18.3

Crossfit open workout 18.3 was going to be horrible for me. It was a lot of exercises I knew I couldn't do.

 2 rounds:

100 double-unders

20 overhead squats (115 pounds)

100 double-unders

12 ring muscle-ups

100 double-unders

20 dumbbell snatches (50 pounds in each hand)

100 double-unders

12 bar muscle-ups

The time cap is 14:00.

I knew I'd suck at the CrossFit open 18.3. I've never done more than 7 double unders. I assumed I'd be stuck in the first 100 double unders the entire 14 minutes. But somehow I did 100 double unders. I had enough time to finish all 20 of the overhead squats and then 4 more double unders. I know 124 reps isn't very good. But for me, it was fantastic.

Somehow my ranking keeps going up instead of down. I wasn't expecting me to finish higher in the last workouts because the workouts get more technical.

For 18.3 world wide I ranked 10,936 out of 28,358 and was 61st percentile. That puts my over all place for the open at 14170 out of 28,358 which is the 50st percentile. 

For the Southwest region for 18.3 i ranked 591st out of 1,380 which is the 57th percentile. Overall in the Southwest region I'm 740th out of 1380 which is the 46th percentile 

CrossFit open 18.2

Even though im in horrible shape and probably shouldn't have. I joined and am competing in the 2018 CrossFit games. I was worried about workout 18.2. It was:
1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10 reps for time of: Dumbbell squats with a 50lb dumbbell, Bar-facing burpees. Then is completed in 11 minutes Workout 18.2a is a 1- rep-max clean. 

I honestly didn't think I'd be able to finish the squats and burpees within the cut off time. A month a go I couldn't do a burpee the way CrossFit said I had to do them. But somehow I did them all. I finished 18.2 in 11 minutes and 56 seconds. That left me with 4 seconds to do a max clean. I barely had enough time for one attempt. The bar was loaded with 205lbs. I did it. It was close. But I got the weight up in time. I finished the 18.2 and 18.2A in time with a 205lb clean. I finished 18.2 a with a world ranking of 17,061 Wich is in the 39th percentile. I finished 18.2A in 8,595th in the world which is in the 69th  percentile. In the southwest region I finished 18.2 in 851st, 38th percentile. And 18.2A in 514th, 62nd percentile. Over all between the 18.1, 18.2, and 18.2A I'm racked at 14, 604th, 48th percentile. In the southwest region I'm talked in 768th, 44th percentile.

Powerlifting strength, CrossFit, and weight loss

As of this morning I weighed 271lbs. I've lost 75lbs so far. My weight loss is slowing down. My squat has been getting weaker more quickly as I'm losing more weight. My bench and deadlift strength gains have slowed significantly. But they're still going up so that's good. But as I'm losing weight I'm getting better at crossFit. I can now do pull-ups, double unders, burpees, and toes to bars. I couldn't do any of those a month ago.

Based on my loss of strength I'm changing my first weight loss goal. It was 220. Now it's 230. After I hit 230 I'll do a slow reverse, then maintain for as long as I reversed. After that I'll attempt to reach my ultimate goal of 220lbs. If you haven't heard about a reverse diet I'd highly suggest reading up on it. It's fascinating.

Rebok open 18.1 ranking

I finished 6 rounds and 4 reps (196reps) in the first of 5 workouts of the 2018 CrossFit Open. 18.1 was as many rounds as possible in 20 minutes of:
8 toes to bars
10 DB hang clean and jerks with a 50lb DB
14 Calories of rowing
My 196 reps put me at 17,398th out of 28,270 in the world of 40-44 and I was in the 38th percentile.
912th out of 1,377 in the South West region of 40-44, which is in the 33rd percentile.
And 6th out of 6 of the 40-44 at Bear Canyon CrossFit, which is the 0 percentile. Haha.
I've got a long way to go. But I've come a long ways to. When I first started in October I couldn't do a single toes to bar. For the 18.1 open workout I did over 50!

Helen and Max overhead squats

Today in crossfit we tested Helen. Which is 3 rounds of:
400m run
21 kettlebell swings with 53lbs
10 pull-ups

I still can't do that many pull-ups. So I scaled down to 35lb DB and ring rows. I finished with a PR scaled time of 13:09.

On the overhead squats I finished with 255lbs. I think I could have done 10lbs more,but we ran out of time. My old weightlifiting coach Shane Miller used to tell me, "if you can overhead squat it, then you can snatch it." That's kind of exciting to think about! I'm really looking forward to the two New Mexico weightlifiting meets in May and June that Joaquin Chaves will be hosting this year.

CrossFit Open 18.1

I've been working out at CrossFit for 3 months now. I've lost 70lbs and have built a lot more speed and endurance. I out sprinted all three of my kids playing football the other day with them. That hasn't happened in years. I decided to try the Rebok crossfit open. The first workout, called 18.1 was as many rounds as possible in 20 minutes of 8 toes to bars, then 10 one arm dumbbell hang clean and jerks, then 14 calorie row. The most toes to bars I'd ever been able to do was 4 in a row. So I assumed I'd only be able to get 2 or 3 rounds completed. But I did much better than I even dreamed I could. I completed 6 rounds and another 4 reps. 196 reps total. I can't believe the progress I've made in only three months.

Squat struggles

The last month I've been struggling something horrible with my squats. On Friday I was scheduled to do a set of 3 at 395 pounds. I could only get 2 reps at 375. All of my lifts have increased except my squat. Squat. This is kind of shocking for me.  Squats always been my strength. I've never struggled with squats before. But at least everything else is still gaining.

Pulled pectoral update

I had pulled my pectoral muscle a little less than a month ago. My powerlifting coach Vernon Smith has been helping me to build up the weights on bench again while avoiding injury. Yesterday I built up to a set of 3 reps at 225lbs. It felt great. No pain and the weight felt easy.

Have I mentioned how much I love my powerlifting coach? Out of all the coaches I've ever had he's by far my favorite. And I've had a grip of coaches. Coaches in Football, track, jui-jitsue, triathlon, weightlifting, Powerlifting, and more. There has probably never been a more unlikely duo. I'm a hard core libertarian, he's a devout socialist. But he's accepting of our differences, is able to figure out the best plan for just about anything in regards to training. I've got a hell of a coach, I'm happy to have him.

Diet focus and goals

I've been struggling with my diet the last few weeks. I've been dieting for 5 months straight. I still have almost 6 months left before I get to my goal weight. It was beginning to feel overwhelming. But a couple days ago I recieved an email from Joaquin Chaves, the president of The New Mexico Local weightlifting Club. He's set the dates for the two NMLWC meets. The NMLWC Youth and Master's championships on May 12th and the NMLWC weightlifting championships on June 30th. That helped motivate me again. Helped me refocus. If I can lose 40 more pounds in the next 4.5 months then I'll show up to the state games weighting 100lbs less than I did at last year's weightlifiting state championships.

New Mexico Local weightlifting club series announcement

I recieved confirmation last night that the New Mexico Games will no longer be the weightlifiting state championships. From now on the weightlifting New Mexico state championships will be held and put on by the New Mexico Local weightlifiting club (NMLWC). The NMLWC weightlifting state championships will be held on the weekend of June 30th and July 1st. They will also be hosting the NMLWC youth and master's weightlifting championships on May 12th. That meet will be my 10 year old sons first meet. He and I will be competing together.

New Mexico local weightlifiting club series and The New Mexico Games

I received an email from the president of New Mexico weightlifiting, Joaquin Chaves. Looks like there's some major changes going on for the New Mexico Local Weightlifting Club (NMLWC). I received an email stating the president of NMLWC won't be hosting the New Mexico games and will be starting his own local weightlifiting series. The first will be the the NMLWC youth and master's championships on May 12th, 2018. The next will be a big two day weightlifiting meet. It's going to be the NMLWC state championships June 30th and July 1st. The New Mexico games used to be called the state championships. But looks like it's officially not going to be anymore. Which is big news.

The other big news is that the email showed Joaquin Chaves is no longer signing as High Dessert Athletic Club. He's signing under Black Box CrossFit. I wonder if that means Joaquin, who I love dearly as a friend and weightlifiting coach, closed up his club completely? Is he now a coach for Black Box or a partner? Interesting stuff. Big stuff.

Duration of diet causing injuries?

On Tuesday I was playing basketball with my two sons and when I went to drive to the basket I pulled my left calf. It wasn't a bad pull. It hurt, but not bad enough to limp when I walked. Today I completed a CrossFit workout at Bear Canyon CrossFit without any problems. A little less than a month ago I pulled my left pectoral muscle while benching. That's two muscle pulls in less than a month. I'm not sure what's going on with my body. I'm wondering if perhaps it's from being on a calorie defacit and loosing weight for so long or if it's just that I'm 42 years old now. I've lost 68lbs in the last 5 months. If it is from the weight loss and I continue to get injured I don't think I'd be willing to stop. I want to get down to 220lbs so bad I'd rather be chronically injured than continue to be obese. I don't think that's a healthy way to look at diet and working out. If I continue to drop weight at my current rate I'll be down to 220lbs by July. Hopefully once I get to my goal weight I'll be able to train without the injuries and make taking care of my body a priority

Better days

After years and years of working 80-90 hours work weeks I'm finally to the point that I'm working less. I particularly love Tuesdays and Thursdays. I don't work until later in the day on those two days. So I wake up very early and workout before the sun comes up so that I can get back in time to hang out with my kids before school. Then I drive my daughter to school. It's just her and I. She really seems to enjoy that special alone time. So do I. After I get back from dropping off my daughter I take my two sons to school early and we play basketball or football until the school bell rings. I'm creating a lot of wonderful memories with them. This is probably the happiest I've ever been. That's a big difference from the 10.5 years my wife continually put us in bad financial positions that forced me to work ungodly amounts of hours that caused me to be miserable and depressed to the point of contemplating suicide. Since working less I've grown closer with my children, and have started working on me. I'm working out, getting stronger, losing weight, and am happier. These are good times.

Logging when falling off the diet wagon.

Every couple weeks I end up falling off the diet wagon. For a day or so I'll end up eating all the things I miss so bad. Corn dogs, ice cream, Chinese food, etc. I'd loose weight quicker if I didn't do that. But I doubt I'd be able to stick to a diet if I didn't occasionally eat the things I miss. When I log what I'm eating it makes it easier for me to keep control of how much I'm eating. And on the days I fall off the diet wagon I don't log. I'm going to try and log everything I eat the days I fall off the diet wagon. I think that would help me not eat so dang much on those days.

Chest injury

A couple weeks ago. I pulled a pectoral muscle. It wasn't a bad pull. But the last two weeks I've been having to lift with significantly lower weight and volume on bench. I'm talking 3X5 of 155lbs. Almost half of my max. Friday was the first day I was able to do dips since the injury occurred. I'm recovering quickly. Hopefully it won't be much longer until I can resume heavy bench training.

Speed, endurance, and cardio for CrossFit

Today's CrossFit workout was a lot of fun. The strength session was 3 rounds of max squat cleans with 2 minutes of recovery. The WOD was
40 calories assault bike, then 4 rounds of
15 DB push press
12 DB front rack lunges
9 devil press

I lowered the weight from 50lb DB's to 35 and I was still the slowest one in the class. My cardio and muscular endurance is really bad. I've decided I'm going to start scaling the weight even lower than I used to. That way I can increase my speed and intensity. If I practice going faster with less rest then in theory I should build more speed, endurance, and cardio.

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.

RX'd Burpees and 15th wedding anniversary

This morning I was able to do an entire workout doing burpees the way CrossFit says is proper and legal. Before today I couldn't do them because my stomach was to big and got in the way. In the last week I've had a few firsts. First time I was able to do box jumps, double unders, and burpees. I'm much more prepared for the CrossFit open now. And I'm very excited about competing this year.

Today is the 15th anniversary for my wife and I. From the way things have been the last few months I'd say this next year has the potential of being the best of our entire marriage.

Pictures online

Because of how fat i got I refused to let any of my friends or family take pictures of me. And when they did I made them promise not to post it online. I was so humiliated by how obese I had become. Since September I've lost 60 pounds. And last night I posted a picture of my son and I with our coach at the gym. This was the first time in almost a decade I posted a picture of myself on Facebook. 60 down. 48 more to go. This was me September of 2017.

This is me last night.

I'm finally not ashamed of how I look. I'm not humiliated of who I am. I'm starting to feel confident and happy again.

Benchmark Jackie and power snatches

This morning we tested power snatch and Jackie, which is 1000m row, 50 thrusters 44#, and 30 pull ups. I was able to do a 210lb power snatch and an 11:55 Jackie. Although I had to do ring pull-ups so it wasn't RX.

My first double unders and box jumps

A few days ago I signed up for the Crossfit open. Since then I purchased a good jump rope and have been practicing double unders. I can string together 10 at a time now. I couldn't do any double unders a week ago. I decided to practice them because The Open always has double unders. I'm ok with having to compete in the scaled division for things like handstand push-ups, pull-ups, and muscle ups. But having to compete in the scaled division for jump ropes or box jumps would have hurt my pride. Speaking of box jumps. I did my first box jumps today! 5 in a row. I couldn't do them before this. I was just to overweight. This morning I weighed in at 286lbs. I've lost 60lbs so far. I'm over half way to my goal! If I keep it up, at this rate I'll be at my goal by mid to late summer. I'm really excited to go to the New Mexico games this June weighing 100lbs less. None of my weightlifiting buddies have seen me since I've started loosing weight. I wonder, at 100lbs lighter if anyone will recognize me?

Bench, 500m row, and Annie

Today for testers Tuesday we tested Bench Press, 500 meter row, and Annie. Annie is 50, 40, 30, 20, 10 of double unders and ab mat sit ups.

On the bench I broke my lifetime best of 310lbs set in 2014 while weighing 330lbs. Today I weighed in at 288lbs and benched 330lbs.

I completed the 500m row in 1:42.

And I did Annie in 10:54. I can't do double unders yet so I did twice as many singles of 100, 80, 60, 40, & 20.

Supplemental training at Bear Canyon CrossFit

Today I was scheduled to do heavy back squats and some light recovery bench press. I wasn't able to train at my Powerlifting gym so I went Bear Canyon Crossfit. I was nervous about training Powerlifting there. I didn't want to get in the way, annoy any of the athletes training there, or piss off the owners and get banished. I got particularly antsy when I saw how many CrossFit'ers there were training. Apparently 3:30 and 4:30pm are peak times. There had to have been close to 30 athletes in there doing the WOD. The place was packed wall to wall. I guess Mark, one of the owners, saw how uncomfortable I was. So he helped me set up my squats on some blocks in a corner as far away from everyone else as possible. He went out of his way to let me know I was always welcome and should feel comfortable training anytime they're open. I think the owners, coaches, and fellow athletes see how out of my comfort zone I feel doing Crossfit and how different my body type is from the average CrossFit'er. And instead of judging me or excluding me they seem to really go out of their way to make me feel comfortable and welcome.

I ended up squatting 4x5 @ 340lbs relatively easily. I'd never felt that strong or confident squating that heavy before. I'm feeling great. Strong, fast, and light.

Bad reasons to quit CrossFit

I had almost quit CrossFit. There were a few reasons why. It wasn't until I ran and played with my kids this weekend that I realized quitting was a bad idea. I hadn't been able to run and play sports with my kids like that in years. I realize it's because CrossFit has gotten me in MUCH better shape incredibly quickly. After such a wonderful weekend with my kids I realized how stupid all my reasons to quit were. Here were my three big problems I had with CrossFit and the the honest answers to those problems.

1) I've never been as bad at a sport as I am at CrossFit.
Truth: I've found a weakness in my athletisism. The best athletes in the world don't avoid weaknesses. They fix them when they find them.

2) I want to be a great Powerlifter. I'm afraid CrossFit will prevent or limit that.
Truth: in moderation CrossFit won't inhibit my streangth gains at all. But CrossFit will absolutely prevent me from becoming an unathletic, fat, slow, and unhealthy Powerlifter.

3) CrossFit is expensive.
Truth: it's cheaper than massive health problems from not staying healthy and active. And more years alive in my kids life is priceless.

Now that I've come to these realizations I've decided not quit the CrossFit cult. And now I'm even thinking about getting my CrossFit level 1 coaching certificate. The CrossFit version of becoming a deacon at the local cult faction.

Max squat cleans and Karen

This morning in CrossFit we tested max squat cleans and the benchmark workout Karen.

I was able to max squat clean 265lbs. Which is only 10lbs less than my lifetime best. And I've lost 58lbs recently. So even though I'm a little weaker my Sinclair coefficient went up significantly. Up to a 221 now. I'm pleased about that.

Wall balls and thrusters are a huge weakness of mine. And Karen is 150 wall balls. The average time for Karen was 7-10 minutes. It took me 15:38. But I didn't mind. I was just excited to be able to get an RX time for one of the benchmark CrossFit workouts.

Running with my kids again

Today my kids and I were home all day together. It was wonderful. We finished building our rabbitry, played basketball, and played football. I was able to run out for passes, Chase them down on defense to prevent touchdowns, and be quick on my feet changing direction playing basketball. I couldn't do any of those things 3 months ago. Not only has the weight loss helped, but I've gotten in better shape. I didn't realize what a difference crossfit has made until today. The change was amazing. As bad as I wanted to quit CrossFit, after this weekend I won't. I'm so glad I can run and play with my kids again.

Competing when I suck

I'm at a pivital point with CrossFit. I'm trying to figure out if I'm going to quit or not. On one hand I know I need to do it because I'm in horrible shape. On the other hand I've never been this bad at a sport in my life. I've come in last place in the daily WODs all but a couple times. Not last in my heat, but last in the entire gym. Last out of all the times combined. I'm ok with being humbled. But I'm not so good at handling imbarrasment and humiliation. On Thursday I wasn't going to go unless the workout was a workout that had my strengths. It was. I didn't come in last place. 2nd to last. Doesn't sound that great. But to me, 2nd to last is huge. Last night I looked at today's workout. I wasn't going if it had a bunch of things I'm not good at. It was power snatches and pvc ab mat sit ups. I love sntaches. And I don't mind sit ups. I'm not great at them. But it's better than hand stand push-ups, ring dips, or pull-ups. So I showed up. And I didn't come in last today. I was 3rd from last. That's the best I've ever finished. Not dead last. I don't know if I'm doing better because I'm getting in better shape. If it's because I'm so much lighter. Or if others were milking it. I've lost 56 pounds so far. Moving faster is easier when you don't have to move as much weight. Well.... I guess if I'm making progress I should keep showing up. Tuesday is my next scheduled CrossFit day. And it's test Tuesday. I love test Tuesdays. I love a competition. Competition drives me. I don't like to loose. So on Tuesdays I usually do better than I usually could.

Avatar Nutrition and exsessive weight loss

After having not lost any weight for 3.5 weeks, I've lost 10 pounds in the last 10 days. I use a diet app called Avatar Nutrition. It adjusts my calories/macros to make sure I loose a set number of pounds each week. I was afraid that since I lost significantly more weight than I should have that the program was going to increase my calories an excessive amount. It didn't. It only raised it 100 calories. There seems to be some kind of fail safe on the program that prevents to large of increases or decreases of calories each week. The longer I'm using Avatar Nutrition the more I'm liking it. I've lost 54 pounds since September 5th. Another 50 pounds to go to reach my goal of the 242lb powerlifting weight class.

CrossFit revelation

I'd almost convinced myself to quit CrossFit. I was frustrated that i was slow and the workouts consistently had exercises I couldn't do. I blamed it on the exercises. I told myself the movements were only good for little guys. Today the WOD was perfect for me. 5 rounds of 15 calories on the bike and 15 sumo deadlift high pulls. Those are two of my strengths and I still struggled. I realized that the problem isn't what body types are best suited for CrossFit. The problem is CrossFit is hard cardio and I'm in bad shape. Quitting because the sport isn't best for a big guy like me makes sense. But quitting because I'm fat and out of shape doesn't.

maximum streangth block

On Monday I started a maximum streangth program, sets of 5 reps. No more hypertrophy, sets of 10 reps. In some ways I'll miss hypertrophy. I get pretty muscular during hypertrophy. And it's easy to loose weight too. But the big strength gains comes during the blocks of 5 reps. The next Powerlifting meet is in March. It's the USAPL Powerlifting state championships. My middle child will be competing with me also.

Weight loss jumps and plateaus

I loose weight oddly. On Friday I weighed 301lbs. Then  this morning I weighed 293 pounds. When loosing weight I'll plateau for weeks. And then in a two day period my body weight will drop 7-10 pounds. I've always done that. It's odd. But at least it's moving down.

I only have 18 more pounds to loose to get into the 275lb Powerlifting weight class. And I'm now over half way to  my ultimate goal of lifting in the 242 pound weight class. 53lbs lost, 51 more to go!!!!

I'd really like to show up to the New Mexico games at 242lbs. The last time my weightlifting buddies saw me I weighed in the 340's. It'd be great to show up having lost 100lbs. 

Start of a recovery week

Today was day 12 of my Powerlifting block. Tomorrow starts my first day of a recovery week. I'm looking forward to some rest and recovery . My body is tired. Today I had to use Spark to get through my workout. I haven't had to use Spark in almost two years. I've been training very hard the last 3 weeks. This is the first heavy hypertrophy program I've done in years. I'm not used to it yet. I'm getting great results though. After my recovery week I'll be starting a power building program of 5 reps.

The make up break up game

I quit CrossFit today. I didn't want to just disappear without saying goodbye to my favorite CrossFit coach. He sent me a message back that made me decide to stay with it. To keep trying even though I finish last every day. To keep attempting to loose all this damn fat, to get to a healthy body weight, and to get strong and fit instead of just strong. Coach Damion sent this message:


Brother, you work hard! Your numbers are fantastic and if you keep it up you'll be where you want. I know it's frustrating coming in at the bottom. I did it today. I messed my shoulder up again and I won't lie to you and say it's not depressing. Our bodies aren't young anymore and we have to work ten times harder than everyone else. Trust me, I want to quit every day. I joke that I'm the coach with the lowest self esteem. Tears of a clown I suppose, but I refuse to quit. I see you work your ass off brother. Believe it or not, it's members like you that keep me from quitting because you make me feel important. I'm here for anything you need brother. Keep coming!

Deadlift form and CrossFit technical exercises

I come from an Olympic weightlifting background. So I've always deadlift with a clean and jerk width on my feet and hands. Now that I'm exclusively a powerlifter I've decided to try moving my feet and hands significantly closer. So far it's working wonderfully. I'm lifting more weight and more reps. All aspects of Powerlifting training seems to be doing great right now. My body is definitely suited for this sport.

I played hooky from CrossFit again today. CrossFit is great cardio. I'm sure it'll help me loose weight and look better. But I'm frustrated with some of the CrossFit exercises. Only small people can do them fast or well. Things like handstand push-ups, muscle ups, etc. Even if I loose a ton of weight and get super lean I'll still be 235-255 pounds and I'll probably never be able to do a lot of the CrossFit gymnastics exercises well or efficiently. I'm not sure if I want to stick with a sport that I'll never be anything more than below average at. I'm torn weather to stick with CrossFit or go back to track sprinting for my cardio.

Powerlifting knee wraps and CrossFit

At my last powerlifting meet I competed in the classic division. That means I could use powerlifting knee wraps. I've never used knee wraps, so I didn't compete with them. If I'd have used them I could have lifted somewhere around 50lbs more on both the squat and deadlift. I asked my coach to start adding an occasional set using the wraps to get used to using them. He agreed. Knee wraps.... I guess I'm a real powerlifter now...

I've been getting frustrated with CrossFit. In CrossFit they do a lot of technical exercises that i can't do. Hell, I've never been able to do them even when I was in the best shape of my life. Things like handstand push-ups, double unders, rope climbing, multiple sets of 20 pull ups. I've become frustrated enough that I've only gone to CrossFit once in the last week. 

2018 goals

I had e couple big goals for 2017. I wanted to deadlift 495lbs and I wanted to be able to compete the 307lb weight class. I was able to accomplish both in December. My next big goals is to be able to compete in the NASA powerlifting state championships in April in the 275lb weight class. And by the end of 2018 to squat 500lbs or more, bench 300+, and deadlift 600+. A 1400+ pound total.

Bad training days and great coaches

Last week I had a horrible day of squating. I was only able to squat 185X10. I can usually rep out 245 pretty easily. So today at the gym my Powerlifting Coach Vernon Smith pulled me aside to talk about it. He explained hypertrophy. And explained what I should do next time if I'm in that situation again. He put things in perspective. He even gave me a hell of a pep talk. It was exactly what I was needing. I'm ready for my next bad day of training. I know what to do in that situation and how to handle it. I really like my coach. He's awesome.

Celebrating with food

On Christmas Eve I weighed less than 300lbs for the first time in a very long time. On Christmas I over ate. All day. The next morning I weighed 307. I knew most of it was salt and water retention. But still, 4 days after I'm still at 300. I've learned two lessons from this:
1) Overeating for a Holliday or a family function just isn't worth it.
2) when celebrating eat a bit less all day so I can have more to eat during the celebration so that I don't feel like I'm going without or sacrificing as much.

Training ups and downs

On Monday I had a horrible squat day. On Wednesday I had by far the best day of deadlifts I've ever had in my life. Then this morning I had a total crap day of CrossFit. I used to let the ups and downs effect me emotionally. I'd feel on top of the world in every aspect of my life on a good day of training and I'd feel like the world had caved in on me if I had a bad day of training. I'm learning to not allow the highs and lows to effect me as much. I'm trying to remember that training is like bouncing a ball while traveling up hill.  There are a lot of small ups and downs. But the end effect is still going in an upward direction.

For a long time I was angry and resentful. I'd been forced to work 80-90 hours a week for so long I was depressed and had lost hope of a decent life. I haven't worked any overtime since October. Just 36-40 hours a week. Not working as much, being able to spend time with my kids, and time to workout has done miracles for my happiness and contentment. This week was the first time in over a decade that I felt that I was glad to be married.

Christmas binge

I had eaten perfectly every day since September 5th. But Christmas Eve and Christmas I ate whatever I wanted. All that crappy food in excessive amounts made me feel sluggish and weak during my last couple workouts. Today I'm back on the diet wagon. And I'm glad to be eating healthy and reasonable amounts again too. I've been on a roll for the first time in years. As long as I continue to do what Avatar Nutrition tells me to do I should be at my dream weight by mid-late summer. It'll be nice to lift in the 110k weight class. And being 60 pounds lighter will help a lot in CrossFit too. Being 300lbs doesn't exactly make me efficient or fast to say the least.

I was home on Christmas Eve and Christmas. This was only the 2nd time I've ever been off of work and home with my kids on Christmas. It was great. I'm really in a good place right now. I'm happy.

Holliday's at Bear Canyon CrossFit

Most CrossFit gyms are closed on Sundays and Holliday's. But Bear Canyon CrossFit has a Sunday class. They also have a classes on Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve, etc. I love that. But I'm beginning to think the owners of Bear Canyon CrossFit hate Holliday's. Every time I've shown up on a holiday the workouts are brutal. The Thanksgiving sampler took me an hour and eleven minutes. Yesterday's 12 days of Christmas was a nightmare. Today, Christmas Eve, took me 38 minutes. Brutal. But it helps. Because most people over eat on the Holidays. And having a workout before celebrating can help keep a person focused on not over indulging. It helps me to focus on making training and eating a lifestyle. It helps remind us that we can have fun without losing control. Plus after the holiday workouts my legs are to fatigued to get up from the table to refill my plate.

Under 300lbs!

I weighed in at 299lbs for the 2nd day in a row. I've lost a total of 47 pounds so far. My goal is to get into the 110k (220-242lb) powerlifting weight class. So I need to loose anywhere from 57-79 more pounds. Depending on how I feel will determine how low I'm willing to go.

I was a little hungry this week. Which is unusual. I really haven't been hungry at all since starting Avatar Nutrition. I lost more weight this week then I usually do. 4.1lbs So the the Avatar program will increase my macros next week. They do that to prevent quick weight loss, rebound dieting, muscle loss, and metabolic damage. So far I really love Avatar Nutrition. It works.

My favorite quote

"At the peak of tremendous and victorious effort, while the blood is pounding in your head, all suddenly comes quiet within you. Everything seems clearer and whiter than ever before, as if great spotlights had been turned on. At that moment, you have the conviction that you contain all the power in the world, that you are capable of everything, that you have wings. There is no more precise moment in life than this, the WHITE MOMENT, and you will work hard for years, just to taste it again."

Life in Albuquerque

I'm finding myself blogging almost daily. Occasionally I'll post twice a day. It's been a long time since I've been so excited about something that I've done that. I'm getting stronger, I'm loosing weight, getting faster, building endurance, and having so much fun doing it all. I've found a great niche here in Albuquerque. I have a great powerlifting coach who is understanding about me wanting to supplement Powerlifting with CrossFit for health and weight loss reasons. I really love my CrossFit gym, the coaches, and members there. The support and encouragement I'm getting from both the Powerlifting and CrossFit community is awesome. And most importantly I'm not killing myself working overtime anymore. I have time to spend with my kids, working out, and time for myself. I think the word I'm looking for here is content. I'm content. I'm perfectly happy just the way things are. I still want to loose some more weight, get faster, stronger, and build more endurance. But I'm enjoying the journey instead of just obsessing about the end goal.

1st Powerlifting workout at Bear Canyon CrossFit

In the past I had tried to do my own strength workouts at CrossFit gyms I'd been a member of. They made it known that under no uncertain terms was I allowed to do any workout in their gym but the workout of the day (WOD) during the designated group class settings. When I signed up I had asked the owners of Bear Canyon CrossFit if I could supplement my training with some of my own Olympic style weightlifting or powerlifting on my own in their gym. They said yes. But because of my experience at other CrossFit gyms I didn't believe them. I felt that they were just saying that to get another contract locked in and$ in their pockets. I assumed the moment I tried to do my own thing in my own time in their facility they'd say "hell no". So Yesterday I decided to try it. I did a powerlifting deadlift specific workout at Bear Canyon CrossFit. Not only was everyone cool with it, but they were encouraging and complimentary about my strength and weight loss too. I was pleasantly surprised. I really like it there.

I take my wedding ring off so I don't scratch or bend it when I train. Yesterday while i was doing my Powerlifting routine at Bear Canyon CrossFit I got hit on. At first I thought she was joking. Guys as fat as I am don't get hit on in a gym setting. Ever. There's to many guys there who are in great shape. Why go for the fattest bull in the field when they could try for a young fit one? So I laughed like it was a big joke. But I realized pretty quick she wasn't joking. Looks like it's time for me to get one of those silicone wedding bands to wear when I train. I doubt a bald, fat, old dude like me will ever get hit on again in a gym setting. It's never happened to me before. But just in case I guess it's time for me to buy one of those fancy silicon wedding bands that you can work out in.....

2 gyms memberships and a glory board

I train Powerlifting after work 4 days a week. I've always done it at Iron Soul. Iron Soul is a barbell club. I fit in well at that barbell club and they've always been nothing but good to me. On November 1st I started doing CrossFit 3x a week too. Apparently I'm really starting to like Bear Canyon CrossFit because I've found myself wanting to do my Powerlifting routine there instead of my barbell club. So today I'm doing a test run. I'll be doing my heavy deadlift training day at Bear Canyon CrossFit instead of Iron Soul. We'll see if they will actually be cool with a meat head like me doing nothing but streangth work and no WOD in a CrossFit gym.

Yesterday was test day for power cleans at Bear Canyon CrossFit. I got a 265lb power clean. I tied for 2nd in the gym. I'm pretty excited about that. I'll be getting my name on the gym's glory board for every event I take top five in. So far I've placed top 5 in 3 of the 4 streangth tests. Squat, deadlift, and power clean.

Power cleans and Grace test

Today was my favorite day at Bear Canyon CrossFit. Test day! We tested power cleans and the benchmark workout called Grace which is 30 power cleans for time. There was only 4 people in the class. A relatively small class, so I thought we'd have a little more time. But I felt a little rushed. I wanted to try at least another 2 attempts but wasn't able to. I was still pretty happy with my result though. I got a 265lb power clean. My Grace time was slow though, 4:24. Cardio is definitely my weakness. But that's changing as I'm getting in better shape and loosing weight. I have %100 faith that between my Powerlifting Coach Vernon Smith, Bear Canyon CrossFit, and Avatar Nutrition I'll be a hell of an athlete soon.

It burns!!!

Today was the first day of my new programming. Coach Vernon had me doing hypertrophy. That means high reps and short rest intervals. My plan was to go into the gym gung-ho and only take 45-60 second rests between sets. After my first set I realized short rests was NOT going to happen. I had no idea hypertrophy was going to burn so bad. I don't remember hypertrophy EVER hurting like this before. I'm not sure if it hurts like this because it's been so long since I've done hypertrophy (it's been 10+ years). Perhaps it's because I've never been this strong and done this much weight with high reps and short rests. Or if it's just because I'm getting old. But regardless it surprised me. This block of training is going to be unpleasant. The good news is hypertrophy makes it easier to slim down. That makes me happy. I've been hovering around 304-302lbs for almost a month. It would be really nice to get into the 200's again.

day one of 2nd training plan

 Coach Vernon sent me my next training block. It starts tomorrow. I've enjoyed this week away from the gym. But it got old quick. I can't wait until tomorrow. I miss training. I miss the stress relies and working towards a goal. I'm also thoroughly looking forward to test Tuesday at Bear Canyon CrossFit. I can't wait to find out what we're testing. Bench press and Grace are the two I'm looking forward to most.

Recovery mode

My body was really tired after the deadlift test on Tuesday. I tried doing a small squat workout on Wednesday. But my body is fried and needs some R&R. I'm not stepping foot in a gym or working out until Monday. And then coach Vernon Smith said he's going to be pushing me as hard as my body can handle. He warned me, this next training session will be intense. He told me he needed me to come into the gym physically and mentally ready. Because he's going to test my limits, So, no training for me until Monday. Sounds like fun huh?

Deadlift test day at Bear Canyon CrossFit

On Saturday I competed in a powerlifting competition. My top deadlift at the meet was a lifetime best of 479lbs. On Tuesday my CrossFit gym was having a deadlift test day. If I finished in the top 5 of the entire gym then my name would be put on a board that hangs in the gym for an entire year. It had only been three days since my Powerlifting meet so I was sore and felt beat up. But somehow I set another lifetime best deadlift of 495lbs. And the craziest thing, I did this after having lost 43lbs, and I felt like I could have gone higher! Usually people loose streangth when they loose weight. But I've been loosing weight by using a website called Avatar Nutrition and flexible dieting. It's awesome. I love it. I especially love the price, $9.99 a month.

NASA, USAPL, and USPA in New Mexico

My middle son, age 10, enjoys doing powerlifting meets with me in addition to weightlifting. He won the NASA powerlifting state championships in both 2016 & 2017. He wanted to compete last weekend in the USPA state championships, but they have an age minimum of 13. USAPL contacted me and they advised me they have a youth division my son can lift in. So my son and I will be lifting together in the USAPL New Mexico state championships on March 17th 2018. Bonding time. I can't wait.

2017 USPA New Mexico powerlifting state championships report

BW 138k
Squat 457.2lbs (PR & state record)
Bench 297.5lbs (tied PR & state record)
Deadlift 479lbs (PR and state record)
Total 1227lbs (PR and state record)

Yesterday I completed in the 2017 USPA New Mexico state powerlifting championships. I've been lifting exclusively for powerlifting for only 2 months. And two and a half weeks of that I didn't lift because the family and I were on vacation or I had started out at CrossFit and was to tired to lift. So after only 5.5 weeks of actual training I wasn't expecting much. My powerlifting coach Vernon Smith had a lot more faith in my abilities than I did. He sent me the lefts he wanted me to try and it was much much higher than I had faith that I could do.

The first lift was my favorite one. The Squat. I'd done Olympic style weightlifting for 4.5 years before jumping ship to powerlifting. We squat a lot in weightlifting. But there's absolutely no bench press. And only light weighted clean deadlifts. I got a little freaked out during warm ups because my last set of 405 I struggled with. My first squat of the day was 425lbs. It was felt moderately heavy, but lighter than the warm up 405. The next attempt tied a lifetime best of 440lbs. It didn't feel heavy at all. My last attempt was 457.2lbs. If I made that lift I'd have set a lifetime best of over 17lbs! My last attempt felt even easier than my 2nd attempt. Three white lights. Good lift!! I was shocked! How the heck did I get that strong in only 5.5 weeks of training? The squat was a state record.

Next up was the bench. I've always sucked at bench. And I haven't done any training for bench since Olympic weightlifters never do much upper body work and we NEVER bench. I really didn't think I could do what coach was wanting. But Eric, owner of Iron Soul told me, and I quote, "do what your coach days. You have him for a reason. Do it or your a dumbass." Well, I did it. 270, 285, 297.5 and I was shocked. I had more in the tank. My coach knew me well. The bench was a new state record.

When I first stepped on the platform for my first deadlift I felt like something was wrong. I couldn't figure out what was wrong. But there definitely was. My first deadlift of 430lbs was a good lift. It was also a state record. When the judge went to check my he said, "there's no great to check." I looked down and realized I had forgotten to put on my weightlifiting shoes, weightlifting belt, and knee sleeves. Once I geared up I feel a lot better on my 2nd deadlift of 451lbs. My last lift of 471lbs was going to be a 28lb personal best and another state record. It went up so easy I was amazed. I think a 500lb deadlift is in my near future.

My total of 1227lbs was a lifetime best by 39lbs and a state record. I'm shocked what I was able to do with only a couple months training. I can't wait to see what I'll be able to accomplish with more time in training and more weight loss guided by my awesome coach Vernon Smith.

Registered for a Track and field meet

Now that I've been training consistently in both powerlifting and CrossFit and have lost 42 pounds I'm feeling more athletic and confident. I'm getting the itch to go out and see what my body can do. So yesterday I registered for the 9th annual Garden Swartz Great South West track and field classic. I signed up for the 60 meter and 200 meter dash. Best case scenario I do well. Worst case scenario I do poorly and will be able to look back years from now and say, "look how far I've come." The event will be held at the Albuquerque convention center on Mondo track. Mondo track is the 2nd fastest indoor track in the nation.

 This will be my first track and field meet since 1989! 27 years! Eek!

There beginning of 2018 is going to be super busy. In addition to all three of our kids involved in three different sports with practices all over the city. The kids and I have competitions all over New Mexico. This is happiness and living life to the fullest.

-Jan 7 wrestling, Moriarty
-Jan 13 powerlifting seminar, Albuquerque
-Jan 20 wrestling, Carlsbad
-Feb 3rd wrestling, Albuquerque
-Feb 10 9th annual Garden Swartz Great South West track and field classic, Albuquerque
-Feb 24th NASA open, Roswell
-March 17 USAPL state championships, Albuquerque
-April 28, NASA New Mexico state powerlifting championships, Gallup

NASA powerlifting New Mexico state records

Since I'm tapering for a meet this weekend I've got more time on my hands. And now that I've lost enough weight to lift in a lower weight class I decided to look up the NASA New Mexico state records for records that are vacant or that I'm strong enough to break. It's a long list.

In the 308lb weight class:
Unequipped pure
Unequipped masters 1
Unequipped masters pure
Retro pure 308
Retro open
Retro police
Retro masters 1
Unequipped push/pull pure
Unequipped push/pull open
Unequipped push/pull police
Unequipped push/pull masters pure
Unequipped push/pull masters 1
Power sports police
Power sports Masters 1
Power sports pure
Power sports open
Power press masters 1
Power press pure
Power press open
Power press police

275lb weight class:
Retro open
Retro pure
Retro police
Retro masters 1
Unequipped push/pull pure (325k)
Unequipped push/pull open
Unequipped push/pull masters 1
Unequipped push/pull masters pure
Power sports police
Power sports open
Power press pure
Power press masters 1
Power press pure
Power press open
Power press police

The beginning of a new adventure

 I've struggled the last 2.5 years trying to decide if I should train exclusively for weightlifiting or powerlifting. I flip flopped between the two more times than I'm comfortable admitting. It wasn't until a few weeks ago I finally decided that powerlifting will be my #1 girl. I'm the type of person who throws himself into a project full force once I'm fully committed.

 Today was my last workout before my powerlifting meet. The next training block I do will be significantly more difficult. The last training cycle I did was to get back in shape and to prepare my body for heavy lifting. But after the powerlifting meet on Saturday things will get harder and more intense. So as i threw my last workout into the trash at the gym I got a little sentimental. That little piece of paper is the last piece of the first step of this grand adventure I've decided to partake. Goodbye old me.

Hello to a new adventure, a new lifestyle, a new me, and a huge new goal.

Next training cycle

Have I mentioned recently how much I like my powerlifting coach? Well I think he's pretty awesome. I emailed him this morning and asked if I should start training more frequently. I asked if he thought I could handle training some two-a-days. His response motiated me.

His response, "I’d say stick with 4 days of powerlifting a week. Since we’ll be going off of 1RMs during this next training cycle (instead of just slowing getting back into lifting shape), the workouts should be much harder and much more taxing. Doing a two-a-day in the midst of such workouts would, I think, be Ill advised."

Looks like the next training cycle will be pretty intense. I can't wait!!!

Crazy taper thoughts

This Saturday is the US powerlifting association New Mexico state championships meet. This week I started my deload week. We used to call it a taper back in my triathlon days. I hate tapering. I keep thinking crazy OCD thoughts, "I could be gaining more streangth if I was training hard. What if I'm doing my taper wrong and screw up my meet. Why don't I Just say screw this meet and continue training through to prepare for the next one. Missing one meet won't hurt. Etc."

I also started eating to maintain my weight instead of dieting to drop weight. That way I'll go into the meet fully fueled and not at a deficit. And of course I'm miserable doing that to. I have more and even stronger OCD thoughts about pushing pause on my weight loss until after the meet. "I could be 5 pounds lighter by now! I could just diet through the meet, 5 or 10 pounds on my meets total won't really matter. I'm finally on a roll loosing weight, what if I can't get back on the diet wagon?"

I know I'm doing the right thing by slowing my training and dieting. But it's hard when I'm such a one track mind kind of a guy.

Oh, by the way. Have I mentioned lately how much happier I am now that I'm not being forced to work 80-90 hours a week anymore? I'm spending a lot of my time with my kids. Driving them to wrestling, volleyball, and weightlifiting practices. Watching thier sporting events. Getting in my workout time. And now that I can sleep a normal amount of time I'm no longer struggling with overeating and depression. Life is finally good again. That 11 years of hell is finally over.

Train less, gain more, hire a strength coach

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

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

Bear Canyon CrossFit test day

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

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

NASA powerlifting men's weight classes

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

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

Increasing calories for the state championships

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

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

My review of Avatar Nutrition's customer service

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

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

Avatar Nutrition's response:

Hi Cody, 

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

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

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

Sound good?

Best regards, 

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

No problem, Cody!

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

Have a wonderful week!

Best regards,

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

Avatar Nutrition and malfunctioning scales

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

Thanksgiving sampler

• Today I completed the longest and hardest WOD of my life. It was called the Thanksgiving sampler. It took me a 1 hour 10 minutes 22 seconds. By the time I finished the Thanksgiving sampler WOD the next class was half way through their warm up. On one hand I was embarrassed. On the other hand I was proud that I didn't give up- which I was close to doing. Something very kind and supportive happened today. 6 of my fellow CrossFit'ers saw I was hurting pretty bad. They all gathered around me and finished the burpees with me at my place even though they had already finished theirs. It made me able to push much harder for longer. Not sure I could have finished without them.
• 
  
• For Time
• 5 Rounds of:
• 5 Pull-Ups
• 10 Push-Ups
• 15 Air Squats
• Then, 4 Rounds of:
• 8 Handstand Push-Ups
• 15 Kettlebell Swings
• Then, 3 Rounds of:
• 15 Box Jumps
• 15 Knees-to-Elbows
• Then, 2 rounds of:
• 20 Wall-Balls
• 30 Sit-Ups
• Then, 1 Round of:
• 50 Burpees

Day off for recovery and New Mexico health Care connect

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

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

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

Thursdays WOD from hell

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

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

Powerlifting and CrossFit two-a-days

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

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

Training, sleep, and contentment

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

Today's WOD/MetCon

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

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

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

New Mexico Junior Wrestling and New Mexico youth weightlifiting

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

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

Wodify

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

Double metcon

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

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

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

Powerlifting and CrossFit

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

RX CrossFit, sore shoulders, and recovery

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

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

Powerlifting state championships

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

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

Weight loss, getting back in shape, and CrossFit

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

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

Eat and sleep!

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

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

To much on to little calories

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

Bear Canyon CrossFit barbell club

Last night I did my first weightlifiting workout with Bear Canyon CrossFit barbell club. I had a lot of fun. The people were really friendly, welcoming, and supportive. I was definitely training with a group of like minded people. I enjoyed it a lot. The head coach Dylan was pretty knowledgeable.

The next 7 weeks we'll be doing a pretty aggressive squat program. I'm looking forward to gaining back the strength I'd lost the last year. This gives me 8 months to prepare for my big 2018 goal of The New Mexico games weightlifiting meet. Plenty of time to get my game back.

I seem to be recovering better this week from the crazy hard CrossFit workouts I'm doing 3-4 days a week. It didn't seem to hurt my weightlifiting training last night much, if at all.

Flexible dieting

Tonight after dinner I had 2 pieces of bacon for dessert. I've been craving bacon for a week. Those were the best bacon I'd ever had! It's funny how when your dieting even the smallest food treats can be so amazing. At first I really didn't like flexible dieting. But I'm starting to enjoy it. On Wednesday I'll be eating 1 cup of pistachios. Consequently the rest of my meals that day will just be base vegetables and chicken breast. But I sure am looking forward to eating those pistachios!!!

CrossFit, Avatar Nutrition, and the New Mexico USPA state championships

Yesterday was my scheduled weigh in day. I lost 9 pounds this week. I have no idea why my body dropped so much weight this week. Perhaps it's because I'm doing such intense workouts in CrossFit? I dunno. But Avatar Nutrition increased my calories to 2094 a day. I'm still in shock that I lost 9 pounds eating 1900 calories a day. But I'll take it gladly! If I continue to drop an average of 3 pounds a week then I'll be able to compete in the 307lb weight class in the 2017 New Mexico USPA (powerlifting) state championships on December 9th. I've only competed as a super heavyweight. Competing as something other than a super heavyweight will be pretty awesome. I looked up the 307lb USPA New Mexico state powerlifting records. I can beat them. 

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

Breaking up is hard to do

My family and I returned from vacationing the North East. I planned on training while on vacation. I didn't. But I didn't overeat much while gone. So that's a plus. When I returned I realized something that I've known for a long time. I don't enjoy training powerlifting. I love competing in powerlifting meets. But I don't enjoy the training. I miss weightlifting. I love weightlifting training. And I love weightlifting meets. I miss obsessing over my former goal of qualifying for the Masters national weightlifting championships (I did qualify once in my 5+ years of weightlifting). So I guess what this means is I'm going to stop powerlifting. That sucks because I love my new powerlifting coach, Vernon Smith. He's awesome. I love the way he programs and I think the world of him as a person. I'm not sure how to break this to him. I think, honestly, I need to approach this like a business transaction. I tend to get overly attached to my coaches and feel guilty and stressed when I choose to move on to another coach or another sport. Especially my last few. My weightlifting coach Joaquin Chaves and my nutrition coach Barry Schroeder. I adore botth of them. I still feel guilty when I see them or talk to one of them. So long story short I want to go back to weightlifting. My current work schedule doesn't work with my two favorite weightlifting coaches here in Albuquerque, Joaquin Chaves or Vernon Smith (Vernon coaches both powerlifting and weightlifting). So I need to try and figure out something. Not sure what yet. But I'll work it out somehow.

The 3rd annual CrossFit Hellbox triathlon race report

I really wanted to compete in the 3rd annual CrossFit Hellbox triathlon in Rio Rancho NM. But the 2nd WOD looked brutal. So instead of competing I spectated. Turns out the WODs weren't as bad as they looked. I could have completed it. I may have been one of the slowest. But I could have done it. I should have done it. I only need 14 more triathlons to complete my bucket list of 100 multi-sport events. And I've never done a CrossFit triathlon before. 100 multi-sport events completed would have looked great on my athletic resume! Earlier this year I also chickened out of competing in the New Mexico games track and field meet. If I'd have signed up my finishing time would have put me in third place in my age group. Am I turning into a coward in my old age? I used to sign up and compete in ANYTHING! Even if it was something I'd never done or had very little experience. I have a new resolution. I'm going to stop being so cautious and tentative. I've gotten soft since turning 40. That's going to change! I have no clue how long I'm going to be on this Earth. So I want to make the best of it while I can. I'm going to register for all sorts of stuff next year. Anything at all that I'm doing or have done in the past I'm going to compete in. Especially if it's considered a "state championships". I'm putting this out there now. Next year I'm going to compete in the:
1) 2018 NM games for weightlifting
2) 2018 NM games for track,
3) the state state championships USPL (powerlifting)
4) the state championships for NASA (powerlifting)
5) the state championships for USPA (powerlifting)
6) some sort of 2018 CrossFit games, local or otherwise
7) the 4th annual CrossFit Hellbox triathlon
8) and possibly one or more other multi-sport events.

 Next year will be epic. Did I really just use the word epic? What am I 12 years old?

Week two of my return and winter post bid

My weight training has been excellent. My strength is returning. I'm not getting sore anymore from the strength training sessions. I've been following my diet plan from Avatar Nutrition perfectly. I've lost 25 pounds so far. I'm down to 321 pounds. I haven't felt focus like this since my best triathlon years of 2008-2010. Anyways, 97 more pounds to lose until I get to my goal weight of of 224 (the 105k weight class). Hopefully by the 2018 New Mexico state games, the weightlifting state championships.

On Tuesday we leave for vacation for New York for 7 days. I'll find a gym and continue my workouts while on vacation. But there's no way I'm going to follow my diet plan. I'll just pick it up when I get back.

I post bid for work on October 19th. The next bid will last 5 months. There's a shift I'm hoping I get. It's Monday- Friday, weekends and holidays off, 1230-1930. That would be perfect for my training and my kids. I could spend the morning with them. Make them breakfast, make thier lunches, help them get ready for school, drop them off to school, I'd have a couple hours to train in the weight room and track before work, get home in time to eat a late dinner with the kids, tuck them in, and be able to spend a couple hours with the wife before bedtime. Sounds like a dream shift to me. The only down side is it's only 35 hours a week. But I figure I deserve it after working 75-90 hours a week for 10.5 out of the last 11 years.

Avatar Nutrition and flexible eating

The times in my life I've lost a significant weight I did it with low carb eating or a computer program called Diet Power. Diet Power was awesome because it adjusted my calories to ensure I hit a certain weight of my choosing by a certain date also of my choosing. The big problem with Diet Power was it was a computer program that was downloaded with a disk. So I had to carry a lap top with me everywhere. I also tried flexible eating with a diet coach. That worked well. I thoroughly enjoyed having someone knowledgeable there to tell me how many carbs, fat, and protein I needed to eat to make my goals. I also really enjoyed being able to log my food and prepare meals with absolute control and accuracy of carbs, fat, and protein. But a nutrition coach was expensive and having to report my daily successes and failures with feed back every week was to much pressure for me.

I recently found a website that seems to have all of the positive aspects of a nutrition coach and Diet Power on a mobile site for your phone. It's called Avatar Nutrition. It allows me to prepare and log food. And it also adjusts my calories, carbs, fat, and protein to ensure I'm maintaining my weight loss goals.

I started it today. I'll be able to use it until my family and I leave for a 7 day vacation in New York. During that time I'll put the Avatar Nutrition program on vacation mode, so I'll be able to start back where I left off when I get back from vacation.

Current weight 325lbs, down from 346lbs a month ago. My goal is to get down to the 220's.

I'll keep you updated on how I'm doing and what I think of Avatar Nutrition.