March/April 2008
Overcoming Obstacles: Anthony Robles When it comes to overcoming obstacles, you can’t get much more inspirational than Anthony Robles, a freshman on the wrestling team at Arizona State. Anthony has only one leg, but he doesn’t let that hold him back. When he was five years old he was able to ride a bike. He has played football and basketball, and he drives a car. He took up the sport of wrestling in the ninth grade at Mesa High School in Mesa, Arizona, and that year finished 5-8. As a sophomore he placed sixth at the Arizona state tournament, then went 48-0 as a junior and again as a senior, winning state titles at 103 pounds and then 112 pounds.
Robles bench presses 300 pounds, runs the mile in eight minutes and has set a goal of six minutes. In an ESPN article by Andy Hamilton, Robles explained his outlook: “I don’t see having one leg as a disability. I feel I can do whatever I put my mind to. If the coach tells you to do something, I’m going to be right there with the rest of the team doing it. That’s pretty much how I’ve always been – I don’t like being treated differently or getting special treatment or anything like that. I just like to be treated normal.”
Low Back Pain Stuart McGill is one of the foremost, internationally recognized experts on lower back disorders. He has written over 200 articles on topics related to back pain, and the results of his results are summarized in his book, Low Back Disorders: Evidence-Based Prevention and Rehabilitation, 2nd ed., (humankinetics.com). Although the book includes a lot of technical information for the health care practitioner, Low Back Disorders provides detailed descriptions of rehabilitation techniques, postural assessment and other information that coaches would find of value. It also helps dispel myths about the so-called spine stabilization exercises.
One interesting concept 5 McGill introduces is the concept of the performance pyramid, which is divided into five stages: 1) Design appropriate corrective exercise, 2) Build joint and whole-body stability, 3) Enhance endurance, 4) Train true strength, and 5) Transition to ultimate performance with “superstiffness” techniques, speed, power and agility. Other than the fact that they renamed the box squat the “Potty Squat,” Low Back Disorders is a must read!
Throwing the discus at Saline High School in Saline, Michigan “Vince Helmuth was an integral part of the Wolverines’ rushing attack and played a key role in the special teams’ effort during the 2007 season. He played as a backup fullback in seven games during his freshman year and played an integral part as the Vince Helmuth With his high school football and strength coach, BFS Clinician Mike Glennie lead blocker for tailback Mike Hart. Helmuth also saw action in 10 of the 13 games on special teams. Helmuth arrived on campus after enrolling early to be available to take part in the Wolverines’ spring practices.
Vince is an extremely hard worker and very highly motivated young man with a wealth of potential.” (Photo courtesy of Media Relations, Univ. of Michigan)
We obviously had a great selection in Vince Helmuth as our 2006 BFS Male High School Athlete of the Year. Not only is he fulfilling his dream of playing varsity football at the University of Michigan, he has seen playing time as a freshman! According to David Ablauf, director, Football Media Relations, Fast Food Frenzy According to the medical journal Pediatrics, since 1970 the consumption of fast food among young people of ages 4 to 19 has increased fivefold. Now approximately one third of US children eat fast food every day. An occasional pizza is a nice treat but should not be the staple of a young person’s diet.
BFS Keeps the Lead Out Just as Superman didn’t like lead because he couldn’t see through it with his X-ray vision, BFS doesn’t like lead either, and we refuse to use lead-based paint in our products. We say this because it has come to our attention that much of the exercise equipment manufactured in China is made with leadbased paint. The harmful effects of lead-based paint are widely documented, which is why BFS will not cut corners and use it in our products.
Letter from You! Hi, Kim! I really enjoy your magazine and in particular the photos of past lifting greats. I have enclosed a photo of three US lifting greats. From left to right are Gerry Ferrelli: a one-time junior world record holder; Denis Reno: not necessarily a US lifting great, but his publication, Weightlifter’s Newsletter, is a great resource for the competitive Olympic lifter; Bob Bednarski, who needs no introduction; and myself. The photo was taken at my house several years ago, after we had a reunion of the legendary Central Falls Weightlifting Club, at which we honored the greatest teacher of Olympic weightlifting ever, the one and only Joe Mills.
Both Gerry and Bob were coached by Joe. Also, feel free to use the attached photos of me lifting a 230-pound tire overhead. We use this tire for flipping, but a few of the football guys and I had a little contest to see who could actually lift this thing. They failed miserably. Old Olympic lifters never die; they just risk hurting themselves doing dumb things! Gerald L. Willis, EdD Associate Dean of Students Salve Regina University Newport, Rhode Island More Work on the Chain Gang While taking a break during the photo shoot for the feature in this issue on vibration training, Canadian strength coach Paul Gagné lived up to his nickname of being the MacGyver of strength and conditioning.
This time he developed two new uses for BFS lifting chains. First, Gagné draped the chains over our ceiling ladder and performed neutral-grip chin-ups, which are much tougher on the grip than towel chin-ups. Then he placed a short bar between the chains and did several wide-grip chin-ups, which due to the instability involved makes this variation much more difficult than those performed on a regular chin-up bar. Thanks for the tips, MacGyver!
National High School Power Clean Championship Set Val Balison, former American record holder in the clean and jerk, is shown coaching his athletes at Bonanza High School in Las Vegas, Nevada. Balison is the meet director for the 4th Annual National High School Power Clean Championships, which will be held at Bonanza High School on May 17, 2008. For more information contact Val Balison at vjbalison@cox.net.
Andrea Ruygrok is 34 years old and did great on the BFS program in high school; she then went on to college and became a pharmacist who specializes in depression. Her life was going well, but she felt she was terribly out of shape and signed up with a trainer. Here is how she explains what happened next. “I would bring in the BFS magazine articles to the trainer, telling him I wanted to be like other profiled female athletes. Initially he laughed at me, but as I kept going with being an eleven in mind, he did not laugh anymore and I moved my squat up.” Eventually Ruygrok switched to a trainer who specialized in strongman, but she kept up with her Dot Drills and stretches.
Eventually she lost 30 pounds and worked her way up to a fifth place at the Women’s Nationals. Glad to hear you stuck with us, Andrea!
Coming Next Issue Kiley Allosso, our 2007 BFS Female High School Athlete of the Year, led Frank Cox High School in Virginia Beach to a second state championship in two years in field hockey. Allosso has accepted a full scholarship to attend Boston University and was just named player of the year in the state of Virginia. If you know of an athlete who deserves this honor for 2008, which includes a major feature story in BFS magazine, please contact BFS editor in chief Kim Goss at kim@bfsmail.com.
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Join other coaches in your area to learn the best ways to train your athletes with the proven BFS program. Not only will this certification ensure that you know how to improve athletic performance, you will learn techniques that will significantly improve the safety of every sports program. This is a hands-on, learn-by-doing certification.
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DEDICATED TO HELPING ATHLETES SUCCEED SINCE 1976
From BFS Magazine — March/April 2008. Part of the BFS Magazine Archive (1980–2014).
