Huh? I am not a bum. I'm a jerk. I
once had wealth, power, and the love of a beautiful woman. Now I only have two
things: my friends and... uh... my thermos. Huh? My story? Okay. It was never
easy for me. I was born a poor black child. I remember the days, sittin' on the
porch with my family, singin' and dancin' down in Mississippi.
I began training at Diablo on
October 1, 2005. I came to Diablo with
a 300 lb bench, 300 lb squat, and a 500 lb deadlift. It is now almost one year later, and if someone would have told
me that within one year I would be squatting and pulling over 600 and benching
almost 500 I would have told them they were nuts. But that is the reality of training at Diablo. I remember I came on a Saturday to look at
the gym. That is speed squat day at
Diablo and also the most intense day of the week. I watched the Diablos squatting speed weights that I could
barely deadlift. Needless to say I was
hooked. One of the FIRST things Ted
told me when I came to look at the gym was, “EVERYONE gets stronger within this
system. It doesn’t matter who you
are. Everyone gets stronger within this
system.” And so it began. I shut my mouth (for the most part), opened
my ears, and began my training at Diablo Barbell.
I remember my first training day,
it was ME Squat day and I did Zerchers with Suzette and Keri, I did everything
I could not to look like a puss in front of the rest of gym; in hindsight I am
sure that I failed miserably. Within a
month at Diablo I had already learned several lessons. First, never quit on a weight. Everyone misses lifts, but don’t ever quit
on a weight at Diablo. I made that
mistake on a pin-one pull, and after Ted’s reaction I have never done it
since. (In fact, I dare say I have had
some hall of fame grinders in my short tenure)
I also learned that more important than what we are doing here is why we
are doing it. I was assigned homework
of reading articles to learn more about the Westside methods employed at the
gym. After the requisite tire flips for
not doing my homework the first time it was asked, I read four articles a week
and discussed and answered questions about each with Ted. I mention this for two reasons. One, because of how important it is to know
not just what to do but why you do it.
Two, and more importantly for me, it started helping me learn to train
myself. I still frequently ask the more
experienced Diablo for help, but I have also moved to a point where I can train
myself to an extent. I believe that the
initial work that I put in learning the system and its applications helped me
get to this point quicker and more efficiently.
I got stronger at Diablo
immediately. Every lift I had went up
considerably. By January 13, 2006 I had
squatted 425 in only briefs which equaled out to a 150 lb pr on my squat in
only 7 weeks. February 6, I won my
first “group.” I pulled 525 against
doubled purples; this was absolutely HUGE for me (thanks Jesse). I don’t think I can adequately describe what
it is like to win your first group (not finishing last was a good
feeling). By February 14, I pulled my
first 600 off the floor; this marked a 100 lb pr on my deadlift in about 3
months. My only setback was a shoulder
injury I suffered while benching.
However, even with that I have consistently made progress EVERY week at
Diablo. I like to think my own work
ethic and intensity have helped me get to where I am today, but I know that it
would NOT have been possible without the system, the gym environment, and my
fellow Diablo’s help. No single piece
could have given me the progress I have made to date, it is a function of all
of them working together, and I am very grateful to EVERYONE at Diablo because
in one way or another they have all played a role in my progress.
This period of time will likely go
down in history as one of the greatest 3 month stretches in the history of the
world. It can be equaled only by
amazing time periods like the summer of 1776, MJ in the 1995 playoffs, and
Kiss’s reunion tour; because an organization would be formed from the fire and
ashes of a once great powerlifting career that would go on to change the world
forever. This organization would go
cure world hunger, onto bring balance to the force, and make an entire
population CRAZY FAST AND FREAKY STRONG!!!!!
If there had been a negative about
my current training at Diablo it was that to this point I had been training
alone. Given my schedule, sometimes I
would make a group but more than not I would have to workout by myself. That would change this summer. Charles Giuseppe Telesco began training at
Diablo that summer. Not only is Charlie
a good guy, but he is a fantastic training partner. I was pushing myself farther than I ever had to keep up with
Charlie and my strength came along for the ride. My progress continued on, but more importantly Charlie helped me
find out where my weak points were.
Also, shortly after joining Diablo, Charlie and I formed Team V (the
history of Team V will be revealed at a later date). Team V was formed for one reason and one reason only, to be CRAZY
FAST AND FREAKY STRONG. Upon formation
of Team V, Ted also assigned us lackeys.
Our lackeys were two new members who were dubbed Opie and Dopie for
reasons known the Diablos present at the time. Essentially, it was our responsibility to be sure that the
Lackeys progressed and did not piss Ted off.
We succeeded in the former; however, Opie’s legendary punishment and
Dopie’s beverage tossing incident do not strengthen our credibility in the
latter. This summer was also important
to me because I did my first powerlifting meet. The meet was held at Diablo in front of my home crowd which made
it an even better experience. I opened
at 545 on the squat which I made, I was so nervous for the first attempt I forgot
to tighten my belt all the way. I would
go on to make 585 and finally 606, which would be 306 lbs over where I started
at Diablo. My other lifts would be a
bench 417, and a pull 601 putting me at 1624 in my first meet. The experience was fantastic to say the
least, a great day from start to finish, and I look forward to my next. Overall, this was a great summer for me, I
continued to get bigger and stronger, I got a great training partner, and Team
V was formed and began to leave it mark on the world.
I cannot say enough about my 11
months at Diablo Barbell. The numbers
speak for themselves, but it is really more than that. It is everything else that comes along with
it. It’s the guys (and girls), the
dirty gym, the Steve Sleeve, the punishments, the nicknames, the small rodents,
Slayer…for me it is more than just the numbers. I started out as Steve, but I had to earn the right to be called
a Diablo. Some might call it a cult or
a clique, but those people just don’t get it and probably never will, to those
of us there it’s a family.
Here is a video of Steve
squatting at the 2006 Diablo APF NorCal Open -
Steve squats