Phat Elvis Weightlifting Club

Takano Athletics

The overriding goal of Takano Athletics is to provide the customer with the most effective strength and conditioning methodologies based on the training principles developed for the sport of competitive weightlifting.  These principles were studied, learned, applied and modified during my thirty-five year coaching career.   Since they were instrumental in developing the most explosive, powerful athletes in the country, they are especially applicable to the training of athletes in other sports seeking to improve their explosiveness, durability, kinesthesia, and response to training stressors.

My view of the development of the athlete has been constituted from a formal educational background in biology and physiology that was applied to the process of training hundreds of athletes in a variety of familiar sports.  These athletes’ ages ranged from 11 years to nearly 40 years.   In many cases I was able to coach a particular individual through an entire athletic career.  This enabled me to understand how the training should be modified to accommodate the developmental stage of the individual.

The proper training of athletes is a fascinating subject and one could be a student of that subject for a long time.  Because it is not truly understood without applying the principles, there are certain real time constraints that limit the rate at which a coach can master the art and science of coaching.  For this reason tomorrow’s outstanding coaches must learn all they can from the current master practitioners in order to push the limits of the field.

One of my motivations in beginning this endeavor is to recapitulate much of what I’ve learned and present it in an assimilable style.  Much of what I’ve learned will be made available in articles, compilations, instructional CD’s and DVDs.  I am also interested in the presentation of seminars for coaches who are concerned with the development of high-level athletes.  DVD’s of these seminars will also be made available.

Of course, all of this information is only of value if the practitioner will put it to good use.  Great coaches are the ones who master the engineering of their medium, and then are bold enough to wisely experiment with new methodologies.  My hope is that my customers will include many who are willing to push back the barriers.

 

Sincerely,
Bob Takano, Founder

 

Biography: Coach Bob Takano:

Although the competitive weightlifting career was long but undistinguished, the coaching career has progressed steadily over a four decade span that resulted in induction into USA Weightlifting's Hall of Fame as a contributor.  Incorporating the knowledge gained from a bachelor's degree in Biology from Occidental College with 37 years of secondary science teaching pedagogy into hours of practical coaching experience in the gym has resulted in a mastery of the art of coaching weightlifters and developing the speed/strength characteristics of athletes in other sports.

Bob simultaneously lifted competitively and coached from 1967 to 1988.  His first athletes were juniors at the middle schools where he taught from 1969 to 1977.  His first national Junior Olympic record setter was 1972 national J.O. champion Fred Duran.  By 1975 he had coached his first national medalist at the USA Nationals in Fred's younger brother, Luis.  Bob's team, the Gage Weightlifting Club, had won two state J.O. championships and produced several national J.O. champions and record holders by 1977 when he transferred from his middle school position to Van Nuys High School.

At his new location he persuaded the school to provide him with a dedicated weightlifting facility provided that he train the school's athletes in addition to weightlifters.  He also made the decision to coach six days a week as a lesser  amount would fail to produce optimal results.  His coaching prowess attracted the attention of two already established senior athletes who began training at Van Nuys.  Dale Yahraus, the 1978 national bronze medalist and Ray Blaha, the 1977 national champion and snatch record holder began making great gains while training with Bob.  Dale was selected to represent the US in the Danube Cup and Ray was named to the U.S. team for a USA vs Canada match and became Bob's first athlete to compete in an Olympic Trials.

While training Yahraus and Blaha, Bob recruited two students from his science classes who would eventually draw great attention to his coaching.  Diana Fuhrman initially started weight training to improve her tennis and track and field skills.  Albert Hood at 4'11” was simply looking for an athletic outlet.  By 1982 Diana had placed second at the national championships, and Albert had won the national juniors, the U.S.A. Nationals, established national junior meet records and twice represented the U.S.A. at the Junior World's Championships.

In 1984 Albert became the first junior since 1956 to represent the U.S. at the Olympic Games.  He set two national records, placed eighth overall and won a gold medal in the concurrent Pan American championship.  Bob also served as the assistant training hall manager for the Games and functioned as the coach of the one Sri Lankan weightlifter in the competition.1987 was the year in which Diana would make the first of her six teams representing the U.S. at the World's Championships.  In 1988 Diana won her first American championships while establishing five national records.  She won the nationals for the first time in 1989 and by 1991 was ranked third in the world.  The record lifts of 93.0 snatch, 115 clean & jerk and 205 total established at the 1992 nationals remain the all-time best lifts of a 67.5 kg. category lifter in U.S. history.

As a coach Bob was beginning to build a resume in the early 1980's when he was selected to coach the U.S. Team to the 1983 Pan American Juniors.  This would be the first of 17 trips to international competitions as a member of the U.S.A. coaching staff.  In 1990 he was elected to be the head coach of the U.S. Women's National Team to the World's Championships in Sarajevo, Yugoslavia.  Four more times he would be elected to the coaching staff of the national women's team.

Concurrently Bob was beginning to establish himself as a Strength and Conditioning Specialist and lecturer.  He obtained his CSCS (Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist) in 1986, even though he had been performing strength and conditioning duties for years.  He spoke about the incorporation of the Olympic lifts into strength and conditioning programs at 3 NSCA national conferences from 1988 to 1991.  He wrote a seminal three part article on the coaching of technique for the NSCA journal that was reproduced in the 15th anniversary issue.  Furthermore he was featured as a speaker in the fitness instructors education program at the UCLA Extension.  He also collaborated and taught a course for USAW coaching certification in the Extension program in collaboration with Jean Barrett Holloway.  In 1992 he collaborated with Dr. John Garhammer on the chapter covering the training of weightlifters for the Encyclopedia of Strength and Power, a publication of the Sports Medicine Commission of the International Olympic Committee.  Bob was the only coach asked for a submission to this prestigious publication.  An update of the chapter was published in the revision in 2002.  He also served on the Review Board of the NSCA journal from 1995 to 2000.

During this period he also participated in a study tour of the Soviet and Bulgarian training programs in Moscow and Sofia respectively so that he could see first-hand the training methodologies that he had been reading about and studying for the past two decades.

In 1992 he obtained more spacious training quarters and continued to develop weightlifters while embarking on the mission of strength training of female volleyball players for the Van Nuys High School team.

In 1988 Chris Altieri became Bob's third athlete to compete in an Olympic Trials.  Michael Andrade became the 4th in 1996, followed by Andy Tysz, Diana Fuhrman, and Emmy Vargas in 2000, and Emmy Vargas and Leslie Musser in 2004.

A number of other top weightlifters continued to represent Takano's P.H.A.T. Elvis Weightlifting Club throughout the 1990's until he retired from active weightlifting coaching in 2003.  In that year Leslie Musser won the 58 kg. class at the USA Nationals and became the last national champion of Bob's coaching career.  She joined an elite roster that included 4 national champions, seven national record holders, and 27 national Top-20 ranked weightlifters.

During that same time period, however, more attention was focused on the development of adolescent female volleyball players.  During the 12 years that he provided strength and conditioning services for the Van Nuys team, they emerged as city champions 6 times.  Several girls from the Valley Thunder club team also trained at Van Nuys and by the end of 2003, 12 of these girls had been awarded full scholarships for volleyball at Division 1 schools.  The training programs for these girls were reviewed at the California State Clinic for the NSCA.  Currently he is involved in the strength and conditioning of top high school volleyball players from the Santa Monica Beach Club and other nearby clubs.  After less than one year of training two of these girls have been awarded Division 1 volleyball scholarships.

Bob has also coached athletes from other sports over the years.  These include two NFL players, an NBA player, Division 1 soccer players, world class track and field athletes, Division 1 baseball players, and national level wrestlers.

For his long career in the development of weightlifters, the string of informative articles published in International Olympic Lifter, the instruction provided at dozens of coaching clinics, the platform coaching at 17 international competitions, and the support he provided for the national program, Bob was elected to the USA Weightlifting Hall of Fame in 2005.  The induction ceremony took take place at the 2007 Arnold Classic.

Before the Van Nuys training facility closed in 2004, twenty-seven Olympians from a variety of countries and sports had trained there.

 

For More Information About Coach Takano and training with the team, Check out his website:

www.takanoathletics.com