One Crazy Weekend…at the Arnold Sports Festival
By Zach Even-Esh
For www.EliteFTS.com
First, I apologize for the delay on reviewing my time at the Arnold. I believe many people heard about me freaking out while watching the WPO and getting inspired beyond belief. When Jim Wendler saw me getting all amped up, he suggested I review my time at the Arnold. I immediately agreed.
I was always excited around the iron game. I used to try to get backstage at every bodybuilding show I attended, and I always found a way to see the “behind the scenes” stuff. In high school, I used to do my homework at the gym just so I could be around the weights. I certainly became exposed to an entirely new world of training once I stumbled across EliteFTS.com and Louie Simmons. At the Arnold, I was able to see for the first time ever the results of this information after it had been applied for many years.
As you’re about to read, I found a way to get a lot of behind the scenes action at the Arnold. The expo hall was insane, and I’ll relay a few good stories that made me say to myself, “What the $%&!* are they doing??!!”
It was Thursday morning before the Arnold weekend—7:30 am to be exact. I had just finished loading my truck with my suitcase and some traveling food (bananas, water, and meal replacements), and I was off on an adventurous road trip to Ohio! Do you know how exciting it is to drive west from New Jersey to Ohio? If you decide to do this, please don’t blame me for your motivation to take such a trip. My best advice—if you plan to do what I did, drive with someone!
Because this was going to be a solo trip, I knew I would get some uninterrupted time all to myself. Do you know why I drive instead of fly? Once, I flew into Chicago, and the landing was worse than Epcot Center’s Jedi simulator ride. So I figured I’d ditch the flight and catch some beautiful scenery. There’s something about traveling west that has me all worked up in the worst ways now. But hey, at least I’m honest about it.
The car ride was smooth and easy. There was some light traffic while I was passing through Philadelphia, but then there were barely any cars on the road as I traveled through the rest of Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and Ohio. On this type of drive, you MUST have satellite radio or you’ll go insane scanning for a good radio station! Unfortunately for me, I didn’t have satellite radio so I spent the entire drive scanning through radio stations, playing some CDs that Jason Ferruggia and Jim Wendler would never approve, and allowing my mind to vegetate somewhat. It’s been a while since I’ve been able to do something mindless so this was an accomplishment in itself!
Finding a good cup of coffee was a challenge. I threw out every cup after one or two sips and got worried that everything was “better in New Jersey.” Ask Wendler about New Jersey. He’ll tell you how much he loves it there. The coffee, pizza, and beaches are simply number one in Jersey! Relax, that’s another bad joke.
After about six and a half hours, I arrived in downtown Columbus, which was a pretty busy area. Supposedly, Columbus was the busiest it’s ever been during that time of the year mostly because the UFC joined forces with the Arnold Sports Festival. I pulled into the Renaissance Hotel, and my lofty goal was to take a nap, something I haven’t done for months. The valet was impressed with my driving from New Jersey as opposed to flying. Or maybe he thought I was a complete idiot by the tone in his voice when he said, “You drove in here all the way from New Jersey?”
I took my nap, and later that evening, I met up with the main man who brought me to the Arnold—Fairfax Hackley. “Hack” has been involved with the Arnold Sports Festival since day one, which is almost 20 years ago. A little later that night, Steve Cotter joined us for dinner. His flight arrived shortly after I arrived.
When the Arnold first came about, bodybuilding was the main draw. Rich Gaspari was an Edison, New Jersey native, and I remember him training at a “once upon a time” hard core gym there, which eventually closed down. Did I mention that once they painted the gym equipment blue and white, posted a million and one rules, and removed the tape deck disallowing any hard core music, memberships vanished into thin air? Did I mention that you can’t transform a hard core gym into a fitness friendly gym and expect people to stay around? Sorry for the sidetracked thoughts. Back to Rich Gaspari…
At this time, Rich was the top gun behind Lee Haney. He was also very young—in his early 20s—and was dominating the bodybuilding scene. His dedication and intensity was pretty damn freaky. There was a posing room at this gym, and I used to train and do my homework there. I just had to be among the weights. It’s scary when you think about it. I remember working out one night and then staying after to do my homework. The entire time (approximately four hours) Rich was in the posing room blasting his music and performing his routine over and over again. He won the Arnold that year, and his dedication has always inspired me! Back to dinner…
During dinner, we went over what we would be doing the next day for the seminar that we were co-presenting with Randy Couture. We quickly decided that we had no clue what was going to happen so we didn’t worry about playing it by ear. Randy was going to present HIS methods, and we would demonstrate all of the movements. I had no clue about Randy’s methods until we started the seminar!
Randy was making a comeback on Saturday as a heavyweight and was graciously willing to hold a seminar right before his weigh in for the fight Friday afternoon! I met up with him at our hotel late Friday morning, and we squeezed into a jeep with his wife and son and were driven to the back entrance of the convention center. “Late Friday morning” means it was about 11:30 am, and Randy was adjusting his breakfast. If you know fighters in the UFC, many of them adjust their training schedules to match the time of their competition day. Because the main event often begins around 11:00 pm, these guys eat a late breakfast and often train around 11:00 pm as well.
From the moment I met Randy, he was as genuine as your friendly next door neighbor. This is why people admire and respect him so much. He is as down to earth as they come. Marines were waiting at the back of the convention center to escort Randy to his booth before the seminar began and to stop the crowd of people waiting for him. Once we entered the back of the convention center, I knew exactly what they were talking about! There was a line around the corner and out the door to get a photo op with Randy at his booth. Randy headed over to his booth for an hour until it was time to begin the seminar.
As we waited for the seminar to begin, I met Allen Fisher, the world champion for the last 25 years in arm wrestling. He was checking out the kettlebells and wondering if they could help his arm wrestling. Here’s a guy who has been at the top of his game for at least 25 years, and he’s still looking to improve! He had the most jacked up hands and forearms ever seen on a human being. And once again, proving that science can get thrown out the window, the man didn’t lift weights. Not now, not ever. This type of strength has been coined, “man strength.”
The seminar was getting under way, and the crowd was pouring in through the doors and the convention area. There were about 2,500–3,000 people watching the seminar once we got underway. The bleachers were packed, and people surrounded us from all four walls. I was psyched up big time. I’m used to 25–30 people attending a seminar.
Randy kicked off the seminar after Hack gave him a crazy introduction that only an emcee of events can do. Randy explained in detail exactly how and why he performs his conditioning program. He discussed how the guys from the Ultimate Fighter train under him, how his own fighters train under him, and how he trains himself. He also discussed his newly added training variables (mainly the addition of heavy Olympic lifts) now that he’s a heavyweight again.
Randy’s program consisted of various upper and lower body plyo conditioning drills, resisted running with a band, resisted takedown drills with a band, and an 80 rep barbell complex which I was lucky enough to experience. The plyos were used for sets of 10 reps or for one minute in duration per set, usually for three sets each. The barbell complex was performed for six sets, increasing the weight for the first 3–4 sets and decreasing the weight for the last two sets. I performed three sets of the complex. By the time the third complex was over, I was pretty busted up. Randy had mercy on me and stopped the good times after the third set.
I was on a high after going through this seminar with Randy and Steve. Randy was someone I had seen wrestling in college and fighting in the early days of the UFC, and Steve was the first instructor I ever had for kettlebells. That morning simply had me floating. Presenting alongside these guys was definitely the way to start off one hell of a trip. However, the real mind blowing times were still around the corner and never did I think it would be this way for me.
I headed over to the WPO auditorium where the room was packed as elite powerlifters from around the world broke records and lit the room up! I simply wanted to meet up with Dave and Jim and get a chance to meet other team members. However, once I got to the auditorium, it was the only place I wanted to hang out no matter how badly Wendler begged me to watch bodybuilding with him.
I have been to countless bodybuilding shows in my day, and I remember the audience seemingly bored out of their minds and half asleep. The auditorium was always half empty and not many people were reacting with excitement to the bodybuilding shows. It almost seemed like it wasn’t worth it as a bodybuilder to kill yourself for 3–6 months and only have a half-filled, half-awake auditorium. Then I saw what happened at the WPO! The music was cranking as loud as all hell, people were standing on their seats to watch guys lift, and the backstage area was sick!
Caption: Barbells loaded as lifters warm up on the deadlift.
I was constantly heading backstage to watch the guys warm up. The warm ups had barbells loaded and bending like no tomorrow. Many have proclaimed that powerlifters are fat and out of shape, but the majority of the powerlifters backstage were jacked and pretty damn lean. The guys in the 220 lb and under weight classes were especially impressive with their lean, bodybuilder type physiques. These guys were packed with solid muscle, which proves that no matter what sport you’re training for, powerlifting can have its place. For those wanting to learn about getting stronger and faster, it wouldn’t hurt to pick the brains of these guys.
The energy in the auditorium was crazy. Every time someone went up to break a world record, the entire room stood on top of the chairs to see the lift. People were screaming, yelling, and getting fired up themselves. There was no way anyone in that room didn’t want to work out! In fact, I witnessed some odd dude back stage in jeans and a T-shirt doing half-range bench presses, and he wasn’t even a competitor. Now that I mention him, he’s probably reading this article because he KNOWS he’s the only noncompetitor who casually got in a workout during the WPO. Sorry, I don’t have a picture. I think I was a bit shocked at the moment to see this random guy working out backstage.
Backstage the lifters stuck together mostly with their own team and helped one another warm up, get their suits and shirts on, and get psyched up. When you watch these guys warm up, you realize just how weak you really are, and you get a slap in the face realizing what strong really is.
Warm ups on the squat and deadlift were climbing near 1,000 lbs, and you just couldn’t imagine that a human could move so much weight. There were differences to some extent in the physique development of the lifters from the various countries. Many of the guys from the U.S. had a leaner look than those from international countries. The team from the Ukraine was insanely impressive. Olexandr Kutcher was looking like a professional bodybuilder backstage all ripped up and freaking out in ways that would scare anyone within a five foot radius of the man. This guy wasn’t even lifting anymore, but backstage he kept growling and twitching his head like he was getting ready to eat the weights.
When Kutcher finished with his lifts, he helped his teammates get psyched and ready to lift just like all of the other teams. Each lifter seemed to have his entire entourage with him for mental and technical support. Once again, this proves that atmosphere and training partners are critical to performance.
The Westside crew stuck together and had a huge contingent of people helping one another out. As Louie walked around backstage and through the audience, tons of people shook his hand and chatted with him. The foreign lifters were thanking him on a regular basis and taking photos with him. It was amazing to see how his presence was admired. It was obvious that he had done so much for the sport and for athletes around the world, especially powerlifters!
When Louie wasn’t helping his members prepare for a lift, he was out front, and I had a chance to introduce myself after our many phone conversations. I thanked him for all of his help just as everyone else was probably doing. If you’ve ever spoken to Louie, it’s pretty rare to find him too busy to help fellow athletes improve.
When the entire event came to an end, I was pretty bummed out. I get entirely too emotional at these events. I wanted to see more beasts like Matt Kroc break records and Chuck get in a zone unknown to mankind! The random and odd happenings you experience at the Arnold aren’t to be missed. Women are half-naked, and I’m not even sure they look that hot because they work out and take all of the supplements that they endorse. But then again, those supplements might be the secret after all…
Some of the sights you encounter are as freaky as watching a scary flick on the Sci Fi channel. I saw a push-up contest take place and was tempted to get Wendler or Dave Tate to compete in it, but they were nowhere to be found. You had to do push-ups with a half-naked girl on your back. She wasn’t just casually sitting on you either. These girls laid their full body on you. That’s definitely something for the EliteFTS exercise index!
The push-ups didn’t look too good, but I can understand that. These guys had poor focus with a half-naked girl laying on them, another half-naked girl counting reps, and some long-haired blonde guy with those old school baggies and a string tank top yelling at them. I also have to mention that there was a guy there who just started doing half reps on the bench press. He wasn’t even a competitor! That takes serious balls and would be like me jumping in on the weights backstage at the Mr. Olympia and thinking nothing of it!
Supplements were promoted up the wazoo. Oh, I forgot that bodybuilding magazines are advertisements with a few articles inserted in between them all. There was Olympic lifting, grappling, martial arts of all kinds, and more insanity at every corner and every booth. I preferred to stick with the powerlifting, mingling, and anything related to fighting.
In the end, the two biggest things I walked away with—my rude awakening to what REAL strength looks like and that records are meant to be broken! That 500-lb deadlift you’ve been feeling so good about suddenly seems insignificant and you realize that you need to achieve 600 lbs. Between the UFC, presenting with Randy Couture, and the powerlifting, I had a kick ass time. Next year, there are talks of different powerlifting organizations entering the Arnold. However, the other regular happenings will be there too just as crazy as always. Of course, I’ll be back again as well.
Zach Even–Esh is a performance coach in New Jersey. For more information on Zach’s methods, visit http://UndergroundStrengthCoach.com and http://CombatGrappler.com.
Elite Fitness Systems strives to be a recognized leader in the strength training industry by providing the highest quality strength training products and services while providing the highest level of customer service in the industry. For the best training equipment, information, and accessories, visit us at www.EliteFTS.com.