May '23 PLUSA - November 2007
Going back to November of 2007, the legendary Chuck Vogelpohl is on the cover.
As shown on the cover, this issue comes soon after the Power Station Pro/Am. There was a full write up spread across three pages and is full of a litany of legendary lifters. In the writing, you can see at this time Westside was still the dominant gym; featuring many lifters of notable finishes and placings.
In a USP labs ad, the late Nick Winters was featured. He was one of the greatest raw benchers ever, and one of the few raw lifters of Westside Barbell. He boasted a 650.3lb raw bench at only 24 years old, and an unofficial raw 700lb double in the Animal Cage; but unfortunately passed away from an enlarged heart.
Another two Westside dominated pages were an ad for AtLargeNutrition, featuring Chuck Vogelpohl, Phil "Squatzilla" Harrington, and the late Mike Wolfe. Above all, however; was Donnie Thompson doing some SSB squats on the same monolift he still uses at the Storage Shed today.
Had to include this picture featuring the "Cuban Bull" Joel Toranzo! I see Joel at many local meets on the East Coast. Here he is featured with S&S Gym in the issue's hardcore gym feature.
There was also an advertisement for an Andy Bolton training DVD. I've read his book Deadlift Dynamite (which I would highly recommend to lifters of all levels), but have never seen or heard about this training tape.
Herb Glossbrenner of the famous Glossbrenner coefficient/score also got a feature this month.
Soon after, Rudy Kadlub, owner of Kabuki; had a small image showcasing a 501lb deadlift.
This last image I wanted to include to showcase not the lifter, but the bench. This is an old William's Strength bench, which if you don't know is the equipment manufacturer that makes everything EliteFTS sells. This very bench model is still popular today as one of the more economical models EliteFTS sells, and is very well built. You can also buy from William's directly, and everything they make is extremely solid.
The top 100 did not have any notable names this month as it was for the 123lb weight class. At the time (and still now) it is not a hugely popular weight class.