House of Pain

Tucked away at the end of a cul-desac in a quiet Norman neighborhood is an unassuming home owned by a man with a common name. But what goes on in that house is anything but normal. In fact, it’s extraordinary. For more than three decades, Bob White has been training athletes in a two-car garage he has converted into an Olympic-style weightlifting gym that’s become known as the “White House of Pain.” The 87-year-old calls it a professional training environment with an extensive list of no-nonsense rules posted on the wall along with scads of photos, clippings and articles from newspapers, magazines and other publications featuring protégés from his gym. Through his Team Metro program, White has trained hundreds of young people over the years, but his walls of fame are reserved for the very best, the Division 1 college athletes, and, yes, the Olympians who have trained in his garage. The mechanical engineer, who trained at the University of Oklahoma in the 1950s, designed and built this gym, using conventions of the age-old sport along with a few of his own innovations. He also has a digital camera and a high-resolution television to film and help hone the skills of young lifters working to perfect the technique, strength and balance that are required in competition. Scuffed and battered with heavy use, his gym is open, free of charge, but it’s not for just anybody. “Someone has to sponsor you in,” White said. “No one has the right to come in. We’re pretty selective. This is not a YMCA, a health club or a cross fit. This is a facility designed to make Olympic-caliber weightlifters.” White has been coaching young people for many years, whether in his gym or on the softball field or baseball diamond, he teaches them the joy of excellence and achievement. But there is much more to his story. He was a scholarship pitcher at OU, and he played semiprofessional baseball as a young man, and has never really lost the drive to play and compete. He worked as a volunteer coach, pitching batting practice for the Sooners for many years, and White still has a mound and a backstop set up in his back yard, where – at 87 – he still strives to throw a 50-mph fastball. But some of his greatest accomplishments have come from his garage, where he still trains for national and international competition. The Oklahoma Weightlifting Hall of Fame member holds titles ranging from national champion in the master’s class to gold medalist in the Pan American Championships. He even has a couple fourth place finishes in the International Weightlifting Federation’s Masters World Games in 2013 and 2017. “My goal right now is to be world champion when I’m 90,” White said. White has recently dealt with heart issues and he has battled prostate cancer, but he doesn’t seem to be concerned. He not only has the drive to compete and the facility for training, he’s assembled a team of doctors and other care givers, such a physical therapist, a masseuse, a chiropractor and even a favorite minister to help his aging body reach his world championship goal. White says his resting heart rate is 64 and his cholesterol level is 157. “Some people would kill to have their cholesterol at 157, but I think it should be a little higher. My doctors tell me it’s fine where it is, so I’m not worried about it.” Long-time friend, former world record holder and two-time Olympian Shane Hamman said his money is on White. “There aren’t many people that are lifting when they’re 90, so if he can still do it when he’s 90, he probably will win, and that would be pretty cool,” Hamman said. Hamman met White in 1996 while working out at the U.S.A. Stars Gym in Norman. At that point, Hamman was already a world class lifter, bound for the Olympics in 2000 and in 2004. He holds the U.S. record for the snatch, the clean and jerk, and, until recently, he held the world record in the squat, which stood at 1,008 pounds. Hamman, of Tulsa, says he’s still considered the strongest man in America. Hamman said he remembers the day he met White.

“Bob walked up and asked if he could lift with me,” Hamman said. “He explained that he had just beaten cancer, and his doctor told him that he needed to be more active.” “He wasn’t intimidated” Hamman said. “We trained together for about a year and a half. I taught him a lot about lifting, and he taught me a lot about other stuff. It just started a lifelong time together. He’s a pretty remarkable story.” Former OU football player Riley Nolan shares Hamman’s admiration for White. Nolan, OU’s 2016 Scout Team Player of the Year, said he started training in White’s gym while playing high school football at Norman North. “I’ve known him for 14 or 15 years, and he’s happy to help the community, and he has a good heart. He’s a good dude.” Nolan said White worked with him and help him achieve his dream of making the Sooner’s football squad as a walkon, playing center on the practice team, snapping balls for Heisman Trophy winners Baker Mayfield and Kyler Murray. “He’s like a grandpa,” Nolan said. “If I ever needed him, I could call him any day.” Due to his weightlifting accomplishments, White has been featured in the media many times, including a story on ESPN. But he bristles at the idea that weightlifting is the sum of his identity. A tour of his home illustrates a full life, rich with experiences and interests he shared with his wife, Bonnie, who died in 2019 after 65 years of marriage. He used to drive a Lola T-592s at Okla

homa’s Hallett Motor Racing Circuit and at other race venues across the country. He’s an artist who has sold paintings at galleries in Houston, Dallas, Oklahoma City and Denver, and he owns a 1976 Rolls Royce Silver Shadow. It’s the extended wheelbase model, which he said is very rare, especially in the United States. Another thing he’s proud of is the three decades he spent coaching a women’s church-league softball team from McFarlin United Methodist Church in Norman. He said the team, known as the McFarlin Whites, was so accomplished that he’s campaigning for induction into the Oklahoma Softball Hall of Fame. “We were good,” said Kristin Meier, who played on the team for about 15 years. “He was extremely dedicated to the team.” He would show up to practice early to drag the field before the players arrived, and drills were intense, she said. The team would play double headers on Thursday nights and traveled to tournaments. “It was a wonderful experience. He was gruff at first,” Meier said. “He’s so intense about everything he does, but he loved his players, and there were so many things he said to us that I still remember. He taught us that it was fun to be excellent.” Former OU football player Nolan doesn’t lift as much as he used to, but he still drops by the gym, just to visit. He smiles as he walks through White’s house, full of his paintings and memorabilia. “Bob’s had pretty much the coolest life ever.”– 19SM

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