Open House Was Like the Golden Era

When I was a young kid, I ate up everything that Arnold wrote.

I read about anything Dave Draper did.

I searched libraries far and wide on bike and begged my parents to drive me to other towns to see if I could find old bodybuilding books - Sergio Oliva, Arnold, Draper, Pearl, Reeves - those guys really had the passion and the love for training, and I LOVED training like nothing else I tell ya!

Well, today, I held the first ever Open House at the Gym and it rocked the house!

People came from all over NY - Queens, Bronx, Manhattan...

People came from Pa.!! Guys that had purchased my Ultimate Underground Kit came to thank me and see the gym and chat with me. I was choked up yet overflowing with excitement!

Coaches from all over NJ - north, central and south - came and we exchanged ideas and information, people tested out the prowler, tire flipping, sandbags, kegs, Bulgarian bags and more!

I got t shirts from other Coaches!! ha ha, I LOVE t shirts from other coaches!

Prizes were raffled off - it was fantastic and really, it REALLY made me feel like this 2 hour time period WAS THE Golden Era all over again!

Some of my athletes stopped by and the Now Famous "Curls" stopped by and flipped the tire as a demo for everyone! What a guy, what a BEAST! ha ha

So, there wasn't posing and shirtless guys, but this was a different Golden Era - the one that is part of the "Strength & Conditioning" Industry I guess we can call it.

NO ANIMOSITY or competition, no jealousy and no bad mouthing!

Fellow Coaches took my cards and told me they would send athletes MY WAY - how freakin' cool is that, talk about having NO ego!

In one way, I have said that the internet has done some shitty stuff and on the other hand, it is because of the internet that all these people knew about our open house and made their way to the USC Gym!

I am grateful beyond words and it REALLY hit me hard as to why I do what I do!

I LOVE the iron, period!

I want to thank everyone who stopped by tonight, this really was the icing on the cake and it kinda helped me travel back in time in some respect, to the day dreaming days of when I would read Arnold's 'Education of a Bodybuilder' and dreamt about working out side by side with the crew in the 70's!

I kinda feel like my gym already has a deep history within, even though I've only been open for 6 weeks, still, there's a spirit in that gym that is unlike anything else!

Thank you again to all my friends who dropped in!

Dedicated to your success,

--Zach--

PS - When I was 22 I took a 2 week trip to Cali, I drove to Venice almost everyday, and I swear to you, when I walked by the original Gold's, I could hear weights clanking and Arnold laughing. Other people have said the same. The spirit lives on!

PPS - I bet the Golden Era crew wishes they were here on the east coast with us!

The MASH Monster...Freak Motivation Here!

Travis Mash is a fellow team member at Elite, and I only introduced myself to him quickly at the WPO at the Arnold this past winter.

But, my intern, Nelson Puentes, is a hard core reader of Elite (that's a smart kid right there :) and told me to check out Travis' workout log.

I had to see his videos but instead of just his amazing video, which is below, his posts in his log are heavily motivating. You can see that this man has fire in his eyes.

Check out one of his posts in his workout log:

"Why I do what I do!

Today I was talking to a friend, and I was trying to help her understand why I do what I do, and what it takes to be someone who wants to push the limits of human capability.

She was asking me how I could ignore certain distractions in my life, and still function as if they don’t exist, and how can I tune out people that I care about because they might be distractions.

I’ve thought about this all day, and I am going to explain the best that I can.First, I am going to try and explain how I became so obsessively driven. I grew up in a very small town, where my mom was married three times.

This kinda got me left out at times, but I dealt with it. We moved about 23 times growing up, which left me a little insecure about getting used to things, and feeling comfortable.

I had a stepfather that I admired very much, but could never satisfy. My senior year in high school, I had a football game where I scored two touchdowns, I had two interceptions, ten tackles, four receptions, 150 yards of total offense, a fumble recovery, and two sacks, and all I got from him was, "about time."

I’m not whining because he was just a tough man with high expectations from his kids and himself. This started the whole obsession to be the best. It was something that I could control, would never leave, and at the end the world would respect me.Over the last year, I lost my dad to cancer, and I lost my fiancée to who knows what. I was at an all-time low, and I had to make a decision: quit it all and fade away into life, or seize the moment?

I have chosen to seize the moment! I am not going to go through life saying that I will get to this or that next year, or I should’ve could’ve, etc. One thing that I learned in the last year is that there is no guarantee of tomorrow, so if you have a quest in life, make it happen now.

Now I’ve committed to continue breaking records in powerlifting, making a bid for the summer Olympics in Weightlifting next year, and the Winter Olympics in Bobsledding 2010. Talk about a life change! Now I am sprinting, Clean & Jerking, and I am still squatting big weight.

Not to mention that I am doing all of this at 33 years old. This is my quest!

I might not know the questions, but I don’t have to. I just have to take the gifts that God has given me, and take them to the outer most limits.

This is what I am going to do, and I can’t let anything distract me from this for the same reason as why I can’t wait till tomorrow to begin them, because there is no guarantee until tomorrow.

In my mind I have the next five years to leave my legacy in life, and it can be one excellence or one of almost. I say damn, almost!

I am going to give every last ounce of my heart and soul to reach all of my goals, and in turn show the world that it is never to late to start as long as you commit and form a plan. I am determined to never say tomorrow, only today!

I’m not sure if this explains why I am so focused on my goals, or why I do what I do, but I hope it helps."

To read Travis Mash's workout log click HERE

Now, check out this amazing compilation of Travis Mash's strength and power training! It is downright amazing!



Look at his training and read what he says!

Imagine what you can do with that kind of passion!

--Zach--

PS - Travis can be reached via the Elite Q & A right HERE.

The best bodyweight exercise?

There are going to be many arguments here, but damn, I just had a full blown bodyweight workout today, and I did 10 sets of handstand push ups.

These are awesome!

I love pull ups, I'm addicted to them, I often fo 5 sets of pull ups 5 days a week, no matter what.

But now I might end up doing handstand push ups just as often!

Imagine the physique one can build by simply performing pull ups, push ups and squats - they have endless variations, but man they are phenomenal movements and require NO equipment, NADA!

I had to kick up a few times during each set which was fine because it had me working harder.

My upper body was working like no tomorrow!

I can see this being a SERIOUS strength and muscle building movement.

I supersetted every set with all the various pull up apparatuses I have rigged in my gym.

(BTW, a new USC Gym tour is hitting you tube soon :)

After 10 sets of handstand push ups and endless pull ups, I hooked myself up to the power sports trainer from Lifeline and kicked my ass even more so.

Why?

Because I LOVE a challenge, I hate EASY workouts and I know easy doesn't cut it!

with the PST, I did the following non stop:

10, 8, 6, 4 and 2 reps:

A) sprint in place / high knees
B) squat jumps w/arm extensions at top
C) push ups

The finisher was 100 reps with a Lifeline weighted jump rope.

That was a bad a** workout, one that would fit right in with The REAL Man Fitness E Book!

Next Blog will cover How To perform the handstand push up!

I need to read a little Joe Vitale and rest up, tomorrow is a BIG day, it's The First Ever Open House for The USC GYM!

Hope to see you there :)

Dedicated to your success,

Zach Even - Esh

PS - If you live in NJ or just outside of NJ, come to our open house from 6 - 8 PM!