Simon Falta

Our athlete today, Simon, is only 17 years old and at 74kg (163 pounds), he is eyeing down a 600kg total (1323 pounds) and then has his sights set on competing and WINNING the World Championships for powerlifting in his age and weight class. Oh, and he’s only been powerlifting since 2020.

“Ever since I was a little kid, I searched for something where the more work you put in, the better you get, where there are no shortcuts and you can objectively measure your progress, and through the GGC I found it in powerlifting.”

The GGC was his first experience in powerlifting, and since then my man has buried his head, focused, and put in work to chase his goals. From bodybuilder to powerlifter, this young man from the Czech Republic is all business.

Simon, tell us a little about yourself.

My name is Šimon Falta and I am from the Czech Republic and I am a sub-junior Czech national champion in Powerlifting in the under 74kg division. I started lifting when I was about 12, at first I wanted to be a bodybuilder.

What does your gym look like?

My father and I had some dumbbells and I bought a barbell and a bench. I used to train in my bedroom.

As I got more interested in training I moved to the garage and bought a barbell and Olympic plates. The squat rack I still use today is handmade by my grandad as well as some of the plates.

What is your experience with the GGC?

After about 2 years of serious training (to be the next Mr. Olympia) I stumbled across the GGC in 2020 on reddit, what a nice idea I thought… no entry money and some nice prizes, I had a garage gym and I was already gaining some strength. So, at 15 years old and about 75kg of body weight I decided to sign up. I had no training program and just a barbell and a squat rack.

The competition went very well and I managed to total 445kg (981). This marked the start of my new obsession, Powerlifting. The next year I went on to train more for strength than size but still without a proper program, that would come with the next GGC where we were provided a free powerlifting program, that’s where things started to get better. In just 12 weeks I added almost 100 pounds to my total and ended GGC 2021 with an impressive 500kg (1103) total at 16 years old and 75kg bodyweight.

What are you working towards now?

I set my sight on an even bigger goal. The nationals. The whole summer holidays I was barely doing anything else than lifting, recovering, sleeping or eating. No parties (pretty hard for a 17-year-old) nor vacations without gyms. On the day of the competition, I was pretty confident I had given it my all.

And it showed. I won not only my category but also out of all sub-juniors (on willks points) with a 520kg total. I sure was happy but not too much, after all, that’s exactly what I expected from myself and it only meant I could now go to bigger competitions just like the Czech Republic nationals (confusing I know it’s like a state in America and the whole USA) where I added 20kg to my total in just a month and finished second.

This year I have far bigger plans. I am going to compete in my third GGC and try to total 600kg as a stepping stone to the IPF worlds and Europe’s where my ultimate goal is winning it and setting world records (in the total and the squat). I probably wouldn’t be doing what I am now if it wasn’t for the GGC and I’m incredibly thankful for it.

What drives you to keep aiming for more?

Ever since I was a little kid, I searched for something where the more work you put in, the better you get, where there are no shortcuts and you can objectively measure your progress, and through the GGC I found it in powerlifting. For me, it’s kind of like an experiment, how great can you be if you really put your 100% into it? And is there even such a thing as 100%? I guess that’s what drives me, this curiosity to see what I’m truly capable of, I just wouldn’t be able to look at myself in the mirror if I knew I was capable of setting world records, but chose a comfortable life instead.

I cannot promise that I will win any of those competitions or set any of those records, but I can assure you, when the day comes and I step on the platform I will be the strongest version of myself and it will be my full potential no matter of the outcome.

Thanks Simon

That is a truly badass story Simon has written so far, and at 17 years old… he is destined for some serious stuff. You can follow along with Simon on his Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/simon.falta/