There are plenty of things to like about the story of Jake Pudenz. Not many Olympic lifters come from the world of competitive MMA fighting, so that’s automatically pretty cool.
 
But the thing I probably like the most about his story is the fact that he bombed out of his first two National Championships, didn’t quit because of that, kept training, and worked his way up from the B session to the A session…and then eventually a National Championship victory in 2019 with a 336 kg total in the 109 kg class. If you go back and look at that progression, you learn a lot about the kind of mental toughness and resilient personality you need to become a champion in this sport. We all know weightlifting is difficult, but I’ve seen plenty of lifters who would probably hang it up after bombing out two years in a row at the Nationals. Fighting through those failures and then eventually rising to the top of the medal stand is a terrific story.
 
Take that one step further and imagine doing it all while training by yourself, with no in-person coaching or training partners. Just solitary brutal work, day in and day out, with nobody but yourself to rely on. Long story short, Jake Pudenz is one tough SOB. It’s a huge honor to share his story with you.
 
Tell us about your background. Where are you from, where do you currently live, what’s your occupation, family life, what kind of sports background do you have outside of lifting, etc.
 
I am from a small town in western Iowa named Denison. After I left for college, I bounced around quite a bit and have recently moved to Des Moines, IA where I started a business, Jake Pudenz Strength & Power. I coach weightlifting, both in-person and remotely, as well as general sport performance. Previous to that, I was the director of strength & conditioning for a high school from October 2011 to February 2020.
 
Growing up, I played every sport, like most do in small towns. As I went through high school, I focused my attention on football and wrestling.
 
After graduating high school, I decided I didn’t want to play football anymore but I still had plenty of competing left to do. I found a group of guys in the University of Nebraska rec center that were doing Jiu-Jitsu and started training with them. After a few months of that, I was approached by the guy teaching us and he asked me if I wanted to take an MMA fight.
 
I took the fight, loved it, and ended up fighting from 2006-2009 going 2-0 as an amateur and 5-5 as a pro. I was known as the kid that would fight anyone, which led me to taking way too many fights I had no business taking.
 
In 2008, after transferring to the University of Iowa, I started interning at a sports performance gym. We all got really into strongman in 2010 and did a few contests.
 
Describe your weightlifting history. When/how did you start? Who have your coaches been? What are your proudest accomplishments?
 
While interning under Phil Johnson in Iowa City, we all decided to compete at the 2011 Arnold. I’d never competed in weightlifting but said, “Why not?” I did 97/134 at 105, missing 103/142 and loved the experience.
 
After finishing my internship at Mike Boyle’s in the summer of 2011, I started training specifically for weightlifting.
 
In 2012, my mentor, Phil Johnson, went to get his USAW L2 at Cal Strength, and as Dave was looking to fill out a team, Phil suggested giving me a call. Dave gave me a call, I went out for a visit in November of 2012 and was lucky enough to compete for the California Strength team ever since (I was their OG remote athlete).
 
As for my proudest accomplishments in the sport, I would definitely say that winning a National Championship last year is at the top. Particularly bearing in mind where I started and how I, quite literally, worked my way up from the bottom.
 
I bombed out at my first two Nationals in 2013 and 2014 at the bottom of the B session. I started learning how to compete and was towards the top of the B session in 2015. At the 2016 American Open, I picked up my first national-level medal with a clean & jerk bronze. From there on out, I started medaling at every national-level meet in the total and was routinely ranked in the top 20 overall. I did all of that as a remote athlete and training almost exclusively solo.
 
I am also very proud of my 215 kg clean. Not many lifters will ever do that and I was able to do that with a lifetime best front squat of 230 kg. I don’t give myself credit for much that I’ve ever done but even I am forced to for that.
 
Please give a basic description of your training method. Just tell us as much as you can about your program, weekly/yearly planning, etc.
 
As a member of the Cal Strength team, I was lucky enough to never have to worry about programming. In my opinion, Dave is as good as anyone there is at getting his lifters ready for the big meets. With that kind of confidence in my coach and the program, it made it easy because I just had to lift the numbers he was giving me.
 
There wasn’t really anything fancy during my time as a lifter-- accumulation blocks, transmutation blocks, a realization, taper, and then start the process all over again. The sessions would have some sort of snatch variation, some sort of clean/clean & jerk variation, squatting, pulling, and accessories.
 
Throughout the course of my career, we typically trained nine times a week with two sessions on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday and one session on Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday.
 
Describe some of the obstacles you face, or maybe some things that frustrate you in your weightlifting life. What kinds of changes would you like to see, either personally or with the sport in general?
 
The biggest obstacle I faced during my time as a weightlifter was definitely training alone. Clean & jerking 200+ isn’t easy when you’re just in a weight room alone. Also, because I was a remote athlete, there was no instant feedback on my lifts. It was up to me to record, watch them back, and correct what needed to be corrected.
 
As for things I would like to see changed within the sport, the obvious answer is drug use and corruption leading the sport to potentially being booted from the Olympics. This is a sport that has given me so much and to see it being thrown away like this from the people at the top is such a bummer.
 
Outside of that, making the meets more spectator friendly. I feel like as a younger generation is starting to make the decisions while hosting meets, it has certainly gotten better. Having some music playing in the background, the video screens, etc. When I started, the 10 people in the crowd sat there like they were at a funeral.
 
What are your plans and goals for your weightlifting career? How do you see your future in the sport?
 
My time as a senior lifter came to an end after the 2019 American Open. I decided to retire from competition because I just didn’t have that fire to continue grinding away like I had for the past decade. Having won a National Championship, I felt like I accomplished everything I was going to accomplish.
 
Being 32, though, I see myself making a master’s run in a couple of years. Looking at the master’s world records for 102 (152/183), they seem like they will be attainable, provided I don’t let myself get too weak before it comes time to start that push again.
 
The biggest part of my weightlifting future, though, will certainly be coaching. I love coaching the lifts and seeing my lifters succeed in the gym and on the platform is ridiculously gratifying.
 
I think it should be every coach’s goal to train someone to be better than they were and I have a youth lifter that is well on his way to that having already done 125/155@96 at 16 years old.
 
 
Who are some of your major influences, people you look up to, etc.? Who are the people you want to thank for your success?
 
One major influence is Phil Johnson. Without him, I would have never even known this sport existed and I never would have gotten the introduction to Cal Strength.
 
Another major influence is Dave Spitz. Him taking a chance on a kid from Iowa quite literally changed the course of my life. I would never have achieved what I achieved in the sport and, in turn, I certainly wouldn’t have people seeking me out to be their coach. It can’t be overstated what Dave has done for me.
 
Both of those two men have continued to be huge influences in my life and helped show me that there can be a way to make money teaching people how to lift weights.
 
Your accomplishments will be a great inspiration to all the athletes you coach in the future, Jake. Thanks for sharing your story with us!