WPO at the Arnold

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Mike Wolfley surpassed Jason Coker's all-time Record bench press of 711 pounds in the 198 class with an effort of 737 pounds at yesterday's WPO World Record Bench Bash at the Arnold Classic.

Joe Ceklovsky benched 503 pounds yesterday at the WPO World Record Bench Bash to claim the 148 pound weight class WPO World Record. Ceklovsky's 503 moved him ahead of August Clark's 501 pounds.

Brad Heck benched 679 pounds yesterday in the WPO World Record Bench Bash at the Arnold Classic to push his own all-time Record in the 181's up from 666 pounds.

Andy Bolton set two new WPO Superheavyweight World Records yesterday at the WPO Finals at the Arnold Classic. Bolton first took Jeff Lewis' squat record by a single pound then Lewis' total record by five pounds with an unofficial 2,804 pound total. Bolton also attempted to break his own deadlift record of 1,003 pounds with a 1,008 pound final pull, but came up short.

Evgen Yarymbash squatted 1,122 pounds yesterday at the WPO Finals to overtake Chuck Vogelpohl's WPO World Record in the 275 class of 1,118 pounds.

Brian Schwab bench 572 pounds on Friday in the WPO Finals at the Arnold Classic to claim the WPO three lift bench press World Record in the 165 pound weight class. Schwab's effort surpasses Oleksandr Kutcher's mark of 551 pounds set at last year's WPO Finals.

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Re: WPO at the Arnold

Brian Schwab On Competing In The WPO

Life’s a journey........

My WPO number is 17.

I’ve been competing in this federation since its' inception. In this time I’ve had the honor of sharing the stage with some of the greatest lifters to ever walk the planet including Ed Coan, Travis Mash, Chuck Vogelpohl, Steve Goggins, Paul Childress, and many, many more. I’ve competed against the likes of Olexandr Kutcher, Tony Conyers, Ron Palmer, Wade Hooper, Angelo Berardinelli, Nick Hatch and more. I saw George Halbert bench 733 @ 220 at one of my first meets. Garry Frank broke the all time highest total time and time again, Jeff Lewis squatted 1200, Andy Bolton deadlifted 1003 and I was there. I witnessed larger than life Anthony Clark compete before his unfortunate and untimely death. I had a conversation with Glen Chabot at my first Arnold before he disappeared from our sport. I’ve spoken with Louie Simmons, the ultimate guru of Powerlifting, on numerous occasions. It was at a WPO meet that Dave Tate gave me the privilege of being one of the chosen few lifters to call themselves part of the Elite Fitness Team. I’ve built lasting friendships with some of my competitors including Brian Tincher, my now business partner, Dan Petrillo, Brian Strickland, Brad Heck, Joe Mazza, and Eric Talmant. I have even accomplished my dream of opening my own Powerlifting Gym, Orlando Barbell, and now have the gift of coaching up and coming Powerlifters. Tomorrow will be the first time I have ever competed as a full 165 in the WPO. I hope to make this part of my destination a memorable moment for others.

There’s a battle ahead.

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Re: WPO at the Arnold

Matt Kroczaleski Talks About His WPO Finals Experience

My Arnold Meet Report

Making weight

Tuesday-
12:00 noon 250lbs
4:00pm 242lbs (hot baths got me to here)
8:00pm 235lbs (drive to Columbus with heat on full blast and sweat clothes got me 7lbs.)
10:00pm 231lbs (started steam room in hotel bathroom)
(slept from 10pm-2am)
Wednesday-
2am 231lbs (did steam room from here on out)
4am 228lbs
6am 225lbs
8am 222lbs
10am weigh in 219.6lbs

Putting weight back on-
6pm Wednesday 243lbs
By mid-day on Thursday I was back up to 250 or so and remained there until I lifted.

I tried to video tape the weight loss process myself but most of it just seemed to involve me looking half dead staring into the mirror and telling you how many more pounds I had to go. I tried to film some of the hot bath and steam room stuff but being that I was naked for this I inadvertently got stuff in there that only Dave and Jim would probably be interested in seeing. I will try to edit it and see if it is worth me posting.

Now the lifting-

Squats-954-high, 970-high, 970-good
Bench-639-good,661-went into racks, 661-good
Deads-738-good,760-good,783-good,816WR attempt, missed at knees

The meet got off on the wrong foot when it took me all three tries to get a squat passed. All three attempts were very easy and I left at least 50lbs on the platform here. Not how I wanted to start things out.

Bench-I was pretty beat up physically here and it showed. My left shoulder was hurt, I had partial tears in both tris and both of my wrists were banged up which was the cause of my second attempt going back over my face and into the racks. Still the biggest problem I have is not getting nearly as much as I should be out of my shirt. I can't give away this kind of advantage and expect to win.

Deads-I was very happy with my deads. My first three were all very easy 738,760 and 783. I took an 816WR on a fourth and with about two minutes rest I got it to my knees. 816 was a little much on this day but I feel that I was probably good for 799-804.

Total=2414 and 2nd place.

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Re: WPO at the Arnold

Some pics

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Re: WPO at the Arnold

more pics

[supasaiyan99]

Re: WPO at the Arnold

Damn!!! very impressive lifts! I feel worthless now! lol....luckily I don't train at the same gym as these monsters.

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Re: WPO at the Arnold

Damn!!! very impressive lifts! I feel worthless now! lol....luckily I don't train at the same gym as these monsters.

lol, yeah those cats can make ya feel pretty insignificant but at the same time training with guys like that can be motivating as hell! If ya wanna be big and strong, it helps a ton to train with bigger stronger people.

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Re: WPO at the Arnold

Chad Aichs provides his thoughts on the 2007 WPO Finals at the Arnold Classic. Aichs secured second place in the Superheavyweights behind Andy Bolton.



Well, all things considered i would have to say my results were not to bad. I am not necessarily happy with them, but i can live with it. I finished in second place to Andy, who had a awesome day and is on freaky strong dude. If i have to get beat, at least it is by a good guy like him and not some asshole. I finished with 1173 squat, 805 bench, 755 dead, and 2733 total. Its hard to complain about a 100pr total, but i am just the man to do it.
I opened with 1120 something squat which went up ok even though i felt and heard a big pop in the hamstring i tore 3 or 4 weeks earlier. I also weighed in pretty light at 367 and my suit was very loose. I actually put my briefs and suit on by myself. I then missed my second at 1173 because i could not get any air at the top. Came back on my third attempt and made it. I had to stop myself at the bottom because my gear was so loose. I had planned on going for the squat record, but just wasn't in the card that day. I was also having a hard time keeping up with the crazy pace the meet ran at. I think i should do some more gpp work, get my weight to stabilize, and get the hamstring fully recovered.
The benchpress was just **** for me. It had been feeling great lately, but all fell apart at the meet. It took 3 tries to get 805 up, which is just ridiculous. This use good for dramatic effect though. I still need to review some video footage to see what went wrong, but i think i was keeping my wrist a lot straighter than usual and i keep hitting higher than normal.
As everyone knows the deadlift is not really my favorite lift, but i did not have to bad a day. I opened with 710 which was easy, but my technique sucked bad. This was also were my hamstring and hip really started to hurt. Next jump was to 755 ( a pr) which went up ok. This attempt was very painful on the hamstring but it is the Arnold classic so what the hell. I decided to try 800 anyway. I think i lost some of my aggression and just pulled the slack out of the bar. At that point i was done.
I felt like i came into this meet in better shape than any before, but there was a few problems. I think my backing off was good for me to recover, but i need to find a way to still get heavy weight on my back and in my hands without overtraining. My warmups felt awesome until i started with the heavier weight, then i was very unstable and had a hard time setting up proper. I believe this is because i was not used to the heavy weight. I am also going to try some new bench shirt techniques like the metal video on elitefts of how to put the Metal shirt on correctly. The metal squat shoes are awesome but i should probably use them more that one time before the meet. Know back to the drawing board and get ready to get even stronger.
I have a lot of people to thank for my reaching these level. First i would like to thank Ethan, Carla, and Bailey for spending so much time and money to help me out and for always supporting me. You guys are a huge help and i really want to thank you for everything. At the meet i kept seeing all these lifters with 4,5 or 6 handlers and all i could think is that Ethan must be a bad ass because he is the only handle taking care of me. I would like to thank my parents and family. Thanks to my training partners and familys, Scott and Lindsey Burgess, Little Larry Ivey and family. Thanks to my great sponsors Cytosport for the great supplements, Elitefts for everything, American Iron Gym for all the help and great place to train, Hyd appareal for the cool clothes, Sportkilt for the Kilts which everyone should wear, Metal Sport and Wear for the best powerlifting gear ever, Bowen Enterprises for helping me get to the Arnold, JKL graphics, and Bodytechusa. I need to thank Louie Simmons and Westside barbell, Diablo Barbell, Supertraining, all the great lifters, all the spotters and loaders, Chris Weirs you are the man, all the spectators at the Arnold, and all the fans supporting me. Thanks you all, without you people i would not be were i am today. Were ever that is.

Chad Aichs

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Re: WPO at the Arnold

TEAM ELITEFTS PREVAILS AT 2007 ARNOLD CLASSIC AND WPO FINALS



COLUMBUS, Ohio (March 6, 2007) — Three world records and two runner-up performances were among the triumphs for Team EliteFTS at this year’s Arnold Classic held March 2-4 in Columbus, Ohio.

London, Ohio-based Elite Fitness Systems provided real time results throughout the weekend for each of its 11 sponsored lifters on its Web site at www.elitefts.com.

“Our vision has always been to create and foster an enjoyable environment for our staff, our team and our customers that empowers them to be the best they can. From the exceptional performances this weekend of our athletes to the ongoing support, feedback and passion of those that visit and read the site, this year’s Arnold Classic was among the most memorable,” said company founder and president, Dave Tate.



Among Team EliteFTS performances:





Brian Schwab
Brian placed 4th in the Lightweight Class (up to 165 pounds) with a 749 pound squat, 573 pound bench press and a 584 pound deadlift for a combined total of 1906 pounds at a bodyweight of 165 pounds. Brian also broke the world bench press record with a lift of 573 pounds and now holds the world record for both the 148 pound and 165 pound weight classes.





Matt Kroczaleski
Matt—last year’s Middleweight Class (165.26 pounds to 220.25 pounds) champion—took second place in this division with a 970 pound squat, 661 pound bench press and a 783 pound deadlift for a combined 2414 pound total at a bodyweight of 220 pounds. Matt attempted at world record deadlift with 815 pounds on a fourth lift and just stalled at the knees.





Travis Mash
Travis is the 2005 Middleweight Class champion and placed 6th in this division with a 904 pound squat, 628 pound bench press, 705 pound deadlift and a 2237 pound combined total at a bodyweight of 220 pounds.





Chris Mason
Chris finished 7th in the Middleweight Class with a 904 pound squat, 584 pound bench, and a 672 pound deadlift for a total of 2160 pounds at a bodyweight of 220 pounds.





Ano Turtiainen
Ano—the 2002 Heavyweight Class (220.26 pounds to 275.5 pounds) champion—finished 4th in this group. Ano's lifts were 1014 pounds in the squat, 601 pounds in the bench press, and an 865 pound deadlift for a total of 2480 pounds at a bodyweight of 275 pounds.





Chad Aichs
Chad is the 2006 WPO Semi Finals Super Heavyweight Champion (275.515 pounds and above) and finished second in this division. Chad's lifts were 1174 pounds in the squat, 805 pounds in the bench press, and 755 pounds in the deadlift for a combined total of 2733 pounds as a super heavyweight.





Paul Childress
Paul is the 2004 Heavyweight Division champion and placed 3rd last year. Paul guest lifted at this event and squatted a new world record of 1147 pounds, bench pressed 683 pounds, and deadlifted 739 pounds for a total of 2569 pounds at a bodyweight of 308 pounds.





Mike Brown
Mike finished third in his Arnold Classic WPO Finals debut with a 1075 pound squat, 705 pound bench press, and 733 pound deadlift for a combined 2513 pound total as a super heavyweight.





Scott Yard
Scott made his inaugural appearance at the Arnold Bench Bash and bench pressed 826 pounds as a super heavyweight for a third place finish.





Steve Macdonald
In the Strongman competition, Steve became the second man in history to ever lift the 525 pound stone. He lifted the stone faster than the previous record holder and subsequently was awarded the new world record for this accomplishment.



Official Arnold Classic WPO Finals Results Summary
(Complete results can be found here: http://www.worldpowerlifting.org/ind...ge=results.cfm)

Women

1. Shannon Hartnett
2. Amy Weisberger
3. Margaret Kirkland
4. Lyudmyla Holovchenko
5. Amber Denmon
6. Amanda Harris
7. Taisiya Kuznetsova
8. Sarah McCaslin
9. Kerrigan McCaslin

Men's Lightweight (Up to 165 pounds)

1. Oleksandr Kutcher
2. Dan Petrillo
3. Brian Tincher
4. Brian Schwab
5. lya Kokorev
6. Angelo Berardinelli
7. Jason McElroy
8. Eric Talmant

Men's Middleweight (165.26 pounds to 220.25 pounds)

1. Dondell Blue
2. Matthew Kroczaleski
3. Shawn Frankl
4. Larry Hook
5. Michael Cartinian
6. Travis Mash
7. Chris Mason

Heavyweight (220.26 pounds to 275.5 pounds)

1. Evgen Yarymbash
2. Ivars Cirulis
3. Greg Panora
4. Ano Turtiainen


Super Heavyweight (275.515 pounds and above)

1. Andrew Bolton
2. Chad Aichs
3. Paul Childress
4. Mike Brown
5. Vladislav Alhazov
6. Tibor Meszaros

Official Bench Bash Results Summary

Women

1. Janet Faraone
2. Tarja Rantanen

Lightweight Men

1. Brad Heck
2. Jason Coker
3. Fred Boldt
4. Joe Mazza
5. Vladimir Chadkov
6. Joe Ceklovsky

Heavyweight Men

1. Rob Luyando
2. Richard Briggs
3. Anthony Acome
4. Gary Larson
5. Mike Wolfley
6. Chip Tallman
7. Alexei Neklyudov
8. Cory Dexter
9. Michael Green
10. Vitaliy Bobchenko


Super Heavyweight Men

1. Ryan Kennelly
2. Mike Wolfe
3. Scott Yard
4. Travis Rogers
5. Vladimir Kravtsov
6. Vladimir Maximov
7. Clint Harwood

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Re: WPO at the Arnold

God it is amazing what the lifters do at the WPO meet. Man just to be there has to be a rush.