![](../../images/content_top.gif)
HARDCORE GYM #96
April 2010 - Vol. 33 No. 6
WEIGHTLIFTING UNLIMITED
by Rick Brewer | rick[at]houseofpain.com
www.houseofpain.com
Last month we talked about MPS (McDole Performance Systems) in Canada, and I told you that there was a brand new state filled with powerlifters! Something in their water is causing prehistoric monsters to grow at an incredible rate. In fact, it is stuffed full of cool hardcore gyms—stuffed like a powerlifter at the buffet line (after making weight).
I can’t wait to tell you about this new land full of dinosaurs
because some of you need to pack up and move there. But I’m gonna
give you another month to guess where the new Iron-State is.
This month, I’m going to let Russell Pugh tell you about a cool
gym in VA. He needs to talk to you NOW, because they have a bench
press contest in a few days. It is their 20th Annual BP Contest;
if you are near VA, you need to go! Russell will take it from
here:
Weightlifting Unlimited
There is no child care here, and you can’t sign up for a spin
class. Hell, there’s not even a water fountain. It’s cold
in the winter and it’s hot in the summer.It smells like a
mixture of ammonia, sweat, Bengay, and chalk.This is Weightlifting
Unlimited, located inWinchester, VA.The gym is nestled inside
an old storage room behind a shopping mall. The gym is void
of any creature comforts. If it doesn’t make you stronger,
you won’t find it here. (I hope there is a toilet! RB) Most
of the equipment is old; it isn’t pretty, but it is functional.
When you walk in the front door, the first thing you see is
a monolift, a power rack, a reverse hyper, and a glute-ham
raise. So although the gym isn’t filled with the latest commercial-gym
wonder-equipment, it has what you need to get strong. (My
system is old and ugly too, and sometimes I need a toilet!
RB)
In the second room there are two competition benches. There is
an incline bench, a cable pull-down machine and some dumbbells.
In the corners you will find assorted bands and chains and against
the back wall, behind the Metal Militia bench, a full set of boards
from 1 to 5 sit ready to go.
This is more than a gym, this is a club. Members don’t just pay
dues, they accept and step up to the responsibility of taking
care of the gym. When you join this gym you get a key; access
is 24 hours a day, and 7 days a week. Members help buy new equipment
for the gym.(Novel idea. RB) Guys will come in with
chalk, toilet paper, soap, etc.(YAY for the toilet paper! RB) The radio
in the gym was brought in by a member, and CD’s belong to various
members. Mirrors were brought in and put up by guys after workouts. (It’s good to have mirrors in the gym, so that you’ll notice if
a piece of toilet paper is hanging out the bottom of your shorts.
‘Cause no one will tell you. RB)
Every person in the gym either competes, or supports the other
members who compete. If you don’t lift in a meet, you go and spot,
or lift-off, or help out where you can. Many times guys will be
finished lifting, but they stay an extra hour or more to help
someone who is getting ready for a meet. That’s what makes this
gym special or HARDCORE. It’s an atmosphere that is hard to find;
it’s tribal.
Everyone is pushed every workout. No one cares what kind of day
you’ve been having; once you step through those gym doors, you’d
better be ready to train. You’ll hear the sounds of weights
slamming together, and the smell of chalk mixed with ammonia.
Randy Robinson yells out “Wrap ‘em up tight” across the gym. “When
you get your ass on this bench I want you to get tight, squeeze
the bar and use your lats to lower the weight!” If a lifter misses
a lift, there is always someone there to tell him what he needs
to work on to improve. Every lift is coached, every lift is watched,
and each lift is critiqued without mercy. There is no prejudice
about gear here. If you want to lift in equipment, fine, if you
don’t that’s fine as well.
(Sounds like a rare balance; perfect!
RB) This place is about being strong; it is about being the
best at your particular iron game. That’s why the boards on the
wall in the bench room show 4 IPA world records, 3 competition
benches over 600 and 4 more over 500 pounds.
To an outside observer, a typical workout may sound like someone
getting beaten to death with metal poles and chains while others
cheer the suffering on. This is merely the sound of a good work-out;
it’s the sound of a tribe gaining power.
This gym has been around for more than 20 years. While other mainstream
gyms have opened and closed, Weightlifting Unlimited continues
to thrive on the core values of the men who want to get stronger
and stronger. In 1980, Weightlifting Unlimited hosted the Virginia
Nationals. The overall owner is Randy Brooks. Randy has lifted
and competed for years. On any given Sunday morning, he’s in the
gym lifting and giving advice on technique or form. Randy is the
reason this gym is here, and Sunday mornings (with Randy) are
a big part of WU. He’s the guy who puts his name on the power
bill, and on the lease. He doesn’t do this to make any money,
but he does it so guys will have a place to train.
There are two basic crews that lift at WU. Randy Robinson (IPA
world record holder) has a small stable of bench enthusiasts who
meet up three days a week and compete in four to five meets a
year. Dave Sands (another IPA record holder sponsored by Rychlak
Power Systems) has another group. This second group trains for
full meets, and they have a growing number of lifters getting
started in the sport. Both of these guys will help new lifters
and guide them. I’ve seen both of these guys take time out of
their day (in training and at meets) to help new lifters and discuss
problem areas.
Larry Short, who owns Anytime Fitness comes here to train with
other competitive lifters. He trades in his elaborate gym for
the sparse, cold confines of Weightlifting Unlimited so he can
get the feedback he needs to get stronger. Larry has several health
issues; including diabetes and fibromyalgia, but still has held
IPA world records for both the bench press and full meets. (Go
Larry; never quit! RB)
It Takes A Village
Weightlifting Unlimited would not be here if it weren’t for some
really good people out there who have been a part of this
journey. We would be grateful to thank some of the guys who
have helped us along the way. Thanks to Gene Rychlak for advice
on benching and support, thanks to Louie Simmons for help
and assistance, thanks to Matt Wenning and Chuck Vogelphol
at Lexen Extreme for help in finding equipment and trying
to figure out how to squat. Thanks to Bill Crawford for building
up equipment and working with us to get what we needed. Thanks
for every person who has competed, helped spot, helped judge,
or helped move equipment in the past 20 years of Weightlifting
Unlimited bench press contests.
Thanks to Bud Drummond, Palmer,
Leo Brown, Dud, Carl West, Rick Singhas, Walt Cook and Anthony
Burgess. There are too many people who have been a part of
this gym over the years to include everybody, but you know
who you are and your efforts live on every time we step on
the platform. Finally thanks to Powerlifting USA, and also
to every one of you.
Thanks, from TEAM WEIGHTLIFTING UNLIMITED!
Finally, please come out and take part in our 20th Annual Bench
Press Contest, April 24th, 2010. Better hurry; it’s almost here!
Gym and event contact: weightliftingunlimited@gmail.com.
Special thanks to Russell Pugh for all of this info from VA! Don’t
forget to go to the 20th BP Contest on 4.24.10, and tell ‘em that
you heard about it here in PL USA magazine! Next month, we’ll
start looking at the new land of monster lifters! Until then,
lift big, eat big, and sleep well!
Care to guess what state we’ll be in next month? Email me at rick@houseofpain.com.
*photographs courtesy of Weightlifting Unlimited
![](../../images/content_bottom.gif)