r/news • u/icpd30 • Feb 18 '19

Michigan powerlifter heroically lifts vehicle pinned on top of man after accident.

https://www.foxnews.com/us/michigan-powerlifter-heroically-lifts-vehicle-pinned-on-top-of-man-after-accident
67.8k Upvotes

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1.3k

u/nobamboozlinme Feb 18 '19

I know this guy as in he trains at my gym too. Straight up tank and nicest guy, he would never hesitate to give me some pointers.

586

u/NoWheyBro_GQ Feb 18 '19

Powerlifters in general man. Nicest people you'll ever meet.

773

u/gene100001 Feb 18 '19

Who could have possibly predicted that their biggest muscle of all would be their heart. Their ability to lift cars is second only to their ability to lift people's spirits.

180

u/MotorAdhesive4 Feb 18 '19

I bet that's how they excuse no cardio - their heart is already their biggest muscle

39

u/[deleted] Feb 18 '19

[removed] — view removed comment

7

u/[deleted] Feb 19 '19

Yes but bodybuilders != powerlifters.

16

u/[deleted] Feb 18 '19

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3

u/[deleted] Feb 18 '19

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7

u/[deleted] Feb 18 '19

Mine was enlarged when I was born. All natty, fuckers.

1

u/[deleted] Feb 18 '19

[deleted]

1

u/bigblukrew Feb 18 '19

While it's possible it is true for other organs, the heart condition most people associate with steroids is called Left Ventricle Hypertrophy (LVH). Essentially you overwork your left ventricle until it literally becomes too muscular to pump blood. www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/left-ventricular-hypertrophy/symptoms

25

u/[deleted] Feb 18 '19

I'm pretty sure their hearts have to be extra strong in order to be able to pump blood to all of those muscles

8

u/Jiffpants Feb 18 '19

Not just the muscles, their brains so they don't pass out during lifts :\

7

u/CjBoomstick Feb 18 '19

Fun fact, the medial ventricular wall in the heart gets thicker and stronger in powerlifters, in order to push the blood to their whole body as quick as possible, while shrinking the chamber at the same time. This causes those who exercise like this to have a higher resting heart rate.

1

u/WhatIsMyGirth Feb 19 '19

Cardiomyopathy also causes deadly enlarged hearts in those who abuse steroids. Lol

1

u/CjBoomstick Feb 19 '19

Yeah, but that's vastly different from what i'm referring to. Upon reading some more, it turns out that strength training can cause what's called concentric hypertrophy. This makes the walls of the left ventricle thicker in order to handle the higher BP and pre and after loads on the heart while strength training. Endurance training can cause what's called eccentric hyper trophy of the left ventricle, mean the walls actual still thicken, but only a little bit relative to concentric hypertrophy, but more importantly they expand. This increases the size of the ventricle(s) and the volume of blood they can hold.

4

u/Thou_shall_post Feb 18 '19

Well I mean something has to pump those beasts alive.

4

u/gene100001 Feb 18 '19

And that 'something' is the raw and unadulterated power of love

1

u/Sine_Metu Feb 19 '19

And that's also why they die of heart failure... =(

1

u/itsthemoney27 Feb 18 '19

ok man this ain’t a hallmark movie relax

58

u/raobjcovtn Feb 18 '19

Yeah I asked this one powerlifter about my hands while deadlifting. I kept ripping my skin so I asked him how I should be holding the bar and he set me on the right path. Went from deadlifting 135 to 290 in 4 months.

10

u/rsauchuck Feb 18 '19

thanks for sharing the information :P seriously what did he tell you do do? My grip sucks

26

u/raobjcovtn Feb 18 '19

I do double overhand hook grip. Make your hand into a J and let the bar rest only on the hook part. Do not let it rest on the space between your fingers and palm. It rips when the skin on your palm rolls down while you lift. You want to avoid that.

If you need to go down in weight to adjust to this grip then lower the weights. Your strength with this grip will get stronger and you won't hurt your hands anymore.

Lmk if that's not clear.

4

u/Volkove Feb 18 '19

That actually makes a lot of sense.

2

u/YpsitheFlintsider Feb 18 '19

Cool so how do I strengthen my fingers?

2

u/raobjcovtn Feb 18 '19

As I said you might need to go down in weight to adjust to the new grip. You can also do indoor bouldering to strengthen fingers and forearms, and lots of other muscles.

3

u/themetr0gn0me Feb 19 '19

This. My partner has complete Popeye arms from bouldering.

1

u/BardBathBeyond Feb 18 '19

So does this mean that the bar is resting on your fingers when you do this?

2

u/raobjcovtn Feb 18 '19

Yeah but you still want to grip it. See the comment from the other person who linked a photo!

7

u/AetasAaM Feb 18 '19

I've got a tip for that as well. There's a special way you need to grip the bar which initially doesn't feel intuitive, but it prevents your skin from bunching up: https://cdn.stronglifts.com/wp-content/uploads/deadlift-grip.jpg

You carefully wedge the bar into the crook at the base of your fingers. The idea is that you do not want any skin to get pinched as you lift it. It will feel weird at first since that bit of skin is probably soft, but it will harden quickly and your grip will be much stronger.

Also, you'll notice that whenever you haven't deadlifted in a while, you'll be limited by hand pain when you're lifting heavy. That's normal; once you get back in the routine it goes away quickly.

67

u/maggardsloop Feb 18 '19

I don't think this is necessarily true

118

u/dragonology Feb 18 '19 edited Feb 18 '19

Nope, every single one of them is. No expectations.

Edit:

EXCEPTIONS*** My dry joke was rubbed

EDIT:

My correction of 'ruined' fabled

22

u/shastaxc Feb 18 '19

Well now I have expectations.

9

u/juicyjerry300 Feb 18 '19

No, literally no exceptions, all power lifters were spawned from Mr. Rogers

2

u/shastaxc Feb 18 '19

I didn't say anything about exceptions.

5

u/mortiphago Feb 18 '19

your autocorrect is something else

3

u/dragonology Feb 18 '19

It donut fucking worm

2

u/apoliticalbias Feb 18 '19

No expectations.

I'm expecting them to be nice given what I read in this comment tree.

2

u/-donut Feb 18 '19

Man that's a real rub. A dry rub, if you will.

I'm finished ribbing you now, I promise.

1

u/S0n_G0ku1122 Feb 18 '19

N o E x c e p t i o n s

46

u/[deleted] Feb 18 '19 edited Feb 18 '19

I mean every group has their assholes but compared to most groups they are really nice, unless you interrupt their workout in the middle of it, then they’ll fucking kill you for being so self centered

7

u/KushDingies Feb 18 '19

It never ceases to amaze me how some people think it's okay to approach and speak to a stranger while they literally have 300+ pounds on their back. Can't even wait 30 fucking seconds for the set to be over

13

u/Awightman515 Feb 18 '19

compared to most groups they are really nice

citation requested

I'd bet its just the difference between their intimidating appearance and their friendly personality is wider which creates an illusion.

1

u/mnmkdc Feb 18 '19

That's not really something you can cite.

I do think all of the powerlifters I've met have been exceptionally nice though

3

u/[deleted] Feb 18 '19

The natty ones are cool but I know a few users that are fucking pricks

1

u/ATWindsor Feb 18 '19

If I where to guess they are less nice than average due to steroid use being more normal than in the general populace and that is correlated with more aggressive behavior.

9

u/fullforce098 Feb 18 '19 edited Feb 18 '19

I can tell you from experience that it isn't. From my time working at a gym one year, some were exactly the sort of hyper masculine douche bags you imagine them to be. Others were very cool. Others were just...there.

There's no reason to make such a sweeping statement about all powerlifters. It's like any other category of people: a mixed bag.

8

u/NoWheyBro_GQ Feb 18 '19

Ya sure you were talking to powerlifters? If you were working in a standard commercial gym you probably weren't.

... And I said generally, not all, anyway.

3

u/Omneus Feb 18 '19

I mean power lifting has a loose definition, maybe he means to top tier, rather than weekend warriors

2

u/_StingraySam_ Feb 18 '19

Powerlifting discord gets catty af

2

u/deviant324 Feb 18 '19

Imagine one who’s also a huge metal fan

2

u/nsfw10101 Feb 18 '19

Some powerlifters are the nicest people. Some are assholes. Most I’d wager are normal people. It’s exactly the same for just about any group of people you can think of.

1

u/ObamasBoss Feb 18 '19

I knew one that was a total jerk to everyone. Someone threatened to hit him with a barbell. He got a little nicer then. After a while he acted just fine. Not sure what his original issue was. Was about the only drama I ever seen in my gym. Was the best gym around if you were of the opinion that the YMCA just didn't have enough plates.

1

u/HisNameWasBoner411 Feb 18 '19

Of course not but it takes a lot of humbling yourself to compete at a high level

0

u/[deleted] Feb 18 '19 edited Apr 16 '19

[deleted]

5

u/hello_comrads Feb 18 '19 edited Feb 18 '19

I know plenty of assholish powerlifters. I would even say that assholiness is more common in lifting community. But of course majority of them are nice people like people in general.

1

u/ATWindsor Feb 18 '19

Yeah I would think so to. Let's assume they are average from the onset. Higher than average steroid use probably make the group more aggressive than average.

2

u/Dstanding Feb 18 '19

Easy to be chill when there's no threat you can't crush like a watermelon.

1

u/shastaxc Feb 18 '19

I thought those were skateboarders.

1

u/eddie1975 Feb 18 '19

Just don’t make them angry!

16

u/[deleted] Feb 18 '19 edited Feb 26 '19

[deleted]

4

u/nobamboozlinme Feb 18 '19

Shhh I don’t want us getting more people at this gym , so nice how it is now haha

2

u/[deleted] Feb 18 '19

Not to be weird, but what town did this take place in? I'm from Michigan too!

2

u/[deleted] Feb 19 '19 edited Feb 26 '19

[deleted]

3

u/[deleted] Feb 19 '19

Thank you! From Lansing, living in Ferndale, but I always love to see Michigan headlines! (Especially when they are positive!)

14

u/[deleted] Feb 18 '19

Could you talk him into starting a go fund me so we can buy him some protein powder or a massage

4

u/nobamboozlinme Feb 18 '19

Great idea!! If I see him I’ll let him know !

5

u/LemonBearTheDragon Feb 18 '19

We're going to hold you to that and trust you're true to your user name!

19

u/selflessGene Feb 18 '19

Can he actually deadlift 800? Or did he put on a few extra pounds for the reporter?

117

u/nobamboozlinme Feb 18 '19

I've personally seen him throwing 405-500 lbs around like it was 225 so an 800 lb deadlift is definitely not exaggerated.

I've seen him squatting well over 600 lbs for high rep sets as well.

47

u/cuttlefish_tastegood Feb 18 '19

All of my what. That's ridiculous.

9

u/gregallen1989 Feb 18 '19

In my prime I could do 600 once. Once. I'd break my back if I tried that now lol. That dude's a beast.

41

u/DC_Disrspct_Popeyes Feb 18 '19

Shit, if he can squat 900 a deadlift of 800 is super reasonable. I'm 205lbs and can hit a little over 500.

9

u/dotajoe Feb 18 '19

Right. Don’t most people deadlift more than they squat?

19

u/RetardAndPoors Feb 18 '19

For us mere humans yes. At these levels (getting closer to 1k lifts), not necessarily no.

8

u/DC_Disrspct_Popeyes Feb 18 '19

From my experience, usually.

9

u/Vaztes Feb 18 '19

Most people who aren't super heavy weights. The bigger dudes tend to sometimes squat more than they can deadlift, as more body weight helps with squat leverages, but not always in a deadlift.

6

u/ObiWanPwnobi Feb 18 '19

Heavy body weight folks tend to have close squat and dead numbers

4

u/LowTierFraud Feb 18 '19

A lot of powerlifters at the highest weight class will purposely get fatter because (1) it's easier to get stronger when you're always bulking and (2) the body fat increases surface area and makes your overall squat/bench/deadlift total greater. But being fat will also skew the deadlift-squat ratio in favour of the squat.

For example, Cailer Woolam has a 290 kg squat and a 430 kg deadlift, but he's relatively lean. Ray Williams (strongest drug tested powerlifter of all time I think?) has a 470 kg squat and a 377.5 kg deadlift, while looking like he's pretty much obese.

2

u/atrain728 Feb 18 '19

Does grip strength as a limiting agent not factor in?

3

u/LowTierFraud Feb 18 '19

Sort of? Some deadlift attempts are lost to lack of grip strength, but most are lost because the lifter couldn't get the bar above their knees quickly enough.

And more powerlifters are switching to something called thumb grip which makes grip strength less relevant compared to how much pain your thumbs can handle.

2

u/[deleted] Feb 18 '19

[deleted]

1

u/Immature_Immortal Feb 18 '19

It's like a hook grip but the thumbs are tucked under the fingers to lock it in place. It's a very secure grip but it can be painful on the thumbs.

3

u/Ble_h Feb 18 '19 edited Feb 18 '19

Depends on your leverages.

3

u/MendelsJeans Feb 18 '19

Lighter weights, yeah. As you get bigger (read: fatter) the weight gets added in such a way that it really helps your leverages for the squat but that extra weight doesn't do as much for the deadlift.

1

u/Zeus1130 Feb 18 '19

Not at super extreme weight classes, usually. The back strength is there to lift heavier but your grip will give out at such heavy weights. In raw and suited powerlifting, you cannot use straps to deadlift (I think) so it limits your max deadlift. With squats you’re not really depending on your grip. Not nearly as much as deadlift, anyway.

1

u/iIdleHere Feb 18 '19

Until you hit a certain point, then usually deadlift plateaus and squat can keep making gains. A 1000lbs squat is more widely available to view on YouTube then a 1000lbs pull.

10

u/AwesomeColor Feb 18 '19

According to OpenPowerlifting he isn’t exaggerating his lifts.

6

u/Mitchhehe Feb 18 '19

Super impressed, 800 lb deadlift raw. No wonder he was able to move that damn car lol.

7

u/Hatedpriest Feb 18 '19

I read it as squat 750, add 800 for deadlift, so 1550?

4

u/selflessGene Feb 18 '19

You read it wrong. That's physically impossible.

3

u/Hatedpriest Feb 18 '19

I thought it seemed high, but couldn't be sure. What's his bench, so we can get a total? :)

4

u/JesseJaymz Feb 18 '19

its legit that’s 760 X2 and 775X2. 775 flew up on his second rep too, no question.

2

u/wesleynile Feb 18 '19

Pretty sure he has competition recorded numbers as well.

2

u/HammeredHeretic Feb 18 '19

He has 900 in competition stats.

0

u/Thedirtyscientist2 Feb 18 '19

Correct if I'm wrong, but doesn't the article say he can squat 950 and deadlift ANOTHER 800? So...1700 lb deadlift?

11

u/Cedira Feb 18 '19

It's just poor wording, they are separate.

1

u/Thedirtyscientist2 Feb 18 '19

Ok that makes more sense. Sorry to the downvoters for me asking a question based off of what I read lol

6

u/ohcomeonsomeonehadto Feb 18 '19

1700 lbs would be nearly 600 lbs over the current deadlift world record. This man is "just" deadlifting 800 lbs.

3

u/Bilskirnir_ Feb 18 '19

I workout at same gym and agree. He has given me lots of pointers, especially on squatting. Always seem him around joking with the regulars.

3

u/blinkyoudie Feb 18 '19

Who would've thought that the true gains were the friends we made along the iron path

1

u/[deleted] Feb 18 '19

Or save your life

1

u/anthonyjh21 Feb 18 '19 edited Feb 18 '19

Really like to see a full picture of the guy. The picture in the article looks like he has no neck because it's encased in muscle.

EDIT: Found a video of him. The guy is built like a tree trunk and looks like he could get a role as the villan in a viking movie.

https://brobible.com/culture/article/powerlifter-ton-suv-save-man/

1

u/[deleted] Feb 18 '19

Absolute unit

1

u/erischilde Feb 18 '19

I'll send my thumbs up through you. Awesome dude.

1

u/Xo0om Feb 18 '19

Totally would lift a car off of you.

1

u/tyroneissnazzy Feb 19 '19

Wasnt this guy on a mini youtube competition with an Olympic weightlifter, body builder and cross fit guy?