Tadow Gym
HardCore Gym # 63
What do you believe?
"If you build it, they will come." This is either a quote from the movie Field Of Dreams, or from Anna Nicole's plastic surgeon. I can't remember which. But it has something to do with today's HardCore gym; be patient.
When I was a little boy, my dad had a quote on the wall of his office that changed my life. Pop was the most successful man I knew, and so if it was important to him - it must've been really important. The quote sticks with me now, almost 40 years later: "Whatever you vividly imagine, ardently desire, sincerely believe, and enthusiastically act upon must inevitably come to pass." (Paul J. Meyer)
A simpler way to say this is "Believe it and achieve it." It's a season of sappy phrases - so sue me. The point is that we need to imagine our success, then work hard towards it until it is reality. I thought that I was good at this, because I visualize successful lifts and white lights. I even read Dr. Judd's books and so I did it right. But I suck BIG TIME (at this skill) compared to Jason 'Tadow' Carson - he takes it to a HNL (hole-nutha-level)!!
I've met Jason a few times at BP meets, and he generally wears a Tadow Gym T-Shirt. He always refers to Tadow Gym when he meets people, and he signs his letters "Tadow - CEO of Tadow Gym." I have SEVERAL newspaper articles that refer to him as the CEO of Tadow Gym. Jason puts on BP Meets in Decatur, Illinois - everyone feels the team of lifters from Tadow Gym.
Try to imagine my surprise when he recently told me: 'one day I will have my gym.' WHAT?!? TADOW GYM is just a dream and a plan? What is UP?
Let me back up a little and explain. Jason "Tadow" Carson is a stocky lifter with 22" arms. He is currently a 198# lifter, and he has packed a lot of muscle size on his 5'8" frame. His wife Siodhan says that his musculature causes strangers to ask if he is a pro football player. People stare at him in restaurants. (They stare at me too, and often signal that I have food on my face or clothing.) But Jason benches really big, and he has won a lot of BP awards. I hear that his entire family is big, and he has a photo of himself with a few big weightlifting cousins (James, Alan, Brian, Bill, and Steve) on the wall of the garage where he works out when he trains at home.
Jason was a sprinter in High School, but he and his family have always lifted weights. He started gaining strength during Karate as a kid, then progressed into more serious lifting as his body responded to the weights. Jason says "I was about 25 when I won my first bench press event, and the trophy was almost 6' tall; man, I felt good." (Note to P/L Meet Promoters: what does this tell you?) Jason evidently started out in a few meets put on by Dr. Darrell Latch (Son Light Power) and our hat remains off for Darrell Latch; he brings more new lifters into this sport than anyone I know! Many of these lifters go on to excel in the great sport of powerlifting. Ron Palmer is one of the many who come to mind - that started out with Darrell Latch. (Q: did you bring a new lifter to a P/L meet this year?) Jason has now received a total of about 275 awards, medals, trophies, and sculptures. There are a lot of gyms that haven't won that many awards - between all of their members! "Tadow Gym" has that many awards won by just the CEO, and Tadow Gym hasn't even opened yet!!
Jason 'Tadow' Carson has progressed up through the weight classes as he packs more and more muscle on his frame. He now holds records in the 165, 181, and 198# classes. He currently benches about 475 raw, and hopes to bench about 575-600 in his BP Shirt. Not bad for a 198# lifter with room to grow a few pounds of BW!
He works full-time as a machine operator for Archer Daniels Midland Company, but still finds time to train about 17 kids during the summer months. He also promotes BP meets, like his wacky "Don't Come With No Weak Stuff RAW Bench-Off." Wow. He really needed a few more words on that T-Shirt, didn't he?!? This BP meet attracted lifters from other cities and states - so he must be getting the (Tadow Gym) word out beyond Decatur, Illinois. He has since renamed his meets "(Who Is) King of the Bench?" to make them easier to remember. These BP meets have both Raw & Shirted categories. He has also planned a meet titled "The Baddest Of the Classes." He's really proud of these BP meets, but he keeps his eye on the prize: he still wants to open a gym. 'Tadow Gym' is still mostly a dream, and the meets are a way to turn it into a lifting reality.
Jason currently trains at the AMD Wellness Center, and he also has a lot of weights and equipment in his garage - so he can train at home when he needs to. Like most of us. Although he coaches younger lifters, he also has a coach (John Hudson) to encourage him. Jason sets many goals, and hopes that his BP prowess will help his credibility so that when he opens Tadow Gym - he can also write 'How-To' books and train a new crop of lifters.
He places God first, and has a pastor (C.D. Stuart) pray for him before he goes to bigger PL Meets. This blessing eases his nerves, and prepares him spiritually. He prepares physically by training hard and eating right. He is only afraid of one thing: break-dancing. He hardly ever injures himself while lifting, but he did strain his groin while trying to spin on the floor - to show some kids how he used to break dance back in the day. But maybe he better avoid kicking it old-school when he's getting ready for BP meets. (That's the only reason I don't break-dance: potential groin injuries.)
Jason credits so many people for helping him that we cannot begin to list them all; suffice it to say that he appreciates everything that anyone has ever done for him. He is very grateful and gracious. More importantly; he believes that he'll soon open TADOW GYM, and he acts like this belief is already a reality.
Jason hopes to get a bigger garage to improve his home gym, and add more weights and equipment until he ultimately open a commercial gym named TADOW GYM. When TADOW GYM becomes a reality, he'll put on BP Meets and train young lifters in the fine art of bench-pressing. Until TADOW GYM opens; he'll put on BP meets and train lifters wherever he can. Jason is the CEO of TADOW GYM!
What do you believe you can achieve???
Thanks for all of the cards and letters of sympathy for my dead dinosaur (mentioned last month). No more flowers, please. Next month, we'll go to a more conventional gym, but it's in an out-of-the-way place with four (count 'em: 4) syllables in the town name. That makes it special. Like my friend Bokeesha - sometimes the name just makes you.
Comments: rick@houseofpain.com
Cash donations: HOUSE OF PAIN
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