Failure is Worth It

What is failure?  I know all of the clichés.  Failure is a good chance to change directions.  If you fail, try, try again.  Blah, blah, blah, I get it.  Let’s be honest about it, failing stinks!  No one likes to fail.  Everyone loves to succeed.  There is really no controversy.  Winning is better than losing.  But the more important question is, what does it take to win?  Bill Gates didn’t show up at an electronics store and say, "got any positions open for billionaires?"  He worked and worked, used his intellect, and took incredible chances.  He is like almost all successful people, he didn’t inherit his wealth, he earned it.  They leave the proverbial cave and drag home dinner.  They do this day after day after day.  Some days are good, some bad.  But the winners keep pushing, despite the small or even larger setbacks.  Winston Churchill said, “Success is stumbling from failure to failure with no loss of enthusiasm.”  Stumbles make the successes sweet.  Without the chance of failing, success means nothing.  Try difficult things.  If you persist, you will come out the other side a better person.  You will be more capable of perseverance. 

So what if I fail?  After stumbling, a little sulking is expected, but the longer you sulk, the further from your goals you are.  One of the most destructive attributes a human can have is a victim mentality.  Everyone is a victim, but not everyone lives like one.  Don’t live like one.  Go take weightlifting, golf, running, gardening, child rearing, your marriage, head on.

It took all of these and A LOT MORE for me to get better.  Enjoy watching me fail:

How Nutrition Drives Training

As I have written about before, I began my training life in a little gym in Clarksville, TN. The training for men was the same here as it was in most commercial facilities during that time, and probably is now. Monday was International Chest Day, International Back Day on Tuesday, and shoulders and legs were on Wednesday.  Strangely, we had very little time for legs, but we always agreed to double up next week to catch up… we never did.  The last couple of days were curls for the girls and triceps day.  This is the basic template with some slight variations.  Women -- very few trained at our gym -- tended to do legs and Stairmaster on Monday, same on Tuesday, same on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.  Occasionally some “arm stuff” would be lightly sprinkled in, but not so much as to get big and bulky (I hate that phrase). 

On to the actual topic, eating.  Since it was all about seeing the head of the deltoid, and catching a couple of abs sticking out, calories were limited and either fat or carbs were limited (this argument for another day).  This kind of mid-set, love it or hate it, stuck with me for quite some time.  Let’s be honest, everybody likes to look good on the beach, so vanity abound everybody!!!  Once I started really trying to get strong, squat 2, 3, or 4 times a week, I fell apart.  I could not recover from the training.  I felt achy, tired, slow and all this at the age of 38.  It didn’t make sense to me.  I decided that I was going to forget the abs, the deltoids, and buy some bigger pants.  I upped my calories from probably 2000 per day to what I am guessing is about 3500 to 4000.  I squat heavy three times per week, snatch and clean and jerk heavy a couple times as well, and what do you know, I recover.  My numbers have gone up by a large percentage and so has my weight.  I started at about 170lbs (77kg) and I am now up 12lbs to the middle of the 85kg weight class with some room to go.  I owe all of this to throwing some extra coconut milk in, potatoes, protein powder, and whole milk… not all together.  Let me be clear about this though.  I am pretty religious about my sleep, which is THE first step.  I am in bed by 10 and up by 6 or 7 every day.  The next step -- no matter your goals -- is diet.  The final one is training.  It seems like for me, that the increase in calories has allowed me to move on to the better training.  So whether you are a weightlifter, a bodybuilder, or just someone wanting to lose a few pounds, get the essentials in line.  1.  Sleep, 2. Nutrition, 3. Training.  This is the order.  You can fool it for a while, but not for too long.  Trust me, it wasn’t until I got sleep and diet aligned that my training was able to move in a better direction.  

What Are You Training For?

I was once a personal trainer.  I am so happy that I have recovered from such an ailment.  My job required donning a polo shirt that was a little too tight with the word “Trainer” on it.  Some thought that the shirt was like Superman’s cape.  Once pulled over our tanned arms, we had at our disposal, all knowledge in the physical realm.  Truth be told, plenty of them know very little.  They know how to adjust the machines for your arm and leg length, and they can count up to ten repetitions.  These are the people you trust with your goals? 

Most people have very nebulous goals:  lose weight, feel better, and look better.  Other than the weight loss, how do you quantify this?  Far too many people just show up like factory work.  They go to the gym, lift, do cardio, shower, and repeat intermittently for many years.  They go with no real purpose (goal!).

This video has nothing to do with topic, but it is cool!

I am going to make the case for more tangible goals.  I am clearly biased toward pushing up your back squat, front squat, snatch and clean and jerk.  Pushing these numbers up helps with my medium term goal of performing well in an upcoming weightlifting meet.  To be completely transparent, my goals for the Masters American Weightlifting Championship in November are quite high for me.  I plan to snatch 100 kg (220 lbs) and clean and jerk 130 kg (286 lbs).  I posit that in order to achieve these numbers, along with improving my efficiency in the two lifts, my squat numbers must improve.  In order to have the strength to perform, my back squat needs to be about 159 kg (350lbs).  In addition, my front squat needs to be around 150 kg (330 lbs).  I have planned out almost a year in advance, with quarterly goals in all lifts.  With these shorter term goals, I keep track of my progress regularly.

I suggest that you make some more tangible goals, no matter what your long term plans are.  If you are a runner, pick mile split times.  If you are a weightlifter, make goals for your lifts.  If you are only interested in your physique, pick some weight training numbers, or miles walked, or number of days straight without eating Little Debbies. If you tie your goals to quantifiable stuff, the other things will follow.   Make the goals very tangible, doable, and MEANINGFUL.  If you don’t believe in your goals, they are useless.  Make goals, stick to the plan, and you will get better.  

My Favorite Weightlifting Resources

The Attitude Nation YouTube

The Attitude Nation You Tube channel is full of fantastic weightlifting videos featuring the “lively” Jon North.  This entertaining American weightlifter competes in the 94kg weight class.  He hosts a podcast called Weightlifting Talk which broadcasts twice weekly.

Muscle Driver

Muscle Driver is a strength and conditioning equipment company.  The company also sponsors a weightlifting team.  Team Muscle Driver is one of the few, if not the only, professional weightlifting teams in the U.S.  Coached by Glenn Pendlay, the team supports several high level American lifters.  Coach Pendlay and a couple of his lifters also host a podcast called The Weightlifting Scoop.

Catalyst Athletics

Catalyst Athletics is a great weightlifting gym on the west coast, run by Greg Everett.  The website puts out a great strength and conditioning journal called The Performance Menu.  The website contains a very comprehensive cache of weightlifting videos. 

Mikes Gym

This is a quote form Mike Burgener’s website.

 “I have dedicated my life to Olympic Weightlifting both as an athlete and as a coach. Now at the ripe old age of 66 and over 40 yrs of being a strength coach and a retired teacher in the public school system, I train athletes to become better Olympic Weightlifters as well as making athletes more explosive and powerful in their respective sport. These athletes train in my 2 car garage, which is equipped with 4 platforms and all the equipment that one would need to become a better Olympic Weightlifter and a more powerful athlete.”

California Strength YouTube

This YouTube channel features some national caliber lifters.  Some of the older videos feature Jon North and the Lion Killer himself, Donny Shankle. 

Masters Weightlifting

The website is the best place to keep up with the old people weightlifting scene.  It posts all of the upcoming masters weightlifting meets as well as past results.

Oly Stats

This is a very large database of athletes and all of the meets they have competed in.  I am not talking the world class types only, but guys like me and Kevin Ellison of Old School Weightlifting in Brunswick, GA.  It also lists hundreds, if not thousands of past weightlifting meets.  It is a great resource to have.

There are plenty more out there... comment what your favorites are.

Competition Builds Character

Why compete?  Why put yourself through the potential embarrassment, the possible ridicule?  Great question, I am glad I asked it.  My list of competitive endeavors in just the athletic arena is pretty vast.  My success in them all is a little spotty.  Like so many, I played little league baseball, and on up through high school.  The amount of success I had directly mirrored the mediocre effort I put forth off the diamond.  I threw the ball with my brothers, hit a couple of rocks out of our gravel driveway, and went to all of the practices.  That was about it… and it showed.  I played basketball in a recreation league and played middle of the road.  NBA scouts were not fighting over a 5’ 7”, non-jumper.  I played football my senior year in high school, but spent most of the season wondering where I was supposed to line up after the play was called.  In college, I had a short stint with racquetball and was fairly successful for the limited time I spent.  I practiced like crazy for a couple of hours per day.  Golf -- the most difficult sport I have attempted -- required immense work for modest results.  Yes, I cheered in college too… I am not afraid to admit it.  Precisely half of the team was women… great choice.  I completed 5k runs, did a triathlon, got smashed in a CrossFit competition, and competed in one Jiu Jitsu tournament. 

In the past couple of years, I have lifted in 5 weightlifting meets.  I have improved quite a bit from my first competition to now.  But after taking a little time off from competing, I am getting ready for a meet this November.  I have never been so driven to compete in my life and I don’t know why.  I don’t really care why I guess, but I do know that I have been very consistent with training and have trained harder during this period than I ever have in my life.  My numbers are climbing, I am getting stronger, and I am more consistent.  I think I am seeing a pattern.  I work hard consistently, bring huge enthusiasm into the gym, and I get better.  It’s a simple equation.

I guess there are some take home messages to be gleaned from this brilliant piece of work (too much?).  If you get up every morning, work hard, and do it wisely, you improve.  Not exactly news.  The bigger lesson to take away is that competing builds character.  Having something that you are willing to claw away at, repeatedly punch in the face, and relentlessly attack, just for the chance of winning, builds work ethic.  When you build work ethic, you are better.  So why do I step out on a platform with a loaded barbell, while three judges and a small crowd watches?  Because nothing is as rewarding as working hard and getting results.  Competition is like goal setting.  Beneficial goals need to be realistic and meaningful… meaningful.  I like winning, but I hate losing very badly.  This is a great reason to compete because it makes the goals meaningful.  It means something to stand before a group of people and perform, and not fail.  So sign up for that 5k a year from now, get in the CrossFit Open next year, jump into a weightlifting meet.  The experiences are fun and they will make you a better person.  

A Beginners’ Guide to Weightlifting (Cliff Notes if you will)

The Name

First let’s address the name of this sport.  It seems to have tons of names: Olympic weightlifting, Oly lifting, Olympic style weightlifting, O lifting, and many more.  The actual name -- from my understanding -- is weightlifting, one word.  I don’t think it is a big deal, but some people in the sport get bent out of shape when it is misnamed.  I just love the idea of finding a somewhat obscure sport and getting snobby about it.   They get upset that you can’t name it precisely or count with confidence in kilograms.  Who cares about such minutia?  As an aside, just because it is referred to as, Olympic weightlifting doesn’t mean that all participants are going to be Olympians.  The distance between lifters like me and Olympians is similar the the gap between me and Lebron James. Below are links to an actual Olympian.

The Lifts

The two lifts in Weightlifting are the snatch and the clean and jerk.  Lovely names huh?  Even the most stoic of us will crack a grin when hearing them.  Sports shouldn’t be sexual double entendres. 

The snatch, requiring a wider grip, takes the barbell from the ground to overhead in one movement.

The clean and jerk is really two lifts in one.  In the clean, you take the barbell from the ground to the shoulders in one motion.  The jerk takes the barbell from the shoulders to overhead.  The jerk is done by most by splitting the feet from front to back, although some very good lifters use a different method.  

There are so many variations of the two/three that it can be very confusing.  The snatch and the clean are most efficiently executed by catching them in the full squat position.  If they are caught above a squat they are referred to as power snatch or power clean.  This is just the beginning of the long list.  Catalyst Athletics has a pretty exhaustive video archive of most variations.  

Kilos to Pounds

How European of you.  Speak American!  One kilo is 2.2 pounds.  100 kilos X 2.2 equals 220 pounds.  You can also quickly just double it and add 10%. 

I hope this sheds a little light on this very simple sport.  Soon, I will help you understand how a meet works, from weight classes to ascending bar weight, and how many times you get to lift.  Hope this helped.  

Why?

Why am I writing a blog?  I am writing this blog because I do a lot of reading, but seem to do very little writing.  As the mirror on the wall shows you the reflection of your physical being, the written word is the mirror of your mind.  Until you write it down somewhere, you really don’t get a chance to see what it looks like.  If you are an unclear thinker, it is very easy to see when it is staring back at you on the computer screen. 

Another reason I am writing a blog is that I love the sport of weightlifting.  As a beginner, I want to write about my trials in this sport.  I intend to post some training videos of this novice lifter trying to get better, talk about my evolving training philosophy and diet, and record my journey of chasing “old gold”.  Old gold is my affectionate term for competing at the Masters level.  Masters competition in the sport of weightlifting starts at the age of 35.  Who knew that you could be considered an aged athlete at 35!  Oh well, I don’t write the rules.  However, backstage at an open meet which allows competitors of all ages, I sure feel older.  I don’t move the way a 16 year old moves… or a 20 year old… or 25. 

Yet another reason for this blog is to try to capture at least one more fan for this seemingly unnoticed sport.   A sport that is really two in one.  The first is like a golf swing… with weight, and the second is like putting your refrigerator in the attic by yourself.  Weightlifting does a lot of things great, but it seems to fall short on a few things.  I will muse and pontificate on what would be done if I were King for a Day in the world of weightlifting.  I will try to simplify it for non-weightlifters and try to make it interesting. 

So a quick summary:  I will write for the sake of writing, chronicle MY story like a true narcissist, and try to win over fans for a fantastic sport.  I hope that you enjoy.