Latest / The Platform: a Michigan High School Powerlifting Association Podcast / Christian Lopez, MHSPLA Scholarship Winner, Nouvel Catholic | The Platform Episode 8
Transcript
- Chris Whittaker: Welcome to the platform where the stories weigh a ton. This is where some of the MHS PLA's best tell real stories about what it takes to build themselves and their teams under the bar. I'm your co-host Chris Whitaker. We're glad to have you here with us again for another episode of the platform. But hey, if you're enjoying this show, please make sure you subscribe, follow, and leave a review on all major podcast hosts, Spotify, Apple, YouTube, Amazon Music, and many more. Gilliam: The BON Whittaker: Is loaded, ladies and gentlemen. We are back with another episode of the platform where the stories weigh a time. I'm your co-host, Chris Whitaker, Dexter High School strength coach, powerlifting coach, and MHS PLA board member. We have my co-host, as always, Coach Chris Gillum, our executive director of the MHS PLA, and our guest. Chris Whittaker: That support really helps us to continue to grow and bring the conversations you want to hear to the platform. ⁓ if you would like to give feedback or suggest a guest or topic for the show, please email info at mhspla.com and we'll get back with you. Today's episode is episode number eight. We had some technical issues with Christian Lopez from Nobel Catholics first time a few weeks back, but we were able to save the episode and ⁓ you will notice a little difference in video quality here. But regardless, this is a great conversation with a young man who is one of our 2026 scholarship winners. Christian shares a lot about himself, his program, and his future plans for college. So step up, lock in. The bar's loaded for episode eight with Christian Lopez. Hit that intro music. Whittaker: one of our twenty twenty five, twenty twenty six scholarship winners from Novell Catholic. I believe I'm saying that correctly, Christian Lopez. Christian, welcome. Lopez: How's it going? Thank you guys very much for having me on. I'm excited. Whittaker: I hope I didn't butcher the pronunciation of your screen. Gilliam: Okay. Lopez: ⁓ you got it perfectly. Whittaker: We go on record quite often and saying, I'm from New York. I'm learning where all these places are and all the pronunciations, Coach Gillum. Gilliam: Yeah. Yeah, so he his school's located in Saginaw. Whittaker: Okay, I know where that is. I know where that is. Gilliam: Yeah. Yeah, definitely. So ⁓ thanks again for being here, ⁓ Christian. We appreciate it. Congratulations for being one of our scholarship winners this year. excellent young man from ⁓ the answers that you provided. We were impressed with that when you applied for the scholarship. ⁓ and then our real brief interaction at the state meet, you seem to be a very well rounded, respectful young man. So we wanted to had the opportunity to get to know you a little bit better and and let others get to know you as well. So we just wanna have a little bit of fun asking you some questions. So first thing I want to know is ⁓ how many siblings do you have? Lopez: I'm actually the only child. No sibling ⁓ no siblings for me. Gilliam: Why? All right, great. ⁓ Chris would let's see. That mine my first name's Chris, by the way, but and so is Whitaker, so don't get us mixed up. It's pretty easy. But ⁓ what besides lifting, what are some hobbies and interests you have, Christian? Lopez: So ⁓ for the past four years I've played varsity football. So at a young age I was kind of thrown into the varsity football level. So I've I've gotten to adapt and I've played a lot of football. So that's one of my main hobbies from starting all the way back in fifth grade. I've been growing up with football. So I'd say football is one of them. I also did track and field. I'd throw shot and disc. So those are my hobbies. Ever since I was young, I started working out. Me and my dad would go to Planet Fitness. He got me in there at young age. So I'd say working out was a big one. He got me a nice gym set up at home. So I I just love working out and that's my main hobby. ⁓ Yeah, I just love love staying active, sports, eating healthy, all that stuff. Gilliam: Great. I appreciate that ⁓ you have a lot of the same interests as I did in high school too. So yeah, that's awesome. Yeah. ⁓ what are your plans post high school? Like what are you gonna do after you graduate? Lopez: So right now my idea is I'm gonna attend Saginaw Valley State University. I'm thinking somewhere in the healthcare field. I don't know if I'm thinking occupational therapy, nursing, physical therapy, something along those lines. And right now my goal is at S V S U, if I do attend, I'm gonna reach out to our their athletic advisor and I'm gonna try to get a club or a sports team, powerlifting team at S V S U. Cause right now currently they don't have a team. Gilliam: I gotcha. Yeah, that'd be cool. I mean, so sometimes ⁓ that's how those things start at the college level is just somebody taking the bull by the horns that has an interest, getting some other people involved as well. So yeah, good luck with that. And if there's any way we can help, ⁓ let us know. Cause I think that would be great. Lopez: Definitely. Whittaker: Yeah, if you get that going, look up a kid that's on their football team. It was one of ours, Corey Baker is his name. Corey deadlifted 620 at the state meet his junior year. So he's up there playing defensive tackle. He's ⁓ he's been banged up a little bit, had some injuries. I he ⁓ I don't I don't know how much longer he's gonna go. I think he's good good to go right now, but but he definitely hit him up. Yeah. Lopez: Okay. Okay. Throughout the years I've talked to some of the like coaches from S PSU just being so close. So definitely I'll I'll probably like look for the football team for any guys that wanna come out and lift during like the winter time or so and just stay active. Whittaker: Yeah, I could see Corey if you got something going, I could see him jumping in and being a part of it. ⁓ so what drew you to this great sport of ours, powerlifting? Gilliam: Yeah, yeah. Lopez: So actually, my freshman year, ⁓ I played basketball, not a huge basketball guy, not the tallest, not the most athletic with footwork and stuff like that. So I kind of was tired of that. So I kind of thought, ⁓ I'll dabble in powerlifting. Cause my cousin Alessandro, who went to New Vell in twenty fifteen, he powerlift and he he powerlifted and he started like a team his I think junior, senior year, maybe him and a couple buddies lifted. So I had the idea of my freshman year. I was the first ⁓ lifter. I think I went to the Millington meet. I competed at that. My first meet got first place. I absolutely loved it. It drew me to the sport. ⁓ I met so many people through the sport. I got another buddy of mine to join the team and then from there to my senior year we have like twenty guys now on the team. So we had two football coaches come out and help us and yeah, it was just a great time. We loved it and we just kept kept going and they just kept growing from there. Gilliam: Yeah, that's awesome because I I for a long time I was at Birch Run, so I'm familiar with where the area you're at. And ⁓ yeah, New Bell would periodically have a a lifter or two here and there. They never really had a team. Yeah. So when I started seeing ⁓ predominantly last year, I would say you guys had a handful of guys doing some stuff, but this year was the big breakout year where you guys would show up to meets with quite a few people. ⁓ So that's kind of cool to see you guys grow over the last few years. Lopez: Yeah, definitely. Gilliam: ⁓ so basically you started attending meets as a freshman. So you about four years lifting in the Michigan High School Power Lifting Association. Okay. ⁓ what was the experience like for you? You know, besides having fun and enjoying and taking first and your first meet? Yeah, I know. How would you describe your experience? Lopez: Say it's very family based, man. A lot of the guys I've met, I still talk to, I still follow on social media, getting just a chat with different guys from different schools around the area. I love it. I've made a ton of friendships through it. ⁓ like winning the scholarship was awesome. Going to college and ⁓ using that as like a way of just like and like building on like relationships like out of college, out of high school, just like overall friendships with people. Like working out with different guys, watching them. Like I've no s met some guys from Dexter, I know some guys from Millington, Swamp Valley, just like yeah, just getting connected with a bunch of different schools and seeing how they lift and their style and stuff. Gilliam: Awesome. Good. Thanks for sharing. Whittaker: What which of our kids are you buddies with? Lopez: ⁓ I know ⁓ Ben Nichols. I seen him a little bit and then two guys, ⁓ I'm not sure their names. They lifted last year. I know they ⁓ I'm trying to think of ⁓ I think they lifted ⁓ I don't know his name's Eric. There's a white guy and a black guy. ⁓ I can't think of their names. They lifted last year. Gilliam: Like, Whittaker: Last year would have been I don't know. I didn't mean to put you on the spot. I thought you knew my way. You get that you get those people you become friends with at the meet and you're not quite sure their name, but you know who they are. Gilliam: You probably know them by their handles more than you do. ⁓ Whittaker: Or that was the kid that squatted a ton. Lopez: Yes. I can beat them against Clyo. I remember I was at him with Clyo. Yeah, I can't remember his name. I know one's McElwyn, like a last name McElwyn. Whittaker: They got ⁓ Mahoney, we gotta Lopez: Davison, I might begin Dexter and Davidson mixed. Whittaker: You might be because no, we don't you might you might be getting us confused. Yeah that's okay because Davidson just won a national championship, didn't they, Chris? Gilliam: Yeah, the J Man and Whittaker: You could confuse us with them all day. Yeah. Lopez: Yeah, no. Gilliam: Similar color with the the maroon slash cardinal rugs, pretty close. Whittaker: All all good. Can you give us a fond memory that you have from your experience ⁓ with the MHS PLA, either as an event individual or for your team? Lopez: ⁓ yeah. ⁓ I think my I'd say my sophomore year competing at States, I remember ⁓ no, I'd say my freshman year at Kersley. I think that was I remember it was a very ⁓ vivid memory. I remember I drank like two bangs before the meet. I was on a budget pre workout and I just had the worst headache ever and that Kersley James I was in. ⁓ And yeah, I remember for like weigh ins, I just remember how ⁓ the one coach from Kersley was. And yeah, that was just like a vivid memory I have of ⁓ drinking like two bangs before ⁓ I meet at ⁓ Kersley in my sophomore year. Gilliam: Yeah, probably a little too much to day. Yeah. I gotcha. Yeah, that would probably be your first like really big meat that you ought to Lopez: Too much. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I believe so. Gilliam: Yeah, that was ⁓ that was an interesting day. Yeah, that was JV State meet that that day. That was ⁓ a lot of lifters there. So pretty busy, pretty packed because it's not a huge gym. Yeah. It it's a nice gym and stuff, but yeah, they had there's a lot of people trying to get into that library area to weigh in and stuff. Lopez: Yeah, yeah. Yeah, that's a bit of a memory I have, I'd say. Gilliam: All right, good. Pretty sure team, did you were you guys able to, you know, place in ⁓ a regional meet as a team this year? Whittaker: Sure they broke before that they occurred. Lopez: ⁓ not this year. We didn't place in a regional meet. ⁓ I think we were pretty close to we went to Farwell. Farwell we were pretty close to I think we had two first place finishers, but I was I was on varsity level and then we had a J V ⁓ qualifier replaced first, and then we had another J V qualifier replaced first. So we didn't have enough varsity guys, but I think A V level they could have competed a little bit more 'cause I think at we at varsity level we only had two qualifiers and one was a f my first and then a third place. So no, we didn't place at any regional. Gilliam: Well, maybe they will down the road. I mean it sounds like you got the pieces in place and you just the youth is gonna just get better and stronger if they keep with it. So All right. So because it's fairly new at your school, I'm guessing that it's not considered a sport at your school. Lopez: Yeah, no, it's still considered technically a club team. ⁓ yeah, I don't know what the level it would take to get it to be a team, but yeah, right now it's currently still a club team. Gilliam: Well, I mean if if in ⁓ the last three years you went from just a couple of guys to twenty, you know, if you can do it in the next year or two and put it into the thirties, maybe they'll ⁓ pay attention to that. Lopez: Exactly. Right now my goal is to get back and coach some the guys 'cause I'm pretty much friends with all the guys, the younger classmen that are on the the squad. So I'll probably 'cause I'm staying home so I'll probably go help out and coach some of them guys. Yeah. So I'll be around still too. Gilliam: Yeah, that'll be awesome. ⁓ well, hopefully we'll see you at some meets down the road. Yeah. Lopez: Sure. Whittaker: ⁓ a hundred and fifty kids in the building looking it up real quick. Yeah, you can you can get some guys. Yeah. Now is that a is that a all boys school or boys and girls there? No. Lopez: It's a boy in school a boy and girl school. We're a Catholic private. So we have yeah. A hundred and fifty. Yeah. We were combined with ⁓ middle school as well. So we have seventh and eighth grade at our school too. Gilliam: Okay. Yeah, I mean it's it's a school, Chris, that back 15, 20 years ago, I mean, the high school probably had five hundred in it. Yeah. You know, because ⁓ they were playing division five in football. And then, you know, then they dropped down to division six. And, you know, now I believe they're division eight and they still have a really good football program there. And they produce a lot of really good athletes in a variety of sports up at New Bell. ⁓ kids that have gone on to play at the University of Michigan and football, basketball, softball, you know, those types of sports. So a lot of What what's the school that you attended ⁓ middle school wise that fed you into Newbell? Lopez: first it's called Saint Thomas. ⁓ that was up I I think it's like second, third grade year. And then it changed over to the Newville Middle School. Yeah. Originally it was St. Thomas and then it changed to Nouveau to match Gilliam: Yep. Cause ⁓ when I was at Birch Run, the it was St. Thomas would be the middle school team that our middle school would have scrimmaged to get ready for the season and stuff. So all right, cool. Whittaker: Is there one piece of advice you'd give somebody that's considering competing in this sport of powerlifting for the first time? Lopez: Yeah, I'd say don't go go into it at all nervous. I think tons of guys are open and willing to teach you and show you what they know about the sport. I mean, at first I was very nervous going into it, but every guy pretty much met no guys were jerks or like critiqued any form, anybody would help you out. Nobody it was just like all around like supportive like just group to be around, you know. So I'd say don't be nervous at all getting into it. It's Hundred percent gonna be fine. Guys are gonna help you out. You're gonna get coached. You're gonna get better as time goes on, you know. Gilliam: Yeah, it's pretty different, isn't it? Coming from like a football where everything Yeah it's about being the alpha male on the field and in the area. And then you get to this sport and everyone's pretty friendly, willing to help. ⁓ 'cause you you need it. You have to have spotters. Yeah. And it's so long in between attempts you you might as well strike up a conversation with somebody. Lopez: You're forced to talk to people pretty much and yeah, it's it's a great time to get to know guys and learning about their stories and stuff. Gilliam: For sure. All right. Well, we know that powerlifting, I'm sure you can attest to it ⁓ in your four years of competing, you you experience failures, right? Whether it's a a failed attempt, ⁓ or you you know, because you don't get the weight, or maybe you racked too early, you you broke a command or something like that. ⁓ sometimes those mistakes can be the difference between winning and losing, right? So ⁓ do you have a How can I put a favorite failure in the sport of powerlifting? Like, do you remember a time you failed at something, but you learned from it and you were able to have success later on? Lopez: Yeah, I'd say ⁓ a lot my junior year going to my junior year, because I high bar squat, so I feel like ⁓ has a lot of tension on my lower back. So during that time I had a lot of problems with my lower back throughout like my junior year of lifting. So at the one meet, I I would always tweak my back and trying to recover from that was always annoying. So I'd do a lot of like different like mechanics just to work on my lower back. Like I had a great personal trainer. Or not personal trainer, but athletic trainer at Nouvelle. He's a great guy. ⁓ he helped me out a lot with trying to rehab my back. And I feel like growing from that really helped me, ⁓ squatting belt list, just trying to rebuild my back muscles and ⁓ deadlifting belt list too, trying to rebuild all that. I feel like that kinda helped me out, ⁓ strengthening that and just overall strength of my my lower back. I'd say Gilliam: Yeah, Lopez: Yeah I know. My ⁓ current gym that I'm at that we have one right now I've been using that really well Whittaker: Mm-hmm. That rogue makes that one that folds up like a it's like a sawhorse type thing. Okay. A former athlete of ours, he has one and he really likes it. Lopez: Yeah. Gilliam: Yeah. Yeah. Lopez: Yeah, yeah, yeah. No, I really like the one that I I go to. Whittaker: I have the I see you got some Titan stuff there. I have the the Titan three by three one. Okay. And ⁓ it it's good. Don't tell my friends at Elite FTS or West Side, but it it works f does everything we need it to do. Yeah. Gilliam: Yeah. Lopez: Yeah, no, definitely. Yeah, I love it. Whittaker: The what was the hardest thing to learn in the sport of powerlifting? Lopez: ⁓ I'd say definitely my squat technique. ⁓ at first it was very rough. ⁓ depth was not great for me. But after just like loosening my hips, ⁓ my cousin ⁓ Alessandro was great. He's ⁓ he's ⁓ like fitness science guy, so he knows a lot about mochan mechanics and mobility. So he really nailed that technique with me. ⁓ I'd say yeah, overall like ⁓ cues and stuff like that, just remembering them I felt was a big thing for me. My sophomore year I really nailed and that kind of stuck with me. So I've never really had problem with ⁓ remembering a cue or hitting death really. So I think I think that was a big thing for me, just like ⁓ mobility, strength, core and like weak positionings, you know. Whittaker: All right. Gilliam: the next section we're gonna do is gonna be like just quick responses. Here we're gonna give you a choice. You just don't think about it much, just go with your first impulse of it. All right, like a rapid player. So what's your favorite lift? Squat, bench, or deadlift? Lopez: Left. Whittaker: low bar, high bar squat. Lopez: Hi bar. Gilliam: Sumo or conventional deadlift? Lopez: Conventional all the way. Whittaker: Max out one rep max or rep? Gilliam: We are. Lopez: Rap PR. Gilliam: What's your favorite accessory exercise for the squat? Lopez: ⁓ I'd say belt squat. Whittaker: Favorite accessory for the bench. Lopez: ⁓ dips. Gilliam: Might be the first one we've had say that. I like that. ⁓ favorite accessory exercise for the deadlift. Deadlift. Lopez: ⁓ let's say RDLs. Gilliam: Okay. Whittaker: Right. Quality, quality accessory movements there. Gilliam: Yeah, definitely. Whittaker: So Christian, we're ⁓ you know, we got a little bit of time time left and ⁓ before I kick it to Coach Gillam for any ⁓ additional questions he has, ⁓ is there anything that we haven't talked about that you'd like to share with our audience? Lopez: ⁓ I'd say like ⁓ joining a federation. ⁓ that's my goal if ⁓ I can't get the ⁓ team going out at S V S U and Cool powerlifting or not really? Whittaker: Yeah. Gilliam: You can kind of cut out there a little bit. ⁓ Lopez: ⁓ I was thinking about ⁓ like ⁓ joining a federation outside of like high school powerlifting. I was asking, do you guys know much about like joining a federation or getting into that? Gilliam: Well yeah, I mean this is where we can definitely help you and guide you. So if you're looking to start a club sport at Saginaw Valley, ⁓ the main organization that does collegiate powerlifting is the ⁓ United States powerlifting. Okay. So the USAPL, all right. ⁓ they're they're the the number one. I mean, it's the largest one. Now there's other organizations that are also doing it. But they are the largest one. and that's where there's schools, you know, competing. It's a big meet, like it's just it those types of meets. ⁓ for instance, you could probably attend the one in January at Goodrich that they hold because they do a qualifier meet that is for both high school and college kids so that they can qualify for the national meets. They have a meet in ⁓ mid January every year. and so that's something to to think about. And then the collegiate nationals moved around throughout the country you know, all the time. And I've off the top of my head I don't know exactly where it is for next year, but we definitely could get that information to you. Daughter complete she competed collegially. ⁓ so you know, I have a lot of Lopez: Yeah, yeah, definitely. Gilliam: information and background on that that I could share with you. You know, I could email that stuff, text it to you, all all that stuff and and get you going on that because that that'll be huge, you know, and ⁓ yeah, you you don't need a bunch of people. You can start off at Saginaw Valley just like you did at New Bell. Yeah. Yep. You know, you start with a handful of people and get get it going. The the biggest difference is you you gotta become a member of the USAP L and You know, so there's a membership fee and the meets cost a lot more than the high school ones. Yeah. Yeah. But ⁓ the medals are also huge. They're big, you know. ⁓ you know, but yeah, it's definitely something yeah, we could help you with w without a doubt. Love that. Yeah, just don't hesitate to reach out with any questions down the road because you can do it, even if you're the only person. Lopez: Yeah. Gilliam: at Saginaw Valley that wants to do it. Yeah. You can still enter yourself into like the collegiate national meet if you go to a qualifying meet and and hit the total and be honest with you, I looked at what your total was this year. You'll hit the collegiate qualifying total. Yeah. Main difference is everything's in kilos instead of ⁓ pound pounds. Yeah. So that was ⁓ that's always a challenge is learning how to convert it. Yeah. Lopez: Yeah. Yeah. Definitely. Yeah. I appreciate that. I definitely love to learn more about that. Gilliam: Yeah, no no problem. Yeah, we can definitely help you with that. Whittaker: Yeah, I don't see anything on the USAPL website of where the next nationals collegiate. Gilliam: Yeah, they usually decide each year at the the national meet, but they don't usually post it until like summer or beginning of fall, you know, because they're still in this calendar year. Yeah. So you won't see anything for next calendar year until the third the probably the fourth quarter, you know, probably September or October, but Yeah. ⁓ Let's go back to a couple of your rapid fire things. So you said deadlifts is your favorite. Yes. Okay. So what is it you like about the deadlift? You also said you're a conventional polar. Lopez: Yes. Yeah. Gilliam: Well what what do is it that you like the most about them? Do you ever try sumo? Lopez: See, that's fine. ⁓ I actually I have not bought a heavyweight. I've only really attempted ⁓ conventional. Whenever I tried sumo, it just didn't feel right in my hip ⁓ my hip level bone. So I just didn't ever really stuck with it. ⁓ I obviously love it 'cause it's my best lift, so of course I gotta it's gotta be number one. ⁓ I'd say deadlift and then my bench is ⁓ pretty good. So I'm like I lo yeah, deadlift is my five favorite. It's just like a very ⁓ simple movement. ⁓ it's the last one at the meat, so it's like the adrenaline's pumping. ⁓ I feel like you can pretty much move anything when you got adrenaline ⁓ cat and this crowd screaming at you, you know. So I just love it. That's Gilliam: Were there any meets where your your third deadlift is what allowed you to jump past a couple of people? Lopez: Yeah, I'd say it far well. ⁓ I don't remember like how I jumped up, but that was like I think that was might have been my biggest deadlift total. And yeah, I just like with the adrenaline and the the small gym it was just like yeah, it's it it's unbeatable. Gilliam: Yeah, that's cool. Yeah. You what what's some ⁓ tricks to the trade ⁓ with a conventional pull? What is it something that you did that you felt like gave you an advantage like you that made it so easier mo so much easier and more enjoyable for you? Lopez: Yeah. ⁓ I definitely love I gotta scrape my always scrape my bar, get the neurals really going in my ⁓ my ⁓ in my ⁓ calluses. I really look to dig it in there. I love ⁓ I my belt super tight, always super tight. ⁓ always drop my hips super quick and aggressive right off the ground and pretty much once you get that bar just off the little bit of the ground you can grind it out from there. Gilliam: Mm-hmm. Lopez: So yeah, those are dad left. Whittaker: Mm-hmm. Well, any additional questions you have, Coach for for Christian? Gilliam: He he gave us a lot of information. I appreciate his time. Congrats once again on being one of our scholarship winners this year. and ⁓ I wish you nothing but the best and always reach out, especially once you get there in the fall, if you're looking to get something going and you want information. So, you know, because if you're gonna pitch it to somebody at the college, have all your ducks in a row. So don't just say Give them an idea, make sure you have a plan in place. Lopez: Yeah, definitely. Thank you very much for this opportunity. I really appreciate it. Gilliam: Yeah, that was a pleasure having you. Lopez: Yes, thank you very much. Whittaker: Christian, do you have any public facing social media for yourself or ⁓ does your team have ⁓ any social media public facing Lopez: I ⁓ we don't have anything. I have a lifting account. ⁓ I don't remember my ⁓ my handle, but I can give it to you to ⁓ put in like the description or something of the thing. I don't remember it offhand, but yeah, I can get it to you guys. I have an Instagram. Gilliam: Log. Whittaker: All right. We'll get that again. Gilliam: I like it, Coach Whitaker, because if somebody asked me that stuff, I wouldn't know it either. Like for my own self, I don't know. It's just no. Whittaker: The staple of the podcast questions, you know, you gotta you gotta then then give the social media handles so that people can follow him. Yeah on social media. Gilliam: Yeah. Yeah. Hey, don't forget in your own whenever you post anything, don't forget to, you know, attach us the MHS PLA to everything, because we'd love to keep following you through our own social media. Stay in touch with us in in that matter at least. And ⁓ you know, congrats on a great senior year and ⁓ sounds like ⁓ an experience of the past four years you really enjoyed and good luck at college. Lopez: Yes, it was a great time. It's a great time for sure. Whittaker: Absolutely. Thank you. This has been an episode of the platform with the stories weigh a ton.