All photo's and images courtesy  of www.metalmilitia.net

            Hello folks, I'm back introducing more athletes in the sport of power lifting.  Here I have yet another powerlifter who hasn't graced any covers of the top powerlifting mags...yet but his talent and training will make other powerlifters take notice of him in the future if not now.  His name is Sebastian Burns and he recently did a mind-boggling 725 @ 267!! This is just as amazing as Ryan's 800 @ 295!!  But his approach to training is much different from any other powerlifter and its because of their training that Sebastian went from 500 to 725 in a year!!! Want to learn more....read on!!

 Curtis Dennis: Thanks for a chance to interview you, Sebastian.  Please give the readers a description of yourself?

 Sebastian Burns: Thank you for the interview. I am 30 years old I currently live in Glens Falls NY. I am 5'8 and around 270 when competing and around 250 or a little less in the off season. I am a personal trainer and I love playing guitar and drums and studing music theory. Also riding Dirt Bikes and ATVs.

 CD: How long have you been into power lifting?

SB: I started power lifting  about 4 years ago.I only did meets for fun at first I was into Bodybuilding and just getting strong at all exercises. I started serious bench press only training about 18 months ago.

 CD: Have you always been strong?

 SB: I began working out when I was 15 because I was real small (125lbs) and skinny.I was into racing ATVs and wanted a stronger back and arms to race better. I was not strong at all when I started and I once got stuck under the bar with only 45lbs on the bench press.

 CD: Tell us about your childhood and how you got into powerlifting?

 SB: When I was younger I got into trouble at school. I ended up getting sent to a foster home. While there I attended a new high school and every day I would sign out of class and go to the library. There I would ask for all the latest bodybuilding mags and all the back issues. I would also read any and all books I could find about how muscles worked and how to eat right

 CD: How did it feel benching 725 @ 267?

 SB: It was a good feeling to get the lift but to be honest It felt really easy and I remember feeling afterwards that I was good for a bit more.  Slight disappointment but on the other hand I was very thankful to get the 725.

 CD: Name some of your other feats of strength?

 SB: Well most of my feats of strength were with other movements than the BIG 3.  I have done my fair share of heavy barbell rows going up to 700lbs for sets of 5.  Also lots of heavy shoulder and incline presses. I have shoulder pressed 130lb Dumbbells for 40 reps when I was a bodybuilder.

 CD: How do you think you stack up against other powerlifters?

 SB: Well I consider Powerlifters those who do full meets. At this time I only do bench press meets so I don't stack up at all.  In bench pressing I am ranked 3rd All Time highest in the 275lb class.  I may also be ranked in the top 10 or 20 in the 242, But I am not sure.

 CD: Do you believe with the arrival of professional powerlifting, that powerlifting is moving in the right direciton?

 SB: I don't think powerlifting is really moving anywhere. But with the way that power lifters are starting to help each other and be more open-minded and cool with each other there is definitely some good things happening.

CD: I've always preach about having training partners.  Do you have any training partners?

 SB: I have many training partners all over the country. We (Bill Crawford and I) travel all over the country training with new people every weekend but here is a few of the people I train with on a semi regular basis.  First I would like to say the best training partner I have and have had for years is Bill Crawford he is always there and shares a goal to succeed that I have.  For the last 4 months it has just been Bill and I assisted by Cassy Seymour. Our constant yelling and demanding perfection on every set of every workout has drove most of our regulars away. (Our workouts are very serious and if you are not pulling your share you will be reprimanded sometimes very harshly).  But here is a small list of people I like to train with Trevor Bruce, Axeman, Chuck MMRI, Glen Chabot, Joel Toranzo, Tommy Fannon, Vinnie Vardini, Mike Miller, Bobby Fields, Mike Waldron, The Minnesota chapter of the Metal Militia, The PA chapter and the VA chapter and all we have trained with.

 CD: Who did you look up to when you were coming up as a powerlifter?

 SB: I think every up and coming powerlifter looks up to Ed Coan. He is an amazing lifter. When I switched to bench pressing only I looked up to Bill Crawford, Jamie Harris, Anthony Clark,  Ryan Kennally, Scot Mendelson, basically all the guys who were at the top of the bench pressing world.

 CD: What was one of the challenges of coming up as a powerlifter?

 SB: Trying to stay healthy and not get injured with all the heavy weights necessary to hit a big bench.It takes some time for your body to adapt.

 CD: Tell us about Metal Militia and how you and Bill Crawford got it started?

SB: Well there used to be a lot of badmouthing and the like in power lifting and at the time we were getting sick of all that shit so Bill said We are going to start something and it is going to be big. So people started to come and train with us and we became great friends with them. More and more people started coming and more friends were made soon we were traveling around and being cool with everyone and everyone who we were cool to started to be cool with others and it started to grow and grow now it has spread all across the country and is creeping across the world. The Metal Militia is not just a group of powerlifters it is a group of friends who have either come here to train with us or we have trained with them. It is a state of mind knowing that there is a driving force of many behind you at all times.

 CD: How did you stumble upon doing training in your bench shirt?

 SB: Bill always did lots of training in his shirt so I just joined in when I started working with him. We feel that the practice you get from using your shirt all the time will lead to a much higher success rate when the meet comes.

 CD: How many lifters have gotten results from your training?

 SB: Thousands! maybe more?

 CD: What makes your training different from Westside Barbell?

 SB: Westside uses lots of speed training to blast the weight to the top.Metal Militia uses much more technique to get the weight up. Westside is very logical for the way they lift but speed is not that important in our style.

 CD: Do you offer any seminars or videos right now? Where can reader find out more infomation about Metal Miltia?

 SB:I have 5 Different Videos available at this time if anyone wants to check them out or wants any info on the Metal Militia e mail me at Metalmilitiabench@yahoo.com.
My personal site is http://www.geocities.com/metalmilitiabench/videospg1.html.  Bill and I are also available for seminars and we love to go new places.

 CD: What do you think of powerlifters like Ryan Kennelly and Scot Mendelson?

 SB: 2 of the greatest Bench Pressers there ever was.

 CD: What would you say to a novice lifter or to a lifter whose just starting out in powerlifting?

 SB: Seek out all the info and instruction that you can get. There is nothing more powerful than knowledge.

 CD: Do you believe in combining powerlifting and bodybuilding?

 SB: Yes. All my Back and shoulder work is done in bodybuilding style.

 CD: What are your workouts like? How are they setup?

 SB: Tuesday we do Raw bench and Low boards sat we do Shirt and top end work.

 CD: Do you train equally as hard on the squat and deadlift as you do on the bench?

 SB: No not when I am just benching.

 CD: What would you suggest to someone on how to get a big bench?

 SB: As I said before seek out lots of info and try really hard to do all your reps in good clean form always try to do things better. Blast your triceps with Close grip boards and rack work.

 CD: What's next for you?

 SB: Metal Militia World Bench Wars (April 19, 2003)

 CD: Is there anything else you like to mention to our readers here at Heavy Sports E-Mag?

 SB: Be cool with people even if they are not to you. You will look better in the long run.

 CD: Thank you for taking the time to do this interview.

 SB: Thank you

YES, I WANT TO READ MORE OF CURTIS' POWERLIFTING ARTICLES

Click here to find out more information on Curtis Dennis Jr.

Email Curtis Dennis Jr:  ironhercules@hotmail.com

Website: NATURALFREAK ONLINE