I don't really know if I can put everything that happened this last weekend into words. All I have to say is that Dave Tate put together a great group of guys. Not only are they strong, but they are willing to help out a stranger. I attended the first LTT seminar this past January and learned more than I ever would have hoped. This time they outdid themselves.
Lance, Mike, and I departed from I-FAST around 5:25 or so. I'm somewhat psychotic about being on time, well actually, being early. I would rather be 30 minutes early than show up 30 seconds late. Just how I am. We made it to the compound around 8:00 and got settled in. Speakers on tap for the day were James Smith, Brian Carrol and Jeremy Frey, Doc and Mike, Wendler, and Dave. I was pretty excited for well...all of them. If there has anything I have learned when in this type of setting, I remember more of what I will use if I just listen. I was blown away by all the speakers. I loved the approach everyone took and appreciate the knowledge bombs that got dropped.
Fast forward to dinner that night. Since Mike was a speaker, he got Lance and I into dinner with the EliteFTS crew. Matt and Julia Ladewski, Zach Nicolay, and the three of us made up the table. It was great meeting Matt and Julia. Matt had some great suggestions for my shirt work and getting more comfortable in it. We talked shop, had some awesome laughs. I do have to say, if you haven't met Zach or taken the time to talk to him, you are missing out. Zach's a great dude!
After desert we were all sitting there and I feel this big hand grab my shoulder. I turn around to Joey Smith. Joey and I hit it off pretty well, he's a really nice guy that is really out there to help guys get stronger. Really looking forward to training with him again. Back to the story. He told me that earlier in the day he was getting pissed becasue he couldn't think of who I was and were he knew me from. After about an hour he said it popped in his head..."That's Lil Stevie!" Now if you have ever heard Joey talk, he is like me, ALWAYS at a 9! We get to talking about whats on the grill for Saturday and I mentioned that I wanted to come watch them squat and try and learn the gear a little bit better. Joey says "Why watch, come squat with us." I to be honest was taken back. I agreed and was pumped. To make a longer story short, I got asked about my bench and preceded to have Dave Tate, Joey, and basically everyone making fun of my weak ass bench! I am determined to change that!
Saturday morning comes around....I slept for what seemed like 5 minutes ( a whopping 4 hours) We left for the compound and got there around 6:20. Warmed up and asked Frey if I could work in with them. He said that was cool with them. Ended up working up to 725 for a few singles straps down and then my suit wasn't set right and I got dominated with 750 (which shouldn't have been much trouble) Thanks again for saving my life Matt, Brian, and Mike. Frey hit in the high 700's, Joey hit 750 I think, and Carroll did a 1030 w/ reverse averages. I learned a ton and wanted to say thank you again. Michael Keck hit a 575 raw squat, and I think Julia worked up to like 255 in her shirt. Some strong, strong people were in there that morning.
After missing 750, Steve Pucinella came up and started talking to me. We just talked about some random stuff and then talked about some of the big squat accidents of recent years. I was fortunate not to get injured cause he said he had seen a bunch of guys do similar things and end up injured bad. I had no idea Big Bach's squat accident was at Iron Sport and that Steve was spotting. Crazy Stuff.
We broke into groups and went to our first stations. Q&A was up first. Just really listened to the other guys asking Julia, Matt, and Landon some questions pertaining to raw training and such. Next was squat. I would call myself a pretty sound Raw squatter. I've got pretty dialed in technique and was looking forward to showing Todd Brock my improvements. To my surprise Todd remembered me and we got to talking about some stuff. He gave me some really kind words encouraging me to keep learning the gear and that I'll put up big numbers soon. Next was MR and Doc's Mobility station. It was pretty funny seeing everyone get dominated by stuff we do on a daily basis at I-FAST. We broke for lunch and then came back to bench.
During lunch Zach asked a few of us that had been to the last seminar to come do interviews. I'm not really good at bullshitting or being serious. I told it like it is and I really hope that the clips end up somewhere, cause it was hilarious!
As many of you know that follow any of my stuff, my bench sucks. Joey, Steve Diel, and Jeremy both did a fantastic job helping everyone out. This was my first chance to talk to Jen Comas Keck. I'll tell you what, she is almost as cool as her husband! She had been struggling with her bench also and by the end of the day, her technique looked pretty damn good. I myself have some stuff to work on, but the setup pointers I got from the guys really helped me out today when I benched.
Next was deadlift with Kroc and Mike Harris. Kroc is jacked and that is an understatement. I ended up being the only sumo puller in my group. We were all pretty gassed so no one really worked up to anything heavy. Mike is a really nice guy, he had a few pointed for me and I appreciate it.
The last and final station was strongman. I have never done anything but a farmers walk. It was pretty cool cleaning and pressing an axle, and doing a log clean. Andy Deck might have the biggest calves of any man on the planet that isn't 500lbs haha.
Dave wrapped everything up. We all said our goodbyes and went on our way. Lance, Mike and I stopped at Crackle Barrel on the way home, got some gas and that was it. Not much talking, alot of yawns and sighs haha. I ended up coming home and straight crashing.
I can't thank everyone enough for taking the time to help me out. I can't wait for the next seminar!
Little Stevie-
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