The 2007 USC ‘Lift Strong’ Fundraiser Benefiting The ...undergroundstrengthcoach.com/members/programs/USCfundraiser.pdf · The 2007 USC ‘Lift Strong’ Fundraiser Benefiting

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The 2007 USC ‘Lift Strong’ Fundraiser

Benefiting The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society

I planned on having 20 – 30 participants and 10 made it! But man were those 10 kids

going for broke on this day! I couldn’t have been happier!

Surrounding high schools were contacted via phone, fax and even home phone (yes, I

found a way to call Football coaches at home).

In the end, 10 members of USC showed up to battle it out in a strongman contest which

benefited ‘LIFT Strong’!

Together, we raised $ 605 and generated a lot of buzz at the same time with local

newspaper recognition two weeks in a row! Hopefully this brings more people to support

this event which will be held annually to benefit ‘LIFT Strong’!

This event was inspired by Alwyn Cosgrove, who created the ‘LIFT Strong’ CD rom to

benefit others who have experienced what he has experienced.

The inspiration to hold this event and open my gym came from the endless hours and

countless e mails Alwyn has exchanged with me. The first ever USC gym only came to

fruition because of everything I have learned from Cosgrove.

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Our athletes were beyond fired up to compete and the crowd that emerged blew me

away! Parents, family members, girlfriends and gym members next door pulled out lawn

chairs, cameras, video cameras and more to see the competition. It was giving me goose

bumps I tell you!

The event was organized so that the athletes can be separated via two weight categories,

above 200 lbs and below 200 lbs.

The events were as follows:

Under 200 lbs Over 200 lbs

Sled drag x 4 plates

x 150 ft

Sled drag x 6 plates

x 150 ft

Farmer walk x 105

lbs x 150 ft

Farmer walk x 155

lbs x 150 ft

155 lb bench press x

max reps

185 lb bench press x

max reps

100 lb Keg carry x

150 ft

400 lb tire flip x 3

reps

The tire flip and keg carry were actually surprise events that none of these athletes ever

performed. I wanted to have one “surprise” for the athletes. I also made sure to have an

extra event in the case of a tie breaker, which we needed, and this was the Tug of War.

Unfortunately, the two guys who tied had a BIG difference in weight. One athlete

weighed 210 lbs and the other weighed slightly over 300 lbs!

The heavier guy won the tug of war, but, during the tire flip the lighter guys flipped it 3

times extremely fast and the heavier guy only got 2 flips. So, if relative body strength was

measured things would be different, but, this is the case in strongman sometimes!



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Next year I will have one category for high school and another category for college

athletes. This will push our high school guys to get stronger because I want them ALL to

bench 185 lbs for reps.

Personally, I feel that a high school athlete should be able to bench his own bodyweight

at least 5 times. We can say the bench press carries no merit towards athleticism but

strength through pushing movements is critical, and being strong is critical. And, as Dave

Tate said, “I don’t care what people say about the bench. Increase a kid’s bench press and

you increase his confidence BIG time which in turn improves athletics.”

I agree!

Below is a series of photos taken by USC member Don Shea who cruised all the way up

from Delaware to help out! Don and his partner, Ron Shoop, were awesome. They helped

set up and put equipment away and this was great because I didn’t have ANYONE there

to help me!

These guys are the REAL deal, and they have an Underground method to their madness

as well!

Their training company is called Integrated Strength and Fitness and they currently

operate out of Body Visions Fitness Centre in Bear, DE



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Brian Pascal preparing to fly during the farmer walks.



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Brian hauling a** during the farmer walks, and although he took 1st overall, he did NOT

get first with the farmer walks!



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The turn around really gave our guys the most difficult time during farmer walks! The

skill of strongman training certainly comes into play here!



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Johnny Zapata practically goes running with the 155 lb farmer “walk”!



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Johnny coming home with the farmer walk.



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Big Dan Lungo making the turn on the farmer walk. At barely over 200 lbs, Dan placed

3rd overall with his incredible toughness, work ethic and work capacity!



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Ryan Szucs getting ready to tear up the farmer walk!



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Szucs coming home on the farmer walk!



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Ryan Amberger, in the under 200 lb class takes off with the sled drag.



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Ryan finishing the sled drag. Going down was forwards, coming back was backwards.



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Keith Pierce NEVER trained with us before, so here I am showing him how to hold the

straps during the sled run. With no experience, brute strength and tons of heart, Keith

took home the overall victory in the under 200 lb class!



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Keith takes off with the sled drag!



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Travis woods takes off on the start of the sled drag.



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Travis Woods battling the back drag and you also get a nice shot of my a**, in case

anyone cares!



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USC member Ron from Delaware helps me set up the farmer walk bars while the crowd

congregates and gets ready to see the first event get under way!



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Dan Tirado gets set to start the sled drag event in the 200 +lb weight class.



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Tirado blasting through the back drag.



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Jimmy Cooper, who makes everything look easy, awaits my “GO” signal on the sled

drag.



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Coop finishes up the back drag!



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Brian Pascal in serious mode as he awaits the start of the sled drag!



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Brian begins with an explosive start to get the 6 plate sled moving!



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The dreaded backward sled drag!



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Johnny Zapata awaits as I pull the sled back to ensure all athletes start from the same

exact point.



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Dan Lungo ready to attack the sled. This kid only knows one thing, and that’s HARD

WORK!



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Dan finishes up the sled drag event.



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Szucs awaits my “GO” signal.



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The painful finish of the sled drag event.



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Bobby Amberger ready to run with the keg, which was the surprise event for the under

200 lb category. Notice my functional one legged training movement in the background

taught to me by none other than Jason C Brown!



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Bobby running back as he finishes the keg run.



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Keith Pierce was flying with the keg, tripped, yet still recovered to get the best keg run

time!



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Travis Woods, the only freshman competing was right behind the upper classmen in the

under 200 lb category!



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Right before we began the tire flip I gave some pointers to an effective tire flip since this

was the surprise event for the 200 + category and none of these guys ever flipped a tire!.



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Leaning into the tire showing the boys how it’s done!



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Dan Tirado was the first guy to flip the tire which is always a tough position to be in. Dan

managed 2 flips with the big tire.



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Jimmy Cooper cranked out 3 tire flips in 17 seconds. At 210 lbs this kid deadlifts over

600 lbs and dumbbell benches 130’s for sets of 10! Yes, he is STRONG!



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Brian Pascal flipped the 400 lb tire like a beast, getting 3 reps in 10 seconds! Brian is

going to major in business and play Football at Johns Hopkins University. Strong AND

smart, the ultimate combination!

In the end….

This was one heck of a fundraiser! I know that the next time we’ll have more participants

and we’ll raise more money!

The local newspaper covered our story and you can see it here:

http://ems.gmnews.com/news/2007/0620/Front_Page/026.html

If you would like to be a contributor while getting your hands on over 800 pages of

ass kicking strength and conditioning information, go to http://LIFTStrong.com


http://ems.gmnews.com/news/2007/0620/Front_Page/026.html

http://LIFTStrong.com


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