It's been a while

I haven't posted in a long time, and it's been almost as long since I've lifted anything. Time to get back on the horse.

Some news. We might be moving the club to a new location. Details are still being finalized but I'm pretty excited about it. Stay tuned for more info on that.

Let's get amped!

Alright boys and girls, this week we're going heavy, testing some maxes. Time to get amped. And here for a little demonstration/inspiration we have two guys with the right attitude...

Jon North, American 94kg lifter. Attitude Nation Boss.

Dmitry Klokov, 105kg Russian Superstar and my unabashed man crush.

Information for parents from QWA

LIFTING OFF – Is weightlifting Safe
Nowadays many medical practitioners who see young patients are often asked about strength training programs for children. Many parents seek guidance over the safety of resistance training for both competitive and cross training purposes. Other parents of overweight or underweight children seek guidance about which activities are effective for weight loss or weight gain.
Among the general concerns of weight training include musculoskeletal injuries (back and knees) and damage to growth plates, with excess muscle development and masculinisation a specific concern for young girls and their parents. Informed clinicians can reassure parents that, with adult supervision, proper equipment, and realistic expectations, strength training programs designed for children and adolescents are safe and effective.
Realistically, strength training in prepubertal children is a safe and effective way to improve muscle strength and joint flexibility while potentially decreasing the rate of sports-related injury. A properly designed and supervised program will help improve children's overall health and sense of psychosocial well-being. Current published literature demonstrates that the benefits of strength training far outweigh the small potential risks. When a child or adolescent is involved in strength training, the emphasis is on technique rather than the amount of weight lifted, and qualified coaches always ensure these guidelines.

Read the rest at Queensland Weightlifting Association.

3 weeks out

Here we are 3 weeks out from the meet. If you are planning on going please let me know tonight and we'll talk about some goals for openers and whatnot.

I'm pretty excited to get to a meet, and to be able to bring some lifters with me! :D

Also, if you are going to go, please go here and sign up.

See you all tonight!

Check out this video, this is how it's done.

Your first WL meet

It could be coming up on February 4th! And here is what to expect from your first meet.

First thing, have fun! You're new to the sport, and like any sport it takes years to get good at it, and a lifetime to master (if you master it at all). So don't worry about it. Go out, have some fun, see what you can do, and watch some great lifting. (and probably some not so great)

What happens at a WL meet? Good question.

First thing is your weigh in. At your weigh in you will tell the judge what your opening attempts will be. This happens 2 hours before your session starts. These are the following weight classes you could fit into.
Women:
48 kg
53 kg
58 kg
63 kg
69 kg
75 kg
75+ kg

Men:
56 kg
62 kg
69 kg
77 kg
85 kg
94 kg
105 kg
105+ kg

If it's your first meet don't concern yourself with "making weight". That really is just an added level of stress you don't need your first time out. In fact, unless you've actually got a shot at qualifying for Nationals or something, I wouldn't worry about it for quite a while.

After your weigh in, you can hang out and watch the other sessions, go get some breakfast/lunch, whatever you want. You'll want to start warming up a little before your session starts, I think 5 minutes before it starts (maybe it's 10 minutes?) all the lifters in your session will be lined up and introduced to the crowd.

The first lift that is contested is the Snatch. Lifters will lift in order of lowest to highest weight attempted. There is 1 minute between each attempt, unless you are following yourself, in which case you get an extra minute of rest. You get 3 individual attempts at the heaviest Snatch you can manage. You need 2/3 white lights for it to be a good lift.

There is another break of about 10 minutes between the Snatch session and the C+J session. It goes the same way as the Snatch session.

The winners of each weight class is chosen based on their Totals. You get your Total by adding together your best successful Snatch and C+J of the day.

And that's it.

I'd love to see our new lifters make it out for this meet, it's only in Saskatoon so we don't have to travel all that far. And if it's your first meet you aren't required to wear a singlet, as long as your elbows and knees are uncovered, and your clothes aren't really baggy (to allow for proper judging of the lifts) you will be fine.

Change is afoot

As you might have noticed, we are no longer a CrossFit Affiliate. Over the last couple of years I feel like CF HQ has kind of lost the plot a little. (individual affiliates are still doing great things, fighting the good fight) It didn't affect the training we were conducting in our gym, but now we're going in a new direction.

Focusing entirely on the sport of Weightlifting.

Weightlifting is a great sport, it's accessible and it's fun. It's both individual and a team sport. I've never competed in anything quite like it. (I suppose karate tournaments felt close...)

It has been my experience as a coach as well, that the VAST majority of trainees coming through my doors would have benefitted from focusing solely on strength and power development, not lung shredding conditioning.

So that's what we're all about now. 4 nights per week we are throwing the bumps around.

We've got heat!

Thanks to Danny, his apprentice and the Sask Energy guy they dragged kicking and screaming into my yard, we now have heat in the garage.

Training this winter is going to be very very nice now. You probably can't tell but I am pretty damn excited about it.

It's been a while!

Sorry for the hiatus in posting... I will really do my best to post at least a few times a week.

Some changes coming down the pipe. I am in the process of becoming an SWA Weightlifting Club.

What does this mean for all you current members? All good things.

For now nothing will really change for the current members. I will try to get those of you who are interested in the new WL club to join me up to 4x/week when I train the Olympic lifts. These WL practices will be closer to 2 hours.

Members of the club will need to be SWA members. It's just a little form to fill out and is $40/year. This will also allow you to compete at WL meets. I would love to have some more lifters to train with and to compete at meets. It's a lot of fun.

I'm still not sure how this will affect the membership price, but it will be in your guys' favour.

So bear with me as I transition into this new format.

I have yet to find a better training method to develop all around athleticism, speed, power, etc...

We'll chat more about in class and start trying out some of the workouts to see what you all think. I'm pretty excited about it! Looking forward to developing some competitive athletes! :) (and don't worry, you can have fun and compete at any and all levels)

Here are some videos of the last meet I was at. My dad only filmed most of my session. We didn't get any footage of the women or the lighter weight men.

Nervous or excited, it's up to you.

“You’re the one who put’s the labels on your nerves. If you’ve been cutting corners or slacking off then by all means, call it nervous. But if you’ve been training hard and putting in the work then it should be called excited.”

I can totally dig this... puts a new spin and perspective on being nervous. I will certainly keep this in mind at my upcoming weightlifting meet.

What can you spin differently with this.

Way to go!

Last night was the last class for this round of On-Rampers. Jay had a huge PR on his baseline, knocked a full 2 minutes off his time. Nice job!

Also of note, Sara has conquered her fear of the 20" box. She has a 23" box jump (looked pretty casual too, but it was a huge PR) and can handle the whole box now.

Great day overall!

No Class tonight

Just a reminder there is no class tonight as I will be stuck at work late. If it work for everyone we can maybe do a class on Friday instead. Otherwise, enjoy the short week. ;)

New On-Ramper!

Just wanted to say welcome to Gloria, our newest On-Ramper! Looking forward to getting you 4 into classes (as I'm sure Sara is also looking forward to it heh...)

Also want to give Sara a shout out for her 5 rep press PR after a week off for holidays! Way to go!

Oh, if you're into it, I have a twitter thing setup, going to try it out and see if it's cool or not... Follow @NB_S_and_C


Also our facebook page is here. 

Improving your diet in 6 simple phases.

Notice I didn't say easy? The concepts of improving health and fitness through diet and exercise are very simple... but not very easy. I hope that makes sense.

Here is a 6 phase implementation strategy for cleaning up your diet to improve health, fitness and body composition from 70sBig.com.You can (and should) read the whole article here. Something you should know about the good folks at 70sBig.com, they are blunt, straight to the point, and don't pull any punches.

Phase I
- Stop eating processed food (condiments still fine, yogurt fine)
- Stop soda
- Limit milk (or drop it completely if you’re fat)


Phase II
- Cook more meat
- Improve the quality of carbohydrates (single-ingredient sources like oats, rice, whole grain stuff along with obvious tubers/fruit/veggie)
- Increase water intake


Phase III
- Increase fat intake (good oils, nuts, cream, butter, etc.)
- Get consistent with eating times
- Time food intake with respect to training


Phase IV
- Reduce the less natural carbs (like rice and noodles) and get them primarily from tubers, fruits, veggies
- Stop eating chemical sweeteners


Phase V
- Adjust macros for goals (long-term)
- Learn to adjust macros for body fat and weight changes (short-term)


Phase VI
- Tweak specifics for health (e.g. lowering carbs, sodium or fructose to decrease blood pressure)

You are not big boned, ma'am

Nice work so far!

Just wanted to say good job so far to our new group of On-Rampers! 1 more class and the first week is in the bag! Keep up the good work and I'll see you all on Thursday!

Welcome On-Rampers!

Just want to say welcome to our intrepid trio of new On-rampers! They've been through the intro and are starting their 12 session On-Ramp tonight!

No easy answers

The fitness industry survives by promising immediate results and easy methods. Unfortunately that doesn't work. It's also not how I roll.

You need a few things in order to make gains and achieve goals. Effective programming, proper recovery (nutrition and sleep), and hard, consistent work.

There really is no secret, that's all there is to it.  Give it your all, set goals, track how you're progressing, and adjust as necessary.

Let's get it!

Workout of the day:
With 30 sec rest after each couplet:
30 KB swings / 30 DB push press
20 KB swings / 20 DB push press
10 KB swings / 10 DB push press

Pick weights that are challenging, but not so heavy that it might get sloppy/sketchy.

4th Annual SWA Cobweb Open

There is an Olympic Weightlifting meet coming up! September 24th in Moose Jaw at CrossFit Twenty.

If anyone has been toying with the idea of competing, or is curious about what is involved in an Olympic meet, this would be a great opportunity to try it out.

There is plenty of time to shift the focus of your training towards it if you're interested. Let me know!

Registration link for the 4th Annual SWA Cobweb Open

Solid week everyone

Just wanted to give some shout outs here on some of the performances this week.

Vickie has set another squat PR, 125x3, and over the last couple weeks has PR'd her press, bench and deadlift.

Sara pulled an easy triple at 185 on the deadlift, and has been super consistent coming out. Got up to 60lbs on the barbell bear, at the start she didn't think she'd make it past 45 so way to go!

Amanda has been doing very well too, pulled a triple at 185 on the deadlift (known 1 rep is 200!) And generally kicking ass. Knocked out the barbell bear at 65lbs, which is pretty awesome.

Really great work everyone, keep it up!

Iron and the soul

I've read this essay a few times over the years. It was originally published in Details magazine in 1994. I encourage you to read it, it's good stuff and brings to light some of the hidden benefits of strength training. Things like pride, confidence, self-esteem...

Iron and the Soul – By Henry Rollins
I believe that the definition of definition is reinvention. To not be like your parents. To not be like your friends. To be yourself.

Completely.

When I was young I had no sense of myself. All I was, was a product of all the fear and humiliation I suffered. Fear of my parents. The humiliation of teachers calling me “garbage can” and telling me I’d be mowing lawns for a living. And the very real terror of my fellow students. I was threatened and beaten up for the color of my skin and my size. I was skinny and clumsy, and when others would tease me I didn’t run home crying, wondering why. I knew all too well. I was there to be antagonized. In sports I was laughed at. A spaz. I was pretty good at boxing but only because the rage that filled my every waking moment made me wild and unpredictable. I fought with some strange fury. The other boys thought I was crazy.

I hated myself all the time. As stupid at it seems now, I wanted to talk like them, dress like them, carry myself with the ease of knowing that I wasn’t going to get pounded in the hallway between classes. Years passed and I learned to keep it all inside. I only talked to a few boys in my grade. Other losers. Some of them are to this day the greatest people I have ever known. Hang out with a guy who has had his head flushed down a toilet a few times, treat him with respect, and you’ll find a faithful friend forever. But even with friends, school sucked. Teachers gave me hard time. I didn’t think much of them either.
Then came Mr. Pepperman, my advisor. He was a powerfully built Vietnam veteran, and he was scary. No one ever talked out of turn in his class. Once one kid did and Mr. P. lifted him off the ground and pinned him to the blackboard. Mr. P. could see that I was in bad shape, and one Friday in October he asked me if I had ever worked out with weights. I told him no. He told me that I was going to take some of the money that I had saved and buy a hundred-pound set of weights at Sears. As I left his office, I started to think of things I would say to him on Monday when he asked about the weights that I was not going to buy. Still, it made me feel special. My father never really got that close to caring. On Saturday I bought the weights, but I couldn’t even drag them to my mom’s car. An attendant laughed at me as he put them on a dolly.

Monday came and I was called into Mr. P.’s office after school. He said that he was going to show me how to work out. He was going to put me on a program and start hitting me in the solar plexus in the hallway when I wasn’t looking. When I could take the punch we would know that we were getting somewhere. At no time was I to look at myself in the mirror or tell anyone at school what I was doing. In the gym he showed me ten basic exercises. I paid more attention than I ever did in any of my classes. I didn’t want to blow it. I went home that night and started right in.

Weeks passed, and every once in a while Mr. P. would give me a shot and drop me in the hallway, sending my books flying. The other students didn’t know what to think. More weeks passed, and I was steadily adding new weights to the bar. I could sense the power inside my body growing. I could feel it.

Right before Christmas break I was walking to class, and from out of nowhere Mr. Pepperman appeared and gave me a shot in the chest. I laughed and kept going. He said I could look at myself now. I got home and ran to the bathroom and pulled off my shirt. I saw a body, not just the shell that housed my stomach and my heart. My biceps bulged. My chest had definition. I felt strong. It was the first time I can remember having a sense of myself. I had done something and no one could ever take it away. You couldn’t say shit to me.

It took me years to fully appreciate the value of the lessons I have learned from the Iron. I used to think that it was my adversary, that I was trying to lift that which does not want to be lifted. I was wrong. When the Iron doesn’t want to come off the mat, it’s the kindest thing it can do for you. If it flew up and went through the ceiling, it wouldn’t teach you anything. That’s the way the Iron talks to you. It tells you that the material you work with is that which you will come to resemble. That which you work against will always work against you.

It wasn’t until my late twenties that I learned that by working out I had given myself a great gift. I learned that nothing good comes without work and a certain amount of pain. When I finish a set that leaves me shaking, I know more about myself. When something gets bad, I know it can’t be as bad as that workout.

I used to fight the pain, but recently this became clear to me: pain is not my enemy; it is my call to greatness. But when dealing with the Iron, one must be careful to interpret the pain correctly. Most injuries involving the Iron come from ego. I once spent a few weeks lifting weight that my body wasn’t ready for and spent a few months not picking up anything heavier than a fork. Try to lift what you’re not prepared to and the Iron will teach you a little lesson in restraint and self-control.

I have never met a truly strong person who didn’t have self-respect. I think a lot of inwardly and outwardly directed contempt passes itself off as self-respect: the idea of raising yourself by stepping on someone’s shoulders instead of doing it yourself. When I see guys working out for cosmetic reasons, I see vanity exposing them in the worst way, as cartoon characters, billboards for imbalance and insecurity. Strength reveals itself through character. It is the difference between bouncers who get off strong-arming people and Mr. Pepperman.

Muscle mass does not always equal strength. Strength is kindness and sensitivity. Strength is understanding that your power is both physical and emotional. That it comes from the body and the mind. And the heart.

Yukio Mishima said that he could not entertain the idea of romance if he was not strong. Romance is such a strong and overwhelming passion, a weakened body cannot sustain it for long. I have some of my most romantic thoughts when I am with the Iron. Once I was in love with a woman. I thought about her the most when the pain from a workout was racing through my body.

Everything in me wanted her. So much so that sex was only a fraction of my total desire. It was the single most intense love I have ever felt, but she lived far away and I didn’t see her very often. Working out was a healthy way of dealing with the loneliness. To this day, when I work out I usually listen to ballads.

I prefer to work out alone. It enables me to concentrate on the lessons that the Iron has for me. Learning about what you’re made of is always time well spent, and I have found no better teacher. The Iron had taught me how to live. Life is capable of driving you out of your mind. The way it all comes down these days, it’s some kind of miracle if you’re not insane. People have become separated from their bodies. They are no longer whole.
I see them move from their offices to their cars and on to their suburban homes. They stress out constantly, they lose sleep, they eat badly. And they behave badly. Their egos run wild; they become motivated by that which will eventually give them a massive stroke. They need the Iron Mind.

Through the years, I have combined meditation, action, and the Iron into a single strength. I believe that when the body is strong, the mind thinks strong thoughts. Time spent away from the Iron makes my mind degenerate. I wallow in a thick depression. My body shuts down my mind.

The Iron is the best antidepressant I have ever found. There is no better way to fight weakness than with strength. Once the mind and body have been awakened to their true potential, it’s impossible to turn back.

The Iron never lies to you. You can walk outside and listen to all kinds of talk, get told that you’re a god or a total bastard. The Iron will always kick you the real deal. The Iron is the great reference point, the all-knowing perspective giver. Always there like a beacon in the pitch black. I have found the Iron to be my greatest friend. It never freaks out on me, never runs. Friends may come and go. But two hundred pounds is always two hundred pounds.

The C-word

I'm sure you've all heard it before, and this will be the one time I say it here... Core. I hate this word. It is somehow an all-encompassing word, yet very isolated. If you train it you will be fit and healthy and without ailment... yet it all boils down to doing thousands of reps of 100 different types of situps and various ab work... I don't get it.

Before it was the C-word, it was your trunk, and it went all the way around your torso. It is still there, and it's still your trunk. Its function is to stabilize your spine under loads.

I'm generally not a fan of isolation movements as a general rule. It has its place in rehabbing injuries, and also in advanced trainees who need to target a specific weakness.

If you have a weak, chronically sore back, you should certainly train your trunk musculature. This will allow you to better stabilize your spine, and avoid chronic pain. But doing 1000s of situps is not going to help, it'll further imbalance things and keep you jacked up.

Also, doing 1000s of different situps will not a 6-pack make. 6 pack "abs" are built in the kitchen, and are not going to help you get stronger or faster.

Anyways, just a bit of a rant today, and a little explanation in case you wonder why I never use such a common word.

WOD:
AMRAP in 15 minutes:
5 KB Clean and Press (each arm)
10 Goblet Squats