Aaron Hallett: Let's start off with the basics!
Your name? Rod Lenette
Where in the UK do you live?
RL: Pavenham
Do you train at a gym or at home?
RL: I train mainly at home but I do a little bit in the gym as well.
AH: Everyone at some stage in their life has been in an arm wrestle; how did you get into arm wrestling?
RL: I got into arm wrestling whilst I was serving in the British Army around 1986, I used to arm wrestle all the time but never thought that it was a sport. A guy called Clive Myres, also known as 'Iron Fist', used to be a wrestler in the old days. One of our sergeants went to an arm wrestling competition where he met Clive and asked if he would come down to our army camp. Clive at the time was training Sylvester Stallone for the 80s arm wrestling film Over the Top.
It was at that point I was introduced to arm wrestling as a sport with Clive showing us a range of techniques for four hours, after that he disappeared and we were left with nothing but a sheet of paper and an arm wrestling table to train with.
After a while I found I was progressing faster than the rest of the guys and I requested the table to be placed in my room. Soon enough I was arm wrestling guys every day practicing the techniques wrote down on that piece of paper left by Clive Myres.
AH: Is arm wrestling a game of tactics as well as strength then?
RL: Yes, for every technique and move there is a counter technique. If you turn your wrist inward it is your bicep that's doing the pulling; if your wrist faces more outwards then the outside of the bicep and triceps do the work. You have different hand grips, wrist positions; there is so much to it than you'd think. You have something called inside and outside arm wrestling which describe if you are inside the power of the bicep or outside of it.
AH: When was your first arm wrestling competition?
RL: My first arm wrestling competition was in 1987 for a qualifier for the Markmanship Lager British Championships (who was the sponsor of the event at the time) in Manchester where I qualified for the British finals by winning two of my bouts. It was much bigger in sponsorship then as there was £1000 for the winner and £500 for the runner up, with 64 competitors in one weight class alone which was quite amazing considering there's only one winner and runner up!
AH: What is your arm wrestling title history?
RL: I've won the British title 8 times mainly in the middleweight division. 1991 is my claim to fame as I was reigning British, European and World champion. There were a lot of different federations at the time: the British Armwrestling Federation (BAF), the British Armwrestling Association (BAA) and the World Armwrestling Federation (WAF) who also run the European Armwrestling Federation (EAF). I competed and won in the first EAF competition and I am hoping to make history by competing and winning next year at the shows 21st anniversary.
I have also been the double world champion with both my left and right arm with the now superseded World Arm Wrestling Council (WAWC) in 1991.
AH: Do you ever get paired with a guy who is outside of your weight category?
RL: At the end of an event there is a match to see who is the champion of champions, which is an open category. In our team alone we have two guys who are around 6ft 5 to 6ft 7 and weigh between 22-26 stone so it's just not possible to compete with them. If they were closer to my weight then I'd be in with a chance but sometimes you just can't compete with that much of an advantage of size with regards to arm leverage.
AH: What does your arm wrestling training program look like?
RL: The best type of training there is, is table time. Time spent actually arm wrestling practicing attacking and defensive moves. The biggest area of training is to go from a defensive position to an attacking position working from inside pressure to outside pressure without losing side-ward pressure. Training to switch positions allows you the freedom of movement for when you are in an awkward position that you've got no power no move about with.
AH: Do you do any exercises to improve your hand strength, back pressure and side pressure?
RL: Side pressure can be trained on the tables by trying to hold them whilst my arm is in a negative position (arm going backward). Once they have got into a strong position I try and pull them through it, a good wrestler can have a really good training session with anybody as you are not always going to get someone your own height, size and weight.
Hand strength I train by using a 200lb hand grip that instead of holding conventionally, I hold between the finger tips and pull sidewards. In arm wrestling, the bottom two fingers are your main defence on your hand to stop your opponent from bringing their wrist down, the top two fingers are used for attack where you can pull into them and twist the wrist.
AH: Do you think genetics play a role in arm wrestling as much as other sports?
RL: Genetics plays a part; you always have a person who is naturally strong. When I was 17 years old I managed to bench 100kg for 26 reps so I knew I was stronger than the average person.
AH: Tell us about your kidney failure and health, what happened?
RL: Health wise I have a documentary coming out soon which will explain everything from the beginning. When I was a three years old I went skinny over night and nobody knew why, doctors thought I might have had leukaemia but it turned out I had a rare condition called lipodystrophy which means all my fat is stored in the wrong places.
I have also had type 1 diabetes since I was 25 which requires me to take insulin. Later on in life I was suffering bouts of pancreatitis and bad stomach acid reflux, I was always going to the doctor and he thought I was something of a hypochondriac.
I then got in touch with Professor Steven O'Reilly who talked to me about my lipodystrophy symptoms and how I had none of the major ones such as kidney failure. He told me how my body fat was being stored around the organs rather than under my skin making them twice their usual size so I was placed on a medical trial for a drug called leptin which was invented to help cure obesity.
Leptin balanced everything out for me, it got me off of insulin, brought my triglycerides to normal ranges but as a side effect, my kidney creatine and urea levels went right up. After a while I started feeling ill and losing strength and the doctors ended up having to put me on dialysis for 5 years due to kidney failure. Luckily I have had a kidney transplant and since then I've been trying to make every day count.
AH: How is your health now?
RL: Some of these tablets I am taking have side effects so I have good and bad days, but I am in a position ten times better than when I was on dialysis so I cannot complain.
AH: Tell us about your family
RL: I have a wife Wendy and three children, two girls and a boy who are ages 15, 11 and 9 years old.
AH: What do your wife and kids think about your arm wrestling?
RL: To be quite honest the kids have detached themselves from it but I hope they will respect me for it when they are older as right now whatever Dad does is 'uncool'! I want to be able to create a legacy with all that I am doing so when my kids look back they can say that I did something really great and will hold the test of time.
AH: Now, you have your own invention for arm wrestling called 'The Grappler', how did you come up with the idea?
RL: I have always arm wrestled differently to most people as I use different angles to pin them. With the Grappler, the design means you have to use your whole body and wrestle in 3D to get the pin. Novices will also get more table time with the Grappler because a match is not over quickly like conventional arm wrestling. If I was to arm wrestle someone weaker in arm strength than me but stronger in their legs, it doesn't matter how quickly I can pin them as I still have try and to rotate them onto the correct colour fighting against their leg strength as well as their upper body.
AH: You were at the Body Power 2010 with The Grappler; what did you think of the whole event and experience?
RL: It was a great experience to see all the smiling faces at the MuscleTalk stand, people standing by with curiosity and then giving it a go. I look back at the photos and I love the reaction The Grappler got from the crowd. Some people got off afterwards looking like they had just ran a sprint.
AH: Tell us about your involvement with Golden Arms, Armed Combat and Dave O'Neill
RL: Golden Arms is my company which I have been running for 10 years or so which is the website www.goldenarms.co.uk but I am bringing it under the name of www.armedcombat.co.uk where Dave O'neill is my partner, which will involve competitions for both arm wrestling and the Grappler.
AH: The Grappler had a lot of attention, any plans to start competitions of your own with this?
RL: I'd like to see my Grappler in every gym, I'd like to run competitions with prize money under the banner of Armed Combat with Dave O'neill and run sponsorship deals (personal and collective). With our competitions we would want to make it more entertaining for the spectators and also not just about the person who wins the final bout. We'd have awards for the best newcomer or best team, etc.
Arm wrestling is not in the Olympics because the Olympic committee say it's all over too quickly so you don't get to see much. I honestly believe that the Grappler is the missing link which could put the sport of arm wrestling into the Olympic Games.
AH: What is your involvement through Armed Combat with MuscleTalk?
RL: We have done two live events now with the support of MuscleTalk, one which was at a night club event and the other was the Body Power Expo where both had a massive response. The Body Power Expo was a test to see if the Grappler could stand on its own two feet and after two days with over 500 wrestles there were no mechanical breakdowns or injuries. I'm on cloud nine with the whole situation.
AH: I hear you will be at the British Grand Prix Expo 2011, with a wider international audience, what are your thoughts of the event? Are you looking forward to it?
RL: I am hoping Armed Combat and MuscleTalk can have further collaborations: the British Grand Prix is something we would love to be invited to as, just like the American bodybuilding shows, there is the expo which will be associated with Weider, which means it will be massive!
We have enough time to sort out a championships to be held at the British Grand Prix, I do believe that if we use The Grappler we will have to educate people before hand on what it is all about as Armed Combat is different to arm wrestling, which already attracts a lot of people as a known sport.
AH: How would you best describe your character?
RL: Dedicated, grounded, respectful, emotional and I also have a lot of empathy for others because I can put myself in other people's shoes.
AH: How did the nickname 'Rambo' come about?
RL: This goes back to after my army days as the film at the time was Rambo and having seen Sylvester in the arm wrestling film Over the Top I kind of took this name but as Rod 'Rambo' to make it my own. As part of the look, I've been wearing combat trousers for a long while and even in 1991 when I won the world title, I was wearing them. The problem I have with arm wrestlers is that they don't want to dress up or put that bit of effort in. I'm an extrovert, its all about the entertainment for me!
AH: Outside of arm wrestling, what do you enjoy doing?
RL: I enjoy anything mechanical, whether it be playing about with engines or inventing new ideas. It's the satisfaction you get afterwards when you stand back and see what you have made or achieved that I enjoy.
AH: What are your plans competitively? Any up and coming competitions for this year?
RL: I'm hoping to compete in 3-4 competitions left in this year's calendar. I've just competed in the British Championships on the 29th August where I managed to beat the current World champion with my left hand; I'm still to find out if I won the championships because it was all unclear at the end of the event. I'm hoping to go to the French Open in October, also compete in a show called the Nimerov which is a professional competition held in Poland in November, and the WAF World Championships in December.
AH: Any recommendations for new arm wrestlers?
RL: Patience: you won't get much out of a few years but with time your tendons will develop, you'll develop the technical side and you'll get stronger as your muscles develop allowing you to rise up the ranks.
You have to learn the basics from the right people, there are guys who have been arm wrestling 20 years plus who are still making the same mistakes.
AH: Thank you for taking the interview and on behalf of MuscleTalk we wish you luck for the future!