I don’t mean to make a repost or start a shit storm.
I searched, and didn’t see this get any attention on here.
I know that people are always curious to see the big names in each camp “go to the other side” and lift.
I have been reading a very small amount about Greg Panora on the internet, and he seems like he just genuinely loves the sport of picking up heavy things, regardless of how it is being done. Much respect to him for that.
I’m a huge Greg Panora fan. I remember this meet and I was happy as hell to watch him step back onto the platform. There was a good interview with him in a issue of Power a few months back that’s an excellent read. He also post a lot of videos of his training in youtube as well. Good find my friend.
Didn’t he have a stroke a few years back? That is pretty amazing.
[quote]JonathanByrd wrote:
Didn’t he have a stroke a few years back? That is pretty amazing. [/quote]
Oh man, I had no idea he had a stroke.
What were the circumstances?
[quote]trivium wrote:
[quote]JonathanByrd wrote:
Didn’t he have a stroke a few years back? That is pretty amazing. [/quote]
Oh man, I had no idea he had a stroke.
What were the circumstances?[/quote]
High BP I think. It was in 2010, so for him to even make it back to the platform was impressive.
[quote]JonathanByrd wrote:
[quote]trivium wrote:
[quote]JonathanByrd wrote:
Didn’t he have a stroke a few years back? That is pretty amazing. [/quote]
Oh man, I had no idea he had a stroke.
What were the circumstances?[/quote]
High BP I think. It was in 2010, so for him to even make it back to the platform was impressive. [/quote]
So it was from a hemorrhage?
Damn. I just read that the week he came back he squatted 1000.
That’s on the level with some Matt Kroc stories I’ve heard, or maybe even above.
Mr Byrd is correct, the stroke was on Mothers Day of 2010. According to his interview, he could hold more than 635 on the bench without his wrist going limp and couldn’t grip more than 400lbs on the deadlift. He was away from full meets for 3 years and then came back and posted. 2000lbs total.
He’s one of about 4 people I actually look up too in powerlifting, I hope he’s still kicking ass years from now
[quote]Chicksan wrote:
Mr Byrd is correct, the stroke was on Mothers Day of 2010. According to his interview, he could hold more than 635 on the bench without his wrist going limp and couldn’t grip more than 400lbs on the deadlift. He was away from full meets for 3 years and then came back and posted. 2000lbs total.
He’s one of about 4 people I actually look up too in powerlifting, I hope he’s still kicking ass years from now [/quote]
If you read the article I read, then I think he said he is going to shoot for a raw record.
What weight class can we speculate that he is going to do that in?
[quote]Chicksan wrote:
Mr Byrd is correct, the stroke was on Mothers Day of 2010. According to his interview, he could hold more than 635 on the bench without his wrist going limp and couldn’t grip more than 400lbs on the deadlift. He was away from full meets for 3 years and then came back and posted. 2000lbs total.
He’s one of about 4 people I actually look up too in powerlifting, I hope he’s still kicking ass years from now [/quote]
Mr. Byrd? Im not that old! hahaha
I have heard some stories about Panora, heard he was a wild man for sure!
Not a lot of people know that Panora was “supposed to break” all of Vogelpohl’s records at West Side (Louie’s words). If you look at his 1050 squat, it could be the ugliest 1000+ squat I’ve ever seen – it’s just a testament to his brute strength that he was able to stand up with it. It doesn’t even look like he takes a breath of air the entire time and his back is rounded over from the start.
By the way “Mr. Byrd” it’s good to have you posting here.
Do you guys know if any of the other big names in geared PL are still competing?
I am afraid I missed the boat on some of these guys.
The only person I am not a huge fan of is Dave Hoff, and that is because he appears to be an ass at times. I know he is not the devil incarnate, and that he probably has a nice side, but some stuff he does tends to piss me off a bit.
That being said, RAW PL has its own problems as well, with people arguing like schoolgirls on a routine basis.
Depends what you mean by “big name”.
A lot of the guys from the old WPO days have faded.
Andy Bolton deadlifted only at the Arnold this year and pulled 925.
Ano Turtiainen blew out his knee at WPC Worlds (I believe) and I haven’t seen much from him sense.
AJ Roberts went CrossFit.
Steve Goggins is older but still lifting and going to meets
Shawn Frankl benched raw at Relentless last November, hitting (I believe) 540 @ 220?
Evgeny Yarymbash lifts every year at the XPC Finals and does single ply meets too.
Lilly & Panora obviously went raw.
I don’t know anything about Dave other than what people have told me. He might be an ass – but he’s definitely the best multiply lifter in my opinion – regardless of any squat depth comments. I would like to see him and Yarymbash go at it though.
Chuck Vogelpohl had back surgery and is trying to make a come back. He’s still inhumanly strong by anybody’s standards.
I’m really pulling for Chuck to make a comeback. Back in 2007, Flex magazine did an article on Westside Barbell and it was a picture of Chuck that made me want to start powerlifting. I still have the magazine and I haven’t looked back since
[quote]trivium wrote:
Do you guys know if any of the other big names in geared PL are still competing?
I am afraid I missed the boat on some of these guys.
The only person I am not a huge fan of is Dave Hoff, and that is because he appears to be an ass at times. I know he is not the devil incarnate, and that he probably has a nice side, but some stuff he does tends to piss me off a bit.
That being said, RAW PL has its own problems as well, with people arguing like schoolgirls on a routine basis. [/quote]
Each still has their own cry babies. They are really not that far separated as far as training goes (offseason specifically), but its much easier to bitch at each other I guess.
My first multiply meet I ever did Hoff won 275, I won the 308, and Chad Walker won the SHW. I was like a little kid watching people in the warm up room haha!
I train with Brian Carroll, he is going to lift at 242 in October.
Chad Walker wasnt around during the WPO days, but I bet he goes over 2800 with legit depth this year.
Yarmbash might have had a shot at an all time WR squat at the Arnold this year but hurt his knee.
Goggins did RUM this year (I was lucky enough to help him on meet day, again I am a powerlifting fan) and had a damn close miss at 800 raw in the squat and deadlift.
Of course you have all the westside guys, who like them or not are very strong.
So honestly, no the WPO guys are not really competing anymore, but still lots of quality geared lifters out there. I think 2460 finished 4th in my weight class at the Arnold this year.
[quote]JonathanByrd wrote:
[quote]trivium wrote:
Do you guys know if any of the other big names in geared PL are still competing?
I am afraid I missed the boat on some of these guys.
The only person I am not a huge fan of is Dave Hoff, and that is because he appears to be an ass at times. I know he is not the devil incarnate, and that he probably has a nice side, but some stuff he does tends to piss me off a bit.
That being said, RAW PL has its own problems as well, with people arguing like schoolgirls on a routine basis. [/quote]
Each still has their own cry babies. They are really not that far separated as far as training goes (offseason specifically), but its much easier to bitch at each other I guess.
My first multiply meet I ever did Hoff won 275, I won the 308, and Chad Walker won the SHW. I was like a little kid watching people in the warm up room haha!
I train with Brian Carroll, he is going to lift at 242 in October.
Chad Walker wasnt around during the WPO days, but I bet he goes over 2800 with legit depth this year.
Yarmbash might have had a shot at an all time WR squat at the Arnold this year but hurt his knee.
Goggins did RUM this year (I was lucky enough to help him on meet day, again I am a powerlifting fan) and had a damn close miss at 800 raw in the squat and deadlift.
Of course you have all the westside guys, who like them or not are very strong.
So honestly, no the WPO guys are not really competing anymore, but still lots of quality geared lifters out there. I think 2460 finished 4th in my weight class at the Arnold this year. [/quote]
That’s an awesome story about your first competition.
I was at the Arnold, but I missed out on a lot of things. It was too damn crowded.
I personally have thought of trying to do geared lifting some day, but I don’t have an adequate baseline level of strength, and I feel like learning the gear is something that you do when you have already learned how to train/recover/etc without gear. I feel like if you are even 1% unsure of how to train/lift/compete raw, geared lifting is not a thing you should be doing just yet. I know people may disagree with that, but us beginners (less than 5 years under the bar) have too many variables to deal with as it is.