Orlando Barbell Feb. 23, 2008

[RJstrong]

Anybody in the central Florida area should come and check it out. It should be a good one. Every year this meet seems to grow and get better. Looks to be a good venue (University of Central Florida) and the lifter turn out is starting to look more like a regional contest. Brian Schwab and Brian Tincher throw a kick ass meet... Come on out and show some LUV!!!

[hauss man]

are you competing in it ron?

[RJstrong]

are you competing in it ron?

I sure am. I just went down and trained chest at OBB yesterday and turned in the old entry form... so I'm official. I will be doing the full power at either 242 or 275 (i would like to be around 250 for this meet... we will see). This is going to be my first meet since my pec tear about 6 months ago. Man, I'm really looking forward to getting back on the platform!!!

[hauss man]

awesome! i just did the pro/am and am getting ready for the columbus iron house.

you should do the cinci pro/am this summer, lou said it will be held at a 10,000 sq ft arena and will be a three day event.

good luck at your meet

[RJstrong]

awesome! i just did the pro/am and am getting ready for the columbus iron house.

you should do the cinci pro/am this summer, lou said it will be held at a 10,000 sq ft arena and will be a three day event.

good luck at your meet

It's funny you mention that becuase that's the next meet I have circled on my calander. Although I love the Big Iron crew I think I have given up on Sr. Nationals... besides I keep hearing nothing but postive things about the Pro-Am. How did you end up doing if you don't mind me asking?

[hauss man]

well i didn't do as well as i had hoped. judging was extremely tight on the amateur day, but that is no excuse. i opened with 600 in the squat and got three white lights, but louie was calling my depth at about two inches below parallel, so i took 640 for a second. i came up with it, but it was before the up command. lou said any other day or fed that would have been three whites. and on my third i lost my arch at the bottom and didn't even come up. I felt i left about 50+ even with the judging on the platform. next i opened up with 400 in the bench and three whites. i took 420 and misgroved it and the spotters took it. instead of taking it again i jumped to 445 to make up for lost ground and changed shirts, that turned out to be a mistake considering i couldn't even get below the 2 board area. on deadlifts i opened with 500 very easy. next 535 which was easy and was givne the down signal but red lighted for not having my shoulders pulled back. so ijust took it again and held it for about 5 seconds after the down command. all together i feel i left about 120+ on the platform. but i will make up for that in april. also i competed in the junior 220 wei***ng in at 204

[RJstrong]

well i didn't do as well as i had hoped. judging was extremely tight on the amateur day, but that is no excuse. i opened with 600 in the squat and got three white lights, but louie was calling my depth at about two inches below parallel, so i took 640 for a second. i came up with it, but it was before the up command. lou said any other day or fed that would have been three whites. and on my third i lost my arch at the bottom and didn't even come up. I felt i left about 50+ even with the judging on the platform. next i opened up with 400 in the bench and three whites. i took 420 and misgroved it and the spotters took it. instead of taking it again i jumped to 445 to make up for lost ground and changed shirts, that turned out to be a mistake considering i couldn't even get below the 2 board area. on deadlifts i opened with 500 very easy. next 535 which was easy and was givne the down signal but red lighted for not having my shoulders pulled back. so ijust took it again and held it for about 5 seconds after the down command. all together i feel i left about 120+ on the platform. but i will make up for that in april. also i competed in the junior 220 wei***ng in at 204

nice job bro... keep up the hard work!!!

[raw12]

nice job

[artica]

It's funny you mention that becuase that's the next meet I have circled on my calander. Although I love the Big Iron crew I think I have given up on Sr. Nationals... besides I keep hearing nothing but postive things about the Pro-Am. How did you end up doing if you don't mind me asking?

say it ain't so....

come out to seniors bro... should be a kick ass time. Im hoping the turn out is much higher but the totals are very high for a lot of guys it looks like.

Either way, I'll be there...

Good luck with your meet this month... hope it goes great.

[artica]

good luck on your return to the platform RJ....

Shoot me an email post meet and let me know how all went...

Good luck.

[hauss man]

yeah, good luck!

[hauss man]

how did you do?

[RJstrong]

how did you do?

Actually bro I ended up making the decision about a week out not to compete. It was a tough call to make but I feel like it was the right one. I tore my left pec 6 months ago, and although I trained for the meet, I just wasn't happy with the way the body was feeling towards the end. It wasn't the choice I wanted to make but after years of not always listening to my body I decided I really should this time. The good news is I had the type of training cycle that brought back the confidence needed to train at a high level, so it was far from a waste of time. I really look forward to getting back on the platform this summer. With a little bit more time to heal up I feel like I will be able to put up the numbers that I'm really capable of.

Enough about me though... LOL. The OBB crew is AWESOME!!! They put on one of the best meets I've ever been a part of. This meet ran very smoothly and had a turn out that may of surprised the promoters. The crowd was standing room only and the vibe was excellent!!! The venue was really cool and lifting was top notch. I ended up coaching a couple of my training partners that put up PR totals. My boy Rich broke into the 1900's with a PR squat of 800 and a PR bench of 545. My boy Joey had the sickest Raw push/pull total I've ever seen in my life... 585 bench (just missed 600 raw) and a 705 pull for two PR's!!!

[d smooth]

RJstrong im in orlando please give more info time,and ticket info thanks n good luck

[Doc.Sust]

Actually bro I ended up making the decision about a week out not to compete. It was a tough call to make but I feel like it was the right one. I tore my left pec 6 months ago, and although I trained for the meet, I just wasn't happy with the way the body was feeling towards the end. It wasn't the choice I wanted to make but after years of not always listening to my body I decided I really should this time. The good news is I had the type of training cycle that brought back the confidence needed to train at a high level, so it was far from a waste of time. I really look forward to getting back on the platform this summer. With a little bit more time to heal up I feel like I will be able to put up the numbers that I'm really capable of.

Enough about me though... LOL. The OBB crew is AWESOME!!! They put on one of the best meets I've ever been a part of. This meet ran very smoothly and had a turn out that may of surprised the promoters. The crowd was standing room only and the vibe was excellent!!! The venue was really cool and lifting was top notch. I ended up coaching a couple of my training partners that put up PR totals. My boy Rich broke into the 1900's with a PR squat of 800 and a PR bench of 545. My boy Joey had the sickest Raw push/pull total I've ever seen in my life... 585 bench (just missed 600 raw) and a 705 pull for two PR's!!!

wow some big numbers from your guys RJ. damn.

[RJstrong]

wow some big numbers from your guys RJ. damn.

Ya Doc I was really happy for all of them. I forgot to mention my buddy Sean... he did the bench only and hit 500 in his first meet!!! Another partner of mine had an off day and bombed. I still have the utmost respect for him though just like I do anyone ballsy enough to step on a platform and compete. It was a good day overall and although I would of rather been lifting I was able to do the next best thing and coach!

[Doc.Sust]

coaching is the best. all the fun and no physical effort! and you can get drunk the night before the contest LOL!