To cut or not to cut?

I've presented myself with a bit of dilemma. I stepped on the scale the other day and was shocked that it read a whopping 190.4 lbs. Granted I had just eaten a meal but even the pound or pound and a half from the meal would still put me around 188 lbs (85.28kg).

The problem with this is: I normally compete at 169 lbs (77 kg). All the heavy squatting and heavy eating (and not the cleanest) has packed on the pounds this summer.

Now I have to decide whether I want to cut about 20 lbs to compete at 77 or stay where I'm at for the 85 class. But I'm just not sure what do to. I've scoured the various weightlifting forums for advice and I've gotten mixed feedback.

There are some proponents of the "get as big and as strong as possible" approach. If it means jumping up a weight class do it. In essence this does kind of make sense. Bigger guys have a better advantage in weightlifting than smaller guys. Even in the same class, lifters try to be the heaviest in their class because theoretically you are stronger. That's really not always the case, especially with non-elite level lifters like myself. For instance, you can gain a whole bunch of weight and the majority of that weight be body fat (which does nothing useful) and not muscle. Now granted if you are lifting heavy like you are supposed to, a gain of weight is generally accompanied by a gain in muscle mass (hypertrophy) and that's a good thing. Also bigger weightlifters also have an advantage in that they have to lift typically less weight in relation to their bodyweight in order to win competitions or even qualify. For example, I've plotted the qualifying totals in relation to bodyweight to show that being heavier helps.

As you can see  the bigger guys in the heavier weight classes (85 and up) have to lift less weight relative to their bodyweight for everyone except the lighter guys (56 and 62 kg). Hell, the super-heavies (230lbs+ / 105+) lift proportionally less than a guy weighing 137 lbs. Yes the heavier you are the more absolute weight you are going to have to lift but it will be technically easier for you to do so because you are bigger. 

Also notice that if you compete in the 77 kg class like me you've got to lift more relative weight than EVERYONE else making that class technically the most challenging in which to compete. Boo :(

So what should we do? Do we cut or not cut. Do we try to gain weight? Donny Shankle has said that you should always be trying to improve the total no matter what. I agree with this. For example, if you are a 77 kg lifter and total 300 and then at 85 only total 285 then obviously you should not be moving to 85 because the weight gain has not improved your lifts. If you can stay at 77 and continue to increase your total, stay at 77. You will move up the chain and be more competitive in your weight class. If you've been lifting at 77 for a while and nothing seems to be substantially improving your numbers despite your training, then maybe gaining some muscle and strength will be just what you need to start hitting PR's again. 

Now I'm not an expert on this subject by any means, but I do know what has worked for me. In my experience, cutting and being lighter sucks. I'm not as strong because with cutting weight you are going to lose some muscle and with that, strength. It's pretty much biologically impossible not to. I also feel pretty fatigued because typically I'm eating less and not having as much energy to burn. My recovery time increases and I start getting inured. Cutting 20 lbs would take several months and just doesn't sound like something I want to do. I don't really see any advantages at the moment of being lighter.

That said, I think I going to try my hand at the 85 weight class. I'm about to start a new cycle where I am going to focus on continuing to get as strong as possible by lifting heavy and frequently. I can clean up my diet a bit and drop some body fat but I am going to try to maintain my weight around 185-187 lbs. Hopefully this will be beneficial and I will be able to improve my total. And if it doesn't then obviously I know what I'm going to have to do.

A Random PR

Yesterday marked the beginning of the 6th week of my Texas Method strength cycle and typically Monday's are pretty tough workouts.

I started off squatting 280# for 5x5. The squats were not very challenging although as I am writing this today I am pretty sore from them. It's crazy how adaptation works. A few months ago when I was attempting this weight for a 5 set for the first time you'd think I was dying by how much I was grunting, screaming and gasping for air as I did this weight. Now it's pretty much a breeze. Through adaptation you get stronger and the only way to adapt is to frequently subject your body to increasing amounts stress. Take away lesson: lift heavy and lift frequently.

Overhead presses were also performed at 147 for 5x5. These were pretty relaxed and I probably took more time in between sets than I should have because I was helping coach some snatching in a group class.

Clean pulls were at 250# for 1x5. One one of the clean pulls I pulled pretty hard and ended up "accidentally" pulling under and power cleaning it for a matched PR.

Shocked at how easy it felt I decided to go for 255# for a PR. I ended up cleaning 255# and fighting hard to stand up but eventually I was successful. Too bad I didn't catch it on video. I wasn't even warming up for a max effort lift or had it programmed and I PR'd. Mind = blown.

Clearly the strength cycle has done its purpose. I'm eagerly anticipating weightlifting training and seeing my full potential.

Some tips for the 2nd pull

So yesterday while I was lifting there was a CrossFit class behind me and they were practicing snatches so I decided to lend what expertise I have to help correct and coach their technique. 
While coaching, I noticed one recurring theme with beginners trying to learn both the snatch and the clean. Beginners often have trouble with the 2nd pull, that is actively and explosively pulling the bar up and into the hips by using the upper back muscles, specifically the Latissimus dorsi muscles. Pulling the bar up along the thighs and into the hips serves two main purposes:

1) It keeps the bar close to your body. The barbell's goal in life is to pull your body down and forward. You must actively work to pull the bar up and in. Your body is acting as a giant lever. Every inch that the barbell moves away from the body's center of gravity makes the barbell much heavier. Simple physics. So once the barbell clears the knees you MUST start using your lats and pull that bar upwards and inwards.

Keeping the bar close to you also saves your pelvic bone from getting beaten up. That BANG you hear from the barbell and the pain on your pelvis is from that bar being too far away from your body and you compensating by bringing your hips to the bar. It should be the other way around. Bring the bar to your hips and you will only feel a brush.

2) It allows for a more explosive 2nd pull and the correct bar path. The 2nd pull is meant to be explosive and fast. It is perhaps one of the most violent and aggressive movements in any sport. Therefore you have to use the larger and stronger muscles (read: not your arms) to properly execute it. Please understand that just because you are "pulling" doesn't mean you are pulling with your arms. In the 2nd pull you are using your hips and posterior chain muscles (hams, back, and glutes)! Sweeping that bar inward and upward will force your hips to come underneath the bar. This is what weightlifting coaches call the "double knee bend". It is essentially your body coming into a jumping position where you can violently explode (jump) upwards by explosively extending the hips and knees. This is where ALL the power comes from. If you don't actively sweep that bar in most likely you will not double knee bend and will pull early. You will have lost power and the bar will be out in front of you. Loss of power + incorrect bar path = failed attempt. And don't think about the double knee bend. It will only mess you up. Think about sweeping that bar into you. The double knee bend is a natural movement and you will do it automatically but ONLY IF you are actively sweeping that bar in.

This video illustrates clearly what I'm talking about

Notice how all of the lifters keep the barbell right on the thighs during the way up and actively sweep the bar inwards towards the hips. This makes for a very powerful pull which allows them to lift several times their bodyweight overhead.

Gregg Everett of Catalyst Athletics also demonstrates and explains the double knee bend. A bit technical but you can clearly see that his demonstrator keeps the bar right on the thighs and actively pulls the bar into the body causing the hips to come underneath the bar due to the rebending of the knee.

Some take away tips to improve your 2nd pull:

1) Get a nice tight locked back from the get-go. Set and start flexing your lats before you lift the weight off the ground.
2) Keep the bar close to the body by sweeping the bar upward and inward along the thighs and towards the hips.
2) Explode upwards by jumping as hard and as fast as you can.

Happy lifting!

Fitocracy

I probably will not be posting workout logs on this blog anymore as I found a great site  called Fitocracy to post my training logs. The site is great. It gives you points for doing exercise as well as tracks all of your workouts. It allows me to visualize my progress as well as "level up" like in some kind of video game. I used to be a hardcore online gamer and that aspect was immense appeal lol. Actually the site was developed by a bunch of hardcore gamers that got sick of being fat and decided to get fit. The site's motto is Level Up in Real Life. LOL. Anyways my logs are on the site under my profile name Macattack08.

Summer of Squats

Ever since I started seriously training in weightlifting I've always known that my strength (or lack of it) has been my biggest weakness and hinderance to my progression as a lifter. It became even more apparent after reviewing my performance at nationals. My technique is pretty good for a person that's only been lifting a year and half. I still have some issues with the 3rd pull but 1st and 2nd pulls are excellent. The fact that I can power clean and power snatch more than I can full clean/snatch (dropping below parallel or to the bottom of a squat) shows that my pulling power and explosiveness is also very soild. Unfortunately, whenever I do try catch the barbell at the bottom of the squat, I struggle to stand up or don't stand up at all. I simply just had poor strength.

I decided that I wasn't going to practice any of the lifts and focus on getting strong as hell. No amount of technique work or power development was going to help me progress further until I could comfortably squat large amounts of weight.

So my plan this summer was to squat and squat often. I began with a Starting Strength (SS) type strength program. I had sucess with this type of linear periodization programming in the past and felt that more would be very beneficial.

The program is designed for strength gains by emphasizing a high amount of time under load with gradually increasing loads workout to workout. Basically you squat 3 times a week for 3 sets of 5 reps. The weight increases the next workout every time you sucessfully complete the number of reps for the day. The weight increases gradually dimenish in increment (i.e. 5lbs to 2.5 lbs to 1 lb) because eventually you will start to reach your plateau. Once you plateau you can reset back to a lighter weight and start over hopefully breaking your previous stall. This cycle can be repeated a number of times until you are no longer breaking through your stalls even. With the SS program, I managed to take my backsquat 5RM from 265# to 295# and my 1RM from 295# to 325#. My bench press and overhead press all increased substantially. From 225# to 255# and 160# to 190# respectively. Granted with all the squatting I did manage to gain about 10 lbs but I still managed to make solid strength gains relative to weight gain.

I began repeatively stalling on SS and I moved to a more intermediate strength program in July called the Texas Method. While similar to SS, instead of making daily progression you make weekly progression because the loads have become too difficult for your body to fully recover. Gains are smaller and made slower but this is the natural progression of strength building. Mondays are a high volume, moderate load day where you squat 5x5 at about 80-85% of your 1RM. Wednesdays are a light load, light intensity day with 2x5 squats at about 80% of your 5RM. Fridays are a high intensity, low volume day where you try to set a new 5RM. The cycle continues weekly by typically adding 5# to each day.

I'll be doing Texas till the end of August where I will then switch over to a new weightlifting cycle. I'm really hoping that my strength gains will lead to big increases in my lifts.

Alex Became a Weightlifter: Updates and such

First off let me just say this: I really suck at blogging. Obviously. I've never been great at keeping a journal. Hell I can't even keep my own lab journal up to date. Just last week I was filling in experiments in my lab notebook that I did over 4 months ago and I really hope my professor doesn't ever find this blog.
Well my friend and training buddy at Faction started a blog recently about his weightlifting training and his quest to go to Nationals and I guess it kind of sparked my interest to return to blogging. You can check out his blog here.

So I guess I should update my progress since my last post which was in November of 2011. This is gonna be a long post.


My First Meet!

Back in February I competed in my first weightlifting meet ever. My coach Mike Bledsoe, my teammates Andrew (85kg) and Mike Lexner (85kg 15 y), and I drove 8 hours to Johnson City, TN to participate in the 2012 Handle Barbell Open at ETSU. I was pretty nervous going into the competition as I was worried I wasn't going to make weight. I was competing in the  77kg (169 lb) class and had to drop all the way from about 182 lbs. After strict dieting (starving myself) and dehydrating for a a few hours I made weight and was able to compete. My first snatch at 85kg got turned down for reasons I didn't understand at the time. Later I realized that I didn't remain stationary and controlled at the end of the lift (rookie mistake). I didn't let it phase me and ended up hitting it again for the 2nd attempt and nailing 89kg on the 3rd attempt. I only needed a total of 195 so I decided to open at 106 on the clean and jerk and nailed it with an easy power clean and jerk. Bledsoe decided that I should go for a PR of 111 but I failed with my two remaining attempts. Either way I qualified and I managed to get a 1st place finish (out of 2 ppl LOL). Competing was a blast. I forgot what the adrenaline rush and thrill of comepetition felt like. I was definitely looking forward to more at that point.

My Lifts at the Handle Barbell Open

INJURY!

After the Handle Barbell Open, I got injured. Again. This time it was my left wrist. There was some pretty rank and painful inflammation that would not go away. It was so bad that I really could not snatch or lift anything overhead at all. Needless to say this was bad timing because I had 2 months till University Nationals . I stuck to mostly power cleans, pulling and squatting. I started snatching again after got some last minute anti-inflammatory meds from my doctor a week before Nationals.

Nationals!

I really wasn't feeling very confident going into Nationals. Just coming off injury I wasn't sure if I was going to lift well enough to even total. Bledsoe tried to reassure me that I would do well but in the back of my mind I just wanted to get a total. Weigh-ins were also stressful. The official scale was weighing people heavy but I managed to sneak in there 30 grams under the cuttoff at 76.97 kg. I regained my confidence during my warm-ups as my wrist was not bothering me at all. Adrenaline is amazing. I was lifting in the B session and there were quite a number of lifters but I was nearer to the end due to my higher openers. I completed all my snatch attempts of 87, 89, and 93 for 4 kg PR. The clean and jerks went similarly with good attempts at 105, 109 and 113 (4 kg PR). I ended up placing 13th out of 18 overall but I went 6/6 with PR's on my snatch, clean and total. Can't really ask much more than that. Mostly I was just happy that I set a goal, followed through and got to compete on a national level. It was an amazing experience.

So with my first competitions under my belt I can finally call myself a weightlifter. That's why I decided to change the name of this blog :)