Welcome to the Freak Show: An Interview with Shawn Frankl
By Mark “JackAss” Bell
For www.EliteFTS.com


Shawn Frankl trains out of Big Iron Gym in Omaha, Nebraska and in my opinion is the strongest powerlifter in the sport right now. Shawn is crushing world records and dominating in a way I haven’t seen in a very long time. I would say he is Coan-like. However, if I did that, we at the EliteFTS.com headquarters would be flooded with hate mail. Rather then compare him to others, let’s just say that the dude is on fire, and he’s hitting monster weights that no one has ever seen before in his weight class.

His numbers speak louder than anything I can say. Shawn’s world record 2469-lb total at 198 lbs is 150 lbs better than the next best all-time total. His total is padded by a world record 788-lb bench. He has also squatted 975 lbs and deadlifted 722 lbs.



JA: Shawn, first tell your fans why you have the head of a 308-lb lifter even though you’re only 200 lbs?



SF: Mark, there are a lot of brains stuffed into this helmet of mine! What can I say!

JA: What has turned you into a lifting machine as of late? Give me a basic outline of what “The Freak Show” has done over the last 8–12 weeks or so?

SF: Well, Saturday we squat. We usually use briefs only for the beginning weeks, depending on the length of the training cycle. We normally use real weight and sometimes reverse bands. We usually do many doubles and triples throughout the whole training cycle either on our way up to our max effort lift for that day or sometimes on the way down.

As far as the bench goes, we usually do raw work to the chest and try to increase that every week before putting our shirts on. However, we use shirts every week of our training cycle. We start out with 3-board presses, and as the weeks move on, we try to lower the boards. Usually, we never go over two reps. We do about 4–5 working sets per workout.

We do deadlifts every week. We usually stand on a one-inch board for the first several weeks using briefs only. We like to keep the reps to no more than two for our working sets. We sometimes stand on a box and do stiff legs, and sometimes we’ll do rack pulls from different heights depending on our weak points. This is a basic outline of our main lifts.

JA: Is it normal for a 30-year-old, fat, straight, married male to start batting from the other side of the plate after watching you lift and walk around with your shirt off?



SF: I wouldn’t say anything we do in this sport is normal, Mark. However, if someone feels froggie then they should jump! Never look back thinking, “I wonder what would have happened if…” Life’s too short!

JA: Ribbet! Let’s talk more in depth about the bench first. That seems to be all anyone cares about anyway. From what you said, it sounds like you do one kind of heavy set raw before getting into your shirt. Then, you try to increase that raw lift every week, correct? Also, go into a little more detail about the shirted boards.

SF: I go up to 500 raw every week. This is raw to my chest. Then, I might go 545 raw to a 3-board before putting my shirt on. Once I put my shirt on, I usually jump right to 675 to a 3-board. For instance, on the day of the meet, I went to 705 to a 1-board and a half-inch board. Next, I did a half board with 725. This was my last one in the warm up room before I did my opener at around 740. In training, depending how far out I am, I work on my weak points and try to make them stronger. I try to handle in the mid 800s off 3-boards to build up the lockout.



JA: 500 lbs raw? I hate you more then ever. Do you folks from the middle of the country attribute your brute strength with being inbred?

SF: Without a doubt. You have to be recruited into the family though. You sick man!

JA: Back to benching, what are your favorite assistance exercises?

SF: I love doing reverse bands. You can really put a lot of weight on the bar, and it really helps your lockout. It mimics a bench shirt. I like doing heavy raw decline press also.

JA: Decline…that’s interesting. Why do you like those? What kind of weights are you hitting with the reverse band and on the decline?

SF: I don’t know why I like the decline, but when I do them, I usually do reps of 3–5. I usually bring my grip in so that I’m using mostly triceps, and I will go up to 500 for three on my last set. That’s after my flat bench workout. When I’m doing reverse bands, I only do them on a flat bench. I do mostly 3- and 4-boards and only for 2–3 reps. The weight depends on what band I use that day and if I do them shirted or not. In a shirt, I go up to as high as 950 plus lbs.

JA: Ok, enough about you already. It’s time to talk about something much more important—MYSELF. How do you feel about me benching more than you?



SF: I’m sorry. I won’t let it happen again. Congrats. That was an awesome bench. I always love to see people hit new PRs.

JA: We talked a lot about the bench, and to be honest, I no longer care that you bench 17 times your body weight. Tell me what you do for the squat?

SF: For squats, we usually do a lot of doubles and singles through the whole training cycle. We try to get our raw squat up every week before putting briefs on and then likewise when we put the briefs on. Once we put our suits on, we will usually do about four working sets. Lately, we’ve been doing two weeks on and then taking one week off of doing reverse bands.

Whatever our heaviest set is that day we usually add 100 lbs and do a double with it with reverse bands. On the week that we don’t use bands, we will usually go one more extra heavy set and only do a single. I think it’s important to feel your opener on your back in some way or form almost every week. By the end of your training cycle, you’re feeling more weight on the top end than you can actually do full range. So when you get to the meet, nothing feels heavy on your back and you’re doing lighter weight than you’ve been doing.



JA: From what I understand, those squats are with no box, right? Also to be clear, reverse bands are a big part of the training?

SF: That’s correct. No box. We at Big Iron Gym use reverse bands pretty often. It allows our bodies to adapt to heavy weight. We also use them for speed and explosive power.

JA: Not to be too big of a pain in the ass, but can you write out what your squat workouts looked like over the last four weeks before the Hussey Classic?

SF: I don’t write my stuff down. It’s just implanted in our coach, Rick Hussey’s, head! It also depends on how I feel that day really. He is our indicator of how we look and what we’ll do that day.

JA: What are your favorite assistance exercises for squats?

SF: Good mornings, leg presses, and the adductor machine.

JA: Don’t mess with me. I’m trying to be serious. Do you really use the adductor machine?

Adductor is where you’re pushing the legs apart against the resistance, right?

SF: I’m dead serious. You don’t realize it, but you really use those muscles when pushing your knees out during the squat.

JA: You also seem to have an outstanding deadlift. What are you doing for your deadlift?

SF: We pull standing on a one-foot piece of plywood, and we do heavy rack work from different heights. We also do stiff leg deadlifts and dumbbell rows. Most of our reps on the deadlift are usually no more than 2–3 for our working sets.



JA: Do you deadlift once a week?

SF: Yes, we do deadlift every week.

JA: How many days off do you take before a meet?

SF: Usually only two days. I don’t like sitting around. I like to keep the blood flow. Sometimes if you just sit around, you get all tight and stiff. We don’t go heavy at all though.

JA: What is it like training at Big Iron Gym?

SF: Well, words can’t really describe it. We have so many different lifters from so many different walks of life, but when we all get together, it works great. Rick Hussey, our coach, is an awesome coach. He can turn your weak areas into strong points, and it seems he always knows what to say at the right time to get you motivated. All of the training partners are behind you 100 percent and without each other it wouldn’t work. You can feel the motivation in the room. Let’s just put it that way. When you come to Big Iron, you can expect to have one of the hardest workouts that you'll ever have. Rick knows how to push you to the limit. I love it! We’re like a family, as weird as that may sound.





JA: It sounds like it would be awesome to train there. I only met Rick briefly on two occasions. He seems to be extremely knowledgeable. What I liked about him right off the bat was that he was all over your case. He made fun of your deadlift. As an outsider looking in, I thought to myself, “That is what makes Big Iron work! Even a multi-time world record holder gets **** on.” It looks like you better have thick skin to train at Big Iron?

SF: Believe me when I say this—Rick keeps everyone very humble. He knows what everyone’s capable of doing, and even if you do have multiple world records, if he knows you can do more, he’s not satisfied. He wants all his lifters to reach the top of their potential. He is proud of his lifters though. You can see it on his face after you hit a big lift that you’ve been training for or if you win a big meet. You can just see it all over his face. Rick is an awesome guy with a lot of talent. He is as real as they come.

JA: Give me some back round Mr. Freak. Where did you grow up? Age? Sexual preference and so on?

SF: I grew up in Sioux City, Iowa. I’m 30-years-old, and my wife’s name is Melissa. I have one son who is eight-years-old and one daughter who will be here any day now. Her name will be Hailey. Oh yea, and a dog Jud (he’s a boxer). I try to live my life 110 percent for God. He has blessed me in so many different ways, and I give him all the glory in my life in every aspect, not just in powerlifting. It’s actually unique how similar powerlifting is to having a relationship with God.

In training, there are always a million obstacles to overcome, whether they’re injuries, bombing out of a meet, or missing a certain number that you’ve worked so hard to get. I know that if I never give up, I’m faithful in my training, and always get back up when I fall, there will always be glory in the end. Nobody said it would be easy. Just like in the world today. Satan always tries to attack you to make you fall and be unfaithful. I know I have to continually try to strengthen my relationship with God. I do this by reading my Bible and praying. This strengthens my walk with Christ. He died for me so I’ll live for him.

JA: Goddamn, I think I’m going to hell….maybe even more than once. Please ignore me for my stupidity. Everyone else does. It is refreshing to see someone stand up for what they believe in. I noticed that you mentioned bombing. Tell me what YOU know about bombing?

SF: Well, I have had my day of bomb-outs. When I got back from Afghanistan, where I was for a year, I tried to come back too fast. I was anxious to get back on the platform so I bombed my first meet back and only trained in gear for about four weeks. I also went to the WPO Semi Finals in 2005 and bombed. This forced me to go to Finland two weeks later for the Semi Finals there so that I could make it to the Arnold Classic. I went and placed second. The only bad thing was that at the Arnold I bombed in the bench. I know about bomb-outs! I was just trying to come back too fast, and I’m hardheaded.

JA: From what I have heard, you and your giant head served for your country. Tell me a little about that. What branch and for how long?

SF: I was in the Army National Guard for seven years and was active for 15 months of that time on a tour to Afghanistan.

JA: Did you get a chance to workout while you were touring?

SF: Actually, I did. I was stationed in Kandahar, Afghanistan. We had a lot of weights and machines. I was actually surprised. It was a good time for me to get my raw strength up. I benched 550 raw while I was there and squatted 800 for three reps with a pair of briefs. I pulled 685 for two reps on the deadlift. It really helped get me to where I am now. I got in trouble for bending all the bars when squatting though. They weren’t very good bars.

JA: I picture you hitting a set of curls while facing a mirror with your boys outside fighting with bombs going off and stuff. Was it like that?

SF: No, not really. Although when I first got there, I was waiting for a bench. When it finally got freed up, I went to get on it and outside there was a big BOOM! Everyone went running outside to see what it was, but I didn’t want to give up the bench so I stayed inside. I figured what better way to go than doing something you love. It never hit us, but it felt pretty close.

JA: That is awesome. I would have pooped my pants and hid.

JA: Freakness, feel free to thank or plug anyone you’d like to mention who has helped you along the way.

SF: I want to thank God for the opportunity that he has allowed me. I want to thank my wife and family for all of the support. I want to thank Rick Hussey, my coach, for his countless hours of training and his great friendship as well as all my teammates at B.I.G. I need to thank Inzer Advanced Design for the awesome gear. Thanks so much. Also, I want to thank Brian Carrol for tips on cutting weight and all of my competitors who force me to be a better lifter.

JA: Good luck with your new baby girl whenever she decides to show up.

SF: Thanks, Mark. I know my wife’s been ready to get this over with for a while.

JA: Let’s end this article with some solid training tips. What are some things you think about while preparing to hit weights no one has ever done before? Also, in general, what are some of your keys for constant improvement?



SF: I would have to say form is one of the biggest keys. You might have the strength to do a lift, but if you get out of your groove, there is no way anyone can muscle up real heavy weight. I never think about the weight. I try to just focus on the form. To be constantly improving, I think you have to step back and look at where your weak points are and strengthen those areas. You need to know when you’re overtraining so that you don’t get hurt.

JA: Thanks for your time. We look forward to seeing you hit 2500 lbs at 198 lbs very soon.