I am back home and its been a couple days since coaching at The elitefts Powerlifting Experience II. As usual, this was an outstanding seminar and I was very honored to be a part of it. I know that elitefts works very hard to always be improving on all aspects of their business and they definitely did an amazing job of making this second powerlifting experience seminar even better than the first. It was an all-around great weekend and I think everyone from coaches to attendees walked away feeling they had been a part of something great.
I usually try to start these article with some of my crazy travel stories but I am sad to say it was pretty uneventful this trip. It started off on a very good note because the seat next to me was empty on the first leg of my flight to Columbus. Even though I am now a small 300 pounds, it seems as though I am still too big for this world and I am grateful for the tiny pleasures like an extra empty seat.
I had a very short layover so just enough time to find my gate, take a leak, and fill my water bottle. To my surprise, a very good friend by the name of Harry Selkow happen to be on the same connecting flight and we got to chat a bit before boarding the plane. This was very good for taking my mind off the whole traveling and airplane thing I don't care for. In terms of traveling, my journey getting there was not too bad. I just try to keep my headphones on and try to put myself some place better in my mind. Having a short layover kind of sucked, though, because I basically eat beef jerky and some almonds over an 8-hour period.
I do have to admit that sitting on the plane I had a little flash back of my huge days and I missed messing with stewardesses about needing the seat belt extension. I actually have to tighten the belt up now. WTF!
The flight home was a bit more rough, mostly just because by that time I just wanted to get home. I love my home and I love being home. I got to the airport in plenty of time to get some snacks thanks to Mr. Watts, but it was a pretty tight fit in a smaller plane to Minneapolis. There I had a four-hour layover which actually went by pretty quick. At least with long layovers you can eat, relax, and take your time in the bathroom.
MORE The elitefts Powerlifting Experience II: With Great Risk Comes Great Reward
Next was the longest flight: back to Salt Lake. They said it was originally a full flight but some connecting flights where late so it might not be as completely packed. It’s like they were teasing me. I had an aisle seat with people next to me but the row across from me only had one person at the window. In that situation it is hard not to get excited and think about jumping over there to be able to stretch out in two seats. The whole time I just keep "saying shut the door" in my head. So finally it’s close to take off time and still no one has taken the seats. I went for it and moved my stuff then jumped over there just as they let two more people on the plane.
In my head a whole arsenal of foul language is dropping like bombs from a b-52 bomber. The whole thing was just wrong and, you guessed it, they had those two empty seats! As I am in the aisle seat for almost four hours all I can think is, "really, I am down to 300 f'ing pounds and you people still have to bump into me every time you walk by."
The one saving grace was that the armrest in the aisle could be pulled up so I didn't have to squish my nuts so bad between my thighs. I admit, I was on the verge of loosing it by the end of the flight and the visions of what type of damage I could do to a plane were spinning around in my head. Then on the last flight, the best thing happened.
I got that giddy childish Christmas morning anticipation with all the empty seats left on the plane. The guy stuck next to me says he is going to ask if he can move up to some of those empty seats. I say, “my thinking exactly.” We stop the stewardess and ask if everyone is boarded and if we can move. She asks if we have been good, to which I reply, "I have been an angel if you let me move!"
I got the whole emergency exit row to myself and I sat right in the middle seat. I wouldn't mind flying so much if I could get that every time. I also got asked for my autograph which is always kind of cool, makes me feel like a famous athlete!
Once we landed, we headed straight to the compound for the UGSS, pre-seminar meeting, and the meet-and-greet with the attendees. I am working very hard to stick with my schedule right now, so I did not train at the UGSS, which is a very hard thing with so many amazing lifters all training. It was still cool just hanging out and helping where I could.
Right now team elitefts has some seriously impressive lifters. Some of the old-school guys are still tearing it up and some of the newer guys just keep getting stronger. I swear every time I see JL Holdsworth he just keeps getting bigger and bigger. His traps come out of his ears. Yoked!
You would be hard-pressed to find more intensity in someone. Brandon Smitley and Casey Williams, who are couple of the younger team members, continue to get thicker and stronger. I expect some big things from both of them and their logs are definitely worth checking out, especially if you are a raw lifter. Vinny Dizenzo was leaner then I think I have ever seen him, but still a monster bencher and always awesome to watch. It was just packed with great lifters like Dave Kirschen, Marshall Johnson, Joe Schillero, Big Joey Smith (who's head is now bigger then mine), Molly Edwards, Ted Toalston, and more. There was also so many great lifters and coaches like the mayor of Rhodestown Matt Rhodes, Julia Ladewski, Eric Maroscher, Steve Goggins (yes, THE Steve Goggins), Clint Darden, Bob Youngs and Murph. Also some great new members to the team. It was a packed house of future, current, and past superstars in the sport.
Saturday after a Bob Evans breakfast we headed to the compound to begin the seminar. This was one of the greatest coach-to-attendees ratios I have ever seen at a seminar. Plus there was still even more volunteers there to spot and load plates, all of whom deserve a big thanks because it was a long day and they did an awesome job.
The lifting portion of the seminar was ran similarly to a meet but with some extra time for learning, coaching, tweaking, and making sure everyone was getting all the help they needed. The goal was to coach up to maximal weights and to break as many pr's as possible. I think we hit a total of 164 PRs throughout the day, which is incredible.
We worked through the three main lifts like a meet and coached from warm up to maximal lifts. The Conquer group did awesome and we saw a lot of pr's broken. Midway through, we took a break for lunch and the food truck made a surprisingly good burger!
The actual coaching and lifting is always my favorite part of the day. The conquer group had a lot of great lifters and great people, too. We even had some returning people from past seminars. They were great to work with and it was a really good day. All the Conquer group coaches did an incredible job and it was a complete honor to work with them.
It is really amazing to me how so many top athletes can work together and be open to the differences we all have. There is this sense of shared knowledge and so much respect between all the members of team elitefts. It is an incredible experience for me every time I am fortunate enough to coach at one of these events. I have said it before and will say it again: these seminars are really the best money you could ever spend for learning and increasing your strength. On top of that, it helps the Make-A-Wish® foundation and kids.
MORE My First Trip to elitefts and Talking with Dave Tate
After the lifting we broke off into some short lectures by some amazing speakers. Dave Tate took some time to talk about the squat and lifting in general. Dave is filled with so much knowledge and love for the sport that it just oozes out of him when he speaks. Next up was Vinnie Dizenzo talking about bench and you would be hard-pressed to find another speaker more qualified to talk about it.
Then the legend Steve Goggins took on the deadlift. Steve has been around for so long and again is packed with so much information it’s just amazing to be able to listen to him speak. Steve is also way too humble to ever think of himself as a legend, but damn it, he is!
The last speaker of the day was none other than Clint Darden, who talked about motivation. Coming into this seminar, I had never had the chance to meet him in person but had seen many of his videos and was really looking forward to meeting him. Clint is an impressive dude, not only for his lifting but just for the person he is. He is also a hell of a public speaker and he knows how to speak with his heart. This is something I have a tremendous amount of respect for. All the speakers this day did such a great job and I must admit I enjoy the fact that my thought process about lifting is so very similar to theirs.
After the lectures we had some time to just hang out and catch up with attendees, which I really enjoy. I am a bit of a conundrum in that I am a very anti-social person but also find it nice to be able to talk face-to-face with people that I may normally only get to email. I really find it nice to actually get to learn about them and not just about their lifting. Hopefully the feeling is mutual and everyone knows I am extremely open about myself. I like the fact that we have some time after everything is done to be able to help with any other questions or thoughts that may come up past the coaching part of the seminar.
There is just so much information flying around the compound sometimes it is hard to take it all in. It has always been very important to me that people get as much as possible at these seminars. I have been known to miss lunch on a number of occasions because I just keep coaching. If people want to listen, I will just keep going from one rant to another. People spend good money and give up their time to attend these seminars, I want them to leave feeling like they got their moneys worth. I think the other coaches agree.
That evening the whole team got together and had an incredible time. We inducted a few new members but I am not allowed to divulge the secret initiations of team elitefts. It is always held in very exclusive areas and I can say the Illuminati has nothing on us.
I think all the new members will fit into the family like pieces of a puzzle, each one bringing their own special talents. One of the nice things is most of them are women, and cute ones at that. (Well, except Ken, but if that's your kind of thing you need to see his firefighter calendar pics!) Personally, I would rather look at a cute girl than a then a big brute man. It was cool to see new girls because I have always been a fan of girls in strength sports and I feel it’s something worth promoting. I can say, all the new girls have very impressive strength and I think we are just seeing the very beginning of what they will accomplish. The whole evening was a lot of crazy fun and it was awesome just getting to hang around my family at elitefts.
All in all it was another amazing elitefts seminar weekend. I, of course, could do without airports and commercial planes, but all good things come with some bad. It was an honor to get the chance to teach/coach in the Conquer group and to work with such great attendees.
It was great to see and catch up with the elitefts team and all the staff. It’s always an incredible thing to help raise money for the Make-A-Wish® foundation and know that it will help some kids smile that are having a rough time. I hope that some of the people reading this will try to make the next one. It would be great to help you to your next PR and to just meet more of the people I write all these crazy articles for!
For now, I'm back into the solitary mountains and high desert of the wonderful state of Nevada.
The elitefts Powerlifting Experience II: Squats and Morning Progress
The elitefts Powerlifting Experience II: Bench Press
The elitefts Powerlifting Experience II: Deadlift Session
The elitefts Powerlifting Experience II: Team Photos
