Mr. Olympia OCS Championships - How To Qualify

[Coach Jones]

Mr. Olympia OCS Championships - Eliminations

All athletes need to have a video taped submission of their performance sent in by no later than July 31st. Athletes must video tape the entire simulation of the event.
Let the video run and conduct the second event no less than 30 minutes and no more than 1 hour after the completion of the first event. First Mills, then Swipes, for everyone. The top five men (plus an alternate) and women (plus an alternate) will be selected and invited to compete at the Mr. O. If an athlete in the top 5 cannot attend his invitation will be passed on to the next participant down the line.

The Mr. Olympia OCS Championships Are approaching. This is going to be a great event, but if you want in, you need to start training NOW!!!

All submissions will be taken by videotape. The last day for submitting your video is July 31st.

• Videos should be allowed to run and should include both events with a break no less than 30 minutes in-between. T
• Mills first then Swipes (This is no longer up to the discretion of the competitor).
• All athletes are expected to at least be familiar with the rules and requirements of OCS. In this video “trial” athletes will be required to adhere to all OCS rules in regard to “parking” and also “hand changes” in order to have their reps count. These are all explained in depth in Coach Szolek’s OCS Manual.
• All submissions must be in by no later than July 31st, 2004.

The videos will be evaluated and athletes ranked in terms of total numbers. The top 6 men and top 6 women (10 competitors and 2 alternates), will be invited to compete at the Mr. Olympia OCS Championships.

If an athlete is unable to attend, his invitation will be extended to the athlete with the next highest point total.

Good luck,

Brandon Jones
CST Head Coach

[JClayton]

Coach Jones,

If I am understanding your post correctly, it sounds that what you are saying is very different than what Coach Sonnen said about OCS qualification just a few weeks ago.

In this post:

http://www.circularstrengthmag.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=1821

he said that the competition would be limited to 50 competitors (not 10), and that the important part about qualification was to experience "performance anxiety" rather than to put up big numbers. In his words, "We don't care how many numbers you can put on the board. What matters is that you DO."

I also remember reading somewhere on the OCS page that the purpose of a new sport was to include, not to exclude.

If the competition is limited to five athletes, then I for one, will most likely be excluded. I had hoped to compete in this year's OCS, not because I was expecting to win or rank as a Master of Sport, but because I enjoy competition, I like to train with a goal in sight, and I wanted to support the renewal and growth of OCS. However, I can already name six athletes who can put up much bigger numbers than myself: the five who competed in the first trial OCS, and Scrapper, who tells me that he did 110 Swipes in five minutes (without even training for it).

This is most discouraging to me, and in fact leads me to feel that I shouldn't even attempt to qualify.

The new qualification procedures that you posted makes me wonder what you see for the future of OCS. Is the goal to make it a small event for elite athletes? Or is the goal to develop a sport that people with a wide range of abilities--and the determination to see the training through--can enjoy and support?

I was fortunate to be around when the sport of triathlon was gaining in popularity back in the mid-80's. Part of what made competing in those events so much fun was that everybody lined up together: the pro triathletes, the hard-training but not quite elite age-groupers, and the mid-pack fitness enthusiasts. The last finisher often took more than twice as long as the winner to complete the course, but that didn't diminish his or her worth as a competitor.

I had hoped that OCS would be inclusionary in a similar way, where someone like myself, who has the interest and the desire, but not the hand strength and endurance (yet!), could still participate with those who are several years ahead on the OCS development curve.

Regards,

[Scott Sonnon]

Justin,

Brandon was put in charge of organizing details in light of the new regulations put forth by the organizing committee for the Mr. Olympia. Our initial proposal received welcome, but they have issues to consider that are difficult for most of us to understand considering the magnitude of this event.

As a result, we will be limited to only 10 athletes total at this event. I can empathize with your disappointment, for I was looking forward to the array of athletes participating. However, the good news is that we will be conducting future championships, and when the North American Clubbell Federation begins, many more...

[Coach Jones]

Justin,
I'm with ya' brother. Like Coach Sonnon said, we had to make some concessions on this one. The goal is to get the word out about OCS, and having it take place at the Mr. Olympia will definitely expose it to a lot of folks who might not otherwise know about it.
Don't give up on yourself. If you really want to compete in the upcoming OCS, just ask, and any of the coaches here will help you craft a program to turn you into a OCS'ing Clubswingin' machine. There's still three months until the deadline for the eliminations.

Good Luck,
Brandon Jones
CST Head Coach

[JasonE]

Don't give up on yourself. If you really want to compete in the upcoming OCS, just ask, and any of the coaches here will help you craft a program to turn you into a OCS'ing Clubswingin' machine. There's still three months until the deadline for the eliminations.


Good point! 6 weeks ago I was barely creaking out 5x7s, and this morning I cranked out 19x11 in less than 21 minutes. I can scarce imagine what 3 more months of work will do for me!

[Scott Sonnon]

Great progress, Jason! The strength development curve is amazing with the Clubbell.

[JClayton]

Coach Sonnon and Coach Jones,

Thanks for the replies. I understand that the event itself has logistical limitations; it's still a bummer that there won't be more than the top-five competiting.

I am not giving up on myself, it's just that there is a limit to the amount of physiological and neurological adaptation that I can realistically imagine accomplishing between now and July 31st. Nonetheless, my progress up to this point has been very rapid indeed: I started my Clubbell training with a pair of 10#'s 11 weeks ago, and now I've built up my volume to 200 reps of Swipes and Mills with the 15#'s and am in the middle of Phase I of the Phase IV Double-D schedule. I gave myself a time trial last week before starting Phase IV and managed 132/132 Mills in 10:00 with the 15#'s, which I thought wasn't too bad for 10 weeks of Clubbell training. :D

I was thinking that I could probably get to some reasonable numbers with the 25#'s by the end of October, but to do so by July 31st is probably not going to happen.

But I'll keep at it and see what happens. At least I'll be ready for next year.

Regards,

[Scott Sonnon]

Justin,

Let me tell you that after PHASE IV, we were each honestly surprised by how far we could come as a result of the Clubbell and the program.

Keep with it and I guarantee you will surprise yourself.

[Scott Sonnon]

I was just apprised by the directors that I shall not be able to compete in the OCS meet at the Mr. Olympia since it's considered a "conflict of interest."

However, in the spirit of the event, I'll put my numbers up on the board the week of the event to set the bar as high as possible.

I was also apprised that if there is enough interest in advance that we can conduct a "novice" division, as well.

[JasonE]

Would this Novice Division possibly be using the 15# CBs?

I would be interested in that!

[JClayton]

I shall not be able to compete in the OCS meet at the Mr. Olympia

Sorry to hear you won't be competing Coach, but at least there's one less person that I would have to knock out of the top five in my quixotic attempt to qualify.

But seriously, can you tell us more about the possible novice division? Will it be for less experienced competitors but still using the 25#'s, or a separate division with the 15#'s like you had in the 2003 qualifications?

I just began working with the 20#'s this week, thinking that I would make an all-out effort to get as far as I could with the 25#'s by July 31st. If there might be a 15# division, I will have to rethink my training.

Thanks,

[Scott Sonnon]

We won't be having a 15lbs division; only a 25lbs division. The novice division will be those who do not make the cut on eliminations. We're still trying to figure the logistics.

[JClayton]

OK, then I'll keep on training with the goal of getting some respectable numbers with the 25#s.

Thanks,