Day 1 at The Arnold is Off the Hook!
Wow!
This was (and still is, since my night is not over:) an awesome day!
I took the elevator down and ran into Jason MacDonald who is fighting Rich Franklin tomorrow night. Jason was super nice and introduced himself and was grateful for my compliements to him.
It's great to see athletes who are very genuine and hold themselves with a high standard, as opposed to other athletes who behave like juveniles and cause problems, talk shit yet never step it up.
Off to the expo hall.....
I took a cab with Randy, his wife and son and we entered through the back doors of the expo hall escorted by Marines so Randy could avoid being attacked by his fans! Why does he have so many fans? Not only is he a great fighter, but he is absolutely down to earth, humble and very nice to everyone.
Randy went to his booth which had hundreds if not over a thousand people lined up to get a picture and autograph.
Steve Cotter and I did the seminar on MMA conditioning w/Randy Couture. It was awesome because not only were we presenting alongside one of the best fighters and well recognized athletes in the world but there was about 2,500 - 3,000 people watching!!
The seats were all packed and the rest of the hall was standing room only, with guys and girls surrounding us from front to back, side to side!
Lots of plyos for upper and lower body were demonstrated by Steve and I and Randy went over his exact conditoning program for himself, his fighters and for the guys on TUF show.
I performed 3 rounds of Randy's barbell complex which gave me a good ass kicking in the third round! It was an 8 exercise, 10 reps each complex. A total of 80 reps. Very tough and I only did 3 rounds. Normally, Randy does 6 rounds!
I also met fellow writer and strength and conditioning editor for TapOuT magazine, Freddy George. Freddy was cracking me up and we talked about the way he trains fighters with bands, dumbbells, med balls, free weights and more - some VERY brutal stuff! Most of all, he was down to earth and cool as all heck, really a hilarious guy!
Now, one of the coolest and most inspirational times was watching the powerlifting meet!
The atmosphere was absolutely electric with loud, hard rock blasting through like a rock concert! The powerlifters, many of whom are team members of http://Elitefts.com, were built like rock hard statues! Six pack abs, shredded muscles everywhere, and strength that was un-freakin' - real!
I hung out with a few guys from the Elite Team and had a blast. I'll be writing an article on my experience of watching the powerlifting for the first time ever. Jim Wendler told me that tomorrow is REALLY wild as the super heavyweights and hevay weights compete. Chuck Vogelpohl looks so intense, it seems as if he is about to eat the bar!
I can't wait!
I may not write until I get back to NJ though.
I also go to the UFC tomorrow night, and then the party with Elite FTS!
Sunday morning I'll have a solid breakfast and drive back to good ol' Soprano's territory!
Train hard till then!
Best,
Zach
This was (and still is, since my night is not over:) an awesome day!
I took the elevator down and ran into Jason MacDonald who is fighting Rich Franklin tomorrow night. Jason was super nice and introduced himself and was grateful for my compliements to him.
It's great to see athletes who are very genuine and hold themselves with a high standard, as opposed to other athletes who behave like juveniles and cause problems, talk shit yet never step it up.
Off to the expo hall.....
I took a cab with Randy, his wife and son and we entered through the back doors of the expo hall escorted by Marines so Randy could avoid being attacked by his fans! Why does he have so many fans? Not only is he a great fighter, but he is absolutely down to earth, humble and very nice to everyone.
Randy went to his booth which had hundreds if not over a thousand people lined up to get a picture and autograph.
Steve Cotter and I did the seminar on MMA conditioning w/Randy Couture. It was awesome because not only were we presenting alongside one of the best fighters and well recognized athletes in the world but there was about 2,500 - 3,000 people watching!!
The seats were all packed and the rest of the hall was standing room only, with guys and girls surrounding us from front to back, side to side!
Lots of plyos for upper and lower body were demonstrated by Steve and I and Randy went over his exact conditoning program for himself, his fighters and for the guys on TUF show.
I performed 3 rounds of Randy's barbell complex which gave me a good ass kicking in the third round! It was an 8 exercise, 10 reps each complex. A total of 80 reps. Very tough and I only did 3 rounds. Normally, Randy does 6 rounds!
I also met fellow writer and strength and conditioning editor for TapOuT magazine, Freddy George. Freddy was cracking me up and we talked about the way he trains fighters with bands, dumbbells, med balls, free weights and more - some VERY brutal stuff! Most of all, he was down to earth and cool as all heck, really a hilarious guy!
Now, one of the coolest and most inspirational times was watching the powerlifting meet!
The atmosphere was absolutely electric with loud, hard rock blasting through like a rock concert! The powerlifters, many of whom are team members of http://Elitefts.com, were built like rock hard statues! Six pack abs, shredded muscles everywhere, and strength that was un-freakin' - real!
I hung out with a few guys from the Elite Team and had a blast. I'll be writing an article on my experience of watching the powerlifting for the first time ever. Jim Wendler told me that tomorrow is REALLY wild as the super heavyweights and hevay weights compete. Chuck Vogelpohl looks so intense, it seems as if he is about to eat the bar!
I can't wait!
I may not write until I get back to NJ though.
I also go to the UFC tomorrow night, and then the party with Elite FTS!
Sunday morning I'll have a solid breakfast and drive back to good ol' Soprano's territory!
Train hard till then!
Best,
Zach
posted by Zach Even - Esh at 3:45 PM
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