USAWA

By Eric M Todd, Esq

Greg Cook has been a member of KCSTRONGMAN All-Round Club but for a short while; however, he has been a member of the KCSTRONGMAN family for about as long as anyone.  I first met Greg around 2003 when the website and forum first began.  Greg contacted me via the forum, and I invited him out to train.  Mind you, at the time our facility was rather humble (not that everyone would be impressed with our accommodations today, outside of the amount of weights and equipment).  Some in the basement, but lots of the training occurred outside. Though rather quiet by nature, Greg impressed me with his strength.  He fit right in.  Greg became a steady fixture of KCSTRONGMAN training days and competitions and made quite a mark for himself.  Ultimately, he rejoined us in the all-round realm of the USAWA a little while back.

Greg was born in Kansas City on July 6, 1957.He played both softball where he batted ambidextrously, and basketball where he shot ambidextrously.  He also ran the half mile in track and played football.  He had three brothers who were born before him;  he was constantly working to keep up with them.  Because he was smaller, slower, and weaker, Greg struggled to do so.  Prior to his freshman year of high school, Greg noticed a confederate of his who had some newly developed “pythons.” So, not like a young Chuck Atlas getting sand kicked in his face, Greg becomes intrigued and looked into how to make this happen.  He finds out it was through resistance  training and became hooked. Greg started lifting and in 4 years went from a pencil necked 6′, 145 pound freshman to 184 pound senior  lifting the following: 545 deadlift, 380 squat, and 300 bench.

Greg started lifting in the days prior to the prevalence of the internet.  So Greg was left getting his weightlifting information from Ironman, Muscle and Fitness, and Powerlifting USA.  After graduation, Greg went to work with his dad doing concrete, grading and sewer work, all of which is very physically demanding and lent itself to great strength and capacity in the strongman world.

Though Greg was training and working manual labor, his lifts began to stagnate.  He needed something to be training for. In 1983, when Greg was 26 a friend invited him along to lift in the Cloud County Powerlifting Meet in Concordia, KS.  Though they did not have suits and wraps, they went and competed anyhow.  This is where Greg’s competitive lifting career began.  He went on to compete in 5 powerlifting competitions over the years.  Greg’s best competition lifts were a 562 squat, 375 bench press, and a 672 deadlift, with a career best total of 1576.  His best gym lifts were 615/375/705. Greg graced the platform with greats such Doug Furnas and Ed Coan.  In training for the Ozark Powerlifting Championship in 1985, Greg trained with two lifters who used steroids to enhance their lifts.  While Greg saw what drugs could do to a fellow’s lifts,  his conscience would not allow him to take that direction.  He enjoyed powerlifting, but being rather introverted, the need to have someone to help you with your suit and wraps and such did not appeal to Greg.

Greg’s relationship with his father was not strictly business in nature.  Not only did they work together, they played together.  Greg’s dad was his best friend.  They hunter together, fished together, and could complete each other’s sentences.  When Greg’s father passed away in 2002, he was devastated.  He needed to fill a void that he was feeling.  That is when he contacted me.

Greg was very successful in strongman as well.  In his first meet, the Battle of the Border in KC, he took first in the masters division.  He competed in a number of competitions in the area, almost always placing in the top few in the masters class.  He even placed 4th in Masters nationals in 2004.  Through all of his success in powerlifting and strongman, he never lost sight of his priorities.  Family was always first.

I always enjoyed watching Greg’s progress by following his electronic training log on the KCSTRONGMAN forum.  The two things that impressed me the most were his capacity to get a great deal accomplished in a short amount of time and his ability to lift great amounts of weights through a short range of motion.  I always felt that all-round would be a great fit for him.

In 2014, Greg competed in his first USAWA meet.  It was my first time promoting the Old Time Strongman Championships, and Greg came out to lift with us.  At the end of the day, Greg’s efforts resulted in a third place finish.  He repeated that result in 2016.  In 2017, he bested that result by taking home first place honors from the Old Time Strongman Championship.  In 2018, Greg captured 4th place in his first ever Heavy Lift Championship.  Greg has fourteen national records to his credit.  He has also been awarded athlete of the month once, as well as runner up for newcomer of the year in the national awards.

Greg has been around the KCSTRONGMAN scene almost from its inception.  He was even instrumental in the completion of the big tin can we lift in, by helping us dig and pour the footers that it rests on.  He is signed up to defend his title in this year’s Old Time Strongman Championship.  I cannot wait to see what the future holds for Greg Cook in the USAWA.