Industrial’s proud champion

by Millie Diaz

Sports Writer

The 2013 American Weightlifting Open will be held in Dallas during early December, and 2011 Industrial graduate and ex-football player Ricky Redus will be representing Inez, Jackson County and Texas. Redus’ coach, Issac Almeida, said Redus is second to none, and he’s the type to put in the extra time and work it takes to make himself better.

“If it wasn’t for Issac, none of this would be possible, I’d probably be an out of shape ex-football player that’d go to Gold’s Gym once in awhile,” Redus smiled.

Redus and Almeida have been working together for two and a half years as mentor and protege, and were brought together during Redus’ freshman year of high school at the Heat Fitness center in Victoria. Almeida is the owner and head coach of Fit Strong United CrossFit in Victoria since July 2011, and introduced Redus to it as well. CrossFit is a program beginning with a belief in fitness and a goal of building and achieving a program that will best prepare athletes for anything. The idea is working out yourself and your body for the unknown and the unknowable. Because of this new phenomenon, weightlifting has become more popular, and reaching a far and wide audience.

“Ricky’s very humble and very mature, it helps his mental game. With the weight being so heavy it gets hard lifting it over your head and Ricky shows no fear, he’s come a long way in a short time,” Almeida said. “Our big goal for the American Open is for him to be consistent with all six of his lifts.”

There are around ten categories defined by weight class. Redus will be competing in the 105 kilograms class in both the clean and jerk lift and the snap lift. The expectation for himself is to lift 365 to 385 pounds in the clean and jerk, and 285 to 300 pounds in the snap.

“I wish I could be in the 94 kilo class,” Redus said. “But I love food too much,” he smiled.

Redus has an opportunity to qualify for the national team at the American Open, then an opportunity to qualify for the Olympics, but that’s down the line for them. “I hope to be an Olympic hopeful at some point,” he said. “My goal is qualifying for the Olympic team for 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, not next year’s competition but the year after that. It would be a dream come true,” he added.

“We’ve been tweaking things here and there for him to get into those six lifts and I’m expecting him to do very well,” Almeida said. “Our big goal is for him to stay consistent. Mostly we want him to gain experience at the Open.”

Redus also competes in Power Output Challenges, and just placed sixth recently at one in San Antonio. He also placed second at a challenge in College Station. He will compete in categories like the front squat, where competitors balance a bar with the weight on their shoulders, and squat when told to do so. Other categories may consist of a 70-lb kettleball, or a wheel barrow, depending on the challenge. Redus sees these challenges as simply another workout he’d be doing anyway.

Redus lifts weights two to four hours a day, three to four times a week. He also practices yoga once a week to stretch his body. Where weightlifting’s main concern is maximum capacity, CrossFit focuses on conditioning. “We carefully monitor him during his training,” Almeida said. “Because his recovery is just as important as his training. We work on conditioning as well because it helps with his weightlifting.”

Redus commented that the positions in weightlifting are prime for ballerinas, and being adept would pay off. “If I could, I would be a ballerina, it’s completely understandable,” he said.

Redus is a 2011 Industrial high school graduate and is the son of Dan Cockrell and Karan Redus-Cockrell. He now attends Texas A&M in Kingsville and majoring in exercise science. He walked onto the football team last year, but due to injuries Redus realized it wasn’t right for him. Weightlifting has been something he found himself much more attached to, and it fit his lifestyle better.

“I want to dispel the myth that weightlifting is dangerous. Sports like football, baseball and softball tend to become more injury-prone than weightlifting itself because most of the injuries come from the field,” Redus said. “Less than 1 percent of sports injuries comes from the weightlifting attached to a sport rather than the sport itself.”

As for the future, Redus will continue weightlifting and working out to become stronger and more efficient. The CrossFit games are coming up next year in March, and he’s looking forward to qualifying for that.

“I want to give a shout-out to my best friend in Kingsville, Trey Mattox.” Mattox is involved in the Strongman competition and is a Complete Nutrition sponsored athlete. “He’s mentally strong and pushes me when we train together.”

Redus wants to thank his parents and close friends for their support, nothing he has done would be possible without them. Redus made an account on gofundme.com for the American Open and the majority of contributors were from the Almeida’s gym, helping him make his $1,100 goal in 48 hours and even more money since.

“That was overwhelmingly emotional for me for people to help like that, it means a whole lot and I’m forever grateful,” Redus said.

When he isn’t working hard on his goals, he likes to spend time with his friends and/or girlfriend. He also likes to eat, especially pizza. He enjoys leisure activities in his spare time like going for a run, or swimming. “It’s nice to do something for fun and know I’m relaxing.”

A big good luck goes out to Ricky at the American Open!