everybody we're down here at metroflex gym. on a hot summer afternoon about a
hundred degrees in here brings back a lot of old memories training with Ronnie
back in the old days and the heavy heat and we're just gonna kind of
walk around the gym show where some of the big lifts happened talk about
some of the old memories and really just another day in our world down here at
metroflex gym
first opened in September of 1986 it'll be 30 years this September coming up this
gym really brought the best out of me on stage and in my training and you know there's no other gym like it I
never forget that day because that was the day that uh I never thought I'd be able
to see and how that 800 pound squat came about I had alreadydid an 800lb deadlift
and I was like I wonder if I can squat 800lbs and I didnt think that I could do it so to make sure
that when I went down I was coming back up I went out and bought a squat suit
just in case so the hardest thing about a squat suit is putting it on it took
Bryan and Gus to help me put this thing on if I could do two reps dead lifting 800
hundred pounds I can do two reps squatting cause I'm using the same body
parts pretty much same leg same arm same everything I was right here in this
spot right here psyching myself up and Gus was loading the weight and y'all saw him say
800 solid ass pounds and that's exactly what it was
800 solid ass pound I did those 2 reps I remember the first one I was like okay ain't
going down all that low but it was so light I was like the second one I'm going to bury it
and in the second one I went all the way down if I wouldn't set my mind at two I
could have got five at least when I finish this 800 pound squat I went
over there and did the twenty three hundred pound on the leg press so I
still had a lot of strength left in me after I did the 800lb squat
of course back then you know I worked my way up to 600 and did a whole
bunch of reps you know I did like 15 reps you know back then it's all
about repetition and getting ready for the show so I would rather do like real
heavy like two reps sets and I only did that when the camera was here you know
doing those high reps that was incredible you know I mean I think one time he did
600 on the bent-over row for like 10 reps
perfect form I mean he would go to literally supernatural levels every day
you know you know ronnie was a very very focused individual I mean he made noise
and such of course when he trained you know yelling out yeah buddy nothing but
a peanut lightweight baby all those phrases that have become famous those
were like his battle cries when he got to hollering with that weight on his back he'll get like too more and I'd say damn
I was just bored in the gym one day trying to think of something to fire me up and
it was the first thing that came to mind
we're down here at the heavy end of the dumbbell rack this is where a lot of
damage takes place years ago you know Ronnie got so strong you know he would
always split up his workouts and one day it was barbell on chest next day it was the
dumbbells on chest always did it twice a week but we got to the point where we
didn't have dumbbells heavy enough he's doing sets of 20 and 25 reps with
everything so I started buying these bigger and bigger dumbbells when we
first got the two hundreds he was able to manhandle them fairly easy really you
know just lifting a dumbbell up like that off the ground much less pressing it
it's kind of a feat of strength I mean you got to have tremendous grip power to
pick them up
did you talk me into going in for 8 yeah see Brian talked me into going for 8
I didn't plan on doing 8 I didn't think I could do it back
then and that second rep only reason why I got it was because Brian he hit me right before I
did it I was still mad so I pulled another one just to the rest of anger out after
that slap that Brian had given me the thing with Ronnie is he didn't want to
ever get beat when we first started out I could probably beat him at everything
that didn't last very long probably by the time he went to his first show
after that I couldn't never beat him in anything a lot of guys that tried to you
know come in the group before me and they didn't make it they didnt last you know
we always talked noise to each other and so you know a lot of people if they
weren't able to deal with that you know that was just a whole other side of it
most these people would make it through chest day maybe through back day but
none of them ever made it through leg day when we used to go out walking
outside walking lunges you know we'll start off probably like one plate and then
Ronnie you know he'll see me getting close to so he'll put two wheels on there
knowing I couldn't do no two plates walking lunges so he'll do it and then we'll
drop the plate I'd be like man do I got to do that he said man if you want to catch me
yep so I done it so he so he saw when I've done it he had to jump up to three
plates 315 walking lunges that was awesome that was amazing
you know when I look at some of the other guys and how they train now and
you know they have good longevity you know I mean god bless them I'm glad it
worked out for them that way you know a lot of people criticize that old style
of training and say that's why Ronnie is the way he is now but I really don't
know we we didn't really know any other way you know and and would he have been
that great if he didn't train that way you know I don't take it for granted
I get to be you know mentored by the greatest sometimes you know I I wish you
know that it would still be the same back then but you know you can't get
back time time moves on but back in those days you know everything it was wonderful I
never that would never be again you know that era with me and Ronnie come out of
and those days you know it was it it was just real bodybuilding