HARDCORE GYM #114

 

January/February 2012 - Vol. 35 No. 3

BAR BENDERS BARBELL

by Rick Brewer | rick[at]houseofpain.com

www.houseofpain.com

Last month you learned about the Dogg House Gym in Columbus, Ohio. Dogg House got good ideas from Westside Barbell. Now, we travel south to Arkansas to see a gym that got good ideas from Diablo Barbell. For all of you Yankees that don't know, Arkansas is basically a small backwards suburb of Texas. (There was something to offend almost everyone in that sentence!)

Seriously, Kurt Mattison has been telling me about his garage gym for a long time, and last year he moved everything into a 3000 square foot warehouse in Jacksonville, AR. He's about 10 minutes away from Little Rock, or an hour and a half from Hot Springs.

The gym is named Bar Benders Barbell, and it is not affiliated with the Barbenders Gym (PA) owned by Paul Vargo, which we previously profiled in this column. Enough from me, I'll let Kurt fill you in:

 

The gym is "Bar Benders Barbell," and you can check out our facebook page. We also have some videos under that name on YouTube. Originally, I was going to [restrict membership to] powerlifting, bodybuilders, and strength athletes only, but there aren't enough "serious" types around here, so I'm going to add crossfit and maybe some chick classes to help pay rent. (Welcome to the real gym world. RB)

All the commercial gyms around Little Rock run serious lifters (like me and those that lift at BBB) out of their gym for chalk, noise, intimidating looks, etc. We are different from anything around here; no A/C, no mirrors, no socializing, and no bullshit. If you aren't serious, I don't want you here; that goes for powerlifters, football players, strength athletes or even the crossfit crowd. I trained at Diablo Barbell (in Concord, CA) a few years ago, and I want to pattern my gym after what Ted has done out there. Others can walk into 24-hour Fitness and get their hour or so of posing, but where do the hardcore folks go? They go to a garage, or to an old warehouse like this.

 

You brought several lifters by HOUSE OF PAIN a month or two ago when you were headed to a powerlifting meet in the Dallas area. I think a couple of your guys did pretty good; Roy hit a 425 BP, and pulled 605 at 242, and Tim pulled 475 at his first meet and then passed out! Tell us about some of your strong lifters.

Some of our raw guys have hit an elite total with SPF, and I've hit 1,830 at 220 in single-ply. I'm playing with multi-ply in hopes of competing at a big SPF meet. I'm also training a woman (incredibly fit and cute) in the conjugate methods, so she can help train "normal" people in what we do, as well as teach some classes and personal train the crossfit clients.

 

Here are some stats on a few others:
- Jonathon Vick (SHW): 2,050 total raw, with a 775 DL in there.
- Bryan Medley (181), hit a 605 DL (single-ply) in his first meet. This kid is the best "student" I've ever had. He's 6-foot-2 and started with me in January 2010 at 145 pounds body weight. He hit 190 in July 2010, then went to Korea (USAF) for a year and got up to 210. He simply works harder and is more disciplined with his lifting and eating than anyone I've ever been around. I think 65 pounds on anyone (drug-free) is simply unheard of, but he did it. He is now a drill instructor at Lackland AFB in Texas.
- Roy Brown (242): push pull, 1,125 raw.
- Phillip Brewer (165): bench, 480 raw.
- Jake Davis (220): 1,560 total raw (21 years old).
- Jeff Trent (220): 705 DL raw (21 years old, bodybuilder, really doesn't concentrate on powerlifting).
- Greg Ewing (220): 1,610 total raw (deployed USAF).
- Blake Mattison (165): 315 BP, 455 SQ, raw (college baseball player, really doesn't train to powerlift).
- Weston Cobb (181): just started here, but shows a lot of promise; 550 SQ, 425 BP, (various other great lifts bp using boards, box squats with chains, can hang with anyone).
- Kurt Mattison (220): 1,830 total, single-ply, 805 SQ, 525 BP, playing around with multi-ply gear now (gym owner is 47 years young).
- Larry Kye (275): 716 SQ at 52 (single-ply), he's 59 years young now, hasn't competed in 8 years, wants to hit 600 at 60.

 

Those numbers are great! You have a strong enough crew to host your own powerlifting meets before long! Tell us more!
I get a lot of other guys through the doors because there is an air force base about 10 minutes from my gym. Some of the guys that don't like the "commercial gym" atmosphere or the facility on base train here off and on. It's real hard this time of year to get anyone to be disciplined because with their air force commitment and all the "outdoor activities," everyone would rather play than train. The people I listed above are the serious lifters here, and their numbers will be noticed at the next meet. We've had MMA fighters come train; they left not only stronger, but quicker as well. I had an extremely hot female marathon runner "try" to keep up about a year ago—she just didn't have the mental toughness to handle what we do on a daily basis. I have a few girls from the local Hooters come in every now and then (I have to train them alone; when they are here too many people are looking and not lifting, plus they are sooooo dumb).

I like SPF meets because they are usually run pretty well and the national director (Jesse Rogers) is there at all the meets I've attended. I went SPF to begin with because they use a mono-lift and after years with AAU, NASA, and USAPL doing "walk outs," I needed a break. The walkouts were just too much to deal with. Walking out was taking more effort than the actual squat was, and for me it was too damn dangerous. (We like the SPF meets, and I look forward to the day Jesse opens his meets back up to HOUSE OF PAIN sponsorship. I know you have SPF clothing, but we still miss ya Jesse! RB)

I loved it at Diablo. Training with those guys taught me more about the game in 8 months than I had learned in 8 years. Ted and the guys are like one big dysfunctional family. Everyone is there to help everyone else; they support, educate, and assist everyone without hesitation. I want to make my gym like Diablo, but with a smaller "serious lifter" population it's going to be harder to "recruit" the lifters. The thing about Diablo and my gym (I hope) is it is for LIFTING ONLY!! No socialization, no chit-chat, no bullshit that can distract the lifter from maximizing their potential. People don't realize that these simple distractions—the ones so common at the local gym—are actually keeping them from making their goals and dreams a reality, and the owners/managers don't care. I do, Ted does, Mark Bell does, etc, etc. You want the hardcore guys (and girls) that get out of their car pissed off, do their training and crawl back to their car. Those are the type of lifters I want! I don't care if they are powerlifters, bodybuilders, football players, MMA fighters, figure/bikini models—you come to my place to train, PERIOD, no exceptions.

 

Speaking of distractions, I guess your gym is pretty close to Bill Clinton's hometown. Got any good stories?
As far as Bill Clinton...well, I used to know one of his body guards and heard a FEW stories. Paula Jones is a substitute teacher at the school I taught at last spring, and I was her personal trainer about 12 years ago. There is a saying in Arkansas: "Nothin' says lovin' like puttin' it to your cousin"...ha ha.

I started out with a mono-rack, some good bars, and a few other pieces of equipment at the air base gym. The "common idiots" were always in the way, sat around doing curls out of the rack, and generally made it a pain in the ass to train there. I moved everything to my 3-car garage in November 2010, then I rented a 3,000 square foot warehouse last summer. I've added quite a bit more equipment since then, but I'm doing it out-of-pocket, so we won't run into money issues like 95% of all first year gyms do. I don't need a shit load of people coming through the door to keep the doors open, I don't "need" anyone; this is my baby and I can run it with just me and my crew lifting here. If I attract more lifters that's great, but I will be selective about who trains here.

We're at 2603 Poloron Rd., Suite J, Jacksonville, AR. We're open from 4 to whenever (Mon–Fri), or anytime by appointment. Look for the Bar Benders Barbell sign out front.

 

Thanks to Kurt for the address and invitation, but most of all thanks for building a real gym! I look forward to training there on my next trip through Arkansas. Next month, we'll stay south of Dixie, then we'll head back north the month after. Until then, keep training hard and quit looking at your cousin that way. Stories from your gym? Email: rick@houseofpain.com.

*photograph courtesy of Bar Benders Barbell

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