2008 Iron Man Blog

Yes, folks, as Vanessa Williams would say, we saved the best for last…

Check out these 6 new, recently unearthed, previously top-secret QuickTime video clips from behind the scenes at the 2007 Iron Man Pro!

Watch as Bodybuilding.com’s Russ DeLuca gets amorous, Lonnie Teper sneak in a few hugs, and several guys get rubbed down with oil…  LOL

Behind The Curtain @ the 2007 Iron Man
Jay Cutler, Downstairs in the Pump-up Room
LT & Jamie Eason Backstage; Russ DeLuca & the Smooching
Downstairs, Oiling and Pumping-Up
Expo Craziness
Toney Freeman w/ Trophy, Getting Dressed

Tip: right-click on these video links and save them to your desktop for easier viewing.

This ‘Thank You’ message was sent out from TheFitExpo.com just a few days ago, and posted here with permission:

"This past weekend brought beautiful weather and the biggest and best FitExpo yet!  Thousands of fitness fans made the scene  coming to Pasadena to enjoy the exhibitors, contest, demos, and seminars.

Our congratulations to all the winners of the different competitions and thanks to all who made the trip to be on hand.  Complete video and pic coverage of the event will be available soon at thefitexpo.com.

Look for an announcement soon on next year’s date and location.

Thanks,

The TheFitExpo Team"

The Iron Man and FitExpo video clips keep rollin’ courtesy of Ron Avidan (GetBig.com), Lonnie Teper (Ironmanmagazine.com), GraphicMuscle.com, and me, Issac Hinds (Liftstudios.com)!

Check out these video clips to satisfy your need for more expo coverage and hilarity!

Vyotech After-Party
Lisa Marie Bickels
J.C. Lopez & LT: Arnold Predictions
Lonnie Teper’s Birthday Party
Weight Guessing
NPC Figure Competitor, Maryjo Cooke
Muscle Milk Shots
Rick Collins Legal Expert
Vyotech Booth
Cathy LeFrancois
Monica Brant!
SAN

Stay tuned on Monday for even more!  These videos (and more - a total of 36 now!) are also available here:

http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/2007ironman_blogvideopreviews.htm

Want to hear what some of the experts say about the show last week? Make sure you check out this weeks edition of Pro Bodybuilding Weekly, with co-hosts Bob Chicerello and Dan Solomon as they are joined by special guest Toney Freeman. Listen as Toney talks about his big win just 2 days after the show! Also, you’ll get to hear Dan and Bob’s opinion on how the show was run, the conditioning of the athletes, the judging, and the lack of certain call-out. PBW always tells it like it is, so check it out!

Show #63, February 19th, 2007: Iron Man Post-Show With Toney Freeman!

Official PBW site: http://www.probodybuildingweekly.com/

Did you miss the show?  Or were you at the show, but missed seeing the live webcast interviews in-between the stage performances?  Perhaps you just want to see the lovely Jamie Eason again… Well, the replays are your new best friend!

Here they are for your free online viewing and/or free downloading pleasure!

  Pre-Judging
  Pre-Show (Bob C., Dan Solomon)
  Finals
  Top 15 Pro Routines Only

Not only can you find all the great write-ups on the main bodybuilding.com site, but you can look in the forums to see what some fans are saying about the IronMan. Here is some interesting threads about the competition:

Discussion on Sergey Shelestov’s conditioning (by CertifiedStrenght)

Silvio Samuel apprciation at the IronMan (by colombianofreak)

Is Ahmad Haidar overlooked in IFBB? (by carlow)

Could Toney Freeman place at the Olympia? (by Gavin77)

Some forum members attended the FitExpo/IronMan themselves, and shared their pictures and experience with other members.

Check out IBey777’s thread about his trip!

CapOne818 attended and posted some of his pictures in this thread!

IBey777 and David Henry

We’ve added 12 new FitExpo video clips since yesterday, including some footage of Jay Cutler, Tanji Johnson, Amy Villa-Nelson, Chris Cormier, the Sabres (IFL fighting team), BSN booth coverage, etc.

Haven’t seen them yet?  Well, what are you waiting for…??

http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/2007ironman_blogvideopreviews.htm

Ron Avidan, Ian Sitren, Jerome Ferguson, Dave Middleton, myself and many others all enjoyed a the first BodySpace meet and greet. The event took place before the finals where food and beverages were served. Ron and I nabbed some video at the event which will be posted this week.

Bodybuilding.com’s fitness divas, Timea and Christina were in attendance as well. If you attended the event, let us know what you thought. It looked like everyone was having a great time.

Did you miss the show?  Or are you on dial-up and still can’t watch or download the HYOOGE webcast full replay?

Well, fear no more, fearless friend!  The ultra-condensed, über cool 2007 Iron Man Pro Highlight Video is now here!

Having problems with the video?  Click here for the embedded Flash version.

Don’t forget to check out ‘The Eye of FitSights’ for their hilarious review of Iron Man & TheFitExpo from this past weekend, and a good description of what I call ‘Booth Anxiety.’   LOL

Link:

http://www.fitsights.com/blog/2007/02/ironman-fitexpo-recap.html

Since I wasn’t able to attend this year’s Iron Man Pro, I was only able to live it through the coverage online, and by online I mean right here at bodybuilding.com. This is a great tool for any fan that wished to see the show and wasn’t able to attend. The Iron Man Pro was covered in great detail by a wide range of representatives that use this great website as their publisher. You can check out all of the post contest coverage throughout this blog, or on the main Iron Man page.

If you are a bodybuilding fan, and knew about the live webcast, you shouldn’t have missed the webcast of the pre-judging and finals. You can check out replays any time. Again, as they did throughout the contest season last year, Bodybuilding.com put on another great production this year in broadcasting the event. In my opinion, I believe that the webcast was again very well done. They definitely don’t disappoint when it comes to putting these things together.

As far as other coverage, the non-webcast video coverage was hands down the best to date. You can view it here. From the interview with Toney Freeman after winning to the press conference to TheFitExpo clips, it could not be beat. No other website can compare to what we see here.

My favorites are the clips of Max Muscle in Venice before the show and the press conference. Check them out for yourself!

Like pictures of the contest? The best bodybuilding photographer works right here for this site, and is in this blog. Ian Sitren has been working for bodybuilding.com for years, and for those who have seen his work know what I mean when I say that they are some quality pics! You can view them from the main IM site listed above.

Overall, another great show covered by Bodybuilding.com. You can expect the same and better for upcoming IFBB shows and events. Stay tuned!

Now this was a great weekend. If you have not gone to a bodybuilding show and its expo, then you are missing out. I got to see a lot of cool competitors, both on and off the stage, took some great pictures and videos, and met a lot of cool people who just came up and said hello.

Guess what! It didn’t rain the entire time I was there, which was great, considering it rained the last three Ironman’s in a row. However, by the time I got home Sunday evening, it started to rain, and it is still raining this Monday morning. The weather gods looked down and gave us some pity this time!

The Ironman Pro show was quite good, although many of us, including myself had the Japanese sensation, Hidetada Yamagishi, in the top five. I was also very impressed with Samuel Silvio, who many people said he should have been second right behind Toney Freeman. I myself, had him in third, as Mark Dugdale looked the best I have ever seen him. This was a contest of surprises, in which Samuel Silvio, Hidetada Yamagishi and Mark Dugdale looked in the best contest shape of their careers, while David Henry, Ahmad Haidar, and Kris Dim were off.

Eddie Abbew came in third. Wow … that almost none of us saw coming. Where did he come from. And even after the competition was over, many of us were still puzzled on his he placed so high. One judge told us that his back had a lot more depth and was more mature than Silvio’s back, which is why he placed higher, and that he had been overlooked in other contests. This is Eddie’s highest placing ever in the United States, which made for an incredible comeback over last years dismal placings at the San Francisco Pro (13th), and New York Pro (11th).

So the special invites for the 2007 Arnold Classic. Who will get it, Eddie Abbew, Hidetada Yamagishi, or Silvio Samuel. All are qualified, but only one or two will get it. I am leaning towards Samuel Silvio because he had the best physique, even though the judges put Eddie above him. As for Hidetada Yamagishi, he had more people cheering for him than many other competitors, including a contingent of Japanese fans waving the home flag yelling wildly for him. And he deserves it.  We should know very quickly on what the Arnold Committee decides.

Click here to see what Isaac Hinds has to say on this subject…

Lonnie Teper, the emcee of the Ironman Pro for the 18th time in a row, did a great job as always, quickly adapting to any mishaps that happened, either by a delay with the judges tallying up the scores, or to delays via backstage. Unless you were looking really hard, you really didn’t notice it, and Lonnie’s quick wit had some of us laughing pretty hard.

Well, you will see some of the videos that we did very soon (a few are up already). We tried to put a sense of humor in the videos, from a bodybuilding fan’s perspective, and since I know Isaac Hinds and I had fun doing them, they should be interesting. I even got put in a headlock from a Mixed Martial Arts fighter, and couldn’t breath for a few seconds!

Here’s a funny video interview I shot with 2007 Iron Man Pro Winner, Toney Freeman, with Ron Avidan from GetBig.com.

Take a peek, and see which is bigger, Toney’s 22″ arm or Ron’s head.

LOL 

Having problems with the video?  Click here for the downloadable QuickTime version (17.5 MB).

Click here to see more Iron Man/FitExpo video clips.

I just got back from the Ironman Pro and had a blast. Actually, my main purpose tonight was to get some MP3 interviews and make some new friends at the Bodyspace Meet & Greet Party.

The vibe was good as the guys from BB.com had plenty of food and drinks on hand, and the people I met were quite friendly. I saw several familar faces, trouble is, the first guy I got on audio, Chris Curry, was so cool and full of energy, most of the BodySpace people scrambled out to get their seats to see the show, before I could more of them on audio.

What I did get with Chris (GSON0023), was awesome. This guy definitely has the right attitude and I predict will go on to become a fitness professional….

Here his audio interview we did on the fly…

If you’re having problems with the streaming audio, click here for the QuickTime version.

Chris (a.k.a. Big Swole) is also a former Bodybuilding.com Transformation of the Week!

Editor’s Note: Check out BodySpace Meet & Greet photos and video footage, too!

Here is a link to some video footage from the Press Conference of the competitors weighing in (and trying to fix the scale!)

http://graphicmuscle.com/video/070216impropress.mov (134 MB)