The Power of Declaration

Around 10 months ago I made a declaration. I decided to not take the easy way out after a failure. I chose not to focus my energy on something new. Instead, I said "I am going to chase down this dragon whatever it takes". I started this blog to help me along my struggle. Yesterday, something happened that has never happened to me. I accomplished part of that goal. I Clean and Jerked 330lb. This was my 1RM Back squat when this blog was started. I know I still have 9lb. to go on snatch but this partial goal achievement is probably the most gratifying accomplishment of my athletic life. I know it doesn't win me a medal, I know it won't put me on an olympic team, I know it probably doesn't even make me the strongest in my district. None of this matters. I set out to do something, something hard, something I thought I may not achieve, and I defied my own judgement. This feels like victory.

The power of saying you are going to do something is the first step. It plants the seed of possibility, it makes everyone know that you are there and that you are serious. Remember that and don't be afraid to speak up! Yell your goals at the top of your lungs for everyone to hear. Tell the world what you are capable of. Then go prove it.

Critical Mass or How Justin got his clean back

"The Significant problems we have cannot be solved at the same level of thinking we were at when we created them" -Albert Einstein

 Things are really starting to snowball in a good way with training since the last post. Injuries seem to be healing, form seems to be improving, strength and speed is increasing, and bigger weight is going up. Things that I couldn't grasp about my body's movement and focus I couldn't tap into before seem to be simplified and easily accessible now. This is an amazingly empowering feeling and for the first time in a long time and more so than ever, I truly feel that this daunting task I undertook almost a year ago is within reach. This can be attributed to multiple things: Less training volume and program design changes due to injury, focus on improving technique and mental game, and over all better motivation through support from friends and family. The thing is none of these are the single reason. They have all culminated and grown over the last couple months until they reached critical mass (Yes, that is a Malcolm Gladwell reference). However all the factors seem to come down to one thing: adaptability.

 By now most half ass educated adults are familiar with the phrase "The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results" The thing is in the sport of weightlifting it is easy to disagree with this because on the surface it seems like what we do is just that "The same thing over and over again" 

 This is because the changes you have to make are often not external, but between your ears and in your chest. Learning humility and understanding oneself is strangely such a big part of this sport. Man, why though? Why is it that I have attempted to participate in everything from Golf to MMA and nothing feels more intrinsic than these two stupid movements to get a barbell over your head? 

 Here's the thing. I have no clue. Also, I have stopped trying to figure it out. Sometimes you just have to act like a drunk white person at a wedding and let the rhythm take you until you wake up the next morning only to check Facebook and find tagged pictures of you and your uncle sweatily doing the soulja boy in perfect unison. (That is obviously just an example and has never actually happened to me). 

 The point is that no matter how repetitive it seems, there will always be things that can be changed no matter how small and it's the small things, over time that often trigger the bigger more abrupt change. Take this to heart, be humble, take a step back, listen, reassess, and grow. It sounds so simple but it is, in reality, one of the hardest lessons I have ever learned.

I recently Snatch 266lb. (9lb. off my goal) and Cleaned 330lb. (My actual clean and jerk goal)for a double off low blocks.

266lb. Snatch

330lb. Clean Double from low blocks

I got 99 pebbles but a.....ya you get the picture.

There are three usual suspects to hindering our progress. They are as follows:

Mental 

Technical

Physical 

You really do have to work all of these equally if you want to realize your full potential in this sport (and most others for that matter). Imagine your full potential as 99 pebbles in your hand. Each of these three things have an equal amount and you start with none and begin to pick them up one by one. The first ten or twenty are easy to grab and you can grab more of one type than the other but as your hand begins to get full they become more and more difficult to pick up. Keep in mind that only a few people in the world will ever be able to actually pick up and hold all 99. Now what happens when you have spent all your time focusing on one type of pebble and you are severely lacking in the others? As they say, you are only as strong as your weakest link. Now that we know the importance of balance, lets talk about the pebbles individually.

 The mental will be spoken about in more detail in the following post (critical mass) and is probably the most difficult to change because it can't really be quantified and is almost impossible teach. To work on it you need to learn to trust yourself and make sure your inner dialogue is always a positive one and more often than not, a little cocky. You will never see a timid champion. True they often come with reserved personalities outside the arena but give me one champion that doesn't show the killer instinct on the platform and I'll show you a great actor.

"Technique moves the bar" This is a quote I got from C.J. Stockel who does the USAW Level 1 classes in Flowery Branch, GA. Probably the simplest and best line I have ever heard in regards to technique and its importance. I don't care how strong you are, you are not going to be able to lift 300lb. over your head without some sort of technical ability. The more you know about your body and how it moves the better equipped you will be to move the bar which can actually spill over into your mental toughness as well. If you know what you are doing wrong and ignore it, you are destined for failure. If you don't know what you are doing wrong find someone who does. End of story.

 Your first assumption is probably that the Physical portion is referring strength, but you'd only be partially correct. Yes strength is important, you have to have both the actual muscle fibers to contract and a healthy Central Nervous System with the ability to recruit them, but you also need the ability to get into the positions needed to be most effective according to your body type which spills into technique(starting to see an interlinking trend between pebbles here?). I am talking about mobility. Funny, this is one of the easiest things to fix most of the time, however it is probably the most over looked. If you started your athletic career ignoring it, it will most likely be brought to your attention one of two ways. Either during your search to improve after everything else fails, or by your orthopedic doctor when he tells you your broken and need surgery. Yes it is that important. Listen to old athletes when they tell you to work on mobility, it's most likely because they didn't when they were in your shoes and regret it now.

That's it. Go gather.