Jake Schrom Para Powerlifts to New Heights at Tokyo 2020

On this week's episode of DisaAbilityTalks, we sit down with Tokyo 2020 Para Powerlifter of Team USA, Jake Schrom!  He discusses his incredible journey to the 2020 Games, finding a proper work/life balance, and his future plans! Don't miss this exclusive insight from a Tokyo 2020 Paralympian. Only on DisAbility Talks.

To find out more about our guest, visit these links:
Website - https://www.teamusa.org/para-powerlifting/athletes/jacob-schrom
Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/jake_from_weight_farm/
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=9386872&fref=ts&ref=br_tf

Want to be a guest on our show?  Connect with us at: https://www.abilitiesinmotion.org/podcast
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Transcript

Intro: 0:00

Welcome to DisAbility Talks. A podcast produced by Abilities in Motion. I'm your host, Shelly Houser. Join us for real conversations and no nonsense talk from everyday people with disabilities, iving their most independent everyday lives. Tune in for the latest news surrounding disability, accessibility, and independence for conversations, aren't dissed, and stories that need to be told aren't missed. So let's talk.

Shelly: 0:27

Welcome back listeners. I am your host Shelly Houser, and in today's extra special episode I sit down with Jake Schrom from Carlisle PA who just returned from the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic games. Prior to the games I had a chance to interview his coach, Mary Hodge from the para, power lifting team out in Colorado. At that time, Jake hadn't quite qualified yet. So I wanted to sit down and catch up with him to find out what the games were like as he reached his all time personal best in Tokyo. Welcome home, Jake. Thanks for being on the show today.

Jake: 0:57

Thanks for having me. I'm excited.

Shelly: 0:59

Absolutely. So you're all caught up on you're asleep and you're back in the regular routine. Is that right?

Jake: 1:04

Yeah. Life normal life hits me hard on the way back. Uh, you know, the day job has to start. So as soon as I got home, I got home at like 8:00 PM on Tuesday last week. And by 4:00 AM the next morning I was working, um, I just, I woke up at like three o'clock couldn't sleep. So I was like, well, I'll get to it. You catch up. Yeah.

Shelly: 1:25

So, well, congratulations on qualifying and getting to Tokyo. That's really exciting for you. So how did you get involved with para p owerlifting?

Jake: 1:38

So I always enjoyed weightlifting, like lifting weights at the gym. So when I was in high school and junior high for like, um, enhancing our ability in football and basketball, we would lift weights. And so that's kind of where I got the start of it. Um, and I just always really liked it. I liked, just the immediate results that I saw of getting stronger and more muscle and things like that. So once I graduated high school and could focus more time on it, b ecause I wasn't playing other sports, I just kind of delved into it deeper. And then once, u h, when I was 20 and I got into a work accident and ended up losing my leg, I was a student at Penn State at the time and I was k ind o f Googling just like people running with prosthetics and the ability of athletics program for t he Penn State has for disabled student athletes popped up. And so when I got involved with them, we tried all different kinds of things. And I just kind of, went back to power lifting because that's what I had always done. And so that kind of just got me introduced to the two competitions where I qualified to make the national team and kind of from there, that was my focus on improving.

Shelly: 2:56

Do you think after, because you had that in that mindset of regular powerlifting, do you think it kind of helped you mentally and physically get back and maintain your health and mobility after your accident?

Jake: 3:11

Um, I mean, aside from just lifting weights, I was, I was super active and athletic and, um, sports in general was a huge part of my life before my accident. Um, so just, just craving, like goal setting and getting better in my athletic ability that, that was sort of like all I knew when I got hurt. So it was like a fun of game if you will, on the, on the physical end of rehab after my accident of like, okay, what's, what's the next goal? How fast can I get there once I hit that? What's the next step? Like okay. Walking without crutches, things like that. So that was, um, that aspect came a little easier to me. Okay.

Shelly: 3:56

All right. Cool. So how did you find out that you qualified for Tokyo 2020? And how did you take in that moment? Was it surreal to you?

Jake: 4:07

Yeah. Yeah. So, um, in our sport each weight class for each man or woman for men, they take the top eight in the world automatically. So when I got done with my Dubai world cup, I had, basically went for a bronze metal, which put, so I, I rather than securing a spot because I thought I could get both and I ended up missing my lift. So I ended up being just outside of the top eight automatic qualifier. Um, so I had to rely on basically it's called a bipartite, but it's a wild card kind of discretionary slot, which I, I knew that I'd have a strong chance of getting, but you never know because it's not automatic. So, once that competition was done, it was sort of like most people knew if they had qualified or not, unless you were going to get this bipartite. So it was like a two week wait in terms of applying for it and then waiting for the decision to be made. So two or two and a half weeks later, when that, when I finally got the text that we got the, we got the wild card slot, um, that was such a, also moment, like it was relief because I, I wasn't sure I was confident, but I wasn't sure. And it was just a kind of like confirmation of like a job well done on qualifying for something that I had spent 10 years in the process of working towards

Shelly: 5:40

This Coach Hodge there when you found out?

Jake: 5:42

She called me yesh. So she called me and kind of gave me the news that we got it, but it wasn't official yet with, um, the USOPC. They had to, it was still early in the morning. Um, and they had their offices hadn't opened up to officially accept. So she called me to let me know ahead of time. And then she sent me a text, later in the day when it was officially accepted by team USA. And then we were, we were good to go.

Shelly: 6:09

Yeah. So, yeah, you still made it and you gave it your best and we're going to talk about, how that was after the break, but how did you and coach Hodge deal with COVID and her supporting you a nd, and Logan University supporting you, I guess, virtually how did that work during COVID last year?

Jake: 6:28

Um, it was tough everybody, so, so most of us were training at gyms. And so like me, like me personally, I was training at a gym and it closed. So I went and trained at my brother's makeshift gym in his basement during the shutdowns and that lasted for a couple of months. And then eventually the gyms opened back up, but it was with at the time, no certainty, if the games were going to be canceled or postponed. It was like a really, I figured they would be postponed. And so I was just preparing that like, okay, we'll have another year of preparation. So try not try an d d o everything in my power to not lose ground and keep getting better. Um, b ut from like a team perspective like the co ach h a s j ust tr ied t o do their best to keep everybody engaged because everybody's in different situations. Some are younger athletes that are easily distracted, some are older athletes and kind of have the goal of Tokyo in m ind. Um, t rying that the team tried to send we ights t o some people that didn't have weights at home so th at t hey could, they could still do workouts or do some level of workouts. And we tr y t o do a lot of stuff virtually, like team meetings to try to stay feel connected and stay connected. And we did some like, just some fun stuff, like trivia games to try to learn special rules in our sport that most people probably don't know just to try to stay engaged. Um, bu t once kind of like the summer came around last year, then gym s we r e so rt of opening it ba ck up and everybody was back to training. And by that time we knew Tokyo was going to happen in 21. Um, so it was kind of like all hands on deck preparing for the world cups that were coming up.

Shelly: 8:21

You recently posted, I think on Instagram, how tasking your journey has been to get you to Tokyo and, and, and to the games. How, how mentally, let's talk about how mentally and physically draining and tasking this sport has been for you.

Jake: 8:40

Like all sports in general, the, the, um, preparation like the, the, the day in day out, um, training competing, recovering, that's always very intense for all sports in its own in its own, right? Because not only are you trying to do something at the highest level, but you also have a disability and that takes energy away from you. And some days are good. Some days are bad, you gotta work with that. Um, but also you know, the last year and a half through the pandemic you know, I work in the landscape business and anything that's landscaping are, construction-related never, never shut down. It was busier than twice as busy as it has ever been. I mean, it's always busy, but it has, it's been incredibly busy. So dealing with 60 hour work weeks, week in, week out on top of trying to train and, and dealing with daily changes to COVID criticals and things like that, um, the whole prep, or sort of like march towards Tokyo and has just been, um, there's been no break. So I feel like it's, it's been worth every step of the way, but it's been very draining. Um, so then as we get closer to the Tokyo, there's so much more, everything is amplified even more because we're getting emails on a daily basis of COVID protocol. Protocol is changing download. We had several apps that we had to download to be able to be in the village so they can track our whereabouts for like contact tracing and then immigration had its own set of apps and forms to fill out. So it was just a lot more paperwork than you ever have to deal with for, for international competitions. Um, on top of the fear of like, well, I still have to work and meet a lot of people. And if I get COVID within 90 days of the games, like you're not allowed to go or under most circumstances, you're not allowed to go. Um, so there was just a whole lot of like added stress on top of like the competition itself was the easiest thing in this whole last two months, everything else has just been, uh, like a distraction. But like I said, it's, it's, I guess it comes with the territory.

Shelly: 10:57

I feel you can take a breather and get back to daily life, but take a breather, knowing that you got there after all these hurdles that you've had to overcome.

Jake: 11:09

Yep. Yeah. I feel I welcome normal life right now because I feel like I can, there, there's a small window of relaxation on the backside, not having to keep up with all that stuff.

Shelly: 11:23

Yeah. I think you deserve it. Give yourself, you don't at least a week before Tokyo, you also were in two other world cups. You mentioned Dubai was one of them. Tell us about your competition in Dubai and where was the other competition?

Jake: 11:36

The other one was in Manchester. So Manchester was in March. That was one of the early ones. Um, and that was during their time of being shut. Uh, the UK was shut down. So we, we were only allowed to go because of special sport exemption. To be honest, I felt like we were in a prison cell the whole time. I'm just being very blunt and honest because we had to stay in our rooms 24, 7 and only leave to go get food, which was take out and then go back to your room to eat by yourself and then only leave to go to competition. Um, so it was very much no, but there was no spread of COVID while we're there. So while it was very tough, um, it was worth it because they did a great job of managing risks. Um, so that was where we were in March. And then I was, so we had our whole team there and then sort of, I was basically the only one from our team that went to Dubai because I had the strongest chance of qualifying for Tokyo. So I'm glad that that was in June. Um, and I'm glad that I went because I ended up increasing my personal, my international ranking by 10 kilograms and my personal best. So that was a huge jump to again, I felt just shy of by my own mistake. I felt just shy at the top eight, but showing such improvement since March kind of, I think gave me good footing for why I would deserve the wild card.

Shelly: 13:17

I think with that, we're going to take a quick commercial break.

AD: 13:20

Abilities in Motion is a Pennsylvania based nonprofit organization dedicated to helping individuals with disabilities live their lives on their own terms. Abilities in Motion strides to eliminate psychological stereotypes, physical barriers, and outdated attitudes that prevent social and civic inclusion as well as promote the independent living movement to empower, educate, and advocate for individuals with disabilities. For more information about programs and services, Abilities in Motion provides call 610-376-0010, or visit our website at www.abilitiesinmotion.org.

Shelly: 13:58

So we're back. This is Shelly Houser, and I'm talking to Jake Schrom, who's the para powerlifting Tokyo 2021 champion. So I want to talk about your incredible achievements in Tokyo. You came in sixth place in the world. That is a huge, huge deal. And you actually had your best lift weight of what 480 pounds. What does that translate in kilograms to?

Jake: 14:23

That's 218 kilograms?

Shelly: 14:26

So you can only go up from here, right?

Jake: 14:29

Yeah, I've, I've, uh, I mean every couple of months, every training block I keep improving. So it's been really cool. Um, to know that I can kind of go like all in, on everything that our coaching staff wants us to do with like nutrition and sports psychology and recovery and things like that. And I've done that and I just keep producing better results each time. So it's been really, really rewarding in that regard.

Shelly: 14:58

Time, will coach Hodge give you since you're back from Tokyo to take a break where she has, she already cracked the whip on you getting into training and diet already?

Jake: 15:08

Um, so we have world championships in November right. Like we would leave the week after Thanksgiving. So everybody pretty much takes like a week off. Um, and then it's kinda like right back to it, usually after the Paralympic games and after the Olympic games, when you have a normal schedule that rest of the year, and then into that next year, you have like a year of like downtime to kind of like, it's such an emotional high and then an adrenaline dump on the backside that it, that you peak, you, you set your puritization to peak for this big day and then to come around and do a world championship two months, three months later, it's like very difficult in our sport to get back your, your strength level kind of drops on the backside, and then you have to work on building it back up. And so it's very hard to get to, to get to your, a game again, in like 11, 12 weeks,

Shelly: 16:04

It's actually better that you stay on task and in that focus zone rather than taking too much of a time off.

Jake: 16:12

I guess I should say it's kind of not too well-known yet, but it's official. Um, just in terms of my plans moving forward, I'm actually going to be retired. Well, I am retired currently and taking some time off to focus on our family and things like that. So I'm not going to be at that world championship and the, you need to be at specific competitions to be on the pathway to be eligible for, for Paris. So I'm, I'm going to basically forfeit the next, I still plan on training. I still complainant plan on doing some competition, but just not so much on the international stage. So I can be I've been traveling so much in the last couple of years that I need to kind of, I want to be home more and do some vacations with my wife and, and hopefully start a family here soon and stuff like that. So that's my, that's my immediate goal in the next, the next couple of years.

Shelly: 17:08

Yeah. That's what you're going for the gold for next time.

Jake: 17:10

Yeah. I don't want to, I don't want to faill that that task!

Shelly: 17:14

Exactly. Your wife, I'm sure appreciates that. I'm sure.

Jake: 17:20

Yeah, Yeah!

Shelly: 17:20

So y our para p ower l ifting, isn't your only passion. You talked earlier about the landscape company that you work with. U h, you also have a degree in landscape architecture, correct?

Jake: 17:31

Yeah. It's a landscape contracting, which is slightly different than landscape architecture, but yeah, that's, that's what I do is I design landscapes for like around, um, businesses or homes and things like that.

Shelly: 17:45

So this is in and around the Lancaster county Carlisle area.

Jake: 17:49

Yeah. So we work basically f rom around Hershey, PA down to Hagerstown, Maryland, Frederick, Maryland in parts of West Virginia.

Shelly: 17:59

So how do you, how are you going to moving forward since you're kind of taking a little step back and powerlifting. How are you going to balance, you know, your main focus has shifted towards family and family life? You know, how are you going to balance these two passions of yours?

Jake: 18:16

And I mean, that's been my, my biggest internal struggle for the last 10 years since graduating college and, working full-time has always been, our businesses, our family business. So I'm very much invested in it. And so I, I work a lot of hours. I'm not forced to do that. That's just how I am. Um, so balancing lots of work hours versus training has always been the struggle of what, what takes... try and do get both and not compromise on both. And so as a result, I've kind of dropped off pretty much everything else. And I only, you know, I still have family time, but w e're like weekends, but during the week it's only work or lifting and not really anything else. U m, in the last year with our sort of our goals on the team have been to lessen my stress at work, which will help my, will help me in general be a happier person and not be like wound up all the time, but also improve my performance a nd powerlifting. And that has proven to be something that I've needed. And now that I've gotten better at, at creating some separation between personal time and work and not feeling like I'm on all the time that that has allowed me to feel less stress. U m, and I went to continue that, y ou k now, in this next chapter of my life and not, and tr y to strike a good balance there.

Shelly: 19:55

And some of my other podcasts I've talked about mental health and wellbeing. And, and when I was speaking to Oliver Lam Watson out of UK, who was the fencer in Tokyo, we talked about Simone Biles and her choice to take a step back for this exact reason. Do you think she made the right choice and do you think the media and her team were supportive enough for her?

Jake: 20:20

Um, yeah, I definitely think she made the right choice. Um, gymnastics is a sport that if your head isn't, you know, if I'm, if I'm not in the game, I'm just not going to lift the weight and the spotters are gonna catch it, and I'm not going to get hurt, but if she's not in the game or if she's not feeling good and not in a good spot I would imagine you need to have, you need to be peaked physically and mentally to be able to do what they do and not land on your neck or something like that. And so I, she has done more for the sports and sport has ever done for her or for team USA in, in my opinion. So not that your skill level warrants you to, you know, to take more personal time or anything like that, if you're going through something, it shouldn't be a factor, but I'm, I'm all for her making that call. And you know, all of our teammates stood up and they, and they did, and they, and they you know, sort of took her role and they, and they got a metal despite that, so I think the media definitely came down on her o n warranting the little hard, I think there's a lot of people that aren't athletes in o ur, I'm a nobody. And I felt all kinds of pressure leading into the games. And during the games, let alone somebody that's a, m ulti-time multiple Olympic gold medalist with all kinds of endorsements and everything that comes with that. Like, I've felt overwhelmed. I can only imagine how much she probably did knowing that she was kind of bo ggling t hings a little bit. And so I respect her decision.

Shelly: 22:00

Yeah. One of the falls that she could have had, if she hadn't landed the way she did, they said she could have absolutely destroyed her knee or her ankle or something. So, um, yeah, I, I think media doesn't understand what really goes into this and they don't take the time to educate and just stop talking and listen and learn.

Jake: 22:22

Yeah.

Shelly: 22:22

So, um, yeah, I, I'm very proud of the fact that she took her own mental health and wellness. Cause you can't redo that.

Jake: 22:30

Exactly.

Shelly: 22:31

It you could take years, It could take years to fix that. So, yeah. Yeah. So one final question. How can our listeners follow you and cheer you on with your, your future weightlifting competitions coming up?

Jake: 22:44

So I put more of my stuff on Instagram, which is Jake from weight farm is my Instagram name. Um, everybody has always said as a joke, like clients, Jake, Jake from state farm. And I hear that about five times a day. Soit's just a clever play on words for that.

Shelly: 23:04

Yeah. So did you wear a red shirt on purpose today, Jake?(Laughter)

Jake: 23:09

I always, I typically wear red shirts often, so I probably don't. Um, I, I only feed into that. I kind of, it is what it is.

Shelly: 23:18

So Jake, thank you so much for your time and catching up with us after Tokyo and congratulations on your personal goals and your accomplishments in Tokyo and,

Jake: 23:29

Thank you!

Shelly: 23:29

And good luck with everything. So nice to talk to you and have you on the show today.

Jake: 23:33

Thank you. I appreciate it.

Shelly: 23:34

Yep. And to my listeners, thanks for tuning in for this extra special episode and hit that like and subscribe buttonso you don't miss an episode of DisAbility Talks.

Outro: 24:06

Thanks for tuning in to this episode of DisAbility Talks. Want to keep the conversation going then visit our website at abilitiesinmotion.org or connect with us on social media. And remember don't dis my ability.