My son and weightlifting training

I contacted one of my former weightlifting coaches, Vernon Smith, and asked if he'd be willing to train my oldest son. He agreed! My son starts training on Thursday June 1st, 2017. We're both really excited.

I got called in for jury duty. I'm hoping I get chosen. I've always thought being on a jury would be fascinating.

A weightlifting wizard

I'm not sure if everyone at High Dessert Athletic Club gets as much from coach Chaves's coaching as I do. But I'm constantly amazed by his ability to diagnose and fix problems with form. The last week my snatches have been absolute crap. After the first couple reps coach Chaves went over and started his magic.

  "Cody, your hesitating after the knee. That pause is causing negative momentum. Which is why your dropping to the front."

  Next set: " Cody, your concentrating on staying over the bar. Which is good. But your overthinking it. It's causing the pause at the knee. Now stay over the bar without slowing down". 

Next set: "now your slowing down to much during the whole lift. Your concentrating on making sure you're getting a good lift so much that you've slowed the whole snatch down. EXPLODE! Don't hesitate! Some of your best lifts are missed. Some are your worst lifts are makes. Now come on. EXPLODE!"

  Not only was he able to see what I was doing wrong with my form, he even told me what I was thinking while I was doing it. And he was right every damn time! Coach Chaves is amazing. I'm so greatfull to have wandered into his gym. 

The pain in my shoulders and elbows is almost gone already. I think I'll be fine at the New Mexico games this Suñday.

Help with my snatches

Last week was a great week for clean and jerks. Up until this week the most I'd I c&j was 100k. This week I lifted 110k multiple times. But my snatches were horrible this week. I dropped just about everything I tried. Coach Chaves saw I saw struggling and he diagnosed the problem. Just l like always. His ability to figure out what's wrong with a person's form and help them fix it is unmatched. He helped me a lot this week. I can't say I'm going in to the New Mexico games confident in my snatches. But I'm going in knowing they're better than they were last week.

My shoulders and elbows have been bothering me a bit this week.

Nutrition and less weightlifting support

I learned a ton from my former nutrition coach Barry Schroeder. I decided I'd try some of the things I learned from him. I spent the last 15 days logging everything I ate and measuring how much I weighed. Based off of those two numbers I figured out my metabolic rate. It's a little over 4,100 calories a day. So I'm going to eat 3,400 calories on days I do weightlifting. And 2,800 on days I don't train. That should put me at a 7000 calorie a week deficit. 7,000 calories should make me lose approximately 2 pounds. I doubt I'll stick with it for long. I never do. But I'll try it for now.

My weightlifting coach, Joaquin Chaves, told me he wanted me to train three times this week. Monday, Wednesday, and today.  I wasn't able to train this morning at High Dessert Athletic Club. Normally I'd just shoot him a text and ask him to send me the workout for me to do on my own. But he told me not to text him anymore. I waited all day to see if he'd text me a workout. I never got one. Coach Chaves is looking for ways to decrease the demands in his life. I'm doing my best to be patient and understanding.....

Yesterday I clean and jerked more than 84k for the first time in almost 7 months. Then I did an 86 and a 94. Then coach told me to try a 100k. I stood there on the platform staring at the bar for an eternity trying to pump myself up. Finally I tried. And it was easy. I was so excited and it felt so good I did it a few more times. Thankfully the old saying about muscle memory is true. It comes back quick.

Anytime my schedule changes and I can't lift at High Dessert Athletic Club I text my coach and ask for the workout so I can do it on my own. Yesterday coach Chavez told me not to text him anymore. That throws a wrench into things. I'm a Dad of three young kids. My schedule can be hectic. I guess on the days I can't train at High Dessert Athletic Club I'll just repeat last week's workout for that day. That's not ideal. But life happens. I just need to learn to improvise, adapt, and overcome. Even with no communication or guidance with workouts during schedule changes, he's still one of the best weightlifting coaches in the nation.

I did some investigating. From 2007-2015 I worked 42,120 hours. That's 4,680 hours a year. An average person that works 40 hours a week works 2,080 hours a year. I averaged more than double that. These are the types of things no one tells men and boys about marriage. If they did we wouldn't do it.

Track training, snatches, and overtime

Yesterday I snatched 84 kilos for reps. I didn't think I'd get back to this much weight so quickly after having taken 6 months off from injuries and work conflicts.

Today I did another track workout. 100 meter sprints at %90 effort. I feel a lot faster already. My kids were beating me badly when I started track training. After only two weeks I've closed the distance between us by about half. Pretty quick gains for someone in their 40's.

I'm guessing the last pay period of this month I will have replenished our emergency fund. I've been working a ton of overtime the last couple months. I'm greatfull I have a job that overtime is available.... But I'm really sick of overtime. I've worked more overtime in the last decade than most people work in a lifetime.

The 2017 masters national weightlifting championships 40-44 105+

I looked up the results for the 2017 masters national weightlifting championships for the 40-44 age  group 105+ weight class. Turns out my best meet ever would have placed me in 4th place. If I was to lose 100 lbs needed to be able to lift in the 105k weight class I'd of been in 5th place.

Weightlifting and track training

Last night after work I trained at the gym for  a couple hours. By the time I got home, prepared my meals for the next day, and got my uniform ready it was time for me to go to bed. This Morning I woke up early and completed a track workout before my overtime post. I'm still slow at track sprinting but I'm gaining speed very quickly. Hopefully I will have improved enough by July that I won't completely imbarrass myself at the New Mexico games.

I haven't been this dedicated since my triathlon years. It feels good. Apparently all I needed was to be away from weightlifting to realize how much I missed it. I'm sure I'll be improving a lot more now that I've my love for weightlifting and track and field has reawakened.

Earlier this month I sent my powerlifting coach an email that said I was going to stop powerlifting and go back to weightlifting. I paid him for an extra month in the hopes it would keep there from being any hard feelings. I never heard back from him. That can't be a good sign. I feel bad. He's a great guy. And he's an absolutely amazing powerlifting coach. Me firing him is no reflection of him. It's just my love of weightlifting keeps pulling me back.

2nd day of snatches

Today was my 4th day back to weightlifting. And the 2nd training day of snatches. The first day felt pretty raw. Today the snatches felt a lot more natural and fluid. I worked up to 4 sets at 74k. I'm surprised how little strength my body lost during those 6 months i took off. I may not be ready to attempt my lifetime best of 💯 kilos. But I'll get there a lot more quickly than I originally thought.

6 months ago I was unsure what I was going to do in athletics. I wasn't sure if I really wanted to stay with weightlifting or try something new. But weightlifting is just like that old saying, absence makes the heart 💓 grow stronger. I missed it so bad. I'm glad I'm back.

day 1 training for the New Mexico games track and field

I went off the deep end and registered for the New Mexico games track and field. I'll be running in the 100 meter event on June 24th. That's in 49 days. I'm pretty sure I'll be the heaviest athlete to have ever ran in a New Mexico games track meet. Probably the slowest too. But in the next 49 days I'll be the best me I can be. And I'll be having fun getting there.

I woke up this morning and did sprints. My two boys, ages 7 & 9  ran with me. They both beat me pretty badly. It made their day. Nothing but smiles after. My youngest held my hand the whole walk home. I think training for the track meet will be a great bonding experience.

Day two of my return

Wednesday was my first day back to weightlifting in 6 months. It was wonderful. My clean and jerk form felt pretty good considering how long I'd been out. And although I'd lost a lot of strength, I didn't lose as much as I thought I would.

Today I was so sore! I couldn't walk normal. After a few sets my legs lost the sore feeling and I was training again. I did my first set of snatches in half a year. They were kinda ugly. But it was still a ton of fun! I'm so glad to be back with my coach's, my team, and weightlifting!

Back to weightlifting!!!!

My Dr released me to go back to weightlifting a couple months ago. I wasn't able to go back because my work schedule didn't fit with my coach's training times. This week my work approved a shift transfer that works with weightlifting. So after 6 months I'm finally back to weightlifting!

Yesterday was my first day back. Today I'm pretty sore. But not nearly as bad as I thought I would be.

I went off the deep end today and registered for the state games. The New Mexico games is in 4 weeks. I doubt I'll be ready to compete that soon. But I'll try anyways!