American Open 2012

View from the hotel room

It's been more than a week since I traveled to Palm Springs for the American Open 2012. The weekend started off with a 3a.m. alarm clock to pick up a fellow lifter and catch a 6a.m. flight with a brief, like 5-minute, layover in Denver.  The flight from Denver to Palm Springs was about 50% weightlifters and 50% old people.  I'd say at least half of the lifters from the OTC were on that flight.  Not a bad crew to share a flight and a shuttle with!

View on our walk to our third breakfast of day one

The hotel and the venue...yeah pretty damn awesome.  Great rooms, gorgeous views.  Although I swear the hotel hallways were lifted straight out of The Shining for as never-ending as they were and I half expected a little boy to zip by riding his tricycle whispering "redrum redrum."  The convention center was connected to the hotel by more and more hallways and based on that you'd think the venue would be easy to find.  Well let's just say it took three of us about 20 minutes to find it only to be sent back to the hotel for the check-scale.  Haha!  Thursday was mostly about hanging by the pool, waiting for others to get in, and eating.  Palm Springs has some damn good places to eat and the people watching was pretty phenomenal.

Beautiful pool to waste away an afternoon

Friday, day one, saw a pretty busy day. There were so many lifters entered that Friday was a two-platform format with all the B sessions running and often in a combined classes format.  For three of the four lifters that lifted on Friday it was their first appearance on the national level.  Two of our girls competed in the 58kg class and finished 19th & 26th out of 36 lifters, which I actually think was the largest of all the weight classes this year.  I'm very proud of how well they did and I believe they were also able to qualify for Nationals.

Yummmmmy breakfast at Pinnochio's

On the men's side of things I had two guys in the 85kg class going.  The warm up room was a madhouse and I'm absolutely certain there were not enough sets of weights in there, which lead to a whole lot of "borrowing" and a bit of tension between coaches getting their lifters warm.  For one of of my guys it was his first time on the national stage and needless to say he was a bit excited. The other guy was making his second appearance and looking for a little redemption from his first time at the American Open last year.  Both wonderfully and unfortunately we had completely opposite ends of the performance spectrum.  The first-timer unfortunately wasn't able to lock in a clean & jerk and it always breaks my heart to have someone not get a total.  That now makes two lifters I've coached bomb out at the American Open, not a good track record so far.

3 Thumbs Up for Fajitas!

My other 85kg lifter was making his second appearance at the American Open.  Last year he was lifting in the 77kg class and unfortunately his debut didn't end up well.  This year we came back with a vengeance.  After much coaxing he finally moved up the 85kg class and has enjoyed every single part about adding body weight including hitting bigger and bigger lifts.  Not only did he get a total this year but he got a PR clean & jerk AND added 7kg to his best total ever.  He managed to nudge a teammate that lifted in a different session on Saturday who also totaled 280kg out of the 10th place spot based on a difference in body weight of 0.15kg.  Out of 23 lifters we had 2 guys place in the top half of the class.  I call that a great win!

Day two of lifting saw my teammate Gina making her return to the national stage.  While I know if you ask her she's not 100% happy with her performance.  However, I would like to point out that she took home the SILVER medal in the 48kg class.  For those of you that aren't versed in kilograms Gina weighs under 105lbs and between the two lifts throws a total of 268lbs (122kg) over her head. 

Sunday, day 3, final day of competition.  Again one of my teammates took home some hardware.  My teammate Shane crushed the competition taking home the gold in what turned out to be a very slim 105+ kg class with at least two of the top supers not attending this meet.  I also know he was not 100% satisfied with his performance and was disappointed to get red-lighted on his final lift.  However, I think that's the nature of the beast for lifters, we're never satisfied and always want the next level.

By now if you've made it this far and if you're a regular reader of this blog you're probably wondering where I fit into all of this, after all I did commence Operation 180 back in October.  Well to put it simply I had to withdraw from the competition all together.  Starting in about September my performance started to decline.  I attributed much of it to a perfect storm of stress.  My work load increased dramatically, I was still working 4 jobs, and personal stresses all seemed likely culprits especially when added together.  Being the big stubborn ass that I tend to be I continued to push and push and push.  Eventually my body said stop so I took 10 straight days off and stupidly did nothing, not a single athletic movement, not even foam rolling or stretching.  Coming back I thought the "rest" would be enough.  Turns out I should think a little less and listen to my body a little more.  Practice what I preach in essence.  I started experiencing a tight feeling in my low back which I attributed to extremely tight hips, both hip flexors and hip rotators.  It was really more just an annoyance and a slight discomfort than pain.  As time rolled on it started to effect my ability to perform.  I wasn't able to squat much and since lifting involves getting into full ass to grass squats you can see how this can be a detriment to performance.  I could make it through a session of snatching but I could only get in one or two clean & jerks before I had to pull the plug on that training session.  It was still only discomfort and not actual pain.  Over about 5 weeks leading up the competition I had one chiropractic session, two ART sessions, and three 90-minute deep tissue massages. 

Fast forward to competition week.  I knew going into the week there was a possibility I wouldn't be able to compete over the weekend.  On Monday I wanted to hit near my openers just to prove to myself that I could overcome and get it done.  I made it to 60kg on a snatch before my body started working against me so I shut it down.  I decided not to lift again until I got to Palm Springs.  On Friday I started what would be my last training session before competition and I wanted to summon some "old man strength," as my friend refers to it.  Snatches felt okay, snatched up to 50kg for a single.  Decided I would move on to clean & jerks since I hadn't touched those in about a week.  I did 40kg for a couple singles and then jumped to 60kg, a normal jump for me.  I got it to knee level, my body screamed NO so I dropped it.  That was the final straw for my body and I knew I wouldn't even be able to gut it out.  In tears I found my way to my coach to let him know there was no way I would be able to compete.

It was a heart breaking moment having to withdraw from the competition.  Seriously the hurt in my heart actually far exceeded the physical pain.  I've had the most phenomenal year of training adding almost 10kg to each of the two competition lifts and I really felt like I managed to piss it straight down my leg. I've never had to withdraw from a competition because of a physical inability to perform.  I had extremely high hopes and huge goals for this meet.  To many it may seem trivial, completely unimportant, an injury setback but I set high expectations for myself.  I love this sport and all I want to do is lift but I can't right now. 

Since the meet I've seen two different doctors.  One thinks it's a disc problem and I need to get an MRI to be certain.  The other one thinks it's a facet issue and I just need to let it rest and do some rehab to see how it responds.  At the moment I've lifted a grand total of twice since that Friday in Palm Springs.  I won't be doing any lifts from the floor, no lifts into a full squat, and no bilateral squatting for at least 2-3 weeks.   All of my lifting will be from blocks, overhead work, and split squats, all of which my body tolerates well.  I'm also speaking with my physical therapy friends and getting rehab from them.  We'll see how my body responds to my game plan.  It still hurts a little bit when I do something dumb but for the most part its just discomfort and a tight feeling in my low back, sacrum area, and occasionally my glutes feel really fired up and tight. 

I can't say I'm not frustrated but this is a good opportunity to peel everything back to the very basics as well as a great opportunity to re-work my jerk which is something I've been wanting to do lately.  The hopes are to be ready to start getting back to business by January and ready to start tossing up some real weight by the time the Arnolds roll around in March.  Long term goals would include making a huge statement at Nationals in July.  For right now though I have to start slow again and build myself back up both physically and mentally.  If other lifters can comeback from injury, big or small, then so can I.  If I find myself slipping and needing a little motivation then I can just watch this video.....

Overall the American Open was an interesting learning experience.  Humbling to say the least.  I still had a great time, talked to old friends, met some new friends, and had a great time coaching and supporting my teammates.  The whole experience really just leaves me very hungry to get my body right and get back on that platform.  2013 might just be the Year of the Beastess!

A little friendly inspiration

I have to admit that I have some incredibly awesome, super supportive friends, family, teammates, lifters, coaches, co-workers.  They suffer with my highs and lows.  They don't judge when I grunt and growl when lifting.  Or when I scream and cry and have a hissy fit cause I'm having a rough lifting session.  They are hands-down just phenomenal people.

I've been waging an internal battle with how well I think I can perform at the American Open in a couple of weeks.  It's been some great training and some shit training over the past year.  That being said some friends have offered some well-timed and much needed inspiration.

"You worked too hard to just lose before the meet even starts.  It might not have all been perfect but you lift because you love it and you know you can hit 180.  You will do that if the 9 inches between your ears believes it.  You have the strength physically for sure."

"Google 'Donny Shankle: The Iron.'  Careful, you may become mega inspired."  So I googled it.... Donny Shankle: The Iron  and was beyond floored.  It sums up everything I've ever really felt, especially this past year. 

So to my friends, family, teammates, lifters, coaches, co-workers, and anyone else who has had an impact on my life....thank you for the inspiration. 

Coaching, Teaching, Competing: It's all a Passion

In case you haven't read any of my previous post and if you aren't someone that knows me personally, I am obsessed with weightlifting and teaching people how to lift weights.  I suppose it was pretty prophetic when I began lifting weights at the age of 16 and thought it was cool and impressive trying to leg press the entire stack.  Maybe it was where I grew up or the fact that I grew up a bit of a tomboy but it never ever occurred to me that lifting weights, let alone lifting HEAVY weights, would be considered atypical for a girl.  It never crossed my mind that I might get "bulky" or "huge" from lifting.  To me I wanted to get strong, I wanted to be stronger than all the boys, and the only logical way to do that was to lift heavier weights. 

Well over a decade after I first stepped into the weight room, I now step into one of the following three "offices" any given day of the week.....

 

Now my days....and nights....and weekends revolve around teaching others about lifting weights and the actual sport of weightlifting.  It's a passion, plain and simple.  Coaching, teaching, competing. 

As evidenced by many of my posts I love competing.  I have always been a competitor.  However I get just as excited coaching.  Seeing the look on someone's face who has never performed the Olympic lifts before and that moment when all the technique work finally clicks is pretty priceless.  I love screaming my face off as one of my advanced guys goes for a big weight.  If one of my guys bombs out, my heart breaks along with them.  I like being the voice of reason to bring someone back from the edge and help them refocus on the task at hand.  The motivator, the drill instructor, the shoulder to lean on, the frustrater, the high fiver, the good bad and ugly, all in one. 

Coaching people in weightlifting and to lift weights in general is just as much of a beast as competing.  Convincing an 18-year-old female soccer player that lifting weights will only improve their performance is just as challenging as convincing a 25-year-old male that there is a rhyme and reason to why I've given him specific exercises to work on instead of just maxing out all the time.  It's not a simple, cut and dried profession where I get to say lift weights and then be done with it.  I worry about how to best approach improving performance, what to do when an athlete or lifter has stagnated, how to prevent and avoid injuries, what to do when there is an injury, how to best balance their workouts to get the most from them, how to approach the individual that's struggling mentally or emotionally.  I think about all of that almost constantly.  No two athletes or lifters are exactly alike and I will never treat them as such.  I want to know what everyone's best of the bests and worst of the worsts are.  Celebrate when they do well and pick them back up when they've fallen. 

I treat coaching as an opportunity to educate people.  If nothing else when they leave school or when they move on from lifting, I hope they have learned a few things from working with me.  Whether it's how to properly execute a power clean or that they're stronger mentally and physically than they've ever given themselves credit for, it's an opportunity to learn something.  If they have learned that the only limits they truly have are the ones they have placed upon themselves then I have done my job successfully.  Coaching, teaching, and competing; it's all a passion.  One I am fortunate enough to live every day. 

Wish in one hand....

There is a defining line between those who wish and those who do.  As the saying goes, “Wish in one hand and crap in the other.  See which fills up faster.”  People wish they had a better job or wish they could travel to exotic places.  People wish they had more time to work out.  Perhaps some of those are empty wishes, something to pass the time and make life seem a bit less dull.

Yes, I’ve been a wisher in my life, we all have.  I’ve wished I could be a better photographer or wished I could learn to dance.  What it boils down to is those things that are truly important to you, you will find a way to make them happen.  If I really wanted to be a better photographer, I’d study it.  If I wanted to be a ballroom dancer, I’d take a class.  If I really wanted it, I’d find a way to make it happen.  These guys found a way to make it happen:  All Things Gym - Makeshift Platform

When it comes to lifting weights and getting my training in, I’ve definitely found a way to make it happen.  I’ve gone so far to make it happen that my entire life revolves around lifting and training.  My full time job allows me to pass along my passion for lifting through athletes in the weight room.  Working in a weight room also obviously allows me to fit my training in during the day.  My two side jobs also allow me to pass along my passion as well as alternative places to train should I find the need to train elsewhere.

In order to make big lifts happen there are many things I’ll pass up doing so I can have a good training session instead.  I’ll opt for a night of foam rolling, stretching and ice bath instead of a night of shenanigans and debauchery.  It’s not that I’ll never go out and do those things.  It’s just that some days I want to shift into beastess-mode and I generally prefer to do that with a head that’s not in hangover-mode.  I will do the things I need to do and adjust my life accordingly to make it happen.

Obviously I've occasionally taken lifting to an obsessive compulsive level.  I've gotten so wrapped up in weightlifting that I often times forget to do other things, fun things, things that don't involve picking up something heavy and putting it back down.  We all have to let loose once in awhile but for me this is a passion.  People have said that if you're passionate about your job, you'll never work a day in your life.  I disagree.  I've worked my ass off to get here, to get the job that I love going to and that I'm passionate about.  I'm not just sitting in some cubicle wishing I could have an awesome job.  

I have found that “wishers” don’t often understand “do-ers.”  They don’t understand the desire to take things to the next level and the commitment it requires.  To me, wishing you could do things in life instead of going out and actually attempting to do them is to resign yourself to mundane mediocrity.  Sure I might wish to immediately improve one aspect of a particular lift but what I do is set myself up to improve it over the long term.

Are you doing what it takes to make it to the next level?  Or are you just wishing in one hand…..

Justified - Needs vs Wants

I'm a needs versus wants kinda person.  Do I really NEED something or do I just WANT something?  It's how I was raised and actually a pretty conservative way to live.  Unless of course you take it to the extreme.  Now I'm not talking get my own special on TLC kind of extreme but I'll justify myself out of a lot things that I need.  I won't buy myself a new pair of jeans because I already own *gasp* two pairs: one nice and one not nice pair.  I haven't bought a good solid winter coat because I can just layer long sleeves and sweatshirts under my other coats.  Like I said, conservative way to live but not always the brightest.   

As you might've noticed from quite a few of my previous posts I've taken a bumpy ride on the Struggle Bus. *honk, honk*  Being a stubborn individual I have continuously talked myself out of getting the extra stuff that, at this point, I definitely NEED.  I've needed a deep tissue massage, active release therapy, chiropractic, any type of bodily intervention for awhile now.  I have kept justifying myself out of actually getting that work done by telling myself that I don't need it, I just want it, and I can address the same issues at home with foam roller/PVC/lacrosse ball, a nightly stretch out, and save a bit of money in the process.  That plan is all well and good except for one small bump.  By the time I get home at night and get a chance to do all of that, I actually just fall asleep on the floor.  Yep, a nightly 30-minute nap on the floor on or spooning a foam roller. 

I'm all for a little cuddle session but snuggling with a foam roller doesn't exactly keep my hips mobile.  By not being diligent and strict about my Recovery Routines, I have allowed myself to become so jacked up that my ability to squat at any given point is hit or miss.  I mean we're talking that some times it's uncomfortable to squat down just to tie my shoe, let alone actually load weight onto my body.  Not being able to squat is an enormous road block to Operation 180 that was supposed to start about 2 weeks ago.  Hard to get bigger and stronger if I can't do one of the key lifts to help with that.  Let's not even talk about my current ability to perform the Olympic lifts. 

After a very rough, very frustrating Saturday morning lift I was getting a little pep talk from a teammate.  I told him that I was more apt to justify helping him pay for a deep tissue massage than to actually get one for myself.  I would pay for someone else to get one before paying for myself.  He pointed out that with working as many jobs as I do I most certainly can't be hurting for money for the occasional deep tissue massage.  He also mentioned that I need to stop worrying about helping out someone else before I help myself.  I will write programs for everyone else before I worry about my own programming.  I will make sure my lifters are getting what they need before I consider myself.  I have a couple of 94s that I'm determined to get qualified for a national level meet, a 77 turned 85 that I want to have a better experience at the American Open this year, and a 58 that I want to have a good experience at her first national level meet.  I worry about them well before I worry about what my body, training, etc is going like.  I was instructed to stop always worrying about everyone else and justify a little time for myself. 

Well after learning the hard way, which is a common theme for me, I now have to classify active release therapy, chiropractic, and a deep tissue as a need.  If I don't re-categorize it as a need vs a want, I'm going to keep doing the same insane things time and again and like an idiot expect different results.  I want to take weightlifting as far as I possibly can.  I'm going to have to put on my big girl pants and realize that, as I have often preached to other, recovery is part of the process of getting better and periodic massages or chiropractic have to be a part of that recovery.  I can't keep justifying myself OUT of something I need especially if its something I can afford on occasion. 

If there is nothing else to be had from reading my posts, I hope there's at least an occasional cautionary tale in here to learn from.  Most of my recommendations to fellow lifters and athletes that I coach are because I have experienced it first hand and don't want them to have to learn the same lesson the hard way.  So the moral of the story today is don't justify yourself out of something because you think you don't deserve it.  Some times a want IS a need.  

For the Record

For the Record......

Being female and lifting weights doesn't make you butch or masculine.  It makes you strong.

Lifting doesn't make women bulky.  Females just don't have the right hormone levels to get huge bulk.  I'd rather be considered "bigger" because I lift weights and have muscle than bigger cause I have jiggly bits.

"I want Paris Hilton's ass," said no one EVER. 

When asked by some female athletes how they get long & lean like me, my answer was and will always be, "Pick up heavy shit."

Spot reduction is a myth.  Just because you spent 20 minutes on the inner/outer thigh machine doesn't mean your thighs will no longer touch.  It just means you're gonna walk like you rode horse to the gym.

Muscles burn calories.  Lifting weight makes muscles work harder.  You figure out the rest.....

You can't grow a muffin top without eating a few muffins.  And donuts and candy bars and drinking extra large caramel macchiatos....

I have never heard an athlete say, "Gee, I wish I hadn't gotten stronger."

CrossFit didn't invent the exercises it uses nor did it invent the concept of high intensity circuits.  It just marketed them better.

You shouldn't model your training after YouTube videos and expect to PR every training session.  Just remember nobody posts their shitty days on YouTube, not even Shankle. 

No listening to R&B in the weight room.  You might as well put on the Best of Elevator Music if you're going to do that.  If you wanna lift big kid weights, you need to put on big kid music. 

Got your own "For the Record" thoughts?  Post 'em to comments or send me a message!

*Update!  New "For the Record" thoughts!

Running does NOT take the place of squatting.  -Gina

Going past parallel when you squat will NOT "blow out" your knees, what does that even mean anyway?! -Gina

Please don't compare leg pressing to squatting, not even kind of the same thing.  -Gina

Operation 180

Operation 180 has been the mission for pretty much the entire year.  Initially Operation 180 was strictly a numbers based mission.  Snatch 80k, clean & jerk 100k, total 180k.  Pretty simple.  I've come very close to some of those aspects over the last year.  Cleaned 98k in training, clean & jerked 96k in training, and within the last couple of months just barely missed that 80k snatch at the DeGarmo Memorial (video on You win some, you lose some post).  My goal has been and continues to be hitting that 180 total by the American Open this December. 

However, as it often does, life got in the way.  Things happened, things changed, life shifted. Operation 180 just got more complicated.  Now not only is it a numbers mission but it's a mission to change physically, mentally, and emotionally about 180-degrees from what I've become lately. 

Obviously one of the main components is physical change.  The past few weeks my training has been complete and utter shit so I took 10 full days off from training.  In terms of strength, speed, and just lifting stamina I feel very behind.  I'm feeling rather weak and scrawny which are feelings I'm not particularly fond of.  Now I have to gain back some body weight, gain back a lot of strength, get back to pushing for the numbers I made as goals earlier this year (WTF was I doing for the last 7 years?!?!).  I have around 7 weeks to really bust my ass, get my ass larger, and get my ass in gear!

While getting my ass in gear is important, it's just as important to get my mind right.  I can think and hope and wish and pray that I hit 180 but my mind and emotion have to be behind it.  As I mentioned my training has been completely crap and honestly my mental attitude (also my stubbornness) and my emotional attitude towards lifting has been just as much to blame as a decrease in physical performance.  I let myself get burned out on weightlifting.  I allowed myself to become so consumed by it that it took over my entire life.  It was, and still is, a bit obsessive.  Being that overtaken by one thing is not a super healthy way to live in my opinion.  Because of the obsessive nature of the beast I was fretting over every aspect of my lifting including my declining strength.  Being the stubborn ass that I am I kept pushing and pushing and pushing trying to force the lifting which lead me to the next aspect I need to get right......

Emotionally I've been all over the board lately.  It's a multi-faceted issue: frustration with my declining performance, a huge inspiration leaving, unexpected setbacks, exhaustion from working so much (I currently technically have 3-4 separate jobs, don't ask, I'm crazy).  Many if not all of my recent workouts have ended up in tears.  Some times I am able to lift through the tears and do well and other times it's just sitting down on the platform and having a good cry.  There has been punting of foam rollers and water bottles, throwing of straps, wraps, and belts.  Then of course a hefty amount of swearing and even more frustration since I'm not the type for expressing emotion, let alone in public.  To some it may seem like a bit of a temper tantrum, repeated temper tantrums, but truly it runs deeper than that.  If you're not emotional about weightlifting then you're not really invested in it yet.  And I've gone all-in on weightlifting.

Now with all of that in mind I have to get my emotions under control so they don't railroad my workouts straight into the shitter.  If I'm bursting into tears because I can't jerk to save my life that's not going to help.  I need to dial back in and refocus that energy into something productive.  Get the mind and emotions right so I can put them both into a strong, solid lift.

The next few weeks leading into the American Open are 100% about re-assessing my goals.  I have to take my physical, mental, and emotional performances and turn them 180-degrees from what they have been recently.  I've wanted to hit the 80k and 100k all year long but I've also wanted to hit some big squats and big deadlifts.  Getting stronger there will be steps in the right direction.  I have to take where I am (weak and scrawny) and figure out how to get where I want to be (strong like beastess).  It's going to be some some big gains in what I feel is a short time.  Am I up for the challenge?  You're damn right I am!

Operation 180.  Turning my training around 180-degrees, hitting 180k at the American Open.  It's time to Go Beastess!