There is no difference in the material used for either the Eleiko competition or training bars. In the late 50’s, a Swedish scientist developed a formula for producing steel for the Eleiko bars. That formula has been patented and is locked in the safe at the corporate office in Sweden. Nobody has been able to reverse engineer it so far. You can see on this Eleiko Bar Video that every bar goes through extensive and stringent testing before it is deemed approved for sale. The difference between the two bars is the calibration and the fee that Eleiko pays to the IWF for the certification of the competition bar. The calibration of the competition bar guarantees that the weight is 20 kg, +/-0.015 kg., which is 15 grams. Every competition bar comes with serial number and IWF certification stamp. The weight of the training bar is 20 kg., +/-0.2 kg., which is 200 grams – less than half a pound. The special calibration and the IWF certification fee is what makes the competition bar more expensive. Otherwise, they are the same.

Take a few minutes to watch the video above. It is very eye opening and I think demonstrates why Eleiko has more than 1000 world records to its credit while the competition is left in the dust.

Martin’s father, Mincho, was the Olympic Bronze Medalist in 1980. In 2003, Martin was the Bronze Medalist in the European Junior Championships where he beat the current senior European Champion Jurgen Spiess. He is training at my club, Corequest Fitness (San Ramon) currently, along with several other up and coming lifters.

Coaches Dave Spitz and Alex Krychev with Stephen

Stephen has some big numbers on his lifts – 230 kg back squat, 145kg Power Clean, 175kg front squat and 150kg split jerk – amazing numbers for a 17 year old. He is hitting 54′-55′ in his throws and should hit 57′-58′ in January, putting him in good position to close in on 60′+. He’s hitting 150′ to 160′ in the discus as well. My son Christopher, now at University of Texas, was a senior when Steve was a freshman and we are all happy to see what happens when you dedicate yourself like he has.  Stephen used my son as a role model and it shows the power of having good role models to help a young man develop. Stephen has a modified lifting regimen, not all Olympic lifts but many of the auxiliary lifts are used 4 times per week. There is a tremendous focus on leg strength since that is the primary driver of success in the throws together with a good stretch reflex.