Saturday, October 31, 2015

Road to 2016 USAPL Nationals - Update #1




Road To Nationals Update # 1






I made a promise to myself that I'd keep a log of my training.

However, when I really took the time to think about it, what I realized was that I didn't need to keep a log of my training at all...

Because that's the easy part, you know? If you really care... if you're any good at what you do... you already have a working log of you're progress because it's all you ever think about anyway, know what I mean?

Each week, I get an email from my coach that tells me what to do, and some people, once they get the programming, break out their notebooks or whatever it is they use to "Keep It Together," and they start going to work...

But I don't do anything like that. I just remember...

I'm at the point in my training now where I know what 80% feels like. I know what it's like to hit a heavy set of five. I know what it's like to hit a pause for 3 seconds at 50%...

I just know.

So as far as a "training log" is concerned... it's not something I worry about all that much.

But when I thought about documenting things during a long drive home from work the other day, what I realized was that it would probably be best for me to keep a log of where I'm at emotionally and spiritually and philosophically.

What I realized was that there was a lot more to this whole "Strength Sport" thing than just showing up and putting in the milage.

And after listening to a series of PodCasts, what I realized was that I needed to develop a series of healthy habits...

I'd learned that, regardless of who it was I was listening to or who it was that was being interviewed, the road to greatness, regardless of endeavor, was paved with healthy habit after healthy habit.

So maybe this is a log of health habits, spiritual or emotional or otherwise, and not really a Training Log with a Capital T.

I don't think I'll get around to updating this thing weekly, but I think hitting it monthly is definitely something I can handle (life's about tangible goals, people). As a result, what you can expect to find on here are a few training videos, a podcast recommendation and a recommended episode, and 3 songs that I listen to to help me settle into a specific headspace in an attempt to perform a certain task. You can also expect to find a few philosophical musings of what it takes to make this journey (or other ones... because writing a book and finding an agent has been just as brutal for me).

Welcome to The Road to the 2016 USAPL Nationals...

First:

I can honestly say that the time off from training has been pretty enjoyable. With that being said, most of that reason has a lot to do with the fact that it's allowed me to move away form my programming and fool around with a few benchmarks I'd been curious about for quite some time.

My "rest weeks" have resulted in a 265lb clean (10lb PR), which I completely forgot to record (so... maybe it never happened?).

After that, I remembered how much I missed Crossfitting, so I figured, why not film me hitting FRAN for the first time in 3+ years... (Wound up coming in about 15 seconds slower than my previous personal best).



Attention Keyboard Warriors and Trolls: There were definitely a few No Reps in there but... you know... I'm a powerlifter and I don't plan on going to The Games anytime soon.


Later in the week, I decided, well, why not see how many times I could bench 225. That's some sort of standard, right? (Note: The summer of 2014, I could only bench 225 for a really really ugly single...)



And recently, I decided, well, I like the idea of a 10 rep max, so why not give 275lbs a whirl in the front squat (The bar started to slide off of my delt on the last rep, but I think I know what it feels like to almost drown now...)



Ultimately, I'm excited to put all of this craziness to bed, to be honest, and I'm looking forward to my first program cycle. I should have it by Monday...

As far as PodCasts and interviews are concerned, if you don't know what London Real is, I suggest you look it  up. Here's one of my favorites: Ido Portal is a hero of mine who is slowly becoming a philosophical Go-To when I need a bit of re-focusing (and if you ever want some REALLY interesting discussions about what it means to be human and what it means to move, he'll keep you entertained for hours...):



And as far as music goes, these 3 tracks make 30-40 minutes of light cardio flash by in a blink:

1 - The Story So Far - 680 South.


2 - The Wonder Years - You're Not Salinger, Get Over It.



3 - Knuckle Puck - But Why Would You Care?



I'm going to hold off on the philosophical musings for now. I've given you all enough to read.

Go fourth, and wreak havoc.

All my best,
C



Saturday, October 17, 2015

USA Powerlifting Raw National Championships: A Review



First thing's first: Hello. It's been a while...

When I first started this blog, it was something that was supposed to be updated regularly. That never happened. However, I can at least say that it was for good reason. There are some things in life that, out of necessity, need to be placed on the back-burner. This blog was one of them.

Regardless, that's not what this is about. I'm sorry. You get it. Let's move on to the meat and potatoes, shall we?





The Good:

Let's be honest. I was just happy to be there. At the end of it all, I am now officially ranked 20th in the country. Unofficially, I'm sitting at about 5th in the state of New Jersey (give or take). With that being said, we've got some really really strong people living in this state.

As for the lifts, here's a short and sweet discussion:

Squat - 407lb (185kg): This was a 27lb meet PR and a 22lb training PR. If you follow me on Facebook, you can check out that video there. I genuinely believe that I had about 10-15lbs left in the tank, so I'm excited to see how this next training cycle goes.

Bench - 258.5lb (117.5kg): This was a 10lb meet PR, but it was NOT a training PR. To put this in perspective, two weeks before the meet, I could easily bench this with a 2 second pause for a set of 3. I will discuss this a bit more in the Ugly section of the write-up.

Deadlift - 490lb (222.5kg): This was a 40lb meet PR and a 30lb training PR. I was really excited about this, especially since, through out the whole training cycle, I felt that my deadlift had been lagging.

The Total - 1155lb (525kg): This was a 75lb meet PR, and it almost didn't happen. After the squat, I'd gone into the bench feeling very confident. However, during the bench, the judging wasn't all that great (more on that in the Ugly section) and, as a result, I found myself 15lb shy of my 1155lb total goal that I'd set for myself moving into the deadlift. With that being said, I'd found myself in a conversation about next year's qualifying total. Though it hadn't been posted yet (and who knows, I could be wrong, but who cares) apparently the 2016 qualifying total for my weight class was also going to be 1155lbs. I'd opened with 450lb in the deadlift with the hopes of jumping to 465 and then 475 with 475 being my original deadlift goal. However, with this news, I figured I'd take a risk. 450 had felt pretty easy and, really, what's a 25lb jump compared to a 10lb jump when it's time to go to war? I told the woman at the desk who was taking second attempt numbers to move me to 473 and hoped for the best. When it was my turn again, I smoked it. With that in mind, I walked over to the desk and told her to move me to 490 for attempt 3. In my mind, all I could see was that scene from Rocky IV where Ivan Drago says, "If he dies, he dies." In the end, really, who cares, right? I was just happy to be there.

490 got 3 white lights, and I hit my 1155lb goal. Life is good, people.

Parking: Parking cost me $3 and I parked right across the street in the hotel parking garage.

Atmosphere: Between Crossfit and Olympic Lifting, I've competed in a bunch of events over the last few years, and I remember saying this about my first powerlifting meet I did back in May: There is nothing like the kindness and camaraderie of a bunch of powerlifters. At Nationals, everyone was cool, from the teens to the masters - everyone was happy to be there and happy everyone else was there, too. I'm a big fan of a guy named Brian Rose (Click his name to check him out). In a Ted Talk he did recently, he discussed the difference between having friends and having a tribe. I'm paraphrasing, but he said something along the lines of friends being people who love you for who you were (and that's not a bad thing). In other words, they don't want you to change. However, a tribe is a group of people who appreciate who you are and where you're going. Now, eventually, everyone becomes a friend, even the people in your tribe, but the idea of a tribe is important because with a tribe, essentially, you're collecting these people and these philosophies that help move you from where you are in life to where you want to be. They become catalysts. They become muses. They become your journeymen and journeywomen; and at Nationals, I never felt more like I was a part of something (actually, I'm lying. I feel this way when I'm with performers and songwriters... yes... I do that on the side, too. You'll hear more about it in the future). At a certain point, it's not about "feeling home." It's about NOT feeling home. It's about feeling good being AWAY from home... and I've never felt more grateful for something like that...

Here's Brian's Ted Talk:




To the people I met at Nationals and the people I've met on this wonderful journey so far - Thanks for everything. I couldn't have done this otherwise.

The Bad:

No food: For anyone who's done this sort of thing, there's nothing better than walking up to a booth and parting with a few bucks for something yummy. However, that never happened at Nationals. If you wanted food, you had to hit up the restaurant on the first floor of the hotel who had no idea what they were up against as far as patron volume was concerned. Burgers were taking hours to cook and they were struggling to find change. I thought one coach was going to tear some poor waiter's head from his torso. Needless to say, I didn't eat there.

Instead, I had to walk 2 city blocks to a small market similar to a WaWa and grab a few sandwiches. They weren't all that bad, and they weren't expensive, but who the hell wants to walk 2 city blocks to grab a cold roast beef sandwich after driving 3 hours and weighing in? If you own a food operation and you're reading this, get a booth at next year's USAPL Raw Nationals. You will make a KILLING.

No Coach or company: Luckily, I was able to meet up with friends and a few familiar faces. Moreover, because everyone was so friendly, I was able to make new friends, too. With that being said, however, had that not happened, I would have been screwed. There really wasn't anywhere to put your gear, and you were taking a risk every time you left your stuff to use the restroom.

It also sucks when you don't have a coach. People couldn't believe that I'd driven 3 hours alone to arrive and complete solo only to hop back into my car and drive back home at 9PM alone. Next time, I need to hook up with a handler and bring a bit more of a support system. The last thing you want to worry about after weigh-in is where to find hot food, where to put your stuff, and when to use the bathroom. By 8:30, I found myself wandering around the hotel lobby alone and exhausted. The only thing that really saved my sanity was that the feeling wasn't really all that foreign. A few years ago, when I'd pursued the romantic act of becoming a singer-songwriter, I'd become used to driving an hour or so alone, performing in front of people who didn't care, and then driving back home defeated and beaten. For me, the bright side was that I didn't have to worry about breaking a guitar string.

No signs. No direction. All Chaos: As I've said before - I've been in a lot of competitions. However, I have NEVER been to a more poorly run event in my life. There weren't any signs providing direction. There weren't any announcements providing updates. There weren't any monitors providing assistance. TV screens were continuously shorting out and freezing. You were 100% on your own to figure most things out yourself. If you had a handler, things wouldn't have been too bad... they'd be the ones running around like a maniac in an attempt to provide you some direction. However, when you're on your own, you're truly on your own.

The Ugly:

The Calls: Holy hell... The calls were BAD. Most of the guys on my platform had one complaint or another. The biggest ones were probably the bench calls (which is why my numbers were so low). Many of us were forced to hold the bar at the top position for 7-10 seconds, and many of us were forced to hold the bar at our chest for 2-3 seconds. It was an embarrassment to the sport. I understand the USAPL's attempt to have the highest standards in the sport. It's what makes it what it is. I can respect that. However, take a look at this video:



On what planet is that a bad lift? Hear the sound of the crowd? That happened often...

Final Comments:

There weren't enough volunteers: A week before the event, we all received emails asking us to help out and volunteer our time if we could because they felt that they were short-staffed. I didn't think much of it but, man, they were right. They could have easily used 10-15 more people floating around the event and providing information, guidance, and direction.

 The venue was too small: I don't think they truly understood what would happen with having 1100 competitors on the roster. For next year, I think the increase in the qualifying total was a good decision. Hopefully, the event will become a Friday-Sunday event and not a Thursday-Sunday event. Less competitors will also mean less spectators/family members/friends wandering around the warm-up areas. They definitely underestimated consequences of the increase in crowd volume.

Overall: I'll see you guys next year. It was an amazing experience and I wouldn't trade it for the world. I think the USAPL is in uncharted territory, and they have a lot of people to thank for it, mainly the sport of Crossfit. It's getting a lot more people to press and pull a barbell, and because of it, people are crossing over to things like Weightlifting and Powerlifting, and I don't see it slowing down any time soon. With that being said, the USAPL is going to continue to become more competitive, and I'm up for the challenge. My goal for next year is to crack into the top 10 and for the following year to place.  It's crazy to look at the next two years of my life in those terms - that, all of a sudden, I'm 32 in a very young man's sport. Out of the top 20 competitors in the country, only 4 of us were 30+ years of age. One guy was 47... he's definitely a hero of mine.

So here's to moving on and moving up. I will be updating this blog more often with my training and a bit of discussion on how things are moving. Hopefully it will be able to provide you with some insight and, more importantly, some entertainment and inspiration.

One last note: Check out a company that is now sponsoring me. They are called Iron Will Apparel, and they are from Southern New Jersey. Here is a link to their website. Great guys. Great idea. Great gear.

All my best,

The Poet and the Platform