I also think you forgot STRONGMEN in the mix, Grant Higa has done, and continues to do so much for many of us in here and is a fantastic ambassador for the brand and strength sports.
As far as image goes, the labels kind of speak for themselves, Universal's labels to me scream Bodybuilding, Animal is more universal with a 'hard core' edge, could be be powerlifting, strongman, olympic lifting, football, what have you.
Are you looking to rebrand?
Are you looking to segregate?
What are you actually looking to do? Stop promoting powerlifting? Get into crossfit?
To be 100% honest with you I started taking Animal pak long before you started signing copious amounts of powerlifters, the fact that they are signed I learn more about them and get more insight into the sports and what can be done, very positive. I don't however by twice as much Animal pak, every 45th day I open a new can.
Before ever being to the cage, only having watched it on youtube, I questioned how good a marketing plan it was, after being there in person I understood. It is an incredible event. It is everything it claims to be and more, without forcing product down anyone's throat. It is a place where people can gather and see what can actually be done, stand and talk with people like Wrath and House abut real shit that is going on in life, getting to know them better and grow those roots in the Animal/Universal family deeper. I had killer conversations with people, met forum members I only knew by name and broadened my horizons.
I am not sure if I went on a side tangent here or not.
It's like G said Semantics, don't drive a rift between strength athletes, WE ARE FAMILY.
Respect,
Shukin
The cage is def one of those things you have to experience to understand. I am just glad I was able to meet you here on the FORVMS man, turned in to a great friendship. One of the many I have made here. Plus I agree that strongman should be included and I personally think we need a couple more. There is a huge brotherhood in strongman as well.
I am just glad I was able to meet you here on the FORVMS man, turned in to a great friendship. One of the many I have made here.
With out a doubt.
This forum is where I have met the majority of the friends I have since moving back to the United States just three years ago from being gone for 15. This is invaluable. I couldn't give two shits if you deadlift 500 pounds or swing 10 kettle bells, the fact that you are open with me about you "journey" in and out of the gym is all that matters. Lifting weights just gives a common vocabulary so we can communicate on a deeper level.
Respect,
Shukin
"A warrior chooses a path with heart, any path with heart, and follows it; and then he rejoices and laughs. He knows because he sees that his life will be over altogether too soon. He sees that nothing is more important than anything else.” - Carlos Castaneda
"Nothing will destroy a lifter faster, or for longer, than ego." - Jim Wendler
Absolutely, I just want to use you and AB staying at my house as an example. Initially it was a hard sell with the wife, ya know trying to explain that 2 dudes from the internet are staying with us and the kids. The bond here is a tight one and I never had any doubts. She had such a great time meeting you guys that she is looking forward to this year.
Absolutely, I just want to use you and AB staying at my house as an example. Initially it was a hard sell with the wife, ya know trying to explain that 2 dudes from the internet are staying with us and the kids. The bond here is a tight one and I never had any doubts. She had such a great time meeting you guys that she is looking forward to this year.
Beautiful. THAT is what it is all about.
Call me naive or idealistic, but I think there could be too much talk about money or marketing injected into this conversation. Animal has always been about more than that, to me and to many of my brothers.
I split my training between Shoreline Crossfit and Powerhouse Gym, New Haven, CT
Posts
104
Originally Posted by Trebin
I believe Animal is one thing to one person and a different thing to another. This is what makes Animal what it is. Animal is one thing and Animal is all things when it comes down to lifting and the iron game. Hell, look at my journey. I started off doing 531 for fun, then went to powerlifting. I did that for a while and made some decent gains, switched to strongman to try it out and thanks to Higa he got me hooked up with Steve Slater. I went from this to dieting down (Ben Seath really inspired me to do this) and lost over 70lbs in the last 5 months. I am now 100% crossfit and I have fallen in love with the sport. I can say that a lot of the CrossFit people do not know about Animal supplements so I am spreading the gospel all the time.
I do the same at my gym. So many people (crossfitters in particular) get sucked into what the trendy supps are without any question. A new girl commented to my lady when talking about PWO, "I take XXX recovery, but i don't know what it does." ANIMAL has proven itself throughout the years and bring that up whenever its discussed.
I've always seen Animal as being about the mindset and approach to strength training, whether it be bodybuilding, powerlifting or strongman, it's about the lifestyle. not just the end result. But you take that and then couple it in with the impressive aspects that hardwork gives off--great physiques bodybuilding-wise, great feats of strength powerlifting and strongman wise and you have an aspirational brand in which others, like myself included, look up to and respect the athletes that represent the brand.
Call me naive or idealistic, but I think there could be too much talk about money or marketing injected into this conversation. Animal has always been about more than that, to me and to many of my brothers.
Peace, G
G, you can only imagine the beauty of it. He didn't know us from Adam, neither did his wife. Trebin had conversations with us in here and we followed each others journeys and pushed and pulled each other. I am still blown away by the fact that his wife Erica agreed to it with two small children and an infant this year. It is family brother, and You G Diesel, J-Dawg and Naturalguy just to mention a few, ALWAYS make us feel that way, ALWAYS.
Thank you guys for being.
Respect.
Shukin
"A warrior chooses a path with heart, any path with heart, and follows it; and then he rejoices and laughs. He knows because he sees that his life will be over altogether too soon. He sees that nothing is more important than anything else.” - Carlos Castaneda
"Nothing will destroy a lifter faster, or for longer, than ego." - Jim Wendler
I've always seen Animal as being about the mindset and approach to strength training, whether it be bodybuilding, powerlifting or strongman, it's about the lifestyle. not just the end result. But you take that and then couple it in with the impressive aspects that hardwork gives off--great physiques bodybuilding-wise, great feats of strength powerlifting and strongman wise and you have an aspirational brand in which others, like myself included, look up to and respect the athletes that represent the brand.
G, you can only imagine the beauty of it. He didn't know us from Adam, neither did his wife. Trebin had conversations with us in here and we followed each others journeys and pushed and pulled each other. I am still blown away by the fact that his wife Erica agreed to it with two small children and an infant this year. It is family brother, and You G Diesel, J-Dawg and Naturalguy just to mention a few, ALWAYS make us feel that way, ALWAYS.
Thank you guys for being.
Respect.
Shukin
It was just the proof I needed and believe in here. It was a gutsy move but I had a good feeling and trusted my instincts on this one. So many people today are scared about everything. A friend doesn't have to be someone you have known your whole life, it is someone that you feel like you have known your whole life.
For me my very first "real" gym experience was Total Fitness. This gym was sort of a prison style gym, everyone was serious, strong, and didn't take any shit. I saw everyone train together, lift huge weight for singles, big weights for reps, and many of the guys were in great shape. We had guys do strongman, powerlifting, bodybuilding, tough man, arm wrestling, and I never saw anyone train any special way. I guess that stuck with me because I think the only reason there is any separation is due to media marketing. Bodybuilding is "presentable", or supposed to be. Tan skin, white teeth, perfect grooming, etc.
Weider came in, had vision, and drive and he pushed the sport to what it has become. Powerlifting has been relegated to the AAU's, and YMCA's for years, and once the divisional splits came in, so did greedy hands that split the sport over and over to the point that in the US there are 300 federations. That means 300 National Champions, where as bodybuilding has NPC, and a couple smaller feds.
We can go back and forth, but in reality we all dedicate to the gym, we all sacrifice time with friends, and family... Hell I spend more time with my training partners than my family, they are my family. I think Animal has done a great job of embracing both sides. You have Evan, and Frank as mainstays in the family that you have seen evolve, and face challenges. That is real, that is what made me hang their photos in my locker as a kid. I never related to Jay Cutler, or Ronnie Coleman, I looked at Frank, and Evan and said to myself, "Those are my kind of guys", gritty, maybe not genetic perfection, but they worked their asses off to be the best. Now Animal is recognizing my sport, and showcasing guys of all types. I assure you I was not built to be big or strong. The first time I tried to squat 135 I fell to the floor and bloodied my nose, I graduated high school at 170, but I had a vision, and dreams of being strong. We all have to build ourselves from nothing, neither sport is easy, so rather than asking are we "bodybuilding or powerlifting", I think we should say we are a group of dedicated individuals who won't take no for an answer, who laugh at failure and stand united in all our goals. No other company can say that, and that is why I'm proud to be an Animal.
2237 lbs. Raw w/Wraps Total
2110 lbs. Raw w/o Wraps Total
2612 lbs. Multi-Ply Total
Elite Total in 5 Geared Divisions (220, 242, 275, 308, SHW)
Elite Total in 4 Raw Divisions (220, 242, 308, SHW)
I got into Animal back when I was training in more of the BBing fashion. Cutler style with lots of volume and many movements. I ran into Ben Seath here and he gave me a FREE copy of 5/3/1 and told me to implement into my training, because I was wanting to add some drug free mass at the time. Needless to say, I fell head over heals for Powerlifting.
I'm very glad I did train in the BBer fashion for so many years because it built a SERIOUS foundation with very few weak points as I transitioned to Powerlifting. Slowly letting go of BBing and focusing more on Strength movements and accessory work took some time, but I finally got there! So from BBer style to Single-Ply Westside (never competed) than deciding to go RAW January 2013 utilizing Cube and will be on my third meet after my wedding in April.
To make a long story short, Animal is where I learned of EliteFTS, Westside, Lexen Extreme, Supertraining and the Slingshot, 5/3/1, Cube and Cube Kingpin (which I currently use and it is the toughest and most brilliantly layed out program I've ever studied and utilized) and so much more. You WILL NOT learn more about training anywhere else, you simply won't. There is no place like the FORVM and the Cage is the most fun experience a meathead can fathom! Not to mention the fact that Mark and Mark (Trebin and Shukin) both welcomed me like brothers last year in Ohio for the Cage! They even came to pick me up as well as others! No one else there may care what we do, but around here everyone watches and is willing to help (and to heckle a bit when needed, LOL!)
*From a business perspective, don't purposely segregate by any means. Universal has the fluff, pretty boy Golden Age of BBing thing going on and that both sells and is needed. Animal has that more psychotic, gritty, blue collar type of tough badassness that BBers, Powerlifters, Strongmen and other types of lifters are and prefer. It's simply a mindset in a more extreme fashion. I would however like to see Animal go after more Strongmen since there is plenty of money in it (next to BBing of course) since we now OWN the world of RAW Powerlifting!
Animal is:
1. Brotherhood
2. Knowledge
3. Support
4. Friendship
5. Intensity
I got into Animal back when I was training in more of the BBing fashion. Cutler style with lots of volume and many movements. I ran into Ben Seath here and he gave me a FREE copy of 5/3/1 and told me to implement into my training, because I was wanting to add some drug free mass at the time. Needless to say, I fell head over heals for Powerlifting.
I'm very glad I did train in the BBer fashion for so many years because it built a SERIOUS foundation with very few weak points as I transitioned to Powerlifting. Slowly letting go of BBing and focusing more on Strength movements and accessory work took some time, but I finally got there! So from BBer style to Single-Ply Westside (never competed) than deciding to go RAW January 2013 utilizing Cube and will be on my third meet after my wedding in April.
To make a long story short, Animal is where I learned of EliteFTS, Westside, Lexen Extreme, Supertraining and the Slingshot, 5/3/1, Cube and Cube Kingpin (which I currently use and it is the toughest and most brilliantly layed out program I've ever studied and utilized) and so much more. You WILL NOT learn more about training anywhere else, you simply won't. There is no place like the FORVM and the Cage is the most fun experience a meathead can fathom! Not to mention the fact that Mark and Mark (Trebin and Shukin) both welcomed me like brothers last year in Ohio for the Cage! They even came to pick me up as well as others! No one else there may care what we do, but around here everyone watches and is willing to help (and to heckle a bit when needed, LOL!)
*From a business perspective, don't purposely segregate by any means. Universal has the fluff, pretty boy Golden Age of BBing thing going on and that both sells and is needed. Animal has that more psychotic, gritty, blue collar type of tough badassness that BBers, Powerlifters, Strongmen and other types of lifters are and prefer. It's simply a mindset in a more extreme fashion. I would however like to see Animal go after more Strongmen since there is plenty of money in it (next to BBing of course) since we now OWN the world of RAW Powerlifting!
Animal is:
1. Brotherhood
2. Knowledge
3. Support
4. Friendship
5. Intensity
At least to me this is what it all is about.
GET SOME,
ALTERED BEAST
Look at you writing a non controversial post ;)
Well said AB.
Respect,
Shukin
"A warrior chooses a path with heart, any path with heart, and follows it; and then he rejoices and laughs. He knows because he sees that his life will be over altogether too soon. He sees that nothing is more important than anything else.” - Carlos Castaneda
"Nothing will destroy a lifter faster, or for longer, than ego." - Jim Wendler
LOL, thanks! It's all happening too fast! Getting married, than a year after kids are on the menu and my father and the partners of the particular family biz I work at want me taking a FAR more active role in the company and heading everything related to Sales and Marketing (basically being the whole department). I guess its forcing me have to grow up =)
There are also three spots open at Animal...wait what? =)
Animal has always had bodybuilders in its ranks, from its start back in 2002 when it broke off and became separate from Universal (today Universal is the brand that focuses on BB almost exclusively). More recently, Animal has been sponsorin powerlifters and powerliftin meets. Should it? Or should it go back to BB only? If not, why not? thoughts???
The brand name "Animal" is best represented by athletes showing attributes that are untypical or beyond those of a regular human being. In my opinion, the physiques of Evan and Frank are exactly what "Animal" should be all about, with regards to bodybuilding.
But looks is not the only thing that qualifies a lifter as a true freak of nature. Those powerlifters perform insane feats of strength, train with hardcore intensity and take their bodies to extremes that might seem impossible for the ordinary man. To me that is just as "Animal" as Eric´s horse like legs.
Animal should not go back to BB only because both sports identify with the brand.
The brand name "Animal" is best represented by athletes showing attributes that are untypical or beyond those of a regular human being. In my opinion, the physiques of Evan and Frank are exactly what "Animal" should be all about, with regards to bodybuilding.
But looks is not the only thing that qualifies a lifter as a true freak of nature. Those powerlifters perform insane feats of strength, train with hardcore intensity and take their bodies to extremes that might seem impossible for the ordinary man. To me that is just as "Animal" as Eric´s horse like legs.
Animal should not go back to BB only because both sports identify with the brand.
LOL, thanks! It's all happening too fast! Getting married, than a year after kids are on the menu and my father and the partners of the particular family biz I work at want me taking a FAR more active role in the company and heading everything related to Sales and Marketing (basically being the whole department). I guess its forcing me have to grow up =)
There are also three spots open at Animal...wait what? =)
Weird how that all works...
And then you can hire me in sales and marketing or graphics design or IT and move me to Texas. I am sick of the snow lol.
PS: Kids change the game man, I will never look back.
And then you can hire me in sales and marketing or graphics design or IT and move me to Texas. I am sick of the snow lol.
PS: Kids change the game man, I will never look back.
LOL! That would be fun!
I've been told that kids make for very motivating factors. Lifters have mentioned they push it harder in the gym to finish up quicker so they can get home and spend time with them! Love it!
I've been told that kids make for very motivating factors. Lifters have mentioned they push it harder in the gym to finish up quicker so they can get home and spend time with them! Love it!
It would take some convincing w/ the wife to go to Texas but it could be fun.
Yeah, I push a lot of my workouts to get home. Nothing like walking through the door and having your kids yell "Daddy's Home" and come sprinting to you.
I've always seen Animal as being about the mindset and approach to strength training, whether it be bodybuilding, powerlifting or strongman, it's about the lifestyle. not just the end result. But you take that and then couple it in with the impressive aspects that hardwork gives off--great physiques bodybuilding-wise, great feats of strength powerlifting and strongman wise and you have an aspirational brand in which others, like myself included, look up to and respect the athletes that represent the brand.
This is what hits it on the head for me. It's the love for hitting the weights. To me the weight room is sacred like a safe haven. Its where no matter what the rest of the world was doing or what you were going through you could hit the weights and be free. It's aldo why growing up I would never hit on girls at the gym... If things went wrong you'd have just made your sanctuary uncomfortable... You don't shit where you eat. But that intensity of training and love for the iron is what animal represents. The raw emotion of lifting. And the best part is whether you're a laid back kinda guy like me or just oozing attitude and aggression all day when we hit the gym we get to bring out our true, inner selves--the primal side. I couldn't be without it. So to me powerlifting, strongman and bodybuilding are all just different expressions of the same thing. Animal has done well to capture that and take those whose accomplishments at the highest levels of each of those ends of the spectrum and inspire!
Dan "Boss" Green
WR 2099 raw total @220
WR 2083 raw total @242
WR 2210 raw w/wraps total @242