Test Fest Presenters Appreciation

Bigger Stronger Leaner Competitive Bodybuilding
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Start this out by giving a HUGE Thanks you to the presenters who stepped in behind me just some damn no body who decided to attempt to put a seminar together. Each and everyone of these guys went above and beyond in giving in a various ways to make this whole weekend more than just a seminar but a life experience. A whole weekend that each and everyone of us can draw from for weeks and months to come.

So, lets not jumble this thread with the various banter that all these threads tend to get loaded with. Save this one for thanking and giving appreciation to this group of guys that stood up, gave and passed on to us over the whole weekend. Give them some feedback on their presentations and don?t hesitate to visit their sites, contact them and hell purchase some of the various goods each of them offer.

Following is each presenter and a quick little blurb from me, in most cases a surprise take home question or the overwhelming message I got.

Chris Shugart:
The Psychology of Physique Transformation. The body can’t make major changes until the mind does, yet no one ever talks about this. Most people know what to do, so why can’t they do it? Chris will reveal the secrets based on his studies in the field of psychology and his own physique transformation.

Bullet Point: Hey Fatty drop the fried snicker form your diet and eat clean for 21 days and you will have changed your tastes and long term habits.

Dr. Ryan:
Low Back Injuries: Avoidance, Rehabilitation and Successful Return to Training.

My Bullet Point: Backs and avoiding injury to them should be a constant in our lifes and training if we want to keep at this for an thing near long term. I will spare any details all those who attended know Dr. Ryan did a Through job of talking.

Alwyn Cosgrove: http://www.professionalfitnesscoach.com/
Program Design 101, A Unified Theory. Learn how to design your own customized training programs. Learn the principles behind professional program design, and learn how to troubleshoot and critique any programs that you see.

My Bullet Point: That none of the none of the damn writers for T-Nation or anywhere have an original thought including himself, look for the upcoming Scottish Volume Training. Evaluate programs by its flaws. That Alwyn is different than Pavel in a HUGE number of ways least of which being he has has his accent not only during his presentation but also before and after.

Dave Barr: http://www.RaiseTheBarr.net
The Anabolic Index. Dave will be discussing the Anabolic Index which will quantify our anabolic responses. Then, using the Index, we’ll see how to use nutrients and supplements to optimize anabolism and recovery. He might even get into scientific hypertrophy training if time warrants.

My Bullet Point: Before a night of drinking have a LARGE serving of Canadian seal meat to raise the Anabolic Index to an all-time high and negate any possible negative effects from the alcohol.

Dan John: http://www.danjohn.org/
“Perfect” Programs A discussion about looking at perfect training programs and how we all seem destined to toss “perfection” away the moment we pick up a new muscle magazine.

My Bullet Point: To go from a complete slob to someone in pretty damn good shape is easy, to go from damn good to Elite is DAMN hard. Also that if you work HARD eat right to a point you can negate the negative anabolic index of a nightly scotch or two.

Dave Tate: http://www.elitefts.com/
Weak Point Training. Eliminate your weak points in the three powerlifts

My Bullet Point: That you need to first and foremost quit playing and the damn gym take a minute to fucking get a grasp on and realize what the hell it is you really want. That no matter the goal there WILL be some type of negative consequence you will have to accept if you want to move from shit to suck, suck to good, and good to great. Also HUGE surprise here. Dave does stress tempo in at least one aspect of training. It was I think a 4 second INsentric with some new type of quasi flutter pause of 6-10 seconds, ending with a explosive sliding eccentric.

Once again from me a HUGE thanks you to each one of you guys for stepping in here and doing more than anyone could ask to make this weekend a success.

Phill

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Phil, please PM me with a layman’s version of what you were saying about Dave Tate’s seminar. You totally lost my ass on the “quasi flutter pause” part. Wish I could have been at the Test Fest, but a peson in the Army has NO time AT ALL to attend something like that (which I would have definitely been there like stink on shit otherwise). Maybe we can get a full report from Dave or a T-Staffer? hint

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[quote]djoh615893 wrote:
Phil, please PM me with a layman’s version of what you were saying about Dave Tate’s seminar. You totally lost my ass on the “quasi flutter pause” part. Wish I could have been at the Test Fest, but a peson in the Army has NO time AT ALL to attend something like that (which I would have definitely been there like stink on shit otherwise). Maybe we can get a full report from Dave or a T-Staffer? hint[/quote]

OK Bro sorry but I am going to use you and this post an as example of what NOT!!! To do on this thread.

Like I stated in the original post above,

Lets save this one for feedback and thank you’s from those who heard the presentations. Saving questions like yours for the other threads or begining a new one.

Cool??

Just to help a bit though on your topic. I would say that this particular question like all and though even more so is VERY individual. One of the ONLY exercises that a workout partner is a MUST, you simply cannot perform this excersize alone. The tempo, sets, reps load and TUT varies from workout to woprkout, desired goal of this particular movement, and unlike many the partner plays a HUGE role in how one approaches this and if you have success or fail. You must be very flexible and be able to change your parameters mid workout or you WILL fail in many cases. Practice makes perfect.

Last IMO while this is classified as an exercise by Dave in this case, I would address it as a question in the Supplements and Nutrition section instead. This particular exercise like none other has a direct connection to ingestion and a balanced diet.

Thanks,
Phill

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First - thanks to you Phill. IMO everyone had a great time and you did a fantastic job putting everything together. In Barr-speak - the weekend was BADASS.

All the presenters were awesome and really made some great points. Thank you for taking the time out of your busy schedules to help us normal folks become a bit more extraordinary with respect to training/nutrition and life.

Shugart - Excellent talk on how we don’t focus on our mindset enough. If we think we can’t do it, we won’t regardless of strength.

Dr. Ryan - I’m approaching 40 and the tips you shared will definitely keep me from screwing up my back in the gym!

AC - Great examples of how the supposedly best laid out programs are just ludicrious with respect to time and volume. Liked the idea of pairing exercises. Also, I wish I could say “pussy” like you! And thanks for donating the CD and book I won in the raffle.

Barr - I’m very interested in reading your full article/book on the Index. Great idea and really hit home that I have to minimize any protein fasting. And I now have a new favorite expression - BADASS!

Dan John - You are my hero!!! Thanks for all your advice and wisdom - put into terms that even a thick head like I can understand. I only wish that I could have attended the Olympic lift demonstration on Sunday. We will meet again in Utah and a Masters Track Meet in the future - you can count on it! And thanks again for the DVDs!

Dave Tate - Just a fantastic motivator and down to earth great training and life advice. I recommend highly to read Dave’s book (thanks for donating) - it is a straight forward read that really presents some great life lessons. I will be box squatting starting Wed - I hope to get my raw over 400 before April - I will keep you posted! And I will use the term “brick” next time someone at work tries to stifle any new ideas, etc.

Just a great time - look forward to getting together in teh future.

Peter

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It’s hard to sum up the gratitude I have to these presenters in short words, but I’ll give it a go:

Shugart: Probably exceeded my expectations more than anybody. I was blown away by your ability to convey your thoughts into words, let alone the value of the information you were passing along.

Doc Ryan: Amazing amount of valuable information, immediately applicable by anyone in attendance. I don’t care if you go over your alotted speaking time by 3 hours.

Alwyn: I would take your presentation as a stand-up comedy routine if it weren’t for all the awesome information in it. Great stuff, especially the feuding with Tate, hilarious. I don’t care if you stole all your knowledge or not, you’re awesome at conveying it.

Big Barr: I’ve always valued your nutrition advice, and this was no exception. Amazing speaking presence and info, although I was disappointed that you didn’t include the anabolic index rating of Pop Tarts.

Dan John: I’ve heard the hype of your talks for a couple years, and only now can I truly kick myself for not experiencing it in person until this past weekend. Brilliant talk, brilliant thoughts.

Tate: Holy hell, that might be the most intense conference presentation I’ve ever seen. I was meaning to take notes, but somehow the end of an hour came around and my page was blank, too busy hanging on every word. Excellent.

A huge thanks to all, especially to Phil for making it happen. If not for him, none of us would have had the chance to be thanking these presenters.

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BUMPING this need some more feedback ppl.

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Here is a little summary of the key points that I got out of the seminar.

Chris Shugart - I was very impressed by the presentation, was very inward looking. The key points I got out of it were:
you look the way you feel you deserve to look
your subconscious does what it is told.

Dr Smith - the key point I got out was with repetitive motion - change the reps, force of reps, instensity and rest. The live exercise demonstrations and the relationship between mental state of mind and injury were very insightful.

Alwyn Cosgrove - Very humourous presentation, he presented ideas in a simple way that made me think, why I never thought about that before. Some of the key points I got out were:
time magnifies all programming errors.
methods are many, principles are few, methods often change, principles never do.
reps determine exercise

David Barr - I actually do long distance training with David, so it was good to finally meet him. Very funny guy, super smart. The anabolic index and the entire presentation on protein synthesis was great.

Dan John - Amazing speaker! The key points I got from him was that we need to test things out by the fruit it bears, create proactive habits, and train the need group the first workout of the week.

David Tate - I was totally blown away by his presence and presentation. You would think someone who accomplished as much as he did would have a bit of an attitude etc, but he was a tremendously generous individual. His lecture carried over into all aspects of life, developing a belief system, aim, discover your purpose, indicators, and attitude. What really made me think was when he said that “no successful person can reach success without seeing themselves there” I felt like I had to evaluate myself in the mirror and start writing down my own belifs etc. This alone was worth the entire seminar for me.

Special thanks to Phill, great seminar, great guy! Thank you Phill.

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All the presenters did an awesome job. I had no problem with anyone going over. We needed more time for everything!

Chris Shugart: You woke up everyone with your presentation. Absolutely hilarious! “Front Butt” is becoming an epidemic. I can’t wait to get the new special rubber band set from T-Nation soon! Great trick for stopping negative thoughts. As mentioned, the mind is very powerful.

[u]“We are what we think about all day.”[/u]

This is so true. A good portion of my day is spent thinking about my upcoming training and eating correctly. This is a huge influence in my life. Now, I just need to make it a part of my career.

I also believe that you do have to get angry in order to fire yourself up to make changes. It works every time.

It’s also amazing how people will try to sabotage your training/eating with various comments that make it seem like they care, but they don’t.

I hope to hear more talks from you in future seminars.

Dr. Ryan: Great presentation on lower back injuries. I think I was the only person who went to my hotel room and got a towel and rolled it up and put some rubber bands around it afterward. I used it for the rest of the day. Great trick to help the lower back, especially for those of us who work in front of a computer all day.

Loved the advice to help reduce back problems for those in a desk job: GET UP AND MOVE!

Alywn Cosgrove: Great presentation. I wish you had more time to go over stuff, but it was an eye opener. The back and forth between you and Tate was hilarious. Seeing you disagree with some of the programs on T-Nation was a riot! I agree with the quote about principles.

Also, putting it all together: Most people adapt in four weeks. Write programs not workouts. you can be world class at anything you want if you train/study for one hour a day for five years (or 2 hours a day for 2.5 years or 5 hours a day for one year).

[u]Dave Barr[/u]: Awesome presentation on the Anabolic Index! It was good to see how so many other meals (besides post workout) are so important to our goals of more muscle and strength. I think I will begin using a pre-workout drink along with my “delayed” post-workout drink and a very good breakfast or protein shake right after awakening. The night time feeding would be helpful too, if I can fit it in and not have issues.

Dan John: As usual. Awesome. I liked how you reinforced the “Spiral of Healthy, Hearty, Well and Wise” again. The four areas: Work, Play, Rest, Pray are very important to a balanced lifestyle and something I need to make sure I do more of. I told Stacey about your presentation, and she agreed. I definitely need more rest and more time to pray. I hope to correct that in the near future. All the other stuff in my notes is spot on. Thank you.

Dave Tate: Wow. The intensity, focus and energy he displayed was mind blowing. I was nearly afraid to sit in the front row when Tate was speaking. He looked like a raging bull ready to charge. I couldn’t write down one thing from his presentation because I was so mesmerized by what he was saying. The only thing I can say is “shit, suck, good, great.” And I’m not even sure if I got that down right. You have to see this man speak.

Phill: Again. Awesome job. Thank you for making this possible. I can’t wait for the next one.

To TC, Laurie and Biotest, thank you for so many awesome items that we all received. Also, thanks to everyone who contributed something for the schwag giveaway. It was spectacular.

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O.K. I purposefully waited a couple of days to write this. My febel mind needed the time to absorb the information from the Test Fest. The Data Density of the presenters and other attndees was unlike anything I’ve ever experienced.

Chris Shugart:

Man! what a way to start the day. Chris did a great job of waking everyone up (and pointing out the Spike in our goodie bags). i’m not accustomed to laughing my ass off first thing in the morning at a seminar. Chris’ speach about psycology and body transformation was very enlightening. Many of his points about visualization and control of negative thoughts were home runs.

Dr. Ryann:

Oouch!! My aching back! Even tho the good doctor went a little over his allotted time it was well worth it. Aside from the remedial anatomy lesson his information on back pain and rehab was very usefull. I’ve used some of his tips to help my wife with her chronic back pain caused by desk work.

Alwyn Cosgrove:

This was the highlite of the morning. Mr. Cosgroves ability to break down a program and examine it’s strenghts and weaknesses is amazing. his presentation has changed the way i will look at programs as well as changed the way i will design my own. His low level of bullshit was also welcome

David Barr:

Mr. Barr is a brave man to go on right after lunch and dare to challange the post feed insulin crash. He suceeded in making protein synthesis an interesting topic and communicating his message well. I think if more people who have ignored his ideas in the past could see him live it would change their oppinion on the subject.

Dan John:

Scotch and Fiber. Dan John truly is the coach I wish i’d had in Highschool. I found his talk to be more about life in general than training and i took a couple of fairly profound things out of it. I agree with Kuz that the Work-Rest-Play-Pray diagram is something that will change my way of looking at my life.

Dave Tate:

My time spent listening to Dave Tate was comprised of having my mind blown minute to minute by his shear presence and energy. WHile i’m not a powerlifter his message was alot like Dan John’s in that i found messages about how I wanted to live my life.

A side note on Dan John and Dave Tate: I’ve never met two men whos integrety is constantly on display as these two men. the last two presenters realy made me take a hard look at my life and how i’m living it. I appreciate that more than I can tell you.

General Attendies:
T-Nation is the best group of people I’ve ever been around. I was very nervous about comming out. Being a recovering skinny bastard I had alot of preconceeved notions about the other attendies. I figured I’d be the smallest and the weakest, and that i’d be very uncomfortable in a land of giants.

To be honest, i’ve never felt more at home with a group of people than I did with the citizens of T-Nation.

Everyone was awsome! if I spent the time to name everyone i would never finish this thread but i have been profoundly influenced by everyone I met and talked too. I’m Glad I had a chance to meet members of the nation.

La’
Redsol1