Post by Joey Smith on Sept 7, 2007 12:39:37 GMT -5
Interview with Chris “Ox” Mason by Mard Bartley
We at South Carolina Barbell have been fortunate to find ourselves in the company of Chris “Ox” Mason and his wife Kristi at meets for the last 4 or so years. They are always so nice and are a lot of fun. Here is a look inside Ox the powerlifter. Thank you for answering our questions, we will see you around!
Name: Chris Ox Mason
Age: 34 (damn it)
Height: 5' 5 "
Weight: 230
Hometown: Winston-Salem NC (not really my home town, I have lived in just about every state East of the Mississippi, but Kristi and I have been in Winston for 11 yrs, the longest I have lived anywhere.)
Tell us a little bit about your FABULOUS wife! Kristi "Hot Rod" Mason. We met at App State at the campus gym. We have been married 10 yrs, no kids, (we have 4 dogs & she has 3 FREAKIN cats). She is a pharma rep for Forrest Pharma. She has been by my side at EVERY meet. She can be seen and heard right there, basically ON the platform when I am lifting. She is my biggest fan. She lights up every room she enters.
Occupation: I sell drugs for Santarus pharma, and I am also the CEO, and owner of Oxsportz
Do you have a website? WWW.OXSPORTZ.COM
Where do you train? Greensboro Barbell in G-boro NC.
What brought you into the sport of powerlifting? In college, Travis Mash and I trained together: he for power, me for bodybuilding. He always seemed to have more fun at meets than I did. Even though I was bodybuilding, I always strived to be very strong, so the switch was easy.
Have you competed in any other sports? Played a little football (I sucked) & wrestled (stunk). I also studied Tae Kwon Do from 8 yrs old until I was 21. I enjoyed TKD, but LOVED lifting weights, so I had to make a choice, to half way do both, or go all the way with one. I hope my decision was obvious.
When was your first Powerlifting competition and how did you do? In 1997 I did a local BP meet, placed 1st.
Give us a summary of the meets you have competed in so far in your career and how you did in each. There have been SO many. I am not very good at keepin up with them all. I actually had to call Travis to jog my memory! I did a few local BP meets first, my first full meet was a AAU meet in 1998. I lifted as a guest. I then lifted at the 1st and only WPO qualifiier meet in 1998 at the Arnold. There have been a few nationals, a handfull of WPO semis, BOMBED at the WPO Finals last yr. Then my most recent was the WPO Semis in NY. I was nursing 2 injuries (herniated disk, & ruptured calf) at the time, so my goal was to place 5th so I could go back to the Arnold this year. I placed 5th by the hair of my chinny chin chin.
How do you structure your training for a week? I use a modified WSBB template. I do speed squats and speed deads on Monday, Wednesday is yoga, Thursday is bench, 2 weeks of shirt and third week is raw/speed, Friday is max effort lower body.
Have you tried any training that is new or different that people might learn from? The 3 day training is really helping my recovery. I am not as young as I once was, so I can't hammer it 4days a week and still work a full time job AND run Oxsportz.
What are your thoughts on Cardio for the powerlifer? Don't do it, you can only train your body to do one thing at a time. You can either lift a lot of weight for 1 rep, or you can train your body for endurance. Now I'm not saying you shouldn't take your fat ass for a walk every so often, but you catch my drift.
What about nutrition? WHAT ABOUT IT? Just eat.
What lifters are you inspired by? I like to watch the smaller guys lift huge wts. Guys at 165 squatin’ 700-800 scare me. But I figure if they can squat that a grand should be no biggie for me!
What is the one training tool you could not do without? Monolift, I HATE to walk weight out!!!!
Are you looking forward to the Arnold? YEP!
We had heard a rumor about you taking a year off to heal that general all over body pain that powerlifters get, but I guess the call of the Arnold Classic was too much. What made you decide to stick in for this year? I had a herniated disk in my back, and I FINALLY took some time off (2 months) to let my body heal itself. The time off, plus, I moved the bar higher up on my back, fixed the problem. And I ain't getting any younger, so figured I might as well throw my hat in the ring.
What numbers are you looking for at the Arnold? If I told you, I'd have to kill you. I do hope to finally get a 1000 lb squat under my belt.
Have you altered your training to prepare? If so, how? Just the 3 day, less volume over all.
What is one thing about you that none of your fans know that might surprise them? I am a big softy for homeless animals. I am always bringing home some stray. Usually, I find them a home but as a said earlier, I have 4 dogs and 3 cats, so sometimes they get to stay.
You have a pretty big crew in North Carolina that you lift with. Tell us a little bit about how you all came together? Most of us are refugees from other gyms that we either got booted out of, or they closed down. So thru mutual friends and the internet we just kinda found each other. Most of us came from the old HOPG, that later became ECBB. Now from the old ECBB, we have Granite City BB, Greensboro BB, Team Turture (Charlotte) and a crew from NEBO. We try to get together to train, once and awhile, and WE ALWAYS support each other at the meets.
Who all are you sponsored by? Metal, Elitefts, APT pro wrist wraps, and AtLargeNutrition.
The debate is forever raging about gear vs. no gear. Would you like to weigh in on that matter? Nobody wants to see sprinters run barefoot, and no one complains about basketball courts made of rubber, I don’t see the problem. I have a buddy, who drag races Harleys. In a given day there will be guys and gals racing street (on pump gas) motors, motors w/ nitrous, motors w/ super chargers, 88 inch motors up to 150 inch motors. There is a class for all to race against like bikes. I don’t see the issue. If you are afraid to suit up and or gear up, then shut up, and lift weights, nobody cares. It’s always the non-gear or non-supplement guys talking shit. I have tons of respect for ALL kinds of strength training. Clean, not clean, powerlifting, weight lifting, strong man, highland games, throwing, raw, or with equipment, its all cool to me!
What about the future of Powerlifting. It seems that though the lifting is phenomenal right now, with incredible lifters from all over the world, the sport is actually at a crossroads. In what direction would you like to see it go? I'd like to see us on TV right before or after strongman, but with everybody bitchin’ and moaning about drug testing, and gear it ain't gonna happen. Do they drug test strongmen? Nobody knows because nobody makes it an issue. Strongmen wear squat suit, wraps, and deadlift suits, they just wear it under shorts and a tee shirt, and put knee sleeves over the wraps. That way it’s not an issue with the audience.
What products out there do you use or recommend other lifters using? I only use products from At large nutrition. The OTHER Chris Mason, who owns the company, only uses the best ingredients, and only makes tried and true products. There is a protein powder, and a Meal replacement, a creatine, a fat burner. He WILL not get caught up in the latest supplement scam, NOX, or whatever. For my lifting gear, Metal fits my lifting style. I have tried all the gear and I lift more and more comfortably in Metal.
I know that you have a great heavy duty belt that you sell, can you tell us about that. Personally, as a female, I have used it and find it much better than the normal belts. I love it for deadlifts (it doesn’t get caught on your rib cage) and the bench. Well, I actually make three different types of belts: There is a Standard power belt which is 4 inches wide all the way around, the second is a tapered power belt. It is 4 inches wide in the back, and 2 inches in the front, like a bodybuilder style belt. Woman, because of there hips, and guys with a belly, like this belt to pull, squat, and bench in. My third style of belt is the most popular, the Big Bench Belt. It is 2 inches all the way around. It allows the lifter to pull the belt down low, to hold down the shirt, and forces the belly to rise up to shorten the bench stroke. All my belts come with the EZ-Cinch system. This is where I make the section of the belt where the holes are only 10 mm thick, where as the rest of the belt is 12 mm which allows for quicker adjustments, and quicker break in time.
Do you have any funny pre-contest things that you do to get psyched up? Nope pretty normal, I just visualize myself doing the lift before I step on the platform. If it is not right in my mind, I won't approach the bar.
(The following are 10 questions modified from a set of questions made popular by some French reporter. They are currently used on the TV show “Inside the Actors Studio” on Bravo. I have adapted them for our use...)
What is your favorite exercise? deads, even though I stink at them.
What is your least favorite exercise? Bench
What turns you on about lifting? Being bigger and stronger than 99.9% of the people on the planet.
What turns you off? Hurting ALL the time.
What is your favorite curse word? Fuck, it is the most versitile word in the English language. it can be a verb (I fucked her ), it can be a noun (you stupid fuck), it can ask a question (what the fuck?), it can give directions (how bout you go play hide and go fuck yourself?) or it can be almost every word in the sentence (the fuckin fuck, fucked the fuckin shit the fuck up)
What sound or noise in the gym do you love? The sound plates make as you slam another on.
What sound or noise in the gym do you hate? Whining and gay ass commercial gym musak
What sport other than powerlifting would you like to attempt? If I wasn’t so damn old, and already in plenty of pain, I'd like to try MMA.
What sport would you not like to do? GOLF, if you see me playing golf, call the suicide doc, put me out of my misery.
If Heaven exists, what would you like to hear God (or whomever) say when you arrive at the Pearly Gates? I'm a Taoist, so I'm already in here