HARDCORE GYM #97
June 2010 - Vol. 33 No. 8
W.A.R. HOUSE
by Rick Brewer | rick[at]houseofpain.com
www.houseofpain.com
First of all, sorry about the missing article last month. I was heading out-of-town to a powerlifting meet for HOUSE OF PAIN when the deadline arrived. Time was up, but now I’m back! Two months ago we talked about Weightlifting Unlimited, in Winchester, VA. I hope some of you went to their 20th BP meet! They have a really cool gym—in a state with several good power gyms. But now, it’s time for new meat. I promised to tell you about a brand new state filled with hard-training monsters of the strongest type! So far, none of you have been able to guess which state it is! So we’re going to do things a little different this month. We’re going to blind-fold you on this gym tour, and see if you can tell what state we are in!
This month, we’re going to visit “The W.A.R. House” and see how
they do things in the new state. I’ll give you a few clues, but
I won’t tell you what state they are in. Not yet. We’ll find out
how smart you are! The bible is the final word on everything,
so I’ll let Andy Bible tell you about The W.A.R. House.
My name is Andy Bible, and I have been volunteered by Willie Wessels
to be the “public relations guy” for our gym. I will give youthebackground
on it.
Willie, Rob Kolberer and myself were members of Eagle Gym for
well over a decade each. Willie obviously had numerous guys training
strongman with him, and Rob and I basically lead the powerlifting
group. We were getting a little agitated with the way Eagle gym
was being run the past few years (music could not be loud anymore
with hard rock/metal playing, owner lost interest in our cause
and people started to question the way we train—like with reverse
bands, chains, etc.) We finally had enough, and in August of 2009,
removed all of Willie’s strongman equipment, and all of Rob’s
powerlifting equipment—such as the pro competition bench, reverse
hyper, kilo plates, chains, bands. I got us set up with an office
space in a strip plazaabout two miles from Eagle Gym.
We came up with the name “The W.A.R. House,” which stands for
Willie, Andy and Rob (couldn’t name it RAW because some of the
guys use gear). Since the move, we have purchased a brand new
monolift, dumbbells and a refrigerator (for the water and gatorade).
Willie has also hosted a strongman show there already, which was
insane! You couldn’t move when you walked in the doors, it was
so crowded. Granted, it’s not a big place, but the spectators
and competitors loved it. The gym is not exactly open for the
public at first, due to the size, but we plan to expand and start
selling memberships. Meanwhile, if you train strongman or powerlifting
and are in town, you are more than welcome to come by and train.
(Of course, you have to figure out what state they are in first!
RB) We have already had some guys from out-of-state swing by to
train. We are not well-known right now because we are pretty new,
but we definitely welcome the hardcore powerlifter or strongman!
There are no bodybuilders at The W.A.R. House either. (We don’t
have a pec deck, ab roller, or hip adducter. ALL of our training
is strictly power/explosive or can be done with what we have in
the facility.)
I know you know who Willie Wessels is and what his accomplishments
have been in the past, but I’ll give you a recap. He is most proud
of his 2403 total in 1997. That was comprised of a 1004 squat,
661 bench (670 was his best ever), and a 799 deadlift. This total
was a world record then, and he weighed 236. He has won World’s
twice, won Lightweight Amateur Nationals in Strongman twice, and
won the Lightweight Pro Nationals in 2004 in Strongman. He then
went on to compete at the Lightweight World’s Strongest Man in
Finland in 2004.
Rob Kolberer has been competing in powerlifting for years and
has competed on the national and world level. In 2008, he won
the bench only master’s division in the 308s—and was sick. Rob
did not realize at the time, but he was suffering from kidney
failure. That was his last contest to date, but he will be back.
He is currently on dialysis and is awaiting a kidney transplant.
Rob was also forced to go out on disability as a police officer
from the City of St. John (municipality in XXXX County).
I am also a police officer in Overland, XX, which is another muni
in XXXX County. I won the 2009 Chicago Summer Bash bench only
in the 242s with a 601 second, and a just missed a 628, with a
partially torn left shoulder. I also got the best overall lifter
award (because Tommy Harrison Jr. and a couple other big cats
bombed!).
Most of our powerlifting training is comprised of some methods
used by B.I.G. Iron, and some Westside, with a twist. With the
knowledge between the three of us, we make it work very well.
Thanks for the publicity Rick!
The W.A.R. House
2333 Lackland Road
XXXX, XX
314.267.0896
Big thanks to Andy Bible for this W.A.R. House Gym info! Okay class, can you tell me the city and state of this gym? If you get it right, you’ll get a Gold Star and we’ll look at another gym in the same new Iron-Power-State next month! If you guess wrong, we’ll feature a Hardcore Gym from a different state before we take another look at this brave new frontier! Show me how smart you are!
Lift big, eat big, and sleep long. Be original and respect the
legally trademarked names of other gyms and businesses (even if
you live in CT).
Can you name the city and state yet? Email me at rick@houseofpain.com.
*photographs courtesy of W.A.R. House
