Back injury

My back was hurting after getting ran over by a vehicle a couple weeks ago. At first it was just a nagging pain and I was able to train through it. But instead of getting better my back pain has gotten significantly worse. I started physical therapy to get this thing fixed.

Since I'm unable to train for weightlifting right now I keep thinking about world and Olympic weightlifting champion Norbert Schemanski. He had a dibilitating back injury that he worked through twice to set world records afterwards. My back is in a lot better shape than his was. So it shouldn't take long to get back into the weight room. That's my hope at least. Until then my sport will be walking with my wife and kids in the evenings.

UFC 207 and retirement from the prison

Last night was UFC 207. Rousey's return. My wife and I hosted a fight party at our house. A few of my wife's high school friends and her brother showed up. Not one person I invited showed. I really love my new job here. I have a great nutrition coach who lives in the city. Most importantly I have one of the top weightlifting coaches in the nation. But I worked at the prison since I got out of high school. I lived on prison grounds. All my friends were fellow prison guards. My entire life was there. Albuquerque has a lot of potential. But I'm home sick. I miss the camaraderie of the prison. I miss feeling needed. I miss the feeling of belonging. But mostly I miss my friends. So far I think retirement from the prison kind of sucks.

Physical and mental weightlifting setbacks

Since getting ran over by a car I haven't been able to clean anything higher than %70 of my max. My snatch and jerks are still good. It's just my cleans that I'm struggling with. That leaves me contemplating..... Did I lose strength? Or is it some sort of a mental block? Perhaps a combination of both? I feel that if it's a loss of strength then it's not a problem. I'll rebuild my strength in no time. Muscles have memory. But unfortunately I feel it's some sort of mental block. Last night anytime I tried to clean over 105k I'd freak out once it was time for me to drop under the bar and I'd jump out of the way or push the bar away. I'm pretty sure the problem is in my head. Some sort of response to the trauma of having been ran over. And I have absolutely no idea how to handle this. Do I use lower weights until I start feeling comfortable dropping under the bar again? Or do I keep attempting to lift the heavy weights and force my way through it?

I've seen my weightlifting coach, Joaquin Chaves of High Dessert Athletic Club, do some pretty amazing things with his athletes. He's always able to coach his athletes through any problem they're having. Sometimes he focuses on form. Sometimes he talks them up using motivation. On occasion he'll even jump down one of his athletes throats, using hard coaching, or tough love. On some athletes who are particularly hard on themselves coach Chavez will always use positive and inspirational coaching. He seems to know each of his athletes and knows exactly what each one is capable of and how to get them there. 

Last night coach Chaves saw I was struggling and he had me drop down to 90k and build back up to 110. I missed 110 so he had me drop back down again. On the third time through this pattern he had me stop with the clean and jerks and had me move on to squats. I've never seen him do that before. He always found some way of coaching his athletes through whatever struggles their facing. But last night he somehow knew that the problems I was struggling with wasn't something that should be pushed through yet. That I was facing something more than a problem with my form or motivation. He just somehow knew addressing the issue again later was the best course of action. After last night I realized that I don't have to stress or worry about how I'm going to get through this. I have a great coach and mentor. All I have to do is show up and he'll figure out how to get me through this. I'm in great hands. 

December 2016, a month to remember

The last couple weeks have been challenging to say the least. My 1996 Chevy Suburban broke down. It was $1200 to fix. I've had a ton of problems with that vehicle the last two years. I've replaced just about everything on that vehicle but the engine and transmission. A few days later my wife's minivan broke down in Santa Fe. The radiator had a hole in it. $900 to repair. Shortly after that I had someone intentionally run me over with thier vehicle at work. Then a few days after that my wife and I almost split up. But on the bright side  I'll have Christmas off of work. At the prison I always got called in to work on Christmas. I've never once had Christmas off with my kids. I can't wait. Being able to experience Christmas with them is going to be wonderful.

{I'm beginning to think that coming out of retirement to work law enforcement in one of the top 10 most violent cities in the nation wasn't the most sane idea I've had in my life}

front squats and Rich Kahle

Rich Kahle ended up being a no-show for the weightlifting meet. My state records are safe for now. I need to start training. And hard. Because Rich Kahle is a beast. And if he's back on the weightlifting scene then I'll have my hands full with some extraordinary competition.

Front squats have always been my weakness. I used to hate front squats. I haven't done any in about 9 months. From here on out coach Chavez said he's going to have me squatting three times a week. 2X back squat, 1X front squat. Surprisingly I'm thrilled. I've missed those danm front squats. My front squat programming will be based off of a guess of a 150k max.

back at HDAC and most blog hits

Tuesday and Wednesday was my first day back to weightlifting in 3 weeks. It felt great being back in the gym. My weightlifting coach seemed genuinely happy to see me- I really think the world of that guy. The members of my weightlifting team were giving me hugs, high fives, and yelling "Cody!". It was wonderful being back. It was a perfect welcoming. And surprisingly my form was a lot better than I thought it would be after a three week break.

Yesterday I had a the most hits on my blog in 10 years of blogging. I'm not sure why. Might be all my fellow 12 steppers using 12 step terms in Google search. Or fans of the show I talked about. I usually only average 30-40 hits a day. Yesterday I had almost 900. Interesting. I'm dumbfounded.

if ya spot it ya got it

I watched a documentary on Netflix called "Last chance U". It was an awesome flick. It's about division 1 talent who has to play college football at a comunity college because of poor grades or getting in trouble. There's one kid on that show who's a bad ass defensive lineman, Ronald Ollie. He was amazing. The only reason he wasn't playing for an SEC team was he was an idiot. Anytime things didn't go his way he disappeared. I told my wife about how bad that kid pissed me off. That he was a waste of tallent. I told my kids that it takes 2 things to be successful, good attitude and good effort. And that kid lacked the right attitude. 3 weeks later, and that kid Ronald Ollie is still on my mind. One of my old 12 step buddies once told me,"If ya spot it, ya got it". It dawned on me that the reason that kid on Last Chance U got under my skin is I'm the exact same way. I'm the "go to guy", until I think someone close to me is going to give up on me or I'm going to be unable to meet thier expectations. And then I disappear just like him. Ronald Ollie's guidance counselor said he has trust issues. I think a better explanation is he has abandonment issues. He feels its better to disappear on someone than to have them give up on him or hurt him. He and I are exactly alike.

If there's something about someone that annoys or infuriates you, that means there's something in you that is just like that. "If you spot it, you got it."

I was a blue chip high school football player. I gave a verbal commitment to go play for the University of Wyoming. Before I could go play football I became a homeless teenager. I lost my scholarship. And because I had to provide proof of my parents taxes to get student loans and I wasn't in contact with them, I wasn't able to go to any college at all, much less play collegiate football. I always wondered what my life would have been like if I'd have been able to play football and get a degree. But after watching that show I found closure. I probably would have ran away half way through a season. And then my heart would have been overflowing with regret amd guilt. I'm exactly where I should be. My life couldn't have ended up any better than it did.

he's trying to break my state records!

This morning I built up enough courage to contact my powerlifting coach, Rich Kahle and tell him I am going to go back to weightlifting. That kind of stuff is always really hard for me. I hate hurting people's feelings or disappointing. Truly, I hate it. He was awesome about it. He also told me two other things that shocked me.

1) he'll be trying to qualify for the masters national weightlifting championships at High Dessert Athletic Club (my weightlifting club) on Saturday. That got my anxiety up quite a bit. I'm hoping like hell he doesn't tell my weightlifting coach Juaquin Chavez that I had quit weightlifting for a couple weeks and started powerlifting. I don't know how my weightlifting coach would handle that.

2) he told me he's a super heavyweight 40-44. That's my age group! What's the chances of that? My powerlifting coach showing up to break my state records a week after I fire him!?!

being a mediocre weightlifter

I recently came to the realization that I was just about at my full genetic potential in weightlifting. My body is better suited to powerlifting than weightlifting. So I switched sports last week to powerlifting exclusively. But this week something happened that took me completely by surprise. I missed weightlifting. I missed the speed lifts. I missed my team. I missed the group workouts. And I especially missed my weightlifting coach Joaquin Chavez. I'm really glad I tried powerlifting because I learned something. I learned I'd rather be a mediocre weightlifter than a great powerlifter. So starting on Friday I'll be back with weightlifting at High Dessert Athletic Club. I feel like the last week I've been an athlete with no impulse control. "Hey, I'm a weightlifter. Now I've decided to dedicate myself to powerlifting! Now I'm a weightlifter again!" Man, the last couples weeks has been a trip.

new to powerlifting

I did my first powerlifting workout. It was so much fun. My delts burned so bad during the training session. I can't remember the last time I trained my delts. A decade maybe? Tonight I'll be doing my first powerlifting squat routine.

The powerlifting coach I hired is extemely knowledgeable. He trains a lot of top level powerlifters. I've competed in a few powerlifting meets he was coaching at or a referee for. He's pretty awesome.

my first powerlifting workout

Today I'll be doing my my first powerlifting workout. For the first month so I'll be doing hypertrophy to build volume and more muscle to be able to tolerate the eventual load increases. It's all high intensity and short rest training for the next month.

My last two training sessions were tests. Those two tests were the hardest thing I've done in a very long me.  I was so sore after both of them I had to have my wife help me get dressed. It was a struggle to walk.

Both test/workouts were: do 5 reps starting at 135 lbs and go up 20 lbs each set until I can't do 5. Then go down to 3 reps and increase 10lbs each set until I can't do 3 rsps. Then go down to 1 rep and  and increase 5lbs until I couldn't get any more.

The 1st test I ended up doing a total of  16 sets and 54 reps of squat, 9 sets and 34 reps of bench. The second workout I did 15 sets & 65 reps deadlift and a ton of overhead press. To be honest, I think this was way to much. I was right on the edge of an injury on the squat workout.

Tonight I'll be doing the following, all with 45-60 second rest intervals.
Barbell bench 9x1 @ 225 lbs
Tate press 4x6-1
Superset the next two exercises
1) 5 sets incline DB press
2) one arm DB row 5 sets with 3 second negative, 2 seconds positive, and second pause at top
Superset next 2 exercises:
1) 4 sets Gironda DB swings x8 reps
2) 4 sets zottman curl x6-10 reps 3 second neg, regular up, then one second pause at top.

from weightlifting to powerlifting

A couple weeks ago I competed in the USPA New Mexico state powerlifting championships. Even though I'd been training really hard since I moved to Albuquerque in April my strength has decreased. After the meet I've been sitting on my butt, not working out, trying to figure this whole thing out. My training and eating has always been symbiotic. When I'm kicking butt at one I'm doing well in the other. So the last couple weeks has not been pretty. Of course I'm a weightlifter, not a powerlifter. But still.....

I trained with a guy, Philip Christopher, who was an AMAZING weightlifter. I could squat the same as him, but when it came to weightlifting he'd smoke me. I mean he crushed me into dustl! I can lift a 100k & a 125k. He could cllift lift a 130/160k. The difference is form. And the difference is frustrating as fuck. I still love the sport. But I think I'd be a much better powerlifter than weightlifter. I'd be a lot happier, successful, and less frustrated as a powerlifter. So yesterday I contacted a powerlifting coach, Rich Kahle out of Las Cruces New Mexico, and asked him to start training me. So, after 4 years of dedicating myself entirely to weightlifting I'm on to a new adventure. Powerlifting.

the 2016 US Powerlifting Association New Mexico state championships report

190/120/185/495k
Wilks 275.814

Today I competed in the US Powerlifting Association (USPA) New Mexico state championships in Albuquerque New Mexico . I entered in the masters Super Heavy Weight  (SHW) division and the Open SHW division. I weighed in at 142.8k.

First up was the squat. I love the squat. It's my best powerlifting event. I assumed I was stronger than the last time I competed in a powerlifting meet in April because I've been training really hard the last 6 months for olympic style weightlifting. And usually weightlifting transfers over well to powerlifting. Oh boy was I wrong! In warm ups everything felt heavy. When I tried 396 pounds for warm ups I barely got it up. My opening squat for the meet as 418 pounds. It was highly likely that I'd bomb out in the first event! On my first attempt I was able to lift the 418 pounds (190k), but it was close. I went up a few kilos and missed my 2nd and 3rd attempts. But that's ok, with one good lift i was still in the game. And my one squat was actually a state record!!!! I was pretty disappointed to find out my squat has gotten weaker in the last 6 months. I've been training so hard!

The 2nd event was bench press. I hadn't trained bench at all since April, and I was afraid pushing out a max on my first time bench pressing in 6 months would cause an injury, so I successfully lifted a 265lb (120k) bench on my first attempt and stopped there. And amazingly that was a state record! Ha! It's good to be a 40-44 age group SHW. There aren't that many of us left! Victory through attrition!

In olympic style weightlifting I never deadlift heavy. The most i deadlift is a 130k to warm up for clean and jerks. So I started light, 407 (185k). I had a birthday party that I invited a dozen people I've met since moving to Albuquerque so I had to leave after my first deadlift or I'd be late to my party. And believe it or not my one light deadlift was a state record!!

My total of 190/185/120/495 was a state record. I took first place in the 40-44 age group SHW raw division and the open SHW division. That makes me the New Mexico state champion in both of those divisions! It was a good day.

Once I got to the house I was pretty disappointed to see only one of the twelve people I invited showed up to the party. I'm finding it difficult to build a group of friends here in Albuquerque.

rest makes for great training and a happy life

The last 10 weeks my body weight has gradually decreased. That's a first. My entire life my weight would fluctuate huge amounts in short periods of time. I think that has a lot to do with a few really wonderful things going on in my life right now:

1) I'm only working 40-50 hours a week. From 2006-2016 I worked 80-90 hours a week.

2) I'm sleeping almost 8 hours a night. This is the first time I've had that luxury since 2006!

3) I'm finally on a consistent schedule at work. For the first 5 months of my new career I didn't have a regular schedule. I was on call 24-7. I'd work all hours of day and night. That was harder than I thought it would be. But now I have enough senority to bid on a post. I'll be on this schedule until March when we post bid again.

4) I have a really fantastic sports nutrition coach. He's done a lot of work trying to get me out of my unhealthy habits and replace them with some great ones.

5) I have a world class weightlifting coach. With my new consistent schedule I'm able to be coached by him 3 out of my 4 training sessions a week.

All in all I'd say the last 6 weeks has been wonderful. I'd go as far as to say this has been one of the top two times of my life. I think I could get used to this.

Here's my weekly weight average the last 10 weeks.
9/11/16- 322
9/18/16-320
9/25/16- 321
10/2/16-321
10/9/16-320
10/16/16-317
10/23/16-317
10/30/16-318
10/6/16-316
10/13/16-315

first treadmill tabata of 2016

In addition to helping me with weight loss and a nutrition plan to continue to make strength gains for weightlifting, my nutrition coach has been trying to help me make lifestyle changes. I never thought that would work. Ever. But miracle of miracles, it has. Finding success with me has probably been one of the most trying and frusting goals of his life. But, by George, it's working. In addition to following his nutrition plan relatively well, I've started doing cardio 3 times a week. Today I did a treadmill tabata:
I did a warm up of 5 minutes, then I ran for 20 seconds on and then 10 seconds off @ a 12% grade at level 4 (15 minute per mile) for 10 rounds (5 minutes). The last 3 rounds I had to slow the pace and grab on to the bar to finish. Next time I think I'll lower the speed to a 3.6 (16:40). At that speed will probably be easy. But I haven't done cardio in years so it's better to start up slowly and build up then to get injured or throw myself into over training. After all, I am 40 years old. My body doesn't respond as well to new things as it used to.

USA weightlifting website and my results

I recieved and email from USA Weightlifting telling me my latest weightlifting meet had been entered into thier website. I'd never had that happen before. So I logged on and I found that thier website has been revamped since I was last on there. It seems easier to navigate. I found all my past weightlifting meets results, bodyweight, etc. I thought it might be fun to post all my results here. From here on I'll put all my meets and results at the bottom of every weightlifting meet results that I blog about.

12) Farewell to Ski
10/29/16
Weight: 142.69k
98(PR)/125(PR)/223 (PR)

11) NM Games
5/21/16
Weight: 142.77k
97(PR)/122(PR)/219 (PR)

10) High Dessert Spring Invite
4/24/16
Bodyweight: 142.6k
95(PR)/ 120(PR)/215(PR)

9) HDAC Spring Break Invite
3/12/16
Bodyweight: 143.8k
91/116(PR)/212(PR)

8) John Davis memorial Invitational 2
1/16/16
Bodyweight: 143k
91(PR)/112/203(PR)

7) Lift Outside the box Invitational
10/17/15
Bodyweight: 143k
87/115(PR)/202(PR)

6) NM Games
7/19/15
Bodyweight: 131.57k
87(PR)/108(PR)/195(PR)

5) The Miller Gym Anniversary invite
4/25/15
Bodyweight: 132.76k
86(PR)/105/191(PR)

4) The John Davis memorial invite
1/24/15
Bodyweight: 136.26k
83(PR)/107(PR)/190(PR)

3) The Jodi Invitational
11/9/14
Bodyweight: 140.83k
79(PR)/103(PR)/182(PR)

2) The Miller Gym Inaugural-The Kevin
7/26/14
Bodyweight: 133.83k
76(PR)/100(PR)/176(PR)

1) The NM games
5/17/14
Bodyweight 128
65(PR)/89(PR)/153(PR)

todays lower calorie meal plan

Now that my weightlifting meet is done I asked my sports nutrition coach to help me drop weight a little quicker. My calories have been cut drastically. It'll be a challenge. This is what my meals look like today. With only a few exceptions I'm eating mostly meat and vegetables. My quest for the 105k weight class continues.

5am
Coffee
Half-n-half
4 eggs
1/4 cup onions
Canola oil
3 oz chicken breast

9am
9oz chicken breast
2 c. Broccoli
1 celery stick

1pm
6oz lean ground beef
1 cup carrots
Hot sauce
1 celery stick

4:30pm
2 hot Polish sausage
4 mini sweer peppers
2 celery sticks

5pm (weightlifting training)
8 oz Gatorade
1 scoop whey protein

6:30
Post workout shake

8pm
2.5 cups Dorrito salad
2 oc chicken breast

a year with my nutrition coach

I've been on a roll with my nutrition. By no means have I been perfect. I don't hit my protein goals as often as I'm supposed to. But I've nailed my calorie goals almost every day for close to 2 months. I've been working with my nutrition coach for a year now. Most of that time I was either struggling or had given up entirely. I'm finally getting some traction and consistency. But looking back I realize I learned more from the times I was failing than I did from the times I was doing great. But regardless of how I've been doing, the one consistent was that Barry, my nutrition coach has been there. He's been an unwavering force in my fight to become healthier, a better weightlifter, and get down to the 105k weight class. Since working with Barry I've learned a lot about nutrition for athletics and I've learned even more about myself. I've always known I struggle with food. & that I use eating as a stress relief. Working with Barry has helped me find other ways to deal with stress (still learning, still in the process). But what's helped the most was learning how to find out what's important to me and how to accomplish those things that are really important to me. He sent me an email awhile back. It was after my 4th time falling off the diet wago. It helped me peel back many of the layers of who I am, what's important to me, and why. Some of the revelations were surprising. Some of my reasons were much more dark and selfish than I ever thought I could be. The email said:

"Find your "Why"?

A very important, but sometimes overlooked factor in success or struggle with making changes is WHY you are making the changes.  Finding a good "why" or not can sometimes make or break your ability to change.  If you are trying to make a change because a magazine says you should or because you think it might be a good idea, you may not truly be motivated to make the changes over the long term.

If you can find a reason to make changes that legitimately motivates you, drives you and is genuinely important to you, the chances of sticking to the changes are increased significantly.  

"Why's" are extremely personal, too.  What motivates one person, may not carry any significance to another.  This is why it is important for you to take a look into your own, personal motivations.  Your "why" for working on your nutrition may be to improve your health, to improve your performance, to fit into your favorite pair of jeans, to look good in a bathing suit or to set a positive example for you children.  As long as it is really important to you, it's a good "why", regardless of what anyone else may think.

A good exercise for digging deeper into your "why" is to go through an exercise called "The 5 Whys".  If you are in the ProCoach program, you've probably already completed this.  If not, what you do is start by asking yourself "Why am I doing....?"  Once you have that answer, you ask yourself "Why is that important?" and continue to ask yourself "Why is that important?" until you've asked yourself "why" a total of 5 times.  By the 5th answer, you should be getting a pretty deep look into what is truly important to you.  For example:

Why am I working with a nutrition coach? Because I want to lose 20# and compete at the highest level possible at my sport.

Why is that important? Because I want to push myself to be the best that I can be and see what I am capable of, all while living a healthy lifestyle.

Why is that important? Because I want to set a good example for my children so they know that if they work hard they can accomplish great things and so that they grow up with healthy eating habits.

Why is that important? Because my biggest responsibility in life is to raise my kids to be the best they can be.

Why is that important? Because they are the future, and I want them to have the skills in life to do whatever they want.

Find your "Why" and find your motivation."

I sent my weekly report to my nutrition coach on Sunday. He sent me back an awesome email. It said:

"I have to tell you, I'm really impressed this time around!  You're doing an awesome job, and each week you're sending me something that you did during the week that is a really big step in the right direction, like eating within your calories even while hitting a Chinese food buffet.  That's seriously awesome.  Numbers were really good again this week.

That said, this is going to be a little bit of a tough week, because we're going to take your calories down a bit to get the scale moving again.  I think there's going to be an adjustment period this week, so do the best you can and think about the goals when things get tough.  Really focus on getting the protein in, because that will help you feel full.  Drink lots of water, eat lots of veggies, because those things also make you feel full and veggies have minimal calories."

See, my nutrition coach is awesome. It looks like this week will be tough. Wish me luck. I'll keep you updated periodically as to my progress! 

Farewell to Ski weightlifting meet report

Today I lifted in the "Farewell to Ski" weightlifting meet. The meet was comimorated to the life of hall of fame weightlifter Norbert Schemanski who died earlier this year. It was held at High Dessert Athletic Club in Albuquerque New Mexico.

 I weighed in at 143.69k. Thanks to my nutrition coach Barry Schroeder.

My snatches have felt strong, fast, and I've had the best form of my life. Even on warm ups I felt unbelievable!
-My first lift was a 94k. Easy.
-My 2nd lift was a 98k. Easy. It also set a new NM masters 105k+ 40-44ag state record.
-My third attempt was a 101k. It felt so easy I felt I may have over pulled it. So I didn't finish my 2nd pull and I missed the lift. Even though I missed it I was still really happy. It felt so easy! I should have made that lift. Actually, I could have made a heavier lift. I've never missed a lift and been so happy! I'm sure I'm good for a 102-104k. That makes me happy.

Next up was the clean and jerks. I was cleaning great during warm ups. But my jerks were atrocious. I missed a practice 115k jerk. I barely made a 119k clean and jerk on my last practice attempt.
-My first clean and jerk of the tournament was 120k. I cleaned it super easy. I barely made the jerk. Coach asked me if I wanted to go for a 123 or a 125k C&J. I said 123k. He told the volunteers, "put on 125k".
-I cleaned it easy. I missed the jerk. I wasn't even close!! I had one more attempt of 125. The state record  is 122k.
-on my third attempt the weight landed to far forward. It rolled a little down my delts and my back arched forward. Somehow I was able to roll the weight back and straighten my back. At that point i was stuck sitting in the hole. But somehow I was able to stand up with it! Standing up after landing in such a bad position took a lot of effort. If I was going to make the jerk it was going to have to be because of great form, because i blew all my energy with the clean. All I kept thinking was keep my elbows high! Keep my elbows high! And after I dipped and threw the weight up as fast & explosive as i could, it was a good lift!!!! If it would have been 125.1 i wouldn't have been able ti do it. It was that close! That was the absolute most i could have jerked. It was a lifetime PR and a state record by 3k!

Overall I set 3 new state records of 98k/125k/223k. I missed qualifying for the masters national championships by 7k. But I don't mind at all. This was the best weightlifting meet of my life. Not only by the amount of weight lifted, and state records, b

ut also by how great I felt in the snatches, and how great my effort was in the clean and jerks.

no calorie adjustment this week

I sent my nutrition coach my weekly report. My calories were perfect all 7 days. My protein intake was great 6 out of 7 days. But I still didn't lose any weight. My #1  goal is to lose 2 pounds a week. In most situations a nutrition coaches would drop my calories. But my nutrition coach knows I'll be competing in a weightlifting meet this weekend. So he sent me an email telling me hes not lowering my calories to ensure a good weightlifting meet. How awesome is that? I have some really awesome people in my corner helping me to qualify for the master national weightlifting championships. If it's at all possible I will do it. Maybe not this year. But I will.

overtime and weightlifting training

My new job seems to be in a constant state of chaos and is short staffed. Which is baffling to me because the pay is pretty awesome. I can handle a lot of B.S. for a job that pays as well as this one. On most of my weekends my Captain will call and ask if I can work at least one of my days off. Sometimes both of them. The constant change of hours and shifts has made it difficult to get adjusted. But like I said the pay is great so I'll just keep my head down and do what I'm asked when I'm asked.

For the next 5 months my days off were supposed to be Tuesday and Wednesday. But my Captain has asked if I'd work every Wednesday until he's able to get us fully staffed- which hasn't happened as long as anyone can remember. So I'm just assuming I'll be working 6 days a week for the next 5 months- at least. He was nice enough to work around the 2 hour block I need with my coach on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. So between that and the pay I'm happy as I pig in slop. I'll leave the complaining and dissident to some of my fellow coworkers who have no idea how how lucky we really are. I've got a great paying job that is willing to work around weightlifting training. What more could a man ask for?

the masters national weightlifting championships and the American open series

Friday was my last big day of training before I tapered for the October 29th weightlifting meet. My snatches were great but my clean and jerks were absolute crap. I'm pretty sure I could only clean a 127k right now. And I couldn't jerk 125k to save my life. If I can't clean and jerk at least 130k there's no way I can qualify for the masters national weightlifting championships. I was really hoping to compete in the masters national weightlifting championships. But it might actually work out well. Coach Joaquin Chaves asked all of us to compete in the American open series as a team. At the American open series not only could I compete as an individual on a national meet but I'd also get to be part of a national team competition. My coach and team are awesome. That sounds like a blast to me.

post and shift bidding

Today I bid on the shift and post I'll be working the next 5 months. The bidding is based on senority amd I've only been working this job for 4 months. My only real goal was to stay off swing shift. My wife and kids are only home in the evennings so swings would have been horrible for my family life. All in all i think i lucked out. The good news is I'll be working during days and I'll be able to train with Joaquin Chavez of High Dessert Athletic Club 3 days a week. The bad news is I'll be off of work on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. I think it'll take me awhile to get weekends off. But that's ok. I'll get there eventually. Until then I'll be happy as long as I can train at High Dessert Athletic Club.

The horrible post I blogged about a couple days ago was taken by a senior officer who wanted nights, weekends, and Holidays off.

lemonade out of crap

The duty station (post) I've been working the last week has been as bad as I thought it would be. Stressful. Dangerous. Talking to crazy people tests even the most patient of people. But the good news is I get to train with coach Joaquin Chavez 4 days a week. And being trained by Joaquin is worth working a stressful post. So as hard as it is to believe I'm going to try and bid for this full time. If I get it I'll be working that post for the next 5 months. That means 5 months of awesome weightlifting training. I could accomplish some great things in 5 months. I've followed my nutrition coach's advise for the last 40 straight days. I've gained a lot of strength recently. Chacho Taylor ages up into my division on January 1st. So I'll need to be at my best. 5 months of being coached by Joaquin Chavez and nutrition coach Barry Schroeder full time and I'll be a beast. As unbeatable as I could ever be. I'm thinking this horrible post is the best possible thing that could have happened to me and my weightlifting career.

crappy work positions and great weightlifting

After I retired from the penitentiary I got a job that's been really great. Until now. Starting tomorrow I'll be working in downtown Albuquerque in a high danger and high stress post. I'm dreading this new nightmare post, but there is an upside. I'll be getting off work at 4:30pm so I can start training 4 days a week with coach Joaquin Chavez of High Dessert Athletic Club. I can't say I'm happy about working this new post. But it's really perfect timing. The next weightlifting meet will be in 17 days & there's no one who can perfect my form in such a short period of time like Joaquin can.  If I'm even close to qualifying for the masters national weightlifting championships, Joaquin will make it happen.

I think weightlifting after working such a stressful job will help me keep my sanity. Thank God for weightlifting.

multiple weightlifting coaches

My nutrition coach is having me maintain my calories on training days. On non-training days I'll be dropping my calories from 3600 to 3200.

I've been thinking about how great my snatches were on Saturday morning. I have been utilizing two coaches. One, coach Vernon Smith, on Mondays has been helping me with snatches. And coach Joaquin Chavez on Fridays and Saturdays is working with me on both snatches and clean and jerks. Each one has been able to find and help correct different problems I have in my form. I'm looking forward to my next meet. I think I may do something spectacular with snatches. Although I'm guessing my jerks will be much less than than dazzling. Jerks have always been my achilles heel. It sucks I clean so much but can't jerk it. The clean is the hard part.

American barbell for weightlifting

When I can't train with Joaquin Chaves at High Dessert Athletic Club I train at Iron Soul in Albuquerque. It's mainly a powerlifting gym but they have drop plates for olympic style weightlifting too. They are open 24 hours a day, so there's never any reason to miss training. The only problem is Iron Soul only has one bar with olympic grips. So I went ahead and ordered my own bar. It's an American Barbell, black and chrome. It was on closeout pricing. Only $199. Now I won't have to wait around for people to finish thier workout to be able to use a weightlifting bar. I'll have my own! And it's my first step of building my own weightlifting gym in my garage! 

struggling with the jerk

This morning at High Dessert Athletic Club coach Joaquin Chavez had me build up to a 90k snatch. That's only 7k below the the state record, and it felt rediculously easy. After that I built up to %90 of my max clean and it also felt rediculously easy, but I pressed out the jerk everytime. It's absurd that I can clean so much, but can't jerk it. Jerks are supposed to be the easy part. My next weightlifting meet is on October 29th. I better get those jerks cleaned up or I can kiss the 2017 masters national weightlifting championships goodbye.

crime in Albuquerque and it's time to move!

When i retired from the prison i tried to convince my wife to move to Lubbock TX, anywhere in New Hampshire, or Savanna Gorrgia. She desperately wanted to move back to her home town of Albuquerque. Albuquerque is #3 in the nation in auto-thefts, #5 in violent crime, and the sexual assault and rape is %300 higher than the national average. But ultimately I put my wife's wants above my own, like husbands should do. A couple weeks ago my cherished 1996 Chevrolet Suburban was stolen from our driveway. Anyone who knows me knows I love my Suburban. I plan on driving it the rest of my life. I was just going to continue to repair it over and over again. A few days later I found it in an apartment complex. It had $1250 woth of damage to it. It was loaded up with a bunch of home invasion tools. The police said the thieves were probably going to use my vehicle in a few home break ins and then dump it or strip it for parts. Thankfully my wife has realized how dangerous this city is. She's ready to sell the house we bought just 5 short months ago and move. She hasn't decided where she wants to move yet. She said she'd like to see Savanna Georgia. She's never been to that part of the country. It's BEAUTIFUL there! I'm sure she'd move there in a heart beat if she saw it there. So I'm hoping like hell I'm able to qualify for the masters national weightlifting championships which is held in Savanna Georgia. And in the meantime I'm working on our house getting it prepped to sell. There's a lot we're needing to do. I've been working my butt off the last week.

 We're going to knock out this old fashion light box thingy and put recessed lighting in the kitchen, family room, dining room, and both bathrooms.

 As you can see there's no lights in the family room other than lamps. So recessed lighting is desperately needed. We're also going to remove all the carpet and linoleum and put down new tile in the whole house.

We're going to knock out this wall and put in a breakfast bar. We're also going to put in new  kitchen counters so that the breakfast bar and kitchen counters will match. After that I believe we can sell it for a profit so we can have a decent down payment on a new home in a safer city. The housing at all three of the places I'd like to move is significantly cheaper than here in Falujah- er- I mean Albuquerque New Mexico. Plus:

There's no income tax in Texas.

And there's no income tax or sales tax in New Hampshire. 

Savanna Georgia is just about the most beautiful place on earth. Plus they have beaches and an ocean there!

The only thing I'll miss here in Albuquerque is my coach Joaquin Chavez of High Dessert Athletic Club. I love that guy. I don't think I'll ever find another coach as fantastic as he is.

hand tears in weightlifting

I constantly see weightlifters sanding thier calluses to prevent their hands from tearing while weightlifting. I never do that. I was blessesd and got my Dad's bulletproof hands. After almost 4 years of weightlifting I've only had one rip. Last week i had my 2nd. I feel so special. Like I'm part of a member of a secret club or something.

2 weightlifting coaches

Because of my work schedule ive had to lift on my own 2 days a week. And since I despised weightlifting on my own I hired a coach, Vernon Smith, for those days- I'm still trained by Coach Joaquin Chaves on Fridays and Saturdays. I'm damn lucky. Coach Smith has been fantastic. And the longer we're working together the more he's understanding my lifting style and habits, and the more he's able to offer great lofting advice. I've made some fantastic gains with him so far.

Last night after my weightlifting training session I was supposed to start my first day of bench press. But I was out of energy and had no motivation. From the looks of things so far I won't be starting a bench program. So I'll be competing in November in the USPA New Mexico state powerlifting championships with a great squat, and deadlift,  but a horrible bench. But ya know, it's ok. Because there's no state records in the super heavyweight 40-44 age group. So all I have to do is successfully lift a single bench of any weight and it'll be a state record. Being an old fat guy in strength sports is awesome! I'm one of the few left who hasn't been debilitated by heart, knee, or back problems.

resuming bench press

I stopped training bench press after my last powerlifting meet in March so I could concentrate on fully on weightlifting. Now that I've decided to compete in the USPA New Mexico state powerlifting championships I need to start benching again. On Sunday I maxed out. My max is 275lbs. That's a pathetic bench. But I think that's pretty decent considering I haven't benched once in 6 months. So tonight I start training bench again. I have 6 weeks to put on as much strength as possible. I'll also be doing Pendley rows to keep the muscles balanced.

victory through attrition

The USPA, a powerlifting federation is having the New Mexico state championships here in Albuquerque on November 19th, 2016. I train strictly for weightlifting. But I've found weightlifting traning transfers well for powerlifting. I decided, just for fun, to look up the Super heavyweight 40-44 age group state records for the raw and classic raw divisions and there aren't any. All I have to do is show up and successfully lift a single squat, deadlift, and bench and technically I'll be the USPL state champion and state record holder. As I'm continuing this journey into strength athletics I've found there aren't many super heavyweight 40 or older left. They all have bad backs, knees, hearts, etc. I've won almost ever single weightlifting and powerlifting meet ive ever entered, simply because I'm usually the only one in my division. So far I've won 3 New Mexico state weightlifting championships, hold all the of the New Mexico weightlifting state records, won a New Mexico state NASA championship and hold 9 New Mexici state NASA powerlifting records. The owner of Iron Soul Gym tells me I'm earning victories through attrition. I think that's going to be my new motto, "victory through attrition."

I recently made peace with my weight. I'm happy with myself as I am. Well, last week my wife told me she wants me to lose 75 pounds. That she said that she doesn't like the way I look. That hurt. So I asked my sports nutrition coach Barry Schroeder if we could speed up my weight loss, even if it means sacraficing weightlifting performance.

a new protein supplament

On my days off of work I've been doing yard work. I'm taking %100 of the money and putting it in my kids college fund. While working on a ladies yard  a few weeks ago she came out and said she works for a company that makes protein supplaments and she gave me a bag full of samples and a shaker cup. The protein is called Garden of life. It's probably the best tasting protein I've ever tasted in my life. I've been taking it as a post workout supplament. I have no clue if it works or if it's a decent product for weightlifters, but it sure tastes good, and it was FREE!

https://www.gardenoflife.com/content/product/why-choose-raw-protein-and-greens/

I really didn't want to move to Albuquerque adter I retired from the prison. The crime here is unbelievable. Friday night someone stole my 1996 Chevrolet Suburban from my driveway. Thankfully I found it Sunday evening. It cost $850 to repair the damage the thieves caused.

I'm the newest employee at my new job. So consequently I'm always the first one to get called in for the worst duties and posts. My schedule has been chaotic. I'm constantly getting called by my Captain and told, "you need to report to duty at- fill in the blank- in two hours." Because of that I'm having to text or call my weightlifting coach and cancel my training with him and request him to text me a workout on short notice. I think it's starting to piss him off. I'm getting worried he's going to drop me as a client.

powerlifting and a great sports nutrition coach

This December is the Natural Athlete Strength Association Christmas powerlifting classic. Last year I competed in this event and set 9 state records and 4 national records. It was a really great event. I'm going to compete in this one again later this year. I looked up the state records and it looks like if i can drop into the 275-307lb weight class I'll be able to set 8 more state records. Plus my 9 year old wants to start training for powerlifting and go compete with me. He could already break 2 state records of his own in the youth under 100 pounds RAW powerlifting division and the youth under 100 pounds clean division. What a wonderful father/son weekend that would be. We'd both remember that fondly forever.

I rehired my sports nutrition coach. This is the 4th time in the last year I've worked with him. Everytime I start working with him again I get great speed, strength, and explosiveness gains. I should start being more consistent and dedicated to what he's having me do. If I did I know without a doubt I'd make my weightlifting goals. Speaking of that:

I sent my nutrition coach my weekly nutrition report. On one of the days I screwed up big time. I didn't hit any of my goals. Usually he'd send me an email telling me I needed to work on consistency, hit my daily goals, etc and that word have made me stop working the plan and quit. But this time he sent me an email saying "That's a great week." That got me really motivated to do better next week. And that's what made me realize why I struggle so much with online coaching of anykind. I'm hypersensitive. I think the old term for that is a sensitive Sally. And that's not good. Not everyone is willing or able to learn how an athlete responds to situations as quickly as my sports nutrition coach, Barry Schroeder. Most people would have given up on an athlete/client who is as willing to quit as I am when I get my feelings hurt. Not to mention that's piss poor people skills and horible life coping skills on my part. But anyway, he seems to have figured out how best to deal with his most tempermental pain in the ass client. I'm hoping he can get me down to 308lb by December so I can set more stare powerlifting records. Just call me a glory whore. A hypersensitive glory whore.

weightlifting coach talked me off the ledge

I listened to a pod cast by Mark Rippetoe a little over a month ago. He claimed the reason Americans are so poor at Olympic style weightlifting is that they don't do enough deadlifts. He said that American coaches are making a mistake by adopting the European model of weightlifting where they have thier athletes do tons of pulls but very few deadlifts. He was essentially saying anyone training like that isn't strong enough to lift the weights they are capable of. Since listening to that podcast I've been obsessing about doing more deadlifts. I've been contemplating sneaking more deadlifts into my training program. Vernon Smith, one of my two weightlifting coaches, talked me out of it. He said I shouldn't mess with coach Joaquin Chavez training programs. He said that my squat and weightlifting numbers show that I have more than enough strength. That it's my form that's holding me back from lifting more weight.

next weightlifting meet

My coach advised me the next weightlifting meet will be held on October 29th, 2016. That gives me another 6 weeks & 5 days to get my total up. I'm guessing I have 2 attempts to qualify for the masters national weightlifting championships. One in October, and time for one more before the cut off of February 1st of 2017. I'm so excited. I think I have a really good shot at qualifying. Coach Joaquin Chaves told me it may be a pretty good sized meet. It may be big enough to be held at the University of New Mexico weight room. If it's that big of a meet there's a chance my former coach, Shane Miller, will be there with his team. I'd really like to qualify with him present. He was the first one to take me under his weightlifting wing to coach me and guide me along. Accomplishing something like that with him there would be sentimental and the best way I could think of to say thanks to him.

building a home weightlifting gym

I work 12 hour shifts and Iron Soul, one of my gyms, is 30 minutes from my work, and my home is another 30 minutes from the gym. That makes for a long day. More importantly it makes me not get as much sleep as I should. Up until now I didn't mind a little sleep deprivation. But now that I want to focus on qualifying for the masters national weightlifting championships I need to be getting a full nights sleep to get the full benifits of training. Thankfully building a home gym for weightlifting doesn't take a tremendous amount of equipment. Just a platform, drop plates, a squat rack, and a weightlifting bar. The first thing I'll be buying is a bar. I've decided on a California bar by American Barbell. A lot of the reviews of the Ohio bar by Rouge fitness say the bars rust easily.

dry heaving at Albuquerque CrossFit

I decided to train at Albuquerque CrossFit last night. They have olympic weightlifting classes on Tuesday nights. The box (gym) is really close to my house. & They also have a trainer there who's pretty good at coaching weightlifting, Joe Vegil. The only thing I don't like is everyone is in great shape. By great shape I mean crazy hard muscles and unbelievable 6 packs. I'm 5'11" 325 pounds. I'm the total opposite of ever other person in there.
During the warm up I felt very okut of place so i did warm ups behind everyone else in the hope that no one will notice me. Finally we start lifting. I grab a rack in the far corner. I'm trying the "out of sight out of mind" approach. And just my luck, the person who's in the best shape and is the most beautiful in the entire gym sets up right behind me.

She's also strong as heck, she was lifting as much as I am the entire workout. I'm feeling a little inadequate. To make myself feel better I say to myself, "you're an olympic style weightlifter. Let's show all these beautiful people what great weightlifting form looks like." And I do. My form was really good last night. 

As I'm lifting I'm trying to not breath heavily. I'm already imbarrassed by being three times the size of everyone else. I don't want to make it even more obvious that I'm out of shape by gasping for breath in between sets. A little over half way through the workout, I'm adding more weight to the bar and I inhale a bug. I immediately cough and then my cough turns into dry heaving! I'm gagging because I have an insect wiggling around in my lungs, but no one else knows why. I'm sure it appeared that I was dry heaving because I'm in such bad shape. I was hoping she didn't notice. So inbetween dry heaves I glanced out of the corner of my eye to see if she saw me gagging and making a fool out of myself. And she did. She was staring at me with a look of concern on her face. I was so imbarrassed. But, regardless of the humiliation I'll be back on Thursday night. Hopefully this time I won't make an ass out of myself.

the masters national weightlifting championships qualifying totals

Today I got to train at High Dessert Athletic Club for the 2nd time in 3 days, instead of just my usual once a week. It was awesome. I love training there. I'm sure I sound like a commercial singing the praises of HDAC. But the coaching really is that good, and the team really is that wonderful.

Now that I've recovered from my frustration of training on my own and wanting to quit rather than lift by myself, I started thinking about the qualifying totals of the master's national weightlifting championships in March of 2017. The qualifying totals were increased for the 2017 championships. I wasn't willing to look up my totals because of my frustration with not being able to train with my coach and team. But today i went ahead and took a look. 230k! 230k (506lbs) is some pretty big numbers. My lifetime best meet was a 219k.

My team has agreed that we'll all fly there together and rent a house in Savanna for all of the ones who qualify. Now that sounds like fun! Looks like I have some work to do!

I quit weightlifting

A couple weeks ago I became frustrated with training on my own and quit weightlifting. I was planning on going back to weightlifting after my work schedule changed and I can go back to High Dessert Athletic Club. But that won't be until November 1st. So, without weightlifting I kept getting more and more grouchy until this morning my wife demanded I go back to the gym. Turns out as much as I hate training on my own I hate not weightlifting even more. It makes me happy and helps me deal with stress. Without weightlifting I turn into a jerk pretty quick. Man did it ever feel great getting back into weightlifting! And my first day back to weightlifting was at HDAC. It was awesome. I really love it there.

weightlifting gym choices

My work schedule makes it so I'm only able to train at High Dessert Athletic Club with coach Joaquin Chavez on Saturdays. The rest of the week I've been lifting at a powerlifting gym. I'm miserable weightlifting at a powerlifting gym. They're great people there. But I'm the only one doing olympic style. It's not fun by myself.

The only other place I've found that i can fit weightlifting around my work schedule is Albuquerque CrossFit on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Sundays. The coaches there aren't real big on correcting form unless someone asks. But even without much guidance it's still better than being the only weightlifter in the entire gym. So starting on Tue I'll be training at both Albuquerque CrossFit and High Dessert Athletic Club.

I post bid and shift bid mid October. I'm hoping I can get a schedule that fits with HDAC. I love it there. And I got the best gains of my life there.

post bid and weightlifting

My work schedule changed again. I'm only able to train at HDAC with coach Joaquin Chavez on Saturdays. I've been struggling to force myself to train on the days I'm not not at High Dessert Athletic Club. It's just not fun to do weightlifting on my own. I pretty much hate it.

In October of this year I bid for my next post and shift. I just started at this new career so I'm #70 out of 71 full time employees. Its probable I'll get the worst days off and least popular shift. As far as the job goes I'm OK with working bad posts. But if I'm forced to work evennings I won't be able to train at Joaquin's at all. I have to admit, I probably won't continue with weightlifting if I can't be trained at HDAC. I'd pick it back up once I built up enough senority to have a schedule that I can train at HDAC.

gym politics

Today was my first bad day of weightlifting since joining High Dessert Athletic Club. And it was awesome. I was only able to get up to an 85k snatch and I dropped just about everything getting up to the 85. My cleans and my jerks were even worse. As soon as coach Chavez realized I was struggling he stood on the platform next to mine and watched just about every set. He talked to me about my form. He also talked about mindset. He pointed out everyone in the gym who does the same thing I was doing. He never let me get frustrated. He kept my mind focused on the things I could do better. There's just something about his coaching style that fits. I get it. It was that way from the very first day I trained with him.

Sometimes i post things on my blog that explains how quickly I'm progressing and how amazed I am by coach Chavez's ability to get the best out of me. I say it because it's true and i am honestly amazed. Last week after I posted about hitting a 100k snatch I got a text message with a video of the first time i hit 100k at another gym. The message said "I was asked to send you this gym. What a great lift." I assumed it was because I'm so complimentary of coach Chavez getting me to 100k so quickly. Just because I praise Joaquin doesn't mean I think any less of the coaches and gyms I used to train with. I've had some pretty fantastic growth and accomplishments in other gyms. The coaching was stellar. Joaquin's style just fits and I'm not going to be shy about saying how amazed I am by his abilities to lead and teach. But I don't mean that as an insult to anyone else. So if your a former coach reading the compliments I'm giving Joaquin please don't think it means your anything less. I still adore each of my former coaches. And if your a current athlete at one of the gyms I used to train at don't start drama. Weightlifting is a very small community. And it's a beautiful community. Let's keep it that way.

no more yoyo dieting for me

I've never once said “I want to lose 30 pounds, keep it off briefly, then gain it all back, with some extra pounds for good measure." Last month I fell off the diet wagon and in three weeks I gained back almost all of the weight I'd lost over a three month period. So I've decided I'm not going to try and lose tons of weight anymore. It doesn't work for me. I'm going to try to get down to 299 pounds, eat for weightlifting performance, and maintain that weight. No more yoyo dieting for me. Besides, I make big and bald look danm sexy!

weightlifting and excessive celebration

My lifetime goal in weightlifting was a 100k snatch & a 125 clean and jerk. A couple weeks ago I hit the 100k snatch I wanted, which is 4k above the state record. Afterwards I jumped up and down, clapping, and yelling. After I finished celebrating coach Joaquin told me to try a 105k. But it was to late. Once I started jumping around acting a fool I'd lost my go heavy mindset. I missed the 105k. It was close. But close doesn't count in weightlifting. I learned a lesson. Don't run around the gym like I have ants in my pants until I'm done lifting for the day.

Today after my workout coach Joaquin had me load 110 to clean and jerk. I nailed it easy. Next was 115, then 120, & then I had an opportunity to go for another lifetime goal of 125k, which is 3k above the state record. It was a good lift and best of all it felt easy. Rather than scream and jump around I looked at coach and waited calmly for my my orders. He had me stop there because he has a meet scheduled for later this month and he doesn't want me to hurt my chances of a great meet. But this time I was mentally prepared to continue to go up if he asked me to.

In the last two weeks I've accomplished two of my biggest weightlifting goals. A 100/125. Next step is to do them together at a sanctioned weightlifting meet later this month.

"what we have now is a failure to communicate"

Last Saturday I sent in my food diary to my sports nutrition coach. I was about 1000 calories over what I was supposed to eat for the entire week. 1000 calories over a 7 day period isn't bad. Its not perfect, but its still pretty good. He sent back an email telling me he wasnt going to adjust my calories unless i had a solid week. What he meant was he wanted me to have a solid week in regards to sports performance, which is awesome because weightlifting is my #1 goal. What I thought he meant was he wanted me to have a better week in regards to diet or he wouldn't adjust my calories. So on Sunday I became rebellious about the imaginary slight and I ate what ever the hell I wanted to. By Wednesday I was feeling guilty about losing traction on my diet plan so I contacted him and complained that my eating was only 1000 calories over for an entire week and that should have been good enough for a calorie adjustment. He sent back a kind and well thought out explanation telling me my calories were great and he didn't want to adjust my calories on a week that I wasn't feeling strong in the gym. He told me he knew performance was my #1 goal and he didn't want to sacrifice performance for fast weight loss. Ooops. I screwed up. I made an assumption and instead of communicating with my nutrition coach I gave up. In other words he was doing exactly what a sports nutrition coach should do and I did exactly the opposite of what I should do as an athlete. I didn't have the heart to tell him I fell off the diet wagon. I was supposed to send him my weeks diet journal, but I am feeling so remorseful and imbarrassed I didn't. Usually if I hadn't sent in my food journal by Sunday he calls or emails me to ask for it. I still haven't heard from him. I'm assuming it's because he realizes I'm pretty much a pain in the ass, will always be a problem, and has given up on trying to help me. If that's the case I don't blame him. But I have no idea if that's the case or not because I'm still to ashamed by my lack of communication to contact him to tell him what the hell is going on. Do you see how stupid that is? I'm to imbarrassed about my lack of communication to communicate. Sometimes I'm a real dumb ass.

post max slump

Last week I went heavy at the gym. Coach Chavez gave me a pep talk and then I hit a 100k snatch. His pep talks always gets the best out of me. He's a master motivator. I've dreamed of hitting a 100k snatch for a very long time. It was a dream come true. Next goal is a 125k clean and jerk. I think it will take awhile before I get there. I've found when I go heavy it makes me feel slow, sluggish, and my form goes to crap for awhile. I think maxing out does that for everyone. But it affects me a lot more severely and it takes me much longer to recover. My old coach told me the bigger the athlete the longer it takes them to recover. And that in Germany they only let their super heavyweights max once every two years. I'm a big dude. 300+ pounds. Plus I'm 40 years old. That's pretty old for a serious weightlifter. I have a weightlifting meet in August. I'm hoping i can get out of this slump quickly to hit my dream 100/125. If anyone can pull me out of a post-max slump Joaquin Chaves can.

change of work schedule

My Captain called me and told me my work schedule is changing.... again. It sucks being the rookie at my new job. But this time my new work schedule benifits weightlifting training. I'll be able to train with Joaquin Chaves of High Dessert Athletic Club on Fridays and Saturdays. On Mondays and Wednesdays I'll train at Iron Soul. Earlier this week I was struggling to decide which of my three gym memberships I should cancel. Because of the new schedule I'll be unable to continue training at Albuquerque CrossFit. In October I'll be doing my first post bid. My number one goal is to get a work schedule that I'll be able to train at High Dessert Athletic Club 4 days a week. I'm really impressed with the coach, training, and team enviroment there.

RMR the most elusive number

When I first started working with my sports nutrition coach I was eating 3750 calories a day and I was losing 3-4 pounds a week. About 4 weeks ago my weight loss stopped. I'm not saying it slowed, i mean it stopped. Like it hit a brick wall. I've been stuck at around 310 pounds. We've tried all sorts of changes to get my weight loss going again. We've dropped my daily calories. We've dropped my calories on non-training days. Still nothing. Usually if I drop my calories a little, I loose a little weight. If I drop my calories a lot I drop a lot. But the last few weeks no matter what we do I've lost NOTHING! I'm sure he's as befuddled as I am. By no means am I frustrated. I'm OK with my weight on a personal level. My desire to lose weight is completely sports related. I'd like to get down to the 105k weight class and break those state records. And I'd to accomplish a body weight snatch. So, back to my lack of weight loss. I made an appointment at the University of New Mexico exercise physiology department to get my resting metabolic rate tested. After I find out what my resting metabolic rate is that will help me make the decision of what my calories should be.

3 gym memberships

I've been going to High Dessert Athletic Club (HDAC) and have been trained by Joaquin Chaves since we moved to Albuquerque in April. HDAC is only open a couple hours 6 days a week. In case i miss the 2 hour training a day thatHDAC is open I have another gym membership at Iron Soul, a wonderful little powerlifting gym that has 24 hour access, drop plates, and a bar that spins. The only down side to Iron Soul is I'm usually the only olympic style weightlifter in the gym. And it sucks working out alone. I recently started lifting at Albuquerque CrossFit because they have weightlifting classes that are held at a time of the week that I'm unable to train at HDAC. So now I have three gym memberships. I think its resonable to have a gym membership at two gyms in case I miss training at one of them. But having three is rediculous. I need to figure out which gym I'm going to drop, Iron Soul or Albuquerque CrossFit.  Obviously I'm keeping HDAC. I'll train with Joaquin as long as I'm living in Albuquerque and Joaquin is coaching. But one of the other ones has got to go. Which one?

weightlifting coach Juaquin Chavez of High Dessert Athletic Club

Today after training my weightlifting coach Juaquin Chavez of High Dessert Athletic Club told me he wanted me to skip the 2nd annual John Davis memerial weightlifting meet next weekend to get in more quality training time with him. My old triathlon coach Pete Alfino of Mile High Multi-sport used to ask me the same thing all the time, "don't race this weekend, train instead. You need the training more than the race." I'd ignore my former triathlon coach and race. Every single time. Joaquin's the best coach I've ever had in any sport. I think the world of Joaquin. Both as a coach and as a person. If Joaquin asks me to not lift in a meet, then I'm not lifting in a meet. I do what he says no questions asked. Period. The only regret I have is not having found him to train under his tutlage earlier. He opened up High Dessert Athletic Club way back in 1998. I could have been lifting with him since I was 23 years old instead of starting with him at 40. I can't even imagine how my life would have been different if I'd of started lifting with him 16 years ago. For one, I'd be a beast by now. Jennifer Buckner has been lifting with him since 1998 and she's one of the strongest master weightlifters in the nation! But, I'm here now. And I love it. It's hard to believe when I left Santa Fe I was considering giving up weightlifting and becoming a powerlifter. My fear was I wouldn't be able to find decent coaching.

I've been stuck at 310 pounds for a little over three weeks now. In the past I'd of freaked out about not losing any weight for three weeks. But I'm OK with it now. I'll continue doing what my  sports nutrition coach Barry Schroeder says and eventually we'll get through it. If not, that's ok too. I've gotten to the point that I'm comfortable with myself. I like myself as I am at any weight. I believe the new fancy term for that is fat acceptance. Accepting myself as i am sure makes trying to eat for health and weightlifting performance more enjoyable. Now it's a goal and a process I can enjoy rather than feeling manic and obsessed about getting to a bodyweight that will make others and ultimately myself like me more.

4th session at Albuquerque CrossFit

Last night I had my 4th training session at Albuquerque CrossFit. My form was poor and I kept missing cleans.  Joe came over and told me what I was doing wrong. I did my last two sets of doubles at %80 and they felt great. I'm really impressed by his coaching ability.

The CF coach I call Dick was at Albuquerque CrossFit tonight. The first time i met him he was an A-hole. He jumped down my throat 3 or times over small stuff he should of left alone. Tonight he was great.  Very friendly and personable. Perhaps the first night I met him he was just having a bad night. Everyone has them.

My strength has been increasing so much recently I decided to start taking creatine monohydrate again. If i can gain that much while dieting and without supplaments, I can't imagine how great I'll do while taking creatine.

mammogram test results

I had my mammogram today. All is well. Nothing cancerous. There's a hardening of the fat between my left pectoral muscle and the skin. The people at the xray center kept calling it a breast. I refuse to call my pecs breasts. Its a pec or a chest. I dont have breasts. They suggested I look into my diet to see if that was causing the hardening of the chest tissue. I've logged my food consistently for the last 70 days so investigating  my food history was easy. I just logged onto myfitnesspal. I couldn't find anything that could cause a hardening of the tissue. No soy, etc. I did read some articles on gaining and losing large amounts of weight. Not only can gaining and losing large amounts of weight cause hardening of the fatty chest tissues, but it's also extremely bad for the heart. And I've gained and lost a 100-150 pounds a bunch of times.

fat acceptance and my nutrition plan

My weight loss has plateaued. My sports nutrition coach has decided to drop 250 calories from my non-training days. He was originally going to drop 500 calories from non-training days but he decided to wait until after the 2nd annual John Davis weightlifting meet on the 23rd to drop it that much.

My weight hasn't changed in a few weeks. But I have lost a total of 12.25 inches in 8 weeks. Which is pretty cool.

For a long time I was obsessed with losing weight. I wasn't happy with myself unless I was lean. I was constantly on this emotional and physical yo-yo of losing weight and being so happy and then gaining it back and hating myself. Last month after listening to a Pandora program called This American Life: tell me im fat, I came to the realization that I can like myself even if I'm over weight. I don't have to be thin to be happy or to be loved. I'm still using a sports nutrition coach to try to drop some weight. But it's not for the same reasons as before. Before I HAD to lose weight to be happy with myself, to be content with myself and my life. Now I only want to lose weight to break the state records of the weight class below the one I'm in now. Now that weight loss is just something for me to do to be more successful at as hobby of mine it seems to have made it much easier to accomplish. I'm not sure exactly how to explain why. I think it's like when my wife was in nursing school and she'd have a big test she had to pass. She had to pass or she'd be kicked out of nursing school. Ankxiety would cause her to bomb a test she knew all the answers to. Now that being in great shape and looking good isn't the most important thing in my life it seems easier to accomplish.

Weight loss was the most important thing to me in my life. It really was. Not anymore.  So if I lose the 75 pounds to get into the 105k weight class then that's awesome. But if for whatever reason I can't I'm OK with that too.

workout number three at Albuquerque CrossFit

Today was my third training session of olympic style weightlifting at Albuquerque CrossFit. It was great. Jen B ran the class. She has a tremendous amount of weightlifting knowledge and is great at explaining it. The first two training sessions were ran by Joe. He was also awesome.  I met a couple more of the coaches today. They were really supportive and friendly. So far only one of the coaches was a dick to me. I can ignore one bad apple for great coaching and a training time that works well with the odd hours at my new career. I've decided to join to train there the days I'm unable to train at High Dessert Athletic Club.

ready for the 2nd annual John Davis memorial weightlifting meet!

Today was the best day of training of my entire life. I did snatch pulls, snatch pulls from the blocks, snatch dead lift/snatch pull from the knee combo's, snatch cleans, and 17 sets of snatches building to %80! I didnt drop a single repetition the entire session! I'm really excited about the 2nd annual John Davis memorial weightlifting meet on July 23rd.  I think I may finally get my dream of a 225k total!

I'll be training at Albuquerque CrossFit for the third time Sunday morning.

strike one

Yesterday I went in for my 2nd olympic weightlifting training session at Albuquerque CrossFit. The first time I trained here I was so impressed I was planning on signing a membership contract while i was there. But my mind was changed real quick on my 2nd visit by an employee with a big mouth and no filter of what he says or how it comes out. I may still sign up later, but I'm going to pay a drop in fee a few times to see if that employee is always a jerk or if I just caught him on a bad day. If he treats me like crap again I won't be coming back, which is probably going to be worse on me than them. I need a place to train after work. And it's rare to find a weightlifting coach with as good of an eye for technique and knowledge of form as Joe Vigil. 

(Joe Vigil, weightlifting coach, super friendly and supportive Albuquerque CrossFit coach)

The first time i was at Abq CF I was told i could bring in my kids as long as they were well behaved. I couldnt find a babysitter last night so i brought my 2 sons. Usually my kids hate me taking them to the gym because they have to sit there quietly for an hour and a half. But this time I told them about the area for kids that had toys at Albuquerque CrossFit. They were SO excited to go there!  When we got there the kids went to enter the kids area and a dog that was locked inside the kids area started barking at them like crazy. One of the trainers came out in a rush and told me "we discourage people from bringing their kids here".  I told him last time I was here so-and-so said I could bring the kids. He barked "it's a liability". 

"So does that mean what so-and-so said was wrong?"  He mumbled something under his breath.  Still not sure what the hell was going on I asked, "So can I work out or do we need to leave?"

He said, "get some chairs, they can sit in  the hallway. Don't let them near the dog he's scetchy." Three questions popped into my head:

1) why is there a kids area if no kids are allowed in there?

2) why the hell is someone bringing a dog who doesn't like people to a buisness where's there's always people?

3) why's this guy being so nasty to potential customers? Isn't that bad buisness? 

The only chairs I saw was in the kids area where apparently no kids are allowed. So I went to get the chairs and the dog got pissed off and started barking again. The employee ran over and stopped me from going in and told me in a rude  tone, "just let me get them." After he got the chairs I set my boys up in a way that they both could watch a movie on my phone but still be out of the way. While I was setting up the chairs the guy mumbled something while walking away from me about "no kids". Not 5 minutes later a lady walks right by him into the workout area with her very young child, about 14 months old, in a stroller. He doesn't say a danm thing to her bringing a baby into the training area where people are throwing weights around but he jumped all over my ass for my kids being in a hallway away from any training and barbells getting thrown all over? I think it's wonderful shes able to bring her kid with her when she works out. But why is it ok for one person but i get an ear full? Not cool. Not cool at all. I hope this problem doesn't repeat itself. I really want to train olympic style weightlifting here. Its the only place I've found that has oly weightlifting with a coach (a fantastic coach!) that late in the evening, and the location is perfect because it's on my way home from work.

Here's a picture of the "no kids allowed" children's play area. And there's my youngest staring longingly at all the toys no children are allowed to play with.

mammogram for men

Today was the first apointment ive had with my new primary care Dr. He was concerned about a  lump in my chest. He had me make an appointment for a breast ultrasound and a diagnostic mammogram. I feel very imbarrassed and emasculated. But mostly I feel pissed off. I'm a dude getting a breast ultrasound and a diagnostic mammogram. Sounds like a bad joke. You never hear of a female running tests for lumps on her testicles. Don't gotta worry about that because they don't have any. I don't have breasts. I don't even have man boobs, but somehow I'm still the guy who has to get a mammogram. The appointment is for July 14th.

Forgive me for sounding fatalistic, but the average life span for a correctional officer after retiring from a prison is less than three years. I worked at the penitentiary of New Mexico for 21 years, I retired a little over two months ago. Correctional officers have the lowest life expectancy for any profession, including cops and firefighters. I can't help but feel anger and resentment for the 9 years I was forced to work 80-90 hours a week in that hell hole. I knew working that many hours was bad for me. I was constantly exhausted and felt like shit for years. I knew what it was doing to my body. I even warned the person who was responsible for me working that many hours that if I continue to do this I won't live to see my 50th birthday. Fucking shit. I'm angry as hell. And resentful. But I'm also kind of relieved. I've always been great at avoiding drama and never making decisions that are life wrecking. But since 2007 I've been forced into one fucked up situation after another. I'm tired of having to work so many hours and stress so much to clean up other people's bad decisions. At least tonight I have weightlifting. Weightlifting always makes me feel better.

time for my doctor appointment

I found a lump in my chest in May. When I retired from the state there was some problems with our medical insurance so I wasn't able to get it looked at right away. Since then it's doubled in size and is a bit painful when touched or bumped. Our insurance through New Mexico health care connect finally went through. So I made an appointment to see a primary care provider. The appointment is today. Wish me luck. If your a believer I'd be greatfull for some prayers.

Olympic style weightlifting at Albuquerque CrossFit

My work schedule has changed and I found myself only able to train with my coach and my team on Saturdays. That left me training 3 times a week without a coach and without my team. Alone. Weightlifting by myself sucks. I found out Albuquerque CrossFit has a weightlifting class starting at 7pm on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Sundays. Those are exactly the days and times I'm available to lift with my new schedule. So tonight I tried Albuquerque CrossFit's weightlifting class. First thing I noticed was there was more people there who had 6 pack abs than I've ever seen in my life. In addition to being in incredible shape they were all... well..... georgous. I'm nothing like them at all. I'm 40 years old, bald, wear glasses, and weigh 310 pounds. I haven't seen my toes in half a decade. I've finally gotten to the point in my life that I'm comfortable with myself and how I look, but i felt really out of place there.

I did the group warm up and then started doing my weightlifting program. I noticed I was the only one doing my own program. Everyone else was doing the exact same weightlifting workout. I was afraid that was going to be a problem. But everyone seemed fine with it.

The coach, Joe, was really knowledgeable and threw out some really great advice on fixing some of my bad form. He noticed right away my calves are really really tight and he suggested working on my calf mobility. I wasn't expecting a CF coach to be that good at coaching weightlifting. Out of the 4 weightlifting coaches I've tried out I'd rate him in the top two! I was there an hour and a half. I was focusing on weightlifting as best I could and doing my best at ignoring all the beautiful people around me all doing the same thing and looking great doing it. I was hoping like hell I didn't stick out as badly as I felt I did.

All in all I'm happy I went there and i tried it out. I was impressed with the coaching. He had a great eye for technique. Which is rare in weightlifting.

I'm really happy I found Albuquerque CrossFit. It's only $75 a month for the weightlifting classes. No contract. Very reasonable. I think I'll like it a lot. I'm hoping I'll feel more comfortable and fit in a little better with the other athletes as i train there more.

dreaming of a 100/125/225

My lifting has been amazing. My form has been the best it's ever been. And I'm stronger now than I've ever been. My next weightlifting meet is on July 23rd. The meet is at my old gym in Santa Fe. I'd love to have a great meet among my friends and former coach. The best meet I could possibly dream of would be a 100k snatch, a 125k clean and jerk, for a 225k total. And.... I think a 225k is within my reach. A 225k has been a huge dream of mine for a long time. I'm so excited I can barely sit still!

weightlifting 4 days a week! Hurray!

It's funny how things end up working out for the best even when I'm not expecting it to.

The only reason I was willing to move to Albuquerque was because of the amazing weightlifting. Outside of the weightlifting i dont really like this city. But Albuquerque is a meca of weightlifting. And I really love weightlifting.

Recently my work schedule changed and I'm only able to train with my coach once a week. Training three days a week on my own without a coach or team mates sucks. Last night I was talking to a couple of my weightlifting team mates about my predicament. They let me know there's a place who's coaching schedule fits my new work schedule perfectly. I'm not changing gyms, I'll still be training with my primary weightlifting coach, Joaquin Chaves of High Dessert Athletic Club, on Saturdays. He's the bomb, I love that guy.

So on Tuesday after work I'll be checking out Albuquerque CrossFit. If the coach at Alb CF is a good fit for me and it's affordable I'll be training there on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Sundays. On Saturdays I'll be training at High Dessert Athletic Club. Man, I can't tell you how badly I hope I can afford it and their coaching is good!

work infringes with weightlifting

My new job had me working different days and shifts. Sometimes I'd work days, sometimes swings or graveyard. I was getting frustrated because the chaotic schedule was causing me to miss workouts. In the hopes of missing less workouts I asked my supervisor to put me on a set schedule. He did. I'm working mon's, Tue's, Wed's, and Fri's 6am-6pm. My plan back fired. My weightlifting coach trains weekdays 5-7pm. Now the only day I have coaching and am able to train with my team is on Sat's. I came close to quitting my job. I'm a retired correctional officer. I'm collecting a pension and am able to have the flexibility in my life to do pretty much what ever I want. If I want to job hop I can. If I decide to look for a job that is willing to work around my training schedule I can. Een if I want to stay permanently retired I can. Before I put in my two week resignation letter my wife talked some sense into me. I love this new job. It pays $5 and more than what I earned at the prison after 21 years of service. And I'll only have to tolerate this new schedule until the post bid October. By October I'll have enough senority to bid for a post that works with my weightlifting schedule. So until October I'll just have to suck it up. It's only 4 months. After that weightlifting can be my number one priority again.

new job and weightlifting

I've been at my new job for three weeks. The first couple weeks were great for my weightlifting schedule. This week I'll be working 6am-6pm all week and will only be able to train at High Dessert Athletic Club once. I love my new job. But unfortunately it's going to take awhile for me to build up the senority to work posts that will fit with my weightlifting schedule. Any days I miss weightlifting at High Dessert I go to Iron Soul and train by myself. I gotta be honest. I dont find weightlifting by myself fun at all. Not even a little.

This American Life: Tell me I'm fat, on Pandora

Last week I listened to This American Life on Pandora. The episode was called Tell me I'm fat. Not to sound dramatic here, but it changed my perseption of myself. I'm fat. I'm not always fat. Sometimes i am able to lose a lot of weight and be thin. Or what other people perceive as more attractive. Or or even more acceptable as a person. I've gained and lost 60-120 pounds dozens of times. I always hated myself when I was fat again, but just couldn't seem to stop from gaining the weight back.

It seems to me that it's only ok to be fat in society if the fat person shows they are in the process of trying to lose weight. How they're trying to change themselves to better fit everyone else's expectations.  Listening to Tell me I'm fat on Pandora helped me to realize it's ok if I'm fat. Being thin doesn't change who I am. If I'm not accepted or I am looked down apon that's the problem of the bigot who's judging me. It's ok to be happy exactly as I am. It's ok to be content with who I am and how I look. I don't have to change myself to make other people happy.

So.... this is what it feels to like myself again and be happy in my own body again. I like it. Being content in the moment and loving myself feels much better than hating myself for who I'm not.

the bad about Spark by Adocare

I really love Spark. I've found a ton of good things about it, and even some bad. The list of bad is a short list. So here it goes:

If I take it before an evenning workout I can't get to sleep until late. I'm talking really late. 3-4 am kind of late. I have to wake up at 3:30 am for my new job. That sucks. Now that I'm not using it for evenning workouts I've found the other negative thing about Spark. I've become accustomed to having the amazing workouts that Spark provides. When I don't use it I struggle to get through the workouts. Trying to workout without Spark after being used to it is probably what Superman feels like when he's exposed to Kripronite.

health insurance and weight loss update

After finding out New Mexico retiree health care insurance is unaffordable through New Mexico retiree health care and the insurance offered through my new employer is unaffordable I tried to apply for Presbyterian health insurance. We were denied because we currently are insured through NM reriree health care. So it looks like the most affordable place we can get health insurance is NM health care connections. It's going to cost us a little over $800 a month for all 5 of us. Now that we'll have affordable health insurance I'll get this lump in my chest looked at. I'm hoping it's not the C word. Cancer runs in my mom's side of the family. Keep me in your prayers if your willing.

Since re-hiring my nutrition coach, Barry Schroeder,  in early April I've lost 12 pounds while putting on more strength and explosiveness. I'm pretty sure I'll break through the 100k snatch and 125k clean and jerk by the next weightlifting meet I compete in. A 220k total would be a dream come true!

New Mexico health care connect

On Friday I found out the medical insurance at my new employer is over $2,400 a month for the 5 of us. Medical insurance through the New Mexico retiree health care would be $1,872 a month. Obviously I was freaking out. My wife and I found health care insurance through the New Mexico health care connect for only $800 a month for all 5 of us. That's so much more affordable! Today we'll be getting quotes from Presbyterian. I'll keep you informed what we find out.

a lump in my chest

Well I hate to admit I was wrong. But I love my new job! It's much better than working in a prison. And I loved my old job at the prison. Loved it enough I stayed there for 21 years & retired.

The bad news is I found out the health insurance at my new job is EXPENSIVE! For my wife, three kids, and I it's going to cost $2,475 a month and it has a $8,000 deductable! I have the option of health insurance through the New Mexico retiree health care, but it's $1,872 a month. Man, that's bloody expensive too. I'm in a rush to get decent health insurance because I've developed a lump on my left chest. In the last two weeks it's grown from the size of a quarter to 1.5 time the size of a quarter.

The monthly cost of the two insurance options is expensive enough, but if the lump is something that needs treatment like- God forbid- cancer we'd have to pay for everything up until our deductable, we'd pay %20 after our deductable, plus we'd our have to pay the co-pay for every appointment would be out of pocket. That would absolutely bankrupt us.

hard work and inspiration

Today I dropped 5 snatches of only 70% of my max. I've never missed that many times in a row. I hesitate to say it was a bad day of training because I learn more from a bad day of weightlifting than a great day. Even after a day like today I'm still confident that I'll make a bodyweight snatch by the end of 2016. I believe hard work, dedication, and persevering through the low times will make for amazing results.

Today my 8 year old ran in his 2nd track meet. He ran the 800 in 3:40. He also ran his first ever 1500m in 8:35. We moved to Albuquerque late in the season. He started 13 weeks after the rest of the club. Even though everyone else is in much better shape than him from training over 3 months longer than him he still works so hard and never gives up. He's knocked 20 seconds off of his 800 meter run in the last two weeks. Things like this is what motivates me. I want to work hard to set an example for my babies because my kids are so inspiring to me.