Summer Book: Carb-Backloading 1.0

Hello Readers!

Hopefully everyone was able to spend a lot of time outside enjoying their summer and perhaps do a little training and reading on the side! I mentioned a few books earlier in the summer that were really good and mentioned that I would be tackling Carb Backloading when I could. Well, I ended up reading it near the end of summer and have been testing it on myself since then. Here is what occured:

-I really enjoy it!
-My body has gotten leaner
-My strength has had a noticeable jump
-My recovery is better...not just me not getting sore, but I'm recovered for repeat performances now!
-And... I get to eat cool things.

Carb Backloading has been a great experience. It has allowed me to take a lot of the things that I have read on health, nutrition, and training and combine them into something that has altogether less restrictions than any one of them did by themselves. It's pretty cool. It has given me a reason to eat copious amounts of carbs again -something I had previously stopped doing because of other readings that I had done (I still ate them, just not as many)- as well as continue to not eat breakfast or eat before I train in the morning. Haha... In the book, Keifer discusses how eating breakfast can literally stop your body from burning fat as well as how eating before training isn't really the greatest idea; in fact, it is actually beneficial to train in a fasted state!

Now, I know that this is a short write up and says some things that go against basically everything we are taught about being healthy...give it a read still. It's short and informative; it you don't like it, you didn't waste much time reading it. Hopefully, however, it can change the way that you think about food and perhaps help you improve your performance in more than one way!

P.S. Keifer is writing a second book too. It is a more updated version of this book with more tips for athletes other than strength athletes as well as tips for women since men and women actually burn calories a bit differently (according to him and some other smart people).

Summer Update

So, it has been a while since my last post... I took some time away from social media and, obviously, blogging was included in that. I'm now back, however, and will be updating the blog more frequently again.

During these last few weeks that I was out I ended up finishing my 3-day a week training program that I mentioned earlier. It was a good thing for my body, but I am glad to be back and training more frequently as well. I'm not really sure what competition I am training for at the moment, but I have a few in mind; one would be strongman and the other two would be powerlifting meets. Any of them would be fun. 

As far as my training goes, I am back and getting after it on deadlift as well as the rest of my training. Another focus of mine during this training block will be to increase my squat in general, but mainly my back squat. I believe that it is a limiting factor on my deadlift and that if I can increase it, it will help a great deal on my deadlift. I know that some people don't believe that the two are very related (one being a 'push' and one being a 'pull') but I disagree with that. If you have a good squat, it will help a great deal with breaking the weight from the floor and if you have a great deadlift, it will help a lot in keeping you back -mainly low back- from being the limiting factor in your squat.

Another thing that I thought about training-wise while I was away from the blogosphere that I would like to pose as a question to the readers:

What are your thoughts on geared lifting?

I'm not talking about competitive geared lifting, but I am talking about using us as a nervous-system overload. I have been thinking about it a lot, and looked at some of the elite powelifters and they tend to be able to do a lot of weight without gear too... so my question, refined, is: do you think it is because of the nervous system overload or because they are just strong people? or both?

I will finish this scattered and brief post with another, much more general question: has anyone read the books that I posted about earlier this summer and if so, what are your thoughts? If you are only part of the way through, what are your thoughts so far?

Road to 800 Update

So, these last couple weeks have been pretty good... I've changed my lifting just a bit to help my body rest over the summer until I start training for strongman nationals, but I'm still working on getting strong -well, just recently again. Haha...

Last week, the first week that I really started deadlifting again I had a pretty good week... Started off by hitting 300kgs for 3 reps on a BBK deadlift. That's a rep PR for me, so I was pleased. Then, I hit 505lbs for 1-7, +13 reps on deadlift the next time that I lifted. I was pleased with that, but I know that I can get more than that and I will next time I try that, whenever that may be; I'd like to get 20 just because. The third day that week that I lifted, I did a pretty heavy medley and finished with six reps at 515lbs... It was fine.

This week I had another good week for deadlifts... I had a good day on deficit deadlifts paired with log stiff-leg deadlifts (shown here) going 1-4, +6 at 220kgs; it felt solid, but I should have went with 230kgs probably. The next day that I trained I did front banded deadlift and regular banded deadlifts... what a day. I was trying out the front banded deadlifts and found that they are GREAT!!! for anyone that is having trouble engaging their lats and keeping the bar close during the deadlift -or lift off of either Oly lift. (Note: is is a bit better with lighter weight only because when it gets heavier the weights hold the bands back less than you do). I moved on to banded deadlifts and hit a couple of PR's which was really cool. The first PR was set of 2 with a hook-grip at 515lbs + band tension. The second was with the hook-grip as well for a single at 535lbs + band tension; I did it with the hook grip first, just to do it, then used straps for the second rep because I had sets of two for the day. I finished the day by doing a max weight PR for two singles at 565lbs + band tension... (video) Dang was that hard! Haha... It was a ton of fun hitting PR's like that though. Then, on my strongman training day, I decided to do a deadlift medley that had a bit of everything in it and finished with a 645lb/293kg deadlift with a hook grip!!! I was pretty pumped up because that was the very last thing that I did that day and it had been a pretty taxing day.

So, everything has been going well and it has been nice to have a lot more rest than usual, but I am very excited to start training for deadlift again and compete in another powerlifting competition.

As always, if you have any questions, comments, or concerns please leave the question on here or message me!

The 645lb deadlift at the end of medley and day

Great Summer-time Reading!

Hello all!

I am in school, so it is rare that I have much time to read for pleasure, although that is something I do. Lately I have had the leisure time to do so and I have been reading Michael Pollan's newest book, Cooked. It is a riveting book on the history of the different ways that we cook and the reasons, or possible reasons why. Pollan -for all of you who have never had the pleasure to read on of his books- is an incredible author. He has the ability to take the most mundane things in life and make them extraordinarily interesting; one of his books, A Place of My Own, is a book about him building a little work-shack on his property and the interesting things that he does and problems that he encounters while doing so. Who would have thought that, essentially, building a shed could be so interesting? The other books of his that I have read are equally as interesting. My goal for the summer is to finish the rest of them; he had written seven books, I have two and a quarter of them left to read... I can't wait. If reading about gardening and do-it-yourself architecture isn't your thing, I would still recommend taking a look at a few of his books: The Omnivore's Dilemma, In Defense of Food, Cooked, and Food Rules. All of these books discuss food in different ways and allow you to look at it with a different lens; it is important to know the things that he is telling you about your food even if you choose not to listen to it -making an informed decision could help you somewhere down the road.

                                                             

Other books that you could read -if you just don't feel like reading strictly about food right now- are Lights Out and Starting Strength. The first book, Lights Out, is a great read on sleeping and the very important role that it plays in our lives. Yes, we all know that sleeping is really important, but do we know why? Do we know what the melatonin does for us? Do we know what we should and shouldn't be doing just before bed if we want to get the most out of our sleep? What about the things that we use to fall asleep -TV, music, ect? What about seasonal eating and how sleep affects our appetites? All of these things are covered in this book. I will admit that some parts were dry or seemed repetitive, but the overall information in the book was really interesting, helpful, and showed the importance of making sure you sleep enough. The second book, Starting Strength, is a great book for a beginning lifter (or for someone like me who had just never read it...should have though. Haha...). It had a lot of information in it that was great and very helpful. There are some things that I disagree with the author, Rippetoe, on, but in what book isn't there some things that you disagree with what is written? He does a great job of breaking down some really big, basic lifts -squat, deadlift, overhead press, and power clean- and discussing each of them, why they are great, and how to do them.

The last book that I am excited to read is Carb Backloading by Keifer; I am excited because I have seem read results from real people and kind of want to see what the hype is about and why. I can't say much about the book, obviously, because I haven't read it, but it should be fun to read.

                                                           

Anyways, those are some books that should keep you busy over the summer and help to increase your fitness, health, or random knowledge. As always, if you have any questions, comments, or concerns...talk to me! Post on here or email me. I'd love to have or see some great discussions about fitness and health on here...that's is how, I believe, things can be truly learned.

-Chris


                                               

Oregon, Weightlifting, and the Training Leading Up to It

Hello everybody! I apologize for the hiatus... I'm back though! Anyways, not a lot has happened as far as the deadlift is concerned, so I haven't created a Road to 800 post for that reason. Instead, I was training for a weightlifting meet (Olympic lifting) for the last 3 weeks that was taking place back in Oregon. This isn't something I would normally do -especially for weightlifting- but I did this time because it was a pretty special weightlifting meet. This weightlifting meet was especially cool and special for me because of the fact that my little brother and my little sister would be competing in it and, as a graduation present, I would compete as well. It was great. The meet got even cooler when I found out that a few of my friends from Oregon State were competing in it as well; we ended up having 7 people competing, and it was a great group!

The day of the meet we showed up and weighed in. It seemed like there were a lot of people there, but we were also registering in the hall, so I figured that was contributing to the claustrophobic feeling I was getting. As it would turn out, this weightlifting meet was the biggest I have ever been too and as big as the biggest strongman competition that I had ever been too...there were 49 competitors! That is an unheard of amount of people, especially in Oregon (one of the promoters told me that at the first meet they put on this year out in Oregon, a mere 6 people showed up and competed...yes, 6 people). It was a well-ran show, however, and went very smoothly.

After the weigh-ins, the group of us found and claimed a platform for us to warm up on. The first person to compete was my little sister, who did great! She went out and power snatch 50kgs as well as power clean and jerked 65kgs; with more training and some technical work, I expect to see big numbers from her. I watched my friends Van, Amy, Mike, and Eric compete next along with my little brother. They all did awesome! It was Van's first time competing and he went 5 for 6 on the day which is very good. Amy did a great job as well, going head-to-head with a woman that is one of America's best lifters. Mike did an awesome job setting 2(?) PR's on the day in spite of being a lot of pain with his hip. Eric, though I didn't really know him before this day, apparently went to my high school and was a couple of years behind me -so that was a cool fact to find out, I guess. He did a really good job on the day, winning his weight class, and is a very strong kid. I was able to watch my brother next. I love watching him compete; he is an aggressive competitor. He hit 100kgs and 125kgs and went 4 for 6 on the day. I was awesome watching him clean and jerk 125kgs because he had missed it the rep before and had the mental capacity to come back from that and crush it on the next rep.

As far as my lifting is concerned, it went very well...and better than expected in the snatch. I was able to achieve a 5 for 6 day, which is better than I have ever achieved in competition previously, so that was cool. I  ended up snatching 130kgs and tying for first in that lift; although due to my lighter bodyweight, I won. I was surprised that I hit 130kgs on snatch because it didn't really feel as smooth in the warm ups as it had the first time I had hit it; but, I was able to go out there and get under it which was a lot of fun. In the clean and jerk, I was able to win the lift, but I barely missed a state record. The state record was 170kgs, which I was planning on having as my 3rd attempt, but the announcer let everyone know that 170kgs was the current state record, so hearing that I decided to try to beat it...so I had them up it to 172.5kgs. I clean it fairly easily, but I barely missed the jerk. I'll have it next year.

Looking forward, I plan to only lift 3x a week this summer and rest up before competing at nationals. I don't forsee any competitions due to the costs of them (I spent a lot on the competitions that I have done this year) and would like to come away from nationals with no lingering debt from the event. Once it is time to train for nationals though, it will bump back up to 5x a week. The lifting will still be hard this summer, just not as often. I'll update more on that and my thoughts on how it is working each week as well.

Here is a link to the video of my competition out in Oregon:

Eugene Classic Weightlifting Meet

Thanks for reading everybody!

The Road to 800

I've decided to not post the week number after the title given the fact that this series could take a long time to see happen. Haha...

Well, now that that's out of the way we can go over the last few weeks of deadlifting for me. Before that happens, I want any and all of the readers to know that this series -although to update you with how the deadlift is coming along- is also to inform you of my ways of improving my deadlift. I want this series to show the exercises that I am doing and how I am doing them so that you, the reader, can take some of the things that you like and use them within your own workouts (although I'm not doing anything too out of the ordinary and you are probably doing them). If you ever have any questions, comments, even concerns about the deadlifts, the variations, or the rep schemes that I am doing, please don't hesitate to let me know.

Anyways, now onto the deadlifts of the last few weeks. they have been an interesting two weeks because my training has been kind of messed up. I had two conferences to go to each weekend of these two weeks -one in Minnesota and then the next in Kansas. I was only able to train 4 times during the weekend in Minnesota, but was lucky enough that one of those times was at the University of Minnesota (which was great!) and last week I was only able to train 3 times. Although my training times were out of whack, I was able to hit some pretty good numbers.

Two weeks ago I went up to 320kgs for a 3x1 on 18" deadlift; this was down a little from my usual, but I was ok with it considering that the Friday before I did a deadlifting competition with a fellow Hydraulix athlete. He posted a challenge a while back that was 315lbs as many times as you can in three separate attempts and then they were all added up... I ended up with 151 reps. I was sore and fatigued for much longer than I expected I would be. Anyways, the next day I had a great lift and did 1-3, +5 at 220 on stiff-leg deadlift in the morning, then I did 290 by 1-3 on deadlift that afternoon. I was very pleased with that. I didn't deadlift again until that Friday when I was at Minnesota; I paired it with back squats and pin squats so I only did dynamic singles up until my last set at 250kgs for a pretty easy single.

The next week I got killed on the first half of my workout, bad enough that I ended up losing that battle; I had to stop my workout after deficit deadlifts where I only worked up to 240kgs for four singles. Terrible day. However, the next day I was able to hit a small PR on the axle deadlift and worked up to 375lbs double overhand; this is still not really where I want it, but it is taking a while for my grip to come along. Later that day I worked up and did 5x2 up to a new PR of 545lbs on banded deadlift ( the video is below); I don't know what the tension from doing the band like that is, but it is a new PR for me and that is how I always do it. The next day was just snatch-grip dynamic deadlift for 7x1 so nothing too exciting there.

That's all I have for now on my deadlifts! Thanks for reading and remember to let me know about any questions, comments, or concerns.

The Road to 800: Week 2

Time for an update! Last week was a great week for deadlift (you may read that a lot...).

On Monday I did BAK (bar above knee) deadlifts for 10x2 at 725lbs. It was a great workout for my upper back and great for just getting me under load.
Tuesday was a fun day -it is a deadlift day. They are good. Anyways, I started the day off with Axle deadlift paired with reverse lunges. I went 1-4 at 355lbs on the Axle and 5x2 up to 235lbs on the lunges. I then moved on to banded deadlift and went 1-4 again at 485lbs with a 1/4" quadrupled up (band goes over it twice so that four points are sitting on the bar).
My hamstrings were sore after that lift, so why not hit them hard on Wednesday too? I did 6x2 on dynamic deadlift at 200kgs paired with 1-4, +7 on a 10" log stiff-leg (SL) deadlift at 425lbs (shown below)...my hamstrings were very pleased with me the next day.
On Friday tires and sandbags and rocks and such were my deadlifting, so that was good...
Saturday the deadlifts I did were an XL frame deadlift at 565lbs for 1-6 and Atlas stones for 290lbsx5 and 330lbsx5 both to a 51" box.

All in all, it was a great week. The Road to 800 will be a long one.