DAVE PASANELLA
How many athletes do you know who weigh in at 275 pounds at a height of 6 feet with a comparatively small waist and are able to hoist prodigious weights without even a lifting suit?
One who fills the bill is Dave Pasanella. Remember that name. This 25-year old not only has the capacity to be a topnotch bodybuilder but it the first powerlifter with the potential to hit that 1,050-pound mark in the squat.
Take a look at his massive thighs and you can believe that he has already done 3 reps with 1,045 pounds! At present he holds the world record squat of 1,022.5 pounds in the 275-pound class along with the second best official total in any weight division, of 2,412 pounds. (Super-heavyweight Bill Kazmaier is the only man who has exceeded this total with 2,424 pounds.).
And Pasanella's 584 bench press and 804.5 deadlift are nothing to sneeze at either.
It may seem to many who follow powerlifting that Pasanella has not been around in world class competition lately. This is in part due to his commitment as the director of player development and strength coach at Georgia Tech.
Starting Out
Having trained with weights for a decade, Pasanella has experienced great success. As a high school sophomore in Arizona, Dave was victorious in powerlifting. Later he increased his credentials as a three-time teenage national champion in the 220, 242, and 275 pound classes. After he won two Arizona State championships, Dave took a layoff from lifting competition to concentrate on football at Georgia Tech.
A hamstring injury took Dave away from football but kept him hard at training. He decided to try his hand at bodybuilding. In 1981 Dave showed his potential in this sport by winning both the teenage and open divisions in the heavyweight classes of the Phoenix Classic bodybuilding championships. He dropped from a hulking 246 pounds to a ripped 196. At that time he found how bodybuilding and powerlifting training can be mutually beneficial. As Dave put it, "Bodybuilding and powerlifting are very similar. To stimulate muscle growth is the name of the game. Obviously, training with heavy loads does the job for both sports. And bodybuilding exercises are excellent for powerlifting assistance work."
Upon completion of his football career, Pasanella spent eight months training hard for the Junior World championships in the 275 class. Although he won his class, Dave was disappointed in his performance. As he tells it, "I've always had more strength than I've been able to show. The Jr. World was my worst meet. All I really got were my openers."
In 1987, Dave won his class at the American Powerlifting Federation Nationals. His squat of 900 pounds and a total of 2,240 set records for the meet. Then came his most recent victory at the Budweiser World Record Breakers in Hawaii in April. Dave's most astounding feat was his squat of 1,022.5 pounds. This lift broke Fred Hatfield's world record of 1,014 pounds.
Off-Season Training
Dave believes in handling heavy weights as much as possible. He does not use a heavy-day, light-day scheme; he says that they're "heavy days" and "moderate days." As Dave says, "A lot of people feel I overtrain all year round. The only thing that changes from my off-season training to my competitive training is the intensity. And I do a few reps more when I'm not training for a contest."
Dave trains each muscle group twice a week except for the deadlift, which he does just once a week. He usually performs sets of 8 reps and gradually works into sets of 5's, staying as heavy as possible at all times. Off-season training incorporates 10 total sets in major exercises with 4-5 work sets followed by 2-3 cool-down sets that concentrate on technique.
Even off-season training is a challenge.
"I base a lot on percentages, but for myself as well as the athletes I train at Georgia Tech, this serves as only a guideline," Dave says. I do what feels good. I have a set in the back of my head that I want to end up with, but if I feel good, I may go for a record."
Contest Training
Four months before a competition, Pasanella begins concentrating on overload training. Although his pre-contest routine is much like his off-season one, his intensity gradually increases. "I rarely find a powerlifter who trains as hard as I do," Dave says. "I like to overtrain, much as Jeff Magruder does in his bench cycle.
Like Magruder, Pasanella believes in a residual effect in which the productivity from overloading is facilitated later in his training cycle. But one slight problem can exist: "It's hard for me to determine what I'm going to get in a meet. I'm counting on those last four weeks. That's where the confidence factor comes in. You really have to believe in overtraining."
About four weeks before a contest, Dave gradually begins to cut back on assistance work. Fewer assistance exercises accompanied by fewer reps in his remaining assistance exercises allow for the residual effect to take place. Rest between major exercises (bench, squat, and deadlift) remains at 3-5 minutes.
About two weeks before a meet, Dave drastically cuts his assistance work and works on one-rep max lifts in his major exercises.
A severe reduction in assistance work occurs two weeks before a contest.
During the last week before a contest Dave performs three reps with 65% of his estimated maximum in both the squat and bench, coupled with light triceps and shoulder exercises. This serves as a recuperation period that permits full recovery of the muscle cells and a strength gain.
Supplements
Need you even ask? Weider, of course!
Attitude
As most world class athletes do, Dave has a healthy mental attitude. He sets his goals high, relies heavily on instinctive training and doesn't pay too much attention to numbers. "The difference between 900 and 1,000 pounds is that you have to push a little harder," he says. "The number does not psych me out and my technique stays the same."
GENE BELL
To date, there has been only one 181-pound powerlifter who has ever combined a world record 843 squat, 523 bench and a 744 pound deadlift for a whopping world record 2,110 pound total. That's Staff Sgt. Gene Bell, USAF.
Olympic Lifter to Bodybuilder to Powerlifter
Gene Bell began his career in weights as a Teenage State Olympic champion in Florida. As a matter of fact he repeated this feat at 158 pounds to be victorious for three separate years.
He then tried his hand at powerlifting and took first in the Tampa Powerlifting meet in 1975 with lifts of 465/305/500. And he did this all without the aid of a weightlifting belt or knee wraps.
Bell then went into bodybuilding . . .
He entered a few state and regional teenage bodybuilding contests and then placed fourth in the Mr. All-South bodybuilding contest, in which Lee Haney placed second.
Bell finally returned to his beloved powerlifting and placed fifth in the Collegiate Nationals in the 165-pound class. This gave him all-American status at South Carolina State College, Orangeburg. After graduating with a degree in physical education and biology Gene began coaching girls' track and field, while still entering a meet here and there.
In December 1981 Gene signed up with the US Air Force. He became a fitness specialist and began to enter more bodybuilding and powerlifting contests.
In 1983 Bell was victorious at the Junior National Powerlifting champions when he won the 165 class with a 1,730 total. Then in '84 and '85, he went on to win the 165 class at the US Powerlifting Federation Senior Nationals and in 1987 his first-place finish was in the 181-lb. class. Bell won the USPF World Championships in '84 (at 165 pounds) and '87 (at 181). Also in 1987 he won the 181 class at the Armed Forces meet along with Best Lifter honors. He repeated this victory in '88, only this time in the 198 pound class. In five of six Armed Forces meets Gene has won Best Lifter honors. Bell's latest win was at this year's USPF Nationals in the 198 class.
Off-Season Training
Bell follows a unique training schedule. One week he trains three days, the next four. This training remains the same for the entire year, unless, of course, he needs a short layoff.
Bell's three-day routine looks like this:
Monday - squatting and assistance exercises
Wednesday - benching and assistance
Friday - deadlifting and assistance
The only change the four-day routine sees is that he adds a light squat day on Saturday.
During the off-season training, Gene does 3-5 sets of 6-8 reps in all exercises, along with a wider variety of exercises. Deadlifts are done off a 2-inch block, with an overhand grip, again for 6-8 reps per set.
The deadlift assistance exercises are more numerous during the off-season. Weighted pullups, shoulder shrugs, pulldowns, bentover rows and hyperextensions all follow deadlifting and help make up Bell's off-season back day.
All other training remains the same during an off-season with the exception of the three powerlifts, which vary in rep ranges.
Contest Prep
This heavily muscled 181-pounder begins his contest training phase nine weeks before a contest, and takes a week off just before the event. At this point in his training, Bell increases the poundages while slightly decreasing his reps and concentrates on good form.
Gene's high volume of exercise is reflective of an advanced bodybuilder and his body looks it. But as this preparation phase begins, Bell cuts out some of his bodybuilding (back assistance) exercises. The two back exercises he does during contest preparation are deadlifts and weighted pullups.
On the squat, bench and deadlift Bell warms up to a weight that he wants to do for 2-3 sets of 3-5 reps. He may stay at the same weight for all sets or possibly increase or decrease. As Bell says . . .
"What I do depends on how I feel. I may remain at the same weight or if it feels good, I may increase it. And if it doesn't, I may decrease it. It's all instinctive even though I have an idea of what I would like to do."
He then lowers the weight by 10% and does 1 set of 6, emphasizing good technique.
In the week that Gene trains four times, his light day will incorporate poundages that are roughly 20% less than his heavy day weights, but the same rep ranges apply.
Bodyweight Reduction
Bell says he has a problem with his bodyweight, as long as he competes in the 181-pound class. If he didn't train down, his bodyweight would be about 198 pounds. "It's hard for me to keep tabs on my diet and try to cut my food intake gradually. Bodybuilding exercises also play an important part in this."
As you can see, both of these world class competitors follow similar training practices. Neither has reached his full potential. It is this writer's firm belief that these two stalwarts will rewrite the record books.
Enjoy Your Lifting!
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