Interviews with australias best PLers

Being arguably the strongest teenager that Australia has ever seen, we appreciate you taking the time out of your training schedule to have a chat with us.
For those that have been living under a rock, or haven’t had the pleasure of competing with Gregg, I’ll give you a bit of a background, so you can understand what a talent this guy has.

At the age of 14 Gregg benched 110kgx3 and deadlifted 180kg… All at the weight of 75kg.
Gregg was always destined to move some monstrous weights, and his performances have not been disappointing thus far. Here are a few of the competitions he has done, I can’t list them all or we will be here all day!

2007 state titles - 1st place teenage men. 15yrs old
Squat 172.5 Bench 142.5 Deadlift 200

2007 national titles - 3rd place teenage men. 15yrs old
Squat 195 Bench 137.5 Deadlift 192.5

2008 national titles - 1st place teenage men. 16yrs old
Squat 230 Bench 180 Deadlift 245

2009 nationals - 1st place teenage men. 17yrs old
Squat 270 Bench 55 Deadlift 260 (Torn pec)

2010 nationals - 1st place teenage men. 18yrs old
Squat 332.5 Bench 187.5 Deadlift 287.5

2010 World Champs - 2nd place teenage 100kg div. 18yrs old
Squat 300 Bench 195 Deadlift 300

2011 national titles - 2nd place open mens. 19yrs old
Squat 345 Bench 210 Deadlift 300


That’s a pretty bloody impressive list Gregg, and some serious weight being shifted. What is it that keeps you motivated to keep heading to the platform year after year?

Thank you very much.
I think it's a great feeling doing something you love and are good at. And no other feeling in the world compares to working so hard towards one goal, battling the injuries, going through the good times and the bad and finally achieving that goal. Of course along the way you will fail, but the failures should only drive you to come back stronger. Also continuing to prove things to myself is a big motivation.


Battling the injuries? Have you had a few over the years?

Maybe I'm just being a big softie and complaining too much...

The worst injury I have suffered was a torn pec when I was just 16, at that age it is very hard to go from being able to train, being strong all the time etc. to barely bench pressing the bar for over a year. That experience taught me a lot.

It's hard to drop ones ego and know when enough is enough if the body is telling you to do so, but again something I am continuing to learn.

There are lots of small injuries I have suffered over the past 5 years; they are just bumps in the road to success though.
Both of my pecs always give me trouble. Currently I have a slight tear right at the top of my left hamstring, but all is healing well.
As hard as it is; being positive and not looking back, just finding ways to move forward and heal your injury, whatever it may be and using that as motivation to become stronger than ever is the best way to get passed an injury in my opinion.


Plenty of wise words there mate; A big ego probably causes more injuries in a gym than any other reason.
With your lifts and injuries in mind, what kind of programming does an advanced athlete like you follow? Do you need to include a lot of pre-hab/re-hab work to keep the injuries at bay?

Definitely.

Prehab/Rehab - I go to the pool twice a week for about 45 minutes; do some laps, walk around, all sorts of movements under water. I have found that to help a massive amount in helping heal injuries and preventing some.. Stretching before bed is good too.
I am lucky enough to have found myself 4 great practitioners.. I see my chiropractor once a month, my myotheropist every week and my naturopath and osteopath too sometimes depending on what has gone wrong. I make sure I am always well hydrated before every training session.

As for programming.. I was lucky enough to be taught A LOT by my first coach.. speaking to seasoned lifters and greats of the passed and putting it all together to find what works for me.
My training always changes up, depending on where my weaknesses lye at the time. With a competition coming up I will usually write up a rough plan up with the lead up to the comp leading to numbers that I hope to hit in my head, with that said.. I don't think I have ever gone into a competition with my training going exactly to plan, things always change. Listening to my body is something I have really had to succumb to and is a must to do one's best to prevent injury. That doesn't just mean going down if the body's giving you trouble.. if you are feeling great then take that.. go up and smash a session!
Another thing I have found that helps is not conforming to the 7 day week for training.. (closer to competition more so) you may need 12 days to recover from a big squat or deadlift session, or longer even. Assessing it at the time and taking it from there has been working for me.
Last thing is sticking to the basics! Any training system will work for a certain amount of time provided the trainee puts the required work in but in the end, sticking to the basics is what works best in my opinion.


Well by your attitude, and the results that keep getting churned out, it sounds like you pretty much have your training well sorted gregg.
So what's next for you?
What comps/goals have you set for the remainder of 2012?

Lets hope so... For this year I had planned to qualify for the CAPO nationals at the CAPO QLD state titles Brisbane on May 12th equipped, but due to my hamstring, the extra load with equipment was probably not the best idea. So I will be competing on May 12th raw and squatting high bar to take some of that tension off the hamstrings and gracilis.
Then I plan to compete at the CAPO nationals equipped in the open mens and hopefully achieve some goals I have set out to achieve for a while.
Finally I plan to go to Las Vegas to compete in the WPC world championships, in the junior unequipped division and hopefully come home with the gold and set some new world records. The hardest part I think this year will be keeping my weight moderated, as it is the last year I will be competing in the 100kg category (hopefully....)
I will also be bringing a team of lifters to coach down to the GPC nationals in June in Caloundra.
Should be a great year!


It will be.
Gregg, do you have a most memorable moment in your powerlifting career thus far...?

That's a hard one, alongside many others I think the best memory inside competition I have is seeing the 3 white lights after completing a 332.5kg squat when I was 18 at the 2010 nationals, it was beyond what I thought I would lift and just a truly great moment for me.


Awesome squat mate, I was in the crowd watching in amazement.
So what about your worst moment then....?

As I'm growing up, I am trying to take everything that happens in training and competition as a positive as we can only learn and grow from what goes wrong. With that said, to pin point one moment that was truly heart breaking for me in competition;
At the 2011 national titles having a very hard day on the platform, just scraping through getting 3 out of 9 lifts in for the day needed to finish. I disappointed myself that day having had much bigger expectations from myself. Again I learnt a lot that day and it will only help me improve as a person and a lifter.


To me, watching you at the 2011 nationals walk out your 2nd and 3rd squats after falling with 345kg on your back on your first attempt was inspiring. It showed incredible courage and determination mate.

To finish up, as a lifter, and a coach, what advice can you give our readers that want to have a long and strong powerlifting career?

As a coach; to those out there with the privilege of having a coach that hopefully they can trust...... LISTEN TO YOUR COACH!

As a lifter; There are so many different paths one can take to achieve their set of goals; programs, diets, lifestyles and the lot. Learn what works for you, learn that you will get out what you put in. Never ever give up, as hard as it can get just keep moving forward.

Lastly, no matter who you are; as soon as you think you have something under control, that is usually when you will lose it, stay humble and don't get too ahead of yourself. Remember there will always be someone training as hard as you, working toward beating you and they might be closer then you know. So keep doing what you need to do to improve and succeed!

Thank you Scott and PTC Brisbane, keep doing what you guys and girls are doing, it's really awesome. Take care!

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Today, I had the opportunity to speak to a great Australian powerlifter…..

Most powerlifters will know who Im talking about with the following……
“How is it all the way over in SUUUUNNY Perth !@!@”

Actually, almost 20 years since the final deadlift hit the floor at the 93 Australian nationals, he is not just a "great powerlifter" he is Australia’s GREATEST powerlifter of all time......



Mr. Adam Coe.
Thanks for taking the time to have a chat today Adam, as always, I love our catch ups mate.

Adam, when did you first get involved in powelifting?

Ok; first involvement (on a local or state-level scale...) would be 1985. Probably early '85, prior to the mid-year Victorian Powerlifting Championships I think.

About what age were you then Adam? and had you been strength training for a while before that?
22 (turned 23 in June of '85....). The other guys I trained with & myself had been training VERY hard & heavy at the old (now defunct...) Tarzan & Janes Gymnasium, Seaford, Victoria (where I first met the Markopolous clan....).
Prior-to-which, I trained by myself in a converted chook shed in our old backyard. Probably 3 years in total, before which I competed in Olympic Weightlifting as a 15/16 year old schoolboy for Peninsula Boys School, mid-1970's under Roger Crabtree's tutelage.

Can you recall your total at your first meet, what lifts they were and at what approximate weight?
Phew.!
First powerlifting comp. was at Len Wilson's gym in Caulfield, Victoria. Can't recall the squat, new Victorian Junior Bench-press record of 177.5kg & deadlift around 240kg. Total was definitely 622.5kg @ 90kg. Early in 1985 sometime.

Not bad at all for your first comp at all Adam, especially as a junior!
What did you think of PL when you started?
First-ever competition I watched (& spotted...), I was completely blown-away. Watched guys I'd met lifting unthinkable weights seemingly easy. Was ABSOLUTELY FLABBERGASTED when Charles Coleiro totalled 702.5kg @ 67.5, 1985 Victorian Titles. I totalled 655kg in the 90's; was ready to give it all away immediately following the competition. Len Wilson explained to me (GREAT words of wisdom...) afterwards that nobody expects novice lifters to go Elite One after one year of training. Ray Rigby congratulated me (I nearly died...) & others had similar comments/compliments thereafter. Its ABSOLUTELY VITAL that we, as a combined fraternity/association, maintain a STRONG ethic of always supporting, encouraging & nurturing ALL lifters who choose to pursue this wonderful sport. I wish each & every lifter, of all creeds, colour & age, the very best in their respective pursuit’s.

At a guess, how many comps do you think you have done since that first one back in 85?
Any world champs?

Len Wilson had been harping-on for months beforehand, telling me I'd do quite well in the sport of powerlifting.
I watched a competition just prior to this above mentioned event & was completely blown-away by the lifters/lifting etc.
I would have lifted every year thereafter, except 2004-onwards. I'm thinking approx. 100 competitions, none of which were World Championships. I remained focused on becoming Australia's highest total record holder, which I eventually succeeded with in November 1993.

So you first broke the all time Australian total record in 1993.
What numbers did you make and can you recall the lifts/total that you had to beat?
Ok; easy task.!
The-then Australian Records for the 100kg Men’s Open Men’s Division were :
358.5kg Squat (Shane Blood..)
242.5kg Bench (Rod Sylvia..)
352.5kg Deadlift (Vince Simonetta...).
I'd already broken the existing total record (882.5kg, previously held by the great Shane Blood & equalled by Vince...) with a 900kg @ the '92 Victorian Titles (lifts were 335-235-330).

It made sense to increase my low squat & deadlift, in-that I could bust every record out there, including Rod's Commonwealth Record Bench-press. November of 1993 I went 360 Sq., 245 Bench & 355 Deadlift to do the 960kg total at 99kg, breaking the GREAT Ray Rigby's immortal 950kg total which he did in the super heavy weight division.

Can you tell me a little about November '94 where you re-broke the biggest total in Australian history..... Which still stands as the greatest total in Australian history, across all feds close to 20 years on?
Sure. Training lifts indicated a probable total of around 980-985kg. The other guys I trained with were expecting me to come back with numbers around this figure.
I opened with a 322.5kg squat which wasn't really that easy. A disgusting miss with 362.5kg on the second put me in a state of REAL anger. Called for the 370kg on a third & JUST got it (two whites, one red..). I tell ya, if I'd have missed THAT squat, you'd still be hearing about it now.
On the bench I went ok; broke Rod Sylvia's 242.5kg with a limit-lift of 245kg.
I opened with 315kg on the deadlift, 345kg on a second (which gave me the 960kg total record...) & MISSED a 360kg on the final lift...ARGHHH..!!! If this had gone, 975kg total, close-to our prediction. Disappointing indeed.!

HAHA, disappointed with the 960kg total…… Amazing!
What sort of training methods did you employ back then Adam? Was there much science behind your lifting?

Ok; back in the 1980's, training @ Len Wilson's gym, the 'standard' was 5 sets of 5 reps. on our given top weight for the day.

Example - if the training program called for 200kg in the squat, the final 5 sets were completed with 200kg. This was followed by numerous sets of leg curls & calf exercises. Outside of which, for short periods, power rack work (partials...) with HEAVY sh*t, up to 320kg for top-end lockouts. Same for bench & similar for dealdifts (you guys do deficit deadlifts, we called them deadlifts-off-blocks...same/same...).

Lots of assistance work on bench day (Wednesday....) like tricep push-downs, extensions etc.

Deadlift day (Friday...) assistance was heaps of lat pull downs, bicep curls & some abdominal work. VERY early in the 80's, can you believe we also did a big session on Saturday, like a mini-comp., where we all did ALL THREE LIFTS in the one morning....TORTURE..!!! But....it did produce results (we were seemingly always in a state of being over trained...), however, our bodies did eventually adapt & become stronger. By 1989, this had become too much for me, so we (my training partners & myself...) started our own little power gym upstairs @ the old motor wreckers where was (then...) employed. Altered the program to the well-known Ed Coan progressive system, & our lifts went UP again.!

Sounds like they were tough sessions

BRUTAL.!! Thank f*ck we were younger back then.!! Impossible to do nowadays. But....with time comes experience & knowledge.!

A lot of people now run all sorts of programming full of science and theory, but still nobody has come close to your 960kg total at 99kg bodyweight which you did in 94..... Do you think they are trying to re-invent the wheel?
I guess I mean, your training was just heavy and hard, and it obviously produced the results..... Is there really a need to find another way to get strong?
Maybe not re-invent, just overly-complicate.
Confucius say "If not broken, no point in trying to fix".
The same weight training programs used by generations of lifters will work JUST AS WELL in 2012 & beyond as they did in 1940. Nothing changes; it all stays the same. Sensible increases, achievable goals & an UNSWERVING belief in oneself are the main ingredients. Never lose sight of your goal.!

Injuries, did you cop any? Any biggens you want to share?
Many & varied!
One has to expect & live-with injuries in this sport. It's extreme, & EXTREME things can, & may, happen.

-I have had numerous torn pecs
-A broken elbow
-both quads torn at various times
-…………And then there was the BIG one in 1998. A broken ankle, broken leg and I somehow detached the quad-from the patella.
Im not to sure how this all happened, however, wouldn't have done/would do anything different even now to prevent this happening.
If I could turn back the hands of time, I'd have tried harder to move up AT LEAST one weight division (always too tall & light for the 100's...) and worked harder in the big two (Squat & Deadlift...) to improve that total.!

The big one, in 1998, is that the reason you stopped lifting
Essentially, yes.
However, after conquering some fears I withheld for sometime afterwards, I lifted @ the Australian Championships, August 2003. The then-Victorian President, Ian Webb, had introduced an unequipped (raw....) section, which got me all enthusiastic.
Supportive apparel in the sport of powerlifting has become an out-of-control monster, & this initiative was a stroke of brilliance.
I lifted in the Masters Section (O/40, 100kg...), where I set records & had a GREAT time.
However, as you're well aware, fell into the trap of excessive alcohol consumption which has only recently ended. I stopped the booze mid-September this year, broke out the old weights weight’s and asked my 12-year old daughter to start a journey with me.
I hoped this would ultimately lead to a powerlifting competition for both of us, most likely late-2013 and beyond. Regrettably, she's already fallen by the wayside, however, I'm keen-as-ever. The O/50 Unequipped Division is where I'm at from now onwards.!


Mate, that’s awesome news, congratulations on slowing down on the booze.
I’m glad to hear you are coming back to lifting!
How will you structure your training? Anything like the old days?

Cheers for the positive comments.!
Yep, my training will be (essentially....) same-same as the 'old days'.
Ed Coan's program worked a treat back then; it'll work just fine in 2013, albeit slightly lighter weights’.
Just doing lots of light sets with granny weights for the remainder of 2012; but I will step-up the pace a little after the New Year. I figure I'll be about ready by August 2013
I'm figuring a 200kg sq., 200kg bench & 300 dl (same as the 2003 Nationals where I'd turned 41...). If anything differs, so-be-it.

Awesome to hear Adam, and that’s the perfect attitude mate.

To all the new, eager lifters coming through today, what tips and advice could you offer them in regards to training, comps and progression?
Don't be in a hurry.! Took me nearly 15 years of considerable mental & physical exertion to break-into the upper-echelon of Australian elite lifting, & I consider it a job only partially-done . Left unfinished business on the platform I'll now never be able to complete. For both genders & all ages; set yourself SENSIBLE goals (sorry to keep using this word...), train sensibly, ALWAYS remain positive, focused & ALWAYS maintain a true belief in yourself. Rome wasn't built in a day.!!
Furthermore, competitions (when a novice or beginner....) shouldn't be tackled on ones' own. Enlist the help of a trusted gym friend, training partner or coach. Too often we see lifters unable to complete opening attempts, leaving them floundering in the warm-up room. Watch, listen, observe & LEARN.!
Adam, Thanks once again for your time today, we all appreciate it!

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spartacus said:

Also has raw results: 185kg bench and 280kg dead lift.

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2009 nationals - 1st place teenage men. 17yrs old
Squat 270 Bench 55 Deadlift 260 (Torn pec)

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