Achieving Goals

These last two weeks have been outstanding. I reached a long term goal of deadlifting 405lbs and ended up doing it 3 times. I am also back up to squatting 280lbs. 3 sets 5 reps after having a hip flexor issue. I'm feeling very solid and can see 315lbs. right around the corner. I increased my squat by 55lbs. very fast. This put a pressure on me to continue increasing my lifts at this same speed. I had to remind myself why I was lifting and it took the pressure back off. I am not competing or training to compete in anything. This is something that I would like to change in the future but for right now there is no need for me to push my limits to the point of my body shutting down, mentally and physically. So take a step back and remind yourself why you are lifting in the first place.

In the last month I have taken on learning Olympic Lifts. This is a pain in my ass to learn by myself. The video camera is my friend. I am pretty positive that I am developing bad habits, but I am not really too worried about it right now. Clearly my goal is not to have bad form with the Clean & Jerk or the Snatch but I am using very light weight and doing my best to analyze form. If anyone has any coaching tips or good book suggestions suggestions I would appreciate it.

I had talked about Wright Exercise a couple posts ago. I had an issue with the 10lbs. bumper plates with the steel insert coming lose from the rubber. I was practicing Snatch technique with just 10's on each side and dropping them from overhead. This was not a weight that demanded it to be dropped but I wanted to get use to the idea of dropping weight since this is new to me. Well they ended up breaking the seal between the steal insert and the rubber. So I called Wright, told them the issue, they mailed me off a new pair over night, no big deal. Really great service and would recommend them to anyone. The great part about this story is that I talked to two different employees because the first one did not respond to my email. I ended up emailing the same person again to make sure he had gotten my information and see if he had already shipped the new plates. He had gone on vacation and an auto reply message directed me to his associate. I forwarded this person the same email I gave the original employee and he said that he would send them off right away. A couple hours after all this emailing was going on I receive a package in the mail, it was the plates. I thought there was no way he sent the plates same day and figured that the original employee had sent the plates before he went on vacation and the other guy would catch this if he hadn't already. I was wrong and the second employee sent me another pair that I receive the next day. Being the guy that I am, I called Wright and told them about the mistake and they apologized (not really sure why, I'll take free equipment any day) and told me to keep them, it was there mistake.

As far as quality is concerned, the 10lbs. bumpers from Wright might not be the best to drop from overhead but they will replace them with no problem, and if you're lucky they will send you a couple pair. The 45 and 25lbs plates work very well, no issue there. All together great company, great product!!



Really nice Gym!! Wish I had a facility close by that had a nice set up like this...... OH wait I do!! At Suck University where they wont let you drop the weight, or use chalk, or throw out a man growl when its necessary!! Way to suck Suck University!!

What's Stopping You?

Ross Enemait is constantly posting videos that are completely inspiring. What is stopping you from following your dreams? For me it is fear of rejection, not good enough, I'm gonna wait until I have better training, maybe a financial risk, and the list goes on. These are all excuses that will stop me from achieving my goals. What makes a person strong? Is it how much weight they can lift? Marc Herremans is a great reminder not give up on yourself, and to not let obstacles deter you from doing something great.

Wright Exercise Equipment

A lot of things have been going on this last week. I built a lifting platform that works beautifully, bought 160lbs. of bumper plates from Wright Exercise in Birmingham, Alabama for $160 (military discount), and reached one of my goals of deadlifting 405lbs. Actually I lifted it 3 times surprisingly. These were 3 singles, my goal now is to lift it 1 set 5 reps. I'm in the process of creating other goals since the original ones are starting to be reached. I had a hip flexor issue with my squat so I had to evaluate how I was doing this, fix it, and then build it back up. Through the power of video taping I found my flaw which was at the bottom of the squat. I relaxed my hamstrings which caused my knees to come forward and put a lot of tension on my hip flexors. With that found out and some good stretching thrown in, I am back up to 275lbs. My goal is 315lbs. I am confident that I will achieve that shortly. For right now my body weight has gone down to 194lbs. I must have weighed myself on a really full stomach when I hit 200lbs. Nevertheless, my lifts are still increasing and I feel good. Last week I started benching again. I am really glad that I did. I hit the pavement running working with 200lbs. for my sets. I have never been very good at bench and have never worked with this much weight. This makes me very excited for the future of that lift. Right now my goal is just 225lbs. for sets.

Back to Wright Exercise. Really sweet facility. I'm pretty sure if someone was watching me I would have had a smile from ear to ear on my face. Little did I know that they sell A LOT of used equipment, warehouses full of it. The owner of the company was present the day that I was there. Not sure if he is there on a daily basis or not but him included there were only 3 employees working. I had to call there phone from inside the store for someone to help. This did not bother me and the person helping out was very helpful. The plates that I picked up would have been $193 but he worked with me and my Veteran status and let me have them for $160+tax. This brings the price of the bumpers to a dollar a pound with steel inserts. A VERY good deal. Even if you are not military and are looking for a good bumper plate Wright has outstanding prices if you can make it down to there warehouse and pick up the product. As with anything that weights a lot, shipping will eat up your entire budget if you can't.

People that are better then you

Watching videos on YouTube or reading articles about some kid that is under 18, lifting a significant amount of weight more then what you can lift can be very frustrating. It poses the question.... "What am I not doing right?" There are a couple things these little bastards might have that someone like myself might not. Natural ability, better training, may have been lifting longer, etc. Nevertheless it can be very annoying and make you feel like a girly man. At the same time it pushes me mentally to get to that level. As mentioned in earlier posts, lifting is something that should last life long, so why be in such a hurry. Keeping consistency is key. I'm weighing in at 200lbs. and my lifts have grow significantly in the last month or so. This does not mean that when I compare myself to my approximately 200lbs. couch in Wyoming that I will be able to lift the amount that he can. Time and knowledge is the key point here. Favre has been lifting for 10+ years and has a couple personal training certificates and has attended several lifting seminars. A person like this is not what gets under my skin. It makes perfect sense why he is lifting an outstanding amount of weight. Its these crazy young athletic kids that blow me away. It is frustrating and motivating at the same time. Patience is key.

Training: (I say training but I'm not really training for anything because I'm not competing. My goal is to compete. Competitions build motivation to train harder and with a purpose.)

Squat 5 reps x 3 sets
Bench 5x3
Deadlift 1x5

Clean and Jerk

This is an awesome movement. It is the newest movement that I have taken on. What really sucks is that I know that I need a lot of technique work to be taught to me on this one, but can't find a couch to train it. This means that I will be going down a long slow road of video tape, analyze, look up other peoples advise online, etc. Not having a good coach sucks. But this is some of the challenge and fun of lifting. It is going to take a while and that's ok. You are not meant to be the best at everything right out of the gate. Today I will be working technique with this movement with a low but challenging weight.



A little snatch never hurt anyone.

Weight Gained!!

This is for all the guys out their that are striving to maintain a 14 year old girls body. Stop it!! Mid January I started the 70sbig.com mentality of eating food. Since then I have gained about 35lbs. and increased my lifts incredibly. As mentioned in earlier posts, lifting is something that should be long term. When these fast big gains in body mass and weight lifted happen; it creates an impatience because you want that to keep happening. This is because you will go through a "growth spurt", therefore your lifts will have a big gain. For my growth, I am very excited that I reached the weight, but now my goal is to maintain it. This is why goals are very important to set. I set a body weight goal of about 200lbs. +- 5lbs. I am right about there and feel great. I have to admit that I was hesitant to start an eating program that promoted eating everything in sight with a gallon of milk on top. This mass eating is only temporary depending on what your body weight goals are. Once they are reached then you have to find out how much to eat to maintain that body weight and maintain it in a healthy way. Eating everything in sight is not something that I would consider a healthy way, but that is only temporary.

For people that are concerned about how they look when taking on this gain, you need not be concerned. It seems obvious but for all the people that can't get the picture. Eating to grain size should not be taken on if you do not have a strength program or you are fat. With that said, the weight that I have gained I have definitely put on some fat. If I wanted to, I could cut the fat off with conditioning. This would be detrimental to my lifting goals right now. The point is, if you are on a good strength program, this type of eating will be good. You will get big and strong. When the time comes that you might want to lean up a little bit, for whatever reason that is, you will be able to do it easily because your body will already be in outstanding shape.

My difference in lifts from body weight of 165 to 200 in 2 1/2 months.

BW:165lbs.

Bench: 170lbs. 3x5
Squat: 225lbs. 3x5
Press: 95lbs. 3x5
Deadlift: 350lbs. 5x1
Power Clean: 115lbs. 3x5

BW: 200lbs.

Bench: 200lbs. 3x5
Squat: 280lbs. 3x5
Press: 125lbs. 3x5
Deadlift: 375lbs. 5x1
Power Clean: 155lbs. 3x5

Increase in lifts:

Bench: 30lbs.
Squat: 55lbs.
Press: 30lbs.
Deadlift: 25lbs.
Power Clean: 40lbs.

I picked this video specifically because of the music!!

Why?

Remember a couple of posts ago when I was talking about the local University...... yeah they suck. Let me tell you how the conversation went. Me: Hi, I was wondering about membership, Manager: What would you like to know, Me: I visited the other day and saw that you have a great facility for working olympic lifts. I wanted to know if I became a member if I could use your equipment the way that it is supposed to me used. Manager: Well that's kind of a loaded question. Me: What I am asking is if I became a member could I use your bumper plates, lifting platforms, and York bars to drop the weight after I finish a lift. Manager: I don't allow dropping of weights in the gym. Me: So if I came to work a clean and jerk I couldn't drop the weight on the platforms designed for dropping with the bumper plates designed for dropping? Manager: Right, if you have to drop the weight we will come ask you to please lower the amount you are lifting.

There are only 2 facilities in my area that have the right equipment to work olympic lifts. One is the University(they suck), and two is a local Crossfit gym that would be sweet to work on lifts there but would ultimately break the bank. So what is the solution. BUILD YOUR OWN GYM!! Right now I'm in the process of building an 8'x8' lifting platform. Cost will be about 120$ but will last a very long time for a minimal amount of money. I am fortunate enough to live very close to Birmingham, AL where Wright Exercise is located and has outstanding bumper plates with steel inserts for a very good price.

Say you want to become a member at a gym because It's just gonna be too much money to build your own. Lets look at the facts. In my area the going rate for membership (that will ultimately limit you (no chalk, yelling, dropping, etc.) is about 50$ and require a year contract. This comes to 600$. What can you buy with that? As we all know Playitagainsports is the bees knees when it comes to home gym building. I picked up my 300lbs. set of olympic weights and bar for 80$. Lifting platform will run about 120$ (homemade, designs are all over the internet). Squat stands 20$ (homemade). Pull up bar 45$ (homemade). Bumper plates and a nice bar is where the money is gonna be sucked out. At Wright Exercise I can pick up, in pairs: 45, 25, 10 for 192$. If I went with there Wright HD bar it would tack on 255$. Total: 712$, this is with the nice bar that a beginner will not necessarily need, it would just be nice. If you take that off it would bring it to 457$. The only other reason why a person would not rock this amazing buildityourself game plan is space. If this is the problem then.... sorry. Have fun with the faggles at Suck University.