Weak Mind, Weak Body: Halliwell's Strength Training Philosophy

My first-hand account of the unconventional, yet undeniably successful training methods and philosophies of Phil Halliwell, world champion powerlifter and owner of Halliwell's Strength Training.

“Push your stomach out hard like aliens are gonna' pop out of your belly!” shouts Phil Halliwell, as he encourages a guy hoisting a barbell suspended in the air with heavy chains. On the bar are 10 forty-five pound plates, five on each side. The enormous weight causes the ends of the bar to sag.

The man's face fills up with blood until even his eyes turn red like the color of the walls of the gym. He seems stuck in a squat position until finally, screaming, he finds the strength to push the weight all the way to the top, and then let's it go. Slowly, the blood drains out of his face and eyes and he beams a big smile. Not too far away is a picture of Arnold Schwarzenegger doing a triceps extension.

Halliwell congratulates him and then turns to me and says, “That was his first 505 pound squat.” His smile turning serious, the guy who made the squat says to me, “This man,” pointing at Halliwell, “is the only reason I'm alive.”

It was at that moment I realized that there was something unique about this gym. The man who squatted the 505, who prefers to remain nameless, told me that no other trainers would take him on because of his medical condition. He was exposed to toxic dust during 9/11 and doctors kept telling him he had only months to live. But he says that since he's been with Halliwell, he's outlived their predictions several times over.

The gym is geared toward athletes that want to be pushed by an experienced personal trainer. Halliwell specializes in one-on-one and group training, but doesn't cater to or allow athletes who prefer to train on their own because most of the compound exercises done at the gym, namely, the squat, bench press, and deadlift, require supervision. Although there are other pieces of equipment like the lat pull-down, inclined bench, hyperextension machine, dumbbells, and other equipment at the gym, from what I could tell, isolation exercises could play a secondary role, depending on what your goals are.

Halliwell turned to a Harrison High School football senior, Robert Mulderrig, who arrived a little early for his session, and asked him to smack him in the head. Without hesitation, Mulderrig smacked Halliwell hard on the side of the head and instantly, Haliwell's expression got serious as hell. He turned toward the squat rack, and just started repeating, “Yup, come on, one time,” while making his way toward the bar.

On his first attempt, Halliwell wasn't able to lift it, at which point I thought he was going to call it quits. Nope. He goes at it again for a second time and this time, he makes the lift like a champion. He then lowers the weight to 605 lbs and does five repetitions.  When he catches his breath again, he says something I immediately jotted down because it sounded so poetic. He said, “The only reason you're weak is you're weak in the mind.” Amazing.

As I was pondering this statement, two other football players from Harrison High School and one alumnus from Valhalla High School walked in for their group session. I asked Halliwell to clarify what he meant and he said, “I can't means I won't. The problem with society is we expect a magic pill to solve everything. There's no short-cut for hard work.”

As I understand it, Harrison had a great season, going all the way to states. They came close to beating Aquinas in the Class A championship at the Carrier Dome, the final score only 24-13. Halliwell says players from Harrison tend to have a better work ethic and takes pride in helping them get up to par for next season. He even says they've inspired him to start competing again himself.

As for Halliwell, he's got an entire wall of his gym is dedicated to all of his titles. He set an Amateur World Powerlifting Conference (AWPC) world record in the 242 pound weight class last time he competed in 2004, making a total combined lift of 1,918 pounds in the squat, bench and deadlift. He's also held the world record in the squat since 2003, when he squatted 804 pounds. Halliwell's goal is to break his 242 pound records, but in the 198 pound weight class before the end of the year.

Before I left the gym, Halliwell told me that I had to experience what he called, “the prowler.” The prowler is an original piece of equipment that looks very similar to what football players use to rush and push into the end zone, except without the cushion and with handles to push it from either side. The idea is you push from up top on the way down and then push from the bottom on the other side on the way back. Halliwell made it himself.

We put about fifty pounds on it and he instructed me to push it as hard as I could from one side of the parking lot to the other and then back again. I figured it couldn't be that bad. The first leg was okay, but the second leg of the journey was very wobbly. I practically ran out of juice. My legs felt like two salamis trying to get traction on a slippery surface.

When I got back, I thought that would be it, but Halliwell pushed me to do another round. I kind of wanted to say no, but he kept saying, "Come on, let's go!" with a stern look on his face, so I said, “What the heck” and just blasted out another set all the way down to the end of the parking lot and back.

Halliwell's Strength Training is located at 1 Depot Plaza, Mamaroneck, NY 10543. Call for further information call (203) 243-1673.