2010 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.

Post by: liftstudios

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!

Post by:

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.

Post by: liftstudios

2006 Mr. Olympia, Jay Cutler was in the house tonight!  In this photo from the live webcast, Bob Chick and Dan Solomon interviewed Jay Cutler about the upcoming 2007 Arnold!

(If you’re not watching right now, you don’t know what you’re missing!)

Post by: bbcom_developer

The pre-judging replay is so popular, we’ve been forced to move it to a server with higher bandwidth…  Should be done soon, so stay tuned, it’ll be back ASAP!

UPDATE: it’s back!  Watch and/or download here:

http://webcast.bodybuilding.com/fitshow/2007im/2007im_pre.htm

Post by: bbcom_developer

I arrived about an hour late into LAX on Thursday, due to weather conditions. When I left Denver I was bundled up and freeze’n my arse off, the temp. was about 20 degrees. The temp. in LA was about 75 when I picked up my rental car. Talk about a refreshing sight - THE SUN! Despite being stuck in traffic for an extended period of time, I didn’t mind, I was happy just to be in the sun and out of the Denver snow.

I saw stopped by DNA Nutrition where Ron Avidan, owner of GETBIG.com and contributor to bodybuilding, works. He gave me the 3 penny tour and I saw how their distrubition works. Hung out with Ron and saw the family side of him, it’s refreshing to have friends in this biz who have a life outside of the industry.

Friday Ron and I took a trip to Venice, "The MECCA" and checked things out. We stopped by Jay Cutler’s Max Muscle to see Dave Brulett but he wasn’t in so we walked down to Gold’s Gym. We checked out the scene and ran into Pastor Mike of the Christian Stronghold Ministries and his friend. Both of them are super nice guys. We left Gold’s and went to the famous Firehouse where Ron enjoy "The Bob Bowl", yes Bodybuilding.com’s own Bob Chic. has his own item on the menu. We filmed our trip and you can see it here shortly.

We made our way up to Pasadena for the press conference emcee’d by Lonnie T. It was Lonnie’s 53 birthday and he was his usual witty self. The press conference started a little late due to the METRX Strongman event but it wasn’t pushed back by much. Only a handful of guys gave the fans a preview of what was to come of the prejudging. The most impressive guy displaying what he had done was Silvio Samuel. This guy will be top 5 today.

Today there is prejudging in a couple hours as well as the NPC Figure prejudging. Here are a few sample photos from Day 1 of the kick-off to the 2007 year…

Post by: liftstudios

If you haven’t heard, Bodybuilding.com is providing a free webcast of the Iron Man Pro on Saturday.  For more information, check out this Press Release for details:

http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/pr51.htm

And visit our Iron Man Main Page on Saturday for a link to the actual live video page:

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

And get a sneak preview of what the webcast video interface will look like on this week’s episode of The Fit Show:

http://webcast.bodybuilding.com/fitshow/2007im/im_fitshow.htm

During the live webcast, don’t forget to VOTE for the Fan’s Choice Award!

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

And this page for a recap of the Iron Man Preview Videos that have been featured on this blog over the past few weeks:

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

And if you’re going to the show, don’t forget to attend the official BodySpace Members-Only Party!

http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/bodyspaceparty.htm

Only 2 more days!  =)

UPDATE: Here’s the direct link to the IRON MAN live webcast page!!

http://webcast.bodybuilding.com/fitshow/2007im/2007im_webcast_ws.htm

Post by: bbcom_developer

It’s Friday night, and I just finished watching the news–it MIGHT not be raining on the IM Pro/FitExpo parade this year! Notice I underscore the term MIGHT, so don’t hold me to it. And, a slew of us will be heading to JJ’s Steak House after the Press Conference and Expo wind down next Friday, the 16th, to help me celebrate my 39th birthday. Well, the memory has been fading a bit in recent times, so I might be a tad older.

The always generous Russdaddy DeLuca has, again, offered to host a birthday dinner for yours truly and I expect such industry celebs such as Yogi Avidan, Isaac the Hinds, Bob Chick and his bride Tosca, perhaps Dan Solomon and others to join in.

The IM weekend is one of the best of the year, and a great way to start off the new season. See ya there–but don’t try to sneak a seat at our table at JJ’s and put your meal on Russ’ tab!

If you haven’t purchased your tickets yet, WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?! This is one of the best shows of the year and it’s a kickoff you don’t want to miss.

As if seeing a great show, beautiful ladies, THE WORLD MASTER’S CHAMP Bobarino and let’s not forget that witty emcee Lonnie “The band man” Teper’s birthday. You have the chance to meet the reigning Mr. Olympia, Jay Cutler.

Come on out and join the fun next week!

Last Friday was a tough day; had to drive down to the IRON MAN studio in Gardena, about 23 miles or so away, and do a video interview with John Balik about the history of the IM and the FitExpo, give a preview of the contest on video, and do the voice over for the Mickey Hargitay “Lifetime Achievement Award”. By the way, Balik told me there’s “a chance” Mickey’s famous daughter, Mariska, could be in attendance to honor her late father.

But the most difficult job of all was agreeing to do some benching with 225 prior to my IM report. The people at the studio demanded to see some proof I deserve the moniker “Buffdaddy”, which Russ DeLuca says is absolutely warranted, so under the bench I went. The video tells the story. Like I said, needed to pump up the volume.

Don’t ever underestimate the power of the cerebral.

A recent article on IRONMAN competitor, Joel Stubbs hit The Freeport News. Joel has one of the best backs in the IFBB Pro ranks. I know he’s been working hard on bringing his legs up as they have been his weak point in competition. It will be interesting to see his off-season results at the IRONMAN.

A segment from the article:

As far as competition goes, Stubbs is looking forward to a big year in 2007. He has a few major competitions in mind where he’s hoping to compete, but his main goal is to get bigger, more ripped and to work on his symmetry.

His first competition for the year will be at the Iron Man Classic, a prestigious event that’s annual held in California. Stubbs says that he’s looking to do well there and move on to another major show.

He’s intent on taking each show with a great deal of seriousness and earnestness because he knows that each one pushes him closer to the ultimate goal, the Mr. Olympia.

Read the entire Article Here.

Our very own SecondFocus had provided some pics of Joel at the 2006 NPC Excalibur in December.  See them here.

You never know who will show up at the IRONMAN PRO Fit Expo. The first year I attended the show, Carmen Electra was there promoting her “Strip Aerobics” video. She is a tiny lil’ thang.

One of the industry’s main men - Lonnie Teper has a variety of duties throughout the weekend. Emcee’n the show, weighing in competitors at the press conference and when he’s not warming up in his hotel room with his travel bands, he’s been known to make a stop by the bodybuilding.com booth. LT shown below doing just that:

What’s up guys! I’m stoked to be part of the bodybuilding.com team for the IRONMAN. I’ve been contributing to the site for awhile but not it’s time to step it up a notch. I will be flying out to LA on Thursday afternoon. Friday morning I will be hitting Gold’s Gym Venice with Ron Avidan from GETBIG.com and then we’re going to head to Pasadena for the Press Conference. Hopefully it doesn’t rain this time. No one do a raindance this year, aight? I’ll be in Pasadena until Monday, have a short little break and then it’s off to the Arnold.

An inside scoop that you may not have heard yet, but IFBB Figure Pro and Rookie of the Year, Gina Aliotti (don’t miss Gina Aliotti on the Fit Show!) will be helping out with judging duties at the NPC Figure portion. The winner of this NPC Figure event has gone on to turn pro a fair number of times.

I’ll be doing some short video interviews and backstage coverage at the event. Looking forward to this show as it is one of my favorites of the year.