A pretzel of a paradox

while I was home I had a conversation with my younger brother. He was telling me how I can't take people literally and can't let what people say affect me. At the same time he was telling me to disregard what people thought he was telling me to care way more about what people thought, it was a pretzel of a paradox. Basically he had figured out chimpanzee culture somewhat by being a very social guy and he was giving me some insight into it. It's complex and he agreed. Last time I was home he was giving me suggestions how I should cut my hair and shave my facial hair, hinting that I would fit in better. At the same time I called out one of his friends who has a long beard. As it so happens the guy with the long beard has lots of friends and is funny, he's also overweight. But his family is connected to many other families and he was on the football team in high school that went to the playoffs, etc, etc. So you can do what you want with your appearance as long as you hold a certain status, otherwise it's to risky. confused? So basically I would have to work my way up the hierarchy before I could actually look, do, and say what I want. it's complicated. this is chimpanzee culture. It's the basic social stuff we take for granted and if you anaylize it you see how rediculous it is. It's like status and politics of social culture are based on a big equation. Basically the friend I was referring to could wear a beard because he had a personality,status, alpha status to make up for it. It's all one big equation. A big equation that I don't get. I was raised by liberals who told me to be myself and be individual, do your own thing, that we can all be different and get along, but it's way more complicated than that apparently. My brother was giving me a peak inside a window of a world that I am oblivious to.

End of my rope

The title is a phrase that my parents used to say when I was younger and I can relate to it. It's a phrase that brings up images of someone dangling from a cliff by a rope and they are at the end of it. They don't have any strength left and they are about to loose control. Maybe they are only hanging on by one hand, maybe their fingers are starting to slip, and it's only a matter of time before they have nothing to cling onto anymore. When my parents said this it basically meant that they were close to loosing control and to beware of the consequences if I chose to push or test them. When they said that phrase it was known to keep your distance from them. I find myself at the end of my own rope and often wonder how I got that far down the rope. I mean, it always seems like just yesterday I was at the top of the rope just about to pull myself up off the cliff. I suppose life is all about hanging onto the rope, and even letting go of the rope now and then. This is a depressing topic, but I don't care. It's late December, it's below zero outside, it's dark, and these are the things I think about when I'm down in the rabbit hole. That's what happens when you let go of the rope, you fall down into the rabbit hole.

What's up with me?

I went out and drank socially last night for the first time in probably two years. I drank a bunch of Heineken and a few Jameson whiskey's. Jameson is the second Irish Whiskey I've tried this year, the other one was Wolfhound, both by me taste of candy apple. Is that typical of Irish whiskey's? I cut my hair. I'm not happy about this but who cares. Yes, I regret it, but maybe I needed a change. Obviously a part of me wanted a change. My grandfather died at the age of 84, I just got back from the funeral yesterday. My grandpa lived a good and long life but his death hit me a little harder considering that his daughter, my aunt, my mother's sister, also passed away this summer in a motorcycle/automobile collision. Her and my uncle were on the motorcycle. She died, he lived. It was good to see him at the funeral. He could have lost his legs but I saw him walking around well. I'm taking two weeks off from Weightlifting to focus on finals and graduation. I've still been coaching my student James. James is currently on a sort of off season program of pulls and squats. He tweaked his wrist on a clean a couple weeks back. He's done some pulls and powers and in the end I think his pull will be much sharper once his wrist comes around. He's been doing some back squats also. I'm big on Bulgarian type of programming but I'm starting to think that there is room for other things. Yes, snatch and clean and jerk should be the meat and potatoes, but there's nothing wrong with throwing in the veggies in there as well. Snatch, Clean and Jerk, Power snatch, Power clean, front squat, back squat, snatch pull, clean pull. (That's the meat, potatoes, and veggies right there) Some other exercises that I think will help me with my deficient overhead position include: Jerk Recoveries, BTN overhead exercises, dips (for some reason this help my crappy elbow, I also read that Oscar Chaplin used to do these). Also, I like the pull to the hip exercise, making sure to stay over the bar. Like John Drewes said, In powerlifting the lift is over at the hip, In weightlifting things are just getting started at the hip. I tried out some Romanian deadlifts but honestly It doesn't seem specific enough, you're never over the bar that soon in the pull (below the knee).

Fun/Intense 90s movies

1. Romeo + Juliet

Yep the one with Leo Dicaprio. I actually saw this movie in the theater. It wasn't the local one in Decorah, IA either. We must have been on vacation, maybe in Chicago or California. I remember my older brother had tears in his eyes as we were walking out after the movie was over. He was always more sensitive than me. I remember when our dog died he cried too but I didn't. I feel things, I'm just so internal, so introverted, intense. I'd be more likely not to cry but to go home and write about it. My dad was a teacher and we always had Macintosh computers, even those early ones with the floppy disks. I remember admiring a young girl from town and writing about it on that computer, a journal of sorts, of course my older brother found it, read it, and made fun of me, once again the extrovert. Anybody remember the game Spectre? How about Myst? Lemmings? Those were some good times.

2. The Fifth Element

Yep, Bruce Willis and Milla Jovovich, "Corban Dallas" and "Li Lu", he had blonde hair and she had orange hair. That movie was rad and I'm not one to say rad, it's just what come to mind.

3. Hackers

Mess with the best, die like the rest. Yep, Angelina Jolie, those juicy lips, damn. The soundtrack to this movie was down right jawsome. That's a word I got from my dad, I think it's a combination of jaw dropping and awesome, jawsome. Hackers made you want to drink Jolt cola and stay up all night, and we did. I remember buying Jolt cola in Protovin, IA. Remember Crystal Clear Pepsi?

Those 3 movies kick ass

90s kicked ass. I don't know what happened. Clinton got out of the White House, Bush took over, War in the Middle East, Meth, Adderal, Slipknot, Economic downturn, recession, 9-11, long hair wasn't cool anymore. It's like the 90s was the 70s sort of, and the 2000s were the 80s. Hopefully the good times come back around again.

True Blue

Early December

The day was like night

Her eyes piercing

They cut me deep

and it felt good to feel

That snow white afternoon

A glimpse of perfection

True Blue was the color of her eyes.

Training the CHinese system

So for two semesters down in Waterloo Iowa I lived in Jianping Ma's basement. Another lifter Dan Moeller lived down there to. We trained at United Sport and Athlete and I got a glimpse into the Chinese system of training.

    First things first, in my opinion the classic lifts were not done enough. There were some weeks were it seemed like all we did was assistance stuff and then on friday we were expected to max out on the classic lifts. I remember being scared to death of the classic lifts on fridays, scared like I was going to hurt myself.

    About those assistance exercises, too many were used. It seems like the Chinese do variety for the sake of doing variety. Many exercises I felt didn't help me at all. Maybe they would help some people but not me. That's were I think the Russians got it right, instead of doing variety just for the sake of variety, it seems the Russian program in exercise like medicine to compensate for deficiencies and weaknesses.

    Some of the exercises under the Chinese system I liked, I was smart enough to get a gut sense when an exercise was helping me out. Exercises such as jerk recoveries, good mornings, and stiff legged deadlifts. We never did much behind the neck stuff but I find that those exercises help my crappy shoulders and overhead position.

    Squats were done three times per week usually but not always, sometimes it seemed like we did more deadlifting than anything. Many of us suffered from old man walking syndrome as a result. This is where you walk like an old man because of the heavy deadlifting. It made me feel like tight, stiff, unathletic. People would go way too heavy, to the point where backs would round and form would break down.

    We did a lot of high pulls and I never minded them, I'd rather do pulls over deadlifts anyday. I always felt I had pretty good form on my pulls too. So as much as I trash pulls, I really don't hate them as much as you would think, it just feels wrong not to go under.

   What other exercises did we do? You name it we did it. Muscle snatches, power jerks, power snatches, power cleans, half squats in the power rack, french presses, rows, press, push press, lifts/pulls/deadlifts from the blocks, hang lifts, hyper extensions, bench presses, treadmill running, pauses in the half squat for time with 50-60 kilos, rack jerks, snatch balances, pull ups, toes to bar, leg extentions. I"m sure I'm forgetting others. None of it was based on your weakness and everybody had the same program. Like I said, variety for the sake of variety.

    My theory is that it's a cultural thing. I think Asians like variety, I think it stimulates them. I could be wrong though.

    One of the best things was that Jianping Ma wasn't just a coach, he was the team masseuse as well. Sometimes he'd give me a quick massage after practice or else he would walk on my back, "Simon, let me walk your back", he'd say. He also brought in an inversion table to be used post workout. He liked us to hang from the pull up bar for the same reason, I think it was to decompress the spine. All of that stuff was a good element to the training. One time I let him do the suction cups to my back. I remember coming home one weekend and showing my family the red marks, I think I messed with them and told them something was wrong, they freaked out before I explained what they really were.

    I could see how the system would be good for the extremely talented individual. You wouldn't have to max out much, most of the time you do assistance and bodybuilding, lot's of variety keeping the mood light. And that's all fine and dandy as long as you were born to snatch and clean and jerk. That's what I thought anyway.

    We lifting on Zhangkong (ZK) bars which I didn't particularly like. There was one competition bar that we kept in the corner that was really nice, the spin was crazy. I'd much rather lift on Uesaka or Eleiko.

  I don't know what else to write about. Maybe I'll do a part two sometime.

     

Weightlifting is like sex

Weightlifting is like sex. There, I've wrote it. I'm not the only one to ever think this. Why is it like sex? Because it's a release, because you have to pour yourself into the lift, because it's a burst, because you will make noises that sound sexual as you grunt and aggressively exhale, because it's intimate, it's you and the bar, and yes to do this in competition is like having sex in front of people. There is a rhythm to it and if you can't find that rhythm then you aren't doing it right and you'll never get to the finish line. Gwen Sisto says weightlifting is parasympathetic, I would guess that sex is parasympathetic as well. That usually means it would get clumped in the "Rest and digest" category but that ain't right. Sure, there is a relaxed aspect to it, just like sex, but as we know there is something very not relaxed about it as well. It takes focus, it take concentration, you have to be into it fully, submersed, in a world within a world, same as you can't be watching the football game while you are having sex, it's possible but obviously it isn't as meaningful. That's why weightlifters might get confused as being "fussy", it's fine if music is on in the gym but not too loud, people shifting around the gym can be distracting. We are trying to reach a climax but we have to rest and calm down between each set in order to do that. That's the way it is, rest, climax, rest, climax, again and again. It's hard to rest when music is blasting or the room is full of loud discussion. I admit, that is "fussy" but it's the way it is, because weightlifting is like sex. It can be difficult for new weightlifters to perform in front of people watching because weightlifting is like sex. They have to show what they look like, what they sound like, the faces they make that occur when they bear down and lift the bar. I actually get mocked in my gym for the noises I make or the faces I make. It's no different than getting made fun of for the faces or noises you make during sex. Everyone is gonna have there own individual faces and noises when they completely bear down on a lift. If you don't know what I'm talking about, watch a video of the best weightlifter to ever lift, Naim Suleymanolgu, watch the way he opens his mouth wide open before he pulls on the bar, it's like the "Oh face" as described in Office space. Good lifters pour themselves into the lift, it's a sacrifice of emotion, tension, stress, past, future, everything. That's all mainly because it's a one rep max sport, you are betting the farm on each lift, it's totally different than the efficiency needed to save your energy when doing reps. There it is, I've finally wrote it down, Weightlifting is like sex.

My personal journey

It may surprise some of you, maybe not to some others....that I was a spastic fireball with legs from about the age I was born up until my early teen years. My parents even took me to a shrink when I was maybe 10 or 12. Not much was said, I wasn't in touch with anything that was going on. I just knew my brothers pissed me off a lot and we would fight and try to kill each other. I grew up with two brothers and no sisters. With my dad included, that's four males in a house and one female being my mom. Both my parents worked so that left a lot of time for three brothers to basically go primal rage on each other daily. And I was smack dab in the middle, the middle of three brothers. The youngest was the sentimental one, the oldest had the authority, and I was just crazy. I punched and kicked so many holes in sheet rock walls of our house that it's just embarrassing looking back. My parents not only worked, they worked two jobs each because they ran a restaurant/bed and breakfast on the side. There was one thing that leveled me out back then and that was rollerblading. To be continued...

Tempering

It's September in River Falls Wisconsin and I just got out of a hot bath boiling session. The high temperature today was in the low sixties/high fifties and it'll get down in the low forties tonight, just last week the temperature was in the high eighties, sixties at night, and I was taking ice baths after training. Welcome to the Upper Midwest and as they say, if you don't like the weather, stay longer. Back to the boiling session I just got out of. I first read about boiling in Aurther Dreschlers, I'm butchering the name, anyway his Weightlifting Encyclopedia. It was something the Bulgarians would do to cut water weight before weighing in for a competition. I'm sure many others have done so also. Boiling is the opposite of the ice bath, it's time efficient. Instead of sitting in a hot tub for 20-30 minutes, you lay down, submersed, with only your head out of the water. Usually my knees come out as well because my bath isn't that big, but the main part is that most of your body is under very hot water. This cuts time down a bunch. Ten minutes goes a long way. Your core temperature rises and you sweat bunches. I tell you these are a life saver in times of cold weather. They got the job done so well that for awhile I mistakenly took them all year round. The same thing happened with ice baths. The trick is knowing when to implement which hydrotherapy. For me I'd say ice baths really come in handy when the temperature gets eighty plus. The sixties to seventies would probably be idle training weather where you could just take your regular hot shower for bodily cleansing and not have to worry about finding equilibrium through additional hydrotherapy. If anything you might want to try some contrasting hydrotherapy in this transitional period of weather. Fifties and below is when the boiling starts to come in handy. That's a wide margin too because it'll get below zero in the winter. That's when time and frequency come into play. Tonight I got out of the boil after seven minutes or so. As it gets colder I will stay in longer and maybe take two boils in one day during the dead of winter. And that's about it. There you have it, my trick to finding equilibrium through hypnotherapy for weightlifters in the Upper Midwest.

Cold strength VS Hot Strength

Cold strength is a static type of strength and hot strength is a dynamic strength. Cold strength is also sort of an "old man" strength and hot strength is sort of "young man" strength. This is why powerlifters can be competitive up into there 30s and 40s and weightlifters can go until 35 tops. Actually, I talked to a 35 year old weightlifter over the weekend and he told me it's downhill at 30 and not to bank on 35. This is why powerlifters don't understand how frequent and heavy weightlifters train. I could take 2-3 days off of lifting entirely and I could probably squat well, it would be slow, but I could grind out a good number. I'd be recovered, I'd be cold, fresh, and I'd be strong in a static and cold way. On the other hand, if I took 2-3 days off my olympic lifts would suffer. I'd "feel" strong, but it wouldn't be the correct type of strength. Light weights might feel amazing, I'd feel like superman. Then all of a sudden I'd get to 90% and hit a wall. Static strength will take you to 90%, but it's dynamic strength, dynamic starts, fast, hot and loose muscles, that get you above 90%. This is the black hole of weightlifting. When you feel cold and fresh, when you feel strong, you're actually weak. Not because you aren't strong, because you aren't strong in a specific way. Dynamic strength is maintained by frequent practice, by daily practice. This is how you get phenomenal athletes in other sports as well. You get football players that have been practicing football with there friends since they were 8 years old to the point where they can duck and dive, and juke, and spin, and do all the hot shot things that are dynamic, things someone less experienced, someone with less total hours of lifetime practice couldn't do because their entire organism isn't as hot, isn't as tuned. It's like shooting free throws in the drive way, you shoot for an hour and then finally you get on fire, you can't miss. You're shot is smooth, you're swishing it in the basket every time. Dynamic strength is like getting in that swishing zone and never leaving that zone, so that when you come into the gym you are ready to go, warm ups are just for show, you're hot, you're tuned, you've honed your skill. This is totally different than static strength, i.e cold strength. Hot strength is how you get lifters that can clean and jerk around the same as they can squat. Tell that to a powerlifter and they can't understand it. You want every bone and muscle in your body to be dynamic, i.e fast twitch. When beginners first take up weightlifting, a lot of them have an abundance of static strength and very little dynamic strength, they have cold strength, not hot strength. They want to take days off to rest and get cold and fresh. Some even lift more weights slowly than fast. Tell them to lift the weight fast and they will miss the weight, but they can lift it slowly. Bouncing in the bottom of the squat is like cheating right? It's extra help. Same with double dipping before squatting right? All these things are tricks of the trade, but tell someone with static strength to try these things and they won't be able to do as much, the movement will be too fast and fluid for them. They will want to make the lift slow and choppy. I am starting to coach lifters and this is part of my job. I have to turn lifters with cold static strength into lifters with hot dynamic strength. In a sense, I"m redefining what it means to be strong. You might be strong statically, but I need you to be strong dynamically. I am attempting to thaw the ice and turn you into fire.

meet vs competition

You hear these two different words thrown around to describe a weightlifting event. You hear about a weightlifting meet and a weightlifting competition. IMO they are two different things. Take today for instance, I coached at a mock weightlifting meet. Mock meaning that it was unofficial and meet meaning that it was a grouping of weightlifters but not a competition. The numbers were low and most were the only ones in there weight class, hence why it wasn't a competition. Exhibition would be another good word for a meet. You are showcasing what you can do legitimately with judges and a competition platform, but no competition. Most events held on the state level are meets, showcases, or exhibitions. Maybe it's different in other states, I can only speak for Minnesota. Some of the "open" events could be defined as competitions. Lifters from Northern Michigan and/or Canada come occasionally and thicken up the participants in each weight class making for some good competition. It's fine to do meets, they keep you sharp and interested, but it's competitions that are the heart of what weightlifting is all about. If you don't have a shot at gaining a place or loosing a place in your weight class, then you could have done it back in your training hall. What meets do is keep you in that performing mode so you don't get too used to lifting anti-socially. Choose your meets and competitions wisely. You don't want to come out of the woodwork until your axe is good and sharpened and is ready to be put to the test.

Exercise your body, not your mouth

I've recently arrived at the conclusion once again that I can not carry on conversations and lift to my potential. In other words, exercising my mouth is getting in the way of me exercising my body. This is a single minded approach. In this way there is a time to talk and there is a time to lift and they don't go together. Training is work and it is not play. If people wish to talk they can call each other on the phone, they can arrange to see each other socially, and in those ways it will be much more meaningful. Your training will be more meaningful and what you do outside of training will be more meaningful, it's win win. Here is the odd part, most of the people who talk to me at the gym I never see outside of the gym. They don't call me, I don't eat meals with them, I don't even share a car ride with them. In this instance, what is occurring is what I like to call bullshitting, people are shooting the shit with me because they think it is a duty to make conversation. At the gym that's not true. People are at the gym to better themselves, to do work in hope of accomplishing their goals and when you distract them you are hurting them. You may be at the gym to look nice, or compensate for the beers you drink every friday and saturday night, but others are at they gym purposefully as a sport and it's practice to them. Respect that.

"The Weight Nazi"

I think we've all bumped into the "weight nazi" in our lives. This is the guy who overly concerns himself with what others are doing in the gym. He might wander the gym as he's working out or after he's done and is sure to go up to people asking, "how much weight is that". It's like a drug to him, he has to get his fix, he has to know how much weight YOU are lifting, his lifting isn't enough to give him fulfillment. True story, I remember a guy in high school that would lay on the bench press that  I was using, press it, then say "put some more weight on there", and walk away. Finding out how much other people were lifting wasn't enough, he had to literally get a feel for what other people were lifting! If you are lifting a weight off the floor, the classic move from the weight nazi is to put his foot on your weights while asking you how much weight it is, it's a classic weight nazi pose. If you really want to throw the weight nazi off his game, respond to his question in kilos. This will befuddle the weight nazi, but he will retaliate, he will ask another question, "what's that in pounds".
I can't mention the weight nazi without talking about the "make believe coach". The is the guy who acts like he is your coach but isn't your coach. He watches every rep you do, he might even take a seat close to where you are lifting. If you miss a weight, he wants to know why. He's invested in you even though you don't want him to be.
Then you have "the distractor". I admit, I'm guilty of being that guy from time to time. This is when you distract someone who has already begun their workout with random conversation. I remember I was about to attempt a heavy clean and jerk and a woman in the gym asked me from a distance away if, "I was still dating that one girl". Obviously I don't want to be thinking about a prior relationships when I'm about to rip the head off a lion on this clean and jerk. The distracting usually takes place when people are in different zones. Usually it's someone who is either done with or hasn't started their workout distracting someone who is in the process of their workout.

Fallen Angels

I am a weightlifter. I'm proud to say that. Maybe I wouldn't be considered a weightlifter in Russia or Bulgaria because of how relatively weak I am, but I perform snatches and clean and jerks regularly and I enjoy it. All over the world you have weightlifters training on platforms, doing the olympic-style movements. Here in River Falls, WI there is a history of weightlifting. Alley Henry grew up here, she recently metaled at the Pan-American Championship and has competed at University Worlds, she competes internationally. Alley's sister, Kate, has recently qualified and lifted at the American Open. Here in River Falls there used to be a weightlifting coach by the name of Gregg Hadley. He had a platform at the local fitness center and coached weightlifting there. It was him who helped me out when I first arrived here in River Falls. On the platform were different colored stars, one color star represented an international competitor and another color represented a national competitor. There was already a colored star on the platform representing Alley Henry. Soon after arriving he put a colored star representing me as a national competitor. It wasn't much, but it was priceless, and I respected what it meant. After awhile Gregg ended up getting his dream job as a professor in Kansas. Gregg had been teaching at UW-River Falls here in town and gladly took this new position in Kansas. It was sad when he left and it's never been the same since. Luckily some of us that were instructed under Gregg still remained. Ryan Brill, a USAW certified coach and his wife Samantha, as well as me and some others we're here in town and weren't leaving anytime soon. At this same time that Gregg was on his way to Kansas, the fitness center here in town started to change hands. When Gregg left, the platform went with him. Luckily Ryan built two miniture platforms to carry on the legacy of Gregg Hadley and to carry on the weightlifting tradition. Ryan put these platforms in the fitness center, but the new ownership rejected them, they were not appreciated. The platforms were taken outside by management and reside there to this day, warped and deteriorated from the outside conditions. Every now and then I'm forced to look outside at these fallen angels and it's depressing. Ryan and Samantha don't come to the gym anymore, Kate Henry started commuting to Saint Paul in search of platforms and weightlifters. Yes, much has changed for me as a weightlifter in River Falls. The fitness center goes by a different name now and is filled with a lot more people, mostly CrossFit types and bench pressers. It's not a place for a platform with special colored stars on it anymore.

Front squat is king and style is important

(Above is Kazakh phenom Ilya Ilin front squatting. In an Ironmind published article Kazakh national team coach says Ilya doesn't go to maximum on squats, at the time had clean and jerked 235 in training and had done a 240 front squat for a single. It was also written that front squats were primarily performed.)

I've never written about the squat before, maybe because it's such a popular subject I've left it to others to write about, but in this case I feel I have something to bring to the table. I've been squatting for a long time, about 12-13 years and I've come to some conclusions. First off, I believe that the front squat is the best way to squat for a weightlifter because it's more specific. Not that you couldn't get away with doing back squats, I just think front squatting is ideal. Not only do I think front squats are the way to go but I've come to find that for them to really carry over into your clean and jerk you have to do them a certain way. What I mean by that is you want every squat to be fast, upright, and rhythmic. There is actually a tempo, a style, that once deviated from, I believe starts to produce diminishing returns.In this way you aren't practicing front squats, you are practicing clean recoveries.Smooth power carries over a lot more than slow grinding squats. This is where a keen coaches eye comes in as well as a self aware lifter. It's easy to get in the habit of going after big squat numbers for the sake of ego even when it means you increase static strength at the cost of dynamic strength. It's actually not uncommon for a lifters squat to go down and his/her platform lifts to go up especially if the lifter possesses lots of static strength in the beginning. Basically when it comes to squatting you have to ask yourself one question. Did I squat that weight in a way that would allow for a jerk to follow? Also, are you the type of lifter that can grind out your clean recovery and come up with a jerk? If that's the case then maybe you can allow for a slower tempo for your squats, but for me my clean recovery has to be smooth as silk to ensure a successful jerk. As the saying goes, the key to a perfect jerk is a perfect clean. In the case of squatting, it's not only what you do, it's how you do it.  

The low stress local weightlifting competition

#1 Show up to the weigh in late but within the time frame agreed upon. This way you don't have to sit around anxiously waiting for your name to be called and people won't have time to engage you in conversation and thus draining you of energy. Some people put in the music ear phones which is smart, it says "hey I can't hear you so don't even try".

#2 After the weigh-in leave the location and go get coffee and/or eat. Get away from it all.

#3 Come back just in time for introductions.

#4 Sit and watch as people warm up. Stay cool, it's their time to warm up, not yours.

#5 Warm up with singles. No need for extra reps, you've put in the work leading up to this point in time.

#6 Participate in the after competition festivities. Usually there is some form of after competition social. You've avoided everyone during the competition because you were a competitor, now's the time to let it all hang out and enjoy everyone for some food and conversation.

Simple can be genius.

I'm affected by the weather and it's amazing the difference between winter me and summer me. I'm a guy that sometimes thinks too much, I'll admit it. Especially during the depressing fall and winter I've just failed to see the big picture, but lately the weather has taken a turn for the better and I'm starting to think clearly and see things how they really are. One thing that dawned on me lately, something that I should have never forgot is that the main thing that matters is the main thing. What does that mean you ask? It means that getting enough calories in general is probably more important than what I'm actually eating. Smart isn't always smart. For instance eating Paleo might be a smart move but not if it makes me underweight and unhealthy. It also means training consistently is more important than how I train. It means squatting is more important than the type of squat I do (front or back). First things first so to speak. Most of the time it's not about being smart, it's about being simple. Simple can be genius. 

Minnesota High School Weightlifting: Searching for Zach Krych

(Photo Of Zach Krych winning University World Championships Ahead of Adrian Zeilinski(2012 Olympic Champion)

It's kind of surprising when I think about it, even though I went to high school in Northeast Iowa, I was a Minnesota High School weightlifter. After all this is weightlifting, and like weightlifters from Bulgaria migrating to Qatar or Azerbaijan, or Turkey, I didn't care where I did my lifting, I just wanted to lift, and compete. Just how did I end up lifting in Minnesota High school weightlifting competitions? Well, I was in Northeast Iowa at the time and the nearest weightlifting in Iowa had to be in Carroll, a good four hour drive away. Red Wing Minnesota on the other hand was two and a half hours away and if I represented them, then I was eligible to compete in Minnesota. Not everyone was on board with an Iowa boy representing a Minnesota High school club, sometimes I was counted as an "extra lifter", but for the most part I was greeted with open arms. High School Weightlifting? I sure like the sound of that. If only every state had a similar program to what Minnesota is doing. They have a weightlifting "season" in Minnesota. It starts in the fall and culminates with the High School State weightlifting championships in the winter. Many of these high school lifters quit weightlifting after they graduate but not all. Zach Krych came out of the Minnesota High School Weightlifting program, I believe he went on to Medal at the World University Championships, I personally saw him snatch 150+ at one of the American Opens, and he ended his career with a 195kg clean and jerk. He always competed in the 85kg class, although as a little inside information, I saw him lift as a 77kg lifter in my first competition ever in Armstrong, MN. All those high school meets were at some random Minneapolis suburb town. It was either Armstrong, or Robinsdale, or Rosemount, I forget some of the other ones. Separate from the high school meets, sometimes there would be competitions in Northern Minnesota like Brainerd or Nisswa. I remember miles and miles of trees when driving up there and big statues of Paul Bunion. The Nisswa competition was actually an outdoor competition held during the town festival, "Nisswa Crazy Days" they called it. The platform was set in the middle of town in the turtle racing circle and bystanders would walk by and observe the lifting as Roger Sadecki announced and converted kilos to pounds over the loud speaker. Zach Krych was at that meet as well if I remember right, he is the hero of Minnesota Weightlifting, the best of the best to come out of the High School system. What else about Minnesota Weightlifting? I'm deviated from the simple subject of High School lifting now. Well, I remember the Star of The North Games alternated locations each year between Rochester and St. Cloud. I always liked when it was in Rochester because it was only an hour and a half away from my home town in Northeast Iowa. How about how did I even get into weightlifting? Well, I can remember being pretty young, young enough that I was sitting on the floor instead of the couch watching TV and it must have been the 1996 Olympic. I remember watching someone trying to snatch a big weight and it was mind boggling, maybe that's not the right word for it, lets just say I was amazed. I often forget about this key moment, watching weightlifting on television as a young lad but I remember it now and it played a part. Then in my freshman year of high school I got the fever to go out for sports. I tried wrestling and I tried football but nothing really clicked except we got to use the weight room and that's where I began my journey. After a couple years of doing somewhat bodybuilding, somewhat powerlifting, I watched a video of Naim Suleymanoglu clean and jerking 190kgs in the 1988 Olympics on the internet and that was it, I made the call to the Red Wing coach and got involved with Minnesota High School Weightlifting the winter of my Sophmore year. I encourage anyone near the State of Minnesota to get involved with High School Weightlifting there because it is a great and memorable experience that you will never forget and perhaps you can be the next Zach Krych. It's kind of like that chess movie "searching for bobby fischer" only in Minnesota it's "Searching for Zach Krych".

what you oughta be

If you are a wolf then you have to train with other wolves or you will never reach your potential. If you train with dogs then it's like someone really smart going to community college, they aren't going to be challenged enough. Hell, I went to community college, it was easy, and now that I've gone to a University I'm sure community would be even easier, and if I went to an even harder college I'm sure University would seem easy. Do you get my point? It all goes back to something I've been thinking a lot about lately and that is standards. Standards are what separate the levels of success individuals achieve. I remember coach John Drewes of the Red Wing Weightlifting Club, he would say a lifter hadn't "arrived" in the 69 weight class until they total 200, that was a standard. That's kind of like saying you aren't really a weightlifter in the 69's until you total 200, it's a very powerful thing to say. I remember PRing and John saying sure but you took those steps forward to save it. I'd be lifting in front of him and he'd say things like, this weight is light, this weight is nothing, this weight is a stepping stone. He would put you up on a pedestal as if he didn't see who you were currently, he saw your potential, he didn't see what you were he saw what you oughta be. You have to have contempt for the weights, you have to have contempt for other lifters, but you also have to have contempt for your current level of strength.

Compete, more.

This is gonna be one of those blogs that sounds stupid, one of em' that sounds like a no brainer, no college required as my dad would always say, back when Ed would become Edge, the hard ass that would throw cold water in my face if I didn't wanna wake up for church on sunday. This blog is about competition and how training isn't training without it. Technique is important, sure. Puttin' in the work is important, sure. It all comes down to one thing though. I mean, what are we doin'? What is the sport of weightlifting? It's competition, and the minute you forget that is the minute you aren't training for weightlifting, you're just playing around, you are forgetting the game, you need game, be a gamer. Find someone who is a little bit stronger than you or a little bit weaker than you, the closer you guys are in strength the better. I don't care what exercises you do with that other person, it doesn't matter, but on ever set and every rep, compete, do one kilo more, do one extra rep, do the lift better, do if faster, do it cleaner, do it better. What if you don't have a training partner like that you ask? Well, you are shit out of luck in a big way but there is still a way. You have to compete with yourself and that's the hardest thing to do. You think it's easy, you think training alone means you are automatically competing with yourself, with your old numbers, with your old form and all that? No, what you have to do is play the more game. You just lifted a weight on an exercise, more. You just squatted 200 kilos, more, 201 beats 200, more. More, more, more, more. Compete.

Wired for Weightlifting

How do you find weightlifters? How did I become a weightlifter? Well, I lifted weights in high school and eventually put the bar over my head by chance and....BANG! I was hooked! Soon I was using the hook grip, soon I had a platform in my dad's garage. I found out the closest weightlifting club was two and a half hours away. Oh well, I call up the club, talk to the coach, mind if I stop by this weekend and lift in front of you and you can point out what I'm doing right and what I'm doing wrong? Sweet! see you this weekend. The rest is history, I traveled 2 and 1/2 hours many times to get coached. So, what is a weightlifter? It's not just someone doing snatch and jerk I'll tell you that. I now train in a gym with many people doing snatch and jerk thanks to the popularity of crossfit and not one of them has come up to me and said, "Simon, I just did a clean and jerk and wow! how do I get started? I wanna be a weightlifter!". A coach once told me that weightlifters are born to be weightlifters, they put a barbell over their head and they know it's meant to be, but is it something rare? Does it take a certain type of person, someone that walks to a different beat? How many weightlifters have come out of crossfit? How many people did crossfit until they were taught to snatch and jerk and then said, "see ya later crossfit guys, I found what I'm lookin' for, I wanna be a weightlifter".? What if every gym class in the United States taught a unit on weightlifting and everyone got exposed to snatch and jerk? How many would do that first snatch or jerk and think Eureka! or Aha! My guess is not as many as you'd think, maybe because weightlifting is difficult, maybe more difficult than we'd like to think and maybe it's those select few who weightlifting happens to come easy for because they just maybe are built for it, made for it, born to do it, and are wired in the brain for it. I've shot a basketball before and made it go SWISH! it felt awesome, but am I a basketball player? No. What makes a weightlifter do weightlifting? I have my suspicions that it's a body type, a certain flexibility, coordination, and more importantly it's some way a person is wired in the brain, wired for weightlifting.

Maslow's Hierarchy

    It must have been in 9th grade English class with my father when I first learned about Maslow's Hierarchy. Basically it's a pyramid illustrating human needs. I don't remember each level of needs by heart but what I do know is that at the bottom you have self preservation, things like food, water, sleep, shelter. At the top you have self actualization, self actualization involves the creative things we do to express ourselves, maybe painting, sculpting, bird watching, whatever it may be. The lesson of the hierarchy is that if you are starving and can't eat, or if you don't have a home, it's very hard if not impossible to get to the point where you can do and appreciate your deepest goals or experiences.
     Now, I don't know exactly when I figured this out but the act of me flossing my teeth is a sign of moving up in the hierarchy of needs. If I'm not getting enough sleep, getting too much sleep, stressed, making bad decisions, etc, then I'm not flossing because I have problems and don't feel the need to. Flossing is just the one things I noticed I do more often when I'm mentally well off or have more of my lower self preservational needs under control. It could be anything though, maybe you play golf every saturday with your friends when things in your life are in order. I have something similar to that actually. For awhile every Sunday I would meet my friend at the gym and we would work out together. For awhile we both did good and were making it there on Sundays, then, after awhile I started sleeping in and texting him that I couldn't make it. This was a big sign that something wasn't in order in my life because here I was calling in sick so to speak for an event that I usually looked forward to and enjoyed. Now I'm back to getting in the gym on Sundays but my friend has called in sick a couple of times, maybe something is off in his life or maybe he's just had some tough weeks at work, maybe his sign of self actualization is something else.
     For years now I've watched as older men sit at the Mini Mart in my home town and drink coffee in the morning and socialize. My father always talks about it like he'd like to join those men, yet he doesn't. The day I walk into that Mini Mart and see my old man drinking coffee and shooting the shit with fellow townies is the day I'll think to myself that things must be going o.k with him, maybe I'm wrong, I don't know. My point is, don't underestimate the little things. Was there a little ritual you used to do but for some reason or another it faded out unnecessarily? Well, get back in the rhythm and break the cycle. Maybe meeting up with your old friend for billiards, or cards, or whatever every 2nd tuesday of the month is what kept your life in perspective, what kept it real. We create these little worlds with these big walls and we're the only ones with the key. I can tell you right now that going to chess club on tuesdays and thursdays was good for me and I never made it their last semester, something was off. In fact, publishing this blog is a sign of self actualization for me because I don't publish blogs when my life isn't in order, I save em' as drafts and never have the nerve to press the button. Press the publish botton, press the life button, live it!