Meet Results

It's been almost a week since my most recent powerlifting meet and I thought I'd update on how it went.

The goal was to not use any water and salt loading tricks to drop weight.  Instead, simply cut out water the day before weigh ins around mid-day drinking around a liter of water and eating a decent bit of protein.  Target weight 181.6 or less.

Thursday things were going so well with my weight that I was able to get in about 200 grams of protein and some decent fluids.

The results?  1180.6 friday morning at weigh in.

Let's back track a bit, about 3 weeks out from the meet I was feeling confident after hitting a 405 squat and a 445 deadlift.  I set my opening attempts and that was that.  I was ready for the meet and even bigger 3rd attempts!

Around 2 weeks out my lower back was bothering me and I missed a 370 squat, my planned opener.  Based on the few previous weeks this should of been easily doable.  I threw this up as "I'm tired and beat up, time to recover".

Sadly from here things got worse, mentally at least.

Doubt had entered my head and I let it grow out of control.  Come the morning of the meet I was a giant ball of nerves.  I hit the warm ups on squats and just felt like crap.  315 felt heavier than that 405.  I thought to myself "maybe I should lower my opener to make sure I get in".  However my stupidity kicked in "don't be a bitch, get out there and squat this".

I knew better,

First attempt - no good, got pinned.

Second attempt - no good, got pinned.

By this point i'm freaking out of my mind that i'm about to bomb out of this meet.  Not only did I feel like an idiot, I was embarrassed at myself.  I felt ashamed.  I felt like I just let all my training partners down.  I decided to attempt 385 for my Third attempt, just to try and trick myself into hitting it.

NO FREAKING DICE.  Pinned.

I made a lot of technical mistakes but most were mental mistakes that kept me from being able to bench and deadlift.

After a bit of internal freak out and my nerves settled I was able to cheer on my teammates to watch them hit some great PRs and have a great meet.

I have another meet scheduled November 23rd and I will not make the same mistakes.  I will get my attempts in and I will have a great meet.

Counting Bodies Like Sheep

"Count the bodies like sheep
Count the bodies like sheep

Counting bodies like sheep
To the rhythm of the war drums

Count the bodies like sheep

Go back to sleep
Go back to sleep" 

A Perfect Circle

It's been said numerous times by various people that sleep is one of the most under utilized recovery agents out there.

Sleep is performance enhancing.  Sleep makes everything in your body work optimally.

Much like pain, you don't realize how bad your sleep quality is until you get a good nights rest.


Over the past few years my sleep quality has come and gone numerous times.  When I was obese and drank a lot I didn't so much sleep as just pass out.  I'd wake feeling like crap and rely on stimulants to get me going.  When I stopped drinking I realized how bad my rest was.  When I went from 300 to 160, my sleep quality improved even more.

Being sober and at 160 pounds I thought for sure I was getting optimal rest.  Then the night sweats kicked in.  I was constantly tired and stimulants weren't helping.  So I ran through a bottle of sleep aid.  That helped some what.  Once I started my treatment for my CML and the nigth sweats were greatly reduced, ahh restful sleep.

Then came the spike over load of 2011.

I burnt out my CNS with over stimulant consumption.  Back to piss poor sleep quality.  So I detoxed from caffeine, took mineral support to help me sleep ( will elaborate on how awesome I think this stuff is another time ) and recover.  I got better, eventually.

My sleep quality has been okay as of late.  Not horrible, but not optimal either.  6 hours during the weekdays and 9ish on the weekends.  That "works" for now.  Ideally I'd get more during the week and a bit more on the weekends .  Come Thursday and Friday's I'm pretty tired and the 6 hours is catching up to me.

Where am I going with this you ask?

Everyone is an expert if you ask them.  I'm no expert I just know what works and doesn't work for me.  Sure you can "catch up" on sleep during the weekends, but lets face it, that's not solving the problem.

I understand not everyone can go to bed at 9 and then wait for their body to wake up naturally.  Though if you can do that on the weekends, do it!

Here is what I feel will give you the best recovery throughout the week and keep you running on all cylinders.

• Aim for a minimum of 6 hours of sleep, when you can sleep longer, like the weekends, do it!
• Don't sleep for more than 10 on the weekends
• If you wake up in the middle of the night and don't fall back asleep within 5 minutes, get out of the bed and go do something.  Don't go watch TV or sit on the computer, read a book, sweep the kitchen, get a glass of water and slowly drink it while reflecting on what you want to accomplish tomorrow
• Try to minimize your caffeine consumption to before 10am, lay off the energy drinks
• Use fresh sheets once a week
• Turn the air down or have a fan blow over you, cooler conditions lend to better sleep quality
• Stop drinking liquids 2 hours before bed if you can ( you can take your night time meds/etc with some water but as little as needed )
• Get a nightly ritual that you do before bed
• reduce physical activity 60 minutes before bed
• Leave the bed for bed related activities. You should not be watching TV in your bed, it creates incorrect habits

Find what works for you.  If any o these are  not realistic for you then change them up, do something else.

I'm no expert and I'm constantly trying to improve my sleep quality, I just know when I employ some of the above it helps.

Chicken No-Noodle Soup

Easy Wholesome Chicken Noodle Soup... Minus the noodles.

Ingredients:

• Chicken Breast
• Chicken Stock
• Veggies to add ( celery, carrots, onions, parsley, radish, garlic, bay leaf were all used for mine )
• Fat to add in ( coconut oil is pretty damned tasty 3 TBSP )

What else you need:

• Large Pot
• Wooden Spoon
• Two forks
• Tongs 
• Open Flame/heating element, duh

Steps:

1. Place chicken breasts into pot
2. Cover chicken breasts with stock
3. Add Oil 3TBSP is probably plenty of what ever you use
4. Turn heat to high and bring to boil
5. While this all comes to a boil chop your veggies how ever you like and set aside 
6. Add the flavor veggies to the boil ( onions, celery, radish, bay leaf, garlic, parsley ) 
7. Turn down to simmer for 1 hour
8. Using tongs pull chicken out of pot and place onto cutting board/surface top
9. Using two forks, shred the chicken and add it back to the pot
10. Add carrots and let simmer for another 30 minutes to an hour.

That is it, enjoy!  I garnished mine with some chopped green onion and red pepper flakes.

If you really wanted to you could add noodles at the end and bring to a boil until noodles are ready.

The Originality Complex

"Hi Billy Mays here"...

If there ever was a master of re-inventing the wheel just because, it's the guys behind sold only on TV merchandise.

I've briefly touched on what I call the Originality Complex previously.  I feel it deserves it's own focus.

Ever notice the trend of constantly refreshing something old? You see it with movies, TV tropes ( hello yet another serial cop show... ), internet trainers, supplement companies, diet fads,  phone apps and so much more.

It is as if people think we wont see through the veil of recycled products with just a different name, yet we fall for it, otherwise they wouldn't still be doing it.

I'm going to touch on the subject of trainers and nutrition as it relates to originality.

99.9999% of what is out there is all the same recycled crap.  You can't just invent new methods over night, often what is preached as a new method isn't really new, or honestly that original.  It's just "New" to you.  For example the "paleo diet", there's nothing new about this, especially if you buy into the fact you should only eat what primitive man had available to him.  Well if a cave man ate this was, it's not new, it's just different from out current society.


The green faces diet, which is one where if it's not green or come from something with a face it is not on the safe list, with a few exceptions.  Basically eat green veggies and meats from animals.  The cuter, the better.  Mmm Veal.  What is "new" about this?  Nothing really, but it works. ( Courtesy Chris Colucci Green Faces Diet )

"But P-dub, what about the juicing diet?" you ask. Don't, just don't.  Yes you're going to get probably more fruit and veggies than you have ever eaten in your life, but at what cost?  We did not evolve to consume "juice".  This is an example of inventing something for the sake of inventing something.

If we weren't supposed to eat animals they wouldn't be made out of meat.

Ben Bruno invents some new single leg movement every week - why? Who is that advanced they need to isolate the Abductor Longus' twelfth muscle bundle?  No one.  Yes Ben has impressive single limb strength and reasons for doing what he does.  However is he really inventing something "new" or is it inventing something for the sake of inventing something?

Christian Thibaudeau who I enjoy learning from and respect came up with a "new" approach to body building a ways back called I Body Builder, it works.  It works well by most accounts-  For those that bothered to follow it as directed.  He didn't invent anything exactly, he did however blend movements into an approach that works.

Crossfit - great, you're doing something but do you know what or why you're doing it?  Crossfit is a great example of inventing something for the sake of inventing something.  If you think your Fran time or your Juxtaposed movements and methodological really prepares you for "life" then well, I've got some beach front property in Kansas I'd like to sell you.

When facing these "new" things you might do well to ask questions.

Is this something I really need to meet my goals?
Does this go against current logic and general knowledge?
Does the author or company have a history of selling hopes and dreams?
Who do I know who has personally done this?
Is it too good to be true?

Studies lie or more aptly are miss represented to sell products.  Supporters are bought.  Question anything and everything as it relates to someone selling you something.

Question my questioning of the system!

Can reinventing the wheel be useful?  I think so- yes.  Can it also be bad and just plain stupid?  Emphatically yes!

My first powerlifting meet.

Back in April I competed in my first power lifting meet.

To re-iterate what a power lifting meet is, it is a 3 lift competition.  Squat, Bench Press, and Deadlift.

In each of these 3 lifts you get 3 chances ( assuming you don't bomb out, i'll get to that in a bit ) at each lift.

You start with the squat - there are 3 judges, each giving a white or a red light.  Red is bad.  a red light means one of the judges did not pass you for that lift.  It could be a variety of reasons beyond this post.  You have an opening weight for each lift.  You must get 2 out of 3 white lights for a lift to be good.

If you fail to get two white lights on ANY of your 3 squats you can not move on to benching.  The same goes from progressing from the bench to the deadlift.

The highest allowed lifts of each event goes towards your total.  This total is essentially your score for the meet.

The day before the meet you weigh in to find your weight class, then traditionally load up on salt and carbs to get some bloat going to hopefully aid you on meet day with bigger lifts.

Some lifters do a water cut which is basically a several day loading of water and salt consumption then a subsequent drop in intake followed with no intake of food or liquid to ideally have you at your target weight for weigh ins.  Then you can rehydrate and bloat up making you "heavier" and hopefully stronger on meet day.

This is how you see those UFC guys that don't look 180lbs weigh in at 180lbs ( very simplified here, but you should get the picture )

------------

The week of the meet.  I was going to water cut and compete in the 198 weight class.  I believe I was around 206 pounds at the front of the week, it should of been doable.   Others have taken more drastic weight cuts.

I chugged my water as I was told and cut liquids when I was told.  Something happened that Thursday of zero liquid and food.  I stopped urinating.  I stopped sweating.  Friday morning at 6:30am I was still 202 pounds.  That was 4 pounds off from 198.  I could have taken some drastic measures to hit 198, but I did not.

It was my first powerlifting meet and I did not stand a chance at winning "best overall lifter"- which is where a lifter is given an award for having the best total to body weight ratio.

So I decided to start hydrating and just weigh in for the 220 class.  I weighed in at 212 after re-hydrating on around 2 liters of water.

It was feast time.  There was a Perkins attached to the hotel where we were staying and also competing.  Awesome.

Breakfast AND Lunch was at perkins.  Carbs and more carbs.  Dinner was at a greek restaurant.  It was pretty nice.

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Meet day!

Warm ups went well.  I had planned my squat opener at 315.  This was a weight I knew I could hit without issues and was going to hopefully be a confidence builder.  3 white lights.  It wasn't so bad.

2nd attempts - 335.  I unracked the bar, squatted down and started to pass gas.  335 should of been handled strongly with some decent effort involved.  I was stuck at parallel.  Barely rising. I was afraid to keep passing gas as I didn't want to lose my tightness and miss the lift.  After what felt like an eternity .... 3 white lights.  I had a few congratulations for fighting through the weight.  It should of moved much easier.

3rd attempt on squat.  Well - pun intended - "Crap! I probably wasted too much energy on that, I should go conservative" I called for 345 ( you have 2 minutes after each lift attempt tell them what you want for your next attempt ).

345 was easy and got 3 white lights.  Normally 3rd attempts ( unless planning for a specific total ) are where you go crazy and aim for a big PR.  Sand bagged.

Bench press!!  My weakness.

1st attempt 200.  Knew I could nail it.  Did it.

2nd - 215, was confident this would be okay.  White lights all around.

3rd 235- went for full 20lb PR.  Failed. 3 red lights.

Deadlift - Yvonna one of the women on our team took an opener at 345, I had planned on opening fairly light.  Bumped mine to 345 in a bit of sexist machosim.  3 white lights.

2nd attempt 365 - done and easy.

3rd - never pulled 405 before. Called for 405.  Nailed it 3 white lights.

This brought my total to 960.  1,000 would of been nice and easily reach if I planned better.  No worries, it won me 2nd place in the Mens Open 220 weight class ( pretty sure there were just 2 of us in that class... )

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My first powerlifting meet.  Very tiring. Was not as mentally challenging as I anticipated for a first meet.  I had some fear in me about some things, but I walked away having done something most people wouldn't even dare to try and knew I'd come back stronger.


My next meet is September 21st, same place.  Same platform.  It will be brought.

Rose tinted glasses- augmented reality?

Perception is a funny thing.

It can be easily altered, destroyed or built in an instant, without notice or perhaps with a bang.

Life is funny in that we're able to even have a perception of things.  Books, movies, TV shows, people, foods, ideas and many more.

How fickle and fake they can be.

Have you ever read a movie review of a movie you enjoyed then later without noticing while speaking about said movie, your perception of it has been changed?  Ever gone into a movie with the perception it would be one thing and turned into another?  I think we can all relate to this, be it a book, vacation spot, etc.

I've heard the phrase "Perception is reality". As true as this may be- it is also, frankly, horse shit.

Some people are so out of their minds you can't argue that their "reality" is true to them.  The perception of those people are so far out of whack anything short of a meteor shower pummeling their neurons trying to force synapses to fire out a large enough signal to turn on their proverbial light bulb on isn't going to work.

You know these people.  Sometimes you can help, sometimes you can't.

What can you do?  Unless you're  skilled in Esoteric Neurological Reprogramming probably nothing to help.  You can accept that they are going to almost always have their "reality" versus the real reality because they perceive it a certain way. Flaky workout partners that don't realize they are only hurting themselves, co workers who imagine their work load is unbalanced towards them, or that guy at the grocery store that always judges your late night sundry item purchases - you are most likely not going to change their perception of things.  If you have tried to change their perception and they continue to keep their head in the sand, move on and leave their problems to them.

If you feel someone's perception of you has become their "reality" you can shrug it off or try to talk it out.

It is up to you.  Ultimately this is my perception and could very well not be reality.

Have or Have Not.

The phrase "either you have it or you don't" is utter horse fecal excrement.

Either you "earn it or you don't" should be what we teach our children.  Too many people today want things but don't earn them.

If you want respect, earn it.  You do not "have" respect without giving and earning it yourself.  You want to be rich? You better earn it.  Strong? Important? Famous? Powerful?  You must earn these things.

Some of you are so desperately wanting something.  Myself included some times.  We forget that we must EARN IT!  If you want it badly enough you will find a way to earn it.

Stop expecting hand outs, stop expecting it to just happen, get in there and earn it.  At then end of the day you should ask your self "Have I earned it? Or Have I not earned it?"  If there is any doubt, remove it and make sure you earn it.