extended. If we were to use a foam roller to achieve this result, we should then be rolling the foam roller, not where we feel tight, but on the antagonist. Now we’re making sense. But have you really ever seen someone rolling out their hamstrings, so that their quads will decrease in tension? Maybe that’s an educational thing or bad advertising by the sellers of the foam rollers, or maybe a bit of both. How about inhibiting overactive muscles? If we use it on the proper muscle, we can achieve this by reciprocal inhibition, as shown above. Is there another way in ‘inhibit an overactive muscle’? Yes, but not with a foam roller. One way to cause inhibition of an overactive muscle is to treat the Golgi tendon organ. The Golgi tendon organ is a proprioceptive receptor that tells the muscle information regarding the amount of force and strain on the muscle itself. 1

MacDonald et al. Journal of Strength & Conditioning Research. 2012 May 10. Healey et al. Journal of Strength & Conditioning Research. 2011 March

The important part of information regarding the Golgi tendon organ is its location. It is located where the muscle fibres turn into the tendon of the muscle. So if we were to treat this using a foam roller, people would not be rolling the muscle belly itself, but where the muscle turns into tendon. Have you seen that being done before? Not very often. Usually you see someone rolling the entire length of the muscle, not just at the muscle-tendon junction. So what if we see someone rolling the entire length of a tight muscle? Chances are they are looking more for a myofascial release, then any type of inhibition. Now, we’re starting to make sense. Fascia is becoming one of the most popular structures to study. Daily we are learning more regarding its structure and function. Fascia envelops every muscle fibre, every muscle, groups of muscles and even swaths of the body in general – often referred to as trains. Think of wearing skinny jeans and trying to perform a set of squats. It’s not a problem with your muscles, joint, ligaments or tendons - it’s your jeans. Fascial restrictions can cause the same symptoms. They can restrict movements, restrict circulation and cause many changes in body mechanics. Release the restrictions in the fascia, and the movement returns to normal. Using a foam roller to achieve this type of release makes more sense. Now the issue becomes how effective it really is at achieving this. Which brings us back to the two studies completed regarding the increase in performance after using a foam roller. So, do foam rollers work? The answer seems to be a large ‘maybe’. First we have to pin down why we are using the roller. Secondly, we have to then use it appropriately to achieve the desired result. Thirdly, more – and better – studies are needed to prove the validity of the use of foam rollers. Then again, maybe it’s all just the placebo effect? Justin has been a massage therapist since 2002, having graduated from Centennial College’s Massage Therapy program, where he is now currently a part time faculty member. He practices out of Boomers Sports Medicine Clinic in Bowmanville, and its sister clinic Park Road Physiotherapy & Foot Clinic in Oshawa. He has been involved in Ontario Physique Association shows since 2004, and currently organises and leads the Massage Therapy Crew for the Toronto Pro SuperShow. He can be reached via email at justinlewisrmt@hotmail.com

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Athlètes de force du Québec (Quebec’s Strength Athletes) By Jean Frechette, AFQ owner Athlètes de force du Québec (Quebec’s Strength Athletes) was born on a freezing night of February 2010, the perfect night to stay inside, start a new website and earn geek points.

and still are, very generous, offering time and advice.

Once a French-Canadian site only, it is now bilingual. The website, as well as the Facebook page, is being written both in French and in English since more and For you to understand, I need to introduce myself. I am Jean Frechette, I am a more athletes from other provinces and countries come to get the results of the strength athlete and I live in a town in the province of Quebec. Everybody here competitions held in Québec. speaks French. I fell in love with the One can find the results, the athlete’s sport in 2008 and I wanted to know names, the records, the events and much where the competitions were taking more. place, where I could find the stuff and gear to practice this sport, who were the The site is fan oriented. The success of best athletes. AFQ relies on the participation of people. I receive scores, time of events and inforI have been doing research on strength athletes for a while, but the information mation from everywhere on a daily basis, making this site so up-to-date. in French was hard to find. There was only one website entirely dedicated to the sport in Québec. Sadly, it was neglected I’m really proud of working with the and lacked the passion. Being a geek and strength athletes and promoting this a strongman, I decided to put all the stuff sport. The AFQ is my way of contributing to the success of the sport. Visit the I could find about the sport online. I found that the pros were very interested site and the Facebook page! in helping this website grow. They were, Website Link Athletes de Force du Quebec Strength From The Shadows

Hey ladies, want to get “toned?” I will start by saying that the most common question that I hear from women when performing a personal training session is: “But won’t I get big and bulky from lifting heavy weights?”

(a) Perform any sort of muscle building exercises using your body weight or (heaven forbid) weights (b) Reach a low percent of body fat

For these two possibilities to become a reality there is a lot of hard work required. I am not going to lie. Lifting weights is hard work, perThat is the question that bugs me almost as forming cardio training at 100% effort is hard much as “what exercise can I do to get rid of work, and keeping a clean diet in check is also this?” while grabbing at their mid-section hard work. None of these are for the weakwith a look of disgust on their face. That minded. Results will not occur overnight eiquestion will take a whole separate article to ther. You must work hard, consistently, for a cover, so hold tight, I will try to get to it the long time. This is obviously why we don’t see next time. all kinds of wonderfully “toned” middle age Back to women women walking around like it’s nobody’s lifting weights. When women come in and say, “I want to get toned” this tells me that the individual would like to have some muscle definition, or what we like to refer to as an “athletic look”. That is what I am assuming because everyone has his or her own definition for this word “toned.” To have muscle definition, or an athletic physique, you must;

business.

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male body is capable of. For the average woman, the existing low levels of testosterone in our bodies will prevent us from building muscle like our manly counter-parts, and this also makes it tougher for us to maintain a lean physique. Heck, there are men who even have trouble putting muscle mass on their skinny frames. If a woman was to train as hard and heavy as the strongest man in the gym, chances For women to become bulky by lifting weights, are she still wouldn’t have the athletic phythey must want this to happen. By this I mean sique that she desired. Now, don’t let me discourage you. Let me enlighten you. By challenging yourself and lifting weights, you are putting out great effort and, in turn, burning loads of calories and building muscle at the same time. And as you may already know, muscle burns more calories when the body is at rest than our friend fat does. (Up to 50 to 100 calories more per day)

that they are taking a testosterone supplement to help them build muscle beyond what the fe-

Of course, there are obviously going to be the exceptions. Some women are lean and sport the athletic look without the help of regular exercise. Let’s not hold this against them. Yes, it would be nice to be able to sit on the couch and not be able to develop a muffin top or bat wings, but this isn’t a reality. Most of us have to do it the hard way. Exercising and lifting weights can actually be an enjoyable past time. The rewards of lifting weights and regular exercise are too many to be listed. The results of a sound, healthy body image are far more rewarding when you have worked your ass off in the gym to get them. Not everyone who is “thin” is healthy, and don’t ever forget that.

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Take any long-term personal training client at Ultimate Fitness and ask them if they enjoy their time with us. We use primarily free weights and body weight exercises in our sessions, and of course, a lot of hard work. Guaranteed our clients at some point will mention that it isn’t easy, but they will also tell you that they feel like they are in the best shape of their lives. Seriously, ask any one of them.

So, bottom line ladies, lift weights, get stronger, and don’t be afraid to put the men in the gym to shame. I take great pride in doing so myself, I won’t deny it. You know, it is self gratifying to be physically strong and not have to ask your partner to open the pickle jar for you. With some hard work, soon enough he will be asking you. Get your name up on that record board.

I am confident that they will tell you the same thing I did. With all of our clients, confidence Sarah levels are increased in all aspects of life, and there is always a personal record to beat in the gym. With this I mean any record that you have set for yourself individually, or maybe even putting up a number on one of our gymlift record boards. Having a record board with everyone’s best lifts provides a competitive edge that pushes people to try that much harder in whatever it is that they are doing, just to get their name displayed in front of all the other members. It is a great feeling to achieve.

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Ontario Powerlifting Association The OPA strives to be the standard in Ontario Powerlifting offering lifters the option of competing in both the Classic and Equipped divisionsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; three lift and bench press competitions throughout Ontario.

Annual OPA memberships provide lifters with Canadian Powerlifting Union (CPU) memberships allowing lifters to lift in OPA sanctioned powerlifting meets throughout Ontario. Competitions are open to both men and women in various age and weight categories.

Additional Information can be obtained from the OPA website at http://ontariopowerlifting.org or by sending an e-mail to: info@ontariopowerlifting.org

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LAST CHANCE OTTAWA OPEN 2012

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LAST CHANCE OTTAWA OPEN 2012

Strength From The Shadows

LAST CHANCE OTTAWA OPEN 2012

Strength From The Shadows

LAST CHANCE OTTAWA OPEN 2012

Strength From The Shadows

LAST CHANCE OTTAWA OPEN 2012

Strength From The Shadows

LAST CHANCE OTTAWA OPEN 2012

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FUELING YOUR MACHINE: IS THE PALEO DIET FOR YOU? Jill MacCallum Sproul

Paleo diet as we know it today is about 40 years old. Proponents of Paleo will describe it as a lifestyle more than a diet-and it is often called the “no-diet diet”. To explain this statement from an academic standpoint, “diet” as a noun is “the kinds of foods that a person, animal or community habitually eats”. However, today “diet” is more commonly used a verb- as in to “restrict oneself to small amounts or special kinds of foods in order to lose weight”. For the purposes of this article the word “diet” will be used in both senses but in using diet as a verb-I suspect the majority of the readers in this community are looking for performance-not weight loss. After all, this publication represents the strong, the powerful, and the big eaters of the general population! So what is the Paleo diet and where did it come from? It’s often referred to as the Cave Man diet, making us think it’s been around since pre-historic times and discussed at the paleolithic campfire amongst the women of the small band of paleolithic humans and passed down through generations... (oog oog meat...oog oog vegetables...!). Obviously, this is not the case! The diet of humans of this era consisted of whatever could be hunted or gathered, not one person of that era ever documented what they ate, how it was prepared, or what they were not allowed to eat. A diet of this era was about survival-not so much for weight loss or performance in the gym or in competition. So where do the rules come from for the “Paleo diet” as we know it today? It was first popularized in the mid 70s by gastroenterologist Walter L. Voegtlin. The nutritional

concept has evolved over the last 40 years and has been presented to mainstream population in various forms and guidelines have evolved as well. The common theory of all authors and researchers is that modern humans are genetically adapted to the diet of their paleolithic ancestors and that human genetics have not evolved much since the dawn of agriculture. (Agriculture marked the end of the Paleolithic era). Considering that illness and so called “lifestyle diseases” or “diseases of affluence” (such as type II diabetes, coronary disease, obesity, alcoholism, gout and some allergies) are on the rise the more society consumes processed and artificial foodsthe concept of Paleo makes perfect sense. The Paleo Diet is not just another fad diet with promises of “never count calories again-eat as much as you want-lose weight-build muscle”. There is a great deal of scientific support for the theory and for the strong, and the big lifters of society who are moving big weights multiple times a week, this diet is well suited for you! Food is the one of the most powerful components in your high performance formula. Without proper fuel your performance will suffer. Consider that a calorie is a unit of energy, all foods have calories, but not all foods provide equal potential for high performance. (Check out the Pit Stop to see how we process fuel!) So why does a Paleo diet suit the dietary needs of the strong and the most powerful members of society? Figuring out how to fuel your machine for optimal performance is the Holy Grail. If there was one formula that would work for every human on earth, that magic pill would be worth billions! Though there is not one diet that will be effective for everyone, I encourage you to read on and consider with an open mind how your machine might respond to fueling using Paleo guidelines.

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ü Eat fresh or frozen vegetables either cooked or raw and eat with fat. Some starchy vegetables are ok, like sweet potatoes are also great as a source of non-toxic carbohydrates. (In addition to the gluten found in wheat based carbohydrates, wheat based carbohydrates can contain toxins that pollute the body). ü Fruits and nuts are OK in moderation. Stick to lower glycemic index fruits, and nuts that are high in omegas. ü Meat is best if it is pasture-raised and grass-fed, purchased locally. ü Choose organic, local and/or seasonal fruits and vegetables. ü Cut out all cereal grains and legumes from your diet. This includes, but is not limited to, wheat, rye, barley, oats, corn, brown rice, soy, peanuts, kidney beans, pinto beans, navy beans and black eyed peas. ü Cut out all vegetable, hydrogenated and partly-hydrogenated oils including, but not limited to margarine, soybean oil, corn oil, Crisco, peanut oil, canola oil, safflower oil and sunflower oil. Olive oil and avocado oil are fine, but don’t cook with them, use them in salad dressings and to drizzle over prepared food. BASICS-NO CALORIE COUNTING: EAT WHEN YOU’RE HUNGRY, STOP WHEN YOU’RE FULL WHAT’S OUT? Eliminate sugar, soft drinks, all packaged products and juices (including fruit Strength From The Shadows

juices). Eliminate dairy products other than butter and heavy cream. It is important to ensure to get adequate sleep. Alcohol is also not part of a strict Paleo lifestyle. As a rule of thumb, if it’s in a box, don’t eat it. At the grocery store, visit only the meat, fish and produce sections. Say goodbye to sugar, candy, and alcohol for sure. Be prepared to eat and eat and eat! Think about beef and broccoli, huge omelets filled with vegetables, chicken and sweet potatoes! You can eat as much vegetables as you like and you will not get fat. What about energy? The body has multiple metabolic pathways to ensure it can always produce energy for basic body functions (breathing, brain function). When fat is the source of fuel, the body uses ketones as a source of fuel. Before there was agriculture, cavemen did not wheat based carbohydrates available, and using ketones as a fuel source is efficient, and effective. ARE YOU HUNGRY YET? Eating the right foods at the right times is also important. Post-training meal should include higher glycemic index foods such as sweet potatoes t to replace glycogen in the muscles quickly and efficiently and a protein to provide building blocks for your muscle repair. The foods you will be consuming all day will be nutrient dense high quality foods that will keep you filled up, and fuelled for performance. If you are concerned that you need your pasta, and your bread and sugar; that is a myth! You do not need wheat based carbohydrates. Vegetable carbohydrates 38

As with any diet plan, you will have to try it out for yourself and see how you react to it. In trying a new plan, it is important to be mindful of energy levels, strength in training and sustainability. You should never feel depleted or weak and the food preparation should be reasonable and affordable for your “real life” demands. And as with any diet plan... don’t forget to have a treat now and then! I personally recommend chocolate; because I am a firm believer that life is too short to deny yourself chocolate, 70% cocoa of course... for the health benefits! Author Bio: Jill MacCallum Sproul As a former competitive gymnast and coach and varsity soccer player, Jill is not new to the world of competitive sports, but Jil is now finding herself immersed in the world of powerlifting and fitness as a result of her commitment to a healthier lifestyle over 2 years ago. In the last 24 months Jill has turned around a life filled with start and stop fitness plans and an up and down weight gains of 10-30 pounds! She has survived a year of 6 am training at Fit camps, competed in a Figure model competition, a deadlift competition, a mini-triathlon, a 10 km and 6 km kayak relay race and a full powerlifting meet! Jill now considers herself an awesome mix of powerlifter and body builder, basically the ultimate gym bunny! Jill works full time outside the home as a Quality Manager for a vaccine manufacturing company, is mom to 2 busy athletic kids, and girlfriend/training partner to the non-stop powerlifting machine John MacDonald. Jil has a M. Sc. in protein biochemistry and this nerdier side of her comes out whenever looking into diet plans; she enjoys researching and figuring out the biochemistry and physiology of why or why not a plan might work! Jill trains 6 days a week with John out of Island Performance Elite training Center in Charlottetown, PEI. Recently Jill travelled to Puerto Rico with John for the IPF Men’s World Powerlifting Championships. Her passion for trying to get stronger, and constantly improve her physique while living a healthy lifestyle year round and not having any “off-season” mentality has driven her to pursue her personal trainer certification and to continue constantly research and evaluate new training and eating ideas! You can check out her Blog at http://jilconfitssional.blogspot.ca/

actively prevent lifestyle diseases and in doing so not place demands on our health care system.

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Raw and Equipped

Amateur and Pro

- First Raw federation in Canada- Wrist wraps and belt - Multi Ply Equipped Division Novice Friendly - All first time lifters succeed in their first meet - Judges educate lifters Lifter Friendly - Bench press pause is just that â&#x20AC;&#x201C; a pause - No Steamboats or Mississippiâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s - Squats must break parallel - Top of knee below crease of hip

- Amateur competitions feature random drug testing - Separate Records for Pro and Amateur - Pro and amateur meets are always separate Fun - Always loud music - Always people laughing - No Membership fees WPC/AWPC Affiliate - Lifters auto qualify for world and North American Amateur and Pro championships - No qualifying required for any CPF Meet

Canadian Powerlifting Federation www.canadianpowerliftingfederation.com Follow us on Facebook Strength From The Shadows

2013 Meets February – Paris Iron Man in Paris Fourth Annual resurrection Push Pull for High School in Waterloo April – Atlantic Canada Power Challenge in Amherst Nova Scotia June – Canadian High School Championships Canadian Amateur and North American championships Canadian Pro and North American championships August – AWPC Worlds November - WPC Worlds

Canadian Powerlifting Federation www.canadianpowerliftingfederation.com Follow us on Facebook Strength From The Shadows

The Canadian Powerlifting federation, CPF, supports both Amateur and Professional divisions in our lifting community. The difference between the 2 is drug testing, all Amateur meets are randomly tested. In 6 years the CPF has never had a positive drug test result in any of our amateur meets.

and Mike Guay. Clint in fact was the first person in Canada to bench 800 pounds!

When you look at our records you will see a composite set of records that reflects all lifting in Canada associated with the WPC going back to the early 1990â&#x20AC;&#x2122;s. We have maintained our historical perspective to honour some of the original The CPF is affiliated with the World Powerlifting lifters in our sport in Canada. Congress, which supports amateur lifters As a federation we are not opposed to lifters through the AWPC world championships and competing in any other federation, we view the professional lifters through the WPC world championships. The AWPC and WPC champion- growth of the sport as of primary importance â&#x20AC;&#x201C; ships alternate between Europe and North Ameri- how it grows is less important. We do have some differences between ourselves ca each year. and some other federations. We like to have fun In 2012 the AWPC worlds were in Kiev, Ukraine is one big difference. Our meets typically are acand the WPC worlds were in Las Vegas, Nevada. companied by loud music, lots of screaming, The CPF supports both Raw and Equipped pow- some people head butting the squat bar and usualerlifting, in fact the CPF was the first powerlift- ly a lot of audience audio involvement. ing organization in Canada to support Raw. Our But we also view meets as learning events for rules are stringent, raw means belt and wrist ourselves and in particular for new lifters. Novice wraps. No knee wraps, knee sleeves or elbow sleeves. Raw lifters like Mike Sinclair, Jay Nera, lifters always succeed in their first meet in the CPF. We have them identify themselves with a Kade Weber and Greg Doucette all set world chalk mark so that when they go lift the first time standards for others to live up to. the judges will give them their first lift if they complete it. Judges then spend the time to tell the We support any number of plies in our geared lifter what they got wrong and more importantly division, with 2 ply being the most popular what they got right. As the novice progresses choice amongst lifters. We have boasted some pretty amazing lifts in our past such 1100 pound through the day judges tighten up the criteria so squats by Matt Court and Alan Mehan along with that the novice lifter has a chance to learn under fire and progress rapidly on their first day. some amazing 800+ benches by Clint Harwood Strength From The Shadows

The CPF is located in a number of provinces across the country with active lifters and meets in BC Alberta, Manitoba, Quebec, Ontario, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and PEI. There is typically one meet a month in the CPF and you can see our schedule at www.canadianpowerliftingfederation.com.

There is also a list there of people to contact in your respective province to get more information. So â&#x20AC;&#x201C; get out, come and join us and just lift. There is nothing more fun than getting under the bar and leaving everything you have on the platform! 3 events, 9 lifts and no excuses!

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2012 CPF Provincials

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2012 CPF Provincials

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2012 CPF Provincials

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2012 CPF Provincials

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2012 CPF Provincials

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2012 CPF Provincials

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2012 CPF Provincials

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Extracorporeal Shockwave Therapy (ESWT) Results are rapid compared to conventional has been used safely and effectively in Europe treatments for over 30 years, and in North America for High level of safety over 20 years. Highly effective for eliminating Chronic Pain The technology is based on lithotripsy, which is Successful for injuries and conditions that have used in Hospitals to effectively treat kidney not responded to other forms of therapy stones and gall stones. Now, this technology is being used to successfully treat a wide range May eliminate the need for medication use of orthopaedic conditions, such as muscle, tendon and ligament injuries. It is also been prov- What is the success rate of this kind of treatment? en to be highly effective in treating a wide range of chronic pain conditions, urological Worldwide, success rates are around 80 to conditions, and neurological conditions (such 90% (even for conditions that are chronic and as 'pinched nerves'). have not responded to other types of care). The device generates a high-energy percussion sound wave (or 'physical' shock) which is applied to the affected tissue. There is no 'electrical' shock (as seen in other treatments, such as TENS and Interferential Current).

What conditions can be treated with ESWT?

How does it work? - Treatment accelerates the healing process (promotes the remodeling of dysfunctional collagenous tissues, such as tendinopathies, trigger points, muscle strains, etc.). - Shockwaves break down scar tissue and/or calcification - Transmission of pain is diminished through neurological mechanisms (inhibition of nociceptors)

Tendonitis

- There is increased metabolic activity around the site of pain or injury (leading to a strengthening of damaged ligaments, tendons and other tissues).

Running injuries

What are the benefits of Shockwave Treatment?

Tennis elbow

This therapy stimulates the body's natural selfhealing process. There is actually an immediate reduction of pain and improved range of motion. ESWT is a non-surgical approach that may eliminate your need for surgery.

Almost every musculoskeletal injury: Muscle strains Pinched nerves Calcifications, spurs Plantar fasciitis Knee pain Shoulder injuries Low back pain Chronic Pain Scar tissue Golfers elbow Impingement Syndrome Snapping hip Ligament injuries Tailbone injuries Shin splints

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Other conditions that can be effectively treated: Chronic Pelvic Pain Pudendal Nerve Entrapment/Neuralgia Chronic Prostatitis Urological conditions

...essentially Shockwave Therapy can be used effectively to treat conditions and pain in situations where all other treatments have failed. For more information, please refer to some research and articles regarding the use of Shockwave Therapy by Dr. Gordon, an Orthopaedic Surgeon and one of the leaders and innovators in the field.

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Justin Lewis, RMT Registered Massage Therapist Treatment of injuries, surgeries, and athletes only. Boomers Sports Medicine Clinic 164 Baseline Road East Bowmanville, ON L1C 1A2 Phone: 905-623-3221 Fax: 905-623-9082 justinlewisrmt@hotmail.com http://www.medicalrehab.ca/

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JOHN MACDONALD: THE STORY OF THE NON-STOP POWERLIFTING MACHINE Journey to the 2012 IPF Open Men’s World Powerlifting Championships.

When John was 11 yrs old, he started lifting weights in his bedroom, using 10 lb dumbbells and bench pressing his bed. Weighing in at about 120 lbs then, he continued lifting weights at home in his room until about the age of 14, when his family got a fitness membership at a local facility “The Spa Total Fitness Center”. At 14 he started biking 20 minutes each way to lift weights with his buddy Blake Tremere. For about a year he worked out with weights with no direction, just doing what he had learned from the programs that came with his dumbbell sets! On February 28th, 1998, Anthony Cannon, a family friend, took his son Kyle and John to go and watch powerlifting at the Charlottetown Civic Center. “I remember seeing really big guys lifting, and little guys too and even Special Olympians”. After this meet, John was introduced to the legend himself, Tom Nicholls for the very first time. The summer would pass, and John continued with his weight training at The Spa. In the fall of 1998 when John asked his mother if he could join boxing, she replied : “Why not try powerlifting?” Those 4 words would bring John to the sport that he now, lives and breathes. In September 1998, John’s mother took her son to the Island Powerlifting Club then located at the Charlottetown

Civic Center. They knocked on the door and were greeted by Tom Nicholls. After some chatting, they decided John would try it out for a week and decide if he liked it. He trained that first week and signed up right away as a member of the club. “I would train Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Saturday. I remember Rob MacDougall showed me a few things. The biggest piece of advice I recall from that time is that the back of your body is your power muscles, your glutes, lats, triceps, hamstrings; and your chest and biceps are your pretty muscles” After 2 months of training he entered the bench press competition in the Eastern Canadian Championships held in Charlottetown. This was his first competition-raw bench press. The meet was a learning experience. “I only made my opener, I didn’t remember to pause on my second or third lifts. I benched 80 kg while weighing in at only 78 kg”. (This 82.5 kg weight class was a weight class John would never see again!) John has fond recollection of that first meet, “I remember the morning of the meet I was playing outside in my tree fort in the woods and thinking –Oh yeah, I have to go compete this afternoon” (Flash forward to Puerto Rico, 2012 and that same teenage boy in the tree fort has now grown into a fierce competitor about to make his debut in the Open Men’s division at the IPF World Championships against the best on the world.), John would continue his training at the Island Powerlifting Club at the Charlottetown Civic Center until 2003 when the local junior hockey team got dibs on the weight room at the arena. During that period John would compete in his first full meet doing all three lifts at Eastern Canadians in 2001. John competed in the 100 kg weight class and placed 2nd. By the time the club left the civic centre John had competed in 4 powerlifting meets and 7 bench press meets. This number included Nationals in 2003 in Winnipeg where he won the 110 kg Junior title, and silver in the 110 kg bench press. Winning that first title at his first Nationals by over 125 kilos and just missing his last deadlift that would have given him “Best Overall Junior Lifter” was how John MacDonald announced to the world that he was here to compete! In June 2003, the Island Powerlifting Club moved temporarily to its new home at The Spa Total Fitness Center until December 2003 when Tom Nicholls opened what would become known as “Big Poppas Pit Of Pain”. The club trained in “the Pit” which was a garage located right on Nicholls property next to his home in Sherwood, PEI. The Pit was still run as the Island Powerlifting Club with roughly 8 members. John recalls training at the Pit 4-5 days a week in addition to his continued membership at

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The Spa Total Fitness Center with his family where he his attempts wisely. Gear was also not contributing what it would do cardio and general conditioning. Overall John should have-as learning how to get the most from your gear is something he had to figure out. was moving weights 7 days a week whenever he could. In January 2005, John attended the Niagara Open in Ontario with Tom Nicholls. He competed in the 110 kg weight class winning Best Overall Junior. Upon returning to PEI, John called John Fraser, meet director for the Sydney Open and asked if he could still register-meaning John would compete back to back weekends! After getting acceptance to compete, John travelled to Sydney, NS, with some local Charlottetown lifters out of the Island Powerlifting Club. John has a specific recollection of the trophies at this meet. “I remember they were trophies like statues of men benching and deadlifting, I remember thinking- Wow I sure hope I win Best Lifter” John would end up taking home both of those trophies-Best overall Junior and Best Bench In November 2003 John would travel to Yarmouth, NS to Press. He had also managed to add 2,5 kg to the total he compete in the Atlantic Open Powerlifting and Bench Press had achieved just the week prior with no training between Championships. Here he would set his first national re- the 2 meets! cords in Bench press for 100 kg weight class in both powerlifting and in bench press only. He lifted 200 kg in powerlifting and 197.5 kg in the bench press only. With a bench press that had begun at the age of 11, bench pressing his bed, 9 yrs later John would set the first of over 40 Canadians records he has since achieved. In 2004 John successfully defended his National title in 100 kg Junior in Kitchener, Ontario. Also in 2004, John competed at 3 more Atlantic and Eastern Canadian meets. In September of 2004, John was scheduled for jaw surgery. The post-op recovery was short and sweet as John competed at Eastern Canadians that year with only 10 days preparation! John was living and breathing powerlifting and nothing would stop him. Then, at the age of 21, and still to this day John has never touched alcohol or tobacco, or any drugs at all; choosing instead to abuse his body in the gym rather than with chemicals. John’s sport is his lifestyle, and he is 100% dedicated to it. John’s typical training style revolved largely around pushing himself as hard as he could and having fun seeing how far he could take it. A typical powerlifter would set a workout at 3 sets of 8 or 5 sets of 5; a typical “John workout” then nicknamed “The Freak Show” by Tom Nicholls consisted of repping out until his nose bled. It wasn’t unusual for John to be in The Pit for 3 hours then go to the Spa and do cardio and abs and hit the sauna. So although strength was growing for the Freak Show he was working hard for it, and paying for it with his body. The strength gains didn’t necessarily show at the meets. In 2004 John was figuring out how to peak at the right time and picking

After Sydney came the 2005 Nationals in Calgary, AB to get his “Three-peat” of the 110 kg men’s Junior title. John would get 2nd best overall lifter-again. This Nationals also served as a qualifier to the Junior World Championships in Fort Wayne, Indiana, US. World’s were months away and John continued on his “non-stop powerlifting” schedule travelling to Sackville , NS a month later for the Nova Scotia Provincials where he took the 110 kg Junior title and Best Overall Junior powerlifter and bench press. All of that spring and summer were spent training for Worlds. Much of his training during that time was solo, the plans and goals were set in his head. It was a tough training regime, and he often missed out on geared workouts because he had no one to help him out; John’s preparation was mainly raw lifting. In September 2005, the MacDonald family travelled to Indiana for John’s first ever Junior worlds, he would compete at 110 kg. Arriving with only about 2 kilos to cut John went into the meet with a good weight and an injured back.

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The injury was as a result of training about a month prior. John met up with other Team Canada members in Indiana. John recalls the squats were rough that day but he still hit all three attempts, he recalls he was 5th or 6th in the bench press but that that standing was only 15 kg from the gold medal. “I fully feel I could have easily done another 10 kg but at the time I didn’t really realize how much I had” Deadlifting that day would also prove to be a challenge due to the back injury, but he still finished with a 755 kg total and 6th /6 place overall finish. This had been John’s first exposure to international competition. “I recall feeling like I was up against the impossible, I recall seeing Russians with totals almost 200 kg greater than mine” (To this day, John has not reached a total as high as the ones he recalls from that Junior meet, but he is getting close!). After World’s John spent sometime looking at the world around him. He had gotten laid off from his job, ended a relationship and was feeling like he needs something solid. In January 2006 John would apply to the Atlantic Police Academy, and waited to see what would happen there. Still the non-stop powerlifting machine, he decided to head back to the Sydney Open for the second time. Still a Junior, John collected the 110 kg title again and the Best Overall Powerlifter and Bench Press. His focus then shifted to training for his last Nationals as a Junior. The 2006 Nationals were held in Chilliwack, BC. This would be John’s 4th National title and he would once again be named 2nd best lifter overall. A month later he was onto Sackville, NS for NS Provincials at 110 kg to claim best overall Junior lifter.

The 2006 Worlds were to be held in Bulgaria. John was focused and driven, deciding to cut to 100 kg-a number he hadn’t seen since 2003, He also had a team mate to train with this time, local Shawn Francis. This partnership would help keep the momentum going and the drive high! John and Shawn trained like animals all summer, video taping the majority of their training and meets and putting it all together into a DVD called “Road to Worlds” with

highlights of all of their meets and training. (As John talks about that summer he says “Man I wish I still had that fire”-he is so much more cautious now and knows injuries from experience and isn’t that wildly aggressive in training anymore). Travelling to Bulgaria in September 2006 with Shawn to compete at 100 kg, John was feeling good and injury free. The accommodations in Bulgaria proved to be something John had never had to deal with before, the hotel had a hose in the wall for a shower, and there was no bath tub, just a drain on the floor! Without the comforts of home, John was still determined to have a good meet. After cutting 10 pounds to make weight, the meet got off to a great start in squats where John collected a bronze medal squatting 300 kg. His first ever World’s medal! Bench press was even better where John set a new Canadian record at 212.5 kg, and that was good enough for a gold medal! John collected his second World’s medal! Deadlifting came down to a numbers game to seek an overall medal. With his second deadlift he had secured a bronze overall medal. On his third attempt he went for a silver medal finish, but it wasn’t to be. After locking out the bar, it slipped out of his right hand. In his final World’s as a Junior John had achieved his goal of winning a medal at Worlds. He had also set a new Canadian record for the Junior total. Part of his plan to make this goal was the weight cut, and the freak show training all summer.

Around the same time, John learned of his acceptance into the Atlantic Police Academy beginning in January 2007. John would finish out the non-stop powerlifting schedule of 2006 with 2 additional meets, Eastern Canadians in Stephenville, Nfld and The Truro Fall Classic. Competing at both meets at 100 kg, John would set his first Canadian squat record in Nfld, squatting 305.5 kg, and he would also beat his World’s total (And Canadian record) by 2.5 kg. His final Junior meet of his career was the Truro Fall Classic, where he reset the squat record again at 307.5 kg, and reset the Canadian Bench record at 213 kg (increase of

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0.5 kg), and reset the Canadian Junior total record yet again class, John seems to mainly recall the injury and the missed at 815.5 kg. The 815.5 kg total also put John to the top of attempt. His focus is largely on improvement and personal the Canadian All Time Best Wilks score. John sums up his goals and less on winning titles. Junior career, “I finished on top”. Also in 2008, an opportunity to attend the Arnold Sports Festival in Columbus Ohio was presented to John. This was the first year that the IPF affiliated themselves with the powerlifting at the Arnold Sports festival. He was definitely interested and jumped at the chance. The Arnold Sports Festival was a chance to test himself against world class lifters in a high profile sporting event. John competed at 110 kg and placed 5th overall finally hitting the over 700 lbs mark in his squat. “The atmosphere of the crowd really pushed me that day”. John also recalls that Arnold Schwarzenegger himself actually showed up at the meet, interrupting the meet to say a few words. “He actually did say “I’ll be back”!” January 2007 had John relocating to Summerside, PEI to begin training at the Atlantic Police Academy. He decided to take a break from powerlifting and focus on his cardio and endurance to ensure he was in top physical form for the demands of a career in policing. Police training was 9 months long, during this time John didn’t compete in any powerlifting meets. Graduation was late August 2007, and the non-stop powerlifter was hungry to compete, entering the Falmouth Record Breaker only 1 week after graduation! Weighing in at 108 kg, in his first ever Open competition, John took first place in his weight class and Bench Pressed 500 lbs for the first time ever-hitting 518 lbs. In November John returned to Truro to compete again in the 110 kg weight class, and won gold. It was as if he had never Nationals in 2008 were held in Niagara Falls. These were John’s first nationals as an Open competitor. Still in the stopped! John was setting PBs and feeling strong. 110 kg weight class, John finally managed to earn a 500 Wilks, and achieved a PB total of 5. That performance was enough for a bronze medal finish in both Powerlifting and bench press. Two more meets in 2008 would be on the horizon for the non-stop powerlifter, NS Provincials in May and a meet in Falmouth in November. Both meets successful, winning his weight class both times. 2009 would be a turning point in John’s powerlifting career. The year started with PEI Provincials, at this meet John would finally surpass one of Tom Nicholls Provincial records (in the squat). This was a milestone for John having looked up to Tom as one of the best in Canada. He also a new PB for his total record at 870.5 kg.

2008 would bring back the PEI Provincials after a 9 year hiatus. Jason Mosher and John were responsible for the resurrection. It was held at the Spa Total Fitness Center. John doesn’t recall this meet as one of his best performances “I recall the nagging injury to my trap, it was giving me a lot of grief, but I never stopped training” This meet was Having earned his invite back to the Arnold with a 500 John’s first ever attempt at a 700lb squat, he was not Wilks, he decided to compete in both the raw and equipped successful in the attempt. Although he still won his weight competitions, meaning he would compete on back to back Strength From The Shadows

days! Starting with the raw on the first day, John came out on top claiming the gold by a 30 kg margin, setting a PB deadlift of 312.5 kg- this raw pull was more than he had ever pulled in gear at the time! Day 2 was the equipped meet, John was feeling not too bad after the battle the day before, and set a new total PB of 872.5 kg, placing 4th . He was the only one in his weight class equipped, who had competed raw the day before. (Earning him the name Crazy Canuck!) The back to back competitions were an accomplishment that John has great pride in, he is truly a warrior among men. Less than a month later John was back on the National platform to win his first Open National title in the 110 kg weight class. The day before this meet John’s weight was 116.3 kg, he managed to cut down more than he planned and weighed in at 108 kg! This meet brought a new PB squat at 337.5 kg. John was working as a police officer for the city of Charlottetown, and the demands of policing coupled with the training, John suffered a leg injury that sidelined him from the gym for a brief period. In the summer of 2009, there was a raw meet held in The Pit, this was John’s return to competition. It was after that point, John decided he would become a non-stop eating machine and go up a weight class. Being in the 110 kg class off and on for 8 years he figured it was time to shake things up. The main goal of the gain was to increase strength and lift massive numbers. By November John weighed in at 117 kg for the Eastern Canadians, and would go on to total 900 kg for the first time ever and make a valiant attempt at an 800 lbs squat. As the body weight increased so would the power. John says “I remember on my second squat that day I squatted the biggest squat ever by an Island lifter”. John’s 900 kg total that day was not the biggest total of that meet as that was the same day Alex Mardell totalled over 1000 kgs-making Canadian history! Weighing in at 118 kg in January 2010, John realized that the extra 15 kg to play with in this weight class was closing in on him. The meet was a success in terms of the outcome (winning the weight class and best overall lifter) but John sustained an injury when a spotter inadvertently shifted the weight on the walk in causing John to pop something out of place in his back. This shift in his back caused such a severe pain, John could not even set up the lift, and could not perform the attempt on his second squat. Between the second and third attempt, John managed to get himself together to a point where he could manage the pain and perform the third attempt setting a new PB of 353 kg.

In March 2010, it was time to travel back to Columbus, John had registered in October 2009 as a 110 kg. In March 2010, John’s actual weight was 124.3 kgs! He had almost entered the next weight class of 125 kg! The judge double checked the sheets and assumed there had been a mistake! John competed in the 125 kg that day... barely! Returning to his third appearance at the Arnold, competing back to back again; John placed 2nd in the raw meet and placed 3rd the following day in the gear. Still keeping the weight in the 120's, John hit the National platform in 2010 in Quebec at about 122 kgs. The meet was a battle between the top 2 through all three lifts. Technical judging decisions made in error prevented John from loading the requested attempt on the bar, causing an argument between the judges and coaches while John stood by in knee wraps! Eventually winning the argument and having the bar loaded, the judges subsequently awarded only one white light despite a clear demonstration of below parallel. John shook it off and figured he’d make up the 10 kg deficit in the other lifts. In the bench they tied. The deadlift would decide the winner. John made every effort to close the gap, but in the end he finished in second.

Later that spring, the Non-Stop Powerlifting machine would attend the World Bench Press competition in Killeen, Texas; here he had a PB Bench press of 257.5 kg placing 8th overall. Next up for John in August was his first North American Championships in Aguadilla, Puerto Rico (same city, same venue that the current World Championships would be held in 2012). At this meet John had yet another PB in the bench press and a PB in his total. The bench press of 262.5 kg surpassed the North American record by 27.5 kg! He also totalled 915 kg which earned him the gold medal overall, his first North American title and a new North American total record. John returned to PEI and competed a week later at the Atlantic Raw meet held in Charlottetown. John recalls asking Tom Nicholls if he could enter as he hadn’t registered prior to leaving for Puerto Rico. He worked a night shift policing and went straight to weigh in for the meet after being awake for 24

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hrs straight! “I remember feeling like the weights were a lot heavier than they looked because fatigue was setting in and although I set my best raw total ever that day,...I would absolutely not ever do that again!”

105 kg. In August of 2010 JP had issued the challenge (jokingly) that he would take me on if I could ever cut to 100 kg, but with the weight class changes, we would wind both sitting in the 105 kg class. Lifting against JP pushes me to keep improving, I know he is hungry and won’t stop Still weighing around 125 kg John made the decision to cut coming after me, I am always looking forward to competweigh back down to the 110 kg class for a meet in Novem- ing against JP.” ber. To achieve the loss John went on a very strict diet and stepped up his cardio, and did a lot of boxing. He was able to make the 110 kg class on the dot in November for the PEI Open. John lifted raw at the meet, and attributes the 50 kg drop in his total from his last raw performance to some strength loss from the weight cut. 2011 would be a very big year for John-“I remember being indestructible for most of that year-the training regime was intense and challenging”. John incorporated some unique feats of strength into his training that year at the lighter body weight such as 1146 lbs partial squat, 848 lbs rack pull and a crazy 58 inch box jump! To start the year off, the IPF adopted new weight classes eliminating the 110 kg class, giving John the option of cutting to 105 kg or gaining to 120 kg. John opted to cut and continued with more cardio based strength training and managed to cut to 105 kg for PEI Provincials in January. John would capture best Open lifter for Provincials. March would see John’s return to the Arnold for back to back meets in raw and equipped lifting. The raw meet would be a teaching moment for John. “What happened was I thought that if you and another lifter were tied for body weight and total weight lifted, that the lifter with the better lot number was awarded the gold medal. This was not the case; and I lost out on the gold medal to Jamie Emberley because he made his total before me in the meet so he was awarded the gold medal. Had I known this I would’ve thrown a few more kilos on my deadlift, I had lots left in the tank! The lesson I learned was to not hold back!” The next day he competed equipped, his body holding out pretty good and adding 25 kg to the total from Provincials 2 months prior; and giving John his second silver medal performance in 2 days. Nationals were held in April in PEI that year, holding bench press Nationals earlier in the week, and powerlifting later. John would participate in bench press Nationals placing second and later in the week he would claim another National title at 105 kg. This title was a hard fought battle with JP Richard, in the end John won by 27.5 kg, and was yet again 2nd best overall lifter (this would be 4 times he had been 2nd best at Nationals). “Nationals were the second time JP and I would battle at

John would return to the North Americans in July of 2011, in Miami, Florida. At this meet John would set a new North American record for the total at 897.5 kg and win his weight class by 62.5 kg. John thanks Stephen Seney for making the trip down to Miami from Halifax just to coach him at this event.

John would continue his non-stop powerlifting crusade with the Atlantic Raw meet in Charlottetown only 1 week later! Claiming best overall lifter in addition to winning his weight class, John set a PB in his deadlift and his raw Wilks score. In the fall John was focused on 2 main meets to finish out the year. The Eastern Canadians in Charlottetown and the

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Commonwealth Powerlifting Championships in Bournemouth, UK. The Easterns would be the first time that year that John’s body would start to show signs of tiring from the intensive year of training and competing. “Although I felt like my body was needing a break, I was still strong as a bull. I set a PB in the squat, deadlift, total and Wilks that day and felt like I had a lot left in me. My back was killing me, but I powered through” In December John would travel to Bournemouth with Tom Nicholls, the first trip together for the 2 in a long while. “The trip reminded me of 2005 when we had travelled together to Niagara, where Tom had been such a superior competitor than I was then, and at this point I felt it was finally my time to be the better lifter. Thanks to his mentoring and guidance throughout the years, I felt I had become as great a competitor as he is. The mentality I had for those 7 years focusing on consistency and paying my dues would prove to me that success could be achieved from hard work and dedication .” And success did come! John would compete at 113 kg in the 120 kg Open weight class, winning gold in all 3 disciplines and the total. John would beat 3 of Tom Nicholls Canadian records-this was a first for John. John would also claim 3rd best overall lifter and set a new PB Wilks score. It was a strong finish to a busy year.

Not one to take a break, John was right back on the competitive platform weeks later in PEI Provincials, winning his weight class and best overall lifter in the powerlifting and bench press. In March, John would return to the Arnold for his 5th appearance giving an exciting performance in battle yet again. The back to back competing was earning him a reputation of being a “Crazy Canadian” known as “John from Canada”! John’s body was so beat up from the intensive year in 2011, he was struggling to find a groove in training and went to the Arnold feeling less than prepared. “It was the first time in a long time that I was at a meet of this calibre and really didn’t feel at my best, I felt like I didn’t belong there, but I convinced myself I would still go and enjoy the competition”. After a very tough battle in the raw squat and bench, John had to put up a 700 lbs deadlift for the win (this would be the most he had ever attempted raw before). John would pull the 700 lbs with everything he had and win the gold; the battle was so tight that the top three lifters were only posting an 11 pound spread. John also took home the 3rd best overall Wilks in the raw meet. The next day was the equipped meet. “After the raw lifting, I went back to the hotel and started icing and resting and trying to repair my body for the next battle.” The equipped meet started with John feeling “not too bad”, getting through the day, he managed to secure a silver medal. Returning to PEI to continue training towards Nationals this time, John’s body was in rough shape; his left lat muscle, deltoid, and pec were giving him a great deal of grief. John was just wanting to hold on and get through Nationals before taking a much needed rehab break from powerlifting. This rehab break was not part of the plan John had to meet three goals in 2012. The goals were to win the raw Nationals, the equipped Nationals, and the best overall lifter

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(that had eluded him since his first Nationals as a junior). The raw competition ended with John on top winning gold. “In my first deadlift my hand tore and blood was pouring out. I went for the raw deadlift record on my second attempt and managed to pull it without losing grip, but ripped the hand even more. My competitor went for his third attempt to beat me overall based on body weight after he missed his attempt; I still went for my third attempt even though my hand was in bad shape and I had already won. The audience was promised a National record attempt and I felt it was my responsibility to give them that entertainment. I successfully made the lift and increased my National record, feeling the bar wanting to slide out of my bloodied hand.” The raw champ was battered and bloodied but still had to compete one more time that week in the equipped meet. There were 3 days between meets to recover, but still maintain weight for weigh in. The hand would not have time to heal, and the left side injury was not getting any better either. John gave everything he had left in his equipped performance with the help of physiotherapist, chiropractors, and massage between attempts to try to help the left side to fire. The battle came down once again to the deadlifts. “Ironically, the weight I needed to pull for the win and best overall lifter was the same weight I had pulled raw just days before, even with the gear on, this time I was inches short of the lock out. My body just did not have the strength.”

had caused the majority of the pain and weakness. The next month or so was a frustrating time for John, his body was weak, even though his mind was ready to go hard. He decided to just start having some fun in the gym to keep busy, adding in what he considers fun-a set of 10 x 1000 lbs tire flips in 30°C heat outside in the parking lot! Not only was he doing this for “fun”, he was doing it as fast as he could, and inspiring many other gym go-ers to get outside and flip tires! At about mid-summer, the focus shifted to Atlantic Raw meet planned for September. John was still continuing his rehab, including chiropractor, massage therapy, and using a TENS machine. John avoided using any anti-inflammatory drugs as these can interfere with strength gains. All rehab was done under his body’s own power. At the end of the summer, his body was feeling pretty good except for the tweek in his back that has occurred in training. With 617 lbs on the bar for a raw deadlift, something jolted in his back and John could barely walk, he put 2 hrs in at the gym that night stretching and rolling on his rumble roller, until he could finally walk out of the gymwith his body wrapped up in a knee wrap, he then went straight to work on the boats.

Atlantic Raw meet was held in Charlottetown in September, John weighed in at 110.1 kg not cutting any weight for the meet. Still injured from the deadlift, John went into his lifts cautiously making 6/9 lifts that day. John competed as a sumo deadlifter for the second time in his career, and set a Canadian record in the deadlift with ease, and narrowly missed breaking it a second time. Still claiming gold and Finishing in second place, John had missed out on the ever best overall lifter, John had more recovery to do before elusive best overall lifter at Nationals yet again. This World’s. equipped performance was the lowest total he had put up since 2008 even though he had tried harder than ever.

John returned to PEI to battered and in need of rehab to get ready for training for the World Championships. He took 3 weeks off from powerlfiting and went to physio and doctors seeking the source of the left side injury and weakness. Eventually it was revealed he had a tear in his shoulder and the compensation by the rest of the muscles

The focus was now 100% on the World Championships. John had been out of his gear for over 5 months and had to get back into the groove of knee wraps and suits. With new gear in hand from Titan Support Systems, John would start training with the help of his local powerlifting guys when they were Available. John’s work schedule was always changing and finding time to get into the gym when there would be spotters was a huge challenge. Thanks to the

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flexibility and commitment from a few of his friends, Pat Myatt, Chris Petrie, Dave Forner and Brad Kennedy, John was able to get into his gear and through his planned workouts most of the time. Overall training was going well and John had set a few PBs and with 2 weeks left to go, John tweaked his back walking out with a 760 lbs squat. Having caught the walkout on video, it was clear one of his legs had buckled from the tweak in his back. John headed back to the chiropractor and was informed he had a rotation in his lower spine and his left leg was an inch longer than the left. After the adjustment, John was back in the gym. Finishing off his training program feeling like his last few John’s face is determined and almost fierce looking as we workouts were rushed and worrying about the fit of his sit and watch the category B 105 kg lifters. His weigh in is gear, time had run out. in 1.5 hrs and at last check he still needed to drop 300g. As I watch him, his hands are fidgeting a little, and I can imagine that teenage boy who was almost too shy to enter his first competition, now sits here as a solid grown man who has worked for 14 years to earn his place here at the men’s Open World’s through blood, sweat and determination.

On the eve of his first Open World’s John is feeling ready to go, anxious to perform. Reflecting on his training plan he executed in preparation John feels like he is yet to fight his battles with big numbers. This time he’ll fight on the platform as opposed to his previous training prep where he would fight it out in the gym prior to meets and often arrive with injury or in mid-rehab. On the day of the competition, John sits with coach Joel Boulianne discussing strategy, they are both hungry and motivated for success. John is appreciating the support and advice, Joel is eager to push John to his limits and see him fulfill his potential. John trains alone most of the time, getting help when schedules work out, from local powerlifters in the gym (now at Island Performance Elite Strength Training Center). John knows his body and what it can do, but he is still humble and open to learning and listening and getting coached by Joel.

I’m used to seeing John in our local gym where he is the most experienced and he is “the teacher” offering corrections and tips to all lifters of all levels. But here I see a man quietly observing and taking it all in. Whether listening to Joel or talking bench shirts with his sponsor Derek Brixius of Titan Support Systems-John is never cocky and listens to everyone’s advice. Here John is soaking in all of it, and will bring this experience back to PEI and continue to inspire, share and guide other lifters locally. The meet starts with a 322.5 kg squat, John was successful in this attempt, but he was not feeling great about the fit of his gear. A few adjustments in the knee wraps would result in 340 kg finish, being his easiest squat of the day. Bench proved to be quite a rough day for John successful only on

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his opener, the fit of the bench shirt due to the weight cut in January, the Arnold Classic in March followed by Nacoupled with his rushed training after the injury, the bench tionals (classic and equipped). John is hoping to compete at North Americans in Orlando, Florida in July and finish just wasn’t coming together. the year off in New Zealand at the Commonwealth Powerlifting if time and resources allow! (and who knows, maybe a few other local meets in the mix!) Perhaps 2013 will be the year John finally captures the ever elusive Best Overall Lifter at Nationals. You can stay up to date and check out John training highlights on Facebook “John MacDonald Powerlifter” and on his You Tube Channel “superman83jm1”. Bio for the John MacDonald Story: Deadlift was where John had a shot at a medal. Watching the other lifters attempts carefully, John successfully set a Commonwealth record with his second attempt. Going into the third attempt, John submitted a lift attempt of 342.5 kg to go for the bronze. After another lifter missed his attempt, only 337.5 kg was needed for the bronze, but due to lot number drawings, John was not able to drop his attempt to that number. Only being able to drop to 340 kg, John pulled until the judge waved him down, just inches from the bronze. “After the second deadlift I noticed my hand had a huge blood blister that was ready to tear so during the third pull I could feel my hand wanting to let go. Somehow I was still able to give it my best shot but my hips were locked and my body was too forward to lock it out.”

John is a 29 yr old Powerlifter out of Charlottetown, PEI. He lives and breathes his sport and has worked for the last 14 years at improving every time he steps on the platform. Though he admits he doesn’t have all the answers it is clear that what John does have is all the heart, drive, desire and determination of a true Champion. This is the story of the journey from a shy 11 yr old boy to a fierce competitor at the IPF Men’s Open World Championships.

UPDATE ON JOHN. AFTER WRITING THE ARTICLE, HE HAS BEEN OFFICIALLY SIGNED AS A SPONSORED ATHLETE BY RESCINDX APPAREL.

Finishing the meet in 10th overall was disappointing for John, he had been hoping for a top 6 finish. John felt that he gave a sloppy performance, and realizes that hard work and dedication alone will not always bring you success. “All the stars have to align”. The non-stop powerlifting machine already has the 2013 competitive plan laid out with plans to hit PEI Provincials Strength From The Shadows

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LANCE LAVALEE I would have to say my greatest influence on my love of strength training has to have been my father. At 6'4" he sported 22" arms and it seemed as those a legendary status followed him everywhere we went growing up. My personal favourite strongman of all time is none other than the legendary Bill Kazmaier. His hulking physique, and level of intensity and strength seemed to be unmatched. The biggest thing I have taken from Kaz is that in strongman there is no such thing as I can't, it doesn't exist. There are only "I can", and "I Will".

Stats Years competing: 6 Age: 34 Height: 6'2" Weight: 290 Thighs: 32" Arms: 20" Neck: 20" Raw Lifts Squat 550 x 2 DL 625 x 4, Bench Press 470 Log Press 350 From gym rat to pro athlete, we all have our own mission when it comes to physical improvement. Mine is to be as strong as possible. I am 34 years old, the proud father of two, loving husband, full time auto worker, Volunteer Firefighter, and I am on a quest for strength. I am not satisfied with being "kinda" strong. I have been constantly pushing past my personal limits for the last 7 years. Evolving and adapting my training. Consulting and aligning with those who are stronger and more knowledgable than myself. Pushing forward and climbing my way up to become one of the top strongmen in the Ontario circuit today.

I remember being at a very young age when I started drilling the gold plastic concrete filled York Dumbbells, lying on the floor trying to imitate my father. Then moving on to my teenage years, I became a total "Captain Upperbody" drilling curls in the power rack and bench pressing twice a week minimum. In my graduating year I was the strongest guy in high school, but I knew very little about what real strength was and how to achieve it. The one thing I had working for me was that I trained with intensity. This is what generated my results, but intensity alone will only take you so far.

By my mid twenties I expanded my knowledge of lifting a little and included Dead lifts and I even tried to squat sometimes. Building my frame up to 245lbs and dead lifting 405 for ten reps with my wrist straps and Grizzly body building belt I decided I was strong enough to enter my first strongman competition in 2007. I got drilled, zeIt hasn't been easy. Working 48-60 hour weeks, juggling my wife's schedule, making time for her roing on the 190 pound log press for reps, I placed and our children, being on call for any emergency 14th overall out of 21 competitors. But I had a blast doing it, I loved it and I was hooked. 24/7 365 days a year, overcoming injuries that have left me so mangled I couldn't put on my own socks, and finally making the time to train avail- For me this sport offers everything. With challenges from max effort physical output to embracable, all keep me somewhat busy. Yes, it is a lot ing mental toughness to endure the pain of what of work. But anything worth having is worth feels like being literally torn apart, overcoming working hard for. I wouldn't have it any other injuries, to implementing an intelligent well laid way. Strength From The Shadows

man feats of strength motivated me to obtain, yet again, a out plan to keep making progress, it doesn't get any better. The level of camaraderie I have experi- higher level of performance. enced and witnessed is unmatched.

Rounding out the rest of my top finishes for 2012 include Nordic Thunder 5th, Woodstock 3rd, Warwick Semi Pro In 2008 I entered every contest possible, most of 2nd, Ontario's Strongest Man 5th, Arnprior 3rd, Dubreuiwhich were too heavy for me, frequently taking a leville 6th and 1st overall at Powerfests Productions' Anzero on one or more events. I was not concerned nual Oktoberfest Bavarian Strength Challenge. This is my about my overall placing but rather just striving to biggest victory and finish to date and the first contest in a while that I feel I really put it all together.

improve upon my own personal training records. Nearing the end of the 2009 season I was accepted to compete in the Dubreuileville Pro Invitational. Placing 9th overall with two 3rd place event finishes against a high level calibre of some of the strongest men in the country I was very proud of my achievements. I realized that compared to the top level athletes at this contest, I had a long way to go to be competitive. I couldn't do it

on my own. I needed help from those who were stronger and possessed the knowledge to obtain such a level. Enter three time Ontario's Strongest Man, Paul Vaillancourt and strongman veteran Jordan Foley, who later together formed Total Fitness Solutions. Impressed by my improvements, they were more than willing to consult me about training. I have made several 5 hour road trips a year to train with two of the best strongman competitors in the province. The results came immediately and steadily. Leading me towards my first overall victory at the 2010 Carp Fair Intermediate strongman competition. I was the 2010 Carp Fair Strongman Champion! Championâ&#x20AC;Ś.I really liked the sound of that. Building further upon my success in 2011, I placed 2nd(tie breaker) at Montreal's Strongest Man, 2nd in the Trenton Provincial Qualifier, 1st at the Woodstock Provincial Qualifier, 5th in the Dubreuileville Pro Invitational, 4th at the Oktoberfest Bavarian Strength Challenge, and 3rd(tie breaker) at the Festiforce Amateur Inter-Provincial Championship. Gone were the days of scrapping it out to avoid a last place finish. Now I was battling for a spot on the podium and loving it. I had an early season start in 2012 entering the Arnold's Amateur World Championship. Everyone was a huge mutant jacked beast! I was definitely intimidated initially. I finished 38th out of 47 competitors from different parts of the world with many of them being very high level athletes. What an experience. Competing against the best Amateurs in the world and watching the Pros drill inhu-

With the end of the 2012 season upon us, my sights are set for the upcoming season. I plan to compete again in the 2013 Arnold AM. Although, qualifying for the Canadian Championship is my highest priority. Lofty goals, but I enjoy a challenge. I have been lifting weights on and off for over 2 decades. The last 7 years have been continuous. I didn't really learn how to train until getting involved in the sport of strongman. And guess what, I'm still learning. I have been training primarily solo for the last 3 years at home in my garage. I have a pretty decent setup. I make time by setting the alarm for 3:40 am when I'm on day shift, and train before or after work on night shift. Whatever works for my schedule. My weekly routine is comprised of 3 gym days, and 1 strongman event day on the weekend. My gym days consist of a main lift including the Bench Press, Squats, Dead Lift, and Military Press. Each lift is supported by accessory compound movements that compliment each main lift. I alternate between the squat and dead lift each week as the main lift due to the fact that strongman events are very taxing on the lower body and I simply cannot recover effectively from heavy training 5 days a week. I am basically following 5/3/1 for my pressing and the Ortmayer/Magnusson DL template for both squats and deadlifts. I deload every 4th week. This keeps me fresh with no need to take extended breaks in training and avoid over training. I believe training should be constant. About ten days out from a contest I like to apply CNS overload techniques and move some real heavy weight. This has proven to be very effective to prep me for the upcoming show and leaves me with a solid 1.5 weeks to fully recover. Visit www.ontariostrongman.ca on the web. Be sure to check out the resources tab! I have both short term, and long term goals. I consider short term goals to be ones that are obtainable within 1-2 years. And long term goals are just that, training for life. As always, I am looking to generate the biggest gains possible.

Strength From The Shadows

Over the years I have trained with many different fellow strongman competitors, all of whom were stronger and more experienced than me. I credit them with providing knowledge, critiquing technique and pushing me to new limits. This list includes names such as Andy Burwell, Luke Skaarup, John Dungey, Terry Morrison, Adam Witzel, Paul Vallaincourt and Jordan Foley. I owe a huge thank you to everyone that I have trained with over the years, to the promoters who put fourth the effort to make these contests happen, and to all of my friends and family that have come to watch the competitions and show their support. Every strongman competitor needs a good chiropractor. I have found an amazing one. I have experienced tremendous improvements since I started getting adjusted this past summer by Dr. Lianne of Elkin Natural Health Clinic. Strength and energy levels are up, and my mobility and posture have improved. I owe a big thank you to her and all of the friendly staff. But the person I owe the biggest thanks of all to is my loving, beautiful wife. Without her support I would not be the man I am today. She tends to the little ones at competitions and while I train events for hours at a time. She is always there for me when I need her. Whether its to tell me I'm wrong or that I'm being a complete dick, or to shut up and train, she keeps me in check.

UPDATE ON JOHN. AFTER WRITING THE ARTICLE, HE HAS BEEN OFFICIALLY SIGNED AS A SPONSORED ATHLETE BY RESCINDX APPAREL.

Strength From The Shadows

down, hyper-stretched, hypertonic, hydrated, dehydrated, natural or enhanced. It is an inspiring and interesting By Marina Featherstone ability, one that I intend on developing further. Lifting has A question I get asked enhanced this ability, and has made a positive impact on my quite often. And perhaps a profession. question you sometimes ask yourself. Why DO you The aspects of nutrition and food and strength sports have lift? Aside from the obvi- become another self-professed obsession. Protein, macros, ous physical benefits, what cycling, carbs, fats, you name it. With my small-farm are the other reasons you background, and my family’s grass-fed beef venture, food have chosen to pursue the was always a love of mine, and the subject of local foods has become a more recent, vested interest. From grass-fed strength sports? meats to local produce to foraging for wild foods to raw and I love to lift heavy things. unprocessed, local and sustainable foods and food systems A max deadlift, kettlebells, something heavy at work or a is a subject I educate myself on daily and become more and more involved in. Perhaps it’s a calling to do my part to fix random person, I enjoy strength. In fact, I love it. the food system as we know it. Lifting has made me more My story begins as a farmers’ daughter, growing up on a aware of what I put in my body, and where my food comes dairy farm in Grey County, Ontario. A typical day on the from. farm, aside from milking, including many activities that required strength; pushing hay bales, dragging chains, car- While the world of strength sports has increased my physirying sacks of feed, tossing fence posts, walking with pails cal abilities immensely, has positively influenced my cafull of water or spent engine oil (does any of this sound reer, has fueled my curiosity and involvement into nutrition familiar?!). As the eldest of two daughters, I had no choice and food, there is one side effect of the world of iron that I but to get strong and help out with the above chores. did not expect, and this is perhaps the deep-seated reason Strength was a valued attribute, and if you were not strong, that I lift. While exploring the world of iron, one noticeable side effect of strength training is its effects on the mind. I work would not get done. have quickly learned that any ounce of doubt in your mind The days of the dairy farm are long gone, and my parents’ as to whether or not you can lift what lies in front of you or farm now pastures grass-fed beef. Living in the country has above you, will result in a failed lift. Training your mind, turned into living in the city, and the calls of career and finding your zone, your happy place, your inner strength or responsibility have etched their way into my daily life. But your ‘strength from the shadows’ is perhaps the biggest strength is something I continue to value, continue to pur- challenge of all. It has been a welcome one, and one that I sue and continue to strive for. It has been a part of my life am faced with daily. Lifting has trained my mind to never accept doubt, never accept fear, never accept defeat. from a young age. A part I will never forget.

Why do you lift?

As a relative newbie to a disciplined strength sport, I am fueling my deeply-etched value and constantly learning every day. Muscle function, form, technique, various strength-building programs, self-care and of course nutrition. It is a fascinating world of fitness, food and mental strength that I delve into daily. And it feels like home. My love for strength also influenced my choice in career. As a Registered Massage Therapist, I get to work with muscles every day and my curiosity for anatomy and how muscles function fuel my work. Having a dense anatomical understanding, I am able to apply this knowledge and experience to my own training, and to the physical needs of my clients. With my work and my training, I have developed an acute and intuitive ability to assess muscle tissue: I can determine healthy tissue from old, scarred, worn-

And that is why I lift. Yes, it makes me feel amazing. Yes, it makes me function optimally on the farm, in work, and in life. Yes, it makes me walk confidently down sketchy night-time streets and makes me the “designated protector” when I’m out with my girlfriends. Yes, it makes me aware of my body, and what I feed my body, and makes my aware of my clients’ wellbeing and physical needs. Yes, it makes me aware of where my food comes from. But, perhaps most importantly of all, it gives me inner strength, the strength to say “yes, I CAN”.

Strength From The Shadows

Marina “iron rose” Featherstone, is a Registered Massage Therapist, local-foods and grass-fed beef advocate and aspiring powerlifter. She grew up on a small farm in Grey County, Ontario, which has recently changed into a smallscale, niche grass-fed beef operation. Her parents remain on the farm and run the business, and Marina assists with marketing, brand development and research. Additionally, Marina’s interest in local and sustainable food systems is a driving force in her own research and involvement in the community.

Life Magazine. She has treated professional major league athletes, world-winning kickboxing and mma fighters, bodybuilders and powerlifters alike. She is excited to continue to develop and focus her skills within the strength sports. In her spare time, Marina likes to experiment with infusing cayenne pepper into massage oil, cooking a mean bacon brownie, exploring the world of wine, feeding her coffee addiction, racing down major highways like a NASCAR driver, going for long meandering walks in the woods and enjoying one-person raves in her apartment.

Her love of strength was developed at an early age as the eldest born on a farm, and so flipping tires and ‘real’ farmers’ walks are deeply ingrained in her past. As a newbie Marina’s blog, The Iron Rose, is a cumulative narration of to the world of powerlifting, Marina’s aspirations are to all of the above. develop her full potential within this strength sport and live up to her alias. www.theironrose.wordpress.com @iron_rose_world Additionally, Marina’s profession as an RMT has proven www.facebook.com/theironrose to be invaluable in the world of strength, and her passion, ironroseworld@gmail.com unique treatment approach and wicked elbow have earned her an enviable reputation, and she was recently named one of Toronto’s massage therapists of choice by Toronto

Strength From The Shadows

On November 3 the British Columbia Powerlifting Association held their annual Fall Classic Powerlifting and Benchpress Championships in Abbotsford, BC at the Abbotsford Arts Center. The competition, as with all BCPA events, was open to all BCPA lifters and Special Olympic athletes. The day started promptly at 9:00am with the Special Olympians taking the platform. The Special Olympic athletes perform in two disciplines; the benchpress and the deadlift. The BC Fall Classic had eight athletes who demonstrated their strength on the two lifts. Veteran lifter, Dave Devison went five for six only missing his last attempt on deadlifts and finished with highest wilks with 171.81. Jason Schilling also had a great day going six for six getting ‘good lift’s for all his attempts. Great job by all the Special Olympic athletes who lifted like pros and did exceptionally well!

Pamela Anderson

The men’s competition was filled with names synonymous with powerlifting in British Columbia; Don Lovell, Darshan Gill, and also the return of Jeff Toms. Gable Wang, a Cat 2 IPF referee, also made the BC Fall Classic his first competition to lift in BC. New lifters Brain Wang and Terence Lim both went nine for nine on their attempts. The best lifter award for the men’s powerlifting went to Gabe Festing who finished with a 492.9 wilks. Referees: Chris Robb, Gable Wang, Justin Gray, Joe Oliveira, Bob Hindley, Bill You , Barry Antoniow.

The benchpress only flight started the afternoon session with twelve lifters. New lifters Brad Wilson and Luke Hewco both posted their Nationals qualifying totals at their first event. The benchpress only flight also had two very experienced lifters both of whom are members of the Team Canada World Team. Rhonda Heaslip, a Masters 2 lifter finished with a 105kgs and 114.50 wilks. Fellow Team Canada member Brian Rock, also Masters 2, finished with 205kgs and a 122.75 wilks.

Following the single-lift competition was the full powerlifting meet. Thirty one lifters took part in bringing their best to the platform. In the women’s flight, newcomer Pamela Anderson, a 47kg Junior class lifter set seven Provincial records in her first meet - including a 120kg un-equipped deadlift! Ashley Jennings, Becky Lauridsen, Theoni Gill, Martha Woodruff and Amiee Mergaert also set new BC Provincial records in their respective divisions. Veteran equipped lifter, and Team Canada athlete, Jaquie Sandu had a great day on the platform as well and finished with a 385 wilks. Jaquie also won the women’s best lifter award.

Jeff Toms

James Halladay

Strength From The Shadows

Gabe Festing Men’s Best Lifter

In my experience the key to success is to do the opposite of what most would advise. Be unhappy where you are! The sooner you can accept that things won’t be easy, that I’d like to start this article with a little background about they won’t be ‘fair’ and that you don’t deserve to be happy myself. My name is Craig Bongelli and apart from comuntil you accomplish your goal the sooner you will start peting as a strongman in Ontario I am also a gym owner and personal trainer. Over my years as a personal trainer I making strides towards it! Lose your fat attitude and you have seen many amazing transformations as well as turn- will start losing weight, or increasing your bench press or becoming better at that which truly matters to you. ing my 150 pound body into my current 300 pound one. I’m writing this article to outline what I feel is the single “What you are must always displease you, if you would biggest hurdle standing between people and their goals: a attain that which you are not. – St. Augustine fat attitude. Do You Have A Fat Attitude?

I coined the term fat attitude while trying to figure out how to tell, upon starting with a client, if they would make a successful transformation. I’ve noticed there are no tangible trends with those who find success with their goals (in all areas in life) and those who don’t. I’ve witness people who seemingly possess every advantage fail while those who’ve found themselves behind the 8 ball work their way out and all the way to their goal. The one trend I found was not money, free time, a great support system, the right trainer etc it was attitude! We’re all bombarded with the importance of being positive, with putting ourselves first and not allowing negative self talk. Facebook is bombarded with quotes pasted on pretty picture expounding the dangers of a negative mind set. First of all, a negative attitude is not necessarily a bad thing. The greatest achievers I’ve witnessed were all negative with themselves, they were driven to change and improve because they weren’t happy where they were. This is the first piece of a fat attitude, the perceived right to be happy all the time. Winston Churchill once said, “One does not leave a convivial party before closing time.” If you want to squat 500 lbs and you currently squat 300 lbs don’t talk yourself into being happy with it, be upset! Stay upset until you’ve worked long and hard enough that you can squat 500 lbs and then be happy with what you’ve accomplished! Another characteristic of a fat attitude is the idea that progress should be easy! It’s interesting to me to watch trainees rationalize what effort they’re willing to put forth and what result they believe will be owed to them based on this. Nothing about achieving a goal is going to be fair, you can’t negotiate, you can simply agree to do what it takes or not. I recently read an interview with a top strongman who weighs 380 lbs and eats 4-5000 calories a day. I’m struggling to eat 7000 a day to weigh 310 lbs! This is ‘unfair’ but I can either do what I have to do to get bigger or I can not get bigger, I don’t have any other options. Strength From The Shadows

Warm-Up, Lift More? By Cassie Dionne, BPHE, MScPT, Registered Physiotherapist

If you ask most serious strength athletes they will tell you that they give everything they have during their training, leaving nothing behind. They work hard, and they are proud of it. They train six days a week, and are diligent with their nutrition and supplements. They are entirely focused on their next competition.

and muscle temperature but also in stimulating your nervous system, activating all of the muscles you will use during your lifts, actively stretching tight muscles, and decreasing your risk of injury.

So, what does this type of warm-up look like? A combination of exercises including inchworms, dynamic deep lunge to hamstring stretches, lateral shuffles, skipping, pushups, bodyweight squats, sprints, and some plyometric squats and lunges to finish. By the end of it you should have broken out into a sweat, forgot about any stresses of But, there is one thing that is all too often neglected, the warm-up. I don’t know exactly what it is about the warm- the day and be ready both mentally and physically to go pull some heavy weight. up that makes it seem so easy to skip. Perhaps it is laziness, time constraints, or simply not understanding how The simple truth is that a good warm-up will give a lifter important the warm-up actually is. Regardless of the reason, I would argue that this is a crucial piece of the puzzle more ability to lift heavier loads and decrease their chance of injury -all things that lead to achieving success during that is missing from most strength and conditioning proyour training and, most importantly, success on competigrams. tion day. Now, when I say warm-up, I do not mean throwing light Bottom line: If you aren’t warming up properly, you aren’t weight on your bench and hitting 10 reps before going straight into your 1RM. This may be the type of warm-up optimizing your performance and you are putting yourself at risk for injury. So, do yourself a favour and start incoryou are used to, but it is not going to cut it if you want to porating a dynamic warm-up in your program. Make time optimize your performance and decrease your chance of for it, and commit to doing it before every training sesinjury. sion. You won’t regret it when you’re smashing a PB at your next lifting competition. So, let’s talk about the warm-up. What is it, what does it entail and really, will it make that much of a difference on your lifts? When I look in the gym I most often see one of two types of warm-ups:

Cassie Dionne, BPHE, MScPT, Registered Physiotherapist Cassie is a competitive powerlifter and the Lead Physiotherapist of Taylored Training Fitness Studio, located in Kingston, Ontario. www.tayloredtraining.ca.

1. The non-existent warm-up: The one where an athlete walks straight into the weight room, and starts lifting. Maybe they throw on some light weight like I mentioned above, do that for one set and then are right into the heavy stuff. 2. The ‘Old-School’ warm-up: Hold a few stretches for 30+ seconds, walk on the treadmill, jump on the bike, then move right on to their training session. This is what needs to change. These warm-ups, or lackthere-of, are not doing anything to help prepare the body for the heavy loads about to be lifted. This is why preworkout all athletes (including strength athletes!) should be dynamically stretching and going through a ‘movement preparation’. In other words, going through controlled movements that require them to use and build upon their own strength. This dynamic warm-up literally “warms-up” the body and succeeds in not only increasing your core Strength From The Shadows

COMPETING IN ICELAND WORLD’S STRONGEST DISABLED MAN

Friday, The Viking Village. This was like Medieval Times but with a Vikings theme.

By Jeff King

The athletes and events meeting was at a local diner similar to SWISS CHALET here in Canada. Here and then DATELINE: August, 2012: I found out about this event we found out the events we would be doing the next two from the Ironmind web site. After a Google and Facebook search I found some information and was on a roll. I days. (There was a post online on Facebook about the events but it was in Icelandic and Google translate didn’t contacted the host of the contest, former 4x WORLD’S STRONGEST MAN title holder, Magnus Ver Magnusson help much.) and sent him my background info of strength, training and arm wrestling. As well, information on my disability Ce- This was the 10th annual edition of the WORLD’S STRONGEST DISABLED MAN CONTEST. rebral Palsy (CP). STANDING CATEGORY EVENTS: SEATED ARM OVER ARM TRUCK PULL 3 ½ ton couShortly after, Magnus Ver rier van on an uphill incline: had me contact his event (This was a good event for me. But it was lighter than I partner Arnar’ Mar.“Just expected so I lost my hand control when it got rolling. get a flight over here and we will take care of you for Still finished in a good time.) LOG CLEAN & PRESS FOR REPS: 70 kg and 90 sec. the contest and everytime limit. thing!” That was pretty MOORING BIT CARRY: 80 kg Walk til you drop it. much it. (This was a fun event really. Similar to a Husafel Stone So with a ticket to fly from Toronto to Rakyevik and pass- Carry but also a duck walk carrying the bit in the shape of a Viking cross in the crooks of the arms.) port in hand I was ready to go! Though not really knowing what to expect but with a sense and hope that this was SEATED CATEGORY EVENTS: SEATED ARM OVER ARM TRUCK PULL 3 ½ ton courier van on an uphill ingoing to be something. cline: Something more that disabled could compete in instead of only Para bench press or arm wrestling. As a handicapped (Event was done seated in a wheelchair which was harnessed to the back of the second truck behind them.) strength athlete this was the culmination of 20 plus years LOG INCLINE PRESS FOR REPS 70 kg and 90 sec. time of lifting weights! I had always trained intensely for the limit. better part of the year so it wasn’t like “OH NO! Now I (Lifter was seated belted to the incline bench here.) got to get ready!” Approximately 1 month and counting down. I just tweaked a few things like adding hand over hand truck or sled pulls and stone lifting into the weekly schedule which I didn’t have access to before. I DID know about a “Standing” category and “Seated” or wheelchair category. I signed up in the Standing class because I’m not wheelchair bound in everyday life and I can/do train my legs with a few alterations from the normal. So fast forwarding to October 17th : I was on Icelandair over the Atlantic Ocean “riding on eagles” for 2 days of competition between Paul Bunyan and The Mighty Thor. The Nordic Vikings and the Canadian Lumberjacks. I arrived Thursday morning at 6:30 a.m. (2:30 a.m. back home) and was picked up at the airport by Arnarr and we drove to the event hotel and contest venue for Day one on

Was disappointed with the Log Clean and Press after Day one. Wanted to just do better overall. Especially since it was for television. there and the log was a weight I’d done several times in training. (???) I still competed well overall considering I was actually lifting against guys who were mostly developmentally disabled with things like brain injuries or autism but physically 100% able bodied. A few of them competing in regular strongman and powerlifting in Europe as well. The athletes in the seated class were different types of physical disabilities. Spina Bifida, amputee/prosthetic limbs and another competitor had CP same as me but more severe where he used the walking canes with very little use of his legs. These competed in things like Paralympics powerlifting/Bench Press and arm wrestling.

Strength From The Shadows

Just to clarify my case, I have Cerebral Palsy, which is a physical disability caused by a lack of oxygen at birth which happened when you are born breached of feet first mostly. This affects things like balance, hand – eye co ordination, hip gait (walk with a limp) and the body’s development on the affected side of the body. In some cases speech and cognitive learning abilities are affected as well. In all cases the amount of time the baby is deprived of oxygen determines the severity. Mine is not as severe as other where they have almost no use of some limbs and ARE wheelchair bound and/or a speech impediment . I do not need a wheelchair is everyday life as I said earlier and I’m not considered developmentally disabled but not physically 100% either here. So I was certainly “Mr. In Between” here same as back home in Canada and was having to fight up from the bottom ….again this time too. The second day had some good events for me too with the Hercules Hold and Silver Dollar 18” Deadlift for reps though so I could improve my overall performance then.

for the awards presentations so OK time to soldier up and do something out there! Also having a 4x World’s Strongest Man winner watching you lift, failing isn’t acceptable! Did the deadlift but might’ve gotten another rep or two if I didn’t land it crooked and couldn’t reset the steel boxes. DOH! But happy to show I could get on the scoreboard here too. Winning number on the deadlift was 18 reps! ) SEATED CATEGORY EVENTS: (Events were all done seated in a wheelchair.) Seated Hercules Hold (Same weight and time limit as the Standing category’s) Seated Crucifix Hold for max time. (22 lbs. Protein Powder Bucket in each hand, palms up grip.) Atlas Stones (60, 110, 150, 175 lbs.) (Stones were loaded from one barrel across to the other with a spotter pushing the wheelchair in between the two barrels for a 90 second time limit.) Although I am disappointed in myself with my overall placing I still did well and had a GREAT experience and gained a lot of competitive experience for next time. Next year I was asked about doing the seated category and that is what I intend to do and will be able to show better more of what I can do!

Thanks to everyone who supported me in training DAY 2 OCT. 20TH: There was a new contest venand getting to Iceland for the contest and thanks to Mague indoors with 3 more events. nus Ver, Arnarr and all their crew while we were over STANDING CATEGORY EVENTS: there for the contest. Atlas Stones 110, 155, 175, 200 lbs. lifted from the floor to barrels 90 sec. (Standard style you normally see in strongman here.) Hercules Hold for max time. 80 kg/176 lbs. a side (Weights in barrels held on pulleys.) (I won this event with a 1:26 time. It was good and a gradual strain with forklifts releasing the barrels on the “GO!” Really happy to win this one. They interviewed me for the television. after that event.) Silver Dollar 18” Deadlift for reps with 420 lbs. 90 sec. time limit. (I liked this event too. Very bottom heavy so I had to PUUUULLLLLL!!!! Then it popped up like doing banded deadlifts in the gym. The Kinsmen/Kiwanis Club version there sponsored the contest to a large degree and brought some handicapped kids to watch the contest and Strength From The Shadows

Chris Fudge is strength coach and athlete. His education background started with a two year sport management diploma from Holland College where he specialized in health and fitness obtaining his Canadian Society of Exercise Physiology CSEP Certified Fitness Consultant and Personal Trainer. Over the two years he also obtained his American Council of Exercise Personal Trainer Certification which led him into his career. From here he worked for the College in the Eye of the Hurricane Fitness center where he trained students and staff creating and assessing individuals from a variety of backgrounds. Chris’s passion moved him to New Brunswick where while obtaining his bachelors of Kinesiology degree and physical education degrees, he worked for the University in different facets. He started with the Varsity sports teams training most teams as the head strength and conditioning coach. When not working with the athletes he was working with the public in the fitness assessment lab running fitness assessments and tests for the Criminal Justice Systems, New Brunswick Power, RCMP and assisting with ongoing University studies. When not working there Chris worked as a personal trainer for the campus running individual training, small group training, seniors programs (happy hearts) and boot camps. His passion carried over into a career after University. Chris is now a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist through the NSCA, Lean Eating Coach through Dr. John Berardi and Precision Nutrition, NCCP Weightlifting and Basketball coach and recently certified as a Fascial Stretch Therapist under the world’s first Certified Stretch Experts Chris and Anne Frederick . These are some of the education tools Chris uses at his day to day job as a Level 5 Personal Trainer within Goodlife fitness. Chris also teaches for the company as a Personal Training Specialist. Chris was recently awarded the 2011-2012 Personal Trainer of the year award within Canada and prides himself on client’s results first.

His extensive background allows him to work with a large diverse group of people from rehabilitation, mobility for the elderly to muscle bulking, significant weight loss, body weight manipulation for weight class athletes, team training, endurance and strength training such as powerlifting. Training under world class strongman trainer Eoin Lacey from the Irish Strength Institute has added to Chris’s ability to diversify specific training principals to produce the best results based programs for his clients. As a powerlifter official and athlete himself he understands the sport requirements and says using his recovery tools such as fascial stretch therapy allows him to train at a high level but most importantly stay injury free. Chris writes, speaks and teaches for different organizations and is currently working on his Level 6 PT and Level 2 Fascial Stretch Therapist certification to be amongst only a dozen or less in Canada. Chris will next be seen competing at the OPA Classic and then Equipped Powerlifting and Bench Press Championships in December and January in Belle River and London Ontario. Chris truly believes you can only train as hard as you recover and if you’re training has you in the same spot for over a year, your training is at fault. To hire Chris’s services for · Weight loss · Weigh gain · Weight cutting · Weight lifting · Personal training · Strength and conditioning · Nutritional programming · Powerlifting coaching · Seminars · Recovery work with trigger point therapy · Fascial stretch therapy · Teaching/writing Christopher.Fudge@goodlifemakesiteasy.com Tel: (c) 613-218-5522 (w) 613-590-1499

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Rich “Tiger” Singh Athletic Goals for 2013: Primary goal for 2013 is to join the two guys in Canadian history who have benched 365 kg (804.7 lbs) or more in a competition Ambitious goal is to take and ideally complete a legitimate attempt at 400 kg (881.8 lbs) at a competition.

Basic Stats: Name: Rich “Tiger” Singh Age: 24 Height: 5’ 11 Hometown: Kitchener, Ontario Bodyweight: 320-340 lbs Bench Press Competitor in the CPF (WPC Affiliate) for 5 years and counting Favourite Quote: Obsessed is the word lazy people use when they’re trying to say ‘dedicated’ Best Competition Lift: 322.5 kg (710.9 lbs), 8th highest competition bench in Canadian history.

Major Wins and Records: Best Heavyweight Teen Bencher AWPC Worlds: 2007 Best Heavyweight Teen Bencher WPC Worlds: 2008 Best Heavyweight Junior Bencher AWPC Worlds: 2011 Best Bencher CPF Nationals: 2012 Best Junior Bencher Can-Am Championships: 2012 Best Junior Bencher WPC Worlds: 2012 AWPC Teen 18-19 World Record 125 kg: 207.5 kg (2007) WPC Teen 18-19 World Record 140 kg: 255 kg (2008) AWPC Junior World Record 140+kg: 272.5 kg (2012), set it previously at 240 kg (2011)

Strength From The Shadows

The M3 women’s group had another Canadian, Carol Brady of Caledonia, ON, in the 63 kg class. Her performance was a mirror of Janet’s, missing just one lift, her second Texas. Killeen is known for 2 things, being the home of bench press, and setting the largest military base in the world, Fort Hood, and for Canadian records on evbeing the home of Johnny Graham, one of the busiest ery lift. powerlifting promoters on the planet. Johnny has hosted Because of the limited numerous USA national meets, collegiate and high-school number of competitors, nationals, and a number of previous world championships. the M3 women’s categoJohnny is the Vice-President of the IPF as well. If there’s ry uses a formula to comone thing this man knows well, it’s how to run a big meet. pare the lifters in all categories to determine The venue is the Killeen Conference and Civic center, the medal placing. By located right next door to the contest hotel, the Shiloh Inn, this formula, Janet came out in the Silver medal spot, out and both are excellent of 7 lifters, and Carol captured 5th spot. facilities for our needs. The civic center has a We had no ladies in the M2, and just one in the M1 group, large hall for the contest, 40-49, Ontario’s MiMi McRae. This was MiMi’s first with adjoining smaller time on the world stage, and she did well, making 7 out of rooms for the warm-up 9 lifts, setting some personal bests. We see a bright future areas. Early October in for MiMi, with some more training. She lifts out of Niagsouth Texas it was still ara, where the Niagara PL club is very active. In fact the over 30 degrees every Niagara club hosted this same meet last year, the IPF day, so we were thankful World Masters. for good air-conditioning.

The 2012 IPF World Masters Championships took place in Killeen Texas, a small city in south

Canada sent 19 lifters to down to this meet, 16 men and 3 women, with many of our men nominated first in their weight classes, so we knew we were going to be the team to beat this year. Master Worlds normally runs with a mix of ages and weight classes on each day, going from the lighter weight classes to the heavier, but to make for a bit easier reading we will take a look at each age category where we had Canadian lifters.

In the Men’s M4, 60-69, we had just one lifter, Jack Taylor of Ontario. Jack continued the trend of the ladies, going 8 for 9 as well, missing just his opener squat for depth. The Men’s M4 is also done by formula across all weight classes, and Jack finished up 7th out of 11 lifters.

Moving down the ages to the Men’s M3, 50-59, the competition starts to heat up. Although it threatened to cool off quite a bit at first. Glyn Moore, president of the aforementioned Niagara Powerlifting club, host of the world Quebec’s Janet Warne was out first lifter, competing in the masters last year, and Gold medalist in his 74 kg weight class, setting world records while doing so, was defending Master 3 (60 to 69) age his title. Glyn’s training had been off, and he only decided group, 57 kg weight class. She did not disap- to come to Killeen for sure about 2 weeks prior. It showed point, making 8 out of 9 in his lifting, as Glyn could not get his squats down deep attempts, picking up Ca- enough to satisfy the judges. When a lifter is unable to get a lift passed in one of the 3 disciplines, known as “bombnadian national records ing out”, they are still allowed to continue and compete for on all lifts, with a squat individual lift medals, though they cannot get an overall of 120 kg, a bench of standing medal. Glyn opted to not continue. 67.5 and deadlift of 120 also.

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In the 83 kg class however it was considerably different. Nova Scotia’s Ron Delaney came in as the favourite, and did not let us down. Ron squatted 230 kg, getting him the silver in squat, actually tied with Kitano of Japan, but Kitano was the lighter bodyweight. Kitano then bombed out on the bench while Ron got a nice 142.5, again getting silver behind Ludecke of Germany. Ron two lift total however was enough to put him out in front overall, and he never looked back from there. If there’s one thing that Canadian powerlifters are known for, it’s deadlifting. Ron’s 255 opener was the biggest, save only for Hungary’s Janos Fabri at 260. Ron was already ahead of Fabri by about 20 kg. When Fabri failed on 2 tries at 275, and Ron made his second lift at 265, it was all over. In the end, Ron beat out all 8 other lifters, by 20 kg or more to become World Champion!

squat. He was behind by 15 after the squat to USA’s Gonzales. Gonzales was a big bencher, putting Ron a full 37.5 kg behind at sub-total time. It looked like a mountain to climb. But for anyone that has ever seen Ron deadlift, you know that it’s his lift. He told us, “just load up whatever I need to win, and I’ll pull it.”

At 105 we had Alberta’s Gord Chenkie. This was Gord’s first time at Worlds, and he was new to geared lifting as well. A little too new to bench shirts. Gord squatted okay, missing his opener on depth, good enough for a bronze medal in squat though. Come to the bench though, the shirts gave him difficulty. He had trouble getting the bar down to his chest, and when he did, it would spring back up or wobble around before getting the Press command. The end result, no bench presses passed.

In a strength sport like powerlifting, it’s well known that many do not achieve their best lifting until after age 40. Dr. Fred Hatfield, a.k.a. “Dr. Squat” became one of the first men to squat over 1000 pounds at age 41. So the most competitive age group in the World Masters is always the Men’s 40 – 49 class, and this year, Canada was the team to beat, with many of our lifters nominated totals placing them first.

The American was not a puller, missing his final at 287.5, getting him an 820 k total. The meant Ron had to pull 320 kg to tie the total and win on bodyweight. When you see a video later, a big deadlift takes 3 or 4 seconds. When you Ontario’s Miroslav Koprnicky was in the 93 kg class in this age group, and lifted very well also, only missing his see it live, and know that the gold medal is on the line, it last squat, just a little too heavy this day. Miro finished up seems to take 3 or 4 minutes to come up. Pull it he did, GOLD medal for Mr. Strong! 5th in the class.

At Master 2, 50-59, we had three lifters. Nova Scotia’s John Fraser has been a CPU veteran for many years, and had lifted at this level before. While the aches and pains of age were troubling John a bit, his experience showed, John showed great form on all of his lifts, finishing with a 602.5 total, and 6th place in the class.

We got off to a bit of a rocky start though. Edmonton’s Lewis Noppers, was lifting in the 66 kg class, that’s about 145 lbs. Except Lewis’s normal bodyweight is about 14 lbs heavier than this. He could have entered the 74 kg class, except we had another great lifter there already, and Lewis was chasing a world record in the deadlift in the 66.

It was a tough weight cut for Lewis. He made it, but the weight cut was difficult for him, he came in to the weighOntario’s James Abraham, was lifting in his first Worlds, in looking drawn and thin, like a POW camp refugee. By and a great day, going 7 for 9, missing just his final squats IPF rules, a contest starts just 2 hours after the start of the and dead’s. It should be noted that the main competition weigh-in, and this was just not enough time for Lewis to in the class was Ron Garofalo and Dan Austin, two of the get back to feeling normal. He went for an opening squat best ever, Austin in particular is firmly in the “legend” catof 215 kg, “too high” said the judges. Bumped it up to egory, and James out-benched him. Good for bronze 220, with the same result. Same on the third try. Lewis overall, and silver in the bench, not bad for a first timer. had bombed out, like Glyn before him. Unlike Glyn, he chose to continue on though, and by the time of the bench Emeryville Ontario’s Ron Strong, silver medalist in this he was rehydrating and feeling better, enough to get silver class on four previous occasions was on a mission, and in the bench, with a nice 147.5 kg. The deadlift has alwould not be denied. He even bought a shirt, “Strong is ways been Lewis’s lift, and he’d planned to take a shot at Never Wrong”. Ron set a national record 300 kg in the the world record of 270 kg at this meet. But after a second Strength From The Shadows

dead of 250 kg, giving him the gold in the dead’s, and making it look easy, he decided to leave the record for another day and passed on his third. Records don’t count if you don’t get a total. He’ll have another chance soon though, as Lewis will be lifting again at the Men’s Open worlds in Puerto Rico at the end of October. The 74 kg class had Tom Kean of Newfoundland lifting. Tom is one of the best lifters Canada has ever seen, and he was out to prove this to the world. Tom is a real technician of the lifts; he executed his squats perfectly, 260, 270 and 275 without a problem. 185 opener bench was easy, the second at 190 was turned down, too low on the chest, but he got it easy on the third. Dead’s was similarly easy, missing just the final pull of 277.5. This gave Tom 737.5 total, any easy win by over 20 kg, and a Wilks formula total of 531.5, less than 1 point better than USA's Eric Kupperstein. This number withstood the challenges of 3 more days of lifting, leaving Tom as Best Lifter in the men's Master one. Great work Tom!

good day for him, getting just one squat in at 300 kg, but his massive 255 bench helped keep him in the running, despite missing a third at 260. Dave was in a battle with Mario Schnurr of Germany for the win. Schnurr is a seasoned lifter, winner of previous world titles, and no stranger to platform pressure. It came down to the last deads for both. Dave had made 275 on his second, though it looked a bit heavy, putting him 7.5 ahead. He went for 280 on his third to lock it in, but it proved too heavy today. This left the door open for Schnurr to go for 310 for the win, a lift we all expected to be easy for him, but it did not pass his knees today. Gold for Canada! Next up was the 105's, where we had Vancouver's Joe Oliveira. Joe was up against some tough competition here from USA's Ken Gack. Joe and Ken both squatted 310, with Joe getting the squat gold on lighter body weight. The American had the better bench, 242.5 compared to Joe's 212.5, while Joe had the better pull, 285 compared to 275. Joe ended up in the silver spot, which would prove very important to us.

By the end of the 4th day the team scoring in Master 1 was Canada with 3 golds at 12 points each, one silver for The 83 kg had the age9, and one bronze, 8, totaling 53. The USA had 2 gold and less wonder, Jeff Becker a bronze, good for just 33, except... they had two very of Ontario. Jeff is the good lifters in the 120+ class that was still to come, exkind of lifter where his pected to finish gold and silver. This would put us tied. opener, especially his (Only the best 5 from each country count towards team squats, will look like real- titles). ly tough, like if he added 2.5 kilos more he'd be crushed. But he'll add 7 to 10 kg However Canada had a secret weapon, a.k.a. Sheldon and just grind it out. His third lift will seem to take about Duncan in the 120 kg class. The USA had no lifter in the 10 minutes to come up, he will just not quit on it. Such 120 class, so we knew that if Duncan was able get us a was the case today, netting him a solid 292.5. He went silver, there was no way the US could catch us. on to an easy win, gold in every lift and over 50 kg up on second place. First off, Sheldon proceeded to scare the hell out of us by getting crushed by his last warm-up squat of 260, 10 kg In the same class we also lighter than his opener. "I think I'll change back to the had Hoi Leung of St. Cathasuit I did my training in" he said, with about a minute to rines. Hoi also had a great the start of lifting. day, missing just his final bench and dead, coming Our worries were unfoundaway with a 700 kg total, a ed, as Sheldon squatted personal best I believe. 270, 282, 290, all good. Sheldon's only real competiDave Walters was returning tion in the class was the champion at 83, looking to deNetherlands Michael Kalter, fend the title. He had not such a a veteran champion. New Strength From The Shadows

Zealand's Steve Lousich was also in the class, good squatter, a great bencher, but weak on the deadâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s, so not really a factor on the total race. Kalter squatted 320, for a 30 kg lead. He had some trouble on his bench though, managing just 210, while Sheldon pushed up 227.5 to close the gap to 12.5. Kalter is a good puller though, managing 315. Sheldon had done 302.5, and by this point we knew the silver medal was a lock, so we went for broke, put in 327.5 for the win. Sheldon gave it his all, and got it about 6 inches off the ground, about 6 more than I think anyone expected, even Sheldon! So Canada had locked up the Master 1 team title, the first time in 20 years! We had one more Master 1 lifter though, Ontario's Peter McGill in the 120+ class, lifting on the last day. Pete is a fairly new lifter, and this was his first worlds. While not really a contender for the class medals, Pete still lifted really well, getting personal bests in every lift. All of the coaching staff thought that Pete has a lot of untapped potential, and since he moves into the M2 class in the next year, he will be a force to reckon with next year. All things considered, this was one of the best overall outings that Canada has ever had at the World level. Thanks need to go out to all of the lifters that worked so hard, and those that helped with coaching duties, Glyn Moore and Tom Kean in particular. One other person, someone unknown to me before this event, was our unofficial team doctor, Aras Kvedaras. Aras (pronounced Audis, no idea why) is a chiropractor from south Ontario, and worked with many of the team members from that area. He was doing adjustments on our team members, and working with lifters from other countries that had injuries. He came down at his own cost, and was a big help to all. Many family members also, thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s for your cheering and flag waving! Full results can be seen on the IPF website, at http://www.powerlifting-ipf.com/352.html Next year the Masters is in Orlando Florida and I think every single team member told me they plan to be there. Of course they have to earn that right in Vancouver next year at nationals. See you all there! Mike Armstrong, Head Coach Strength From The Shadows

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NEED A PRO'S HELP WITH TRAINING, DIET, OR SUPPLEMENTATION?

Brian Carroll has been a competitive powerlifter since 1999, when he broke into the sport with bench-only competitions. In 2004, within a year of his first full power meet, he finished second at the WPC Worlds in the open class as a junior â&#x20AC;&#x201C; totalling 2000 pounds. Since then, Brian has recorded numerous toptwo finishes, including the WPC Worlds, WPO Finals, APF Seniors, the IPA Pro-Am, SPF Pro-am and the XPC Coalition Meet, as well as setting All-time World records in multiple weight classes. For the past 9 years, Brian has consistently added an average of 90+ pounds to his total each year, going from 1752 to 2730 over this span. Brian is self - employed as trainer (both online and in person) as well as a massage therapist in Jacksonville, FL - where he owns his own massage and personal training business. Brian enjoys coaching lifters, guiding their training, nutrition, supplementation and watching them succeed. Brian is available for coaching and consults and can be reached at BrianCarroll.lmt@gmail.com Best official lifts: 220 - 1030WR Squat, 633 Bench, 755 Dead - 2375 total - 10th best all-time* 242 - 1064 Squat, 785 Bench, 771 Dead - 2570 total - 5th best all-time* 275 - 1185WR Squat, 815 Bench, 800 Dead - 2730 total - 2nd best all-time* *one of only 3 lifters in the history of powerlifting to have a top 10 biggest total in 3 different weight classes, at the same time Sponsored by EliteFTS.com (Cream of the crop as far as strength training) and part of the Q&A staff. Training log can be viewed, here: http://asp.elitefts.net/qa/training-logs.asp?tid=189&__N=Brian%20Carroll Personal website: Briangcarroll.com YouTube page: http://www.youtube.com/user/bigcarroll81?feature=mhee Strength From The Shadows