Where are you from and how old are you now as well as your current bodyweight? What gym do you train out of and what federation do you compete in?
I'm from Australia. I'm 26 years old. Im between 94-95kg/207-209lbs at 179cm/5.9 ft tall. I train out of Strength Rise Up. I have only ever competed in IPF. Strength Rise Up is a strength and conditioning gym in Melbourne run by IPF coach and powerlifter Andrew Tang, you may find out more about his gym at www.crossfitriseup.com
Can you tell me what are your numbers for the most recent meet/best meet as well as your best gym lifts (all time as well as coming into the meet)?
Squat: 210kg/463lbs
Bench: 152.5kg/336.2lbs at meet, 156kg/343.9lbs at gym
Deadlift: 282.5kg/622.8lbs at meet, 285kg/628.3lbs at gym
At what age did you started powerlifting and how long have you been powerlifting for? What got you into powerlifting?
I started powerlifting at 26 years old (about 6 months ago from the time of writing this). Before that I was training bodybuilding style on and off for about 7 years just just for recreation. I got into powerlifting after three friends (John Paul Cauchi, Stephen Pritchard, and Andrew Tang. All Australian IPF lifters) suggested I give it a shot after seeing me lift. After doing one competition, I fell in love with the sport.
What is your current training program/training philosophy? What were you doing before to get you to your current level and moving forward from here, what are your plans (this can be goals/numbers you want to hit on the platform etc.)
I am currently doing a 4 day Sheiko program. This is my first time doing Sheiko. As most people know can guess doing Sheiko means I'm doing a lot more volume and having less emphasis on 90%+ lifts. Most of the time I lift between 75-85% of the training 1RM. Before Sheiko I was doing a typical undulating program that I found online and wasn't made by anyone really notable. I got some good results from the undulating program and I did like the intensity of having to lift at 90-95% in the latter weeks. Before the undulating program I was doing hypertrophy training mostly for aesthetics since I only started powerlifitng 6 months ago. I'm not sure what kind of results I'll get from Sheiko (I find out December 7th at my second meet) but I have faith that the program will yield good results. If I do well on the Sheiko program, I plan to continue with Sheiko. If not, I will try something else, there's a lot of programs out there to try. Just have to find the right fit. Regardless, however, my short-term (12 months) goals are to rank top 3 in Australia in the 93kg/205lb weight class and to total 700kg/1543.2lbs. Long term, I don't really have any other numbers I want to hit, cause I just want to keep getting stronger and stronger and don't want to limit myself.
What is your fav lift and how do you train it?
Deadlift. In the past I emphasized a lot of back training and hamstring accessory exercises to help build my deadlift. This worked well for me. Sometimes I would add a glute or lower back exercise (e.g., hip thrusts, hyper-extensions or good mornings). The only variation of deadlift I did in the past would be stiff leg deadlift. Currently, on Sheiko, I minimal back, glute, and lower back accessory work, maybe 2 or 3 exercises a week on average. Instead, I am doing about 7 or so deadlift variations (e.g., deadlift with chains, block pulls, deadlift with pause below knee, at knee, above knee, deadlift to knee then down, deadlift to knee with pause then down, full deadlift plus 1/2 deadlift rep combo). Personally, I enjoy doing back exercises. If I decided to continue with Sheiko I will modify the program to have some more back exercises. The variation in Sheiko, however, is very useful for technique building and addressing weak points of the lift. So ideally I want to have the best of both worlds (i.e., back strength building exercises and deadlift variations). It is, however, a matter of time and practicality at the end of the day and what is the most effective program you can use given your life constraints.
What are some of the toughest obstacles you faced as a lifter or in life (if you don't mind sharing) and how you overcome them? (These can be injury related or a lift that is stalling)
My obstacles are mainly injury related. My squat progress has stalled me the most due to two major injuries to my right leg/hips that stalled me for about 9 months in total. In addition to stalling and regressing, I am now at greater risk of injury. I have to constantly rehab my leg and hip, and maintain it in as best condition as possible. Its an ongoing battle with my right leg and hip. Overall, however, I don't let that get me down. I've had faith that the issue can be controlled. I've sought professional help and have found some reliable people who have helped me get back to a state where I am now able to continue making progress. I have had to place much emphasis on my squat technique as well. The injuries have taught me two lessons that I use to avoid re-injury: a. any pain should be addressed immediately, and b. technique is paramount. As long as I keep my focus on these two lessons, I have no fear of re-injury in future.
What are some advice you would give to your younger self should you be able to go back in time?
"Start powerlifting now!" I started going to the gym when I was 19. There was a powerlifting club there, but I never tried it out. I wish I had trained powerlifting for the last 7 years. I would have been very different to today. That's about all I would tell my younger self. Otherwise, I feel I've always had the right people to give me the right advice, so there's not much extra I could really tell my younger self. When I didn't have the right people around me, I always tried to seek the right people out anyways. I'm not the type of person to sit around and wait for the answer to come to me. I've always actively gone out and tried to get the right help and advice. I think this has been my greatest strength because regardless of my own perception of how I'm doing or how good I think I am, by always wanting to seek out help and advice I'm also constantly reminded of how much more I can learn and have to achieve. This keeps me grounded and wanting to always find the next step to get better.
Hobbies/life outside of gym? (other commitments because we all know that we are not in the gym 24/7 or are we? LOL)
Not much. Currently finishing my master's thesis and placement hours to graduate and start working as a registered Psychologist. This takes up most of my time. Other than that I have a fiance I try to see regularly, I like reading manga, watching movies and TV shows, and sometimes I like to cruise around in my modified Ford Focus XR5.
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| Fire breathing Skrillex Hai |
We would like to thank Hai for shedding light on Sheiko and wish him all the best for his meet. Hai's instagram can be found @haisinstagram. If you are in Melbourne, do visit Strength Rise Up to lift with he and his group of friends.
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