The 2018 youth and master's championships report

On Saturday I competed in the Youth and Master's New Mexico state championships. I set a meet best and state record snatch of 100k. I've been chasing 100k since 2013. 5 flipping years! I finally got that son-of-a-gun. Such a wonderful day.

My son set state records in the snatchs clean and jerkj and total. He also qualified for the American Open Series and the youth national championships! After less than a year of training he has qualified for as many national championships as I have in a half decade of training and competing☺ At only ten years of age he's better than me. And I couldn't be happier about it.

 And pictured below are two of my Bear Canyon CrossFit team mates who spent the whole day warming me up and coaching me. I couldn't be more greatfull.

Test day snatch and Fran

Today Bear Canyon CrossFit was testing max Snatch and Fran. Fran is 21, 15, 9 of thrusters and pull-ups. I wasn't looking forward to those. I gave up weightlifiting because I sucked at the speed exercises like the snatch. My biggest weakness in CrossFit is thrusters. And I'm still to big to do pull-ups.

When maxing the snatch I started out by missing 155lbs. That is much to light of a weight to miss. That didn't bode well for the day. I missed 155 again. Coach Rob Tapia came over and gave me some pointers. Boom. Nailed it. Went up to 185 and made the lift. From there I went up by 5-10lbs each lift. I had to take three attempts at 205. After some form correction by coach Rob again I made 205. Then somehow I pulled off a 215lb snatch! That's only 5 pounds from matching by lifetime best! But when I made that lifetime best I weighed 60lbs more than now.

I did horrible at Fran. I lowered the weight from the RX 95 to 75 pounds. I also had to do ring rows instead of pull-ups. Even with all the lowering of weights and scaling of exercises I still only was able to do an 8:10. One minute fifty seconds from the cut off time.

Weightlifting, CrossFit, and powerlifting

Weightlifting is my baby. Has been for about a half decade. I'm not saying I'm great at it or consistent. Just that I love it. It's the most complicated and rewarding sport I've ever competed in.

In addition to weightlifting I also enjoy competing in powerlifting. Weightlifting training transfers well into squat and deadlift, but not bench press. So not only will I be doing weightlifting and CrossFit I'll also be training bench press. I maxed out on bench this morning and I was pleasantly surprised. 285lbs! That's the 3rd most I've ever maxed. 

I completed 3 CrossFit workouts in the last 4 days. I woke up this morning and was exhausted. I needed a day of recovery. Tomorrow I'm doing another CrossFit workout. And then on Monday I'll be starting a weightlifting program with coach Dylan McGwire out of Bear Canyon CrossFit. It'll be my first training session with coach McGwire. I'm exited and nervous. I'm hoping it's quality weightlifting coaching. If it's not then I'll have to start training at High Dessert Athletic Club with Joaquin Chaves or Iron Soul with Vernon Smith. Going to two different gyms, one CrossFit box, and one weightlifting gym would make training much more difficult and costly. I'll keep you informed on how the coaching and training is.

Bear Canyon CrossFit and Bear Canyon CrossFit barbell club

Like I said in my last post, I miss weightlifting. I can't train at the two places I want to train at because of my work schedule, High Dessert Athletic Club or with Vernon Smith. And I won't train weightlifting by myself. Weightlifting by  yourself sucks! So I've been wracking my brain trying to figure out how/where to train. I found a CrossFit gym a block from my house. I remembered watching them compete in the state games this summer and thinking to myself that they were the only CrossFit weightlifting team I'd ever seen that had decent weightlifting form. So yesterday I drove to Bear Canyon CrossFit to try them out. I did a CrossFit workout both yesterday and today. I'm in REALLY bad shape. No cardio what so ever. I had to keep dropping my weight until I was down to the girls R/X weight. Today I decided I wasn't going to lower my weights during the workout. I started at the girls R/X weight right off the bat. And the workout was still hard with that light of weight. I'm in really bad shape! No one seemed to be judge me. As a matter of a fact they were all super supportive. I also trained with their barbell club. It was max day. So I maxed out my snatch and clean and jerk. I've lost a rediculous amount of strength and explosiveness. I maxed at a 86k snatch and 110k c & j. Those are down from 100k & 125k. That's a big loss of strength. I want to get back into weightlifting, I need to lose a crap ton of weight, and I need to get my cardio back. So I joined for a month long membership. The big question is, how is thier weightlifting coaching? If the weightlifting coaching is good, I'll sign a year long membership. If not then I'll just go back to Vernon Smith's powerlifting program. I'll keep you updated on my progress and what I think of Bear Canyon CrossFit and thier barbell club.

Starting point:
Body weight- 326lb (down from 346)
Max snatch- 86k
Max clean and jerk- 110k

Goals:
Do a competition at 224lbs (the lowest I've ever competed in a weightlifting comp is 288lbs)
Sntach- 101k (1k above lifetime PR)
Clean and jerk- 126k (1k above lifetime PR)
And of course my long time and biggest goal- qualify for the Masters National weightlifting championships

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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!

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.

The 2016 New Mexico games weightlifting meet report

On Sunday May 22nd I competed in the 2016 New Mexico games weightlifting meet. This was my 6th week training at my new weightlifting gym, High Dessert Athletic Club, and under my new coach, Joaquin Chavez. I'd made incredible gains so far under his tutlage.

I wasn't nearly as nervous as I usually was before a meet. And I got to warm up with my nutrition coach Barry Shroeder. He's really knowledgeable and a motivating person. So that was pretty wonderful for my meet.

Robel Tayloy, he goes by Chacho, showed up to compete today. He's beaten me by at least 20k at every meet I've ever competed with him at. I'd say if I had to pick one person who's my weightlifting nemisis he'd be it. Super nice guy. But a man can only get his butt beat by a person so many times before that man becomes his nemesis. And he'll be aging up to the 40-44 age group on Jan 1st 2017, so he and I will be in the same age group and weight class next year.Also, My nutrition coach and friend barry was there. Seeing him compete a few years ago was the reason I got into weightlifting. There's no chance of me beating that stud eather. Although, when I first saw Barry lift i decided one of my bucket list goals was to some day beat him. To be the best you have to beat the best right?

Coach Chavez had me attempt an 85k for my first snatch. It felt easy and landed perfectly. On my 2nd attempt I asked to go for a 95. Coach's eyes just about fell out of his head!
"That's to big of a jump. How about 91k." It wasn't a question.

91k was a good lift.  On my third attempt I asked for a 100k. Again, coach almost fainted. "what's your PR?"  he asked.
"96k coach"
"go for 97"
Third lift was good.

Since I went 3 for 3 on the snatches I was probably going to be able to take 3rd place in my heat, 2nd place in the 105+. Behind Chacho in the 105+ and behind both Barry and Chacho in my heat. Beating Chacho and Barry isn't even a question. Those two doen't just beat me when we lift against eachother. They slaughter me!

I was really excited about the clean and jerks. My weightlifting coach has helped me make huge improvements in my jerks, which was my biggest weakness in weightlifting. I attempted a 110k on my first lift and nailed it, easy. On my second attempt I asked to go for a 120k. Same thing, coach almost died of shock, once he recovered he said, "A 10k increase is to much. what's your PR?"
 "120".
"Lets go for 118k this time. I'll let you go higher next time."
Nailed the 118K! I'm 5 for 5 so far. I've only had two 6 for 6 meets in 2 1/2 years, so things were already pretty exciting.
"Let's go for broke in the third lift coach! 125k!!"
I see coach thinking.....
"Go for 122k. That'll be a PR and you'll be in first by 2k."
This time it was my turn to be confused. 1st? 1st of what? I couldn't take the time to figure it out. The clock was counting down and it was my turn up. I nailed the 122k!

Turns out I took 1st place in both the 105+ and the heat. I also set 3 40-44 AG 105k+ New Mexico weightlifting records. I beat Chacho by 2k total. Chacho will be aging up next year to the 40-44 age group 105+ weight class, so that was huge! Next year will be exciting and heck of a big challenge. I've never done well enough at a weightlifting meet to look at others and think to myself "I want to lift better than this person or that person." Chacho's a beast. Next year will be a lot of fun! And, I can't believe I'm saying this, but I out lifted Barry Schroeder too. Out lifting Barry was on my bucket list for a long time now. I honestly didn't think I could ever do it. But today i did. It was a good day.

Adocare Spark for weightlifting

This is my one thousandth blog post! I'm pretty excited about that. I've been blogging about the sports I've been competing in for over almost 10 years. Ive tried and blogged about triathlon, duathlon, running, cycling, swimming, brazilian jiu jitsu, CrossFit, powerlifting, and now weightlifting. It's been an amazing journey.

I've been using Spark by Adocare when I train or compete the last couple months. I love it. It doesn't matter how long or intense my training day is I never run out of energy or start lifting crappy because of fatigue. No matter how tired I am when I get to the gym, once I start sipping on Spark I'm feeling great and ready to train!

When I first stated taking it I was just mixing it with water. It worked really well. But I didn't get the unlimited energy until I started mixing it with gatoraid and a half scoop of whey protein. Now that I'm mixing it I literally feel like I could lift forever without any loss of performance or ability.

As much as I love Spark for training it's made the biggest difference in weightlifting meets. I used to start to crash hard after the snatch's. During the clean and jerks I'd feel so fatigued I just couldn't produce the effort to get anywhere near the results I knew I was capable of. Since taking Spark I never fatigue during the clean and jerks. EVER!

It wasn't until today I felt the downside of Spark. I forgot my mixture or Gatorade, whey protein, and Spark at home. By the time I was three quarters of the way through my workout I ran out of energy big time! I was struggling fierce. Training without it after feeling bullet proof during training for so long sucked.

I've been buying Spark off of Ebay for awhile now. I think it's time to get membership to Advocare. Buying my Spark directly through Advocare will be much cheaper.

close to working!

I got a call from my new boss. All my paperwork has been turned in. It should only be a week or two until I start working! I can't wait to start working. The retiree lifestyle is not for me.

Coach Joaquin spent some time helping me with my cleans last night. He told me once my form catches up to my strength I'll be able to clean and jerk a 140. That's motivating! The state games is this weekend. I'm looking forward to it. I'm hoping to hit that elusive 100k snatch and 125k clean and jerk. I've been shooting for a 100k snatch for the last 29 months. A 225 total would be a dream come true.

back with my nutrition coach

Today I started working with a nutrition coach, Barry Schroeder. We'd worked together before earlier this year and I'd made the best strength and speed gains I've ever made. The nutrition program he has me doing now is going to be WAY more flexible and easier to fit into my life.

My first goal is to get to the 275lb weight class by the NASA powerlifting meet in July. That will make a little less than 2 pounds of weight loss needed a week.

My other athletic goals is to hit a 450lb squat, a 450lb deadlift, a 300lb bench press, a 100k snatch, and a 125k clean and jerk. There's no doubt in my mind I'll hit those numbers now that I've got my nutrition coach back.

The 2016 HDAC Spring Break Invitational Weightlifting meet report

On March 12th 2016 I competed in the HDAC Spring Break Invitational Weightlifting meet. I decided to do this meet last minute,  so I didn't taper. Even without a taper I knew I was much stronger than I was at my last weightlifting meet thanks to having worked with a nutrition coach from Oct-Feb. But during the last 18 months or so I haven't been able to conect any of my strength or speed increases to any decent lifts at meets. As a matter of a fact, I missed qualifying for the masters national weightlifting championships 8 times in the last 27 months.

I took my youngest son to his basketball tournament before my weightlifting meet. The game ran longer than I expected so I didn't have time to grab any food. I was worried about running out of energy after my snatches from not having food.

I felt great during warm ups. That was the first time in almost 18 months that I'd felt good and had decent form warming up for a weightlifting meet.

Coach Shane Miller set my first snatch at 86k. I made it easy. 2nd lift was a 91k. Shane told me if i made that lift i could attempt anything i wanted on my third. 2nd attempt was successful. On the third attempt I couldn't decide to go 96k or 98k. Shane said if I hit a 96 today I could shoot for a 100k at the next meet. I nailed the 96k no problem. Now that i nailed the 96k snatch I only had to lift a 111k clean and jerk to qualify for the ever elusive masters national weightlifting championships!

After the three snatches I started to warm up for the clean and jerk. I was running out of energy without anything to eat. A team mate of mine offered me a bagel. Man did that taste so good! My energy returned. He and his bagel probably saved my meet!

I was successful at my 1st and 2nd clean and jerks of 108k and 111k. The 111k qualified me for the masters national weightlifting championships!!!!!

Coach gave me the green light to attempt a 116k clean and jerk. A 116k would be a meet PR and tie a lifetime PR. I was successful! This was the first 6 for 6 meet I'd had in over a year and a half. It felt great to finally leave a meet feeling like I lifted to my full potential. I ended up breaking all 3 of the masters New Mexico state records, and of course qualifying for the master national weightlifting championships!

I'm going to see if coach Miller will let me lift again here in Santa Fe on April 23rd. I'd really like to attempt a 100k snatch and a 120k clean and jerk! Then after the April 23rd weightlifting meet I'm going to compete in the April 30th NASA N