Derek Poundstone

About Derek Poundstone

Derek Poundstone (born on September 28, 1981, 6'1" (1,83m), 315 lb (118kg)) is an American Professional Strongman athlete from Waterbury, Connecticut. Poundstone won the America's Strongest Man contest in 2007. Derek Poundstone is also a Police Officer for the Naugatuck, Connecticut Police Department and is the owner and landlord of an apartment complex. Derek (born in the USA) spent the first 10 years of his life in Italy and Spain. Derek is supported by his mother Colleen and his brother Justin. Derek's father, Daniel Poundstone, an Air Force retiree, died February 13, 2000. He was 46.

Derek began by competing in Powerlifting and progressed to become the Connecticut State Champion. He started competing in Strongman after finding an advertisement for a contest on the back of a Powerlifting flyer. After earning his Professional Strongman card from the ASC (American Strongman Corporation), Derek took two years off competing to enter the Police Academy and become a police officer. He returned to compete in Strongman, and placed fifth in the 2006 St. Patrick's Strongman National Qualifier. Derek then went on to place 2nd to the current IFSA World Champion Zydrunas Savickas in the 2006 World Strongman Challenge contest in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Next up, Derek placed 5th in the 2006 America's Strongest Man USA National Championship. This earned him an invite to the 2006 IFSA (International Federation of Strength Athletes) World Championship. On October 26, 2006, two weeks before the World Championships, Derek severely injured his lumbar spine during training while attempting a maximum effort deadlift of 366 kg (805 lb). Derek had a lumbar disc herniation (L4/5) and a massive spinal cord hemorrhage. Doctors told him that he would never lift again due to the severity of the injury.

Derek, determined to prove the doctors wrong and to realize his dream of becoming a world champion, started his path of recovery. He focused on training that he was still able to do, such as benchpressing. Within two weeks he won a state powerlifting bench press meet. He then set his sights on developing a training regimen which would enable him to compete fully 100 per cent in Strongman again.