I will be the first person to tell you that being a Soldier in todays Army is no easy task. There are stresses that most civilians cannot and would not understand. I have the honor and privdledge of being a Soldier in the United States Army and the actions of my peers never cease to amaze me. SGT Caleb Pike of the 3/2SCR Wolfpack put out an APB on a forum that I frequent from time to time. He was basically asking for any support that he could get and as a Soldier myself I NEVER hesitate to get involved with anything that will bring a deployed Soldier’s morale up a bit.
SGT Pike did a fantastic job of putting together an even and drawing in sponsors from all areas of the fitness and supplement industry. I will list these companies at the bottom of this blog post so that you can visit their websites as well. These companies showed love and support for deployed Soldiers without asking for ANYTHING in return. That alone deserves praise.
Please see the article below to go with the accompanying pictures. I will say no more as SGT Caleb Pike will cover all the hardships that these Soldiers had to endure while deployed and still trying to maintain their health and fitness.
Please see the article below to go with the accompanying pictures. I will say no more as SGT Caleb Pike will cover all the hardships that these Soldiers had to endure while deployed and still trying to maintain their health and fitness.
Yours in Fitness & Health,
Aaron "K Nine" Washington
FOB Normandy "Strength of the Pack" Strong Man and Bodybuilding Competition
by SGT Caleb Pike
Did you ever try and compete in a Strongman competition, when it was 120 Degrees? How about compete in a Bodybuilding contest, outdoors during a sand storm? Oh yeah and while you are doing this there are people out there just waiting to Blow you up too. The Men and Women of the 3rd Squadron of the 2nd Stryker Cavalry Regiment needed something to take their minds off being far from home and family and these two contest did just that if only for a little while.
The Strongman was a total of five events starting at 0800, 8 A.M. for the non Military types. First event was a Max Bench/Squat/Deadlift. It was already 115 in the shade and the bar was burning hands. That didn’t stop the competitors in the under 200 Lbs. class from putting up some impressive numbers. SGT Peter Jocham hit a 315 that was matched by fellow lifters SGT Jacob Mundt and SSG Victor Brazfield. Later SSG Brazfield narrowly missed a 425 squat when his shorts suffered a blowout while in the low position! In the over 200 class SFC Carlos Valarezo had a 385 bench, 475 Squat and 495 Deadlift, just enough to pull ahead of SGT Joseph Hernandez who had a 522 Deadlift. SGT Ronnie Conley and SPC Daniel Bourguignon both hit an even 500 in the Deadlift. The next event was Military Press, 225 for Max reps. In the under 200 SPC Jeremiah Marcoe did 10 reps but was topped by SGT Jocham at 17 reps. SFC Valarezo did 20 in the larger man class. Next event was the Stryker tire flip, distance was 50 meters. The under 200 winner had a time of 54 seconds. Over 200 flip was won by SGT Hernandez with a time of 46 seconds. Next event was the Stryker Tow Bar carry for distance, sometimes known as the Farmers carry. It had gotten so hot by now the equipment had to be doused with water between each competitor due to the handle being too hot to touch even while wearing gloves. SFC Valarezo and SGT Hernandez continued to keep it interesting with SGT Hernandez carrying just 2 feet farther. SPC Marcoe was making a run at a win in the under 200. Last event was the Jeep Pull for a distance of 35 meters. SGT Mundt in the under 200 kept it interesting with the fastest pull of 17 seconds beating the best smaller man time by one second but the class was ultimately won by SGT Peter Jocham. Second place went to SGT Mundt, SPC Marcoe just slipped in to 3rd and SSG Brazfield took the 4th position in the field. In the over 200 SGT Ronnie Conley blew everyone away with a time of 15 seconds but it was not enough to take the class win. SGT Hernandez had the best effort this day winning the class followed by SFC Valarezo, SGT Conley and SPC Bourguignon. The overall Strongman was won by the over 200 class winner with only a 2 point spread between the class winners.
Now on to the Bodybuilding portion of the event. Earlier in the day there had been a large sand storm that was still whipping around a show time approached. In Iraq travel is restricted during storms so a few competitors missed the show. Soldiers kept asking if the show was going to be postponed. Every Bodybuilder knows….”The Show must go on”. There were two men in the short class SPC Alex Green and SGT Tyrone Palmer. Both men had trained hard for this contest, enduring 120 degree 12 days patrolling the towns and villages in area. SPC Green showed good symmetry and separation, posing with confidence earning him 2nd place. He had done his homework. SGT Palmer won the short class with a natural shape many people work years for to show at contest time. He had etched Abs, good Lats and a pleasing front double bicep. He can go far competing in the future. The tall class had 3 competitors, CPL Bryce Whetzel, SPC Chris Davis and SGT Joshua Wilke. SGT Wilke had gained 30 pounds in the gym during this deployment before cutting for this contest. If there had been a “Best Poser” award given, his routine done to a song from the movie Gladiator would have won it. Good overall development earned him 3rd place. The SPC Davis enjoyed his time on stage and it showed in his presentation, good abs and front double Bicep moved him in to in to 2nd place. CPL Whetzel took top honors in the tall class with good sized quads, stage presence like he had competed before and a nicely balanced physique. Of note there was a challenge issued to the audience to “Come up on stage” if you think you have what it takes. A Pose down ensued between SPC Lueth and SGT Boussard with Boussard taking the “I could do that” class. In the Pose down for the overall SGT Palmer just had too much for CPL Whetzel and earned the win. That wraps up the first and last “Strength of the Pack” Strongman and Bodybuilding contest of Iraq.
Thank you to all the sponsors, Musclemag International, Physical Innovations, BioHazard supplements, APT Prostraps and AXIS Labs. We could not have done it without your support.
Once again I would like to give a shout out to EACH and EVERY Service Member in Army, Navy, Air Force or Marines. I would also like to give a shout out to all the Department of Defense Civilians who are currently away from home keeping all of us safe here.
1 Comment:
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September 24, 2017 at 11:59 PM
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