Derek Poundstone: Making a Difference
My biggest issue with professional sports is pretty simple; almost all of them have created business empires from them and have removed the spirit of the game for the sake of making money - the NFL, NBA MBL...
Purity is all but lost in every major sport in the United States. However, fringe element sports like the X Games are among the best thing to hit ESPN in many years. New athletes with a new look. New sports with dazzling presentations that people can identify with. This is what Strongman has in store for its future when people like Derek Poundstone represent it.
You need to look no further than Derek’s rise to fame by winning the Arnold Strongman Classic the past two years. But it’s his work as a Police Officer in the Naugatuck, CT police department and his work with the special Olympics that sets him apart from other high exposure athletes. Why? Because he wants to help, participate and be a part of bettering his community and a community of people who need assistance. All of that without being contractually obligated by a team owner or franchise.
Derek has had a few honors bestowed upon him recently. Muscle & Fitness magazine has apparently decided to change its course of exposure as of recent. Derek graces this month’s cover which profiles an in-depth article and announces his addition to the staff as a monthly contributing writer. Prior to this the Special Olympics announced that “America’s Strongest Man and Naugatuck, CT police officer Derek Poundstone has joined the Special Olympics family as the Movement’s first-ever Law Enforcement Torch Run® Global Ambassador.” LINK>>
As you will read later, this is an honor bestowed to some of the finest and brightest people in the world.
If you know or have worked with a person with a learning disability, it is very easy to see how rewarding spending time with them can be. They have a different outlook on life. A different perspective. My sister in law has Downs Syndrome, the most common type of intillectual disability that people participating in the Special Olympics programs have. When I see her happy and good natured aspects of life, it makes me reevaluate my moment in time and reflect on the possibilities life could have given me 43 years ago. The people at the Special Olympics have turned education and awareness of not only their programs, but the people they serve, into something extraordinary.
“Special Olympics provides year-round sports training and athletic competition in a variety of Olympic-type sports for children and adults with intellectual disabilities (volunteer at your local special Olympics Program). Those activities give them continuing opportunities to develop physical fitness, demonstrate courage, experience joy and participate in a sharing of gifts, skills and friendship.”
Derek is ushering in not only the emergence of strongman into the mainstream culture; he is providing a pathway for others to follow as a human being.
BH: Derek, thanks for taking some of your day to talk.
DP: No problem at all. I appreciate the additional exposure Dave (Palumbo) is giving to Strongman.
BH: Every great strength athlete has a quality place to train. We’ve seen some incredible YouTube training footage from what appears to be a storage facility and a fabrication shop. Tell me first about your training facility.
DP: It’s actually all one place that’s a gym. It’s an old lumber warehouse so the overhang is where we do most of our apparatus training. Of course it’s located in Waterbury, Ct. Most of the strength equipment is mine and they allow me to bring my stuff to train and drop heavy stuff on the floor! It is primarily a family oriented facility but they recognize what I do and have welcomed me completely.
BH: Are there any other strength athletes training there?
DP: A few strongwomen are competing. What’s funny is they still refer to females competing in the sport as “Strongmen”. Kristin, my fiancée is more of a crossfit trainer that keeps up with most of the guys in the gym there. I train with several powerlifters under 200 pounds, but are double their bodyweight bench pressers. I never charge for people to train with me. I try to educate people about the sport for the sake of education. We have some terrific training sessions some days.
BH: As a police officer in your community in Connecticut, how has your position as a recognized professional athlete transfer itself within the community.
DP: I am extremely well known in Connecticut. People have really embraced what I do. And by all indications it brings a lot of positive attributes to the profession. Even if I am arresting someone who may have harmed another officer, there has always been a level respect of strength. The local papers and news have really given me great exposure. I just took the sergeants exam and took 4th, but if I had given it more effort. I am sure I could have done much better. The payoff is fantastic with the public.
BH: You were recently named an ambassador for the Special Olympics, which is a tremendous honor with such a wonderful organization. How long have you been involved with S.O.?
DP: As a police officer I do a lot of torch run relays doing the penguin plunge and have been a waiter at a restaurant for money for Special Olympics. I have been an ambassador for six months now. I have been grouped with names like Bono, Nelson Mandela, Arnold Schwarzenegger, President Bill Clinton… and me! I gave $10,000 to sponsor an international athlete at the Special Olympics. I am not only an ambassador, but find it important to personally contribute. One of my training partners has Asperger’s “Iron Mike”. Guys in the gym always say he has a disability, but with him it’s a personal ability. He feels pain differently than most people and he is able to push himself further than most in the gym. Past training barriers and such. What’s cool too is that he perceives people differently which makes him mostly immune to what some people say about him. I bust on the guys in the gym about the hard time they give him, but Mike powers past them in strength and determination. He is a pretty incredible guy.
BH: Tell me about your first head to head competition with strongman phenom Mariusz Budzianowski at the Mohegan Sun Super Series event.
DP: Some of the athletes have spoken kinda negative about him, but I am like him. But with other people, he was like who the fuck are you? It was a hard pill for him to swallow with me beating him. He could give two shits about people in the U.S. and that comes across. He is an icon in Poland, they love him. Had I had the chance to compete against him 5 years earlier, I think I would have given him a run for his money. When Kevin Nee popped his bicep and they gave me 13 days’ notice to compete at the Mohegan Sun. I had to take it. There was a huge controversy with the timber carry. I won by a point or half a point and gave it my all to come from behind and win. Mariusz is a very gracious winner and a great guy…
BH: What’s your perception of the future of Strongman?
DP: I see it as a future. I want to make the best of it. We are all trying to make the best of this sport and after talking to Nick (Best) and Callie (Marunde-Best) last night that the young guys are going to reap the benefits. It’s the tax we as athletes are going to pay for it now for the young guys to succeed. Nick best trains two days a week right now because at his age, he says recovery is a lot more challenging than it used to be. I am training 4 days a week now and with my injuries and back issues it has become more and more difficult to train more because I need the additional recovery.
BH: Injuries. We all have had them. How are you healing from your last quad injury?
DP: Fantastic. Squatted last night. 3 sets of 405 for 10’s. 670 for a set of ten on the hack squat machine. I have never had a true connective tissue issue. I am genetically predisposed for the sport. It’s a testament to what genetics play.
BH: What is your training schedule like at less than a month away from the ASC?
DP: I think I have my Arnold training dialed in pretty well. 5 days a week last year. 4 days a week right now. I haven’t done much dumbbell training lately. Stones have always been good for me. Trying to overcome the back issue and work on my deadlift. My technique is different with the dumbbell. Using no legs and all mid back. I weighed 340 last year. I am currently in the 320’s.
BH: With Brian Shaw and Zydrunas coming off strong showings at last year’s WSM, Terry Holland’s winning convincingly in Los Angeles three weeks ago, Nick Best and Travis Ortmayer improving every year, and Mikhail Koklyaev’s undeniable performance abilities, give us your prediction for this year’s ASC?
DP: I have heard this same thing in 08 -09. Nothing changes... I can win it. This years is different… there is always talk. Someone is always posting video. Showing gym lifts of this and that. The only way I won’t win it is injury. Recently, Brian Shaw posted a video on this site loading a 558lb stone. I have been loading a 550lb stone since 2007. There is talk Mike Jenkins could beat me in the timber… so when you go into the tail, you look at the numbers. The dumbbell I don’t really need to talk about. I have never missed a stone at the Arnold. The deadlift I easily pulled a 1018lbs. Zydrunas pulled a 1021lbs. Brian Shaw pulled 1026lbs. He did not lock it out but he held it forever and sold the lift. He wasn’t locked out and he knows it.
BH: The burning question: Boxers or briefs?
DP: Underarmor compression shorts!
BH: Thanks Derek for your time. Safe training this month and I am looking forward to our interviews at the Arnold.
DP: Thanks Bryan, look forward to seeing you.
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With the upcoming Arnold Strongman Classic, arguably the best of the best on stage for two days with no promoters arguing over federations or television rights, I for one am excited to see this year’s event. Everyone is at the top of their game right now, most bringing new packages of physical mass while others downsized and streamlined. Some of them are simply bringing better understanding of how the game is played. Off season for most of these guys has been a time of renewal. The competitors list however, is the finest ever established for the Arnold Strongman Classic.
My challenge to you is simple; find a way to become involved in something larger than yourself. Larger than your ego. Larger than your understanding. When you have the opportunity to help people with challenges, no matter the circumstance, the reward is far greater than you can imagine. Contact your Special Olympics state representative today to find out how you too can make a difference in someone elses’ sporting aspirations.
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