Finally quit CrossFit

There was a three or four year period where I was struggling to decide if I wanted to do powerlifting or weightlifting. Dec 2017, after changing my mind a thousand times I decided to stick with powerlifting. I've been training and competing in powerlifting for 9 months and love it more and more every day.

Another struggle I've had is trying to figure out if I should do CrossFit or track and field training for cardio. I've been doing CrossFit since December and hate it. CrossFit is more effective than anything else I've ever done at making me lose weight. But the problem is I absolutely love training for track and field and despise CrossFit. It's not as effective as CrossFit. But I enjoy it more. Sunday I made a decision. After 9 months of lamenting I cancelled my CrossFit membership and started track training. Today was my first day of track and field full time for my cardio. I had a blast! I think I made a great decision.

Powerlifting and weightlifting weight classes

I'm a super heavyweight in both weightlifting and powerlifting. I'm currently topping the scales at 332 lbs. I'm excited about transitioning into powerlifting because there's so many more weight classes than there was in weightlifting. In powerlifting I only need to drop 25 lbs to get into the next weight class. In weightlifting I'd have had to drop 113 lbs to get into the next one!!!! In the NASA powerlifting league the 5 heaviest weight classes are:
 (kilos/lbs)

90.01-100k/ 198.01-220 lbs

100.01-110/ 220.01- 242 lbs

110.01-125k/ 242.01- 275 lbs

125.01- 140k/ 275.01-308 lbs

140k+/ 308lbs+

I'm looking forward to all the possibilities in powerlifting. This is going to be fun. I'm not saying I'm going to actually lose weight. That's probably not a possibility. But there's a lot of great possibilities in powerlifting and it'll be great fun.

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.

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.

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.

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.

my first meet after a new coach and gym

I have a weightlifting meet this weekend. I've only been at my new weightlifting gym, High Dessert Athletic Club learning new and completely different form for a couple weeks. I think learning new form will eventually benifit my weightlifting, but I'm guessing there'll be a learning curve. I suspect I'll get worse for a while before I get better. I have no idea what to expect on Saturday. Best case scenario I reach the HUGE milestone of the 100's in the snatch and the 120's in the clean and jerk. Worst case scenario I don't lift well but I get more experience competing in weightlifting. It's a win win. A bit of a nerve racking experience, but a win win none the less.

6 days after the weightlifting meet I'll be competing in my third powerlifting meet, the New Mexico NASA state powerlifting championships. If all goes as expected I'll set 11 NASA national records, 11 state NASA records, and be the New Mexico state champion. The New Mexico NASA state powerlifting championships will be held on April 30th. Which is the last day I'll be employed by the state. On May 1st I'll be a retired correctional officer. Setting national and state records, what a great way to celebrate!

figuring this weightlifting stuff out!

Today was the first time I felt like I knew what I was doing in regards to weightlifting. It's such a complicated sport! Today i even received a bunch of "atta boy Cody!" &"that was great" & "exactly like that"! Felt dang good. I'm thinking I'll hit 100k, 120k, 220k soon.

a new weightlifting gym

Now that I've moved away from Santa Fe I had to find a new weightlifting gym. There's not many weightlifting gyms in the U.S. There's even fewer with decent coaching. Moving to another city is usually weightlifting suicide. But thankfully New Mexico is a weightlifting meca. There's two great weightlifting coaches in this state. Only two you might ask? That's two more than most states have. Weightlifting is a fringe sport in America. It's growing in popularity, but there's still not a ton of interest, and even fewer decent coaches. In New Mexico the two great coaches I know of are my former coach Shane Miller of Miller weightlifting in Santa Fe and my new coach Juaquin Chaves of High Dessert Athletic Club (HDAC) in Albuquerque.

I'm going to miss my old coach like heck. He's a great man and  great coach. I was worried when I told him I wasn't going to be able to train with him and that I wanted to train at another weightlifting gym. His response was so supportive.

my next weightlifting competition

Looks like I have a couple different options for my next weightlifting meet. I could compete on March 12th at the High Dessert Athletic Club in Albuquerque or i could compete on April 23rd at The Miller Gym in Santa Fe. Since my training may be inconsistent for awhile after we close on our new home in Albuquerque and we move I'm thinking I should do the earlier weightlifting meet in March.

It's no secret I've done piss poor at all my weightlifting meets the last 18 months. I've become more and more frustrated. I've hit a 100k snatch and a 120k clean and jerk for a 220k total in practice, but my best lifts at a meet has only been a 92k & a 116k.

back to training and competing

Yesterday was my first day back in the gym in a couple weeks. I have a powerlifting meet this weekend, The 2016 USPA regional powerlifting championships. The timing couldn't be worse.

 I know, I know. What's an olympic style weightlifter doing competing at a powerlifting meet? Truth is I love training weightlifting more than I've ever loved training any other sport, but I'm not that fond of weightlifting meets. Where as I LOVE powerlifting competitions, but not that fond of powerlifting training. Thankfully olympic style weightlifting training transfers very well into powerlifting meets. Plus, my best friend and I are doing this together. He and I have done a all sorts of awesome competitions together. From Triathlons, jui jitsu tournaments, marathons.... you name it, we've done it.

The good news is my lifting felt pretty good considering how much time I'd taken off. Things didn't feel that much heavier. I did fatigue quicker than usual, but all things considered I'll take that over a loss of strength any day. I'm not tapering for the powerlifting meet. The one good thing about being a super heavyweight weightlifter in my 40's is I rarely have anyone else in my age group and weight class. With rare exception all I gotta do to win my division is show up. My goals this weekend is a 140k (308lb) bench, 185k (407lbs) squat, 190k (418lbs) deadlift, 515k total (1,133lbs). Not great numbers, but not bad for only my 2nd powerlifting meet.

nightmare 2 weeks

Man have things been stressful. I'm buying a new homowe, selling the home we have, I'm retiring from my career of over 21 years, I'm job searching, attempting to put my kids in a new school in another city, my Suburban broke down for the third time in 4 weeks, and I got word my favorite aunt's cancer has returned. Her cancer is terminal. We drove to Lubbock last weekend to say goodbye. While there we stayed with my cousin and ate what they served. Yet another weekend of not doing what I'm supposed to diet wise.

The last 12 days I stopped working out and I stopped working with my nutrition coach. I regret making the decision to no longer work with my nutrition coach. He was awesome in every way. I've gotten the best results in weightlifting I've ever had working with him while simultaneously losing weight. But I'll be moving soon and I know there's no way in hell I'll be able to stay on the diet wagon during the transition period from one home to another. It doesn't  make sense to work with a nutritionist if there'll be a 1-2 week period that I know I won't follow any diet plan. Plus I felt like every weekend I was full of excuses about why I didn't follow the diet. They were legitimate, but still excuses get old and there's nothing I hate more than feeling like I'm letting someone down.

moving, retiring, and change

I really hate change. I'm like an old person in that way. That's probably my best and worst personal trait. It makes me loyal, but it also makes me a huge pain in the butt. There's a massive amount of change coming in my near future. We're buying a new home. We'll be selling a place I love and have lived happily for the last 13 years. We'll be moving to a city I don't like much, Albuquerque NM. I'll be retiring from the prison I've worked at and loved for 21 years. I'll be getting another job with potentially better pay, but still it's.... change..... I'm a wreck right now.

I've been struggling with weightlifting for a couple months. I should be lifting a lot more than I am. My speed and strength have increased a ton, but the weights I'm lifting haven't increased. The problem is my form. I've been frustrated enough that I've been contemplating switching to powerlifting. The only things that had stopped me from changing sports was that olympic weightlifting has one of the lowest injury rates of all sports, powerlifting's injury rate is pretty high; I felt I was on the verge of getting some pretty big numbers before getting in my slump; I recently lifted a 100k snatch. That's a pretty good lift for someone in their 40's. I'm like %75 certain I'll stick with weightlifting., try to work my way out of this slump.

Once i move to Albuquerque it'll be a two hour round trip drive to the Miller Gym. Add a two hour long workout, that's 4 hours, four times a week to train. The Miller Gym is worth it. Coach Shane Miller is one of the best programmers in the nation. And I love the people I lift with. I feel a tremendous amount of camaraderie with them. It's rare to find such a close knit team. I'm going to try like hell to continue to train there. I'm hoping I'll be able to adjust my schedule to fit 4 hours of training and driving everyother day after work, but with 3 kids involved in sports after school, and my wife working full time while taking 14 credit hours of college classes in the evenings, I'm not sure how I'll be able to. Change sucks.

back squat personal best and chronic fatigue

Usually after a peak performance it takes awhile to rebuild fitness. So I was happy hitting a 90k/110k today in training. That's a pretty good place to start for the olympic lifts this early in a program. What surprised me was that I also lifted a lifetime person best of a 182k (400 lbs)back squat and I had plenty left in the tank. I could of gone heavier. I'm a heck of a lot better at the powerlifting lifts than I am at the olympic lifts. The olympic lifts are so much more complicated. They're more of a mental game.

I'm struggling with fatigue. My work week routine has been pretty hard. After I get off work at 6am I'll sleep for a little over 3 hours. I'll wake at 9:45am and go to the gym to train. Then I'll go back home and try to nap until my kids get home. Going back to sleep is usually next to impossible. By the end of the week I'm usually a wreck. The first day of my weekend i usually sleep for 11 1/2 hours. My 2nd day off I'll take a 2-3 hour nap. I'm not sure how much longer I can keep this up. My gym is the best gym in the world. They have the best weightlifting coaching in the world, and my weightlifting team is like family.  But the gym's hours are hard for me since I work from 6pm-6am. They close from 1pm-4pm, so I have to wake up half way through my sleep to get my training in. This schedule is taking it's toll on my body. I feel chronically fatigued. I wonder how much of my obesity problems has to do with not getting enough sleep.

weightlifting competitions vs training

I was explaining to someone how different weightlifting is from powerlifting. How many times have us weightlifters had that conversation? I told him powerlifting builds massive strength, weightlifting builds strength, but it also builds explosiveness, speed, coordination, and balance. But the biggest difference between the two sports is that I can get a difficult lift in powerlifting by force of will and motivation. In weightlifting an athlete can have all the strength, motivation, speed, and explosiveness needed to make a lift, but if he/she doesn't have perfect form they will miss the lift.

I LOVE weightlifting training. I enjoy it more than I've ever enjoyed training for any other sport in my life. But I've realized i don't have the same passion for weightlifting competitions that I do for the training. I  think the reason I don't enjoy the meets as much as the training is that it is a thinking person's sport. All the sports I've ever tried I've become successful at because of my passion, my excitement, and emotion. Getting really pumped up and emotional for football, ground fighting, running, crossfit, cycling, powerlifting, or triathlon helps in those sports. Forcing an adrenaline dump for a lift in weightlifting doesn't work unless it also comes with perfect form. How do you keep great form while the pressure is at its highest? By focus. The more intelligent you are, the easier it is to think through a lift. Truth is, I'm a really passionate and emotional person,  but I'm a bit lacking in the intelligence department. And this is without a doubt a thinking man's sport. I think that's why I've walked away from almost every one of my weightlifting tournaments frustrated.

So, after flip flopping dozens of times in the last month alone I've finally decided that even if I qualify, I'm not going to go to the Master's national weightlifting championships in Savannah Georgia. It just doesn't make sense to spend that much money on travel expenses for something I'm not that suited for. I still enjoy it enough to compete locally. But why spend that much money to travel to a meet when I can be just as disappointed and frustrated right here in my own backyard.

Am I the only one who thinks it's odd that I enjoy powerlifting competitions more than weightlifting competitions, but i enjoy training for weightlifting much MUCH more than training for powerlifting?

hunger after competing

Yesterday I competed in The 2nd annual John Davis memorial weightlifting meet. Today i have been SO hungry! That usually happens to me the day after a race or weightlifting meet. I've tried all tricks to not be hungry. Drinking a lot of water, drinking coffee, going on walks. Nothing was able to stem my hunger. Thankfully i got called into work for a 12 hour shift. The post I got called into I'll only have the food i packed, there's no place to buy anything. If it wasn't for that I garentee I'd of fallen off the diet wagon.

That's not the only hunger I woke up with today. I want to get back to training so bad! My last decent workout was December 19th, then i did the longest dang taper of my life! It's been 29 days since I've done a weightlifting program. I can't wait to get a barbell in my hand! Did you notice i didn't say I'm ready to compete in a weightlifting meet again? I said i cant wait to train. Weightlifting competitions could suck my big fat hairy toe.

quest for a body weight snatch

A week ago I lifted a 100k snatch. My previous best was only 92k. I was so surprised, and just as happy! It wasn't until today that I realized 100k is 220 pounds, & if I was to get to a healthy body weight of say, 230 pounds (105k) I'd be very close to a body weight snatch. A body weight snatch is a really big accomplishment in olympic style weightlifting.  There's only a few people in my weightlifting specific gym who can do a body weight snatch. It's such a big deal that the owners of the gym have a steak dinner every year for anyone in the body weight snatch club. There's only one other time I've found a goal this exciting. That's when I decided I wanted to become an Ironman, finishing a 2.4 mile swim, 112 mile bike, & 26.2 mile run. I lost 120 pounds for that goal. I'm so pumped up! This was exactly the type of motivation I was needing to make taking care of myself a priority in my life.

I've put up a new page at the top of my blog to keep track of my goal of A BODY WEIGHT SNATCH!

support and weightlifting

Since I hit a lifetime PR on the snatch yesterday I've been on cloud 9. I never believed I'd get to a 100k snatch at all, much less this quickly.  Especially since I didn't start weightlifting until I was 38 years old. When I was attempting to max yesterday I ran out of energy half way through. One of my training partners had a particularly long and grueling training day, yet he still gave me his Cliff bar even though he obviously was going to need it to get through his workout. Coach Erik saw me miss a few of my lighter attempts so he watched the rest my lifts and helped me with my form. All that help made me think of how much support it takes to be an olympic weightlifter. For me, in addition to the obvious, like my wife adjusting her schedule to watch my three young children anytime I'm wanting to train. There's also the half dozen coaches and athletes who help me with form and advice every single time I'm in The Miller Gym. And of course my nutrition coach who has made the adjustments I needed to make the biggest gains I've ever made in a two month period. Weightlifting is the most amazing sport I've ever competed in. But it takes more support than any sport I've ever done too. I'm blessed enough to have such an amazing support system around me. I'm a lucky man.

I've decided that if I qualify for the 2016 master's national weightlifting championships I'm going. I'll have to sell my triathlon bike, road bike, race wheels,  And wet suits to be able to afford it. But if I qualify,  I'm going!

Snatch high pulls and other weightlifting joys

Today I completed 4 sets of snatch high pulls at 90%. I LOVE snatch high pulls and clean high pulls! They're one of my favorite exercises of all time. When I first started weightlifting I hated any kind of high pulls. I sucked at them, and they completely exhausted me. Not only would high pulls tire me out for the rest of the workout, but I'd be physically wiped out the rest of the day too! It's amazing to me how the body can adapt if it's given the right stimuli.

I'm also amazed at how much more sleep I need now that I'm an olympic style weightlifter. Today after my workout I laid down to rest for a moment or two. I had no intention of falling asleep. I woke up 2 hours later. Since picking up weightlifting I sleep much more deeply. I never struggle to get to sleep and I rarely wake up during the night. I never needed this much sleep when i played football, trained MMA or triathlon.

Since the powerlifting meet I competed in a few weeks ago my elbows have been hurting when I do jerks or any kind of presses. I'm not sure what's going on there,  but I purchased a bottle of glucosamine chondroitin. Glucosamine really is a miracle drug. My Rottweiler used to run with me when I was a hard core triathlete. She'd average 25 miles a week. About the time she turned 7 her hips would hurt after long runs. I started giving her human grade Glucosamine and after a few weeks she never had problems with her hips ever again. On hindsight I suppose I should have started taking glucosamine as soon as I became really serious about weightlifting. Especially since I didn't pick the sport of weightlifting up until I was 38 years old.

I'm in full blown athlete mode!

When I first started training triathlon in 2004 i weighed 292 pounds. I trained hard and got surprising results for a guy as big as i was. During races and training I'd constantly be told, "how does a big guy run so fast?" I knew they meant it as a compliment, but i didn't want to be fast for a big guy, I wanted to be in the front of the pack. 

                                   (February 2003)
The only way I could do that was lose weight. It took me a long time, 5 years actually, to figure out how to eat to lose weight without ruining my training and racing. There was a fine line. Slide a little to much to one side and I lost weight but sacrificed performance. Ate a bit to much and I'd recover from training better but the extra weight would slow me down. Eventually I figured it out. I got down to and maintained a body weight of 175 pounds for 18 months. I'd lost 117 pounds total. It was hell getting there, but once i got there a switch went off in my head. I went into full on athlete mode. Nothing got in the way of my training and eating right. I went on a two year streak that i took top 10 in almost every race i entered. I was no longer just fast for a big guy,  i was one of the fastest multisport athletes in the region. I became a sponsored athlete. 

(April 2010)

Since I picked up weightlifting my training has been great. I have perfect coaching and i was focused on training. But my diet sucked big time. Before my nutrition coach started helping me I'd try dieting like i used to when i was a multi-sport athlete. But i'd miss food so bad! I wanted to eat the foods i loved more than i wanted to be in great shape. I gained back all the weight I'd lost in traithlon and then some, getting to 318 pounds. I could find the motivational to train hard,  but couldn't find enough motivation to do the right thing with my diet. That changed on Holloween. My sports nutrition coach, Barry Schroeder, found my blog and decided he was going to help me. Since then my diet has been nearly perfect. I'm recovering faster. I'm gaining strength and speed quicker. And I'm doing all that while still losing weight. I feel like I've hit that full blown athlete mode again. I never miss training. And I don't leave the house without having my entire days meals planned out. Now i'm entirely focused on eating food that will help me recover and make gains. I'm perfectly content going without the bad food others may eat in front of me. I've reached that state of mind that if my body is craving something I'll have a bite or two of it and feel satisfied. I feel like a serious athlete again.