Post team fields one third of US team in world powerlifting championships
September 9th, 2009
Originally found at www.forthoodsentinel.com
written by Michael Heckman
Three members of Fort Hood’s women’s powerlifting team will comprise a third of the 10 women representing the United States in a world championship meet to be held Sept. 27-Oct. 4 in the city of Ostrava in the Czech Republic.
Johnny “Truck” Graham, the team’s coach and trainer, said during a recent interview that, despite illness and injuries, he believes “Everybody has a chance to medal. They all have an opportunity to place at least in the top three or win a gold medal.”
Team members who will leave for Ostrava Sept. 25 to compete against the strongest women from more than 100 countries include: Debra Jackson, 51, who is assigned to the 215th Brigade Support Battalion but also teaches CrossFit and weight-lifting at the Wellness Center; Malinda Baum, 46; and Donna Bryant, 50.
Baum will finish radiation treatments for breast cancer the week the team flies out. She was diagnosed in December, had surgery Christmas Eve and her staples were removed Jan. 5. That night she was in the gym, squatting, with 315 pounds on the barbells.
She finished chemotherapy in July.
“This has kept me sane and focused,” said Baum, who is a fire fighter in Dallas but lives in Killeen.
It will be her fourth trip to the International Powerlifting Federation’s World Masters Powerlifting Champions. In 2007, she won the overall gold medal in the 181-pound, 40-49 age division with a 396-pound squat, a 230-pound bench press and a 418-pound dead lift.
“She’s dedicated,” Graham said, “The lady has the heart of a lion; she doesn’t quit. Even Donna told her she’s our hero.”
Baum and other members of the Phantom Warriors Women’s Powerlifting Team qualified for the world championship team while competing in events such as the 27th annual USA Powerlifing Women’s National Powerlifting Championships held Feb. 13-15 in Miami.
The team placed second overall, losing by just three points to a team from Washington.
Bryant, 50, has been a team member for 12 years. She secured a world team spot in the 165-pound weight division in Miami with a 385-pound dead lift.
It wasn’t the first time she qualified for the world event. She has won eight national championships and two world USA Powerlifting Team championships. Her best effort to date, Graham said, has been a 363-pound squat, a 385-pound dead lift and a 192-pound bench press.
The newest member of the team, Jackson, is attending the world championship as an alternate.
When she competes next month, she’ll be wearing a T-shirt imprinted with a III Corps caltrop and the Fort Hood Resiliency Campus logos on the front and a Guyco, Inc. logo on the back.
Fort Hood Good Neighbors Bill and Anna Crawford, Guyco owners, recently agreed to pick up the tab for Jackson’s trip.
Graham said he is hoping for additional support, but has not been told if the team will receive financial assistance.
An athlete who participated in basketball, volleyball and track in high school and attended Florida A&M University in Tallahassee on a bodybuilding scholarship, Jackson qualified for the team in Miami, where she earned a gold medal.
This will be her first IPF world championship, but she set the Amateur Athletic Union record of 385 pounds for the dead lift in 1998. She has been to the AAU championships six times.
During a recent workout at Burba Gym, Jackson, who weighs 121 pounds, said her goal is to dead lift 400 pounds.
The team’s workout schedule has consisted of heavy work on squats on Mondays, bench presses on Tuesdays, small muscle groups on Wednesdays, dead lifts Thursdays and light bench press exercises Fridays.
Since she tore the rotator cuff in her left shoulder in 2006. She has tried unsuccessfully to gain weight.
“No matter what I eat: chicken and rice, fresh vegetables, some fruit and a lot of water and Concrete, a creatine supplement; I can’t gain two pounds,” she said.
Graham got his monicker from a fellow Soldier at Fort Bragg, who thought he resembled someone from his home town.
In addition to jumping out of “perfectly good airplanes” at Fort Bragg, Graham has a storied powerlifting career. He’s been a world champion power lifter eight times and won 17 national championships.
Competing in the 242-pound weight division, Graham’s best efforts include an 804-pound (world record in 2003) squat, and a 727-pound dead lift in 1999.
“I love the sport. It’s given me the opportunity to travel the world. I always wanted to pass it on like the other early pioneers in the sport.”
His coaching philosophy – “Come to the gym with a sense of humor and keep your ego outside.”
To avoid injuries, Graham says, “We try to teach all the basics, first. Technique is very important; I’ve seen a lot of major injuries caused by not using proper technique.”
