In honor of elitefts officially moving into its own custom-designed and built facility, earlier this week we shared the team's most memorable moments in the S4 Compound. To continue honoring the S4 Compound, the topic of today's Table Talk is the most impressive accomplishments Dave has witnessed inside the gym:
"What are the most impressive things you've seen in the S4 Compound?"
Dave specifically mentions three different memories in the S4 Compound: Steve Goggins deadlifting 800 pounds, Brian Carroll squatting a grand like it was no big deal, and JP Carroll's raw lifting in recent visits to the gym.
First, Dave mentions Steve's 800-pound deadlift and the reasons it impressed him so much: not only was this deadlift on this day not expected by anyone—Steve included—but it also marked two decades of Steve deadlifting 800 pounds or more (he first deadlifted over 800 pounds in a meet February 12, 1986, with 804.6 pounds).
The second event Dave shares occurred when Brian Carroll used to take part in the Underground Strength Sessions. One morning when the team was squatting, someone approached Brian and asked him what he was going to do that day. His answer: "Just a grand." No big deal, just 1000 pounds. Brian went on to later squat 1185 pounds in a meet (a record at the time), so to him, it really was "just a grand" compared to what he was capable. Dave explains that he remembers this because it showed him Brian's perspective and the way that a lifter's mindset must shift when they reach such incredible levels of strength. It demonstrates the importance Dave often mentions of "acting like the heavier weights are light but treating them with respect."
The final impressive thing Dave shares isn't one particular moment, but a collection of JP Carroll's recent trips to the S4 Compound. He has done huge squats and huge bench presses on different days, but every time he has visited, the same thing has happened: one of the many older guys Dave trained with at Westside has come up to him and asked why JP isn't wearing a suit. It's a marker of not only how strong of a raw lifter JP is but also how the sport has changed with the growing popularity of raw (which didn't even exist years ago).
These are just a few of the many impressive things Dave has seen from years and years of elitefts gyms. If you go back further than S4 to the previous elitefts gym, S3, there were moments like a bench contest between JL Holdsworth, Matt Wenning, and George Halbert, when they each benched right over or right under 600 pounds. The impressive lifts that have occurred in these gyms are far too numerous for Dave to recount in one video.
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