What is your name and where are you from?
Bryan S. Kimble; originally from southern Ohio but now hail from central Texas.
When did you start powerlifting and was there a reason for it?
I started powerlifting in the fall of 1987. Coach Jim Bennett, at Dawson-Bryant High School [Coal Grove, OH], talked me into joining the high school powerlifting team. That was the start of their third year. He saw that I was a frustrated junior in high school. He said, “Come and take your frustrations on the weights. You can’t hurt them. If you do, we’ll go on the road and makes lots of money!”
What are some of your best lifting accomplishments so far?
Being rank #1 in the MPF Division for Power Sports a couple times. I feel like that allows me to set an example for the Soldiers and DA Civilians that I serve. For me, an accomplishment is meaningless if I cannot use it to benefit others.
Individual best lift accomplishments in Power Sports:
Strict Curl: 70 kg / 154 lbs
Bench Press: 145 kg / 320 lbs
Deadlift: 210 kg / 463 lbs
But I have yet to hit PRs in all three on the same day.
What are some lifting goals that you have set for the future?
First and foremost to start competing again. Second, to shatter all my previous PRs. Third, become the strongest lifter in the US Army.
What kind of training program do you follow?
I have a hybrid of H.I.T. and Periodization. I push myself to momentary muscular failure in the gym, but after 6-8 weeks I drop the weights back down and start working back up again. This allows for emphasis on recovery for my tendons and ligaments as well as extra focus on technique, technique, and technique.
How long have you been involved with NASA Powerlifting?
I joined and started competing in NASA in 1999.
Can you recall your first NASA powerlifting competition?
It was October 1999, at the NASA West Virginia Regional PL, BP, PS Championship [Ravenwood, WV] and I was in the 170.8 weight class. It was the first time that I got to meet Greg and Susan Van Hoose. They are wonderful folks and I think of them as extended family.
If you could lift against anybody else heads up in NASA who would it be?
Yes, Jay Montebon. He and I developed a long distance friendship years ago. I would love for the two of us to be health and at our best for a head-to-head, pound-for-pound competition.
What are some of your favorite moments from being at NASA meets?
The people and the friendships that I have formed. Many of who are friends with me on Facebook. When I think to a meet or look at a trophy, I think of a specific person from that meet (even if I cannot remember his/her name). NASA is like a huge family and I appreciate that at each meet.
When can we expect to see you step on the platform again?
Lord willing, later in 2016. I am right now awaiting a surgery and after I fully recover, I will be going full speed ahead.
Is there anything else you’d like to let the NASA Powerlifting world know?
If you ever get to spend time with the Peters family, the Van Hoose family, the Hedricks, or any of the others [too many to name all of them], cherish those moments. You will meet wonderful and friendly people at each meet, if you are willing to be open to them. They are true blessings to the sport of powerlifting.