2010 Iron Man Blog

Video posted next week on FLEXONLINE. A couple screen captures.

Read more on: http://www.flexonline.com/news/284

Post by: liftstudios

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

As seen on some other boards, recent pictures of Frank McGrath have been posted as little as 3 weeks out. But the real question is, will he compete?

He isn’t listed on any of the competitors lists, so no one really knows. In the past Frank has entered contests, and then dropped out just before the show due to poor contest prep. So, if he has a solid next few days, we could big Frank on stage this weekend too!

(Thanks to Milos Sarcev for these pics!)

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!

As I sorted through old photos I ran across a few of Mark Dugdale. Mark dominated with his superior legs and conditioning at the 2004 NPC USA contest in Vegas. Since turning pro, Mark’s been looking to find his way back to another Vegas stage, the Olympia. Mark’s a family guy and one who lets his physique do the talking. Last year he fell ill and wasn’t at his best. This year he’s looking to find himself in the top five which would grant him a spot back in Vegas. Critics have commented on Mark’s arms needing to match his legs. We’ll see how he polished his guns when the first show of the year blasts off next week in Pasadena.

A composite of Mark ove the last 3 years. How will he look next week? I’m putting my money on a top 5 spot for The Family Guy.

A shot of the Stubbs from the 2006 Europa Super show.

How will he compare next week at the IRONMAN PRO show?

One more week and we’ll see if this pilot has been able to bring his legs up and can pose it out for a top 5 spot…

Rusty Jeffers has obviously not been sitting around oxidizing. The guy looks incredible as all these photos show.

Competing for over 21 years has not slowed this guy down at all but only sculpted him better and better, year after year. And from the looks of it, this might be the year.

I have seen Rusty Jeffers on a number of occassions over the last few years and when I first started seeing these 2007 pre Iron Man Pro photos, I really stepped back and went WOW! Good going Rusty and like I have been saying, this 2007 Iron Man Pro is shaping up to be some contest!

Thanks to Rusty and my good friend John Scott of John Scott’s Nitro for these photos. And now that I think about it, I know Rusty uses John’s products, so a note to myself…. Get me some!

Milos Sarcev has posted a few photos of Kris Dimm on his message board.

My own personal view on the photos is that Dimm is done. Unless he can miracously turn things around in the next two weeks, I look for him to be out of the top 5 mix.

What’s are your thoughts?

Rusty Jeffers has posted a few more photos over on the GETBIG.com message boards. Below are a couple of the photos.

Rusty has a classic physique and one which I hope is rewarded. If he nails his conditioning he should be in the mix.

Anyone with the dedication and enthusiasm of Eryk Bui deserves to be called Mr., or maybe professor and definitely champion. Over the last year I have seen Eryk pack it on, looking plain chunky for a while. But behind that was a plan.

Eryk found himself a gym where he could train very quietly and really concentrate on where he was going. And he was going for the best Eryk Bui yet. Allowing himself the focus of a stress free training mindset made all the difference for Eryk and it shows. This photo is two weeks out from the Iron Man Pro and Eryk looks amazing. He told me he expects to get on stage at about 205-208 lbs. This is shaping up to be a big surprise Iron Man! Thank You Mr. Bui!

These videos at the Koloseum Gym have been great fun and you can expect to see more soon. The videos and photos were shot while Milos Sarcev was actually training Silvio Samuel and Hidetada Yamagishi for the upcoming Iron Man Pro.

One thing that is really interesting is to watch these two guys who will be fighting it out on stage in only a few weeks do nothing but help each other to get ready to do it. It is truly amazing and one of the things I like about this sport. It is a contest of individual accomplishment, one person against the next. But in the gym and in life everyone is there to help each other be better. I truly like that.

And you can’t say enough about Milos Sarcev! This guy knows training. He knows every move, every count, every small point that makes a difference. He makes these guys work until they drop. Superset after superset, non-stop, muscle aching, sweat pouring, gut searing hard work. And Milos does not just push these guys through it, he leads by example and out distances everyone. I would expect you are going to see Milos on stage very soon. I see Milos fairly often and as you know I see a lot of guys, but this last Friday when I saw him walk through the door I was shocked. In just the few weeks since I saw him last he has become even more huge and more lean. The guy is amazing.

So if you want a place to train and learn, get over to the Koloseum Gym in Fullerton California. And you will get to work out and watch great competitors like Silvio and Hidetada get ready for the Iron Man!

Photos were posted on GETBIG.com’s message board today of Rusty Jeffers. There was a bit of controversy over Rusty not placing higher at the Master’s World Championship. I wasn’t there but based on the photos he looked muscular but lacked on conditioning. Bobarino, Bodybuilding.com’s leading man, took home the title that day. Will Rusty nail his conditioning at the IRONMAN Pro in a couple weeks? We’ll have to wait and see.

Those of you who won’t be able to attend the show, don’t forget to watch the live webcast here on bodybuilding.com!

Hungry to win! Ahmad Haider first was on the Iron Man Pro stage in 1999. He has been in most of the very major competitons and remains a well respected bodybuilder by everyone.

Nicknamed Abzilla because of his amazing abs which alone can be identified by any serious follower of the sport. Now quickly approaching 39 years old, this Pro is looking to make it to the top. For those of you who don’t know or have ever met Ahmad, I can personally tell you that you won’t find a more pleasant and humble man. But where you won’t find him humble this time is on the stage of the Iron Man Pro coming up really quick.

This photo is 4 weeks out from the Iron Man and at 236 lbs. Haider is 5′ 7″ tall. Thanks again to Abbas from Pro Fight Supplements for this photo. Keep coming back!

I had the chance to visit the Koloseum Gym in Fullerton CA on Friday, home of world famous trainer Milos Sarcev. When competitors are looking to get ready, Milos is a guy to turn to. So I caught up to Silvio Samuel and Hidetada Yamagishi doing one of the famous and very special sets of sets of supersets, this time for back, that Milos designs. This was an amazing workout and I have to tell you that Milos knows how to train himself and others.

Hidetada Yamagishi is 5′ 5″ tall and weighs in at 225 right now. He says he is looking to hit the stage at 220. Silvio Samuel is 5′ 7″ and around 218, he doesn’t think his weight will be too much different at show time. I can say both guys are working really hard and are having a great time getting ready. I will be posting some of their workout and posing photos and videos from that day so keep watching here.

And if you want a really hardcore gym with great facilities, get over to the Koloseum. Not only is it a great place to workout but the motivation level is really high and you can learn a lot by just watching Milos train the pros. Thanks!