Weightlifter Brandon Davis balances competitions with coaching
REHOBOTH BEACH, Del. (BVM) — Light blue walls contrast the type of work being performed within the building. The sound of weight plates clinking on the ground and the grunts from those athletes lifting the heavy bars make it clear that the work is more arduous than the bright blue walls that enclose the space let on. Although one wall on the far side of the room sets the tone for the gym, a solid black wall with light blue writing declares the building “Rehoboth Beach Barbell Club. Est. 2018.”
As athletes of all ages strain and will their way to lift ever-increasing weights, Brandon Davis observes the weightlifters, checking form and assisting where he can. Davis is one of three coaches employed at the Rehoboth Beach Barbell Club and has been responsible for helping to mold the next generation of Olympic weightlifters. Davis is no stranger to the world of Olympic weightlifting either, establishing himself among some of the best in the country for his age.
The 39-year-old Davis has grown in the world of Olympic weightlifting following five years serving as a military policeman. In a career that required being in good shape physically, Davis had always had an interest in fitness through trying a number of different athletics like triathlons and martial arts, but it became a passion in 2011 when, as a spectator, he watched a regional CrossFit competition. Davis fell in love.
“It was never really on my radar when I first started,” Davis said. “I just wanted to get better at moving and I wanted to be fit in as many fitness domains as possible. That was a really good place to start at the time and I enjoyed testing myself physically in different aspects.”
Davis quickly worked to get his CrossFit Level 1 certification later that year and as he worked years becoming refined in CrossFit, he found he yearned to push himself even more. A fitness junkie, admitting to reading everything about strength and conditioning he can get his hands on, Davis became interested in the sport of Olympic weightlifting and in 2016 became a certified coach for the sport, earning his USAW Weightlifting Level 1 coaching certification.
“I found I really enjoyed moving the load and I wanted to learn how to move the load well,” Davis said. “(Coaching) just became kind of this obsessive thing. I look at how other people move and I found myself helping others out during my workouts and I was like I need to get qualified, I need to move up. … It just seemed like the next step.”
Davis looked to find a way to not only refine his own form as an athlete, but also his form as a coach.
During a regional CrossFit clinic, Davis was approached by former Olympic weightlifter Cara Heads-Slaughter, to gauge his interest in the sport of Olympic weightlifting and see if he would like to learn the sport at her renowned CHFP Weightlifting Club in South Arlington, Va. to help expand his coaching knowledge. Though at that moment Davis had not yet had an interest in the sport, six months later his interest was piqued and he asked Heads-Slaughter if he could attend her team’s Saturday practices.
It was not a small task. Commuting over 100 miles to get to the club, Davis would drive down for the team’s workouts and would sit and observe one of the great American coaches.
“For the first three or four months, I drove over to Cara Heads-Slaughter’s gym in Arlington,” Davis said. “I drove for two hours just to sit during her team training session to watch her coach just so I can learn how to be a better coach.”
Although he was there simply as an observer first, Davis knew what being in that gym with that coach meant. Each day he came down, Davis would bring his gear, just in case Heads-Slaughter ever got curious as to what he could do as an athlete.
“One Saturday I went in and Cara asked me, ‘Do you still need to train?’ and I said yeah. ‘Do you have your stuff with you?’ I was like yeah I always have my stuff with me and I was kind of hoping for that moment and she’s like ‘Cool why don’t you just grab your gear and lift here?’ and I’m thinking Cara Heads just asked me if I wanted to work out in her gym,” Davis said.
Eager and starstruck all at once, Davis could only think of one thing as he excitedly put on his shoes.
“So I go grab my shoes and I’m like ‘Don’t lift like a moron, lift like you have some idea of what you’re doing,’” Davis said with a laugh.
Over time, Davis’ dedication to the club paid off. When Davis approached Heads-Slaughter later about her becoming his Olympic weightlifting coach, she agreed. Davis signed a contract to join the club’s national competitive team for their Masters (35-39 year-old), +109kg category.
https://www.facebook.com/chfitnessandperformance/videos/1571019909582659/?
After he joined the team in 2016, Davis competed in a number of competitions across the country and even internationally under Heads-Slaughter’s tutelage. It was a new environment for Davis, who had not been a part of a team quite like CHFP’s 30-person roster before.
“I showed up for the very first team meet and her team is huge,” Davis said. “I walk in and it’s like holy smokes there are 10 of us competing on that day, but there are 10 of us assistant coaching in the back. … It was very supportive and so every time a team member walks out to go lift, you’ve got 15 people behind the scenes screaming and cheering you on apart from the crowd.”
The team helped Davis achieve the fruits of his labor. Davis won his first gold medal at the 2017 American Masters Final where he lifted 263kg between the snatch and clean and jerk lifts. Davis also won back-to-back silver medals at the American Open Series in both 2018 and 2019, but his best work came in August of last year.
Davis qualified for the International Weightlifting Federation World Masters Weightlifting Championships in Montreal, Canada where he would compete against some of the best Olympic weightlifters in the world. Davis, representing the United States, showed well in his first-time at the event. Davis finished with a sixth place finish in the Men’s Masters +109, completing four of six lifts and lifting 255kg between snatch and the clean and jerk.
https://www.facebook.com/chfitnessandperformance/videos/video-highlights-of-brandon-davis-at-the-international-weightlifting-federation-/2164306283866849/
“At that point I had been doing this for three years and I never saw it coming,” Davis said. “To fall in love with a sport like that and not just to coach it, but to be competitive within the sport that you love at this age it’s awesome. I just can’t imagine doing anything different.”
Davis didn’t have to make the journey alone either. A number of Davis’ supporters, including his wife and children, Will Harris who owns the Rehoboth Beach Barbell Club, a few members of the club and some students Davis coaches, all came up to Montreal wearing “#TeamDavis” shirts to show their love for the athlete. Davis admitted the trip, where he was able to don Team USA’s red, white and blue for the first time, was both a special and an emotional one.
“You talk about a Kodak moment,” Davis said. “Those are the things you just have to be there for, you have to be in the moment for. To have those that I’ve coached, worked with, that was fantastic. Even little things like the shirts; they sprung that on me once we got up there like the day before. Just to relive that moment is phenomenal. That’s something that I will definitely tell my kids when they get older.”
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Looking to further his prowess as a super heavyweight, Davis left CHFP in the fall of last year to receive coaching from Michael McKenna at McKenna’s Weightlifting. McKenna, a former super heavyweight Olympic weightlifter himself, had always been a mentor to Davis after being his instructor for his Level 1 certification, answering any and all questions that Davis could think of. Davis saw the transition as one that would help him improve his numbers even more because of the parallels between him and his coach.
“That dude is phenomenal. He knows more about weightlifting, more about anything, than anybody I know,” Davis said. “I made that move and I think it was a big confidence booster because in part, he’s a super, I’m a super. We’ve both got families. We both work full-time, we’re at that place in life and we’re both coaches. … So it just seemed like the next step.”
At the beginning of this year, Davis was off to a great start. In March, Davis competed in the Arnold Classic in Columbus, Ohio for the third consecutive year where he won three silver medals for the snatch, clean and jerk, and overall total in the Men’s Masters +109 after lifting 281kg total. For his win, Davis earned the No. 1 overall national ranking in his weight class and qualified to represent Team USA in the World Masters Weightlifting Championship for the second consecutive year.
“At that point, I didn’t have anything to prove,” Davis said. “I didn’t have to set any totals, I just wanted to be consistent. It was freaking amazing. This year was dope. That was the best way to put it. To just come in and have fun and just lift for the love of the sport.”
With many of the weightlifting championships cancelled due to the restrictions of COVID-19, Davis has been able to increase his focus on his other passion, coaching. In late 2019, Davis founded the Bearproof Weightlifting Club. The club, which has approximately 10 members, has both a youth program for lifters under 18 and also a Masters program for ages over 35. Following some support from Harris and getting a few different athletes interested in the idea, Davis made the club official.
“At that point, I was like yeah it’s definitely time. I have a conglomerate of different athletes, let’s do it. It needs to be official that way if people come into Delaware and they’re looking for somewhere to lift, we’re a lifter-friendly gym. There’s a weightlifting club here,” Davis said.
Though the Masters members have had their own successes, this year has been a special one for Bearproof’s youth program.
In February, 15-year-old Jacob Booros earned third place in the Men’s Open 61kg division after completing five of six lifts for 115kg total. His performance earned Booros a spot in the USAW Youth National Championship later this year. In April, 14-year-old Alaina Strates took first place in the weightlifting online qualifier for the youth 14 to 15-year-old women’s 76kg category finishing with a 99kg total while also earning a qualification for nationals. In addition to his teenagers successes, Davis also trains 10-year-old Fiona Paul who is considered one of the best in her age group being dually ranked in both Olympic weightlifting and powerlifting.
The coaching aspect of Davis’ life gives him something competitions can’t fulfill. It allows him to pass the interest in the sport onto the next generation while also being able to watch young athletes have their moment where they finally understand what he is preaching, which is his favorite moment as a coach.
“As a competitor, I’m worried about my performance,” Davis said. “As a coach, I get to do that on the other side. It’s about everyone else. I really enjoy that aspect. I really get to be there for everyone else. When I’m face-to-face motivating, being a cheerleader, but instructing them, all of that culminates to that one moment on the platform when the lightbulb goes off and everything they’ve been doing just comes together. That moment is fantastic.”
Although competitions are a bit spotty with the current regulations due to COVID-19, Davis keeps his team members motivated, constantly pumping them up on the team’s Instagram page while keeping track of their performances. Davis speaks glowingly of his club’s members, though he doesn’t necessarily want them to know how proud he truly is of them. Words such as strong, hungry and awesome are thrown around by Davis a bit when talking about the kids and Davis thinks that’s a testament to the athletes and not him as a coach.
“I’m confident in myself as a coach, but I think (the achievements) say more about (the athlete’s) commitment and about their work ethic,” Davis said. “I think their commitment right now is just fantastic. They trust me, they trust the process and they’re willing to do anything necessary. … They’ll just put their hearts and souls into it.”
Don’t let the blue walls of the Rehoboth Barbell Club fool you. The color may make the gym seem like a pretty restful place, but in reality champions are forged here among the various platforms, bars and jerk blocks. Davis is making sure of that.
