De-APF.com

”Hey that’s Brad Vargason!”

2007-04-24T09:53:00.000-05:00

DPC 2007

Before saying anything about the event, I need to thank a few groups and individuals! jack & Chrissy Osborne and the rest of the crew at The Training Center Gym, this event would be nothing but a vague dream were it not for you guys! Len Walker and the Blue Ridge Bar Benders - you guys are the best and I would never have been able to pull off an event of this size without you! Iron Body’s Powerlifting Team - all I have to say is............”Hey that’s Brad Vargason!” How awesome is it to have guy with "all time" next to his name helping out everyone in sight! Skiba thanks for coming and supporting the young lifters as you always do! Jesrey Barbell......Big Tone - I sill haven’t gotten a damn shirt and I think you broke my scale!( this guys 397lbs lean) all joking aside, truly Tone needs to be well over 400lbs to contain his incredible kindness. He is the greatest! I don’t ever want to hold an event that he cannot be part of! “Jules” Furniss - thank you for everything. You really made the event run smoothly! Zane & Sandi Mcaslin - you and your daughters are truly patron saints of powerlifting! I and everyone else are grateful for your help! Lastly I need to thank my counterpart in all this Kate “Power goddess” Baird. Without her drive and relentlessness none of this would ever have happened . I’d be searching for a decent powerlifting event instead of holding one!
Ok now on to The 2007 DPC which I believe was a resounding success in every way! 41 lifters of which more than half were full power! No injuries and everyone seemed to get along and have a good time! I’m sure that that alone is all one needs to declare this event a success, but we had so damn much more! What more you ask, 1500 professional photographs taken by Hank stoklosa 4hours of videography by Slater Clampitt, $128 raised for the Special Olympics, and a 90 min “How to Bench” workshop by the world famous “ASS Family”! Oh yeah, and world record level lifting and my RAW BRETHREN came out in force! The hundreds of spectators in attendance were an east coast “who’s who” of muscle and strength!

Looks like there will be enough interest the First State Power Frenzy so look for a finalized date soon! (late Sept looks promising)

Results and Photos are posted on the DE-APF site and videos will be up soon!

Broderick Chavez
DE State APF Chairman
WWW.DE-APF.COM

Raw vs. Equipped, Equipped vs. Raw……….

2007-03-17T11:10:00.000-05:00

Raw vs. Equipped, Equipped vs. Raw……….A few heretics even say Raw training is necessary for high level equipped lifting. The one thing you never hear is that equipment may be beneficial to raw lifting! Well I’m ready to say it, and say it loud!
I’m a raw lifting advocate through and through, and truly believe competitive raw lifting is more significant and meaningful than lifts in gear. Certainly not because I think equipped lifting is easier or somehow cheating or any other nonsense, I personally am just a purist! I have huge respect for geared lifters and acknowledge they have a skill I do not posses, but my mind set from child hood was and is the STRONGEST Guy or Gal gets the biggest trophy!
Being a “raw guy” I measure all things against my raw strength in the three competitive lifts. About one year ago having Squatted 725 @ 220 in just a belt and knee wraps (in an APF event) I was about to embark on a quest for 800 RAW! My training partner and a few others close to me pushed hard for me to swallow my pride and don the gear! Every method imaginable was employed, begging, bribing, threatening and even ridicule! In the end I gave in and began an odyssey of the oddest variety!
Captain Kirk, Brad Vargason, Brent Mikesell Zane & Sandi Mcaslin are but a few of the names I consulted with about gear options. In the end I opted for Predator briefs a T-Rex suit and a 2 ply Phenom shirt. Since the day the box of goodies arrived things haven’t been the same!
Without boring you with all the details, my initial foray was a disaster! After an entire cycle of prep in my new goods I was barely achieving numbers comparable to my raw lifting! Oct of 06 I ventured up to Zane and Sandi Mcasiln’s Iron Asylum Gym to compete in what I think is one of the best powerlifting events in the US. 1000 dollars worth of high tech gear might have netted me 100 pounds on my total! Please don’t misunderstand me - the gear was not to blame, but I was despondent to say the least!
Despondent, embarrassed and even a bit angry I was faced with either quitting the gear or trudging forward. Being the indomitable Meathead that I am, trudging forth was the only real option! Months after truly committing to “gear” only training I’ve finally made strides. I now can now HANDLE 100-150 pounds more than my raw lifts in all three movements.
As the opening of this meandering tome implies, the purpose of this entry is not to tout my success or to some extent the lack of it, with regard to geared training. Rather, I wanted to relate how this adventure has inadvertently aided my true love, “RAW LIFTING. I will explain. I have the privilege and honor to train with the most dedicated and supportive people on the planet. I am NEVER without a partner and / or helper unless it’s a fault of my own. However, recently, due to work obligations, I found myself in that very situation several times. Finding my self without competent helpers and spotters made me a bit fearful to leap into 8 & 9 hundred pound squats so I opted to indulge in my roots.
Not having done a proper “RAW” squat in almost a year I had no idea what to expect. What I found was truly the best surprise I’ve ever gotten, my raw weight felt like toys! Following the rough pattern of training days past I progressed up to 675 in nothing but a belt! 50 pounds short of my best contest lift in only a belt, with no real preparation! Needles to say I was dumbfounded yet delighted at the result. I’m going to spend a few weeks exploring this phenomenon to try and determine just how strong I really am.
My penultimate thoughts thus far are that equipment IS an unnatural aid to lifting and, because of that may just be the gateway to UNATURAL strength development! What irony it is to consider the thought that the very thing “picking at the crotch” of most “RAW GUYS” could be the gateway to the success they are dreaming!
My final thought is that 800 @ 220 raw still sounds really tempting……………

GEAR.......

2007-03-06T08:45:00.000-05:00

GEAR.......The word once referred to anabolic drugs and ergogenic aids, now its sole connotation is how many layer of what space-age material a lifter wraps them self in. Without question my favorite play on the word is Zane & Sandi Mcaslin's affectionate referral to ME as their favorite "GEAR WHORE". Love it or hate it the age of supportive powerlifting gear is upon us!
For the life of me I do not know why the subject is so wildly debated and argued! Gear is what gear is, a lifting aid! I try very hard to stay objective and centralist on all things, but the arguments against gear just don't work! The idea that squat suits & bench shirts dilutes or dirties the pristine purity of powerlifting is childish at best.
Performance aids are accepted and embraced in almost every sport I can think of. Does anyone argue that alcohol or nitro methane ruins the purity of drag racing? Do shoulder pads make NFL linemen pussies? Hell, I bet tennis shoes are screwing up track & field; there is no end to the stupid pointless examples that could be outlined with this childlike train of thought!
The truth as I see it is that gear adds depth and diversity to powerlifting. The optimal use of shirts & suits requires a level of skill and ability previously unknown in a sport dominated by troglodilian giants with little more than a grasp on which direction was up!
Today’s powerlifting champions have not only developed super-human muscular strength but true skill in the combined discipline that is equipped powerlifting. In the 21st century world of competitive lifting skill and understanding exists on an equal footing with suboid brut strength!
Please don't misunderstand my intentions here, I myself am a raw lifter at heart (I have & occasionally do use gear). I have the highest level of respect for all champions past, but like all things the sport has moved on. The achievements of past greats are no less amazing or revered, just based in a different frame work.
I do get a certain special smirk when champion A or champion B chooses to lift without gear and posts numbers significantly lower than that their normal, but truly that’s very unfair and childish of me! Any lifter that is able to post both a raw & equipped lifts is in fact demonstrating a greater berth of skill & proficiency than his or her peers!
To close this meandering cyber voyage, I'd like to offer my fix to what may or may not be broken. As I see it powerlifters and the major sanctioning bodies in powelifting should embrace all facets of the sport as it is today. We don't need less powerlifting - we need more! Why not make every conceivable division, tested non-tested, raw & equipped 1ply 2ply super duper plys, whatever!!
Perhaps the event promoters and sanctioning bodies simply need to have the faith and dare I say respect in the competitors as a whole and allow them to compare themselves with who they feel are their peers. Affording everyone the chance to lift as they please in a legitimate sanctioned environment is the only real way powerlifting might ever achieve equality with other sporting endeavors.

Welcome to the offical De-APF.com blog

2007-03-05T09:18:00.000-05:00

Hello and welcome to the new official DE-APF.com chairperson blog. My name is Broderick Chavez and I'll be your guide through this cyber maze that is or at least will be my thought on everything and everyone strong & powerful!
As the Delaware chairman of APF I get the privilege of associating with some of the top names in powerlifting & strength sports. In this running blog I'll spout my thoughts and ideas, be them good or bad about the goings on in our beloved sport of powerlifting & the larger industry of sports performance.
Because this is a completely new forum and format for me I have no doubts this blog will evolve and become something other than the initial few installments, and I invite you to offer up your thoughts and insights as you see fit.
My true goal with this blog is to give the average lifter/member of the APF a feel for the bigger picture of the powerlifting world, and maybe just maybe make the world of powerlifting a little bit better in the end!