"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.

Good lifters

I was doing squats tonight and I got to 170 and it was hard and slow. I had to give it everything and to a common person it might look like that would be my top set. Instead I put on 175, same thing, a tough, hard, all out effort, but it went up. Again, you might think that I should call it a day, but I proceed with 180 and make it ounce again. Now, I am not a relatively good lifter, but I reminded myself tonight of what makes good lifters good. Good lifters get to a heavy weight and it looks like a limit lift, but then they add more weight and continue to make heavier lifter with sheer effort. For common lifters everything has to be easy, it's very easy to spot. Every lift looks easy, and then along the way they miss almost out of nowhere. It's best described as a lack of effort. These lifters get stronger but they only make weights when it's easy. The flip side is what I'm talking about, someone who has mastered down maximum effort. This lifter for example gets to 150 in say the clean and jerk and you think to yourself, damn that looked like a struggle, that was a hard lift, he doesn't have much more. Then you see the lifter do 155, same thing and you are surprised, surely this is a limit weight. Then 160 is loaded and lifted. What this lifter has done is learned to do things the hard way, he has learned to swim against the current. Chad Vaughn is a very good example of this type of lifter. His 1st attempts look very hard and you wonder how much he has left, as someone said, all his lifts look like they are a cunt hair away from a miss, but he makes them.

2011 Nationals

I bombed out for the first time in my life at this years nationals. While it was sweet to become a two-time qualifier it is bitter to have bombed out. My weigh-in was scheduled for 6:30am and lifting for my session began at 8:30am, this was a little earlier than I was used to for maximum performance. Non-the-less I made it to the weigh-in and warm-ups in snatch went as planned with no misses back stage. I came out for my 101 opener and behind me it went, the next two attempts were closer and closer but still out the back door they went. This all seemed to have happened in a flash as if the three attempts were all just one attempt and boom I was out. I went backstage and took my shoes off, I'd never bombed out before and I thought the day was over. It dawned on my later that I was going to have to pull myself together and clean and jerk. I wasn't exactly in the right state of mind at this point and when clean and jerk warm-ups began my lifts felt uncomfortable at best. Somehow I squeeked in my opener at 135 as originally planned. There was a dozen attempts untill my next attempt 140, I cleaned it well and I was starting to feel a good rush of adrenaline flowing through me, it felt good. I lifted the weight overhead but one arm didn't lock out and must have pressed out. I got called on it and three red lights I believe. A dozen attempts later I came out for 145, an attempt that would save face somewhat if that's possible. I pulled on it and racked it forward and on my heels. It kicked me on my ass and the day was over. I went 1/6. Looking back throwing two sessions in per day two weeks before Nationals was maybe a mistake, that's a big change right before a big show, but at the time it was hard to argue with the 108 snatch one week out that it yielded. Other than that I regret going so light leading up to the competition. My body and mind were getting very used to lifting heavy all the time and I believe a negative shock can happen when I all of a sudden did the light weights. I remember my last session everything feeling very tight and unrelaxed. The light workout didn't shake all of that out, but perhaps a heavier workout would have got some of that out of my system. I saw personally the guy that won my session, who jerked 145, went up to 130 the day before. Sometimes it's not a bad idea to "check" if everything is in order.