JFIFC    $ &%# #"(-90(*6+"#2D26;=@@@&0FKE>J9?@=C  =)#)==================================================S" }!1AQa"q2#BR$3br %&'()*456789:CDEFGHIJSTUVWXYZcdefghijstuvwxyz w!1AQaq"2B #3Rbr $4%&'()*56789:CDEFGHIJSTUVWXYZcdefghijstuvwxyz ?ؘ *Rl(xwnt^b ;$rF;KaSoq]l=RE1;01+J\=rk?LD2͜ZUu#ob:Q{ŘQfhē.=[QKU8ʶ;Ƭ8Vvi\\cW& 3aHkQ<Igv=0 8*[I)lsif%\d΂%ŭªޝ饘;Ol nq9[J\;cЧ=N4{!Þ}i |b8$ui,2+ kkdڌHŒh([F*'+d9ﺼIvK(a֭KڕѳҴK̛3v~k7n3Sƺ+ζD7a;ԯY߆rIlIs{cg<ԐcVUzcI;1Hes^cR?Gqki̯4J>]ʖ{'o-Mp W.ŎCtWN%ڟn_FM"nJ}*nFXmXptK ol1aPIqy涱rJI@P}Ҕor(>=2G-2d8 A5liQ7U \} Ѡ3jv)3`&T>$zޓ?i ڝF~- ޤJ'=ݵgf g WSᥞ=:yJϓqZZ~KzUTrU=j[<#U' 2OU88aEt:A-E12z *sΜT9h)8B͌."KraAj!o! *bcɠ`~e',п]Igk 2Y"Hrs\֯6yHw9 zKqRM<JY݂$]NR!%m25bJ"H޻tP!1H"ccx{@]*{]MYWtZ~8ɒ#jf.G :& ,Oa5bB2Z =kKh4g<ZP -̛sʎzw?6*XpMyf]ra5df5]wXOZu)!*H!r9RGV["q<% CVs]6oOoxĆhbkSL湲9hvj7w bB*$;*tz ߳]YJ]}Kq^F^eAn.@ ;3꺎ii&VkM&{v6bNh #NK%X|{QRhyEE/>MA^UnK/#1oFmo1>td4eާT4FbI&4:㨯.eĞks2 Fp\gcWkM-4Ēdd-N=+uYVIctƒ8,~/5Arxx_˓^àh6Qg2y L? 7 Ч??(@*"[Ri:v[$tKbW8=j(v 9*3촨-7F0CN~ӄb( BEl\3)QcR*/BŒRER9dYv=jÂ>5bKA ^IāQHA=qzJum]|/!DIsh09PS~ZW~<叩\8 2bQu+Uue緐eeB}E q\׵z忸$QD}bx29\{3͘.?lޒ;,7pՊjO( 1q֊ǖ546^kXE\QErQض6 #ڱ+lTo(ʇCEwO'+m=K xb;QEmOcĆf[k#»[@*̘QI*Z|J‡8Уy (N OҊ(t72H*zP08$PQRERbr>Although Schmitz had lifted weights since his teen years, his major focus in high school and college was becoming bigger, faster and stronger for football. Since strength coaching was a relatively new field, Schmitz learned the basics of Olympic lifting, as so many athletes did in those days, by reading magazines and studying the now classic books on strength training such as those by Joe Bonomo. A 1968 graduate of San Francisco State College, Schmitz played on the defensive line and earned MVP honors for his team. But at 5 10 and 200 pounds he didn t have the size to play in the NFL, so when his final season ended on the college gridiron he decided to change his athletic focus to Olympic-style weightlifting.<br>After receiving his degree in physical education in 1968, Schmitz became a co-owner of Alex s Sports Palace Gym in San Francisco on Mission Street. The gym was a hardcore, free weight facility, or as Schmitz says,  The Sports Palace was a triceps and biceps, squat and bench, snatch and clean-and-jerk type of gym. It had two lifting platforms, but when Schmitz came on board there was only one member who practiced competitive weightlifting, Walt Gioseffi. Gioseffi and Schmitz became good friends, and Gioseffi helped Schmitz learn many of the finer points of the classical lifts: the Olympic press (which was dropped from lifting competition after the 1972 Olympics), the snatch and the clean and jerk. Schmitz eventually reached a level where he could Olympic press 281, snatch 275 and clean and jerk 347 at a bodyweight of 200 pounds.<br>As Schmitz s training knowledge grew, so did the number of Olympic