Some musings form the 2012 Arnold Classic

For those who don't know,
I just returned form the Arnold Classic.
I went with Eric Dawson of TPS who qualified for the Amateur Strongman World Championships.

It was a 2 day event, and the day 1 events were the qualifiers for day 2. Day 1 events were not Eric's strong suits, except the medley.

First event was the log, Eric hit 3 reps, I forget the weight. This placed him in the middle of the pack.

Next was the medley. It consisted of yoke, sandbag and farmers. I think the weights were, as best as I can remember 850 yoke, 250 sandbag, 300 farmers. All for 50 feet. He did this in 34 seconds. Smoking. I think he placed 6th. After 2 events he was in the top 10.

3rd event was the car deadlift at about 800ish, this was not his strong suit, so I told him to be conservative and shoot for 8-9 reps and shut it down. He zeroed on this. This event was his nemesis at the Nationals as well and he worked hard to bring it up.

Final event was the Husafeld stone at around 350-400ish.
Eric set the pace on this and went 179 feet which stood for a while, but was eventually beaten. We had hoped that 2 top 10 finishes would get him to day 2, where the events were his strong suits.

Sadly, Eric did not qualify for day 2, but did do very well, placing 19th or 20th out of the best 56 international amateurs in the world.

There was a ton of talent here. No slouches and the event was very well run.
I am proud of Eric and look forward to him winning next year. It is not an unrealistic expectation.

Stay tuned to my YouTube channel for a video of him, and things that suck at the Arnold.

I got a chance to go to the compound and visit as well as getting a new Metal Jack Bench Shirt.

I also went tot he Lexen meet and saw some great lifting and hung around with Dave and Matt for a while.
Seeing Jeremy Frey and Brian Carroll lift was AMAZING.

If you get a chance to go to a meet where they are lifting, GO.

The Lexen meet was also very well run and might have been one of the best I have been to. They had a on of great lifters.

At the Arnold, they had a ton of douchebags. Seriously, this was without a doubt, the biggest douchefest I have ever seen, they also had some of the most ridiculous fitness gear EVER.
They had a ball bike:

REALLY?

 

 

 



The best part about the ball bike is when I had 6'7" 370 pound Eric get on it and had the guy put him through it's paces all while the guy was asking Eric if he felt the burn. He didn't.

 
The crowd was full of nitwits standing in 25 minute lines for a free sample of anything, most of which did nothing. Everyone wants a magic supplement. 

This is a sample of the crowd.

On an good note, I got to speak with Eddie Coan, the greatest powerlifter EVER, Jesse Burdick,  and saw Jedd Johnson compete at the Mighty Mitts event, and got to hang out with my boy Sean Hyson of Men's Fitness.

I'm working on a video now.