While my first love was martial arts, my second love was bodybuilding. I started working out at 13 years old and though I wanted to achieve that superhero size and strength, I knew it was going to be a long journey. I was a skinny kid, only 116 pounds in high school. Plus, I had an eating disorder that made it very difficult to put on weight. Still, I persisted.
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| 1994 - 143 pounds - 150pd bench |
I worked out at home and later signed up to a gym. I took every supplement imaginable but still it took forever to put on muscle. You could call it a lifetime goal. I didn't pass 200 pounds in body weight until I was in my forties. That's when I had a serious home gym of my own. I followed IFBB Pro Ben Pakulski's MI40 interactive training program and finally I was the monster I always wanted to be.
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| 2020 - 224 pounds - 250pd bench |
It was in 2020 that I got to achieve a related goal in attending the Mr. Olympia competition. Normally the big contest took place in Las Vegas but due to the Covid pandemic they had to move it to Orlando, Florida only two hours from where I lived. This is where the song comes in. When I walked through the double doors and saw the incredible layout where the contest was to take place, music started playing in my head.
Throwdown for the Sandow is meant to be an introduction for attendees walking through those doors. The song is full of Easter eggs. The
Eugen Sandow trophy is the prize given to the Olympia winners.
Pumping Iron is the movie that introduced bodybuilding and Arnold Schwarzenegger to the general public.
Bigger, Faster, Stronger is the documentary about steroids that focuses on elite athletes. The list of names in the song are the greatest Olympia winners of all time.
This song was a love letter to one of the few sports I have always been a fan of but not able to compete in. Hopefully it makes its way onto some bodybuilder's workout playlist.
Throwdown for the Sandow is available on most music platforms.
.jpg "2020 Mr. Olympia - Big Ramy Wins")
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