This is a great article I found online about Power B. Motivating lifter and entertaining writer. Read some of his stuff on elite.com.
Strength gives him much more than just a lift
By Garret Mathews
Sunday, September 7, 2008
VINCENNES, Ind. — One of the country's strongest men didn't bring his workout gear this afternoon. So, hmm, how best to demonstrate the muscle power that last October produced a 725-pound lift in a bench-press competition?
Glenn Buechlein, who weighs around 235 pounds, goes up and down twice on the chin-up bar. Using just one finger from each hand.
The 41-year-old Washington, Ind., man picks up a 100-pound plate. Using just four fingertips.
"I flip 500-pound tires. I pull trucks. I jump out of a 55-gallon barrel. I sprint down an alley wearing a 150-pound harness," he says. "It's all about building up strength. The iron is real. It's your only true friend. The 300 pounds or whatever is the same from one day to the next. That's why lifters do what they do. It's a metaphor for life. You don't give up on life."
He has a 33-inch waist, a 19-inch neck and wears a size 54 coat.
"It takes me an hour to get properly loosened up before I start lifting," he said. "I don't run, but I take three laps around the neighborhood with my mountain bike."
Buechlein teaches social studies at Vincennes Lincoln High School, where he is the strength-and-conditioning coach, meeting for 90 minutes or so after school with young men and women — not exclusively athletes — who want to get stronger. In the past, he's helped coach football, basketball and track.
A record setter
He holds the American Powerlifting Federation's record in the master's 242-pound class for the 725-pound pull.
Buechlein has written a book, "The Tao of B," that shares lifting techniques and sample workouts, including some that can be done in just a few minutes.
"Everybody's got time for a quickie," he likes to say.
A self-confessed "really sensitive guy," he can talk Freud, Dante and Nietzsche and effortlessly uses words like "nefarious," "zeitgeist" and "pariah." He writes poetry. He delivers inspirational messages at prisons.
"People have the wrong impression that most lifters are just a bunch of muscleheads," Buechlein says. "They'd be surprised to know that a surprising number have master's degrees. Myself, I'm taking classes at Oakland City University for my school administrator's license."
No steroids
Let's get the big question out of the way. Have you ever used steroids? No.
How long have you been lifting?
"For 24 years. I got started like a lot of other kids did — right after watching the movie, 'Conan the Barbarian.' ''
Let's talk injuries.
"In 2005, I blew up my rotator cuff," said Buechlein. "You talk about searing pain. One doctor told me that repairing the damage would be like sewing pieces of wet toilet paper together. But a specialist from New York put me on rehab and after six months I was almost back to where I was."
Do you squat and dead-lift, the other two events in a powerlifting competitions? "No. I had a back disc removed which pretty much ended my deadlift. That's unfortunate because when I was at Indiana State I got 610 pounds, which was triple my body weight. My shoulders are in too bad shape to squat. I can't grip the bar."
Lifting aids
Readers without much knowledge of the sport need to understand that the use of a bench shirt can significantly add to a lifter's total. What's your best raw bench-press? "Around 530 pounds," said Buechlein. "I'm not a big advocate of the shirt, but not wearing one to a meet is like bringing a knife to a gunfight. I paid $250 for the shirt that I use in competition. I have a sponsor, so that helps with the cost.
"Wrist wraps cost around $25. A singlet is $40 and a competition belt is $50. I make some money from my book and my video. I make it a point not to take anything out of our household budget."
What's the most money you've earned bench-pressing? "At a contest in Peoria (Ill), I got a hundred bucks for benching 315 pounds for 22 reps. That's about it."
He laughed.
"Lots of times they give out battle-axes and maces to the winners. I've accumulated a lot of that stuff at home."
What's this about jumping out of a barrel?
"I wanted to see if I can do it," he said. "I train with guys half my age in a room I've got set up in my basement. I call them my crew and they're a great help to me, not only in practice but in competition. They load the bar and watch my form carefully. You mess up on a big bench and you can almost get decapitated."
Rude remarks
What's this about the poetry?
"When my wife and I go to weddings, I am sometimes asked to do a poem about the bride and groom," said Buechlein.
"I wrote one that I'm pretty proud of that's about 9/11. That's my birthday and the poem was about my hope that some time in the future I can take my birthday back."
Do guys ever challenge you at bars?
"I don't go to taverns very often and only to have a beer or two. But, yeah, that happens. For some reason, they want to arm-wrestle. I get hassled a lot when I go to NASCAR races. People will look at me and say, 'Do you think you're tough?' I try to ignore them.
"I'm pretty mild-mannered. About the only way I'd fight is if my wife and daughter are threatened."
So you're Mr. Sensitive? "Because we lift, people see us as aggressive, extroverted types," he said. "In my case, that's a mask and it doesn't reflect my true self. I'm not showy about what I do. There are some people in our neighborhood who don't even know that I lift."
When are you going to quit lifting the equivalent of a fully loaded freezer?
"I don't have an answer," said Buechlein. "I enjoy incorporating Russian and Bulgarian methods into the science of the sport. And I enjoy the challenge of making the lifts. There's a lot of discipline involved.
"You could say, 'Oh, I hurt today,' and sit out. But you don't do that because that would be cheating the sport and cheating your workout buddies.
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