weightlifting coach talked me off the ledge

I listened to a pod cast by Mark Rippetoe a little over a month ago. He claimed the reason Americans are so poor at Olympic style weightlifting is that they don't do enough deadlifts. He said that American coaches are making a mistake by adopting the European model of weightlifting where they have thier athletes do tons of pulls but very few deadlifts. He was essentially saying anyone training like that isn't strong enough to lift the weights they are capable of. Since listening to that podcast I've been obsessing about doing more deadlifts. I've been contemplating sneaking more deadlifts into my training program. Vernon Smith, one of my two weightlifting coaches, talked me out of it. He said I shouldn't mess with coach Joaquin Chavez training programs. He said that my squat and weightlifting numbers show that I have more than enough strength. That it's my form that's holding me back from lifting more weight.

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.

more strength gains and a little weight loss

The last time I posted an update on my training I was struggling with my jerks. I've become much better at them. I've made a few form corrections. The jerk is still my biggest weakness, but I made a 5k jump since I last posted. Pretty good progress I think. This week I set lifetime PR's on my snatch of 74k, my clean and jerk at 94k, deadlift at 163k, and bench press at 272.2 pounds. The exercise I've made the biggest gains with is my bench press- I know, bench isn't an olympic weightlifting exercise, but I love it so I do it anyways. The bench press has always been my weakest exercise. In the last few months it's jumped from a 235lbs max to a lifetime PR set today at 272.2lbs! My old best was 270 pounds set in the summer of 1999, 15 years ago.

A few weeks ago I was weighing 290 pounds. This week I'm down to 284. I'm finally feeling like I'm getting my diet under control. I'm hoping to get down to the 240's by next years Pan American masters weightlifting championships.

treadmill tabata #4

Today I did a light recovery workout for strength training. Then I hopped on the treadmill and did a tabata. I warmed up for 5 minutes the ran at a 12% grade at an 11:45 pace 20 seconds on, 10 seconds off. This was the fastest pace I've been able to keep since I started doing cardio a month ago. This workout was absolutely my max effort! I'm going to need to stay at this pace for awhile.

I did snatch's, squat's, and deadlift's yesterday. It was a great day. I PR'd my snatches, building up to 3X2 at 69k. I then completed a 5X5 at 104k on squats. I rounded the day off with six sets of heavy deadlifts setting another PR on my last set with a single at 356 pounds.

exercise nutrition during strength training

Now that my training sessions are getting longer I've been struggling to complete my weight training workouts. I've tried drinking juice during my workouts. That helps a little but a lot of the juices upset my stomach. So today I tried eating a Power gel half way through my workout to see how my energy levels were at the end of my workout. It worked AMAZING! I progressed from me struggling to finish my strength training to me feeling like I had so much energy I could have done a cardio session after my strength workout!! What a difference! From now on I'm eating a Power gel half way through all my weight training sessions!

And today I set PR's in the snatch, front squat, and deadlift! My snatch PR was 1 kilo higher than the superheavy weight state record for my age group!!!!!!

another 3 PR's!

Today I was barely able to wake myself up in time to make it to Miller weightlifting. I need a day of rest and recovery. An entire 24 hours where I can do nothing but sleep and veg out on the couch. I've been working WAY to much and I'm SO TIRED! But all that fatigue disappeared once I started lifting. The gym was virtually empty today. It was just Faith, me, and some kick butt music jamin' out from the Zia CrossFit side of the gym. It was the perfect environment and perfect company to throw some weight around. Faith A is a hero of mine. She's one of the strongest, fittest, fastest, and most humble athletes I've ever met. Virtually everyday someone says something along the lines of, "I wanna be Faith when I grow up." Ya, she's that awesome. Apparently all the conditions were right because I set PR's in the snatch, front squat, and dead lift. I completed 2 reps of my snatch PR, which happens to be a state record baby for the super heavy weight 40-44 division!

More good news, I didn't binge eat yesterday. That's rare now-a-days. Any day I don't binge eat is a good day.

Finally a decent snatch, and I need a different goal!

When I was involved in all the other sports I've tried I would usually struggle for awhile, then get worse for a single practice or a week, then make a huge jump. My progress was almost never gradual or consistent. 2 steps forward, 1 step back. I've been training for Olympic weightlifting for over 2 months now and my snatches suck, my cleans are only a little better. Sunday was my worst training day to date, and then today I felt great! I actually completed a few reps that looked like a real snatch! I live for moments like that. Finally, some progress. Perhaps I'll be ready for the New Mexico state games this summer after all.

On another note, there's a guy I've blogged about a few times named Barry Schroeder. he's in my age group, and I hope to get down to the weight division he's lifting in, the heavy weights. I've said I wanted to continue to lift, progress, and eventually try to compete with him. Yesterday he hit a 400 pound squat. I think I need to find another golden carrot, a different person to try to strive to beat. my max lifts are ridiculous compared to his. My max power snatch was 152, bench was 270, squat was 280, and my max dead lift was 350. My best lifts are no where near his warm ups!