I took some time off to recover after the June 8th meet and then took a mini vacation at the end of last week so training has been sporadic until this week. Regardless, I did manage to get in a couple good workouts and even hit some PR's along the way. This Monday was the official start of this newest training cycle, so expect more frequent training updates.
My plans had been to compete at XPC semi-finals in October, so that I could qualify for their finals which was suppose to be held at The Arnold. With the announcement that the XPC was not going to be able to have their finals at The Arnold this coming year, I have decided that I will no longer be doing those meets.
I have decided that I will be competing at next year's Raw Unity Meet (RUM) in Florida and am absolutely stoked about it. It will be my first time competing against that level of competition. I will do another meet before then and am eyeing a couple different ones in the September-October timeframe, but haven't made a final decision yet. I will keep everyone updated once I make a decision.
Anyways, here's some highlights from recent training:
Saturday, June 14, 2013
Squats (Walked Out and No Knee Wraps)
375 x 3 (no belt)
415 x 3 (no belt)
465 x 3 (belt)
505 x 3 (belt)
I have become entirely way to relient on using the monolift. I have also decided that I am going to be competing at RUM next February, where I will be required to walk out my squats. So with those two things in mind I am going to be doing most of my squats at least for the near future walking the weight out for the added core work, because it forces you to stay tighter, and simply because it makes the exercise harder (always a good thing!). I am also going to be doing a lot more work without a belt and it will be a while before I wrap my knees again. The 505 triple was easy and I am excited to see where my squat goes once I start pushing it again this week.
Wednesday, June 19, 2013
Deads Off 2-3" Blocks
585 x 3 (no belt)
675 x 3 (belt)
725 x 1 (belt)
This was an awesome workout and I am pretty sure all three of the sets I listed represent PR's. Just like on squats, I am going to be doing a lot more beltless work, but these felt so good from the start I decided to put the belt on and really go heavy. The 725 was a nice smooth rep, so I know I can go a little higher when the time comes.
Monday, June 26, 2013
Close Grip Bench
275 x 8 (pause on all reps)
315 x 5 (pause on all reps)
345 x 3
365 x 2
I have had issues with tweaking my right pec (the one I tore) in the past, especially at heavier weights, so for this past meet I did almost exclusively close grip bench presses until the last couple weeks prior to the meet. It didn't seem to hinder my progress either, since I hit an alltime PR and did so at a lower weight class. 365 is more than I had previously ever done for a single so hitting it for a double is a big PR.
Wednesday, June 26, 2013
Apples & Oranges - A Realistic Look at YOUR Progress
This is something I see all the time and I believe everyone is guilty of it
at one time or another, especially newer lifters. Stop judging yourself, and more importantly your
progress, by comparing yourself to other lifters. Don't even judge yourself by
your placement at your competitions. Instead, judge yourself solely by your
progression as a lifter. This concept applies to essentially everything in
life, but due to the nature of this blog I am going to direct the conversation
towards lifting.
A couple weeks ago I was part of a conversation. Three of the people, myself included, are part of our powerlifting team at SCBB. The fourth guy was a friend of a friend, and he told us how he had recently started doing crossfit as means to lose weight and just improve his overall health and appearance. He told us how earlier in the week he had maxed out on deadlifts for the first time in his life, working up to 425 for a single. You could see how proud he was of that number, as he should be. He then decided to ask the rest of us what our best deadlifts were. Hesitantly everyone eventually answered and the weights ranged from the high 500’s to the low 700’s. You could literally see the pride get sucked out of him and he was so disppointed he looked distraught.
So what’s the point of this story?
Here is a guy who just started training with weights a couple months ago and who never trains in a manner that is directed at building maximal one rep strength. His ultimate goal isn’t even to build strength, it is to lose fat. Yet he is comparing himself to three people whose sole goal in training is to become as strong as humanly possible for one repetition.
Not to mention that a 425 deadlift is pretty damn good for someone’s first ever attempt at a one rep max. Plus, earlier in the conversation he told us how he had already lost 40 pounds since he started doing crossfit. That is an amazing accomplishment and something that he should be proud of. I made sure he knew it too.
People need to develop some perspective when they are evaluating themselves. There is only one constant throughout your
training and that is you. The only thing that matters is that you are better
now than you were before, and even this statement has to be applied in the
right context.
Your progress is a product of you. It is a comparison of where you were at some point in the past versus where you are now. Everyone wants to be the strongest guy in the gym or at the meet, but that isn't always realistic. This is why I said your placing at meets doesn’t really mean shit, generally speaking.
My first ever meet I took second in my weight class. Not too shabby right? A couple months later I totaled 75 pounds higher, but finished fourth in the same weight class. So what happened? Did I become a worse lifter because I placed lower? No, I actually improved as a lifter because my total went up 75 pounds. I made positive progress as a lifter.
Most meets are so hit or miss in terms of the quality of competitors that you simply cannot judge yourself against your competition. I won the 220’s with a 1705 total in my meet earlier this month. I plan to do RUM early next year and if Sam Byrd shows up and puts up a 2000 pound total then I will get my ass kicked. I hope he does show up though and I hope he breaks world records across the board. For me, I plan on putting up my best total to date and if I do that I will walk away happy, whether I finish in first place or last place.
If you are more worried about your placement at your meets and other people’s numbers in the gym, than you are about the progresssion of your own numbers, then you are completely missing the point of powerlifting.
A couple weeks ago I was part of a conversation. Three of the people, myself included, are part of our powerlifting team at SCBB. The fourth guy was a friend of a friend, and he told us how he had recently started doing crossfit as means to lose weight and just improve his overall health and appearance. He told us how earlier in the week he had maxed out on deadlifts for the first time in his life, working up to 425 for a single. You could see how proud he was of that number, as he should be. He then decided to ask the rest of us what our best deadlifts were. Hesitantly everyone eventually answered and the weights ranged from the high 500’s to the low 700’s. You could literally see the pride get sucked out of him and he was so disppointed he looked distraught.
So what’s the point of this story?
Here is a guy who just started training with weights a couple months ago and who never trains in a manner that is directed at building maximal one rep strength. His ultimate goal isn’t even to build strength, it is to lose fat. Yet he is comparing himself to three people whose sole goal in training is to become as strong as humanly possible for one repetition.
Not to mention that a 425 deadlift is pretty damn good for someone’s first ever attempt at a one rep max. Plus, earlier in the conversation he told us how he had already lost 40 pounds since he started doing crossfit. That is an amazing accomplishment and something that he should be proud of. I made sure he knew it too.
 |
| Stop comparing apples and oranges |
Your progress is a product of you. It is a comparison of where you were at some point in the past versus where you are now. Everyone wants to be the strongest guy in the gym or at the meet, but that isn't always realistic. This is why I said your placing at meets doesn’t really mean shit, generally speaking.
My first ever meet I took second in my weight class. Not too shabby right? A couple months later I totaled 75 pounds higher, but finished fourth in the same weight class. So what happened? Did I become a worse lifter because I placed lower? No, I actually improved as a lifter because my total went up 75 pounds. I made positive progress as a lifter.
Most meets are so hit or miss in terms of the quality of competitors that you simply cannot judge yourself against your competition. I won the 220’s with a 1705 total in my meet earlier this month. I plan to do RUM early next year and if Sam Byrd shows up and puts up a 2000 pound total then I will get my ass kicked. I hope he does show up though and I hope he breaks world records across the board. For me, I plan on putting up my best total to date and if I do that I will walk away happy, whether I finish in first place or last place.
If you are more worried about your placement at your meets and other people’s numbers in the gym, than you are about the progresssion of your own numbers, then you are completely missing the point of powerlifting.
Monday, June 24, 2013
Obesity Is Now A Disease
I know I am unfashionably late to this party, but regardless
I am going to toss my two cents in.
Allow me to make one arguement about why obesity does not fit the definiton for disease before we move on. My argument being obesity is not at all a disordered or incorrectly functioning organ, part, structure, or system (as defined above). Although I could make a strong argument that it is due to a disordered or incorrectly functioning brain, but I guess that would make it a mental disorder (addictive behavior).
In case you have been living under a rock the last week
or so, last Tuesday the American Medical Association officially designated obesity
as a disease. The motive behind the move
is twofold. Declaring it a disease is supposedly going to increase awareness of,
and increase treatments for obesity.
Increase awareness?
While I wasn’t aware two-thirds of Americans are
overweight and one-third is considered obese until I started reading articles
this week, I didn’t think there was an overall awareness issue (1). I thought
it was fairly easy for people to look in the mirror, see the spare tire around their
midsection, and have their brain make the connection that they may be
overweight. I can’t even fathom a reasonable excuse for how someone who is
obese could be unaware of the fact.
Increase treatments?
There is one very cheap and extremely successful treatment
option. It just so happens to have 100 percent success rate for those who choose
to implement it. Not to mention, it has zero negative side effects. Maybe it’s
just me, but this sounds like the perfect treatment option. So, what is it?
Burn more calories than you consume. How? Eat less and
exercise more.
It is truly that simple. The scary part is that every single “diseased”
person out there is aware of this very simple and very effective treatment.
Instead people choose risky surgeries and diet
supplements that are either:
a) just a combination of diuretics to give the illusion
of weight loss, or
b) a combination of shady unheard of ingredients that are backed up
by even shadier, self-funded research
It’s just another case of people looking for a magic
pill. People want to think the 200 pounds that has somehow magically attached
itself to their body is somehow not their fault. That it is completely unrelated
to their sedentary lifestyle and their diet that consists solely of all you can
eat buffets, trips to the fast food restaurant, and those easy, cheap, and convenient
processed foods. Then they wash it all down with a nice “diet” soda. (See the
diet soda, I told you I was trying really hard to lose weight).
I distinctly remember a girl in college asking me what she
could do to lose weight. There was one problem though. She said she wanted to
know how she could do it without working out and without changing the way she
ate.
This is the epitome of what I hate. People who eat like
shit, don’t exercise, and then binge drink two or more nights a week, but are
too stupid to understand why they are out of shape or fat as shit.
How many of you know an overweight person who is
constantly popping the newest weight loss supplement to no avail? Guess what
happens? A couple weeks or months later they are still fat. So what is the
solution? It’s easy, they simply have to keep looking until they find the right
pill.
If you are eating an excess of 800 calories every day and
you take a supplement that boosts your metabolic rate by 50 calories a day,
guess what? You’re still eating an excess of 750 calories a day. So not only
will you not lose weight, but you will actually continue to get fatter. This
should not be so hard for people to understand.
Did you know that nearly all recipients of gastric bypass
surgery are required to lose weight prior to their surgery?
The reason being it helps give the doctors more room to operate and it helps to
prepare the patient for life post surgery. If you can lose weight in order to
be able to have surgery, then why the hell do you need the surgery in the first
place? The lure of finally having the magic solution within their grasp, the
one that is going to undo all the years of ignoring all the symptoms and all
the times you decided to hit the buffet instead of the gym, is actually strong
enough to make them give up their gluttonous ways, at least temporarily. However, it is still too hard to continue what they just proved to themselves that they are capable of, and instead of continuing their weight loss journey the
natural and safe way, they almost always will opt to continue with the surgery.
If this offends you, I am not sorry, and it is probably because I have struck a nerve and you know what I said is
true. If you are overweight and serious about losing weight, then take action.
If you need help, then get it. If you don’t have anyone to ask for help, shoot
me an email and I will help you.
When simple weight loss is a goal, especially when you
are talking about large amounts of weight, it is very simple to setup and
implement a very effective diet plan that consists of satisfying amounts
of food and food that is still delicious. You don't have to starve yourself or eat bland food to lose weight. Once again, if you need help setting
up a proper diet, then please ask for it.
I am not going to argue at length against the AMA’s decision to
declare obesity a disease for two reasons:
a) I guess it can technically be construed to
meet the definition of disease
b) arguing over whether or not obesity meets the definiton is not the point of this post
According to Dictionary.com the definition of disease is
as follows:
“a disordered or
incorrectly functioning organ, part, structure, or system of the body
resulting from the effect of genetic or developmental errors, infection,
poisons, nutritional deficiency or
imbalance, toxicity, or unfavorable environmental factors; illness;
sickness; ailment” (2)
Allow me to make one arguement about why obesity does not fit the definiton for disease before we move on. My argument being obesity is not at all a disordered or incorrectly functioning organ, part, structure, or system (as defined above). Although I could make a strong argument that it is due to a disordered or incorrectly functioning brain, but I guess that would make it a mental disorder (addictive behavior).
Obesity is in fact, the body functioning as designed. You
consume excess calories and the body will store those excess calories. If you
continue to consume food in excess then your body will continue to store that excess
food, and it is going to do so by making you fatter and fatter.
Don’t get bent out of shape over the last couple
sentences though, because if you do you are clearly missing the point. This is
not an argument splitting hairs between what is technically a disease, what is technically
an addiction, and what is simply a lack of self control.
If you want to waste hours debating the validity of
obesity as a disease, remember that any argument you make can be applied to
smoker induced lung cancer and alcohol induced liver disease, just to name two. So you have a
long and endless road of debating ahead of you, but then again some of you just like to argue, so feel free.
So what is the real problem?
By labeling obesity as a disease, the AMA has just given
people an excuse for being fat.
The term disease comes with the connotation that the
person suffering from the disease is a victim. Victims are generally people who
have suffered misfortunes due to circumstances or fate, and generally no actions of their own. Victims are people
you should feel sorry for.
No one is a victim of obesity and no one should feel sorry for you being obese. You did not catch the obesity disease from another obese person. Your lack of self control to
make yourself get off the couch and put the fork down does not make you a victim. Do not feel sorry for them. Instead feel sorry for the couch.
The only argument that I will ever accept would be that
obese children are victims. Children are too young and are not informed enough
to understand the need for physical activity and a balanced diet, but their
parents are. If your child is obese, it is YOUR fault. Obese children are
victims of their parents, but this is a whole other topic.
There is precedent with the AMA naming similar “addictive
behaviors” as diseases in an effort to increases awareness and treatments of
said disease. In 1956 the AMA declared alcoholism as a disease with the same
good, but misguided intentions they had when they did the same with obesity (1).
Studies later showed that by declaring alcoholism as a
disease, people started to view their alcoholism as a “chronic relapsing
disease” and not as a self-imposed result of their addictive behavior. They also became more
likely to accept the idea that they were powerless against alcohol and that
treatment wasn’t possible without extensive medical treatment and counseling.
Not to mention they had more frequent and more severe relapses (1).
Labeling obesity a disease will only have the same
effect.
We all know people who are severely overweight, who claim
they have tried everything to lose weight, while they sit there sweating their ass off as they stuff their
faces with junk food, feeling sorry for themselves. This type of behavior is going to be even more prevalent
now that the AMA has given them an excuse for being fat.
What else is wrong with this decision? This could force
insurance companies to pay for treatments for obesity. What will that do to your
insurance costs?
How about pharmaceutical companies are now going to be
even more motivated to research and manufacture drugs that aid in weight loss,
especially if insurance companies are going to have to help pay for them.
Big pharma will pump out some products with some truly
nasty side effects, which somehow magically melt away bodyfat, at the expense of melting away your organs at the same time. Worst of all people will
flock to these drugs, rather than simply improving their lifestyle, because it’s
always easier to take a pill than to actually take responsibly for yourself and
make the lifestyle changes necessary to actually fix the issue. Since the self-destructive lifestyle isn't going to change, then the diseased person will be dependent upon these drugs forever.
Rather than choosing to put in the work and implement a
healthy lifestyle, people will choose to take the easy way out. Instead of
choosing a treatment that offers zero negative side effects, they will choose
to continue doing what they have been doing which is eating like shit and not
exercising and hope that the newest pill is going to finally be the answer to
the prayers.
References:
Wednesday, June 19, 2013
Book Review: Shelby Starnes - "The Healthy Bodybuilder & Powerlifter"
When I saw that Shelby Starnes was offering people with blogs the opportunity to receive a free copy of his book in exchange for doing a review, I immediately jumped at the opportunity.
Anyone who has followed the bodybuilding or powerlifting scenes for any period of time knows who Starnes is. He is an IFBB professional bodybuilder, a successful powerlifter, and one of the best nutritionist out there. He is a magician when it comes to optimizing nutrition and consistently getting his clients peeled to the bone.
Anyone who has followed the bodybuilding or powerlifting scenes for any period of time knows who Starnes is. He is an IFBB professional bodybuilder, a successful powerlifter, and one of the best nutritionist out there. He is a magician when it comes to optimizing nutrition and consistently getting his clients peeled to the bone.
Starnes’s newest book, "The Healthy Bodybuilder & Powerlifter," diverts its attention away from
purely performance and aesthetic based nutritional guidance and explores
the much less talked about, while significantly more important, topic of
overall body health.
Most people begin their weight training careers with one
of two goals in mind; either improving their performance in a sport or as a
means of improving or maintaining their health. Once someone begins to
transition towards one of the extremes, such as bodybuilding, powerlifting, or
strongman, attention to one’s health can quickly go out the window.
The iron sports, as Starnes calls them, are literally predicated on the idea of pushing the body to its absolute limits and reaching those limits often requires tools that achieve their desired result at the expense of one’s long-term overall health.
The iron sports, as Starnes calls them, are literally predicated on the idea of pushing the body to its absolute limits and reaching those limits often requires tools that achieve their desired result at the expense of one’s long-term overall health.
Starnes’ book provides a clear and concise guide to
managing your health. He breaks things down into seven systems:
cardiovascular, liver, kidney, adrenal, thyroid, dietary and digestive, and
orthopedic. For each system he discusses:
- the conditions that the athlete is most susceptible to
- why the athlete is at an elevated risk for these conditions, whether it’s from training, nutrition, supplements, or even drugs
- how the athlete can monitor his/her health with respect to these conditions by discussing different tests the athlete should perform or should have his/her doctor perform
- how to understand and interpret the results of these tests, including discussions of normal and expected results, and what out of range results mean to your health
- what can be done to negate or at least minimize these risks, whether it’s through nutritional changes, lifestyle changes, or supplementation
I can’t dive too much
deeper into the specifics of what is found in the book because that would not be fair to
Starnes. While this might not be the most exciting book you have ever read, it
could ultimately be the most beneficial long term. It might not add an extra 50 pounds to your squat over your next training cycle, but it just might help keep you healthy so that you can continuously train at 100 percent, and that over time might add an extra 50 pounds to your squat (not to mention years to your life).
The book is an easy to understand
guide to your overall health and presents a lot of tools and changes that can
be easily implemented to improve your health. This is definitely a book I believe is worth
having on your digital bookshelf.
No one wants to be dead at 50 due to their pursuit of 22
inch arms or a 2200 pound total. Not to mention that maintaining your health is
one of the key factors in being able to consistently train at 100% year after
year. If you constantly forced to take time off due to sickness and injuries,
then how can you continue to progress? A health body will always perform better
than the alternative.
For more information:
Purchase the book from Starnes' site here:http://www.shelbystarnes.com/store.html
Tuesday, June 18, 2013
Making Weight and Water Manipulation
I have procrastinated on writing this article for too long already, seeing
as how it's been slightly over a week since the actual meet, but I guess I had my reasons for putting it off.
The main reason being that the first time I started typing this out I quickly realized it was
going to turn into a full flege novel. I also wanted to figure out how to best discuss the experience without giving away all the secrets. So with that said, this will be my much abbreviated
write up on how I dropped a little over 10 pounds in less than three hours to
make weight by 0.1 pounds, and then how I managed to put those 10 pounds, plus
another 8, back on before the day was over.
I strongly encourage you to do some research on the effects of dehydration before you even contemplate doing something similar. Dehydration can have devastating effects on athletic performance and can be extremely dangerous if done incorrectly or taken too far. The process is also absolutely miserable, but at the same time it is doable. It requires extreme attention to detail in the days leading up to the weigh ins and during the short window that you have between weighins and the meet, in which you have to completely rehydrate and replenish your body. There is a lot of planning involved from food and fluid choices, to supplementation, and other considerations, but I will not get into that now. If someone needs more info or has questions, leave comments here or contact me, and I will try and help, but for the sake of keeping this write up from turning into something that rivals "War and Peace" in terms of length, I will not be discussing any of the finer details here.
Let's begin...
I decided a couple months out from this past meet that I was going to compete at 220 instead of 242 this time. There were two main reasons for making that decision:
1) My knowledge and attention to the nutrition side of lifting has increased tremendously since I last competed, and as a result I have leaned up considerably.
2) This one's simple. The same lifts performed at 220, as compared to 242, make me a much stronger competiter at the national level.
From the beginning there was no way I was going to make 220 out right, so I knew it was going to require some serious water manipulation on my end. Not to mention a 24 hour weighin, to allow adequate time to rehydrate and replenish my glycogen stores. I did a lot of research and talked with a couple guys who have experience with successfully dehydrating themselves and subsequently rehydrating themselves, all in time to step on the platform the next day and deliver dominating performances. Big thanks to Paul Nguyen and Jamie Lewis. Both of whom are absolute beasts. If you are unfamiliar with either, check out Google and YouTube, and be prepared to be impressed. Jamie is the all-time world record holder for raw total without knee wraps at 181 and Paul deadlifts around 700 pounds while competing at 165.
The best way to drop water weight is through a combination of increased urination and sweating. Increasing urination is easily done with the use of a couple of very safe, but very effective over the counter diuretic supplements. The bulk of the weight loss however comes from simply sweating out a large volume of water. There's various ways to do this, but the best way is through the use of hot baths. What do I mean by a hot bath? Fill a bathtub as high as possible and completely submerge yourself with the hottest water you can stand that doesn't actually burn your skin. It should be slightly painful and will be absolutely miserable, otherwise you are doing it incorrectly. DO NOT, under any circumstance, think that exercise induced sweating is the way to go about this. There are numerous reasons why this is a terrible idea, but I will not get into here.
For my first time dropping water like this for a meet, I decided to try and keep it to around 10 pounds, an amount that I was told would be easily doable, and that would allow for an easy recovery (rehydrating and refeeding). I didn't want to be pushing the limits straight out the gate. I did perform two trial runs leading up to the meet, so that I would know what to expect going in. Anyone who decides to do this should absolutely perform at least one trial run.
My weight leading up to this meet stayed around 235 for the most part, but I did allow it to drift up to 240ish for a couple weeks. The highest my morning bodyweight topped out at was 244, one morning after a large backload. About two weeks out I started limiting my carbs slightly and started gradually bringing my weight back into the target range. I ended up a couple days out, weighing around 234. From there I simply cut carbs completely the last three days prior to weighins and that got me down to 230.4 upon waking the day of weighins.
Friday morning weighins were from 10:00 am to 11:00 am, so I woke up at 6:00 and immediately began my "sweat". Initially, I would submerge myself for 10 minutes, then get out and towel off, and then leave the bathroom and cool off in a normal temperature room for 10 minutes before repeating the cycle. I did three rounds this way and my weights were as follows:
Upon Waking - 230.4 lbs
After Round 1 - 227.8 lbs
After Round 2 - 226.8 lbs
After Round 3 - 224.8 lbs
There were some inconsistencies in there as you can see, but these were due to things such as having to compensate for a tube that didn't come close to accomodating my size and therefore having to figure how to maximize the amount of my body I could submerge and also figuring out the best way to plug the overflow so that I could get the water level in the bath all the way to the top of the tub. I clearly fixed the problem for round 2. When everything is done correctly, weight loss per round should decrease fairly linearly as the rounds increase.
Not sure why, other than maybe the fact that I was utterly miserable, but at this point I decided to switch up the way I was doing things. Keep in mind that a small bathroom, with the door closed and the fan off, quickly turns into a sauna due to the temperature of the water in the tub. What I did, was change to the way Matt Kroc does his water cuts, which involves a 30 minute rotation, with 10 minutes spent submerged in the hot bath, 10 minutes sitting in the sauna (bathroom), and then 10 minutes in a cool room. I had experimented with both ways prior to the meet and found both to be very effective. Just two different ways to skin a cat. The main thing I like about Matt's way is that it kept me out of the hot bath for 20 minutes rather than just 10. Unless you've done hot baths before to sweat off weight, you don't understand how absolutely miserable they are, so you won't be able to appreciate the dread of going back into the hot bath. The combination of the increased body temperature from the hot bath and the heat of the sauna like conditions in your bathroom doesn't really allow you to cool off, so even just sitting in the bathroom your body continues to produce ungodly amounts of sweat in an effort to cool itself. Results were as follows:
After Round 4 - 222.8 lbs
After Round 5 - 221.6 lbs
After Round 6 - 220.6 lbs
I stopped my "sweat" at this point as I actually thought I had a little more room to spare than I really did. I was under the impression that my scale was a little on the high side, but as I later found out, it was pretty much dead on. I finished my "sweat" in a little over two and a half hours and with a total weight loss of about 10 pounds.
I weighed in an hour later at 220.4 and made weight by 0.1 pounds. The upper limit for the 220 weight class is technically 220.5 pounds because the 220 weight class is actually just the equivalent, in pounds, of the 100 kg weight class, so therefore 100 kg = 220.46 lbs.
Weigh In - 220.4 lbs
The mission is now halfway accomplished. Now it is time to rehydrate and refeed the body.
While properly dropping the water and making weight is important, it is even more important that you effectively rehydrate by putting all that water (plus some extra) back into your body and that body holds onto that water. Not to mention, you must be able to effectively replenish your glycogen stores. If you screw this part up, then prepare for the most pathetic, embarrassing, and miserable performance of your life.
From the moment I stepped off the scale, the remainder of the day was a non-stop assault of carefully selected foods, liquids, vitamins, electrolyte supplementation, and other over the counter supplements, and all with pretty specific timing. Keep in mind that I put on 18.2 pounds in the 12 hours between the time I weighed in and the time went to sleep that night, which is actually lower than what I was shooting for. That means the volume of food and liquids I consumed weighed in excess of 18 pounds. The first meal or two after weighins was fun, but from there it turned into a chore, and by the time I went to sleep it was miserable.
I'm not going to get into anymore details, but I will say that it was overall a great experience. A miserable experience, but a successful. It got the job done and still allowed me to perform near 100%. I learned some things this first time through that I will apply next time I do this and I expect even more effective water manipulations in the future.
I am willing to help people with this process if they are interested in learning more, but that will be at my own discretion. If you are doing this in an attempt to make a lower weight class so you can attempt to barely hit an elite total, then you are way off the mark.
Feel free to leave comments and ask questions here or shoot me an email.
I strongly encourage you to do some research on the effects of dehydration before you even contemplate doing something similar. Dehydration can have devastating effects on athletic performance and can be extremely dangerous if done incorrectly or taken too far. The process is also absolutely miserable, but at the same time it is doable. It requires extreme attention to detail in the days leading up to the weigh ins and during the short window that you have between weighins and the meet, in which you have to completely rehydrate and replenish your body. There is a lot of planning involved from food and fluid choices, to supplementation, and other considerations, but I will not get into that now. If someone needs more info or has questions, leave comments here or contact me, and I will try and help, but for the sake of keeping this write up from turning into something that rivals "War and Peace" in terms of length, I will not be discussing any of the finer details here.
Let's begin...
I decided a couple months out from this past meet that I was going to compete at 220 instead of 242 this time. There were two main reasons for making that decision:
1) My knowledge and attention to the nutrition side of lifting has increased tremendously since I last competed, and as a result I have leaned up considerably.
2) This one's simple. The same lifts performed at 220, as compared to 242, make me a much stronger competiter at the national level.
From the beginning there was no way I was going to make 220 out right, so I knew it was going to require some serious water manipulation on my end. Not to mention a 24 hour weighin, to allow adequate time to rehydrate and replenish my glycogen stores. I did a lot of research and talked with a couple guys who have experience with successfully dehydrating themselves and subsequently rehydrating themselves, all in time to step on the platform the next day and deliver dominating performances. Big thanks to Paul Nguyen and Jamie Lewis. Both of whom are absolute beasts. If you are unfamiliar with either, check out Google and YouTube, and be prepared to be impressed. Jamie is the all-time world record holder for raw total without knee wraps at 181 and Paul deadlifts around 700 pounds while competing at 165.
The best way to drop water weight is through a combination of increased urination and sweating. Increasing urination is easily done with the use of a couple of very safe, but very effective over the counter diuretic supplements. The bulk of the weight loss however comes from simply sweating out a large volume of water. There's various ways to do this, but the best way is through the use of hot baths. What do I mean by a hot bath? Fill a bathtub as high as possible and completely submerge yourself with the hottest water you can stand that doesn't actually burn your skin. It should be slightly painful and will be absolutely miserable, otherwise you are doing it incorrectly. DO NOT, under any circumstance, think that exercise induced sweating is the way to go about this. There are numerous reasons why this is a terrible idea, but I will not get into here.
For my first time dropping water like this for a meet, I decided to try and keep it to around 10 pounds, an amount that I was told would be easily doable, and that would allow for an easy recovery (rehydrating and refeeding). I didn't want to be pushing the limits straight out the gate. I did perform two trial runs leading up to the meet, so that I would know what to expect going in. Anyone who decides to do this should absolutely perform at least one trial run.
My weight leading up to this meet stayed around 235 for the most part, but I did allow it to drift up to 240ish for a couple weeks. The highest my morning bodyweight topped out at was 244, one morning after a large backload. About two weeks out I started limiting my carbs slightly and started gradually bringing my weight back into the target range. I ended up a couple days out, weighing around 234. From there I simply cut carbs completely the last three days prior to weighins and that got me down to 230.4 upon waking the day of weighins.
Friday morning weighins were from 10:00 am to 11:00 am, so I woke up at 6:00 and immediately began my "sweat". Initially, I would submerge myself for 10 minutes, then get out and towel off, and then leave the bathroom and cool off in a normal temperature room for 10 minutes before repeating the cycle. I did three rounds this way and my weights were as follows:
Upon Waking - 230.4 lbs
After Round 1 - 227.8 lbs
After Round 2 - 226.8 lbs
After Round 3 - 224.8 lbs
There were some inconsistencies in there as you can see, but these were due to things such as having to compensate for a tube that didn't come close to accomodating my size and therefore having to figure how to maximize the amount of my body I could submerge and also figuring out the best way to plug the overflow so that I could get the water level in the bath all the way to the top of the tub. I clearly fixed the problem for round 2. When everything is done correctly, weight loss per round should decrease fairly linearly as the rounds increase.
Not sure why, other than maybe the fact that I was utterly miserable, but at this point I decided to switch up the way I was doing things. Keep in mind that a small bathroom, with the door closed and the fan off, quickly turns into a sauna due to the temperature of the water in the tub. What I did, was change to the way Matt Kroc does his water cuts, which involves a 30 minute rotation, with 10 minutes spent submerged in the hot bath, 10 minutes sitting in the sauna (bathroom), and then 10 minutes in a cool room. I had experimented with both ways prior to the meet and found both to be very effective. Just two different ways to skin a cat. The main thing I like about Matt's way is that it kept me out of the hot bath for 20 minutes rather than just 10. Unless you've done hot baths before to sweat off weight, you don't understand how absolutely miserable they are, so you won't be able to appreciate the dread of going back into the hot bath. The combination of the increased body temperature from the hot bath and the heat of the sauna like conditions in your bathroom doesn't really allow you to cool off, so even just sitting in the bathroom your body continues to produce ungodly amounts of sweat in an effort to cool itself. Results were as follows:
After Round 4 - 222.8 lbs
After Round 5 - 221.6 lbs
After Round 6 - 220.6 lbs
I stopped my "sweat" at this point as I actually thought I had a little more room to spare than I really did. I was under the impression that my scale was a little on the high side, but as I later found out, it was pretty much dead on. I finished my "sweat" in a little over two and a half hours and with a total weight loss of about 10 pounds.
I weighed in an hour later at 220.4 and made weight by 0.1 pounds. The upper limit for the 220 weight class is technically 220.5 pounds because the 220 weight class is actually just the equivalent, in pounds, of the 100 kg weight class, so therefore 100 kg = 220.46 lbs.
Weigh In - 220.4 lbs
The mission is now halfway accomplished. Now it is time to rehydrate and refeed the body.
While properly dropping the water and making weight is important, it is even more important that you effectively rehydrate by putting all that water (plus some extra) back into your body and that body holds onto that water. Not to mention, you must be able to effectively replenish your glycogen stores. If you screw this part up, then prepare for the most pathetic, embarrassing, and miserable performance of your life.
From the moment I stepped off the scale, the remainder of the day was a non-stop assault of carefully selected foods, liquids, vitamins, electrolyte supplementation, and other over the counter supplements, and all with pretty specific timing. Keep in mind that I put on 18.2 pounds in the 12 hours between the time I weighed in and the time went to sleep that night, which is actually lower than what I was shooting for. That means the volume of food and liquids I consumed weighed in excess of 18 pounds. The first meal or two after weighins was fun, but from there it turned into a chore, and by the time I went to sleep it was miserable.
I'm not going to get into anymore details, but I will say that it was overall a great experience. A miserable experience, but a successful. It got the job done and still allowed me to perform near 100%. I learned some things this first time through that I will apply next time I do this and I expect even more effective water manipulations in the future.
I am willing to help people with this process if they are interested in learning more, but that will be at my own discretion. If you are doing this in an attempt to make a lower weight class so you can attempt to barely hit an elite total, then you are way off the mark.
Feel free to leave comments and ask questions here or shoot me an email.
Tuesday, June 11, 2013
RPS Backyard Bash - 6/8/13 Meet Recap
There was a whirlwind of different variables surrounding this meet. The two most significant were certainly that it was my first meet in over a year (stupid pec) and that it was the first time I ever competed at 220 and therefore the first time I would be doing a significant water cut. I came up a little short of what I had hoped for heading into the meet, but overall I was very pleased with the way the meet turned out.
Finished the day with a raw 1705 total, and went 7 for 9 on my attempts. Good enough for first place in the raw 220 division and second best overall by coefficient. David McLeod put up an impressive 1900 lb raw total at 242, that included a 740 squat and a 520 bench, and took best overall by coefficient, and with it a direct birth to XPC Finals at The Arnold next year. The direct birth to The Arnold had been my ultimate goal heading into the meet, but regardless I am happy with my performance.
My lifts were as follows:
Squat:
565 good
615 good
640 miss
Bench:
370 good
400 good
415 good
Deadlift:
625 good
675 good
705 miss
I felt great for the most part the entire day, despite cutting 11 pounds of water in a little over two hours on Friday to make weight. However, during my squat warmups and squat attempts was the only time I felt a little off. The first thing I noticed right away during warmups was that my center of gravity seemed to be off when I was squatting. This feeling improved throughout the day as I continued to lift and by the time bench and deads rolled around I felt incredible. I believe this had to do with my water cut and the following rehydration/refeed phase, but I'll discuss this further in another article when I outline my water cut.
I breezed through my 565 squat opener. On my second attempt of 615, I let my weight get too far forward and essentially turned the squat into a heavy good morning. Luckily my lower back was strong enough to keep the weight under control, but the lift was much more of a grinder than it should have been. The 640 miss is the only miss of the meet that I was pissed about. I knew going through this training cycle that I had a 640 squat in me at this meet, but it just wasn't there Saturday. Setup and technique felt solid, but the strength just wasn't there. Not sure if it was the water cut or if it was just me, but I do know that 640 will be an easy opener or second attempt next meet!
By the time bench rolled around I was feeling 100 percent and it showed as I managed to break my previous best of 410 that I had done at 242, by benching 415 at 220. The lift was an absolute grind, and I did get out of my groove, but I stuck with it and was able to eventually grind it out. Bench was the one lift I was worried about when I decided to do this meet, so I couldn't be happier with the way it turned out.
Deadlifts felt terrible throughout training leading up to this meet, but felt surprisingly good at the meet. 625 was a cake walk and 675 was nice and smooth. I'm sure I could have pulled 690 or 695, but I decided to go for 705 and try and break my previous best of 700. The last couple months, I have been having some issues with my setup and loading sequence, and it had been causing me to essentially straight leg all of my pulls. I think I have figured my loading sequence out and I can't wait to get back to training so that I can finally blow past the 700 lb barrier.
I have to give a big shout out to my amazing wife Shauna who is by my side throughout this whole process. From going to the gym with me night after night, to putting up with my crazy eating/dieting, and supporting me throughout everything. Not to mention being my personal photographer and loudest supporter in the crowd.
Also a huge thanks to my South Carolina Barbell team and family who help push me night after night, and who drove up to the meet just to help out and show support. Big congratulations to the other team members who also lifted this weekend, Desi, Brett, and John, all of whom kicked ass.
Finished the day with a raw 1705 total, and went 7 for 9 on my attempts. Good enough for first place in the raw 220 division and second best overall by coefficient. David McLeod put up an impressive 1900 lb raw total at 242, that included a 740 squat and a 520 bench, and took best overall by coefficient, and with it a direct birth to XPC Finals at The Arnold next year. The direct birth to The Arnold had been my ultimate goal heading into the meet, but regardless I am happy with my performance.
My lifts were as follows:
Squat:
565 good
615 good
640 miss
Bench:
370 good
400 good
415 good
Deadlift:
625 good
675 good
705 miss
I felt great for the most part the entire day, despite cutting 11 pounds of water in a little over two hours on Friday to make weight. However, during my squat warmups and squat attempts was the only time I felt a little off. The first thing I noticed right away during warmups was that my center of gravity seemed to be off when I was squatting. This feeling improved throughout the day as I continued to lift and by the time bench and deads rolled around I felt incredible. I believe this had to do with my water cut and the following rehydration/refeed phase, but I'll discuss this further in another article when I outline my water cut.
I breezed through my 565 squat opener. On my second attempt of 615, I let my weight get too far forward and essentially turned the squat into a heavy good morning. Luckily my lower back was strong enough to keep the weight under control, but the lift was much more of a grinder than it should have been. The 640 miss is the only miss of the meet that I was pissed about. I knew going through this training cycle that I had a 640 squat in me at this meet, but it just wasn't there Saturday. Setup and technique felt solid, but the strength just wasn't there. Not sure if it was the water cut or if it was just me, but I do know that 640 will be an easy opener or second attempt next meet!
By the time bench rolled around I was feeling 100 percent and it showed as I managed to break my previous best of 410 that I had done at 242, by benching 415 at 220. The lift was an absolute grind, and I did get out of my groove, but I stuck with it and was able to eventually grind it out. Bench was the one lift I was worried about when I decided to do this meet, so I couldn't be happier with the way it turned out.
Deadlifts felt terrible throughout training leading up to this meet, but felt surprisingly good at the meet. 625 was a cake walk and 675 was nice and smooth. I'm sure I could have pulled 690 or 695, but I decided to go for 705 and try and break my previous best of 700. The last couple months, I have been having some issues with my setup and loading sequence, and it had been causing me to essentially straight leg all of my pulls. I think I have figured my loading sequence out and I can't wait to get back to training so that I can finally blow past the 700 lb barrier.
I have to give a big shout out to my amazing wife Shauna who is by my side throughout this whole process. From going to the gym with me night after night, to putting up with my crazy eating/dieting, and supporting me throughout everything. Not to mention being my personal photographer and loudest supporter in the crowd.
Also a huge thanks to my South Carolina Barbell team and family who help push me night after night, and who drove up to the meet just to help out and show support. Big congratulations to the other team members who also lifted this weekend, Desi, Brett, and John, all of whom kicked ass.
Saturday, June 1, 2013
5/29 & 6/1 - Final Training Sessions Recap
Today is June 1st, so I am officially 7 days out. Bodyweight this morning was 233, so still looking good on that front. Today also marked my final day of training before the meet. I'll still be at the gym this week helping to train my wife and helping the other guys on our team who aren't competing next weekend. Now it's time to rest up and get ready to make weight Friday morning and then crush some PR's on Saturday.
Wednesday (5/29)
Deads
315 x 5 (no belt)
365 x 3 (no belt)
405 x 3 (no belt)
455 x 3 (no belt)
495 x 2 (no belt)
495 x 1 (with belt)
Pulldowns
100 x 20 (3 sets)
One Leg Hamstring Curls
25 x 20 (3 sets)
I threw on the belt for the last single just to make sure the last deadlift I pulled prior to the meet would be exactly the same as it would be at the meet. Despite staying light this workout, this was by far the best my pulls have felt in a long time. Deads, which are normally my best lift, have honestly felt like crap this entire training cycle. Have had a bad habit lately of allowing all my lifts to turn into heavy straight leg deadlifts. I'm proud of my 650+ straight leg dead, but not exactly the way I want to be pulling at the meet. Anyways this workout I had everything tight and going backwards, as it should be. Gives me an extra little confidence boost heading into the meet.
Saturday (6/1)
Squats
325 x 3
375 x 1
415 x 1
Abductor Machine
some light weight x lots of reps (3 sets)
Squats felt great today. On my 145, 235, and 325 sets I literally had the bar coming a couple inches off my back at the top because I had so much bar speed. Worked up to 415 and everything continued to feel nice and light. Finished up with some very light work on the abductor machine because it cured some issues I was having with groin pain off and on earlier in this training cycle, so I figured I would keep it in the rotation this last workout.
Wednesday (5/29)
Deads
315 x 5 (no belt)
365 x 3 (no belt)
405 x 3 (no belt)
455 x 3 (no belt)
495 x 2 (no belt)
495 x 1 (with belt)
Pulldowns
100 x 20 (3 sets)
One Leg Hamstring Curls
25 x 20 (3 sets)
I threw on the belt for the last single just to make sure the last deadlift I pulled prior to the meet would be exactly the same as it would be at the meet. Despite staying light this workout, this was by far the best my pulls have felt in a long time. Deads, which are normally my best lift, have honestly felt like crap this entire training cycle. Have had a bad habit lately of allowing all my lifts to turn into heavy straight leg deadlifts. I'm proud of my 650+ straight leg dead, but not exactly the way I want to be pulling at the meet. Anyways this workout I had everything tight and going backwards, as it should be. Gives me an extra little confidence boost heading into the meet.
Saturday (6/1)
Squats
325 x 3
375 x 1
415 x 1
Abductor Machine
some light weight x lots of reps (3 sets)
Squats felt great today. On my 145, 235, and 325 sets I literally had the bar coming a couple inches off my back at the top because I had so much bar speed. Worked up to 415 and everything continued to feel nice and light. Finished up with some very light work on the abductor machine because it cured some issues I was having with groin pain off and on earlier in this training cycle, so I figured I would keep it in the rotation this last workout.
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