Arnold Sports Expo

Hello everyone, I just got back from the Arnold sports festival a few days ago. All I have to say is WOW what a crazy event. Unfortunately I did not compete in the Olympic Weightlifting event this year because I am still nursing a minor hip injury (which is getting better….finally), however I had the opportunity to help out at my supplement sponsors booth, CARR CELLULAR FITNESS (CCF). What a great experience this was as an athlete to help at an up and coming companies booth for 3 days of pure busyness.  I am talking hundreds of thousands of people walking through the doors sampling products from ginormous companies to smaller new companies such as CCF.

          This weekend I truly learned the passion that is backing up CCF. The owners Jason Carr and Doctor Carr are truly passionate about helping people achieve their goals not only in the fitness community but in general health. We had over 15,000 people come by to sample our product line and the feedback was insane! CCF is a company that puts money into research and development rather than dumping millions of dollars into marketing in magazines and such. It truly showed by the expressions on people’s faces when they 1. Tried the products and 2. Realized that the products ingredients state what is in the product rather than the typical “proprietary blend” nonsense. Our products are as pure as you can find in the market with sufficient amount of each ingredient that will actually make a difference rather than a little of everything to make the ingredient list look cool. The real cool thing that I love about CCF is Dr. Carr actually performs blood test with the patients that take the products to really see if the products are working and to see if there is a sufficient amount of a certain supplements to actually make a difference in one’s test.  I have been taking sports supplements for a long time basically since all the big name companies have been out, and I can tell you first hand that CCF is like no other company out there. I can guarantee their products will actually make a difference in your performance. I cannot wait to see what the future holds for this company. Below is the link to the product list that CCF currently offers:

You can use code “arnold20” to get 20% off by this Friday!

http://carrcellularfitness.com/products/

2014 American Open

Snatches from this weekend!! 150kg and 153kg which was a 5kg national meet pr! Both were the best snatches of the session! Thanks for all the support @ironathleteclinics @evcf09 @juggernauttraining @carrcellularfitness @virusintl #virusintl #jtsstrength #brosathletics @brosathletics #usaweightlifting @usa_weightlifting @waxmansgym @caffeineandkilos

A video posted by Anthony Pomponio (@arpomponio) on Dec 16, 2014 at 10:05am PST

Coach Zygmunt

Repost from @dford_105! Finally got a picture with Zygmunt in his #juggernaut shirt. Coach Zygmunt leaves for Kazakhstan today to coach Team USA at the World Championships. #usaw #teamjts #weightlifting #hookgrip #hasslefreebbc

A photo posted by Anthony Pomponio (@arpomponio) on Nov 8, 2014 at 10:41am PST

2014 Pan American Festival

145kh 3rd attempt!! I can't believe I missed this 2x before this... O well made up for it in the Cj with 182kg video to follow! #jtsstrength #carrcellularfitness #arp2016 @juggernauttraining @carr_cellular_fitness

A video posted by Anthony Pomponio (@arpomponio) on Jul 20, 2014 at 3:48pm PDT

2014 Pan Am Qualifier - Reno, NV

150kg snatch at the 2014 Junior Pan American Weightlifting Championships in Reno, NV.

150 kg snatch.

184kg CJ was called on a press out!

American Record Makers 2014

Congrats to @arpomponio for hitting 147/178 and taking home the gold and a 1000 bucks! American Record Breaker #lafitexpo #olympiclifting

polysynth's video on Instagram

Snatches from yesterday! 142kg,147kg,151kg miss! #jtsstrength #juggernaut #purepharma #jugglife #snatch #usaweightlifting #crossfit #arp2016

arpomponio's video on Instagram

First Day

*First posted on Juggernaut Training Systems.

Hello I want to introduce myself as one of the newest Juggernaut athletes. I am an Olympic Weightlifter training for the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio. If you read my bio you have noticed I started this sport a little over 3 years ago. The sport Olympic Weightlifting is best described as a juggling act to me, one day you feel great while the next day you might feel like complete garbage.There really is no explanation why its just how the sport treats you. Below I have attached a photo of my first 2 days of training. Every time I have a bad training day I take a look at those first two days and come to a realization that I have made a lot of progress in the first 3 years of training and to just keep on trucking forward. I started with a solid base of support coming from a bodybuilding background as well as football, however this sport is a different type of beast. Before my first day of training I had never done a proper “squat” clean, jerk, Olympic squat, and “squat” snatch. I  power cleaned 120 kg then did a front squat, back squatted up to 150 kg for a very heavy single, then jerked up to 130 kg which I thought was pretty good at the time although I’m sure it was a massive press out. My second day of training consisted of power snatching up to 85 kg, at the time I couldn’t even get into an overhead squat position so I stuck with powering. Now lets flash forward a few years….1…………2…….…….3…………. I am now snatching 145 kg on a regular basis, and C&J 175 kg on a regular basis. I honestly never would have imagined my progress taking of like it did. I remember my coach bringing me the American Open 2010 as a spectator, I saw guys that weighted 62 kg snatching more than I was! I saw a 16 year old kid (Ian Wilson) clean and jerking over 400 lbs!  From that point forward I was hooked to the sport, I knew this is where I wanted to be. So from here on out I will update you with my journey as well as thoughts that come up in my head. Please feel free to ask any questions that you guys might have about my training or training history whether it’s Olympic Weightlifting, bodybuilding, or football! Remember “We Laugh at Heavy Weights”

Proud to be part of Team Juggernaut

It was announced today that Pomp is officially part of Team Juggernaut! Check out the article below:

http://www.jtsstrength.com/articles/2014/01/06/get-know-anthony-pomponio/

Gym Bag

Everyone that goes to the gym should have some sort of bag they bring in, whether you do Olympic Weightlifting, Crossfit or recreational training at a local gym. In the next few posts I will show you what is in my gym bag and why I have it in there. 

First I will start with the bag: In my opinion the most important thing about purchasing a bag or backpack is the size. You want something that is going to fit all your stuff but not weigh you down like you are packing for a European vacation. You want something with enough pockets so you can separate liquids from important items such as your cell phone.

My bag of choice is a gym bag from lululemon called " lululemon repetition gym bag", and no, this is not a paid endorsement... I actually received this bag as a birthday gift from a great man by the name of Jonny Renkavillis. This bag is big enough to fit everything you need but yet small enough so you don't feel like you are hauling a suitcase. I don't believe lululemon is making this model anymore, however you might be able to snag one if you ask! Here is a pic below! 

Meet 10-4-13

After a long 2 weeks of training at the OTC we had a competition, it was an official sanctioned meet. Snatch I went 143,148 miss, 148 make, 151 miss so 148. So a 2kg pr.

C&J went 173,176. 180 made clean didn't attemp jerk due to dizziness , then took 180 again and same thing happened!

So overall I beat all the 85s in the snatch with 148! And totaled a PR of 324!!!! 7kg pr.

A typical day at the OTC, Part 2

What my day is like on Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday

Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday practices are very long! On these days we focus on squats at the beginning of the workout, then move onto correcting weak points and had anywhere between 6-8 exercises to do in one session. The weight generally was not too heavy, besides when we performed squats. These sessions are about correcting positions and breaking down the lifts.

Everyday we had morning stretches so my wake up time doesn't change. The practice time is 10:30 just like the other days, except this practice usually ends around 1-ish.

Then we eat lunch then basically have the rest of the day to recover for the next day. I made it a point to get in the sauna and ice bath during this time for some contrast recovery, which basically consists of rotating between hot and cold and ending with cold. For example I would start in the ice bath for 5 minutes then go into the sauna for 5 minutes and repeat 3 times and end in the ice bath for 5 minutes. It's the little things like this that help you recover from hard training days.

As I had mentioned before, the resource are there so as an athlete you have to take advantage of them especially cause you have the time to do it. It is really weird because time actually goes by very fast on these days, that you would think since your afternoons are free it would be boring but for some reason time flies. We have a competition this Friday so this week of training will be hard with a little taper for Friday's meet. I will write a good blog after the competition on Friday! stay tuned for some pr's!

Training with focus and no distractions

So far my experience at the OTC has been something I will never forget. The training atmosphere here is very serious. There is no music playing and definitely no goofing around in between sets and exercises. When someone is going for a big lift there is complete silence which allows for complete concentration for the lifter who is lifting. This is what i would imagine a training hall in Russia to be like when they are attempting a big lift. Some people don't like the seriousness of training like that, but I really do, and I believe we are at the OTC to put in work not to play around.

A typical day at the OTC, Part 1

My schedule on Monday, Wednesday, Friday

We train two times on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. I wake up at 7:30 AM to get ready for morning stretches and core work. At around 8:30 AM, we all go to the cafeteria to eat breakfast. After breakfast I try to get a little nap in before our 10:30 session. I set my alarm for 9:55 AM in order to get ready for the first practice.

After the first practice ends around 12:30, we all go to lunch. After lunch i go back to the dorm to nap, then get up 1 hour before training and eat a little something and drink a ton of coffee! one of my favorite things so far is defiantly the coffee machine, back at home i would usually go to Starbucks before training to fuel up on coffee.

After the night session we all go eat dinner, this is usually around 6:30 PM till about 7:30 PM. I try to eat at least 2-3 plates of food. I have to say this again, but the food here is great! Tonight we had BBQ night which consisted of ribs and BBQ chicken. I think i ate about 12 or more ribs!

After dinner I go to my dorm shower up and get ready for bed. As you can see from this schedule its pretty much a full time job. We are training anywhere from 5-6 hours a day plus eating and resting during the downtime.

This is why it is very had to try to be a professional athlete and have a job at the same time, it is virtually impossible to live up to your fullest potential while trying to juggle multiple things. So far I have had some of the best training I have ever had, because I get to focus solely on training and nothing else on your mind besides improving yourself. That is why the training center is a great place because it provides an athlete with all the resources he/she needs in order to focus 110% on their performance.  

 This is where i am at now so i will try to write part 2 blog about the average Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday at the OTC. And stay tuned for some big PR's!!!

Video: 142kg Snatch at OTC 9/25/13

Click to watch video

Anthony Pomponio (85kg) @arpomponio snatching 142kg with ease from the low blocks💪👌 #usaweightlifting #olympicweightlifting #olympictrainingcenter

usa_weightlifting's video on Instagram

Two Weeks at Olympic Training Center

Rings

I was invited out to train at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, CO. The OTC is said to be one of the nicest training centers in the world. 

I will be here from Sept 23-Oct 6, and will have a full 2 weeks with the head coach of USA Weightlifting, Zygmunt Smalcerz. I am grateful for the opportunity to be evaluated and learn from the best.

Well from here on out I will try to post as much as possible about my experience here and what I have learned etc.

PS. The food here is awesome and we get to eat as many times as we want!!!!!