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STRONG: The Movie
As many of you already know, there was a documentary filmed at our gym during the course of this past year and it’s about to be released! On Thursday, May 1st, 150 “VIP” athletes, parents and trainers gathered at the Clearview Theater in Bergenfield, NJ to watch the premiere of ‘STRONG’ on the big screen! To say the audience “liked” the film would be a major UNDERstatement! Simply put, the entire crowd was BLOWN AWAY!
One of the “VIP” guests in the audience was the “Underground Strength Coach” himself, Zach Even-Esh. Zach took it upon himself to write a review of the movie and post it on his website the day after the premiere. Below is a copy of Zach’s review, along with a new movie trailer. Enjoy!
I will be back in a week or two to let everyone know exactly where and when they can see this incredible documentary! Trust me…it’s going to be worth the wait!
-Joe D.
-Zach’s review…
Wow, what a night Thursday was…
If you haven't heard, last Spring and Summer a film crew was recording every second of action at Joe D's place and it was churned out and whipped into an amazing documentary entitled, “STRONG”. I'm talking about the stuff you've seen in ‘Pumping Iron’…except there is more training footage and more emotion behind “STRONG”!
Yup, it's a freakin' classic already - I loved it! It made me laugh, almost had me crying, gave me goose bumps and it really hit home as to how big of a deal it is when we can touch and change people lives.
One week before I got married (about 4 years ago) I was able to schedule a private consultation with Joe D. I was emailing Joe for a good 6 months before he caved in and found a small opening in his schedule for me. Back then, he was training athletes out of a storage closet in a health club. I wasn't a cry-baby about it either; I paid big bucks to see Joe D that day for an hour of his time; I did this because I knew that the information would help shape my training methods into greater methods. In turn, this was best for my athletes and of course, better for my business. I don't feel good when I'm not learning, and Joe D was a coach that I related to very much. Today, we're good friends and we are both on the EliteFTS Q&A Team. I trek up to Joe's gym whenever I can (or whenever my wife lets me, ha ha). You see, Joe has not only influenced me because of his training methods, but more so because of his passion, his commitment to being the best, and his dedication to family, friends and his athletes. Joe knows what "friends" can do to you, he knows his athletes should get the best and he is very close with his family. His father, George, who was at one time the 3rd best arm wrestler in the world – was a huge influence on Joe. George used to own a few gyms, the last of which I actually trained at long before I even met Joe. That gym was under new ownership, but it still had all the homemade, welded equipment that George put in there. It was in a scary place -- not an area where you wanna take more than one wrong turn, if you catch my drift :)
Joe came from a hardcore lifting background - as did I - it's all we know. You really feel this and see this when watching Joe's documentary. The intensity is awe-inspiring on film!
The film taught me that perhaps my athletes and even myself are not training hard enough, not intensely enough, or perhaps do not want "it" bad enough. When I watched what some of Joe’s athletes had to go through in life, as well as what they had to go through to train at Joe’s gym, I see no reason why my athletes or anyone else out there needs to complain one second! Some of Joe's clients had to scrape by tooth and nail just to get by due to living conditions, violence, danger, and life threatening illness.
Joe's father, George, reminded me why a father/husband needs to be “strong” - both mentally and physically.
Joe reminded me to go for my dreams, do what I love, strive to be the best, and most of all, be a down-to-earth human being.
Typing away I feel a bit teary-eyed, thinking of everything that hit me in this movie.
I can see myself watching this documentary over and over again, just the way I watched “Pumping Iron” over and over again when I was 15. The world of strength training for athletics is about to change forever once this movie becomes available!
In Strength,
Zach Even-Esh
The Underground Strength Coach
Copyright 2008
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