Did you know that Aloha Fitness Club has a power lifting club? Well we do. Let me introduce you to H & N Barbenders or as some of you have so nicely referred to, Team Aloha. Sunday, July 13th we were honored to be one of the two teams (Imua Iron) to represent the Big Island. This is the first time a team, let alone two, has participated in the WABDL State Push-Pull Competition from the Big Island. We showed up with 12 of our members, 9 of which formed a team for 10 lifts (Arnel did both Bench and Deadlifts) and we came home with 11 awards. Twelve members from our little gym going to a competition that only Chad and I participated in last year; what a huge difference a year can make. This all got started when Byron noticed how heavy I was lifting and asked Chad about signing me up for the local competition last year. People started realizing that they couldnt let the weights that Chad was lifting intimidate them from becoming a competitor themselves. Arnel was the next to jump on board, which started a string of others and with the current participation we already have, it looks like our group could be 15 or more next year. Though all of the lifters have something unique in their story, and what a story this will tell some day, I really want to highlight four lifters in particular: Chevelle, the youngest female in our group of lifters, has some pretty big shoes to follow with Dad, Chad Bertelmann lifting so much freakin weight all the time. Seriously though, like Antonio and Rey, she didnt have a lot of time to train for this competition, but once she was committed she just dug right in and got the job done. Chevelle had a rough 2nd lift but was able to regroup, get back on the platform and nail a new State record. Way to go our young Beastette. Antonio, the youngest male in the group, really only decided to compete at the last minute. So without a lot of training he stepped up to the plate to represent his home gym, Aloha Fitness Club, H & N Barbenders and Hilo. Russell was scared to death once he got there. I was able to talk him down and he was able to take a step back, listen to reason and nail all three of his lifts. Though there was some confusion around his weight class he still earned a the chance to compete at Worlds in November. He took home a 2nd Place award. Great JOB Russell and I’m glad you did not have a violent barf session like the one guy. Rey has been a little project of mine for about six months. Ohhhh he soooo hard headed but he wanted to compete. Training for both the Bench and Deadlift was very grueling for him as he has never trained like this. He stuck to the plan and actually brought home a 1st place award in his category for Deadlifting. His winning pull was actually 20lbs heavier than anything he had done in the gym. I am SUPER proud of how far he has come. Though we did not bring home a team trophy, we did bring home several awards. Tunya Sytsma - Bench 1st Place Womens SHWT Masters 47-53 Chad Bertelmann - Bench 1st Place Submaster Law/Fire and 1st Place Open Mens Chad Bertelmann – Bench Most Outstanding Lifter Submaster Law/Fire and Bench Most Outstanding Lifter Open Men’s Chevelle Bertelmann - Bench 1st Place Teen Women Rey Corpuz - Deadlift 1st Place Master Mens 47-53 Arnel Sibucao - Deadlift 1st Place Class One and 1st Place (waiting for clarification on the second award) Jonathan Carroll - Deadlift 1st Place Teen Men Antonio Okamoto - Deadlift 1st Place Teen Men Makai - Bench 1st Place Class One Russell - Bench 2nd Place Caylen Gapusan - Bench 1st Place Ladies Open Brent Gapusan - Bench 2nd Place Mens Class One Great job everyone! Byron and I would like to say mahalo to all the people who have been helping around the gym to take a little pressure off us: Blaine Magno, Sable Kahakulani Young and Sah-noi Keikilani Kanui. Mahalo to our friends on Oahu who provided transportation while we were there. A big shout out to my mother for taking care of my little Missy while I was gone. Mahalo to Tui and Rodney for the hookup with the perfect place to eat, Yogur Story. Last, but certainly not least, MAHALO to all of our amazing members for putting up with us taking over the Benches and Racks. We truly appreciate all your support and we wouldnt have been able to make this trip without you. Okay team, take some time off to recover and then lets get busy again. Time to prepare for the World platform....here we come Vegas!
Posted on: Tue, 15 Jul 2014 18:45:28 +0000
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