Chris Wilkes Virginia Strength and Power HoF inductee 2018 (Contributor)

Chris Wilkes

By Strength and Power Hall of Fame

Coach Wilkes has been teaching competitive lifting since 1999 and is considered by many as one of the top technical coaches in USA Weightlifting. He has coached many Youth, Junior, Senior, and Master lifters onto the National and International levels. He is the head coach of Wilkes Weightlifting and has served as Men’s Coach for the USAW Men’s Team at the World Weightlifting Championships three times: in Poland in 2013, Kazakhstan in 2014 and Houston, Texas in 2015. He also travelled as a personal coach for Caine Wilkes in 2018 to the Dominican Republic as well as Turkmenistan.  He was a coach for Team Muscledriver for the 2015 National Championships, where Team Muscledriver won best overall team for both the men and women. He is a two-time recipient of USAW’s Men’s Coach of the Year award.

Coach Wilkes has been coaching and training athletes in football, track and field, swimming, and tennis for nearly thirty years, using Olympic Weightlifting as the center of his training. He also coached football at the middle and high school levels. He was the Strength and Conditioning Coach at a local high school for the football and track team. Coach brings the great combination of being an experienced meet coach, as well as demanding technique from his lifters in the training room.

Coach Wilkes has coached numerous standout lifters including:

Caine Wilkes: 5-time USA National Champion 105kg+ (2013-2017), 2-time Pan Am Gold Medalist (2014, 2017), 5-time USA World Team member(2013-2015, 2017, 2018).
Kyle Ernst: 2-time Youth National Champion (2004, 2005), 2006 Jr. National Champion, 2005 Jr. Pan Am Gold Medalist,
Coard Wilkes: School age National Champion (2004), 2 time Jr. National Champion (2008, 2009), 2011 American Open Gold Medalist
Rick Bucinell: 6-time Masters World Champion and World Record holder.

Author: By Strength and Power Hall of Fame Completed: yes Created: Fri Aug 21 22:41:59 UTC 2020 | Last Updated: Thu Dec 21 16:29:11 UTC 2023