Scott Sonnon
02-09-2004, 10:59 AM
I wanted to extend my congratulations (now that I've recovered :lol: ) to all of the participants of this past Saturday's event. It was an excellent learning experience for all, myself included.
Scott (with the event's most unique form!), Casey (stepping up to bat all the way from Philly), Big Brandon (sacrificing his desert to compete in "sunny" Bellingham) and Hulk Szolek (muh brutha who pushes me to the limits and beyond)... you guys are amazing athletes and I'm honored to swing weight next to you. Thank you for sharing each of your training insights, form nuances and personal paths to trampling the 'inner pansy' through toughness... and the Grace of Strength. If anything, this sport, like no other in the world, can be encapsulated by that phrase spoken by Doug so eloquently.
There were so many discoveries during this event that we feel we're ready for the real championships at the Mr. Olympia in October. We have most of the bugs tweaked out of the sport and will be making the updates as we had planned to do now that we have an accurate depiction of performance under competitive stress.
Although the bar was set high when we first went into this six months ago, solid, scientific training of PHASE IV Strength Endurance (http://www.circularstrengthmag.com/18/sonnon1.html)gave us the ability to surpass a ceiling which we at first thought nearly impossible to achieve even over years... and the athletes did it in only 6 months. Do you remember your first time touching a 25 and imagining several hundred reps in only the span of a few minutes? :oops: :shock: :wink:
As we had hoped we now have an accurate picture of how to challenge athletes with OCS qualifying numbers. We'll be recalibrating the 2004 qualification numbers as soon as we all recover.
I look forward to reading all of your feedback, questions and suggestions about the event and future events as we now charge onward towards the Mr. Olympia Clubbell Championships this October in Vegas!
Thank you to Michael and Al for your precision and unwavering attention to details as our officials. Thank you to Dan for your videotaping and Connie for your help. Thank you to Steve for all of your set-up and break-down aid. Thank you to all of the spectators for cheering us all on!
Most of all, thank you to my wife for her unquestioning support through all of my training insanities this past half year of preparation. If it was not for her suffering through the tedious research, experimentation, and long hours of training and practice, I would not have had the privilege of crafting PHASE IV. PHASE IV has proven to be, without question, one of the most incredible models of Incremental Progression in resistance training ever created. Without it, I would have never been able to touch the numbers I put up for the competition.
Before the event, it was just theory. Now, it's history.
Scott (with the event's most unique form!), Casey (stepping up to bat all the way from Philly), Big Brandon (sacrificing his desert to compete in "sunny" Bellingham) and Hulk Szolek (muh brutha who pushes me to the limits and beyond)... you guys are amazing athletes and I'm honored to swing weight next to you. Thank you for sharing each of your training insights, form nuances and personal paths to trampling the 'inner pansy' through toughness... and the Grace of Strength. If anything, this sport, like no other in the world, can be encapsulated by that phrase spoken by Doug so eloquently.
There were so many discoveries during this event that we feel we're ready for the real championships at the Mr. Olympia in October. We have most of the bugs tweaked out of the sport and will be making the updates as we had planned to do now that we have an accurate depiction of performance under competitive stress.
Although the bar was set high when we first went into this six months ago, solid, scientific training of PHASE IV Strength Endurance (http://www.circularstrengthmag.com/18/sonnon1.html)gave us the ability to surpass a ceiling which we at first thought nearly impossible to achieve even over years... and the athletes did it in only 6 months. Do you remember your first time touching a 25 and imagining several hundred reps in only the span of a few minutes? :oops: :shock: :wink:
As we had hoped we now have an accurate picture of how to challenge athletes with OCS qualifying numbers. We'll be recalibrating the 2004 qualification numbers as soon as we all recover.
I look forward to reading all of your feedback, questions and suggestions about the event and future events as we now charge onward towards the Mr. Olympia Clubbell Championships this October in Vegas!
Thank you to Michael and Al for your precision and unwavering attention to details as our officials. Thank you to Dan for your videotaping and Connie for your help. Thank you to Steve for all of your set-up and break-down aid. Thank you to all of the spectators for cheering us all on!
Most of all, thank you to my wife for her unquestioning support through all of my training insanities this past half year of preparation. If it was not for her suffering through the tedious research, experimentation, and long hours of training and practice, I would not have had the privilege of crafting PHASE IV. PHASE IV has proven to be, without question, one of the most incredible models of Incremental Progression in resistance training ever created. Without it, I would have never been able to touch the numbers I put up for the competition.
Before the event, it was just theory. Now, it's history.