In the context of the conversation about preparatory period out-of-competition American lightweight Vazgen Soghoyan said that he is going for the best achievements to the sport festival Arnold Classic, which will be held March 2-5 in Columbus, Ohio, USA, and shared some plans for the future.

Vazgen, do you think that the off-season exists in armwrestling?

- As in other sports, armwrestling has the off-season too. The athlete makes a calendar of competitions and, of course, for off-season/preparation period. During this period, he does light workouts, can afford to gain a few extra kilos, do not follow a strict diet, treat injuries and restore the body as a whole. As well as watching his personal life, this also helps in the psychological recovery from the stress of competition.

Do you have the off-season?

- I also have such period, but it is very short, because my calendar is very rich in different tournaments.

Usually I keep good shape, more rest, spend more time with family and friends. I prefer to come back to normal training process at once, because the body is ready, it is well restored.

How are your workouts in out-of-competition period?

- In such period the emphasis is on everything that makes be better than before. It all depends on the competition, where I would pull. For 2 months I start to increase the load. In the in-between competitions I pull in my usual shape, I don’t need to add something. Because I could be in the process of heavy weights using. I just rest a couple of days before the fight.

Which competitions are you going to pull?

- Now I prepare to Arnold Classic, my favorite tournament. I won it last year, and as a whole ranked first 2 times. Going to win for the third time! The shape is good, I train on schedule. In early April, we have the United States Championship in Tahoe City, there have to win to get into the national team.