Adolfo Davila hasn’t had any professional experience lifting,
but that hasn’t stopped him from setting a new state record.
Adolfo Davila hasn’t had any professional experience lifting, but that hasn’t stopped him from setting a new state record.
Davila, 37, broke the state record in the World Association of Benchers and Dead Lifters Championship at the Marriott Hotel in Rancho Cordova on Saturday.
Even though this was his first professional competition, the 155-pound, 5-foot-3 Davila benched 352.5 pounds, setting a new record in the Class 1 Division. The previous record was set in 2000 and was 347 pounds.
“We didn’t know anyone there,” said his wife Yolanda. “But everyone was cheering him on.”
“It was a hard lift, but it was a solid hit,” Davila said. “I feel I can go higher now. I know what to expect. It felt good. Just getting there and seeing everything was like a rush. You see it and it hits you where you’re at.”
Davila said he felt pretty confident going in even though he knew there would be some good competition.
“When I left, I was hitting almost 360,” Davila said. “My max was 355. A lot of guys wore jackets, but I was just hitting it naturally. I just went out there to try my best. I am going to start training more and hopefully take it to the top.”
Fellow weight lifter Al Tortorelli knew that Davila had potential and urged him to compete in the competition.
“I’ve been trying to convince him to compete for quite awhile,” said Tortorelli, who has known Davila for about 15 years. “I knew he would do really well, and he proved me right. He is short in stature, but he probably the best built of any of the guys in the area.”
Tortorelli said what Davila did was even more special because he didn’t use a tight muscle shirt that helps reinforce the muscles.
“When he learns how to utilize a shirt, he will set world records,” Tortorelli said.
Tortorelli, who won first place Saturday with a dead lift of 551 pounds, has had some success during his two years of power building competitions. He was a state record holder early in his career and is a trainer at Planet Fitness in Gilroy.
But even though Tortorelli has a background in competitive lifting and body building, he said there was not much that he had to teach Davila.
“He is a natural at the bench press,” Tortorelli said. “Pound for pound, he is probably one of the strongest guys I have ever known. He is built like a brick house.”
Davila and Tortorelli work out at Gold’s Gym in Hollister during the evenings. The key to his success has been his total body approach, Davila said.
“I work a lot on shoulders, but I work on a little bit of everything,” Davila said. “You basically have to work out every part of your body to get that upper body strength. I love to work out and I love bench. It’s all about physically staying in shape. It helps in all angles.”
Davila hopes to break his record during the next state competition in Sacramento in September.
“That was like the ice breaker for me,” Davila said. “I’m going to keep competing.”
Davila has qualified for the World competition in Las Vegas later this year.
“I would like to get a little bigger,” Davila said. “People say I am growing, but it doesn’t seem like it. I’ll change my routine a little. I will be concentrating on my strength.”
On the web, www.wabdl.org.
