Interview of upcoming Powerlifter: Adam “The Real Deal” Crider
Profile of Adam Crider, RG's Athlete of the Month
by Mike Nystrom
" Adam "The Real Deal" Crider in Flesh"
Background Information
I remember the first time I saw Adam Crider working out. It was in the first semester of my last year of school, late in 2006 in the Radford University weight room. Adam is a very soft spoken, mild mannered gentleman who you would never take as a power lifter. That is until you see him dawn a skin tight t-shirt and get down to business. I made the mistake many people make in the gym when I saw Adam training, and simply thought he was about to get dominated by the weight. He had 315 on bench and I had never seen him around before so I watched closely in order to know the precise moment to run over and pull the weight from his chest. 315, without a liftoff or a soul standing around to spot him, a clean 5 reps went up followed by a gentle rack. Wow! Was the only thing that came to my mind. Not a sound. No grunt, no bounce, no shake, nothing except a deep breath inhaled before he employed the Valsalva maneuver. You may be saying you see a lot of guys with that kind of strength, or that plenty of guys at your gym move that kind of weight...
Well... the next semester I had class with Adam and began talking to him. He told me of his passion for power lifting and about competing in meets. At the time I thought of myself as a strong guy and Adam looked to be about my size (I was 5' 7 1/2” and about 180-185 pounds.) Then Adam told me he was walking around at about 168 pounds and competing in the 165 pound class. He is only a couple inches taller than I am, and his waist is tiny. He has cannon ball deltoids and enormous, vascular arms that really stand out from the rest of his physique.
After learning his weight, and training with him only a few times I dubbed Adam “The Real Deal”.He was simply the strongest guy pound for pound I had ever trained with, seen at a gym, or even encountered. The most impressive thing about his training if how effortless most of his lifts seem. He has to be extremely close to his max before his lifts lose any speed, or his face shows any strain. 225 pound standing military’s, 135 pound curls going for about 12 reps, 120 pound dumbbell presses without a shake or hesitation; not to mention the huge numbers he was nailing in the 3 power lifts. Enough of my description...Lets meet “The Real Deal”.
"Training Montage Of Adam"
Q1: When/How did you get into power lifting?
I got into power lifting my senior year of high school and after that I was hooked. I loved the excitement and the adrenaline a meet gives. I competed in the 148 class and went for a 285 lift my first bench press meet in the USAPL. Unfortunately, as this was my first meet 285 combined with too much excitement caused me to red light for varies rookie mistakes...I met a good friend of mine Bill Carson at this meet who has inspired me to give power lifting another try and if it weren't for him I might have been too chicken to return to power lifting. I returned a short while later in the 165's and nailed a 315 bench in the USAPL for a Virginia Raw State record.
" Adam warming up"
Q2: Have you always been a naturally strong guy?
Many people if you ask them will tell you they think they're naturally strong. However, I am one that must say I believe I am. The first time I ever touched a weight was 9th grade weighing 115ish pounds I could bench 135 for 3-4 reps. I had always done pull ups and push ups in early grade school and could master most athletic events easily. Coming from a lean family, I’ve always been tiny, but I believe I make the most of what I have been given.
Q3: Give us a brief contest history on the meets you have competed in?
Well let's see here...let me think. Other than various high school meets my first official meet was a USAPL Open In Richmond VA in April 2004. My next meet would be the USAPL Charlottesville Open in 3-25-06 where I went 3 for 3 on the Bench press. I set a state Raw Record here with 315 in the 165 Teens. From here I joined the 100% Raw Federation where I feel I have found my new home.
List of Meets:
- USAPL Open Richmond, VA April 2004 148# Teens weight class No Placing
- USAPL Open Charlottesville, VA 3-25-2006 165# Teens 315 RAW State Record 1st place
- Eagles Club Winchester, VA April, 2006 165# Teens 335 RAW 1st place
- 100% Raw North American bench Press Stanardsville, VA 4-29-06 165# Teens 335 Raw State Record 1st place
- 100% Raw Virginia State Bench Press Stanardsville, VA 10-21-2006 165# Juniors 340 RAW State Record 1st place
- 100% Raw World bench press Championships Currituck, NC 11-18-2006 165# juniors 2nd Place 325
- Radford University BP Competition Open March 2006 170 BW, 360 BP University Record, 175x28 Reps.
- 100% Raw Ironman Nationals Stanardsville, VA 3-17-2007 BP 325, DL 450 165# Juniors 1st place
- 100% Raw nationals Richmond, VA 7-27-2007 181# Junior 340 BP, 140 Strict Curl 1st place, State, National, World Curl Record. (168# Bodyweight)
Q4: What are the best lifts you have ever hit, training, in a meet whenever?
Currently, my best meet lift is a 340 on record, w/ a close 355. Best Non-sanctioned meet lift is a 360. My best Gym bench lift is a 385 but at a few pounds heavier bodyweight. I have a deep squat of 485 and pulled a 475 on the dead lift in the gym, with a best meet dead lift of 450 my very first pull in a meet. I plan on moving to the 181's (as I have always been in the lower 160's for weigh ins) where I feel I can better myself and get my first 400 pound bench press all Raw In the Juniors.
Q5: What is your favorite lift?
As you can guess, the bench press is my all time favorite exercise followed closely by the dead lift and the squat. I love them all in their own right, but for me the Bench is king.
Q6: Who do you look up to in the power lifting industry?
Bill Carson who is a young, new age equipped power lifter is who I would have to be on my top list of who I respect most. This young man has squatted 700+ and Benched 400 and pulled a 550+. He may not be RAW, but a geared lifter who knows how to make the most of his gear.
John Self and Kerry Self from the Raw Dogs are also great people to be around who have helped me at almost all of my meets.
Q7: What kind of future do you have in power lifting, how are you stacking up against the other guys in your class?
I feel as if I have done fairly well as I have only had a couple of meets under my belt. I'd like to lift with the bigger guys now and learn some more. I'm making a move out of the 165's and into the 181's which I think I will fill out better in. 400 is in my sights now and its only a short matter of time before I master that weight. Competition is stacking up with both the records now over 400 for the 165 and 181 weight classes. There are some strong benchers out there that is for sure. I want to eventually go full power lifting and not just bench and I feel I am ready enough.
Q9: How have you trained to get where you are now?
Really, my routines are the simplest you could ask for. I really just go by how my body is listening and try to mix things up with variation. I focus a lot of heavy compound movements, keep isolations down to a minimum and try to overload as best as I can. I try to keep some speed work in there for the bench press as well. Sometimes I may bench twice a week, but depending on how much I do with my squatting and DL this may not happen.
Q10: Give us your typical workout routine over the course of a week?
Monday: Chest/Triceps where I start w/ BP and hit some light warm ups and add weight dropping the weight. Only go to failure on my last 2-3 sets usually and almost every workout I am hitting a heavy single of 90% or higher.
Tuesday: Quads/Biceps/Abs= Heavy squats and maybe some light extensions. Lots of DB and BB curls. 3x10’s for each and so on.
Wednesday: Off
Thursday: Chest/Shoulders=Sometimes heavy BP sometimes light, just depends. Push presses for shoulders or military’s.
Friday: Back/Hamstrings/Abs= Dead lifts, Pull-ups, Back Rows, straight legs, leg curls etc.
Q11: Give us a typical diet over a day or two?
Lots of protein and high amounts of carbohydrates. Nothing fancy really, try to eat clean as best as I can. Eat pretty much whatever.
Q12: Do you use any supplements? What are your favorites? What gives you the
best results for power lifting?
Currently I take Muscle Milk, Cyto Gainer, kre akalyn, a multivitamin, and some extra glutamine. I stick with the basics to get the job done.
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Adam’s techniques are not highly sophisticated. He prepares for his lifts mentally as best he can and trains hard all the time. I have seen many of his self proclaimed “light” days turn into all out bench-a-thons He doesn’t take any secret formula or undetectable drug. I was actually present at his last meet in Richmond (100% Raw Nationals) where he and several other competitors were tested via polygraph. The key is to work hard and keep pounding away. Strength does not come overnight, certainly not the kind of strength Adam possesses. If you want to be a better bench presser, you need to bench press. If you want to get better at dead lifting, then you should be doing some heavy dead lifting and so on. There are obviously things you can add in to be more effective. There are different ways to train for explosion, training your muscles for speed, and making sure that you are stressing your phosphocreatine energy system in ways other than your power lifting. Overload is critical. Lifting the same weight all the time will allow you to lift that very same weight very well.
We here at Rawgrip.com want to thank Adam for his time and wish him nothing but the best of luck with his education and power lifting future.
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