I just returned from a weekend in South Carolina at Sorinex Summer STRONG.
I spent time learning from morning till night, connecting with some friends I haven't seen in a while and getting sick on airplanes - ha ha. Actually, not so ha ha.
Being down south is always refreshing for a few reasons:
1) The southern people are straight up NICE. You don't get enough of that around here in NJ, unfortunately. So if you're not nice, fix that shyt!
2) The respect and passion for strength & strength sports is on a different level down south. There are many high school strength coaches down south, where as in NJ, there are many unqualified teachers or athletic coaches running the weight rooms.
3) The SEC is the powerhouse it is because as a collective community, (parents, schools, admin, coaches, etc) these people take strength seriously. They don't pretend to be strength coaches down there, they hire the best for the job. I love that. In turn, the kids get some very high level coaching at high school and / or before the college level.
4) This was my 3rd year speaking AND attending Summer Strong and I see the same Coaches plus new coaches, the majority are from the south, but a few NJ Coaches were reppin' strong as well!
Those who made the travels are those who got a LOT smarter and a LOT of inspiration this weekend, BOTH are critical to your success as a Coach. Not only did we learn from the speakers, but many of the coaches in attendance were sharing and teaching as well. The learning and inspiration never ended.
5) Lesson # 5 is a tie between learning from Super D (Donnie Thompson) and being able to spend time with my friend and fellow Underground Strength Coach from South NJ, CJ Appenzeller.
First off, Super D's gym is a blend of iron history, inspiration, education, STRONG MoFos and a unique blend of a brotherhood and hardcore gym. Lifters were floating in and out to learn from Super D and others you could see doing their own thing yet educated from Super D.
Lifters would come in and do their own thing because Donnie wants lifters to figure stuff out themselves. But, you can tell he taught them how to do things to get the ball rolling. Those lifters then educate and help others. The brotherhood in there was awesome to see.
Super D worked his body tempering magic on my shoulder, pec, bicep and forearm and WOW, it hurt because of all the junk (hyper-tonicity) that has built up in my body as I've been training since June of 1989 (26 years!)!
Let me tell you about CJ Appenzeller.....
- This kid is 23, yet he owns a warehouse gym (2nd location, expanding to a 3rd larger space)
- His beard is powerful
- He has attended 1 seminar every month for the past 26 months
- He has attended the USC Cert & our epic Spartan USC Mastermind
- His first trip to Sorinex Summer Strong he slept in his car after driving through the night to South Carolina (Again, what's YOUR Excuse!?!?)
- This trip he brought his team of 4 coaches & paid for them all
- We KILLED an epic sandwich at a place called The Southern Belly BBQ. Then, CJ went there for dinner and killed it ALL over again. His appetite for food, heavy lifting, success in life & constant learning is INSPIRING!
- He is STRONG, Video of 565 Deadlift x 2 right Here:
- I will interview CJ for a STRONG Life Podcast soon!
OK! Let's get ON with the show!
Lots of info shared from Sorinex Summer STRONG, now, answering some QnA, each of which attack living The STRONG Life from various angles: training, life, biz and more.
Enjoy these Videos. Get your learn on!
[youtube width="640" height="360"]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sXsm2RIhPqw[/youtube]
[youtube width="640" height="360"]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LLM78cjqcCk[/youtube]
QOD [Question of the Day!]: What category of topic are you most interested in learning about: Training / Biz / Life?
Drop your answer in the comments section below. THNX!
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Changing The World Through STRENGTH
The USC Cert!
Details HERE
4 Responses
Thanks for this awesome blog post!
QOD [Question of the Day!]: What category of topic are you most interested in learning about: Training / Biz / Life?
– training! Such as the methods you said Donnie Thompson used to get you feeling better. Also, if you could post some training advice on how to deal with/ train with knee pain(like tendinitis). I’m a hockey player and have had knee pain for the last few months. What I’ve found to help has been Kstar’s mobilitywods. That has really worked at getting rid of the pain and tightness, thank God! So I’m really interested in how you recommend to train, lower body wise, as to not cause any more pain, but to strengthen my legs given my situation.
Thank you so much for everything you do Zach!
Also, thank you in advance!
God Bless!
Ryan, if you see Super D’s videos of body tempering, that is what he did to me!
Yes, follow M WOD for that knee pain, you are on point already, brotha!
Another great one, Z!
CJ is exemplary, he will go far in life
Frank, you are correct, that kid is a BOSS, I was inspired like a madman around him all weekend!!