January 11, 2007 Shelton Mason County Journal | ![]() |
©
Shelton Mason County Journal. All rights reserved. Upgrade to access Premium Tools
PAGE 22 (22 of 42 available) PREVIOUS NEXT Jumbo Image Save To Scrapbook Set Notifiers PDF JPG
January 11, 2007 |
|
Website © 2025. All content copyrighted. Copyright Information Terms Of Use | Privacy Policy | Request Content Removal | About / FAQ | Get Acrobat Reader ![]() |
Travis Belen
Shelton's Travis Belen continues t how it
PATCH
i
avoided mentioning it,
the thing about his opu
brought it up as
gotten around to Bench
on his own, too- just as he did
g salts.
it." He grinned.
"So you learn secrets of how
to bench and the proper ways of
doing it and train up to the big
lift. And then when he comes
across big weights it's nothing.
You know?
"All he has t' think is getting
that mindset of not so much the
high-school guys but the big meets
- the 'world' meets. That's when
he sees the Big Boys. You know?
So he just puts his mindset into
that. And, you know, like I said,
of business,
Belen and proud
their
urnal
day, wasn't the
'You meet so many humble people
that look like gorillas. It's just
amazing:
in fact, it
to do with
in my
nuthin'
:had buzzers, so
a
I got
'Now buzz me
laugh leaked
but Travis
my
growin'
since. So it was a
but I didn't
my friend so
J00, g
WAS taking
on an
wondered
he feel about
said,
but
siege
• • • •
to the approval of notoriously
nit-picky judges at the highest
level of the age-group sport.
That was in Montana
almost a year ago. Last month,
in another so-called world
championship, this one in Las
Vegas, Travis went down in
weight and up in age bracket
and benched 304,1 yet again to
cop championship honors in the
16- to 19-year-aids' division.
"So I was the 'young buck'
this year." said the champ,
grinning anew.
But wait: How in the
world does anyone tipping the
scales at a mere 129 pounds
bench-press nearly two and a
half times his body weight?
"Ummmm, I don't really
think about it," ventured your
young host, and he shrugged.
"But I've been trainin' at it for
four years now, so it kinda all
adds up in the end."
"He learns quite a bit from
the elite at the powerlifting
meets that he attends," put'
in his dad. "They tend to take
him under their wings - the
'big boys' benching seven, eight
hundred pounds: those guys."
And how do they do it?
"There's a technique," said
Travis' dad. "And there's secrets
to training. And you don't wanna
let 'era out; then everybody and
their grandmother'd be doin'
there's a lot of different ways of
training 'era, too.
"Cuz the way he trains is a lot
different than how people at the
high school train. You know? He
uses boards. He uses chains. He
uses bands. And if you ask people
if they've heard of all o' them, a lot
of'em haven't. You know?"
So how much can he divulge
- without giving away secrets,
that is?
Papa Belen grinned and
signaled for you to follow him,
with his son in tow as well. And so
it was that you found yourself in
the Belen basement.
There, of modest design but
clearly at the center of activity,
was a well worn bench-press
station.
Dad gestured at his son. "You
wanna go ahead and lie down,
show him?" he said, and Travis
obliged: A hundred-fifty-some
pounds went down and up again
effortlessly over the teenager's
sharply arched torso.
'hat's a regular bench," said
Dad. And this is with the chains.
He hung one from each end of the
bar such that about half of the
links remained on the floor.
"When the chain goes down,"
he said, pausing as Travis
demonstrated, "it loses weight,
but when it comes up it picks up
every link - more weight, more
Dad. "He
is 304.1
bench -
OUt
'You would think, bein' a
powerlifting meet, guys would be
walkin' around with testosterone
problems:
Page 22 - Shelton-Mason County Journal - Thursday, January 11, 2007
weight, Okay?
"And here's the bands."
He swapped the chains for
oversized rubberband-like loops
that went from one side of the
bar to the other by way of the
underside of the bench, thus
providing balanced tension at
every bar height.
"And the bands are for
torque," he said. "When you go
heavyweight your arms tend to
shake and vibrate. And that's
somethin' he needs to lose if
he's gonna go heavier."
Again, you wondered out
loud: Heavier?!?
Dad nodded. "In fact," he said,
"he has a problem right now.
When he goes to the competition
he gets overwhelmed. He should
be doing - easy - 310, 315..."
$iisiol s of raging
testosterone are forgiven
among the uninitiated, allowed
the elder of your hosts.
Fact is, though, put in his
son, there's hardly any real rage
to the ragin'. And certainly not
among the rivals themselves.
"They're always pretty laid-
back," said Travis. "They're
being serious, you know, but
you always gotta fall back on
'Let's just have some fun.'
"So, seein' everyone, like,
all big and stuff, I never had
the feeling I'm like, 'That guy's
gonna be stuck.up.'"
TRUE ENOUGH, said
Travis: People sometimes
do tend to associate big with
violent,
"But I think it's just a bad
way t' look at it." he said. "Cuz
the only time that people i n
there actually get mad is when
they're lifting. Cuz it's kind o'
hard to walk up to the mat,
like, laughing about it.
"So. like, it's intimidating
when you see 'era, like, smellin'
the smellin' salts, cuz that
gets 'era all raged up. But it's
not like in a rage where '/'M
MAD!/" It's just tryin' to get you
hyped up for the lift."
Dad rejoined the conversation
with a tattletale grin.
"You would think, bein' a
powerlifting meet," he said,
"guys would be walkin' around
with testosterone problems. No.
It's really quite the opposite. It
really is.
"You meet so many humble
people that look like gorillas.
It's just amazing.
"THERE'S ONE LADY - a
'Bench Press Barbie,' they call
(Please turn to page 24.)
Matlocl
cagers
match Unl
wins
Matlock's boys and girl
Mary M. Knight Owl basketS
scored matching victories 0
visiting league foe Oak'
Saturday to improve to simil$
matching 3-2 records in t
Pacific 2B Conference.
Veterans Chad Greene J
Jeremy Prouty scored 14 g
13 points to lead the Owl
who moved to 5-3 overall.
Brehmeyer added nine poi'
seven rebounds, three ass
and two steals.
The Owl girls, 6-2 overall
14 points from Teryssa Topt
and 11 from Cassy Willey
totally shut out the Acorn
the second quarter.
The night betbre the Mat
kids split at Lake QuinaU
coach Tim Diggle's boys wir
41-29 and coach Lance Va
girls bowing 31-35.
Both MMK squads
slated to resume action
night against Mount Rai
Lutheran. Results were
available at press time.
MMK BOYS
Mary M. Knight 8 14
Lake Quinault 5 13
Mary M. Knight - Chad
17, Caleb Kingman 2, Ethan Jolll
Dean Goldy 4, Jeremy Prouty 4, I.
Christensen 2, Sean Brehmeyef
Thomas Gill 2.
FG - 13-35; FT- 12-21.
Lake Quinault - Daniels 1,
7, Mason 9, A. Boone 3,T. Boot
Michaelson, Elder 6.
FG - 10-51; FT-8-17.
Oakville 6 10 111
Mary M. Knight 11 28
Oakville - Beau Shelton 2 Sam!
7, Bobby Johnson 2 Zack'Seiv
Page 4.
FG - NA; FT- 2-10.
Mary M. Knight - Chad Gtl CA
14, Caleb Kingman 2, Ethan Jail# duri:
Dean Goldy 7, Jeremy Prouty. 13, L C|iIll[
Christensen 5, Sean urenmeyu antil
Thomas Gill 4.
FG - 23-54; FT - 2-3. thei]
MMK GIRLS SOlh
MaryM. Knight 2 10 2 li xua]
Lake Quinault 3 11 2 t take
Mary M. Knight - Cassy Will¢, stre
Kelsey Kingery 2, Shareese W I#/, expl
Shelby Adsero 4, Amanda Vera, b4Te
Toppano 9, Melissa Kingery 3, ,,- thus
Leggett, Alicea Scott. Perf
FG - 12-53; FT- 5-18.
Lake Quinault - Kalama 3, I'
4, Allen, C. Sansom 2, K. Sanso¢
Williams, Walker 8.
FG- 9-56; FT- 15-33.
Oakville 7 7 lk 1
Mary M, Knight 14 42 5 a
,4
Oakville - Zola (no last name g v# AI,
Jessica Powell 14 Sonya (no last.
ion
given) 1, Chelsie Sharp 8, Rose (n,:
O
name given), Cassie Henry, He.- tered
Michaelson 2, Tyanna Canales, H, WI
Hutchings, Casilca Starr. care(
FG - 10-50; FT - 7-15. ra|e
Mary M. Knight - Cassy WilleY: •
Into1
Kelsey Kingery 7, Shareese Will
Shelby Adsero 4, Amanda Vera 5, aT , cem[
Toppano 14, Melissa Kingery 6 H . TIt
Leggett 4, Alicea Scott 4, Alyssa jim have
Jamee Whitman, Brittney Harris, v, Perls
White, Tiara Dearbo'ne 2, Sarah Nutte allot]
FG - 28-67; FT - 1-1. in Jr;
By ST
Ket
vi] b
league
visitin
to imp
Dis!
portm
squeez
render
a pape
ter, S
Hawk,
raatct
Ket
Wh:
even ;
with t
much
• OIL 1,,
nical.f;
14t
15;
• LUBE
• FILTER
SChus
17
$24 95" drich ,
• 18
21
Borne
Plus - L 28!
eal ir
Quality Care Multi' CL,.,
Point Inspection Ty
All Fluids, Belts an:
Hoses Checked
$1Mp
Dry
Includes complimentd 26s
#5
car wash Pan,
28.5.
*Plus tax and disposal shop f Railr<
Up to 5 qts 5W-30 bulk oil i Scra
206
Some vehicles slightly rood i
$
2 Sheltonexito"Hwy! !i:
360.426.558D00
/
"Your Key to AI
Automotive ServiO (C
Brown
Everday Lo#
in 1:4
Pr,ce
Travis Belen
Shelton's Travis Belen continues t how it
PATCH
i
avoided mentioning it,
the thing about his opu
brought it up as
gotten around to Bench
on his own, too- just as he did
g salts.
it." He grinned.
"So you learn secrets of how
to bench and the proper ways of
doing it and train up to the big
lift. And then when he comes
across big weights it's nothing.
You know?
"All he has t' think is getting
that mindset of not so much the
high-school guys but the big meets
- the 'world' meets. That's when
he sees the Big Boys. You know?
So he just puts his mindset into
that. And, you know, like I said,
of business,
Belen and proud
their
urnal
day, wasn't the
'You meet so many humble people
that look like gorillas. It's just
amazing:
in fact, it
to do with
in my
nuthin'
:had buzzers, so
a
I got
'Now buzz me
laugh leaked
but Travis
my
growin'
since. So it was a
but I didn't
my friend so
J00, g
WAS taking
on an
wondered
he feel about
said,
but
siege
• • • •
to the approval of notoriously
nit-picky judges at the highest
level of the age-group sport.
That was in Montana
almost a year ago. Last month,
in another so-called world
championship, this one in Las
Vegas, Travis went down in
weight and up in age bracket
and benched 304,1 yet again to
cop championship honors in the
16- to 19-year-aids' division.
"So I was the 'young buck'
this year." said the champ,
grinning anew.
But wait: How in the
world does anyone tipping the
scales at a mere 129 pounds
bench-press nearly two and a
half times his body weight?
"Ummmm, I don't really
think about it," ventured your
young host, and he shrugged.
"But I've been trainin' at it for
four years now, so it kinda all
adds up in the end."
"He learns quite a bit from
the elite at the powerlifting
meets that he attends," put'
in his dad. "They tend to take
him under their wings - the
'big boys' benching seven, eight
hundred pounds: those guys."
And how do they do it?
"There's a technique," said
Travis' dad. "And there's secrets
to training. And you don't wanna
let 'era out; then everybody and
their grandmother'd be doin'
there's a lot of different ways of
training 'era, too.
"Cuz the way he trains is a lot
different than how people at the
high school train. You know? He
uses boards. He uses chains. He
uses bands. And if you ask people
if they've heard of all o' them, a lot
of'em haven't. You know?"
So how much can he divulge
- without giving away secrets,
that is?
Papa Belen grinned and
signaled for you to follow him,
with his son in tow as well. And so
it was that you found yourself in
the Belen basement.
There, of modest design but
clearly at the center of activity,
was a well worn bench-press
station.
Dad gestured at his son. "You
wanna go ahead and lie down,
show him?" he said, and Travis
obliged: A hundred-fifty-some
pounds went down and up again
effortlessly over the teenager's
sharply arched torso.
'hat's a regular bench," said
Dad. And this is with the chains.
He hung one from each end of the
bar such that about half of the
links remained on the floor.
"When the chain goes down,"
he said, pausing as Travis
demonstrated, "it loses weight,
but when it comes up it picks up
every link - more weight, more
Dad. "He
is 304.1
bench -
OUt
'You would think, bein' a
powerlifting meet, guys would be
walkin' around with testosterone
problems:
Page 22 - Shelton-Mason County Journal - Thursday, January 11, 2007
weight, Okay?
"And here's the bands."
He swapped the chains for
oversized rubberband-like loops
that went from one side of the
bar to the other by way of the
underside of the bench, thus
providing balanced tension at
every bar height.
"And the bands are for
torque," he said. "When you go
heavyweight your arms tend to
shake and vibrate. And that's
somethin' he needs to lose if
he's gonna go heavier."
Again, you wondered out
loud: Heavier?!?
Dad nodded. "In fact," he said,
"he has a problem right now.
When he goes to the competition
he gets overwhelmed. He should
be doing - easy - 310, 315..."
$iisiol s of raging
testosterone are forgiven
among the uninitiated, allowed
the elder of your hosts.
Fact is, though, put in his
son, there's hardly any real rage
to the ragin'. And certainly not
among the rivals themselves.
"They're always pretty laid-
back," said Travis. "They're
being serious, you know, but
you always gotta fall back on
'Let's just have some fun.'
"So, seein' everyone, like,
all big and stuff, I never had
the feeling I'm like, 'That guy's
gonna be stuck.up.'"
TRUE ENOUGH, said
Travis: People sometimes
do tend to associate big with
violent,
"But I think it's just a bad
way t' look at it." he said. "Cuz
the only time that people i n
there actually get mad is when
they're lifting. Cuz it's kind o'
hard to walk up to the mat,
like, laughing about it.
"So. like, it's intimidating
when you see 'era, like, smellin'
the smellin' salts, cuz that
gets 'era all raged up. But it's
not like in a rage where '/'M
MAD!/" It's just tryin' to get you
hyped up for the lift."
Dad rejoined the conversation
with a tattletale grin.
"You would think, bein' a
powerlifting meet," he said,
"guys would be walkin' around
with testosterone problems. No.
It's really quite the opposite. It
really is.
"You meet so many humble
people that look like gorillas.
It's just amazing.
"THERE'S ONE LADY - a
'Bench Press Barbie,' they call
(Please turn to page 24.)
Matlocl
cagers
match Unl
wins
Matlock's boys and girl
Mary M. Knight Owl basketS
scored matching victories 0
visiting league foe Oak'
Saturday to improve to simil$
matching 3-2 records in t
Pacific 2B Conference.
Veterans Chad Greene J
Jeremy Prouty scored 14 g
13 points to lead the Owl
who moved to 5-3 overall.
Brehmeyer added nine poi'
seven rebounds, three ass
and two steals.
The Owl girls, 6-2 overall
14 points from Teryssa Topt
and 11 from Cassy Willey
totally shut out the Acorn
the second quarter.
The night betbre the Mat
kids split at Lake QuinaU
coach Tim Diggle's boys wir
41-29 and coach Lance Va
girls bowing 31-35.
Both MMK squads
slated to resume action
night against Mount Rai
Lutheran. Results were
available at press time.
MMK BOYS
Mary M. Knight 8 14
Lake Quinault 5 13
Mary M. Knight - Chad
17, Caleb Kingman 2, Ethan Jolll
Dean Goldy 4, Jeremy Prouty 4, I.
Christensen 2, Sean Brehmeyef
Thomas Gill 2.
FG - 13-35; FT- 12-21.
Lake Quinault - Daniels 1,
7, Mason 9, A. Boone 3,T. Boot
Michaelson, Elder 6.
FG - 10-51; FT-8-17.
Oakville 6 10 111
Mary M. Knight 11 28
Oakville - Beau Shelton 2 Sam!
7, Bobby Johnson 2 Zack'Seiv
Page 4.
FG - NA; FT- 2-10.
Mary M. Knight - Chad Gtl CA
14, Caleb Kingman 2, Ethan Jail# duri:
Dean Goldy 7, Jeremy Prouty. 13, L C|iIll[
Christensen 5, Sean urenmeyu antil
Thomas Gill 4.
FG - 23-54; FT - 2-3. thei]
MMK GIRLS SOlh
MaryM. Knight 2 10 2 li xua]
Lake Quinault 3 11 2 t take
Mary M. Knight - Cassy Will¢, stre
Kelsey Kingery 2, Shareese W I#/, expl
Shelby Adsero 4, Amanda Vera, b4Te
Toppano 9, Melissa Kingery 3, ,,- thus
Leggett, Alicea Scott. Perf
FG - 12-53; FT- 5-18.
Lake Quinault - Kalama 3, I'
4, Allen, C. Sansom 2, K. Sanso¢
Williams, Walker 8.
FG- 9-56; FT- 15-33.
Oakville 7 7 lk 1
Mary M, Knight 14 42 5 a
,4
Oakville - Zola (no last name g v# AI,
Jessica Powell 14 Sonya (no last.
ion
given) 1, Chelsie Sharp 8, Rose (n,:
O
name given), Cassie Henry, He.- tered
Michaelson 2, Tyanna Canales, H, WI
Hutchings, Casilca Starr. care(
FG - 10-50; FT - 7-15. ra|e
Mary M. Knight - Cassy WilleY: •
Into1
Kelsey Kingery 7, Shareese Will
Shelby Adsero 4, Amanda Vera 5, aT , cem[
Toppano 14, Melissa Kingery 6 H . TIt
Leggett 4, Alicea Scott 4, Alyssa jim have
Jamee Whitman, Brittney Harris, v, Perls
White, Tiara Dearbo'ne 2, Sarah Nutte allot]
FG - 28-67; FT - 1-1. in Jr;
By ST
Ket
vi] b
league
visitin
to imp
Dis!
portm
squeez
render
a pape
ter, S
Hawk,
raatct
Ket
Wh:
even ;
with t
much
• OIL 1,,
nical.f;
14t
15;
• LUBE
• FILTER
SChus
17
$24 95" drich ,
• 18
21
Borne
Plus - L 28!
eal ir
Quality Care Multi' CL,.,
Point Inspection Ty
All Fluids, Belts an:
Hoses Checked
$1Mp
Dry
Includes complimentd 26s
#5
car wash Pan,
28.5.
*Plus tax and disposal shop f Railr<
Up to 5 qts 5W-30 bulk oil i Scra
206
Some vehicles slightly rood i
$
2 Sheltonexito"Hwy! !i:
360.426.558D00
/
"Your Key to AI
Automotive ServiO (C
Brown
Everday Lo#
in 1:4
Pr,ce