Max Koulov benching(left), Mitchel Malzahn and Tren Twins, Matias Miravalle posing at Prodigy gym(right).

Spencer Easter, Lucas Vieira, Mitchel Malzahn

A new era of Fossil lifters

Spencer Easter and Lucas Vieira

October 5, 2025

Mitchel Malzahn: Chasing nationals

Junior Mitchel Malzahn began his weightlifting journey in eighth grade. His wrestling coach told him he needed to get strong.

“I started going to the gym outside of practice, and I liked it so much I kept going. When I first started I did like 115 pounds on bench, 195 on squat.”

Malzahn decided to pursue powerlifting freshman year when one of the gym employees at his old gym was powerlifting and told him he would be good at it too. He helped him sign up for his first meet and he did pretty well so he kept going. During that first meet he benched 174, squatted 260, and deadlifted 275.

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Malzahn says one of the hardest challenges along the journey has been diet.

“Dieting is really hard. It takes a lot to lift. Most of the work is done outside of the gym.”

Dieting is one of the hardest parts of the gym. Consistently eating based on a calorie deficit or surplus can be really hard. Avoiding things like junk food and sugar also makes it hard.

Today, thanks to his hard work and discipline he can now:

Bench: 275 Squat: 365 Deadlift: 405

A goal of his is to do a local powerlifting meet and qualify for either regionals or nationals. Malzahn hopes to place in the top three. He is currently in the 67.5 kg weight class (148lbs).

One of his greatest inspirations has been Michael Phelps.

“I know he isn’t associated with the gym or powerlifting as much. But I found it really motivational when he’s talking about how he went six years straight without taking a day off and he is one of the most decorated Olympians.”

Malzahn is currently a junior and recently turned 17. He wants to enlist in the Marines to follow in the footsteps of family members who have been part of that military branch.

Matias Miravalle: Transformed Through Weights

Matias Miravalle wasn’t happy with the way he looked. He hated his body and he hated himself until he decided he was going to change. He started using YouTube tutorials to learn what different motions and muscles are and using his at-home gym to work out.

“How to do curls, how to do, you know, learn about the muscles, learn what a tricep is for the first time”

Miravalle’s dad then said that there was a gym in the neighborhood, and that scared Matias at first, but he decided he was going to start.

“Other people are gonna have to see me work out. So that was a big step for me, a lot of courage to finally step in the gym.”

Miravalle started small and slowly started growing faster. Month by month he was hitting goals and achieving larger numbers. At the end of sophomore year he had people start calling him big, unlocked muscle veins and pumps. For the first time, Miravalle was actually liking his body and the way he looks.

After a couple years of training, he had an injury that lasted multiple months. His muscles started disappearing and all of his hard work over the years almost went away in three to four months.

“I couldn’t eat with my right arm, or like eat food because it hurt so much.”

Miravalle started recovering from his injury and was back on track to his journey. He gained muscle and started gaining weight faster than he had ever been able to achieve in the past. In February, he started tracking his calories and was able to bench 210 pounds. His lifts are getting better and he is still improving to this day.

Max Koulov: Unlimited Potential

Max Koulov’s story started like any other. He was skinny and dedicated to improve himself for the better. In seventh grade, he experienced a concussion after playing football, and that made him finally realize he needed to change.

He bulked, went to the gym daily and didn’t do cardio. He weighed 225 and auditioned for a bodybuilding show, placing first in the Youth Classic in Austin, Texas when he was 15. From there he kept doing more shows around the country, absolutely pushing himself to the limit to become the man he is now. He bulked and cut many times throughout his journey.

Koulov was inspired by Lexx Little, a fitness influencer who hit a 315 bench press junior year of high school and managed to hit 405 by the time he was 25 years old. That story kept him chasing progress.

He said he wasn’t really dialed in until about a year ago, when he started tracking everything—calories, bulking and cutting. Three and a half months into training he hit 225 on bench. At his peak, he was eating 5,000+ calories a day.

“It’s easier to get in calories if you spread it out,” he said. “I was eating five meals a day, eating right before the gym, then 30 grams of protein right after.”

Even though he peaked at around 220–215 pounds, he cut down to 190 pounds at 6’1. He competes as proven natural (no performance enhancing drugs), with bloodwork showing a testosterone level of 680.

“The biggest challenge is diet,” Koulov explained. “When you bulk you want to cut, and when you cut you want to bulk. Cutting is extremely hard. I was at 25% body fat—it sucked and I did not enjoy it. When you see your weights go down it’s really discouraging. But it pays off in the end.”

For training, he runs push–pull–legs and sticks to consistency. He admits he hates back day, but he shows up regardless.

Now, with a show coming up in Austin, Texas, he has big goals ahead: a 405 bench and a 495 squat.

“The curve is insane,” he said. “Going from one plate to two plates was fast. Two plates to three was extremely hard. I can’t even imagine from now on how even gaining 5lbs on bench will feel like.”

From a skinny football kid with a concussion, to standing on stage and placing first in his debut bodybuilding show, Koulov has proven that with time, diet, and persistence, everything pays off—and he’s only just getting started.

The Future of Fossil Strength

Fossil’s current records:

Squat –

1. Iverson, Thomas – 513 lbs

2. Marcus, Mozer – 472 lbs

3. Greene, Barrett – 455 lbs

Bench –

1. Ginther, Gage – 357 lbs

2. Iverson, Thomas – 300 lbs

3. Greene Barrett – 290 lbs

Clean –

1. Ginther, Gage – 293 lbs

2. Iverson, Thomas – 265 lbs

3. Griffin, Mason – 256 lbs

Average male lifts @ Fossils Weight room:

Bench Press: 160 lbs

Squat: 244 lbs

Clean: 150 lbs

Stats provided by Coach Michael Dwyer

Are we entering a new era in Fossil strength? With all these records being set by students who no longer attend Fossil, many students continue to push the limits of what we thought was possible.

Malzahn, weighing 148 and benching 275, a 1.85 times BW lift. An all time record in Fossil history, the second top being set by Toshcoff, Jake, only a 1.59 times body-weight bench.

Matias Miravalle, a 6’5″ giant whose strength is pushing past the 200s.

Max Koulov, a sophomore with unmatched strength.

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