more energy during training

Today's workout was awesome! 81 reps total, all double and triples. Today was one of those rare days that everything felt light and no matter how hard I worked I never felt tired. I think that has a lot to do with hiring a sports nutrition coach. I'm recovering quicker, feeling stronger, and have more energy during training now. The workout took me almost two hours. After weightlifting I did the bench press program Shane built for me. I built up to two reps at 129.5 kilos (285lbs). I've always struggled at bench. That Shane's program has built me up to 2x285 lbs is virtually a miracle. I'm hoping to hit a 300lb bench at the NASA powerlifting competition on December 5th in Roswell New Mexico.

My daughter hugged me today and said, "Daddy, your getting skinnier. I can tell when i hug you. You feel different." I haven't seen much weight loss on the scale the last couple weeks,  but she sure made me feel good.

my son and weightlifting

Some wives give socks or ties for presents. Not my wife. She knows exactly what will make me happy. Weightlifting suplaments baby! I got this in the mail today for my 40th birthday. I'm a happy man. 

Today at my son's weightlifting practice coach Miller gave my son a Miller gym t-shirt for an early Christmas present. My son was was so happy about the shirt he refused to take it off last night. He slept in it. He really loves weightlifting, and he's pretty darn good at it. I'd really like it if I could watch him practice just one time without my eyes filling with tears. It's funny how love and and being proud of seeing my children exell  makes me cry.

Here's a video of my son doing power cleans. If he continues progressing as well as he is coach Miller will let him lift in the 2nd annual John Henry Davis meet in January. My dad even said he'd come to watch my sons first weightlifting meet. Even though my Dad only lives a few hours away he only visits once every couple years. So that would make it a particularly special day for my son. He and I would be lifting in the same meet together. Now that's what I call father/son bonding! 

weightlifting, retirement, and Santa Fe New Mexico

I find great joy from training olympic style weightlifting. The dedication and focus it takes to train in this sport fits my personality perfectly. I have a perfect weightlifting specific gym and like minded athletes to train with. I have two top notch coaches, one weightlifting coach and one nutrition coach. I'm completely content where I'm at. And now that I'm able to slow down on overtime my family life is the best it's ever been. 

I spent my entire career counting down the days to be able to retire and move, and now that I'm eligible to retire from the prison I've found complete satisfaction where I'm at. My wife and I have been house shopping here in Santa Fe, the houses are unbelievably expensive, there's no way we could afford to buy a house here. So after years of wanting to retire, I've found  that now I don't want to, and I sure as heck don't want to move away from my weightlifting gym here in Santa Fe.

I started taking creatine again. I'm always amazed how quickly my body gets strength gains and how much more quickly my body recovers when I take creatine. The only down side to creatine is the weight gain. I've gained three pounds in less than a week. All the weight gain is water weight, and since i don't have to worry about making weight at a lower weight class i don't mind. My next weightlifting meet is in January. The meet in January will be my last chance to qualify for the Masters Weightlifting National Championships.

help to recover

This week will be the hardest week of training I've ever done.  I'm only half way through and already my legs are trashed! Today is my only day of rest this week so I thought what better way to recover than with a massage! Plus it's my 40th birthday today. What a great gift for myself! My legs were so sore it hurt when the massage therapist was working on them! Hopefully the massage will help me recover more so I can trash them all all over again.

boundaries and coaches

After hiring a sports nutrition coach,  one who is an olympic style weightlifter himself,  I've lost 13 pounds. This last weekend my 5 oldest friends were getting together to watch the Holly Holm vs Ronda Rousey fight and we were celebrating my 40th birthday. I had a lot of anxiety about sending my nutrition coach an email stating I was going to be off the diet wagon Saturday night and drinking.  He responded "Understood. Happy birthday.  Get back on the wagon on Sunday ". I wasn't expecting such a supportive and understanding response. Back in my hard core triathlon days I had a triathlon coach who pushed me really hard. I made great gains under his tutelage, but he wasn't understanding about balancing life and athletics. The week my youngest son was born and hospitalized for three days he sent multiple nasty messages about missing workouts. My old triathlon coach caused me a lot of stress and anxiety in my life. I didn't enjoy that kind of pressure.  I was expecting that kind of a response from my nutrition coach,  but nope,  he was awesome. It's nice being a serious athlete with coaches who are great at getting results,  but also know how to allow balance in their athletes lives.

glycogen and olympic style weightlifting

Great news! I'm relatively certain I've figured out what caused the fatigue during my workouts the last week. I thought it was caused by one or a combination of the following: dieting, to many hours at work, lack of sleep, or because my new intensive training program was to difficult for me. Turns out it has to do with my glycogen levels. I'd  been doing a bench program after weightlifting. Doing both was causing REALLY long training days and was burning me out.  A couple weeks ago I started weightlifting on Mondays, Wednesday's, and Fridays and doing the bench program with pull ups and abs on Tuesdays and Thursdays. My muscles glycogen levels were able to fully replenish because the muscles used on each day were different, but an athletes liver glycogen levels takes 48 hours to fully replenish from strength training days. Since I was strength training 5 days consecutively my livers glycogen levels were getting lower everyday and never recovering. I'll be going back to doing bench press after my olympic weightlifting. Olympic style weightlifting is such a mental game. I'm always learning something new.

upcoming biggest volume week ever

Last week was a recovery week. Even though the weights were low and I didn't do many sets or reps I struggled to finish my workouts. I worked 12 hour shifts on all my days off but one, on Friday I got a mandatory 16 hour shift, and I'm attempting to lose weight (down 13 pounds so far). I'm not sure which one of those was the culprit of the struggles in the gym or if it was a combination. Starting tomorrow I'll be in a really big training week. It'll be the most volume and intensity I've ever attempted in a week. Hopefully the last week of lower volume was all I was needing because I'll need to be at %100 this week.

I usually cycle creatine monohydrate. After a meet I'll take 4 weeks off, then I'll take a it again until my next meet. It usually ends up being a month off 2 months on. I started taking it again tonight. I'll need the extra help starting on Moday.

soon to lift in my first powerlifting competition

On December 5th I'll be competing in my first powerlifting competition. It's going to be the NASA (natural athlete strength association) New Mexico New year classic. I'm currently weighing 305.4lbs, down from 318. Looks like I'll be lifting in the 275-307lb division. I found out i can lift in multiple divisions. I could lift in the police division, masters 1, and masters pure divisions.  I looked up the New Mexico state records in those divisions and there are 14 vacant state records. I'll end up setting 14 state records in my first powerlifting competition! Here are the divisions and records I'll be lifting in. They are all in the 275-307lb division. The only bad news is it'll cost me $515 to enter all those divisions.

Power sports police division 

Power press police division 

Power press masters 1 division 

Power press masters pure

Retro powerlifting police division 

Retro powerlifting masters 1 division

Retro powerlifting masters pure division

unequiped bench police division
Unequiped bench masters pure

Unequiped push/pull police division
unequiped push/pull masters 1 division

power clean police division
Power clean masters 1 division
Power clean masters pure division

definitions of divisions :
Power sports= curl, bench, deadlift
Power press= bench, clean
Push/pull= bench, deadlift

a great Olympic weightlifting coach

My middle child has significantly less confidence than my other children. His lack of self-esteem has caused him to learn more slowly in school, causes him to give up at things very quickly, have emotional outbursts, he's incredibly hard on himself,  etc. A few months ago I started having him trained in olympic style weightlifting by coach Shane Miller. My son has a real talent for weightlifting. He stays intensely focused at every training session, which he usually isn't willing to do with anything else. This new found talent of his has totally changed him in the last few months. He always leaves in a better mood than when he started, which has has taught him to stay focused and positive when attempting other things. Since he's becoming so good at weightlifting so quickly its made him feel significantly better about himself. He's more patient, focused, confident, and much happier. Only a few months weightlifting has had a profound and positive effect on my sons life.

Awhile back there were 5 men at The Miller gym who were competing to successfully lift a 91k  (200lb) snatch. i was the first one. One of the guys at the gym, I'll call him Jack Ass, was a sore loser and told me the only reason i was the  one who lifted a 91k first was because of how overweight i was. Earlier this week a 2nd athlete successfully lifted a 91k snatch. As soon as Jack Ass heard he immediately said loudly,  "yeah, but your a 105k+ and-" before Jack Ass could finish his statement coach Shane Miller shut him up and pulled him aside. Apparently Coach Miller had a come to Jesus moment with Jack Ass because Jack Ass came back to me and apologized. I love my gym.  I love the other members of my gym- most of the time. And i love my coach. He's a great teacher,  a great person, a great motivator, he does an amazing job at stopping or minimizing gym gossip or politics, and I'm mostly grateful because he's making a huge difference in my son's  life.

eating to train and recover

My sports nutrition coach is having me eat 400 grams of carbs on a heavy weightlifting day. 1/3 to 1/2 of my carbs should be eaten in a block of 2 hours before, during, and two hours after my training. When I first started I found that I perform best if I eat 2 cups white rice with a cup of milk and a little sugar before my workout. It wasn't until a recently I found I workout best if I drink orange Gatorade with chocolate whey protein during my workout- tastes like an orange-cicle!

I'd always struggled with energy after my workouts. I'd feel wiped out for hours. This week I tried a new post workout shake. It's made with 1 1/2 cups milk, 1 1/2 scoops whey protein, BCA's, Glutamine, a banana, and two tablespoons peanut butter. Within minutes of pounding my post workout shake I feel unbelievable. The most ignored aspect of training is recovery. Hopefully this'll jump start my lifting. 9 1/2 weeks left until the last shot at qualifying for the Masters National Weightlifting Championships.

first full week with a sports nutrition coach for weightlifting

I decided I wanted to lose 74 pounds to be able to lift in the 105k weight class, but i didn't want my weightlifting to suffer, so i hired a sports nutrition coach. After my first full week with a sports nutrition coach I've lost 1.8 pounds. When i had tried losing weight on my own my workouts would suffer, I'd fatigue quickly during workouts, I'd lose strength, and get overly hungry. So far i haven't felt any of those problems. I guess that's why it's better to hire a professional. 1.8 pounds down,  72.2 more to go. So far so good. I'll continue to keep you updated.

on an upward swing

The entire week I've ate exactly what my nutrition coach wanted me to! After two years of training hard and eating like crap I'm excited to finally be getting the nutrition aspect of training down. Hopefully that will enable me to get the gains I need to qualify for the Master's National Weightlifting Championships. Last month I missed qualifying by 5 kilos.

The last few days I've had the best sleep I've ever had! I'm sure it's a combination of training harder than I've ever trained and eating well. This is a welcome relief. I've had obesity related sleep apnea the last few years. It feels great to finally feel rested.

For 9 straight years I worked 80-90 hours a week. It caused some pretty severe depression. To be honest I almost didn't make it through it. The last couple months I've worked a normal amount of hours. Thankfully the depression has dissipated along with the excessive amount of work hours. So.... what is that weird feeling I have floating around inside me? Oh ya, that's happiness and contentedness. Welcome back. It's been a long time. I've missed you.

Everything is finally coming together. The only thing left unaccomplished is for me to save for a down payment for a home and qualify for the Masters National Championships. 

nutrition coaching day 2

I hired a nutrition coach.  Today marks my 2nd full day of being coached by him. Lot's of new things.

-This weekend i attended my father-in-laws 75th birthday party. There's no way i could have ate healthy and in moderation if i wasn't being held accountable by my nutrition coach.

-Planning out what I'm going to eat before i eat it and logging it makes a huge difference in the quality of food i end up eating. 

-higher quality foods are much much more filing

--I'm having a hard time eating as much as I'm supposed to, especially the 300g protein. 

- left on my own i eat WAY to much fatty foods

- once i log and eat my first meal eating healthy the rest of the day is easy but the first meal is the hardest for me. I love to eat crappy food in the morning, corned beef hash, burritos, grilled cheese sandwiches with green chile, etc. And after i eat one unhealthy meal i have a tendency to want to eat poorly the next meal,  then the next meal. It's the fat man's snow ball effect. 

sport nutrition coach update

I've hired a nutrition coach to help me lose enough weight to get down to the 105k weight class while still making performance gains in olympic style weightlifting. We were supposed to start next week. Yesterday i received an email from him saying he was so excited he was willing to start coaching me early for no additional cost. Seriously? How often does that happen? Awesome! He analyzed the last week of my diet and sent me almost 2 pages of observations and suggestions. He sent me info regarding what to eat before,  during,  and after my workouts to get the best benefits from training. How many carbs and what percentage of my daily carbohydrate intake should be consumed within a two hour block of training. He sent me suggestions on what to eat, when to eat, and why it'll benefit my performance. Since getting his email I've probably emailed or Facebook messaged him a dozen times. He always responds within moments and spends the time answering whatever question i had in great detail. I can't believe all the work this guys doing for me for only $75 a month. I doubt he's making minimum wage coaching me at this point. I'm thinking hiring this guy to be my sports nutrition coach was the best decision I've made in long time. My only regret is not hiring him earlier. If i had I'd already be a 105k and would have qualified for the 2016 Master's National Championships weightlifting meet. With Coach Shane Miller as my weightlifting coach and and Barry Schroeder as my sports nutrition coach I'm certain I'll be making unbelievable gains. Current weight, 309lbs. Next stop, lighter, stronger, and faster baby!

when to retire?

I'm currently eligible to retire from the state of New Mexico. I've been struggling to figure out when I should retire. I could retire anytime between now and July 2019. After years of deliberation my wife and I have decided for me to wait until 2019 to retire from the prison. The reason is simple. I've fallen in love with weightlifting. I've never enjoyed another sport or hobby as much as i enjoy weightlifting, and Santa Fe has one of the best weightlifting coaches in the nation, Shane Miller from who Coaches out of the Miller Gym. There's no way I'm ready to leave the quality of coaching here, there's way to much I still want to accomplish in this sport.

a nutrition coach for weightlifting!

In 2004 I weighed 292 pounds. And then I found triathlon and I gradually got thinner as I became more involved in the sport. I got down to and maintained my dream racing weight of 175 pounds. I fell off the diet wagon May of 2012 shortly after I got ran over by a vehicle while I was cycling and suffered a traumatic brain injury. I retired from triathlon and since then I've gained a ridiculous amount of weight. My top weight, which I hit this month, was 318 pounds. I've tried dieting a thousand times. It never works. On the rare occasion I do lose weight for a few weeks in a row I always gain it all back and then some. I got tired of struggling to lose weight and failing. I got sick of being embarrassed about how I look. I got sick of not being able to buy clothes anywhere but Big and Tall stores. I got sick of being to fat to be able to play basketball or ride bikes with my kids. And I've developed sleep apnea from being grossly obese. I decided to do something about it. I hired a nutrition coach, weightlifter Barry Schroeder. He owned(still owns) three New Mexico state record in the 35-39 age group 105k weight class. Then he lost a lot of weight, dropped down to the 94k weight class and broke the 3 state records in that weight class too. To lose that much weight and still be strong enough to crush numerous state records means he knows the science of nutrition and how to eat to perform well for weightlifting while losing weight. I contacted him and asked if he'd be willing to help me. He was very enthusiastic about it. His prices are phenomenal too! Only $75 a month! First step is he'll track my food, calories, and weight for a week, then I'll start his diet magic! Next stop is the 105k weight class and qualifying for the masters national weightlifting championships! I'll keep you informed on my progress! I'm pumped!

challenging weightlifting program

I started a new weightlifting program.  Coach Miller told me this will be the most difficult program I've done. If yesterday was an indication of how the next 9 weeks will go then he's absolutely right. Yesterdays workout was a ball buster. It was a tremendous amount of fun, but it was one of the hardest workouts I've ever done. It took me 2 1/4 hours to finish the workout. The rest of the day my legs were wobbly and i woke up with my legs ridiculously sore. I love to work hard, and i love how a hard workout leaves me feelling.

If training goes well then I should hit an 95k snatch and a 120k clean and jerk by the John Davis memorial weightlifting meet in January. If i can hit this numbers then I'll qualify for the 2016 master's weightlifting national championships that'll be held in Savannah Georgia in April.

2016 triathlon and weightlifting schedule

I've started contemplating doing a half dozen multisport races or more in 2016. I'd like to hit 100 races completed in the next few years. I'm currently at 86. Of course my main focus would be weightlifting, so I'd need to schedule races no closer than 6 weeks from weightlifting meets. The more i wondered what a weightlifting/ multisport schedule would look like the less i could resist building one. I doubt I'll stick to this schedule, but this one looks pretty good to me. What an adventure 2016 would be if i did something similar to this!

P.S. another great thing about this schedule is i wouldn't have to purchase a USA Triathlon membership until May because you don't need a USAT membership to race in multisport races on military bases and the first two races of 2016 are on military installations.

December 5th, 2015
NASA powerlifting meet
Roswell NM

Jan
The 2nd annual John Davis memorial weightlifting meet
Santa Fe NM

Feb
Missile Man duathlon (1)
WSMR, NM

April
Tax day triathlon (2)
WSMR, NM

Joker Duathlon (3)
Holloman Air Force Base NM

May
Dog house sprint triathlon  (4)
Lubbock Tx

June
Milkman triathlon  (5)
Dexter NM

May/ June / or July
The New Mexico state games weightlifting meet
Albuquerque NM

July
Bottomless lakes triathlon (6)
Roswell NM

August
Socorro chile harvest triathlon  (7)

September
SPC cotton country sprint triathlon (8)
Levelland Tx

September
monster triathlon (9)
Holloman Air Force Base NM

Ocober
Weightlifting meet
Santa Fe NM

November
Veterans day duathlon (10)
WSMR, NM

December
The Polar Bear triathlon (11)
WSMR NM

rest between sets for olympic weightlifting

During my last weightlifting meet I felt fatigued by the time I got to the Clean and jerks. I decided I'd try and take less time between lifts during training to see if that would help increase my endurance during weightlifting meets. I've set the timer on my phone for 4 minutes. Every time the timer goes off I do another set regardless if I feel recovered or not. So far this has rocked my legs! They are tired and pumped up once I leave the gym. The next day my legs are always much more sore and fatigued than I'm used to. This approach probably burns more calories which will help me get to my goal of lifting in the 105k division.

On another note, my depression has subsided a lot the last couple weeks. I'm sure it has to do with working less and sleeping more the last couple months. I had been suffering from severe depression, most likely caused from working 80-90 hours a week for 9 straight years. I've only been working an average of 50 hours recently. Life feels so much better being well rested and having the fog of melancholy lifted.

first treadmill tabata of 2015

Yesterday morning I was mandatoried to a 16 hour shift at the prison. I refused to let that upset my new  workout regimen. I got off of a 16 hour shift at 10 am, slept until 1:15, went to the New Mexico Corrections Academy and completed my training routine before my kids got home at 3 pm from school.

For cardio I did my first treadmill tabata in over a year. I chose the treadmill tabata because I didn't have much timr. A tabata is a very quick and rediculously intense cardio workout. It'll makes your lungs scream and heart feel like it's going to pump right out of your chestt. I did a 5 minute warm up followed by a twenty second sprint at a %12 grade and a 13:37 pace followed by a 10 second rest. I completed  10 sprints of 20 seconds followed by a ten second break. It was really hard! Felt great.

triathlon and weightlifting?

One of my bucket list goals was to complete 100 multisport races. In the 7 years I had competed in multisport I completed 86 triathlons and duathlons. You'd never know by my current physique, but I used to be a skinny and blazing fast triathlete.

I received a Facebook message by a state record weightlifter, Barry Schroeder. He asked if I wanted to compete in a team triathlon with him next year. That got me to thinking.... There's no reason I shouldn't compete in a few triathlons or duathlons occasionally. Barry's been a huge motivator on my life the last couple years. Seems like anytime I'm needing a moral boost or pep talk he shows up.

My favorite races were in the South West Challenge Series. I finished top 3 in the SW Challenge series for 6 consecutive years, 2006-2012. I'd need to finish 6 races in 2016 to be eligible for the series championship. I won't lie, finishing an endurance race at my current weight of 312 pounds would be hard, but I'm always up for a challenge. Plus that would probably motivate me to lose some weight. losing weight would help my health, racing multisport again, and most importantly my weightlifting. At my current weight class i missed qualifying by 5k. If I was in the 105k weight class for weightlifting my current weightlifting totals would have qualified me for The Masters Weightlifting National Chamionships.

I dunno. Should I try doing to Polar Bear triathlon in Las Cruces NM on Dec 6th of this year? That's the first race of The South West Challenge Series 2016 season. I'd only have to do 5 more to qualify to be a 2016 South West Challenge Series champion. If I did 6 races for the 2016 season I'd only have to complete 8 more in my lifetime to have completed my goal of 100. I'm competing in a NASA powerlifting meet on Dec 5th in Roswell NM. I could drive from the meet straight to Las Cruces and compete in the triathlon the next morning. That would be insane to compete in a powerlifting meet and a triathlon on back to back days, but it would be a weekend I'd always remember. Hhhmmm. What do you think?

program for more fitness

I've put a lot of thought into developing a great program that will increase my fitness level, raise my metabolic rate, and help me lose weight without fatiguing my legs for Olympic style weightlifting. I've decided I'll do Olympic style weightlifting and abs on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. And on Tuesdays and Thursdays I'll do the bench press program Shane builds for me, pullups, abs, and hit the heavy bag for cardio.

The abs program I'll be doing is from the book The Complete Book Of ABS by Kurt Brungardt.

Back in my glory years I had included his abs workout program into my triathlon training with great results (see picture below)

I know,  i post this pick a lot, but who doesn't still dream of their glory years? I'd like to improve my physique again so that my glory years are now rather than in the past. I'm hoping this program I'm starting will get me there.

boxing and weightlifting

I've been wanting to lose some weight and do some cardio. Any of the times I've tried doing cycling or running in conjunction with weightlifting I ended up over training and getting sick. I already push my legs to the limit with olympic style weightlifting so I wanted to find a cardio that mostly worked the upper body. So today I started hitting the heavy bag. Afterwards I realized a few things:

-I'm in better cardiovascular shape than I thought a 313 pound person would be.... Yup, 313. Not something I'm proud of, but I'm working on it.

-My boxing form has turned to crap since the last time I practiced.... 9 years ago? Crap, I'm getting old!

-My right cross used to be unbelievable.... It's not anymore. Not even a little bit.

-My left (non dominant) hook is better now than it has ever been. Where the heck did that come from? Perhaps weightlifting has caught the strength of my weak hand up to my dominant? Awesome. I'll take it.

All in all I thoroughly enjoyed hitting the heavy bag again. I think heavy bag work and olympic style weightlifting is going to be a great combination.

family at weightlifting meets and emotional roller coasters

My wife is a very attractive lady and I'm still very in love. I still work hard at impressing her anytime I can. By doing the housework before she gets home from work or by doing great at sporting events to impress her, etc. Most of the time that works out great for me. But I've realized its causes problems with my weightlifting meets. Anytime she and my kids are in the audience I end up doing poorly at weightlifting. I end up putting to much of my concentration on doing well to look good for them them rather than on my form. Apparently still being madly in love after 13 years of marriage has an occasional down side.

On Saturday I failed at qualifying for the Masters National Weightlifting Championships at the "Lift Outside The Box" weightlifting meet held here in Santa Fe NM at The Miller Gym. After a poor sporting performance my emotions are all over the place. I've learned to never make any decisions soon after I do something I consider disappointing athletically. After the meet I was going to go on a low carb diet. Now that I've recovered from my emotional roller coaster I realized I'm a decent weightlifter. I'm fine at my current weight class. Yes I need to drop 30-40 pounds. But I need to do it in a healthy and moderate way. I also need work on my snatch form. My snatches in the last couple meets were down right ugly, but I don't need to do anything drastic with my weight that'll cause me to lose strength and speed that I've worked so hard to build. On the upside my clean and jerk exploded during my last training plan. I increased 7k in only 3 months. The next meet I'll be competing in will be The 2nd Annual John Davis weightlifting meet. Hopefully I'll qualify for the Masters National Weightlifting Championships then.

weightlifting and tapering for a peak

I've been experimenting with my taper before weightlifting meets. I've tried not working out the entire week before the meet, taking a few days before the meet off, and most recently just a light training day the day before. Out of all of these not training at all three days from the weightlifting meet seems to work the best. Not lifting a week before the meet makes me feel sluggish. Weightlifting light the day before makes my legs feel fatigued and doesn't let me feel explosive power that taking three days off before the meet does.

Back in my triathlon days i had a golden carrot,  a goal of beating a stud triathlete named Brian Pilgrim. I chose him because he was a bad ass and i felt that i needed to beat the best to be the best. i eventually did end up being faster than him.

Now that I'm a weightlifter i have another gold carrot. Barry Schroeder. He's a stud. He's only a 94K but he consistently lifts a 101/121/222. For as long as I've been a weightlifter i thought a 100k snatch and a 120k clean and jerk was unattainable. But yesterday i lifted a 115k clean and jerk. I now know those numbers are attainable, sooner rather than later. Possibly by January,  definitely by next summer. Yesterday after my piss poor performance at the Lift Outside The Box weightlifting meet i was feeling sorry for myself, but this morning i realized beating Barry Schroeder is possible. And now I'm super motivated. Time to lace up the weightlifting shoes and go back to training!

the 2015 Lift Outside The Box weightlifting meet report

Today i competed in the 2015 Lift Outside The Box weightlifting meet at The Miller gym in Santa Fe New Mexico. The day started off horrible,  i weighed in at 143k. I knew i was gaining weight,  but dang. I've put on 15k in the last three months.

Today I had one goal and one goal only, to qualify for the Masters weightlifting national championships. To do that i needed to successfully lift a 91k snatch, 116k clean and jerk, for a 207 total.

The first two lifts of an 82k and an 87k snatch were successful, but i knew i was in trouble. On every attempt i was doing power snatches. I didn't drop below the bar once. When i went for the 91k snatch same thing, i didn't squat. 91k was just too much weight for me to lift successfully without decent form. I did a push out, no lift.

On the clean and jerks i lifted a 106, 110, 115. The 115k broke the New Mexico state record by 7k. I also set a clean and jerk and total PR, but i missed qualifying for the Masters weightlifting national championships again. I got closer this time,  but i was still 5k from qualifying. i have one more shot in January to qualify for the national championships.

weightlifting taper and my grandmother passing away

Just before i started my taper I was ready for a break!  I was going to ask my coach if i could have a week off after the meet. By the end of my taper i'm missing lifting heavy. This is exactly what happens everytime.  I'm tired when I'm supposed to be, and feeling hungry for some heavy weightlifting when I'm about to compete. It's wonderful having a coach that has me hit every phase of training exactly like I'm supposed.

My grandmother died this weekend of bone cancer. It was her 5th bout with cancer. She was amazing.

My mother was at the funeral. My mother and i haven't spoken in over 4 years. I was afraid she was going to try and cause drama like she usually does. She didn't. Although it was awkward being around her, the weekend with the entire family was wonderful and the funeral was beautiful. I'll miss my Meme, that's what i called her. Meme. She was so strong and wonderful. She was the rock of our family. All of us on earth who knew her are heart broken, but she's with her husband, her daughter, and Jesus now so I know she's happier.

Add caption

retire from the prison now or max out my retirement?

On May 30th i was eligible to retire from the state penitentiary. After a long hard look at my life and my families  future i had decided to stay at the prison until July 2019 which is when I'll max out my retirement. And then yesterday I found out if i die before i retire, even though I'm already eligible my wife will only get %30 of my retirement. If i retired now and then died she'd get %80 for the rest of her life. That changes things a bit. I've always prided  myself as a selfless spouse and a hard working provider. If i do what i want and stay at the prison another 4 years I'm gambling with my wife's future. If i leave too soon i won't have a down payment for a home or enough in savings to guarantee that we could pay our bills while i work my way out of an entry level position as a dock worker at ABF freight or UPS . Being a father and husband is much more complicated than i thought it'd be.

race to the 200 pound snatch club

There were 4 men in my weightlifting club who were having a competition on who would be the first one to lift a 200lb snatch. Last week i was the first one to make that lift.  To celebrate i bought this shirt to workout in. 

One of the guys in the competition told me that I only made that lift first because i weigh so much. Notice that they wanted to focus purely on the fact that i outweigh them but not on the fact that I'm twice their age? Those two little pipsqueaks pissed me off. From now on I'm lifting with a purpose. And every time I hit another big weightlifting milestone  I'm gonna rub it in his flippin condescending faces. Next stop is a 120k clean and jerk. I'm only 4k away.

One of my weightlifting partners, Katie Plant, approached me later and told me, "screw him Cody, at least you never bombed out of a weightlifting meet like he did". That meant a lot to me. It feels good knowing there's people who have my back and that i wasn't the only who thought their comments were uncalled for.

weightlifting, boxing, and depression

I've been wanting to start doing cardio, but I'm pushing my body to the max with weightlifting. Anytime I've added some sort of cycling or running into my training regiment i end up overtraining and getting sick. Then it occurred to me that most of weightlifting is legs and the types of cardio I'm doing is also legs. So what if i started adding cardio that primarily  worked the upper body?  But what could i do to raise my heart rate using my upper body? BOXING! Hitting a heavy bag! So i found a heavy bag and gloves on Craig's list for only $50. I'll be picking it up tomorrow. It'll be a fun workout that wont fatigue my legs as much, and it'll be great training for my career as a correctional officer at the prison.

For the last 9 years I was forced to work 80-90 hours a week. Working that much and sleeping so little caused me to be severely depressed. For the last month I've been able to slow down on overtime. I assumed once i was able to work less and sleep more my depression would go away. It hasn't. Perhaps i need to wait longer? Expecting the consequences of 9 years of hell to go away after only a month might be asking to much, but it sucks finally being home and having the time to do things but not have any interest in anything at all. I got so used to going through the motions of life even though i felt horrible that now it feels like i forgot how to feel happy. I don't mean to sound like a pussy, but in the last 4 years I've gained 130 pounds. I'm so over weight I've developed sleep apnea and i just don't care. Now that I'm working less I don't have an excuse to feel like this, but i still do. What gives?

trying to qualify for the masters national weightlifting championships

On Monday i set PR's of a 90k snatch and a 113k clean and jerk. My weightlifting coach, Shane Miller told me I could attempt a 92k snatch and a 115k clean and jerk today. If i made both lifts that would give me a total of 207k, which is the amount needed to qualify for the Masters national weightlifting championships. So today i tried, and I successfully lifted a 91k snatch, but missed the 92k. I lifted a 114k clean and jerk easily which put me at a 205k total. I desperately wanted the 207k, so i jumped from 114k to 116k and nailed it! I made the 207k total I'd been training the last 21 months for!  As long as I'm able to lift that amount on October 17th in the sanctioned weightlifting meet i'm scheduled  to compete at I'll have qualified for the 2016 masters national Championships in Savannah Georgia!

Earlier this year i sold all my triathlon gear to be able to afford for my wife and i to travel to Savannah Georgia if i was actually able to meet the minimum total. Looks like that might happen.

my home, my gym

The gym i train at is an Olympic style weightlifting gym. It's the most supportive environment I've ever been in. We're all there with the same goal, Olympic style weightlifting. Next to the prison (i work there, I'm not an inmate) I've never felt such comradery.

Last week our gym had two people compete in the masters weightlifting world championships in Finland. One took first, the other 2nd place. This week we have 5 athletes going to compete in the university national championships in Utah. The joy we have for each others accomplishments and struggles is 2nd to none. I'm getting close to the qualifying totals for the 2016 masters weightlifting national championships. Almost everyday someone asks me how my weightlifting is going. They all know  I'm close to my goal and everyone seems as excited about it as i am.

 I've fallen head over heels in love with Olympic style weightlifting. This is such a beautiful sport! It takes speed, strength, balance, form, and incredible mental focus. The Snatch and the Clean and Jerk are the most complicated and rewarding exercises I've ever done.

starting to commute by bicycle again

My wife and i have had only one vehicle all week and my wife's been taking it to work. I've been riding my old, beat up, 90's model Raleigh mountain bike everyday to The Miller Gym and work. At first i was afraid the cycling would hurt my weightlifting. But i think the cycling is actually helping it. I used to struggle getting my legs warmed up and ready to lift heavy. This week, by the time i bike the 11 miles to the gym, my legs feel great and are ready to lift right away. So it looks like I'm picking up commuting to work and gym on my bicycle again.

new PR's close to qualifying

Today i was scheduled to lift heavy. It's not often my programming has me go heavy, so it wasn't a day i was willing to miss. My wife's van broke down and she needed my vehicle for both her work and school. So i rode my old commuter mountain bike to the gym.

 It was only about 11 miles from my house to The Miller gym, not that far really,  but i was  still worried riding that far on an old dilapidated bike would fatigue my legs. It turns out it didn't. I lifted a lifetime PR of a 90k snatch and a clean and jerk of 113k for a total of 203k. That's only 4 kilos from qualifying for the masters weightlifting national championships.

 

Qualifying for the master's national championships would mean a ton to me. I used to be a pretty finominal triathlete, i had qualified for 6 national championships and one world championship. I assumed the cycling accident that ended my triathlon career marked the end of me competing in athletics at a national level. But here i am getting close to being able to compete at another national championship sporting event. I'm so excited and I'm incredibly grateful to everyone who's helped me get to where I'm at, particularly my weightlifting coaches Shane Miller,  Kim Alderwick, and Jodi Stumbo.

losing weight for an attractive woman

My wife started working out at Praxis (formerly Zia crossfit) a month ago.  She's lost so much weight so quickly that the transformation has been shocking. She's not just losing weight, she's getting that athletic and fit look, muscular arms, a slender waist line, long lean legs, and defined shoulders. On one hand I'm lucky because my wife was already a very attractive lady, but now she's looking unbelievable. And now i need to lose some dang weight or we're going to endup looking like the picture below.

forgiven and blessed

On Friday i received two medical bills totaling  $6700. Then a few days later my vehicle broke down, another  $706. Yesterday on the way to pick up my vehicle from the mechanic my wife's vehicles check engine light came on. The only way for my family to get out of that kind of financial mess would have been for me to go back to working massive amounts of overtime. I spent 9 years working 80-90 hour work weeks to pay off my wife's student loans. Working that much caused massive depression, marital problems, and i missed much to much of my children growing up. To have to work that many hours again was more than i could bear. I'll be honest, i started to pray for God to take me to heaven rather than me to have to work like that again. I wanted to die.

This morning i called the hospital to negotiate the bill. By the end if the of the phone call they agreed to forgive the bill. As soon as I hung up the phone i fell to my knees in relief and started crying, praying, and thanking God. Its amazing how loving and forgiving He is. i usually have the worst luck,  but i put it in Gods hands and He gave me so much more than i deserve. I'm so very blessed.

sleep, overtime, and PR's

In the last month my lifts have increased substantially. I'm %100 certain its because I've been sleeping more. In the last month I've slept 8 hours a night. That's the first time I've been able to feel rested in 9 years. It shows in my lifting. In 4 weeks my front squat alone increased by almost 20 kilos (42 pounds). I've PR'd my snatch and clean and jerk and they felt easy. Friday we received 2 medical bills totaling $6700. And tonight my Suburban broke down. I'm back to working 12-16 hours a day, 6 days a week and not sleeping much. Looks like until i pay these bills off I'll be going back to getting slow weightlifting gains.

medical bills and student loans

I worked 80-90 hours a week for 9 years. It was horrible. I was miserable. Just a few weeks ago ago i was finally able to pay off enough of my wife's student loans that i could afford to start working a bit less & staying home more. And then on Friday i received these. $6,709 in medical bills. I'm so sick and tired of working so much and sleeping so little. Starting tonight i'm going back to working 80-90 hours a week until i pay these off.  I just want to be home to spend time  with my family. I'm so sick of this.

a new bench press PR

8 weeks ago i asked Shane Miller from the Miller Gym to help me get my bench press stronger. Since i was 8 years old one of my biggest goals was to beat my natural fathers lifetime bench press max of 275 pounds. 8 weeks ago my max bench press was 240 pounds. On Friday i maxed out and to my amazement in 8 weeks i put 45 pounds on my bench & accomplished my life long goal of maxing more on bench press than my dad ever had, setting a lifetime PR of 285 pounds.

I asked Shane to build me another bench press program to get my max above 300 pounds before my 40th birthday in late November. My first day ofthe program was today.

injured weightlifters, a new weightlifting program, and a bench press program

There's a woman I train with named Chris Galvin. She's in the Olympic weightlifting hall of fame. After winning numerous national weightlifting championships (I'm talking 11 or 12!!!!) she had to have major shoulder surgery. For must people a surgery of that type would be a career ending surgery. But she's rehabbing her shoulder and slowly increasing the amount she lifts. Yesterday  i watched her doing some heavy snatches.  During every repetition I'd see her her grit her teeth or grunt in pain. I'm amazed at her determination to fight through the pain and do whatever it takes to get back to a high level of competition. I wish i was half as tough as she is. It's people like her that make it so motivating to train at The Miller Gym.

I'm one week into my new weightlifting program. It's hard. Awesome, but very hard.  I promised a couple of my buddies from church I'd compete in a N.A.S.A. powerlifting competition this December in Roswell New Mexico with them. So after each weightlifting training session I've been trying to do a bench program Coach Shane Miller built for me. The bench program is amazing,  I was getting great results from it, but by the end of my Olympic weightlifting session I'm too tired to bench. I'm not sure if i can follow through with the powerlifting meet. i desperately want to, but I just don't know if I'll have the energy to get through both. One of my life long dreams was to beat my natural fathers max bench press PR of 275lbs. Last year i did the program Coach Miller built for me and i got up to a 272lb max. So close! But just like now the Olympic weightlifting got intense and exhausted me so i just couldn't keep doing both. I'm hoping i can push through it, but it's not looking very promising.

bonking at the weight room

Yesterday i ran it of energy half way through my workout. I crashed hard. In triathlon we call that bonking. I took a double latte Power Gel which  usually helps me finish my workouts no matter how tired i get. I had ate well before the workout, slept well, etc. i can't think of any reason for it to  happened. The rest of the day i felt sluggish and worn out. Interesting. I'm not sure what happened.

 I'm hoping that I'll qualify for national championships by end if this year. To ensure this happens I'll be working less hours, sleeping more,  and taking creatine.

weightlifting goals and programming

Coach Miller started me on a new training program today. He always places the weights he thinks I'll hit at the bottom of the programs he builds. After he handed the new workout plan to me i dashed to a quiet place in the gym and greedily looked at what the numbers he thinks I'll accomplish. Snatch 92k, clean and jerk 116k, a total of 208k! If i am able to do what my weightlifting coach thinks i can do i will qualify for the 2016 USA masters weightlifting national championships!!!!! My biggest goal when i started weightlifting 19 months ago was to qualify for the masters weightlifting national championships. I thought it would take me many years to get to the national championships. Turns out i may reach that goal sooner than i thought.

After working 80-90 hour work weeks since 2006 I've finally got my families finances to the point where i can slow down a bit on overtime. Barring a vehicle breakdown or some other financial calamity i should only have to work 50-60 hour work weeks from here on out.  Perfect timing with me being so close to qualifying for the national championships. I'll be training extra hard and will need the extra time for rest and recovery. 

The 2015 New Mexico games weightlifting report

On Sunday July 19th 2015 i competed in the New Mexico games weightlifting meet. On Monday night of the 13th i got sick and was sick the rest of week. It wasn't  until the night before the meet that i felt well enough to get off the couch. The good news about being sick all week was i lost a few pounds, the bad news was i lost a bunch of strength. i weighed in at 131k, the third lowest I've ever weighed at a weightlifting meet.

The loss of strength was apparent during my warm up. My form was off too. Coach Shane was concerned enough to lower my openering lifts.

My first lift was a 79k snatch. I over pulled and i almost dropped it, i was able to recover. Barely. Good lift.

My 2nd snatch was 84k,  no problems at all,  good lift.

The third snatch was going to be a state record lift of 87k. i didn't finish the pull so the weight almost fell forward. As i was standing up i had to chase it forward. I was about 2 feet from the end of the platform before i was able to get under the bar and secure the lift. The middle judge raised his hands in fear, afraid the weight and i was going to fall on him. Despite scaring the judge i got three white lights, good lift.

I made the first clean and jerk of 99k, but it felt awkward. My form was crap. I dropped my 2nd clean and jerk of 104k. I don't think it was that i lacked the strength,  i think because of the illness it was taking me longer to recover from the lift before. Coach Miller could tell i was tired and needed some extra recovery time so he changed my next lift to 105 so i could have an extra couple of lifters between me and my next lift. I told coach i'd already totalled and secured 1st place in  my division, i still felt strong, with the extra recovery time i was certain i could successfully lift another state record of 108k. Coach Shane's eyes almost popped out of his head when i asked for 108k, "you missed 104k & want to go up to 108k? That goes against every rule I have.... if you miss this....." he changed my next lift to 108k but he wasn't happy about it. The extra rest helped a ton. I nailed the lift! I was so happy i stood there on the platform and yelled "YEAH!".

I took 1st place in my division  and became state champion for the 2nd year in a row,  i also set three state records.

Last year i lifted a 65/89/154. This year i lifted a 87/108/195. That's an increase of 41k (90lbs)!

The next goal is to qualify for the national championships. I'll need to get a 207k total. Right now I'm 12k short of 207k.

weightlifting, massage and illness

My wife's family bought my wife a couples message for her birthday. She and i had a the massage on Monday. I thought that was perfect timing because I have a weightlifting meet this Sunday. I figured the massage would help me recover and taper. Instead of helping me,  3-4 hours after the massage i became sick. It was the exact same thing that happened last time i got a massage. Same symptoms and time frame. I'm trying to figure out if it's the massage that's making me sick or if I'm over training. The next time I get a massage I'm not going to get it during my taper. I don't know, can a massage cause a person to get sick?

The  week before last my wife and i did our budget,  but we neglected to factor in that our kids are home for summer break so we'd be going through a lot more food. By Thursday the following week we were out of food. That day was my last heavy day to determine what weights I'd be attempting at the New Mexico games weightlifting meet. Even though i hadn't eaten i still lifted a 85/105. After every lift I'd see spots and get light headed. Apparently eating  before lifting is important. Who knew? Haha.

motivation and weightlifting numbers

Out of 5 training cycles I'd become sick at the end of all 5. That was a sure sign of overtraining. This training cycle i've decreased the number of days I'm working out a week. Its worked perfectly. I haven't become sick  once.

On Sunday Barry Schroeder showed up to train at The Miller Gym the same time i did.  That was great motivation! I trained harder and took less recovery between sets that I'm used to. The next day i was so sore! For those of you who haven't read my blog one of my goals in life is to loose enough weight to be in his weight class and beat Barry in a weightlifting meet. When i set this goal I needed to loose 106 pounds. I still need to loose 83. Even if I'm able to loose that much weight, getting strong enough to beat him is another thing. His PR's are 105/125/230.  He knows my goal is to beat him, yet he still is constantly helping me. Sometimes it's weightlifting advise, diet advise, or just moral support. Needless to say, he's one of the nicest and most supportive people I've ever had the pleasure of training with.

The 2015 State Games is only 12 days away. My strength still hasn't returned to what it was in April of this year, but I'm still much stronger than i was at last years State Games. At the state games last year i only did a 65k snatch, 88k clean and jerk, a 154k total. This year i think I'll get a 84/104, 188.

powerlifting weekend excursion for the boys

Last year my buddy and i were planning on going to an out of town NASA powerlifting competition  but i wasn't able to get time off from work. I requested the time off from work this year for a meet on December 5th 2015 in Roswell New Mexico and was approved. I looked up the New Mexico NASA records for my age and weight and it was crazy how many different categories there were! The weight classes are in pounds, the records are in kilos.i know,  very confusing. But here they are in all its baffling glory:

On December I'll be 40, so i can compete in the
1)Masters 1 division
2)masters pure division
3):and if they let correctional officers compete in the police/firefighter division i could also compete in that.

Plus I'm teetering between the
1) 242 pound division (242-274lb)
2) and the 275 pound division  (275-308lbs).

In each of those divisions i could compete in the following divisions:
1) power sports & power press/clean
-unequppied records
2) unequiped division and retro
3) eq'd & uneq'd push/pull

Since it was so complicated and time consuming looking up all the divisions i decided to record the records for all the divisions i can compete in here so that i dont have to go through the headache of figuring it all out again.

Masters 1
Power sports
242lb
Curl 77.5
Bench 182.5
Deadlift 240
Total 500

Police/firefighter
Power sports
242lb
Curl none
Bench- none
Deadlift- none

Masters pure
Power sports
242lb
Curl 70
Bench 147.5
Deadlift 140
Total 347.5

Masters 1
Power sports
275lb
Curl 87.5
Bench 205
Deadlift 260
Total 497.5

Police/firefighter division
Power sports
275
Curl 70
Bench- none
Deadlift- none
Total- none

Masters pure
Power sports
275lb
Curl 82.5
Bench 172.5
Deadlift 272.5
Total 505

Masters 1
power press
242lb
Ttl 227.5

Police/firefighter
power press
242
total None

Masters pure
Power pres
242
total none

Masters 1
power press
275
Total none

Police/firefighters
Power press
275
Total none

Masters pure
power press
275
Total none

Masters 1
Power clean
242
None

Police /firefighters
power clean
242
None

Masters pure
power clean
242
None

masters 1
Power clean
275
None

Police /firefighters
Power clean
275
None

Masters pure
power clean
275
None

Masters1
Unequiped bench
242
Bench 150

Police/firefighter division
unequiped bench
242
Bench- none

Masters pure
unequiped bench
242
Bench 150

Masters 1
Unequiped bench
275
Bench 185

Police/firefighter
unequiped bench
275
Bench-none

Masters pure
unequiped bench
275lb
Bench- none

Masters 1
Unequiped records
242lb
Squat- 192
Bench 147.5
Deadlift 220
Total 547.5

Police/firefighter
Unequiped records
242
Squat- none
Bench- none
Deadlift- none
Total- none

Masters pure
unequiped records
242
Squat 210
Bench 122.5
Deadlift 127.5
Total 580

Masters 1
Unequiped records
275
Squat 205
Bench 170
Deadlift 232.5
Total 602.5

Police/firefighters
Unequiped records
275
Squat 227.5
Bench 125
Deadlift 227.5
Total 580

Masters pure
Unequiped records
275
Squat 275
Bench 172.5
Deadlift 260
Total 707.5

Masters 1
Push/pull
242
none

Police/firefighter
Push/pull
242
327.5

Masters pure
Push/pull
242
327.5

Masters 1
Push/pull
275
None

Police/firefighters
Push/pull
275
None

Masters pure
Push/pull
275
320

Masters 1
retro
242
none

Police/firefighter
retro
242
None

Masters pure
Retro
242
None

Masters 1
Retro
275
None

Police/firefighter
Retro
275
None

Masters pure
Retro
275
None

balancing weightlifting, work, and eating

Today i had a break through on my snatch form. My strength is still low from the 7 weeks off from training. But thanks to the breakthrough on my form i hit an 84k snatch. That's less than i was lifting in April, but I'll get back to my old numbers eventually.

I've been working 12-16 hours every day since June 6th. My first day off will be July 6th. That's over a month of 92 hour work weeks. Obviously exhaustion has a lot to do with my strength returning so slowly. My wife is pushing for me to work a lot of overtime so we can get enough of a down payment for a new home so that we can move. At first i was willing, but now I'm having 2nd thoughts. I've been working 80-90 hour work weeks non-stop since 2006. I'm tired. I'd like to have a normal life, more time with the kids, and more sleep. I know my wife wants to move off prison grounds and move back to Albuquerque so she can be closer to her parents, but I'm happy where we're at. I really enjoy my career, i like living on prison grounds, i enjoy living in Santa Fe more than I've ever enjoyed living anywhere else, i love the church we go to, and I love weightlifting at the Miller Gym. If we moved to Albuquerque all that would change. I'm not sure i want to change things. With the exception of the amount of hours I've been asked to work I've never been this happy. Where I'm at now is where I'm happiest, why kill myself to leave?

I have two workout buddies, Kevin Y. and Heather,  who were incuraging me to start logging my food on My Fitness pal. Logging my food is helping my diet a lot. I've gone 27 days without binge eating. That's getting pretty close to the longest I've gone without destructive eating since i fell off the wagon back in 2012.  I've lost a little weight, 10 pounds or so. But this time my goal isn't to lose weight.  It's just to eat relatively healthy and avoid binge eating. Losing some weight this month is probably another reason my strength is rebounding so slowly. Haha, that's a tough one: lose weight and look better and be healthier or be strong?

powerlifting totals

A couple of my buddies from church have been working out with each other all year. They told me their goal is to get to a  bench,  squat,  and deadlift of 1000 pounds. They motivated me to challenge them to a N.A.S.A. weightlifting competition.They agreed!  I'm already doing a ton of squatting and deadlifts in weightlifting. All i need to do is start doing bench press a few times a week. I already have a great bench press program. My weightlifting coach Shane Miller built one for me last year. In only a couple months i put on 60 pounds to my bench,  hitting a lifetime PR of 280. I'm going to start throwing in some  bench with my weightlifting and see if i can take these guys to school!  Gonna show 'em how olympic style weightlifters lift! The NASA divisions are:
SUBMASTER: 33 to and including 39
MASTER: 40 years to and including 49; 50 years upwards.

Weight Classes
Men
52.0 kg Class - up to 52.0 kg
56.0 kg Class - 52.01 to 56.0 kg
60.0 kg Class - 56.01 to 60.0 kg
67.5 kg Class - 60.01 to 67.5 kg
75.0 kg Class - 67.51 to 75.0 kg
82.5 kg Class - 75.01 to 82.5 kg
90.0 kg Class - 82.51 to 00.0 kg
100.0 kg Class - 90.01 to 100.0 kg
110.0 kg Class - 100.01 to 110.0 kg
125.0 kg Class - 110.01 to 125.0 kg
140.0 kg Class - 125.1 to 140.0 kg
140+ kg. Class - 140.1 to unlimited

Full powerlifting
a. Squat
B. Bench Press
c. Deadlifts

Full Power Sports Division:
a. Curl
b. Bench Press
c. Deadlift

Power press:
A. Clean
b. Bench Press.

weightlifting without supplements and too much work

I've been back, training again for two and a half weeks. My power exercises like squat, clean, and deadlift are back to where they were before my hiatus. But form exercises like snatch, jerk,  overhead squat,  etc are still bad. The New Mexico games are only four and a half weeks away. It'll be close if i can get my lifts back to where they were at my last meet in April.

I've been training consistently. Haven't missed a day since coming back. My diet has been good. I'm eating relatively healthy,  keeping my proteins up. I haven't been using supplements at all. No protein  powder after workouts, no glutamine,  or creatine. I wanted to take a break from them for a weightlifting cycle.

I've been working unbelievable amounts of hours at work. By July fifth i will have worked 5 weeks straight with only two days off, twelve to sixteen hours shifts each day. I'm tying to save up enough cash to move my family off of prison grounds,  buy a house, retire from the prison, and start another career. I'm so tired. I'm sure working this many hours is negatively affecting my weightlifting,  but I'm eager to start the next chapter of my life.

My goal: the 2016 masters national weightlifting championships

One of my biggest weightlifting goals is to qualify for the masters national weightlifting championships. The qualifying total is 207k, my best total was 192k in April 2015. I have to gain 15k to my best lifts to qualify by March 2016.

Another great motivation for me to qualify for the 2016 masters national weightlifting championships  is that it will be held in Savannah Georgia. I have an aunt who lives in Columbia South Carolina, 2 hours 50 minutes from the competition. I could visit her and my uncle who just tried from the military. Aunt Stacie is one of only a couple family members who I'm in contact with. Its been almost 7 years since I've seen her. It would be beyond wonderful to see her again. And she's the most amazing cook I've ever seen! Motivation!

one year anniversary of my first weightlifting meet

The New Mexico games are next month in Albuquerque. I'm very excited about competing in it this year. Last year's New Mexico games (2014) was the first weightlifting meet I'd ever competed in. I'm hoping i can break the state records for my weight class. That'd be awesome. Breaking state records at a meet a year after my first ever competition.

getting back into training

It's amazing to me how quickly i lose strength when i miss training. I lost a ton during the 7 weeks i was out. The good news is I'm gaining it back really quickly.

I'm loving the new training program my coach built for me. It's a 10 day program. My body is chronically sore. I'm loving this so much. I'm hoping i can get back to where i was by the New Mexico games in late July.

back in training and the New Mexico games

Thanks to a vacation, illness, and a torn calf muscle yesterday was my first day training in over a month. Since it'd been so long since I'd lifted my coach had me lift light and with limited the sets. Snatches are mostly form so they were no problem, i was able to do the recommended weights and sets. For the  squat I built up to a relatively light weight of 115k. Even with the light weights my quads were exhausted and were cramping after the 2nd set. I also struggled at the end of my workout with push presses. Sets of 70k were no problem, buy anything more than that and my calf, which i tore a few weeks ago would hurt. Even though i went light I'm still SO SORE today!

It felt great getting back into the gym and training. i missed it so bad! I'm beyond grateful to whoever the anonymous person is that is helping finance me to get back into the gym.

I registered for the New Mexico state games last night. Hopefully my body will have recovered from my injuries and time off and I'll be back in shape by then. I'd like to break the state records at the New Mexico games that i had set earlier this year.

an amazing gift, weightlifting continues

Last week i posted on my blog that because of financial problems we had to pull my daughter out of gymnastics. I also posted i wouldn't be able to weightlift anymore because of the same reason. My post was overly emotion, full of self pity, and had some inappropriate  words in it so the next day i erased it. Apparently someone read it before i erased it. A couple days later i got a call from my weightlifting coach, Shane Miller. He asked if we could meet in person. When we met he told me there was an anonymous member at The Miller Gym who wanted to pay for my membership. My love and passion of weightlifting continues. Whoever you are, I'm speechless and touched beyond words. thank you so very much.

a new career

I've worked at the New Mexico state penitentiary since 1995. I'm eligible to retire from the prison on May 30th 2015. I put in a job application to my dream job of being a dock worker at ABF. Being a dock worker at ABF has all the things i love at my current career like shift bidding and bidding for days off based on seniority, but it has none of the bad things such as the possibility of being stabbed, taken hostage, or raped. I'll keep you informed if i hear anything.

a torn calf muscle

On Saturday i was playing football and chase with my kids and i tore my calf muscle. It hurt like a son of a gun. At the time i couldn't walk without crutches. It's healing up so quickly it's unbelievable. I can walk with only a slight limp, barely noticeable. I'm going to work tonight. Yup, I'm going to work with a torn calf muscle. I love my job and i love the people i work with. I always feel guilty when i call in sick, like I'm abandoning them. Anyways, back to my injury, I'm pretty sure I'll be back to training in a few weeks or less.  The New Mexico state games is in July and I'm close to qualifying for the masters national championships. I need  to get back in the gym!

The Miller Gym's 1st Anniversary Invitational Weightlifting Meet report

I haven't felt much like blogging recently. But I don't want to leave my last meet unblogged, so it'll be short and to the point.

Last week I competed in The Miller Gym's 1st Anniversary Invitational Weightlifting Meet. Before the meet I'd been on vacation and then I got sick. I missed a total of three weeks of training. Getting sick was my fault, my stupidity. It takes a long time to build up the ability to withstand a lot of training volume, especially when your 39 years old. I was pushing it, training to frequently. 

I went 5 for 6. I lifted an 80/84/86 in the snatch and a 100/106/ and missed my last attempt at 110k clean and jerk. The 86 snatch was a PR and a state record, I also set a state record with a 192k total. In the 15 months I've been weightlifting I've set 9 state records. 

bubba coffee mug

I'm broken hearted. I lost my big bubba coffee mug. I've had that thing for a little over 3 years. I used to ride my bike to work and my big bubba coffee mug lasted through bike crashes,  riots at work,  droped day on and day out,  etc. This is a very sad day for me. That was by far the best coffee mug I've ever owned.

trust your program, trust your coach

Since i missed two and a half weeks of training because of illness and vacation I asked Coach Miller if i could sit out the weightlifting competition this Saturday. He told me not to worry, I'd still lift more than i did at my meet in January. I didn't believe him. He loaded the bar with 86 kilos and had me snatch it setting a PR. He then loaded the bar with 108 kilos and i set another PR. After lifting those easily he told me, "trust your programming. Trust your coach. " He's right. He's one of the best at building programs in the nation. I need to stop doubting myself. As long as I'm being coached by coach Miller I'm in good hands.

rabbit Pâté Recipe

rabbit Pâté Recipe

Prep time
20 mins

Cook time
15 mins

Total time
35 mins

 A delicious Pâté recipe that uses fresh liver, spices, herbs and butter for a creamy and velvety Pâté that can be served on homemade crackers or vegetables.

Author: Wellness Mama

Recipe type: Condiment

Serves: 6+

Ingredients

½ pound chicken livers (I'll n be using rabbit liver)
6 Tablespoons grass fed butter (or coconut oil, but the taste will be different)
½ cup finely minced onion or shallots
1 clove of garlic, finely minced
½ teaspoon dried Thyme leaf
½ teaspoon each of salt and pepper.
1 bay leaf (optional)
3 Tablespoons Brandy or Scotch (or Apple Cider Vinegar but taste will be different)
2 tablespoons heavy cream (preferably raw)

Instructions

Note: You can soak the livers in milk or coconut milk for a few hours (up to overnight) and rinse before making this recipe for a more mild flavor if desired.

Melt 3 tablespoons of the butter in a skillet. Add finely minced onion and garlic and cook on medium until translucent- 3-4 minutes.

Meanwhile, trim the connective tissue off of the livers. Add livers to pan and sprinkle with salt, pepper and thyme and add the bay leaf if using.

Brown livers for 6-10 minutes until cooked on the outside and barely pink on the inside.

Add the Brandy or Scotch and cook until it thickens, 2-3 minutes.

Remove from heat and let cool for about 5 minutes. Discard bay leaf. Put in food processor or blender and puree until smooth. While blending/pureeing, add the additional butter and cream (if using). Add more salt and pepper to taste, if desired.

Once mixture is completely smooth, remove from blender and put in ramekins or a glass container and cover tightly. Put in the fridge for at least 5-6 hours or overnight (preferred) to harden and let flavors meld. Serve with crackers or vegetables.

sick again- overtraining

I got sick on April 2nd. It was a heck of an illness. I took 32 hours of sick leave last week, and today i was still too sick to go to the gym. Last week i almost drove myself to the emergency room, i thought i was having a heart attack. Of course I'm   a stubborn man. I decided i would wait to see how i was feeling rather than go get checked to see if i was dieing.

I think it was a really horrible upper respiratory illness. I don't know what it was (is), but i do know what caused it. I've been getting ill at the tail end of every 3 month training cycle since i started weightlifting 15 months ago. I'm great at digging deep, pushing myself longer and harder than most could, but I'm not very good at allowing myself the proper amount of recovery. I've been told from one of my former coaches I'm all heart, no brains. Starting next week I'm going to train one less day every two weeks. Hopefully that will give myself enough rest and recovery to stop me from getting sick every training cycle.

This long of an illness may have totally destroyed my chances at setting more PR's and state records at the next weightlifting meet. As a matter of a fact, i'm going to ask coach Miller if i could just skip this next weightlifting tournament. Taking this long away from training would make for a piss poor performance.

massage causes illness?

Last night after my massage i got the aches all over my body. A few hours after that i became sick. Cough, aches (very bad aches), sinus pressure, runny nose, weakness, cough, etc. i have no idea where that came from. Perhaps my body was fighting the illness and the massage pushed my body over the brink?  I dunno,  but it sucked.  I'm afraid to get another massage now.

massage for Olympic weightlifting

When i was competing in triathlon I heard a ton about the benefits of massage for athletes. I'd heard  it promotes flexibility, reduces fatigue, improves endurance, helps prevent injuries and prepares the body and mind for optimal performance.

Yesterday I'd had two hard workouts in a row and i was incredibly sore so i thought I'd try it out. It felt AMAZING! After i left i felt like a new man! No soreness at all! Truly, I've never felt anything as magical as that was.  And to think, it'll help my lifting on the platform too! I believe I'm hooked. I'm going to have to get a massage more often!

I went to Massage Envey on Zafarano Drive in Santa Fe New Mexico. They were incredible there! I highly recommend them!

missed training time

I was on a two week vacation late March. That was the longest I'd been away from the prison excluding  funerals or family illnesses in 3 years. It was magical being away from the prison that long. My family and i went to Denver. I didn't get a chance to work out while we were gone, i went a total of 5 days without weightlifting. That was the longest I'd gone without training since October of last year. There's 23 days until my next weightlifting meet. I really feel horrible about missing that much training so close to my next meet. My next meet is really important. If all goes well I'll set 3 new state records. But, i don't regret missing the training . The trip with my family was one of the most fun vacations of my life.

I fell of the diet wagon the whole trip. I ate what ever i wanted. It was great.

 BTW, I'm so sore today!

how to cook rabbit

Rabbit is one of the most lean animals you can eat, its perfect for an Olympic weightlifter!

Back in 2011 i got ran over by avehicle while training for Ironman Arizona. i was unable work for  a while and the family was struggling without my income. I started raising rabbits so my family could eat. I've become pretty good at cooking rabbit after 4 years of raising and eating them.
I got this recipe off the Livestrong.com its the best rabbit recipe i've tried so far.

Rabbit is one of the easiest game animals for novices to work with, because of its compact size. Rabbit is easy to cut up and doesn't require a lot of complicated preparation, and ordinary methods are usually all that's required to cook it. Most chicken recipes can be adapted to use rabbit, though the meat is leaner and usually chewier than chicken. Young fryer rabbits can be fried or grilled, but slow cooking in a crock pot will make any rabbit tender and tasty.

Heat a heavy skillet over moderately high heat. While the skillet is warming up, dredge the rabbit pieces in flour seasoned with salt and pepper.

Pour 1 tablespoon of oil or butter into the hot skillet. Add the rabbit pieces and brown on all sides. Transfer the rabbit pieces to your preheated crock pot. Add 1/2 cup of water or other liquid to the hot skillet, and stir it to loosen the browned-on juices. Add this liquid to the crock pot.

Add the onion, garlic and bay leaf to your crock pot. Season the rabbit pieces with salt and pepper, and add enough water, broth or wine to almost cover the rabbit pieces.

Add vegetables to the pot if you want them to cook with the rabbit. Otherwise, prepare them separately and have them ready when the rabbit has finished cooking.

Cook the rabbit on high for 2 1/2 to 3 hours, or on low for 4 to 5 hours, until it is fork-tender. Remove the rabbit from your crock pot, as well as the vegetables if you've cooked them in the pot. 

Strain the cooking liquid from the crock pot into a small saucepan. To make a concentrated sauce, reduce the liquid until it's thick enough to coat the back of a spoon. If you want more sauce, whisk 1 tablespoon of cornstarch in 1/4 cup of water, then stir that into the cooking juices. Stop stirring once the sauce thickens.

Serve the rabbit and vegetables hot, with the sauce or gravy made from your cooking juices.

Things You'll Need

1 stewing rabbit or smaller fryer

Sharp knife

Heavy skillet

Flour

Salt and pepper

oil or butter

Water, broth or wine

1/2 medium onion, 

diced1 clove garlic, minced

1 small bay leaf

Mixed vegetables (optional)

SaucepanSpoon

Cornstarch

back squat day and increased calories

Today i was scheduled for 2X4 sets of back squat @147k (315lbs). On any other day that would be an easy couple sets, but it was a rough night last night at the prison. After all the adrenaline from last night my body was exhausted. It was all force of will and determination, but i was able to make the lifts.

About a week ago i started to struggle to finish my workouts so i increased my calories. Increasing my calories helped a ton. I maintained my weight during that week and started to feel 100% again. As of last night i decreased my calories again to 3250 calories a day. I'll lose about a pound a week with that. I'll keep you informed on how the weightlifting is going with the decreased calories. 

hydrostatic body fat test and Olympic weightlifting goals

Like i wrote on my blog yesterday,  I'm a flake. After i set a goal i get overly excited about a different goal and give up on my original. I've been losing weight since December and recently started thinking, "is this really worth it? What if I just maintain where I'm at? As long as I'm eating healthy foods and exercising why should it matter how much i weigh?". To help me decide what i should do in regards to my weight I went to get a hydrostatic body fat test at the University of New Mexico exercise physiology department.  The numbers i recieved were humbling. No. They were heart breaking. I'm currently weighing,  by their scale,  288.4lbs, i am 35.2% body fat, 187lbs lean mass, 101.5lbs fat. Alright, that hit me hard. I'll stay dieting. Yup, i need to drop 50-75 pounds. I think i need to set, AND STICK TO, a long term goal of getting to and maintaining 205-235 pounds.

Here are my hydrostatic body fat tests over the years:

March 2015: 288.4 pounds @ 35.2% body fat. 187 pounds lean mass. 101.5 pounds fat.

Nov 2013: 274.7 pounds @ 34.52% body fat. 179.9 pounds lean mass.  95.8 pounds fat.

April 2013: 229.7 pounds @ 23.12% body fat.  176.6 pounds lean mass. 53.1 pounds fat.

Feb 12 2013: 241.1 pounds @ 28.14% body fat. 173.3 pounds lean mass. 67.8 pounds fat.

Oct 2011: 181 pounds @ 6.86% body fat. 169.3 pounds lean mass. 12.5 pounds fat.

June 2011: 188.4 pounds @ 10.9%. 169.4 pounds lean mass. 19 pounds fat.

Nov 2010: 222.2 pounds at 19.01% body fat. 180 pounds lean mass. 42.2 pounds fat.

July 2010: 189 pounds at 9.81% body fat. 170.6 pounds lean mass. 18.5 pounds fat.

I'm a flake and OCD both

I used to drive my old triathlon coach Pete Alfino nuts. I'd set a goal to compete at a race and a couple months into training for it i'd get the itch and want to change my goal. And here i am contemplating changing my goal again.  Since December I'd been gradually losing weight. My goal was to get to the 105k weight class. Although i was still gaining strength as i was losing weight, I'm not gaining as much as I do when I'm not trying to lose weight. So now of course I'm attempting to  justify staying at current weight. There's no doubt I'd look better if i lost weight. I'm sure I'd also feel better about myself at a lighter weight. But if i stay my current weight I'll be stronger for Olympic style weightlifting. And i REALLY LOVE Olympic style weightlifting! I'm even better at weightlifting than i was at triathlon, and i ended up being a highly decorated triathlete. I also have a really legitimate fear of getting obsessed with weight loss. I have a tendency to get a little out of control with sports and food. I found a picture of when i was a hard core triathlete. I was to thin and absolutely not eating enough.

And here's one of me now. 

I'd love to lose 80-90 pounds, but I'm afraid of going off the deep end with my eating again. 

What to do? What to do? 

increased calories, PR's, and phone data

The last few workouts I've struggled to finish my workouts. I'm running out of energy which is an obvious sign that i need to increase my calories for awhile. I'll be raising it to my metabolic rate of 4000 calories a day for approximately 1-2 weeks depending how i feel.

I pick up my youngest son from pre-k before i go to weightlift each day. He's really well behaved for a 5 years old, but 1-2 hours in the gym everyday is a struggle for him. Last week i increased the data on my phone plan so he can watch NetFlix while I'm working out. That's been one of the best decisions I've made in awhile. I can lift with less interruptions and stress, and he's entertained and happy. Win win.

I lifted an 81k snatch rather easily last week which tied my training PR. The last time i got up an 81k snatch was in January and it was a struggle. Two weeks ago i squated 2 sets of 6 reps at 3301lb another PR. I'm looking forward to my next meet in April. I'm on track to crush my old PR's.

metabolic rate and Olympic weightlifting

In the last week I've lost 1.6 pounds. That's a little quicker than i had originally planned, but my strength doesn't seem to be affected at all. Last week i squated 301 pounds 6 times.  And today i tied a training PR snatch of 81k. In the last 3 weeks I've lost 1.75 inches around my waist. I've accomplished all that while eating 3,250 calories a day plus eating any calories burned from working out.  That means my metabolic rate is still hovering at around 4,000 calories a day. The life & metabolism of an Olympic weightlifter is great!