Powerlifting USA Magazine

HARDCORE GYM #95

 

March 2010 - Vol. 33 No. 5

McDole Performance Systems

by Rick Brewer | rick[at]houseofpain.com
www.houseofpain.com

 

Last month we saw some old photos of a Strongman Apollo, from back in the day. Man, those old-time strongmen wore some crazy outfits! You don’t see too many leopard-print singlets with only one shoulder-strap anymore. So cool, but SOO hard to find. I wonder why? Today, we’ll find out what some Canadian lifters think about our modern day powerlifting costumes. We’ll also decide which big-iron sport (powerlifting, strongman, or bodybuilding) is the gayest. Useful info!


First a word from our vomit-master, Dave Beakley:
We’re in Canada (Winnipeg), but we do have a hardcore gym at McDole Performance Systems (MPS Gym). The majority of our clients are athletes—including some from the UFC (Joe Doerksen), NHL and CFL (Canada’s pro football league). We’ve got guys that come in here and push themselves to the limit daily. (I really pushed my stomach to the limit at lunch today! RB) It is also very common to see guys out in the back alley puking—be it from squatting, the prowler or our tread-sled. A few lifters (myself included) can even find ways to row ourselves to vomit.


I have competed in bodybuilding (too gay), strongman (too much conditioning) and now powerlifting. I wanted to give them each a try once I was done with college football, and eventually land on powerlifting, which I did. Chris McDole, the president of MPS Gym also competes in strongman, and has placed very well in all of his competitions.


If you go to our site www.mcdoleperformance.com there is a link at the top to our youtube videos, which show us and our Canadian athletes training hardcore. Let me know if we’re hardcore enough for the PLUSA readers!


Dave, tell us more about the MPS Gym. Also tell us which weightlifting sport you and Chris McDole really think is the gayest, and why.


McDole Performance Systems has always been owned by Chris McDole. He started the gym in downtown Winnipeg. It is easily accessible to every serious lifter in our small city. Chris worked for 7 years at another private training facility in the city. Eventually, it came time for him to branch out and apply his own training principles, so he opened MPS Gym.
As I said earlier; our clients range from 10 year old youngsters to professional athletes in the UFC, CFL and NHL. Anyone who is coming here to train knows beforehand what they’re getting themselves into, and what our principles are. That is part of the gym’s allure. Our goal with every athlete who comes through our door is to have them get back to their sport the next season; the biggest, fastest, and strongest guy at their position on their team. We’ve had multiple athletes be accused of taking steroids by their teams, only to be tested and pass. They get that strong here. They also develop the MPS attitude. Puking is a badge of honor around here, and we’ve got easy access from the weightroom to the back alley for guys (and girls) to earn their badges. (Is it okay if I just squat 135, but put my finger in my throat and still puke? RB) We have lifters who actually feel let down, if someone else in their group has puked and they didn’t work themselves to that same level of intensity.


We assess all our athletes before they start their personalized programs and record every workout. We do this so we have written and recorded proof; our guys put on an average of 20 lb. per off-season, as well as their incredible strength gains. (Cool! RB)


Lifters buy into our program not only because of previous recorded results, but also because they see the work that Chris and I put in ourselves. We practice what we preach. I wouldn’t feel right putting these guys into the ground if I couldn’t do it to myself. On any given day we may decide to take the prowler and do some sort of stupid challenge until one of us is completely gassed. Just last Thursday (Christmas Eve) I was finishing my max effort rack pull (600 lb.) and while I was unloading it Chris stopped me with 265 on the bar and we decided 40 reps was a good number to try—just for fun. Shit like that is our idea of fun around here.


Same thing with the rows; I got my wrist wrap, wrapped my hand around the 190 lb. DB and began to row. My goal was to row until I simply couldn’t lift it anymore. This was at the end of my upper body day, and I just wanted a bit of a pump, and I like to wrap it up with a bit of a challenge. At around 12 reps I had to drop the DB, speed walk outside and blow chunks. That day I had eaten a double deluxe burger with chili, and a strawberry milkshake, and my puke was definitely a nice shade of strawberry shake. (Makes me hungry. RB)


I’ve really enjoyed the transition in my training from college football, to bodybuilding, to strongman, to powerlifting, which is what I’m doing now. I plan on sticking with powerlifting! I really felt bodybuilding was gay, just because of its narcissism. I’m not saying bodybuilders are gay, but I think the sport is just a bit much.  Every other thing I’ve trained for was performance oriented, and suddenly I took a turn to posing in a mankini for months and eating fish and rice cakes. The experience was good, but it’s nothing I’d like to do again. I knew all along I wanted to end up with powerlifting. I love the challenge to set a personal record every training session, and I can’t lie, the diet is much better! It is great to be able to eat whatever I like (within reason).


It’s funny with bodybuilding and powerlifting though, on the relative gayness scale. Two supposedly really masculine sports and what do guys wear? One goes on stage looking like a male stripper on his last song, and the other is wearing a unitard. (At least they are generally solid color Singlets nowadays! RB) I think that’s why McDole went with strongman. You wear what you like, and still look pretty bad-ass. Most of the guys are jacked, and even the fat ones get ‘cred’ when people hear about the crazy shit they do. Chris does really well with the stones at all of his competitions—I think it’s helped him a lot in the standings. He loves them so much, we’ve even got a picture of him holding one on the front of our webpage, www.mcdoleperformance.com.


Chris and I both do a lot of sled training, whether it’s pushing or pulling them. Obviously as cold and snowy as it gets up here, we can’t pull in the winter (not to say we haven’t tried), but Chris had turf put inside so we can do sled work year round. (Good idea! RB) It’s definitely a huge advantage for us in keeping our conditioning up year round. One of the sleds we used is called “the prowler” and as bad-ass as it sounds, it’s much worse. Plate loaded; it puts you into basically a bear crawl position. It is f-ing brutal. All our guys are very familiar with what we call “the prowler flu” or “prowler dementia.” It literally feels like a hangover for a few hours after you’re done.


Thanks Dave; we could all use a new kind of hangover! Next time that I’m training in Winnepeg, Canada, I know where I’m gonna go vomit! I hope all of you will come vomit with us at MPS Gym! Seriously, it sounds like these guys push themselves in a variety of ways—and it pays off with size and strength gains. Plus, they have keen insight into the gay lifting community clothing! By the way, no gays were harmed during the writing of this article—and no intolerance is suggested. Heck, we wear the Singlets for you don’t we?


Next month, we might visit a Hardcore Gym in the new epicenter of Hardcore lifting. Seriously. It’s a brand new state for us to visit, but the lifters are brutally hardcore, and there are several hardcore gyms as proof! Can you guess what state it is?

 

McDole Performance Systems

6-2 Donald Street
Winnipeg, MB R3L 0K5, Canada
204.453.3935

www.mcdoleperformance.com

 

*photographs courtesy of Dave Beakley/McDole Performance Systems