Ano Turtiainen

How did you like your first meet in the W.P.O ?

I felt good because my lifts went so well. It looks like the sport is finally going forward with the new WPO pro powerlifting federation.

Did your totak meet expectations ?

Yes, it did. Anyway, I was prepared to strain for total 2500 pounds.

How do you like the W.P.O. format in powerlifting ?

I think the show, prize money and publicity from TV do nothing but good to our sport. It makes the totals raise and that way the show gets better too.

You are also promoting this years worlds ?

Yes, we are doing it together with my wife Minna. The meet is held in downtown Helsinki in a nice Sporthouse. The meet dates are october 22-27th. We are at the moment very close of having our national sports channel TV on site. You can find the meet information on every Powerlifting USA from now on in the ”Coming events” section and of course on our website www.gometal.com.

Promoting this meet will be a tough goal and Im also planning on lifting there of course.

You also have your own gym ?

Ive been running it for a year now and it has started out real well. We have a lot of competive powerlifters naturally but the main group of are people who just like work out traditionally with barbells and free weights. Of course we have machines too. We have lifters who compete in the WPC or IPF.

Whatever I do think is necessary for serious strength training I will get it as soon as I can. We promote small meets, keep gym records and have seminars too.

You and Minna have your own brand of clothes and equipment ?

Yes, its called METAL. Minna has designed the clothing line and I have done a equipment line. It carries my version of the Monolift squat rack, power racks, glute ham raise, lat machines plus a lot of other stuff. We have also designed our own denim BP shirt and a power brief which has denim in front and poly in back. You get a lot out of your abs with it in the squat. All our products have been received very well in Europe and we look forward to have them in the States too. Take a look at our website (www.gometal.com) for further information.

What type of equipment do you use in meets and training ?

In training I use a TITAN Victor NXG for box squats. In most max days, I wear nothing. On bench days it is always no gear unless I need to test a new shirt or something. I may test a squat suit on max day to get a feel on an opener.

In meets I use Titans BOSS with the BOSS briefs in WPO meets. The new BOSS NXG squat suit is the best I ever tried. For benching I go with our own shirt and for deadlifting he still has the old Marathon DL suit. I would like to thank Pete Alaniz from TITAN for his sponsorship and support.

You just had a baby girl and got married. You sure are true power family ?

Yes, life goes on a lot around the sport. Our girl, Mimmi was a great experience for me. Guys joked in the gym that it must have been a tremendous experience since I wasnt talking about lifting for few days.

But there is still life outside powerlifting. We like to spend some time our summer home in the countryside and enjoy motor sports too.

Many people wonder how come you make progress steadily ?

I just have a desire to get better and better. One thing that sure stops your progress in satisfaction. I have changed my training to Westside Barbell style in February 2001. Since that my squat went up almost 100 pounds in six months to 1005 pounds I made in august. My bench raised 40 pounds too in the same time. I was ready to deadlift more than 861 but the meet was so long I lost some energy.

I think Ill do a lot more with this system. I dont want to brag but if Im able to use it correctly and make the adjustments on my training, lifts keep going up. I keep my training log on my website and its updated almost every day.

The good mornings raised my squat tremendously and now I am looking for a way to raise the deadlift the same way. I did it in one lift, so why not in the others.

Your longtime goal was to break Dave Pasanelles record. Now when its done whats next ?

I plan to challenge Garry Frank to battle for the biggest total in the world. I will move up to 308´s. The WPO Finals will be the last meet in 275´s I think. One goal is to have the biggest squat in the World. Its a tough one because Ed Coan, Al Mehan, Steve Goggins among other great squatters are shooting for it too.

For benching, my goal is 700 pounds. So far, no one in Europe hasnt been able to do that. I think I will pretty soon go for the biggest deadlift in the World against Andy Bolton of Great Britain.

You injured yourself in november ?

Yes, I tore a triceps tendon in max effort day. The problem has been there some time and it just tore. Its operated and Im healing fast. My bench will be in the 400-500 range in the time of WPO finals but I will go and compete anyway.

What do you think of powerlifting in Finland ?

Its really buzzing now. New lifters come in all the time, no matter what age or federation. The new training system, Westside Barbell raises a lot of interest and even the stubborn ”old farts” are starting to use it. Everything looks real good now, in Finland and in the world too.

One thing that has always bothered me is the conflicts between federations and lifters getting into it. From what I have seen, it has been the lower level, the elite lifters have looked up to each other most of the times. I see the WPO as one form of unification, because it gets the best together.

Having coached him in many meets around the world and guiding him to Westside Barbell training, I can say that hes not done yet. Not even close. Look out for monster lifts in the near future !