Fit Expo Bench and Deadlift Invitational

This past weekend I had the honor of competing with some of the strongest ladies in the USA in the US Powerlifting Association's Fit Expo Bench and Deadlift Invitation Meet.

It was very fun, I had a blast even though I lifted Raw (no gear, just a belt), so my numbers, especially in my bench were way below most of the other ladies. My raw deadlift was about in the middle of the class. I weighted in at 141lbs and lifted in the 148 lb class. My powerlifting buddy Emilio from back in the day handed off and handled me, then he had to go for his softball game and Justin Lovato helped me with my deadlift. The slaps helped, thanks man! It was a huge crowd and lots of my golds gym buddies stopped by, hung out and cheered for me! it was soo cool! I was not nervous at all, I mean, its just for fun, right!?

In the Middle Weight (132,148, 165 pound) classes, I came in 3'd in the Bench and 3'd in the Deadlift out of 5 girls. Which is cool b/c I lifted raw, no bench shirt, no deadlift suit.

What I realized is that I am a way better Olympic Weightlifter than Powerlifter. I was one of the tallest girls there, definatly the tallest in my weight class! I realize that I love WL more than PL, but PL will ALWAYS  hold a special place in my heart and I know I will always be hitting up some PL meets! I love that I can't be pinned down as one or the other! I also love that I lift at "The Mecca of Bodybuilding!" I love combining aspects from all three sports to benefit each other.

I also met Olympian Cara Heads, which as very cool!! what an humble, amazing athlete and classy lady!

Thanks to Steve Chen, Max, and Larry for taking video and pics! My friend Larry lent me his mom's (how cool is that!?) old belt for DL in!

Faith and Patience

Well I better write down my 2011 goals before its not January anymore!

*Clean and Jerk 100 kilos in Competition-currently 96 kilos. handling 90 kilos on a weekly basis for multiple sets and doubles on jerks. 

*Be able to HANDLE 70 kilos in the Snatch in training-currently have randomly hit 70 in training and 65 consistently. 

*Back Squat 150 kilos-currently @ 136 kilos, and can hit 130 almost any day.

*Power Clean 85 kilos-currently @75 kilos for sets of doubles, 78-80 max PC. 

*Shoulder Press 135 lbs- currently @115 for triples. 

I have been thinking about the Pyramid Of Success lately, by John Wooden. He died about half a year ago. I have read most of his books and his ideas have formed a huge part of how athletes are spose to behave and act and view success and "failure."

My favorite idea that Wooden had is what is written at the top of the Pyramid. "FAITH AND PATIENCE."

Faith and Patience: all good things happen with time.

When I started Weightlifting I was 23 /24. WAY TOO OLD by anyones standards to start a sport, much less one that takes YEARS AND YEARS to get good at.  And that you have to start when you are FIVE!! I planned on WL till I was 30. Now I am 29. But I refused to believe that. I knew I had the perseverance and stamina to do whatever it took. I will be so tired from work, but the moment I step into the gym and smell the iron and sweat and I feel alive. Everything else melts away. Its just me and my passion. 

These are mostly the same goals I have had for years and years. Silly me thought that I was gonna clean and jerk 100 k in my first year of Olympic lifting. I had no idea that kind of strength/form/posture that it really takes. So these are my seemingly modest goals. When I accomplish them I will be very proud of myself. I love my sport more than anything. I would do anything to be able train everyday to improve.  I used to have daily training goals, ie, hit a certain number. I do not have those anymore. I do not need the extra pressure b/c I know I would never not try my absolute best every attempt. To not try my best would disgust me. 

I have faith in myself.

I trust myself that I will always Find A Way.

I believe that if I always give 100% and train smart I will do my best. Doing the best that you can do is all Wooden asked of his athletes and thats all that I ask of myself. Have fun, enjoy the ride and push harder! 

I realize, I get so cold/When I was young, I was already old.

As the darkest, coldest hours of the year comes forth as the Winter Solstice, the astro sign of Capricorn begins and continues till the middle of Jan.

In my "humble" opinion ( I just say humble b/c as a Capricorn I know I always know best, okay? lol) its a pretty amazing sign to have.  Some might say that its all bullshit, but I have noticed that all the Caps I know have a similar aura and similar traits and a silent confident way we carry ourselves.

We usually get underestimated -because we aren't a loud obnoxious Fire sign or a sprightly Air sign, or a over emotional weird-o Water sign. (generalizations haha!!)-because instead of TALKING about what we are going to do, or what we have done in the past, we let our actions speak louder than our words.

We will climb the highest mountain and never surrender. Quitting is seriously NOT an option. When we put our mind to something we have will power to control ourselves to a scary degree.

We aren't showy. we usually wear dark colors and love mysterious and evil things. we know were are badass and don't need to announce it to world (ahem, Leo's!!).

We are sexy and dark. and we don't need to show it off to get what we want. we would rather earn it.

We are serious. Everything we do is part of plan for greatness. Get the hell outta the way if you aren't gonna help us or watch out.

We have a dry, whitty sense of humor. Knock knock jokes don't cut it. weird oddities do.

While we may come off as stubborn, we are actually just being patient and biding our time all while calculating master plans in our heads.

We love work. when we aren't working towards a goal we go freaking crazy! we love goals and dislike people that are ambitionless and floaty and change their minds every 5 seconds. we know that "talent and luck" don't exist and are just a result of hard work!

We will do anything for the ones we love and destroy the ones that threaten us. without any hesitation.

Unless you are amazing in some sort of way, or unique we just don't care about you and in fact don't even know you exist.

All in all I really like my sign and find it quite true and I am very glad that I use my traits to make myself the best Strength Athlete that I can be. I find great pleasure in all the training I have to do to become one and hopefully I will one day live/lift up to what I know I can accomplish.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ALL MY CAPRICORN FRIENDS!!

Speed Force!!!/Keep Squatting and you'll get there.

AN APPLICATION  OF SPEED FORCE/STRENGTH! 

Speed-Force or Speed-Strength is often a term used in sports to describe the application of an Explosive Movement. Anything where you are pushing or pulling as hard as you can for less than a second or two. It's an anaerobic effort. The maximum effort your muscles can exert in the shortest/"fastest" amount of time. Former UCLA Head Strength & Conditioning Coach Doc Kreis was really into "Speed Strength."

Some examples of Speed Force/Strength are Throwing Sports (shot put, javelin, hammer, discus) and Weightlifting (Snatch and Clean and Jerk). With Throwing, the weight stays the same and the distance tries to be increased. 

Check out my friend Christina Scherwin!!

With Weightlifting the weight lifted tries to be increased and the distance (floor to overhead) stays the same. 

This a Aimee Anaya Everett, she is amazing and very inspiring to me!

So they are kinda opposite, but the maximum about of force created stays the same. You give 100% effort each time. Or at least at 80-90% and above. Training for a sport that requires you to move a heavy object is different than training for a sport were the object is relatively light. Strength is a DETERMINING factor in success, as well as TECHNIQUE. You can be strong as freaking bull but if your form is shit, you will not throw far or lift what you are theoretically capable of. 

Soo the questions remains...what music should you listen to while trying to develop Speed Force/Strength? 

Well....how about Maxxxwell Carlisle's new shredding the fuck out metal instrumental album called SPEED FORCE?!!!? it rocks majorly and I did the album layout and my muse J.J. did the photos! 

Check out a sampler of songs and seriously buy the album on Itunes. Don't be cheap sauce, okay? 

http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/speed-force/id405381508

Fit Expo

The only news I have is that I am gonna Bench and Deadlift in the LA Fit Expo Jan 30.

I was not planning on doing a meet till the spring or summer 2011 and just "relax" over the winter (aka get hella jacked and just do fun body building stuff in addition to weightlifting.) It would have been a nice mental break. But since I qualified to lift because of the USPF State Games I thought that I should. Out of 5 girls invited to compete I am ranked 3'd in DL and 4th or 5th in Bench. In the 132-165 # weight class. My bench sucks. :) Its all Raw for me at least. Oh well, it will be a fun two month training period and after that I am gonna take a break and rock out!! I am actually gonna follow a diet too and eat regular meals and protein and stuff. OMG! lets see what miracles happen!

http://www.powerliftingwatch.com/node/16651

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

What Weightlifiting has given me

Wow, I haven't updated this in months! 

Here are some character traits that weightlifting has instilled in me. Even if I never competed or trained to compete again, these are with me for life and part of me!

Some of these blend into others, but you get the idea. 

CONFIDENCE

I think the most important thing that weightlifting has given me has been self-confidence. It would shock people that know me today, but when I was younger I didn’t have a lot of self-confidence! I hadn’t done anything to EARN it yet. I felt like I had nothing to offer the world and was too scared of failure and rejection to go beyond my comfort zone. As a result I did not do and try a lot of activities that I really wanted to. (When I started my job people thought I was a transfer from another store because I carried myself with confidence and treated everyone with respect). As a child and in my teens, I thought I was “just not athletic,” which was ridiculous. I was such an agile, explosive and quick girl. I was always running, jumping and throwing. Later in life it was just a matter of finding the right sport for me.

Weightlifting and Powerlifting are sports that I love so much that I would make almost any sacrifice for and sometimes that sacrifice is my self-comfort and emotional self-defense.  Other times it is hanging out with friends or making more money. When you find your (true) passion, nothing can stand in your way.

When you lift you need confidence, confidence that you CAN MAKE THE LIFT. There where times at UCLA when the athlete lifting would seem unconfident and say something along the lines of  “oh, I don’t know if I can make it” or “this is really heavy.” We would say to them “then stop  don’t go and get your fucking head straight! If you don’t have 1000% confidence that you are gonna KILL it, then don’t even bother.”

PATIENCE

All Sports teach patience, as well as confidence. That’s why it is soo important that children are involved in sports in some way.

Okay, so you want to lift a certain total, right? You say you want it NOW? Well, too fucking bad. Try and push results, weights, try to do everything at once and eventually you will get hurt and then you’re in trouble. You can’t force progress; it’s a SLOOOW process. It will sneak up on you. Today my friend, who doesn’t give out bullshit compliments, said my shoulders are looking awesome. Nice!!! I hadn’t even noticed because I look at them everyday!

Weightlifting teaches so much patience. Every kilo more lifted is progress. There are no “miracles” or “surprises” with weightlifting. The fact that it’s just you and the bar and no outside circumstances is very humbling. Every success and every missed attempt (er, opportunity to learn) is yours and yours ALONE. Try. Miss. Try again. Miss. Well, what to do next? Think and try again. Step away knowing that you will be back tomorrow. Its all in due time, even if you never “make it” to the Olympics.

FOCUS

Snatch and Clean & Jerk are arguably the most explosive, dynamic and powerful movements in all sports. It all happens in under a SECOND. Focus is a MUST. Focus on keeping the right body parts tight and the right ones taunt. Focus on pushing as hard you possibly can and focus on pulling under as strong you can! Focus! Focus! Focus! You can’t have any thoughts because the movements too fast. The moment a thought enters your mind, you miss. At meets and in training people and judges are watching you. You have to ignore them, ignore their questions, and ignore their actions.  You have to be selfish. You have to focus on a singular goal of improving the classic lifts and back squat/front squat. Most people FAIL because they are unable to have a singular focus. Americans especially want it all. We want to be the strongest, the most cardio conditioned, the most ripped, and THEN want to be awesome at the O-Lifts! Sorry son, not gonna happen! Unless you want to get hella hurt. Try Crossfit. Sorry my dears!

DETERMINATION

In weightlifting things don’t always go your way. In fact most of the time nothing goes “your way.” Rather you must FIND A WAY. When you have a goal, or goals that all lead to the same thing (ie, to snatch a certain weight you have to back squat a certain weight and overhead support a certain about of weight, etc, etc.), you have to stay inspired and be determined to keep training even if it seems like the goal is light years away.  What makes weightlifting beautiful is also what makes it so hard to stick with. Weightlifting is a constant, never ending process. There will always and forever be someone lifting more than you.  You can ALWAYS improve.  You have to have a certain about of “crazy” or “stubbornness” to stick with weightlifting for any extended amount of time, but I like to call it Determination instead.

HUMILITY

Weightlifting is a very humbling sport. One day you can lift a personal best and the next day fail at the same weight horribly. There’s a centimeter margin of error. You either make the lift beautifully or fail horribly. It’s very extreme. That’s why it looks so easy when you make a lift, but when you miss it looks like you're going to dislocate everything! The extremeness of it is what makes weightlifting addicting. The rush of a perfect lift.

Weightlifting is a hard sport to stick with because there is zero monetary compensation and not any public recognition beyond our lil circle of the strength world. You do it because you think its badass, amazing and different.

Weightlifting taught me not to take anything for granted.

I can’t take any weight for granted.

I can’t take my health for granted.

I can’t take my training facility for granted.

I can’t take my friends or family for granted.

I can’t take my job or my car for granted.

It could all be taken away in a second.

Because there are literally thousands of lifters in the world much better than you it keeps you very humble. I am a good lifter for the gym people I am around wherever I go and lift at, but in the grand or even not so grand scheme of things, I am not that accomplished at all! I am a lil fish. So if someone compliments me, I take it with a grain of salt and put it in perspective in my head. Otherwise my head would explode and I would walk around thinking I am the greatest gift to the world. Which would be really lame and not very cool!