This
year, Animal was duly represented at the Arnold Fitness Expo. We had
one of the largest displays there, with 14 booths dedicated to “The
Cage”. What is The Cage? It’s Animalpak.com brought to life. [image]
We had a section for “Ask The Pros” where you could talk to Schak,
Machine, Bulldog, Vag, Lad and others, in person. They all answered
training, nutrition, and dieting questions. They talked about how to
use Animal supplements. We also had an area for “The Shop”. This year,
we had a special edition commemorative t-shirt for the Arnold classic.
At The Shop, you could pick up some Animal gear like our new “trucker”
caps (shit, we brought tons of these and sold out by Saturday),
t-shirts, along with Animal Pak, Stak, M-Stak, Test, and Cuts. In The
Cage, we held all of our training seminars and lifting exhibitions too.
For those who wanted something to remember The Cage by, we were giving
out free car window decals of the “A” logo, magnets, and other cool
shit.
Powerlifting Exhibitions:
You’ve
read their articles. You’ve learned some insights into powerlifting.
For those of you in The Cage, you saw us put on some kickass
powerlifting exhibitions. This year, Lad, Vag and Sgt. Rock outdid
themselves. For those in the know, Lad is world-class powerlifter, and
the first to ever break the 2100 barrier at 220 pounds (and he was a
teenager). Vag is a world-record holding bench presser in the 242 lb.
weight class. Sgt. Rock, well, his speciality is deadlifting and he’s a
world-record holder as well in his weight class. Anyway, on Friday Sgt.
Rock hit a 705 deadlift (absolutely raw, with no straps), 525 x 5 stiff
leg sumo (no belt), and totally raw bent rows at 410 x 5.
[ Main | Image 2 | Image 3 ]
On
Saturday, Vag rocked The Cage with his bench press exhibition and
seminar. He started lifting raw and eventually got his shirt on. Once
he did that, he smoked 700 easily. Keep your eye on Vag. He’s gonna
make some waves in the powerlifting world.
[ Image 1 | Image 2 | Image 3 ]
The
Lad missed a 735 lb. bench press by an inch, owing in large to the fact
that he was having problems with his shirt. He had a couple of guys
trying to get his Inzer shirt on him, but without any luck. In the end,
he had to borrow Vag’s shirt, and this cost him 735. Lad did hit 700.
[ Image 1 | Image 2 | Image 3 ]
Our powerlifting events brought some other notable powerlifters to The
Cage as well, including Garry Frank, Ryan Kennelly, Tina Reinhart, Amy
Weisburger, and Markus Schick. On a side note, Ryan Kennelly put on a
little show himself, [ Image 1 ]
For
those of you who don’t know who Ryan is, he’s one serious monster. He
wanted one of our “The Cage” t-shirts and Sgt. Rock told him he had to
win one by getting on the bench and doing 315 for 30 reps. So what did
he do? He hit 40 fucking reps at 315. [ Image 1 ] All this after benching over 800. Gotta give that brother props. When it comes to benching, he’s an animal.
Bodybuilding Seminars:
Over
the 3-day weekend, we had a total of six hour-long bodybuilding
seminars. Machine talked about training with injuries. You gotta fight
doubt and fear, but you also gotta train smart. Vinny provided valuable
tips on how to eat to gain size. You gotta have the bulls to suck it up
and eat right, even in the off season if you want results. Joe offered
some basic tips on bodybuilding, the fundamentals. Bulldog showed us
how to diet for a show, the importance of good fats, and how to figure
out protein intake. Schak talked about the importance of diet and
nutrition for bodybuilders and how to eat when you don’t have time,
like when you’re at work or school. All in all, the seminars generated
a lot of buzz and brought the crowds inside The Cage. Like I said
before, bodybuilding seminars and powerlifting exhibitions are what
really separates us from our competitors. Knowledge and education.
Bench Press Contests:
A
big hit. Every year, we love putting on these contests. The strength
contests really get the crowds revved up. It separates the men from the
boys and the women from the girls. The Cage isn’t all seriousness. We
can have some fun too and the strength contests are a blast. [ Image
] Guys had to bench their weight, and gals half their weight. Shit, we
got some strong fans. Among the guys, the record was 52 reps at
bodyweight + 20 lbs. Among the gals, one woman hit 83 reps at half her
weight.
Thanks to all who participated and won yourselves free Animal supplements, t-shirts and caps. [ Image]
Summary:
Man,
I’ve done this show for the last 7 years, and every year it keeps
getting better and better. What’d I learn this year? This simple fact:
no company has fans like Animal (shit, you gotta like what a company
stands for if you’re willing to get a tattoo). They are the finest
bunch of people in the world. We’ll keep putting the show together as
long as you keep showing up. To all of you we didn’t meet this year,
we’ll see you next year. Until then, peace, brothers… Keep training
balls out.
