November 30, 2017

Train less, gain more, hire a strength coach

For years I was a hard gainer. That's a term powerlifters, bodybuilders, and strength athletes use for someone who doesn't gain size or streangth easily. Someone who has to train harder and still takes longer to get gains than most. For years I'd heard how the majority of streangth athletes over train. And of course I thought I was training perfectly. I felt I was doing the proper amount of everything. And then I hired my powerlifting coach Vernon Smith. I'm training less now than I ever have. And now I'm getting the best streangth gains I could ever have dreamed. Turns out I was just like every other idiot amatuer athlete out there. To much training and not enough rest. All I needed this whole time was a good coach. I only wish I had figured this out when I was younger. I wasted a tremendous amount of time and effort in my twenties training religiously with hardly any gains.

If your an athlete. Do yourself a favor. Hire a coach. You'll be great full you did.

November 29, 2017

Bear Canyon CrossFit test day

One of the gyms I train at has two boards hanging on the wall. Each board has the top 5 athletes of each lift, benchmark workout, or hero WOD. They only test for these boards once a year. If you make top five athlete in that event then your name's up there for a full 12 months. Since starting to go to this gym I've been staring at these boards everyday in envy. I want my name up on one of those boards! Yesterday was squat testing. Squats are one of the things I'm best at. I assumed I'd squat in the high 300's. Some how I did a 440lb squat! I tied a lifetime PR! That amazed me. I've only been back to training for 6 weeks! That bodes well for me and the USPA New Mexico state powerlifting  championships. The video is below.

We also did the benchmark workout Isabel. Which is 30 snatches of 135lbs for time. I finished all 30 in 4 minutes 1 second. That was huge for me. I wasn't fast. But it was the first WOD I was able to do at RX. So it meant a lot to me.






November 27, 2017

NASA powerlifting men's weight classes

I'm finally on a roll with my weight loss so now of course I'm obsessing about the weight classes of different federations I lift in. I thought I'd put NASA's up and calculated into pounds so it's easier for me.

SHW 140k and up/ 308.1 lbs and up
125-139.9/ 275.01-308lbs
110.01-125k/ 242.02-275lbs
100.01-110k/ 220.1-242.01
90.01-100k/ 198.1-220
82.51-90/ 181.5-198
75.01-82.5/ 165.1-181.4
67.5-75/148.5-165
60.01-67.51/ 135-147.5
56.01-60/ 123.5- 147.4
52.01-56/ 114.4-123.4
48.01-52/ 105.6-114.3
44.01-48/ 96.8-105.5
44 & under/ 96.7 & under

November 26, 2017

Increasing calories for the state championships

I felt a little weak in the gym yesterday. It's because I have been dieting since September 5th. I've made great progress on my weight loss, 42 pounds, while also making some of the biggest streangth gains I've ever made- thanks to my powerlifting coach Vernon Smith. But I'm going to hit pause on my weight loss temporarily. I have the USPA New Mexico state powerlifting championships on December 9th, in 13 days. So I'm going to reverse diet for a couple weeks to ensure a good meet.

I just learned about reverse dieting. I learned about it when I first got on Avatar Nutrition. Reverse dieting is pretty interesting. If you haven't heard about it I highly suggest reading up or listening to some YouTube videos about it. What I'm doing isn't actually reverse dieting. Reverse dieting is to repair a dieters matabolism. I'm only doing it to make sure I'm at my best for the upcoming powerlifting meet. After the meet I'll go back to dieting to get down to my dream weight of 110k powerlifting weight class. But until then I'm focusing on the meet. For the first time I'll be lifting in a division other than the super heavyweight. I'll be lifting in the 139k weight class, thanks to Avatar Nutrition.

November 25, 2017

My review of Avatar Nutrition's customer service

I've been using Avatar Nutrition to loose weight and get back into shape. Essentially Avatar Nutrition is a diet program that helps you loose, maintain, or gain an exact amount of weight each week. If you loose our don't lose enough then the program adjusts how many macros you eat daily to make sure you hit that set amount of weight that your shooting for. I had some questions and contacted them. Keep in mind this was on Thanksgiving day. I'd never attempted to contact them so I wasn't sure how responsive or helpful they'd be. They answered my question within hours. On a holiday! This was my email to them.

Me:
My weight hadn't dropped in three and a half weeks and my macros have dropped tremendously. Today my scale was malfunctioning. I purchased another scale and I weighed 10 pounds less than the malfunctioning scale showed. Apparently my old scale hasn't worked in awhile and I didn't realize it. So on my next weigh in it will show I've lost around ten pounds in one week. I don't want to gain weight with excess macros until the Avatar program adjusts and fixes the problem. Is there anything you could do to help?

Avatar Nutrition's response:
Hi Cody, 

I'm sorry to hear you had that malfunctioning scale. Sounds like a nice "surprise" though. 

So, the best way go about this without throwing the system off would be to mark the next weigh in as noncompliant, even if you were compliant with your macros. This way the system won't detect a crazy change in weight and make the wrong adjustments. 

When you weigh in again the following week, you'll be right on track again!

Sound good?


Best regards, 

I sent them a simple email saying thank you and again, they sent me what seemed like a heart felt response:

No problem, Cody!

Don't hesitate to reach out in the future if you have any other concerns. We would be happy to help. 

Have a wonderful week!

Best regards,

In my opinion Avatar Nutrition rocked my one and only contact with them. I was pleasantly surprised.

November 24, 2017

Avatar Nutrition and malfunctioning scales

The last few weeks i haven't been losing any weight. Avatar Nutrition has been reducing my macros every week. I've been getting increasingly frustrated and hungry. Yesterday I stepped on the scale and the scale said 319lbs which doesn't make sense. There's no way I've gained weight this week with how hard I'd trained and I've eaten perfectly. I stepped off the scale, then back in and it said 307. Then 311, then 319. I realized my scale was broken. I purchased another one. This morning I weighed in at 306.6 lbs. Turns out I have lost weight the last few weeks. Thankfully. I'm so relieved. As of this morning I've lost exactly 40lbs. 86 more pounds to go until I got my goal weight of 220lbs.

November 23, 2017

Thanksgiving sampler

  • Today I completed the longest and hardest WOD of my life. It was called the Thanksgiving sampler. It took me a 1 hour 10 minutes 22 seconds. By the time I finished the Thanksgiving sampler WOD the next class was half way through their warm up. On one hand I was embarrassed. On the other hand I was proud that I didn't give up- which I was close to doing. Something very kind and supportive happened today. 6 of my fellow CrossFit'ers saw I was hurting pretty bad. They all gathered around me and finished the burpees with me at my place even though they had already finished theirs. It made me able to push much harder for longer. Not sure I could have finished without them.

  • For Time
  • 5 Rounds of:
  • 5 Pull-Ups
  • 10 Push-Ups
  • 15 Air Squats
  • Then, 4 Rounds of:
  • 8 Handstand Push-Ups
  • 15 Kettlebell Swings
  • Then, 3 Rounds of:
  • 15 Box Jumps
  • 15 Knees-to-Elbows
  • Then, 2 rounds of:
  • 20 Wall-Balls
  • 30 Sit-Ups
  • Then, 1 Round of:
  • 50 Burpees

November 21, 2017

Day off for recovery and New Mexico health Care connect

Just last week I was blogging about how I'd gotten in good enough shape that I was working out 7 days a week. And that in addition to training every day I was hoping to start doing two workouts in one day at least once a week. Well yesterday I felt like crap. I was tired, sore, grouchy, and wasn't motivated to go to the gym. So today I had to eat my words and take a day off from training.

My day of recovery couldn't have happened at a better time. My wife had the day off from work. So we spent the day together. We slept late, did lots of cuddling, and a few chores together.

My wife has been commuting 120 miles a day for work since we moved to Albuquerque 19 months ago. She got a new job that's only 2.7 miles from our house. That'll give her an extra 2 hours a day at home. The best news is her new job has full benefits. Her medical insurance is only $600 a month. We had been getting medical insurance from New Mexico health connections. For the 5 of us it was $957 a month. But the cost was going to go up to $1257 a month on January. My wife saved our butt financially with her new job! $1,257 a month is rediculous. Needless to say we have cancelled New Mexico health connections.

November 18, 2017

Thursdays WOD from hell

On Thursday I did another brutal WOD. By far the worst one I've ever done. I usually love the grueling Metcons. But this one was so hard it wasn't fun at all. It hurt. Bad. I was the slowest of the entire box again. And I want even close to the men's RX weights. I don't mind being the slowest. But I'd at least like to be somewhat close to the next slowest. I completed it in 21:52. The next slowest was almost 5 minutes faster than me. But, I'm showing up. I'm giving my best every workout. I'm slow. But I work hard. And eventually the training and flexible dieting will pay off. Eventually I'll be fast, strong, and no longer obese. This horrible workout was 4 rounds of:
15 burpees
12 DB deadlifts
9 DB hang squat cleans
6 DB thrusters.
It was hell.

Today is my 42nd birthday.  A couple more years and I'll age up into the Masters division 45-49 age group. I can't believe I've made it this long. I always assumed I was going to be killed on duty during the 21 years I was a correctional officer at the New Mexico state penitentiary. Or die from being worked to death. I worked 80-90 hours a week from 2006-a month ago. 10.5 years. I'm so glad to be alive, to no longer having to kill myself working double shifts, to br healthy enough to train and compete in athletic events, and being a father to three gorgeous children.

November 17, 2017

Powerlifting and CrossFit two-a-days

My weight hasn't changed in three weeks. But my physique has. I was surprised at how much it has. Yesterday I put on pants that haven't fit me for almost two years. My strength has exploded the last month too. At first when I started CrossFit i had to slow down with powerlifting and weightlifiting. But my body has already adapted. I'm up to powerlifting training 4 days and CrossFit 3 days a week. I no longer feel sore or exhausted. After the New Mexico USPA powerlifting state championships on December 9th I'm going to try doing a two-a-day a week. Powerlifting in the AM and CrossFit in the PM. 4 workouts of each every week. That'll give my body another month to get into good enough shape to handle a two-a-days. But since I'm not going to attempt it until after the USPA state championships I know I'll be showing up with good training without worry of overtraining for the meet. The powerlifting meet is too important to risk injury or overtraining. I'll be attempting to defend my New Mexico USPA championship state championship.

The biggest reason for getting so out of shape was that I had worked 80-90 hours a week for the last 10.5 years. I was chronically fatigued and didn't have enough time to train or prepare food. But I'm refusing to work that many hours anymore.i threw down an ultimatum. Next time my wife makes a bad life decision that would force me to work rediculous amounts of overtime to fix, we're getting a divorce. She seems to have fixed her spending and bad life decisions. We'll see. but either way, I'm never working like that again.

November 16, 2017

Training, sleep, and contentment

I've planned and logged every meal since September 5th. I'm making sure I get the proper amount of protein, fat, and carbs daily to make gains. That's a little over 2 months. I've lost 30 pounds. I'm feeling stronger, faster, and I've built up more endurance. My endurance has been the slowest to build, but it's still getting better. For the first time in 11 years I'm getting enough sleep. I feel really good right now. By God!?! Is that feeling happiness and contentment? Yup, I think it is. I think I could get used to this.

November 14, 2017

Today's WOD/MetCon

I never thought I'd be one of those CrossFit bloggers. Triathlon blogger, yea. Powerlifting blogger, yes. Weightlifting blogger hell yeah. But CrossFit blogger? Apparently, yes.

Today's MetCon was brutal and the most fun I'd had on any WOD yet. It was 3 rounds of 30, 20, & 10 reps of box jumps overs, wall balls, and clean and jerks. It took me ten minutes to get through the first round. I was dieing! By the third round I didn't think I'd be able to finish. Coach Dylan McGwire saw I was struggling so he and a couple of CrossFit'ers who were already done went over to support me. Two of them were saying encouraging things while coach McGuire would count down from 5 anytime I was resting. Once he got zero he told me "go!". I did. And each rep hurt worse as I got more out of breath and fatigued. But I finished. It took me 20 minutes and 51 seconds. But I finished. I was the slowest of the entire box. But I finished. After the workout I was so exhausted I couldn't do anything but sit on the couch. But I finished!

My weight hasn't moved in three weeks. I'm still stuck at 319lbs. I assume it's because I'm gaining muscle. But I'm not certain. Avatar Nutrition has consistently lower my daily macros. And I'm getting to the point that I'm hungry. But I still haven't lost any weight. I guess all I can do is workout, eat clean, log my food, and do what Avatar Nutrition tells me to do. Worse case scenario is I'll be healthier than I was before picking up CrossFit and flexible dieting. The USPA New Mexico powerlifting state championships is in a little over three weeks. There's no way I'll be a natural 307 by then. If I want to lift in the 307lb weight class I'll have to cut water weight before weigh ins. I haven't had to do that since my Brazillian jui-jitsue days over a decade ago

November 13, 2017

New Mexico Junior Wrestling and New Mexico youth weightlifiting

My youngest son is a wrestler. He's only lost three matches in the last 2 years of wrestling. This year he's 8 years old and weighs 53 pounds. Unless he looses weight by his first wrestling tournament he'll be competing in the 8 and under age group 53-57 pound class. He'll be one of the older but lighter kids this year. Last year he was one of the youngest and lightest in his age group and weight class and he still did pretty good. I'm excited about this year.

My oldest son is 10 and weighs 29.09 kilos. He has a real love for weightlifting. He's been training with his weightlifiting coach, Vernon Smith, for about 5 or 6 months. I looked up the New Mexico weightlifting state records for his weight class. There are none for the 13 and under age 25-29 kilo or the 13 and under 31-35 kilo weight classes. So all he has to do is lift one good snatch and one good clean and jerk and he'll be a state record holder. His first weightlifiting meet will be the 2018 New Mexico games.

November 12, 2017

Wodify

When logging today's workout on Wodify there was a gold medal next to my name. Turns out that means I lifted the most weight in the CrossFit box for today's workout. I never thought I'd see that happen. There's all sorts of things that motivate in this box. Even the logging program is motivating. Hopefully I'll get another 1st someday.

November 10, 2017

Double metcon

My weight loss has plateaued again. I'm stuck at 319. I'm getting stronger and my speed and endurance is increasing so I'm trying not to get frustrated. My next weigh in is on Sunday. Without any weight loss Avatar Nutrition will decrease my macros. I haven't been hungry at all the last few weeks. So that's probably a good thing.

 Today's WOD was brutal. The strength session was a metcon workout. It was:
12 clean and jerks
50 double unders
9 clean and jerks
50 double unders
6 clean and jerks
50 double unders

And then the WOD was another metcon of:
24 kettle bell swings
12 ring dips
20 kettle bell swings
10 ring dips
16 kettle bell swings
8 ring dips

November 07, 2017

Powerlifting and CrossFit

Last night I attempted one heavy snatch and one heavy clean and jerk. And the weight I lifted was rediculously low. The last couple years I've been struggling at weightlifiting. I love weightlifting. But my body just isn't good at it. I can squat and deadlift very well. But not the snatch and clean and jerk. I've decided I'm going to train CrossFit and powerlifting. Which works well because I really like the powerlifting coach I've been training with. I know how rediculous this is. I've flip flopped between weightlifiting and powerlifting a dozen times the last couple years. I need to decide and stick to it. I think this time I will. But then again I thought I'd decided a bunch of times before and it changed shortly.

November 05, 2017

RX CrossFit, sore shoulders, and recovery

I've been completely wiped out. I need a day to recover. A day that I don't workout. I was supposed to take today off. But when I looked at today's WOD I realized I could RX this one. So I drank a ton of coffee and went for a 9am workout. The WOD was as many rounds as possible of snatches 115 lbs and toes to bars. The reps of each round got bigger each round. 3 of each exercise, then 6 of each, then 9, etc. I was handling the weight of the snatches fine. But my shoulders we killing me. So I had to drop the weight to 95 lbs. And I'm still to overweight to do toes to bars. My belly's to big. So I did hanging knee ups. That's progress. Also couple weeks ago I couldn't do knee ups. I had to lay on the floor and do leg raises. So I thought I could do RX. But I didn't.

Tomorrow is weightlifiting. I never miss weightlifting. So my next day of recovery will be Tuesday. Let's hope my shoulders can make it through one more day of weightlifiting. My shoulders are killing me. I'm still not %100 sure me doing CrossFit is a good idea or not. CrossFit is really hard on my shoulders.

Powerlifting state championships

The USPA new Mexico state championships is in 4 more weeks! I'm getting antsy. I only participated in one competition the entire year. Normally I compete in close to ten a year.

I'm still losing weight, but it's  slowed down a lot. I'm not sure if I'll be competing as a super heavyweight or a 307lb'er  There's no state records in the 307lb or the Super Heavyweight classic division. And in all 10 of the powerlifting meets I've done I've never once had someone else compete in my age group and weight class. So if, as usual, no one else competes in my age group or weight class but me I'll be USPA state champion two years running and set another 4 state records. There's so few overweight masters athletes out there in powerlifting and weightlifiting it makes winning easy as showing up. I love lifting as a masters athlete.

November 04, 2017

Weight loss, getting back in shape, and CrossFit

I'm exhausted. After doing minimal training last year I'm doing CrossFit 3 days a week, weightlifiting 3 days a week, and a bench press program 3 days a week. I'm taking tomorrow off from training. I'm just going to eat healthy and recover.

I can tell my physique is changing. My clothes are fitting much looser. And my wife freaked out a couple days ago when we hugged. She said my midsection had gotten so much smaller it was like hugging a stranger. I'm losing WAY more weight in the last two weeks with CrossFit than I was doing powerlifting and track training. That's one thing I remember from back in the day at Zia CrossFit in Santa Fe NM. CrossFit gets you in shape QUICK! But I also remember being chronically injured. And this morning at weightlifiting practice my shoulders hurt so bad I couldn't do my push press sets. I'm struggling with my decision to go back to CrossFit. Yes, it'll get me back in shape and help me lose weight quicker than anything else. But I'm already beat to hell and it's only been 2 weeks. Is it worth it?

November 02, 2017

Eat and sleep!

Last night I struggled getting through my weightlifting workout. Once I got home I was so exhausted I couldn't get off the couch. I finally mustered enough energy to eat and shower. Then I collapsed into bed. I slept for ten hours. Once I awoke I weighed in, increased my macros on MyFitnessPal,  and ate a big healthy meal. Now I feel like a million bucks!

All week my calories were really low. Probably to low. I gained two pounds this week. I weighed in at 319 with 31% body fat. I assume the weight gain is either my body freaking out from not having enough fuel, water retention, or muscle gains. I'm doing a ton of strength training right now. Weightlifting 3 times a week and 3-4 days a week of CrossFit. But even with that much strength training I'm assuming 2 pounds of muscle gains in one week is pretty much an impossibility. I increased my calories on Avatar Nutrition to only lose a moderate amount of weight instead of the extreme weight loss option. I guess my next weigh in on 11/7/17 will show me if I made the right choice.

November 01, 2017

To much on to little calories

Tonight at weightlifting I could barely finish my workout. I'm exhausted. After doing minimal training the last year I jumped full throttle back into weightlifting 3 nights a week, CrossFit 3 nights a week, and calorie restriction. I'm trying to do to much, to soon, with not enough calories. Tonight I'm getting a full 9 hours sleep. Tomorrow I'll increase my calories and do less weight at CrossFit. I got much to excited about getting down to the 105k weight class. I need to slow down my weight loss and take care of my body. I'm not as young as I used to be. My body isn't nearly as able to tolerate the abuse it used to.