My Results at the 2007 Arnold Classic

By Chad Aichs

For www.EliteFTS.com

Well, all things considered, I’d have to say that my results at the Arnold Classic this year weren’t too bad. I’m not necessarily happy with them, but I can live with it. I finished in second place to Andy, who had an awesome day and is one freaky strong dude. If I have to get beat, at least it’s by a good guy like him and not some asshole. I finished with an 1173 lb squat, an 805 lb bench, a 755 lb deadlift, and a 2733 lb total. It’s hard to complain about a 100 lb PR total, but I’m just the man to do it.

I opened with an 1120 lb something squat, which went up ok even though I felt and heard a big pop in the hamstring that I tore 3–4 weeks earlier. I also weighed in pretty light at 367 lbs, and my suit was very loose. I actually put my briefs and suit on by myself. I missed my second attempt at 1173 lbs because I couldn’t get any air at the top. I came back on my third attempt and made it. I had to stop myself at the bottom because my gear was so loose. I had planned on going for the squat record, but that just wasn’t in the cards that day. I was also having a hard time keeping up with the crazy pace of the meet. I think I should do some more GPP work, get my weight to stabilize, and get the hamstring fully recovered.


The bench press was just shit for me. It had been feeling great lately, but that all fell apart at the meet. It took me three tries to get 805 lbs up, which is just ridiculous. This was good for dramatic effect though. I still need to review the video footage to see what went wrong, but I think I was keeping my wrist much straighter than usual and I kept hitting higher than normal.

As everyone knows, the deadlift isn’t really my favorite lift, but I didn’t have that bad of a day. I opened with 710 lbs, which was easy, but my technique really sucked. This was also when my hamstring and hip really started to hurt. My next jump was to 755 lbs (a PR), which went up ok. This attempt was very painful on the hamstring, but it’s the Arnold Classic so what the hell. I decided to try 800 lbs anyway. I think I lost some of my aggression and just pulled the slack out of the bar. At that point, I was finished.

I felt that I came into this meet in better shape than with any previous meets, but there were a few problems. I think because I backed off, it aided my recovery, but I need to find a way to still get heavy weight on my back and in my hands without overtraining. My warm ups felt awesome until I started with the heavier weight. Then I was very unstable and had a hard time setting up properly. I believe this is because I wasn’t used to the heavy weight. I’m also going to try some new bench shirt techniques as shown in the metal video on EliteFTS in which they demonstrate how to put the Metal shirt on correctly. The metal squat shoes are awesome, but I should probably use them more than one time before the meet. I know it’s time to go back to the drawing board and prepare to get even stronger.

I have many people to thank for helping me reach this level. First, I’d like to thank Ethan, Carla, and Bailey for spending so much time and money to help me out and support me. You guys are a huge help, and I really want to thank you for everything. At the meet, I kept seeing all of these lifters with four, five, or six handlers, and all I could think was that Ethan must be a bad ass because he’s the only handler taking care of me. I’d like to thank my parents and family, and thanks to my training partners and their families, Scott and Lindsey Burgess, and Little Larry Ivey and family.

Thanks to my great sponsor, Cytosport, for the great supplements, EliteFTS for everything, American Iron Gym for all the help and for providing a great place to train, Hyd Apparel for the cool clothes, Sportkilt for the Kilts that everyone should wear, Metal Sport and Wear for the best powerlifting gear ever, Bowen Enterprises for helping me get to the Arnold, JKL graphics, and BodyTechUSA. I need to thank Louie Simmons and Westside Barbell, Diablo Barbell, Supertraining, all the great lifters, all of the spotters and loaders, Chris Weirs you are the man, all the spectators at the Arnold, and all the fans supporting me. Thank you all because without all of you, I wouldn’t be where I am today, wherever that is.


I’ll do better next time, I promise.

Chad Aichs is a WPO competitor in the SHW division. He began training seriously for powerlifting in 1999. In six years, Chad has proven to be one of the strongest lifters in the world. He now has an 1102 lb squat, an 810 lb bench press, and a 722 lb deadlift. His best total is 2623 lbs, and he has a lot left to prove. Chad holds the AWPC world records in all three lifts and holds the WPO three-lift bench press record. Chad currently trains at American Iron Gym in Sparks, Nevada.

Elite Fitness Systems strives to be a recognized leader in the strength training industry by providing the highest quality strength training products and services while providing the highest level of customer service in the industry. For the best training equipment, information, and accessories, visit us at www.EliteFTS.com.


 




 




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