Hardcore Extreme, a comprehensive look into the fascinating – and frequently bizarre – world of Chad Aichs, is the latest in a rotating series of articles by, and about, athletes sponsored by Elite Fitness Systems. Chad has been extremely busy lately, so we’re giving him a golden opportunity here to catch everyone up on all his latest developments.

Chad Aichs holds the AWPC world records in the bench, squat, deadlift and total. He also holds the WPO full-meet world record in the bench press. His best competition lifts to date are a 1173 squat, 821 bench and a 755 deadlift. Chad lives in Sparks, Nevada, and is the founding member of the Disciples of Strength powerlifting team.

It seems like you’ve been busy as hell lately. What’s been going on?

The list just keeps getting longer, so I’ll just spit it all out and you can make it look nice. I got to do some photo shoots recently here in Reno and Tahoe, and when I was back east, so I have some new shots people can see.

Contracts and Sponsors for 2008:

I’ll start out with the fact that I am re-signing with Cytosport. I haven't actually signed the contract yet, but we’ve discussed everything and I’m just waiting to receive the paperwork, so I’d say it's a done deal. I’m also staying with Elite Fitness Systems and Metal Sport and Wear, of course. I will also continue working with my other sponsors through the ’08 season. These include American Iron Gym, Sportkilt, Hyd Apparel, Bodytech USA, and Fatheadz.

New Products:

I’m releasing two more shirts – one for adults and one for children - this month, adding additional products to the five designs we already have. I’ll be bringing on four designs from my sponsor Hyd Apparel, as well. I like these four designs a lot, and I think other lifters will really appreciate them. We’ve also finished the graphic artwork for four new poster designs, and one more is almost done.  We’re working on producing them and hope to have everything for sale in a month or two. 

Team Disciples of Strength is in the process of filming our first training video.  This will be the first in a series covering all aspects of powerlifting. The first video will focus on stretching, which will be short because I know everyone hates stretching. Hell, I don't even like to stretch, but it’s a very important part of lifting. The majority of the video will cover the technique of the three powerlifting movements. 

I decided to get heavily into technique in the first video because I see it as the base or foundation of becoming a great powerlifter. Without a strong foundation, you’ll never achieve what you’re fully capable of. It’s as simple as building a house. A house may look incredible and it may seem strong, but if it has major structural problems, it will eventually tumble to the ground. This is one of the most overlooked aspects of strength. Simply put, technique is one way to lift more weight without actually getting stronger. Understanding technique will enable you to see weak points and fix them to get stronger faster.

I’m hoping to have this done in a couple of months, but I’ve decided to let my nature – renaissance man - take over and produce the video myself, so it may take me longer than originally planned. Wish me luck and speed with this.

Website: www.chadaichs.com

We’re completely renovating my website right now. I’ve received many complements on the current website -  for which I’m very thankful and appreciate very much – but wait until the next one is up and running! It’s incredible, and my graphic arts friend is doing a tremendous job. I’m very excited about the site, and hope to have it up in a month. We’re still shooting a ton of photos for it and have a lot more to do, but it’ll be worth it if everyone appreciates it.

Training and Training Log:

The last few months of training have been very erratic with my Highland Games competitions.  I’d been doing a lot of technique work on the Highland Games and not spending too much time in the gym. I also had several competitions in a short period of time, so I’d take a week off before, then a week off after, then train for a week, then have another competition, and so on.

This was very strange, but it think it was very good for me. I had a blast doing a more athletic type of competition, I got to meet a lot of really good people in the Highland Games, and I managed to let my body rest up from lifting super-max weights. I took second place at the Reno competition, and first place in New Hampshire. The Scottish Highland Games are something I plan to pursue, with the goal of turning pro sometime next year. This will take a lot of work, especially in the technical areas, so I’ll have to find a way to train powerlifting and Highland Games at the same time. I have some ideas and think the two styles of competition may actually be very symbiotic.

I’ll be putting my new training to the test in the WPO Finals at the Fit Expo in Los Angeles in February 2008. I’m very excited about this and I’m feeling very good right now. I’ve had some lengthy discussions with my partner Ethan, and he’s given me some very good advice on the program I should go with. I believe this meet will result in my best total ever.

Although I’m very busy lately, I’m trying very hard to keep my training log up to date. I’ll continue to let everyone know how the training is going and I’ll try to keep everyone amused with my crazy posts.  I have plenty of ideas for things to write in the training log, and I have a list of ideas for articles I’d like to write, so keep an eye out for this stuff, because I’m hoping to eventually get some time to work on them and get them posted. I’d like to thank everyone for reading them, and I truly hope people get something from them.

Team Disciples of Strength:

Team DOS is doing great. It’s been a weird last few months for the team as well as for me. Members Ethan and Larry have daughters (Bailey and Jesse) involved in sports, and they’ve had to move some workouts around.  I’ve been trying to get in to help when I have time, but it’s been crazy for me too.  Everything has calmed down and we’re now able to get in to train together.

Scott and Larry will be competing at the UPA Diablo Barbell meet in Concord, CA on December 1st.  Both have worked very hard, and both have had a few setbacks with illnesses, but I believe they’re more than ready.  I expect big PRs at this competition, and  I’m really looking forward to being at this meet.  My guys are going to do great, our friends from Supertraining will be there, I always love seeing the Diablo boys, and AJ is bringing a few guys down from the Irongladiators’ area.

Q&A:

Do you really have lines for matching up your bench shirt tattooed on your chest? I think I might be in love with you. (From a girl calling herself Anna).

Yes, I really do have that tattooed on my chest. It sounded perfectly logical in my mind, and still does. You might be in love with me? If you like big human bears, we should meet!

Do you have any tips for a powerlifter/strongman who is considering doing a Highland Games? I'm sure I don't look as good as you in a kilt, but I was considering doing one in my area next February. I've never trained for something like that before, and just wondered if you had any advice.

Yes, I’m afraid you will not look as good as me in a kilt, but ninety-nine percent of the population has that same problem.

That’s cool that you’re doing a Highland Games, and I know you’re going to love it. The best advice I can give is to practice with the implements, if possible. Throwing is very technical. You can get away with being just strong for a while, but to get good you need awesome technique. The other thing would be to really work your speed in the gym. Use a little lighter weight, but try to go as fast as possible. The heaviest implement is the 56 lb. weight and a caber of around 130 lb., so explosive strength is the most important thing. Force = Mass x Acceleration. The mass is not that heavy so you need serious acceleration to generate a lot of force and distance. Let me know how you do, and I think you’ll have a blast.

What briefs do you wear under your Ace? In your log, it says you’ve worn Vikings, but I’ve heard otherwise.

Yes, I was wearing the Vikings under the Ace for my last few meets. I switched to Ace briefs under the Ace suit for the Power Station Pro meet, and I’m going to stick with Ace-Ace for now. I will just have to make sure I don't have them too tight next time, but I did like the way they performed together.

Are you eventually going to go in depth on your stretching routine?

Writing down my stretching routine is kind of complicated, and I don't even know the actual names of all the stretches I do. Although I think this is very important, I’m rarely asked questions about it. I’m currently working on a training video which will cover technique of the three lifts, stretching, and how to perform various exercises. I hope that will suffice, and maybe you can pick one up on elitefts.com when I’m done.

Chad's Product Line

Chad's Training Log

Chad's Bio Page

Articles By Chad Aichs

Ask Chad A Question

Team EliteFTS