13 Mar Arnold Review Part 1: Byrd

Well the Arnold has come and gone. There was some good, and some bad, but always fun!

I started my weight cut from 292, which isnt too bad to make it down to 275. I followed the layout in Brian’s “Cutting Weight” ebook, this made life much easier. I lowered carbs and started water loading early in the week and dropped down to 285 pretty quickly. My flight out was a direct flight from Orlando up to Columbus on Tuesday of the meet. I pretty much kept to myself Tuesday and Wednesday to avoid being an asshole with no carbs haha!

Wednesday night, Brian, Ria, and myself went and visited with Hoff over at Westside. It has always been somewhere I wanted to visit. I am glad I got to check that off my bucket list. You can say what you want about Westside, but they have produced some of the strongest equipped and raw lifters ever. In retrospect with my shitting lifting, this may have been the highlight of the weekend. Having a chance to talk training with Brian and Hoff is a chance nobody should ever pass up.

Thursday during the day my girlfriend Liz made it into town. Was amazing to have such a supporting and loving person by my side. This is only my second meet I have done since we started dating, but she handled it like a champ. Lets be real, I am not easy to get along with, and on meet week I am sure I am just a pain in everyone’s ass.

What a lot of people dont realize is that Brian is not only my friend, but he sponsors me as well. There are a lot of things that he never asks credit for, but just does for many of us on the team. Inzer gear, training, making travel arrangements, and this time making massage appointments and covering the tab. Lisa G, Allison, and myself all got massages from Janel Vegter of 2xl Bodyworks (in Lombard, IL part of 2xl gym) that afternoon. I cant say enough about how impressed I was with her ability to work on my pec. She was able to work on my pec and lat enough to allow for the most range of motion I have had in some time. This was perfect timing and really just a luxury most will never understand.

The following two tabs change content below.

• Bio
• Latest Posts

Jonathan Byrd

Jonathan Byrd is a competitive powerlifter, with over 16 years of training experience. Byrd has been ranked nationally for the past 6 years under multiple categories. His total has ranked as high as second nationally in the 275 class. He currently has a best total of 2500lbs. Best individual lifts include a 1040lb squat, a 750lb bench press, and 735lb deadlift. His 1040lb squat ranks him 26th all-time squats at the 308 class. Jonathan currently trains out of Team Samson Gym in Jacksonville, FL. Before powerlifting Jonathan was a college athlete at Methodist University as both an all-conference football player and track athlete. Following graduation he played four years of arena football in various leagues.

Latest posts by Jonathan Byrd (see all)

• Byrd: DAC and some lifting! - May 21, 2018
• Byrd: I Still Lift - May 7, 2018
• Client Spotlight: Jenna Rowe - April 27, 2018