England´s Andy Bolton has challenged american´s in the WPO Superheavyweight division. Andy´s next show is in Helsinki in the WPO European finals. He is going against WPO Superheavy champ Donny Thompson and aiming for new world records in the deadlift and total.

PERSONAL FILE:

age:     35
Occupation     Driver / powerlifter
Hobbies    spending time with wife
family:    wife Stacy, married 1 yr october 15th mum, dad, younger brother and older sister
hometown:    Leeds, England

best competition lifts:

squat 510kg
bench 285kg
deadlift 425kg
total 1190kg

HOW DID YOU GET STARTED WEIGHT TRAINING ?
Just went to a gym at 18 yrs old as its what I always wanted to do and I never looked back.

WHAT WAS YOUR FIRST INVOLVEMENT WITH POWERLIFTING ?
My first time with powerlifting was back in 1990 I met some powerlifters who got me training with them as they said i would make a good powerlifter and would I like to train with them so I did and in 1991 I did my first show where I did 770kg total.

WHAT OTHER SPORTS HAVE YOU TRIED ?
I played rugby league from 13 to 17 and I also tried strongman but I never really liked it.

HOW DID YOU TRAIN AT FIRST ?
Just basic we trained monday,Wednesday and friday just working on the basics powerlifts with very little other but we trained really hard at least 3hrs a session but it seemed to work.

HOW DO YOU TRAIN ?
I train 3 days per week:
Monday is heavy bench and board work with rear delt and abs after
Wednesday is just squats and deadlifts with partials on both lifts.
Thursday is leg and back assistance work including leg press, shrugs and all pulley work. This light day also is my raw bench day.

IN YOUR LAST MEETS THE NUMBERS HAVE MOVED UP FAST SO YOU FOUND A GOOD WAY TO TRAIN. WHAT WERE THE MAJOR CHANGES RECENTLY ?
You have to know your body and how not to over train and I now work with lots of explosive power and also I always train with good form nothing sloppy, and to give every workout 110%

WHY DIDN´T YOU LIKE THE STRONGMAN STUFF ?
I get bored very easy I like the one lift max comp and there seems to be a lot of politics in strongman that are not good. They seem to pick the events for certain people

WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT GETTING THE WPO TO EUROPE ?
Its great, its about time, this will make the wpo even bigger and stronger and when anybody wins the title ,they they can truly say that they are the strongest,also finland is close to me so I will not have travel so far and that is good ,Europeans are the strongest in the world now we can show it

WHAT´S YOUR GOAL AT THE MEET ?
My goal at this meet is to win and break Garry Franks total record of 1227.5kg

HOW DO YOU SEE THE FUTURE OF POWERLIFTING ?
Powerlifting is looking good and is very tough so many strong guys coming through and I think WPO is the way forward.

NAME 3 MOST COMMON TRAINING MISTAKES PEOPLE MAKE ?
1.overtraining
2.using form that is not good
3.not learning about your sport

YOUR ADVICE FOR THE BEGINNER ?
Only train 3 days per week that’s all they need and just do basic powerlifts. Get somebody to show them good form in exercises also not to train too heavy

WHAT KIND OF WEIGHTS DO YOU USE IN TRAINING ?
Hard to say depends on my cycle and if I have a show but here are some weights that I use:
barbell shrugs 410kg 10reps
deadlift below knee 470kg 3 reps
full deadlift 405kg 3 reps
hammer rows 200kg each arm 8 reps
full bench 300k in training
leg press 600kg 20 reps
squats 410-450 2 to 3 reps half suit

GIVE US A BRIEFS DECSRIPTION ON YOUR SET AND REP TABLE ?
Squats is always 5s then to show go to 3s then last few wks 2s total 10 sets
Bench is 3s and 2s and heavy 5s on the brds total 10sets
Deadlift off season 5 to 8 then towards show go to 3s then 2s total 10 sets

HOW OFTEN DO USE PULL PARTIAL DEADLIFTS ?
I do these every 2nd wk off season and stop them 5 wks out of competition.

WHAT KIND OF WEIGHTS DO YOU USE IN THE DEAD IN TRAINING ?
I have been as heavy as 400k 2reps and as little as 340k 3reps it all depends on show and how many big shows have done before.

HOW DID YOU BOOST THE SQUAT SO TREMENDOUSLY DURING LAST YEAR ?
Just hard work and also the metal suit helped me this year I am trying the Inzer canvas will have to see. I also stopped putting all my energy into deadlift. I want to be a all round lifter and break records in all lifts but deadlift is good for me and when the time comes you will see more than 1000lb/455kg !

WHAT TYPE OF GYM DO YOU HAVE  ?
Its pretty small and basic. A hard core gym with mostly powerlifters nothing fancy but with lots of free weights. Mostly men train there the only women who train there are powerlifters.

YOU TRAINED AND COMPETETED IN WEIGHTLIFTING FOR YEARS ?
I have been competing for 15 yrs.

WHAT KIND OF RESULTS AND TITLES DID YOU GET ?
I have held many titles including 5 world titles,10 British titles and 3 European title and have held many records including WPO record squat 510kg, biggest deadlift ever 425kg and many British and European records

HAS IT BENEFITTED YOUR POWERLIFTING ?
As a result of winning many titles it has given me good sponsorship deals with good company,s who help and pay my way to shows around the world.

WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT GEAR IN GENERAL ?
Gear is good. Whatever makes you stronger is good I want to be the strongest I can be and if that means using all these new suits and shirts then why not ? Also, it saves lifters from serious injuries.

ANY THOUHTS ABOUT THE STATUS OF POWERLIFTING IN GENERAL ? ( federations, meets, testing, gear )
Powerlifting seems to be in a good way. The IPF seems strong, so does the WPO and also here in England we have lots of good lifters coming through. Testing - well that’s to the individual everybody has a choice. As far as gear goes I think bench shirts have gone way too far we need to have certain shirts that we all use .

GEAR AND EQUIPMENT HAVE CERTAINLY EVOLVED GREATLY DURING LAST YEARS ?
Yes it has. Maybe a little too much, we don’t really see how strong a lifter is. Now it´s all suits but not on deadlift. That’s a true test of strength

GEAR HAS BEEN HERE FOREVER BUT THE NUMBERS ARE GOING UP FAST SPECIALLY IN THE SQUAT AND BENCH, WHAT DO SEE THE BIGGEST REASON FOR THAT ?
Its all down to the suits we use and lifters just seem to be getting bigger.

NOW THEY HAVE GONE UP IN THE DEADLIFT TOO ?
Yes and it could have gone up much more the day I pulled 425kg and missed 455kg. I really would have pulled 440kg but its there when the time comes it will go up again.

WHAT TYPE OF GEAR DO YOU USE PERSONALLY ?
Most of my best years I used Metal gear and would like to thank Ano and Minna for helping me.  I wanted to try something new and as I will be moving to USA soon I thought John Inzer and Sgt. Rock have been very good to me and I have been working with Inzer since august 2005

BEING A SUPERHEAVY YOU DON´T HAVE TO WORRY ABOUT WEIGHT TOO MUCH ?
That’s right I am 158kg now and I love all the food I can eat.

HOW DO YOU SEE A VALUE OF PROPER NUTRITION FOR POWERLIFTERS ?
I started working with CNP / Dorian Yates and a guy called Brian Batcholdor in 1999. We worked on my nutrition and supplement intake. Since then I have gone from strength to strength and I think nutrition is very important. Without it you will not gain.

DO YOU USE ANY SUPPLEMENTS ?
Yes I use pro mass, pro peptide, creatine, glutamine pro gf, multi vitamins and minerals and a fatty acid /pro lipids. It´s all CNP / Dorian Yates products.

WHAT LIFTERS DO LOOK UP TO AND WHY ?
No1 is Eddy Coan. Nobody has done what Eddie has done. He is powerlifting and to have him helping me at the Arnold in 2003 was an honour and behind him there is nobody that I really look up to. I admire and respect lots of lifters including Garry Frank, Beau Moore, Ano ,Brent Mikesell, Donnie Thompson, Steve Goggins and lots more. What we do is not easy and takes balls.

HOW DO SPEND YOUR SPARE TIME BETWEEN WORK AND TRAINING ?
All my spare time is spent with my wife. Which after work and training does not leave that much time but she is very understanding and knows what powerlifting means to me.

ANDY, WELCOME TO FINLAND ! ANY FINAL COMMENTS ?
Just want to say that in Finland in november I will be aiming to break Garry Franks world total record 1227.5kg. I am really excited about coming to Finland as its my first time. Also would like to thank a few people:
Metal gear, Inzer, CNP/Brian Batcholdor, Forza, Dave Beattie and all the guys back in Leeds who help me train for these meets. Thank you everybody.