Forged Strength: Houston High School Powerlifting Club

The Houston High School Forged Strength Powerlifting Club is preparing for their first competition on February 7th. Led by coach and national strongman qualifier Josh Bicchinella, the program has become a massive hit among almost two dozen students. Competitors from Houston are anticipated to compete well at next month’s competition with a potential to smash state records.

The club was formed only eight weeks ago when he was approached by a group of students interested in a powerlifting program. The club has become affiliated with USA Powerlifting and competes to their standards. With limited time in the afternoons because of other activities, Bicchinella and the team decided to meet in the morning to lift before school.

Athletes are required to be at the school and warming up at 5:30 a.m. for practice to start at 5:55 a.m. The team lifts until 7 a.m. and meets four days per week. Bicchinella said that many of the athletes show up every day despite the early-morning wake-ups and are even up before their parents to get the day started.

Not only do the students move weight and get stronger, they learn how to have a better diet and understand specific weightlifting programs. They build a work ethic and grind to make improvements toward their lifting goals. The team supports each other and holds teammates accountable. To stay in shape and with true dedication, athletes came into the gym during their Christmas break.

“It’s not just lifting and a bunch of grunting. It’s life skills and work ethic,” Bicchinella said.

Bicchinella has heard from both athletes and their families about how beneficial this program has been for them and how much of an impact it has had on their life.

“I heard from one of the kids the other day that this is the best thing in his life,” he said. “How do I respond to that? That’s amazing!”

The team will comprise over 30% of the total competitors for the February competition. This is not a school competition, as the team will be coming with athletes across a wide range of ages and experience levels in the sport of powerlifting.

With the success of this program, Bicchinella is working to bring the sport to the attention of the Alaska School Activities Association to make this a statewide school sport.

“I would love to do competitions between schools, just like other athletic programs,” Bicchinella said.

The improvements among athletes have been dramatic, Bicchinella said. Athletes have been increasing the weight of their lifts and are making great strides in physiological transformation to their bodies that transfer through into other sports. Over these short eight weeks, he said that the athletes have increased significantly in the three main lifts of deadlift, squat and bench. A handful of the students, both boys and girls, are chasing state records for their weight classes and national competition qualification.

“We’ve got an amazing team of athletes,” Bicchinella said.

The team is made up of students from a variety of different student groups at Houston High School. Bicchinella said the gym is one of the most positive spaces in the school with teammates encouraging each other and showing good sportsmanship towards one another. This has carried over to not only assisting each other in the weight room, but in the classroom as well to help teammates excel academically.

“One of the main requirements is that we build each other up,” Bicchinella said. “One of the philosophies I have is that if you’re a strong person, if you’re somebody that is either strong in nature or strong in mind, it’s your responsibility to show others, to guide others, on how to treat people. If you’re going to be in this club, it’s your responsibility to be kind, to be respectful and to be an example.”

The competition will be hosted at Mac’s Strength and Power in Eagle River on February 7th. The first lift starts at 9 a.m. Bicchinella said his athletes are excited but nervous for their first competition. As a coach, he said he’s just been focusing on making little improvements every week with his athletes. Just showing up and working towards the goal is what makes Bicchinella proud to be offering this new activity at Houston.

“I can’t say enough about how much they’ve worked hard for this and I really think that they’re going to surprise themselves at the competition,” Bicchinella said.