Coffee, Chess, and Weightlifting

If I could do just three things I would drink coffee, play chess, and practice weightlifting. Classical music would be playing in the background. Maybe I would do some fencing in my spare time. Some time, look up the movie called "By the Sword" on YouTube. You can watch the movie on YouTube actually. It's got that one guy from Amadeus, another good movie by the way which happens to be about Mozart. I've never fenced before, it's just got that classic sophisticated appeal to it, the same appeal that chess and weightlifting have. Yes, weightlifting is the classical music of the strength sports because it is a skill sport. Any body can play smells like teen spirit but it takes a master to play Paganini. What other activities have that classical lure to them? Obviously playing the violin does. I used to play the violin when I was younger, I didn't practice though and that instrument takes a ton of discipline. I remember going to recitals and seeing  10 yr old girls play with such mastery that is was down right scary and intimidating. They obviously practiced a lot. Sure, I could play, but I never learned how to read notes. I memorized all of my pieces for my recitals. The music book would be in front of me but I would be playing by heart. This was when I was still half ways innocent, I mean I always had my problems, but things were simpler back then. I remember towards the end of my violin lessons, before my teacher asked me to stop because I wasn't worth her time, she tried to teach me the vibrato. The is when you move your hand and wrist in such a way that it gives the note you are playing emotion, but the vibrato is a mechanical action and you have to loosen your hands and wrist in order to do it. Loosening up is something I still struggle with to this day. I took violin lessons at Luther College in Iowa where I grew up. That school is known for it's music department. The college is in a town settled primarily by Norwegians. Imagine me at 10 yrs old, a little Bohemian kid from a town over, getting my ass handed to me at recitals by 10 yr old blonde ethnic Norwegians. I play chess at my college here in Wisconsin. It's a chess club by definition only, really it's people who like to play chess getting together to play for fun. Just like the violin, I haven't studied chess, I just play to play, and get as good as anyone who plays a lot but doesn't study. I remember I wanted to quit violin plenty of times, but my mother wouldn't let me. She would cry, beg, and plead me to stick with the violin. She wanted to be able to tell her friends and people she meet, "this is Simon, our middle child, the violin player". This was back when my folks owned the Czech Restaurant in town and she would pay me to serenade the customers when I wasn't busy washing dishes. I'm sure that was hard for her to let go of, being able to describe me as the violin player. My folks have always been that way, when people ask them how they are doing they are the type that would avoid the question and say "well, my youngest is doing this, my oldest is doing that". I suppose when you are a parent, a parent is what you are, and you are defined by what your children are doing.

The Sweet Spot

Once, upon reflecting on how I clean and jerked 145kg, and someone else wondering how I did it, I concluded that I was lifting within the sweet spot. What is the sweet spot and what does it have to do with weightlifting? You may be familiar with the sweet spot in golf or in baseball, when you hit that ball perfectly and everything works with you instead of against you. In weightlifting the sweet spot is a little different but fundamentally the same thing. The sweet spot in weightlifting is when you have found the correct way to ask the barbell to do exactly what you want it to do, many times meaning relaxation of the mind and body while simultaneously moving and reacting with speed and precision. When you have found your own sweet spot, you'll have proper tension on the bar, not too much and not too little. We've all seen lifters miss weights because they are gripping the bar too hard or tensing up there muscle in a way that is limiting freedom of movement. Freedom is the proper word here, when you've found the sweet spot, you've found freedom of movement, as if up until this point you were working against the barbell but now are working harmoniously with it. In this way, lifting becomes a partnership, a dance that is done in unison. Most of, I mean almost all of my lifting, has been done away from the sweet spot, but I got a glimpse of it today. I started moving in the correct rhythm and timing and the word effortless came to mind. Getting back to the 145kg and how I was asked about how I lifted it. I remember it was effortless, I remember it felt like I was cheating, like it wasn't work, that's what the sweet spot is all about. People say the jerk is a jerk, and it sure is, especially if you've lost that sweet spot. My jerk has been shit lately, because I've lost that sweet spot, but I found it in the snatch today and I am remembering what it was all about. I'm gonna find that sweet spot again and apply it to both the snatch and the clean and jerk. Good lifters, every single lift for them is in the sweet spot, that's why they are so good. Dance with the barbell, feel the rhythm.

"Every attempt looked the Same"

"Every attempt looked the same." This was and still is the highest compliment Red Wing coach John Drewes would give his lifters. John is a perfectionist, a trait that comes in handy in the sport of weightlifting. I remember PRing on the snatch and then it was time to get critiqued by him. Consistency is a premium in this sport and while technique differs according to particular body proportions, having every lift be a carbon copy of each other is a type of mastery. Technique doesn't have to be perfect, countless Olympic and world champions have proved that you can reach the very highest level in this sport without text book technique. The main thing is to have the fundamentals down and strive for every lift to look the exact same, no deviation. If you can get every lift to look the same, then you will be on the road to glory.

RIVALUS PROMASIL Protein Review (2.33lbs) Milk Chocolate

The mix-ability of this protein powder is terrible, I'm not going to buy it again. I could care less about taste, that's not why I buy protein powder, I buy it to help with recovery. What appealed to me about this protein was that it says on the container, "THIS PRODUCT WILL NOT CAUSE AN ADVERSE ANALYTICAL FINDING AS DEFINED BY THE INTERNATIONAL OLYMPIC COMMITEE (IOC) OR WORLD ANTI-DOPING AGENCY (WADA). They also call it, "the athletes protein". So this product seems to be marketed at people like me who participate in a sport that has a governing body which tests there athletes. Not that I'm going to be tested anytime soon, it's just nice to know you are taking something that keeps you a clean athlete. That's about all that is good with this protein, it's marketing. It's also in a very plain container making you think it's not all about flashy bells and whistles. The worst part is, it's not just protein, it's got a bunch of other crap in it that I don't really want like beta-alanine and and vitamins that look like just filler. It's not just whey protein either, it's got seven different kinds of protein, so a protein blend. One thing is for sure, my next protein will be a straight up whey protein kind which has served me well in the past.

signs of a weightlifter

I don't know about you all, but my shins are all scrapped up and I tore a callus today as well. Those are some of the sign of being a weightlifter, scrapped up shins and torn calluses. Some pros even go as far to grow out their thumb nails so they can hook grip the bar a little better. I also got these abrasions on my clavicle, those along with my shins I think are permanently bruised and I'm proud of my battle scars, they are the signs of a weightlifter. Coolest hair in weightlifting would have to be Nikolai Peshalov, best mullet I ever seen. If he got that bar above that mullet, it was going to be a good day.

Get off your Feet

"Get off your feet". That's what my first coach, John Drewes used to say to me at competitions. I'd be standing around chit chatting with fellow lifters or fellow coaches before warm ups and that's what he'd say, "get off your feet". I'd usually find a chair or something and sit my butt down and lay low. I had to be reminded back then, but it's second nature now. Every now and then, look around at a competition, the good lifters are laying low, relaxing. It's kind of like the calm before the storm, the more you relax and the more energy you save, the more explosive you will be when the time comes.

Life is simple, bring the rain, total loss of fear

I stay up too late but the answer isn't complicated. Step one, shut of television. Step two, go to bed. I'm not as strong as I want to be. Try harder. Harder is heavier, harder is more often, harder is more, again, more. Supplements don't do anything, it's all placebo effect. If you want to get stronger try getting more sleep, try eating more, try eating better. Stressed out? Think a drink might be the answer? Try yoga, try actually relaxing, try shutting everything off, closing your eyes and relaxing. Not proud of the way your apartment looks, clean it up, maybe if you make it look nice you might be proud enough to invite people over. Don't like the way you look? Do something about it. Make a change, try new things, get out of your comfort zone. Tired of snatching 100 all the time? Guess what? You gotta put 101 on the bar, that's it. That's all. Don't be afraid of failure. Fear is what separates winners from losers. Fear is the enemy. Think you can front squat 200? well get on with it then, who is stopping you. Oh yeah, you is stopping you. This is the real world, no body is going to give you the answers, you gotta figure em' out for yourself and when you figure it out you see it's all simple. Why can you lift well some days and you're weak other days? It's not your body, it's your mind. Your body can do so much more but the mind is afraid. You have to switch it around, the mind has to say yes, bring it on without fear, without hesitation, with desire and stomach. Not everyone has the stomach for this job, most people are soft and afraid. Choose to be the man, show them the animal, find yourself and loose yourself, bring the rain. Total loss of fear.