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.

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.

----------


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... )

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

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.

Three People.

In my opinion I believe that are largely three types of people.

A. Hole
Jack A.
Mr Dumass

Let me explain using nutrition as an example.

Mr Dumass goes to Mc Donalds to grab a quick lunch, he orders the McRib because well, it's been advertised so much he's been craving it.  They are offering a 2nd McRib for a dollar.  It's a dollar for an extra sandwhich, it's a no brainer to him.  He'll eat it later.

By the time he gets back to the office, he's out of fries and half way through the first sandwhich, deciding it's so small he'll just eat another ( good thing he got that 2nd one for a dollar ).  Completely oblivious to how many calories he just consumed.  Neatly washed down with an extra large Coca Cola ( unless he lives in New York City ).

Jack A. goes to Mc Donalds, knows a double quarter pounder with cheese and a large fry is way too many calories for him to eat at lunch, he also knows about pink slime.  Yet against conventional wisdom and everything he knows, he eats it all.  With a McFlurry, because if you're going to have a heart attack, at least do it with a smile on your face.

Even knowing it was wrong, he still ate it.

Now A. Hole is such an upstanding guy, he knows exactly what every item on the menu is worth nutritionally.  While going out with people from the office for lunch he goes with them and orders two side salads with no dressing and gets water.

At the table with his co-workers he pops out a few ziploc baggies; fish oil,  leucine, and peeled boiled eggs.  To the shock and query of his co-workers he swallows powder from a bag, swallows 4 large flameout capsules and slices eggs across his salad.

A. Hole makes no fuss over what he's doing, he simply does it and eats.

Are you starting to feel me yet?  How about a training example.

Mr Dumass goes to the gym with purple every where and a judgement free zone that only applies to non-lunks.  he pays his 10$ a month membership and hits the express workout zone because he doesn't have much time.  On his way out, he grabs a bagel, it's bagel Tuesday, or something.

Jack A. goes into his gym, sets the bench right at 315, knowing on any good day he can't lower 315 to his chest controlled and push it back up away from him, yet he does it any way, because today will be the day he does it.

He fails and does the roll of shame, then barks as if he should of had it.  It's all him.

Our guy A. Hole ditches dinner with co-workers so he can go get his squats in for the week.  He walks into the gym with headphones on with not a single nod, wave or "sup girl" to a single person.

A. Hole starts lifting and ends up hitting a personal record of 625 on the squat while this Dumass guy does reverse barbell curls behind him talking about the rack position and knees hurting from squats.

Are we on the same page now? I hope so.  No one wants to be a dumbass, jackass or asshole.  However sometimes we are.  Knowing this what do you do?

Me?  Personally, I run with it.  I'd rather be the asshole to everyone than a dumbass or even worse the Jackass that knows better but does it anyhow.

There's nothing with with being Mr Dumass now and then or even being Jack A.  However the problem is when you continue to keep yourself tied to the same thing over and over.

To quote the good Dr Serrano "When you continue to do the same thing over and over and over you will fail".

So try to be different, put yourself out there, don't be afraid to be Mr Dumass, just don't be him every single day, educate yourself, get better, progress, no matter what it is.

Call out to myself.

Milestones.  Every weight lifter has one in his head.  There's certain numbers that seem so trivial yet we chase and chase and chase them.

Why?  Why do we put them to such a standard?  405, 495, 585, 675, 800, 900, 1100?  Everyone's got their number.  That white whale you just can't seem to hit.

You know what, fuck the whale and fuck your pedestals.

I said it.  I'm not just saying it to you, i'm saying it to me as well.  Far too long have we had the mental battle with a certain weight.  Okay fine, 405 is my whale at this moment.  No more.

The harpoon has been covered.

More reps at 365-395.  More sets.  One should always strive to step forward but be careful of your footing.  Too big of a step can result in a fall.

I will not touch 405 reverse grey band until I can nail dominate 395 for multiple sets and multiple reps.  Call it what you will,but I'm going to stop self destructing over a freaking number.

Be gone you foolish mindset!

Musings of 01/07/2013

How can you know what Order is without Chaos?

How do you know Strength without knowing Weakness?

As I reflect on today's training session I felt disappointed in myself.  I can do better, I am better.  Through reflection I can see my mistakes.  It is my mistakes that make me Strong(er).

If you really look at your weaknesses and accept they are a weakness, make them a strength.

If you know what a variable is you can solve an equation.

I'm not any better than you, I'm better than myself from yesterday.

Don't dwell on mistakes, learn, improve, move on.

Now I'm ready for what I can do to make tomorrow better and it all starts with recovery so that I may tear it all down again tomorrow.

-P

Resolutions are for losers.

You know who makes resolutions?  Losers.

That's right.  Losers.  Did you make a resolution?  Loser!

This seems harsh but in reality many of you are going to fail your resolution, and badly, like a loser.  New things are always shiny and awesome.  Then not so much.

Look it's hard to complete a change.  I know it, everyone and everything is going to be against it.

You know how to win?  Stop trying to change.  Do it.  Grit your teeth, push through and do not take no for an answer.  Nothing is going to change unless you make it happen.

So what are you waiting for?  Ohh that's right, January 1st, that's what.  So suddenly on this day you're going to change?  Give me a break.

You're not going to change, you're still going to be what ever the hell it is you are now.

Lets face it, 90% of these resolutions are probably about diet and exercise.  

Are you really going to sit here and tell me you need January 1 to make your goals a reality?  What is holding you back?

You are holding yourself back.  Not me, not the world, not even the holiday smorgasbord of food.  You.  You ate that fudge, you ate that cake, you had to have 9 holiday parties filled with shit foods.  Yeah, shit foods, because they made you look and feel like shit.

Why do I say you're going to fail? It's because you've got no willpower, you don't have the mental fortitude to deal with it.  Sure you're going to start off great, then it's going to start getting hard.  Someone will have a birthday and you'll want cake.  Then you're too busy, so you hit up the Golden Arches.  Before you know it your diet is blown to pieces, your weight has climbed back up and you've got a new gym membership you'll probably keeping paying on for the next few months.

Everyone will turn against you and your goals, you're at the gym too much, gosh why are you eating so healthy, you look fine, come-on live a little.  Without giving a giant middle finger to every inconsiderate self centered whale and guilt projecting tard burgler  you will never make it through this.

Controversy.  That's when you know you're doing something right.  If people are trying to sabotage your goals, don't worry, call them out and then keep going.  Fuel your fire.  I dare you.

Seriously, prove me and everyone else wrong, because as far as I'm concerned, you're a loser and are incapable of doing it.


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


Note: this is meant to either make you or break you.  If you personally feel attacked, good, that means I did my job and hopefully you're going to excel.  If this did nothing for you, then you've already failed.

Do not be afraid to ask for help from someone if you need help reaching your goal.  You'll only appear weak if you don't ask and fail as a result.

Play your violin some other day

The alarm clock sounds and Frank is  rolling out of bed.  He goes and cooks breakfast for the family trying not to be too loud so they can sleep in a bit longer.  Pancakes, eggs, bacon, sausage and oatmeal for the little one.  A few presents still need to be placed from Santa under the Christmas tree so he brings those in.

It's Christmas morning and time to wake the kids and wife.

Breakfast is done, dishes are clean, wrapping paper has been cleaned off the floor, and the kids are playing with their new toys.  Frank is packing his gym as a family friend stops over to say Merry Christmas and drop off some cookies.  The friends husband asks "Off to the Gym on Christmas?  Can't you take a day off or something?".  Frank just smiles and says "I could" .

Franks Gym is open every day of the week 24 hours a day except for Christmas, the owner feels it's nice to close the gym at least once a year.  So Frank is headed to a buddies garage, they don't have all the fancy equipment they need, but they've got a mastadon bar, a monolift and a couple hundred pounds of chains.  It'll do for some squats.  Frank just hopes the space heater is working today.

Many people who train are just like Frank.  You can substitute the holiday for any other holiday or event throughout the year.  The friends husband can be anyone as well, a friend, a family member, or a co-worker.

For those who train it's not simply an option to just skip days whenever we feel like it.  We're not some pencil necked, popped collar polo shirt wearing, two pounds of gel in our hair, over tanned douche bag, cheat curling the 50 pound dumb bells, Guido.

You wouldn't ask a violinist if they could just "take a day off from practicing" would you?  Those of us that train do it for a reason.  Whether it's the power lifter who has a meet coming up, the body builder needing to add more thickness to his lower lat tie in, the oly lifter who needs to strengthen his catch position of the snatch or just the better than average joe who is trying to beat his personal demons and make himself even better.

Yes days off are going to happen, yes sometimes we over obsess about making a training session, but you know what?  We don't stress about catching that episode of America Idol either.

This is a way of life for many people, we look to get in a session whenever  we can, early morning, late night, mid afternoon, what ever will work.  Now if you don't mind I have a family Christmas gathering this afternoon and I need to go get to the gym so I can keep my week some what on track with my training.

Yoda wears Nikes.

"Do or Do Not.  There is no Try."  Master Yoda.

The above statement is more about a mind set.  You don't "Try" to do something.  You do it.

Look at any successful person.  No matter their area of success.  You will see people who sought out to do something.  Either they did, or they did not.

"Try" is something people with the luxury to do so, do.  If you've got a paper due by 10am on Friday, you don't "try" to turn it in.  Your name's been called, you've got 2 white lights and 900lbs on the platform, you don't "try" to pull it.

Trying leads to failure, failure from trying leads to never doing.  Children have no cohesive thoughts of trying to do something.  I do not believe they even get frustrated when attempting to walk.  We as parents, grand parents and other relatives may think they are frustrated with something they are attempting but very small children can't be frustrated.  They don't know what the end goal is.

When a child falls on their butt they usually get startled then go back to working on "doing" what ever it was previous to their fall.  How many times have you seen a child fall and be fine only to cry once you say something?  It's a learned behaviour.

When a baby is trying to walk they keep getting back up over and over and over again.  Not out of willpower but because they HAVE to walk.

We could do well to steal from this mindset.

I'm not selling the secret or pretending to have it, I can say that this mindset is very important to me.  When we try to do things we fail in a cycle that just breaks us down.  If you want to do something, do it.

When you decide to do something, do yourself a big favor, pour yourself into it and do it.

Kiss My Candied Yam

It's the holiday's.

For those of us whom are not Jews, it's only 2-3 days of actual holidays.  Though we'll probably drag it out into 6 weeks of Candied Yams that aren't really yams but I digress, fudge brownies triple dipped in sugar crack, fruit cake that's so dense you could use it to power an Alcubierre Drive if you converted it to energy, and what ever other scrumptious delicacy we can  muster into our ever growing gullets.

Here's how we can fight the 6 weeks without becoming a shut in and still save our diets.

For the normies, those who do not partake in my passion for training nads out until we're nothing but a pile of gelatinous goo, this bit is for you.

So you've made it through thanksgiving and are now up 4 pounds.  After all miracle whip and turkey sandwiches go so well together.  Your office will probably be filled with everyone's "holiday cheer" aka toilet fodder.  What can you do to not end up 10 pounds heavier this winter?

Cut out your daily starbucks.  If you need caffeine drink Coffee.  It comes in a can labeled Folgers, and it's black just the way I like my metal.  This will cut out a metric crap ton of calories alone.

If someone offers you a cookie- I know you're going to eat it, you know it, don't stress your willpower too much, save it for something like showing up to work - don't eat it then, save it for your next meal THEN eat it.  This will help reduce binge eating.

Control the food you can, get up in the morning and cook a solid breakfast of protein and fats.  It wouldn't hurt to get some fiber in here.  Might I suggest weight control fiber tablets.  Protein, fat and fiber will help keep you full and somewhat resistant until at least 3pm when your blood sugar crashes from either lack of lunch or that crap you just got at McDonalds ( make your lunch fool!! ).

Get on a treadmill every few days, crank the incline up as high as it goes, but for the love of that sweet porcelain baby Jesus figure, don't hold the hand rails, it defeats the purpose.  30 minutes of good solid cardio is what your thighs need.

Back to the hardies -- no not Hardees.  Calm Down.

Use some of this extra holiday meal time to fuel some intense volumized workouts.

Don't carb backload during this time of year.  You're just asking for trouble.

Extra prowler sessions, skip the handles, press into the posts and get to going for distance.  Squeeze your glutes and quads the whole way for extra boom.

Squat twice a week.  1) it's always a good idea 2) it'll help turn that glowing rudolph pastry into something useful

Since you're no stranger to forcing yourself to do things you don't want to, have a carb day once a week. Keep your carbs lower during the other days.  Yes this is technically a cheat meal, but if you're going to do it, have some purpose.

For everyone, don't STRESS enjoy the holidays, indulge a bit, just don't get carried away.  If you do go nuts, tighten up your diet for a few days, curb the damage as best you can.

The holiday's aren't about getting fat, they should be about having fun.  You still don't get to eat french fries though, that's not holiday food.

The Original Snow flake.

No two snow flakes are alike.  Each and every one is different.

Let’s start with an introduction on snowflake formation. As you’re probably aware, evaporation from lakes and rivers send water vapor up into the atmosphere. That water vapor gathers in clouds.

Water molecules in clouds engage in a complex dance of phase changes. Variables such as temperature, pressure and even the presence of dust can affect snow formation. When it gets cold, the gaseous molecules want to enter the liquid phase, but it’s much easier for them to do so if they can find a solid on which to settle.

A cloud is essentially a mass of water vapor molecules that have found dust particles and condensed into water. As a cloud cools, a few of the droplets begin to freeze, while others resist turning to a solid. Some even evaporate back into their water vapor form. When the water vapor molecules come into contact with a frozen droplet, they freeze into a solid. Skipping the liquid phase is crucial to the snowflake process: It’s the difference between getting an ice droplet and a flake.

Infant snowflakes show little variation in their hexagonal design. If the process stopped here, all snowflakes would be visibly indistinguishable, 10-molecule structures. But it doesn’t stop there. Parts of the growing snow crystal have rough edges, or bonds, dangling off their sides, which are better at attracting other water molecules than the smoother parts of the hexagon. As more water vapor molecules settle on these bonds, the rough edges become a relatively large protuberance with its own rough edges, which attract more water molecules. Through this process, the rough edge becomes a branch of the crystal. Eventually the branches develop their own rough edges, which develop into sub-branches of the original branch, and so on.

The temperature and humidity also affect how new water vapor molecules bond to the growing snowflake. Warmer, drier conditions tend to create solid plates and prism shapes. As conditions in the cloud get colder and more moist, the beautiful winter-wonderland-type snowflakes become more common.

Now that our physics lesson is over, let's move on.

Sam and Justin just started working out.  Sam's done all of the research on what tempo, rest times, movements and weights to use.  Justin picked up Arnold's Encyclopedia of Modern Bodybuilding

Justin gets up in the morning and does some fasted cardio before his breakfast shake, he might drink some black coffee if he's needing a kickstart.  Sam on the other hand slams some Mag-10 and does some light brisk walking on a treadmill before his breakfst.

When it comes time to hit the gym Sam goes in and does foam rolling, dynamic stretching, and drinks his peri workout nutrition before he goes and starts his routine for the day.  Sam's got a big day of bench pressing ahead, just bench pressing. He'll eventually work up to a training max for the day, drop the weight a bit and crank out some heavy clusters and some other out of the "norm" stuff.

Justin walks in the weight room, warms up with some jump rope and push ups.  He's barefoot, in some short sorts and no t-shirt.  He starts his routine off with some dumbbell bench pressing before moving to the inclined bench for some heavy sets of 8, then he moves to the cable station for some cross overs, sets of 15, you can see the strain in his face and his pecs contracting at the top of each rep which turns out to be short of a full range of motion.

Two guys, same goals, different approaches.  Why?   Is Sam trying to be "original"? Or is Justin trying to mimic the "original".

We see this in the fitness industry a lot.  Someone comes out with something different from the "norm" suggesting it's the latest and greatest.  Sure it could be, but is it?  Or are they just trying to be different?

It's often said people aren't snow flakes.  What works will simply work.  While that may be true, we need to take other things into account.  Fitness level, strength levels, training age ( 5 months, 5 years, 15 years ), personal preferences, goals, etc.

Originality Complex is what I call it when people create something "new" for the sake of being different.  Everyone needs their thing to make them unique, this is a good thing.  However it's a bad thing when it's done and they completely ignore time proven methods and instantly dismiss them.

Everything works until it doesn't.  Results are what matters, however the path to get there is important.  You don't want to go on a road trip and have 2 blow outs and over heat twice, do you?  No, you want to make it to Vegas with the least amount of bumps in the road and minimal traffic.

I'm not picking one side over the other.  I have my personal feelings based on what I've learned and tried.  So should you.  Do not blindly follow a method, whether it's in the gym, school or work.  Ask questions, find what works best for you.

In this regard we are all special snow flakes.  Just remember when you learn something "new and original" that it's probably recycled from something from a few years ago.  Everything comes full circle.

Now excuse me, I've got mag-10 to go drink and sets of 15 cable cross overs to do.

What did you call me?

"You're just a Weekend Warrior."

That's not very nice sounding is it?  Let's look at the phrase, weekend warrior.  Everyone wants to be a warrior, but put weekend in front of it and instantly it sounds like a negative.

Ponder this: powerlifting meets, body building contests, strongman events, olympic weightlifting, all of these happen the majority of the time on the weekends.  Would you call a competitive powerlifter a weekend warrior?  Only if you wanted your head chewed off.

Lets back up a bit first.

Im at the gym 5-6 days a week.  I don't eat crappy foods, I don't drink alcohol, I get 7-8 hours of sleep every night, I don't party and I don't skip meals.  I could go on and on and I'm not even as extreme as some!  I wouldn't call myself a powerlifter or a body builder , I'm simply a guy who loves lifting, wants to be big, strong, and healthy.  I do what I love and I love what I do.  For me, what you see as a sacrifice is just payment towards my goals.

I'm not a weekend warrior.  Not because I think it's a negative phrase, instead I feel it's a postive phrase.  However it's reserved for those warriors that compete on the weekends: Body builders, powerlifters, olympic lifters, tough triathletes , or anyone else that gets out there on the weekends and gives it their all.

What do you call me you ask?  Porter to many, Ron to others or to some "hey guy".  Enthusiast isn't the right word either, I feel enthusiasts are those that just sit around talking about something and never "doing".  Sure, you might go to the gym five days a week on a perfect week, but what about when someone wants to go out for dinner or you don't feel good?  Suddenly you've only gone in two days a week.

There's nothing wrong with someone that uses the gym as a tool so they can eat out and not feel guilty.  They are still probably better off than those that don't make it to the gym.  They aren't weekend warriors though.

You can't simply label everything.  I know why I train.  Notice I said train.  I don't workout, I train for a specific goal and purpose.  Every session has a reason and builds upon the others.  At the end of the day, I don't care what you call me.  I'm in this for me and me alone.

Are you going to let someone else's label affect you?  I sure wont.  Get out there and do your thing, don't worry about what you're called.