I asked my long time friend Kristen to do a write up series documenting her personal journey with fitness and living a healthy lifestyle. I thought she would be a perfect guest-blogger here on IDS because she's a mom, she's young and she's in school and she works on top of it all. Yet, she still manages to find some time for herself and her health.
When Brandi asked me to do a guest series for the blog, I obviously had to tell her yes, hell yes, I will do this. She’s an incredible woman I met years ago through a blog, actually, and I know she is wildly passionate about fitness. WELL. I am wildly passionate about a great friend with a great message, and I want to support that.
I also have a bit of a story myself. I am a 25 year old mother of two lovely daughters. My story is the same song you can hear from many, many women across the nation. Where to start?
Well, I can start at the beginning. I was born in the late 80’s to a low SES family. My mother smoked through her pregnancy with me (and continued through my childhood) and formula fed me, just like any normal mother at the time. Both of those things have been linked to health problems. For me, the smoking meant a weak respiratory system and asthma, which hindered my efforts in P.E. That weak respiratory system teamed up with a diet poor in nutrition (that low SES life) and blessed me with many respiratory infections. I was on some form of steroid treatment for those issues at least once a cold season throughout my childhood. And steroids do what? Increase appetite and weight gain. So childhood me has asthma which makes exercise suck, is on medication for it which increases appetite, and lives in a home where hot dogs and canned chili on white buns is the standard dinner (and I’m so hungry for it!).
I knew from a very young age that I wasn’t a pretty girl. I wasn’t petite. I was awkward and couldn’t do the things the other kids could- run once around the soccer field or throw the softball or anything sports related. At some point, I got really pissed off about that and took my inhaler with me to run. The thing that struck fear into me the most during PE. I was going to make it mine. I started slowly and just kept pushing myself until I got to about 4 miles. The rest of the cross country team probably looked down on me when they ran past my little shuffle, but I did not stop.
That opened up the doors to me feeling like a human being. I tried out for the high school dance team, and made it. I started styling my hair and paying attention to my clothes. I kicked so much ass at this starting from nothing thing that I couldn’t help but have confidence. There’s something about working out, whether it’s cardio, intervals, the weight room, pole dancing, whatever- that’s raw. It’s 100% your effort, will, and strength (and then some, in a good workout). It has the power to transform you as a person and affect every aspect of who you are and what your life looks like.
And that is where everyone’s fitness journey begins.
A lot of people think that looking like a great bodybuilder happens after some magical number of years of hard training, diet and recovery. "Eat the right foods" they tell you. "Sleep enough" they say. "Make sure you believe in your program and really develop your body, pay your dues and you will achieve what you never thought possible".
While yes, it's true, that "paying your dues", hard training, good recovery practices and good dieting are all parts of what make the bodybuilding physique what it is, that's not the whole machine. It's imperative to nib this in the bud because there's this idea of what's attainable naturally running around, and it's not healthy and it's not fair.
There are certain bodybuilders who have done well for themselves. Layne Norton is one of them. There was a time, many years ago, that I listened to every pod cast, read every article and believed most of what Norton said. Why? Because he's university trained, he's the "protein" guy. He's a national competitor in bodybuilding. He's a coach. He knows how to run a business. He knows how to get people shredded or huge or both. Someone like that must know what he's talking about, he must know what he's doing.
And he does. He has managed to live a lie of what is achievable naturally for many years. And people believe him. Why is this a big deal, you ask? This is a big deal because it's putting ideas into people's heads who don't know any better. Of course people want to (and will) look up to someone like Layne Norton. He knows a lot of smart shit. He's a smart guy! You want to believe that if you do just as he says, you will reap the rewards, earn a pro card, go far in your dreams and aspirations of a head-turning physique.
I have zero issue with anyone using steroids. I haze zero issue with anyone saying they do or don't use (it IS illegal in many countries after all!) and my problem isn't with people using gear, it's when people start to make money off of their lies that I take issue with. Especially people who are very powerful and will try to crush anyone who tries to speak the truth about it (Ice Cream Fitness).
This must end. People need to aspire to a natural physique by looking at legitimate natural physiques. While this is a much bigger issue than just one person, one bodybuilder, one law, one country, it is an issue that needs to be dealt with.
You cannot attain a physique like Layne Norton's naturally. There, I said it.
I'm not doing this to defame anyone, I am doing it to help you. a 90 day program, book, ebook, stack of legal steroids, weight loss pill, won't get you to look like a top competitor. a 10 year program of test boosters, lots of sleep, eating "bro" food and reading magazine articles on the next best training program also won't get you to look like a top competitor. What will get you to look like all of those guys that have won the Olympia? Gear. Hard training. Good diet. And more gear.
Work your asses off, eat well, sleep enough and get what you get, and be happy with it, naturally. But don't compare yourself to top level bodybuilders who are winning shows at a national level, because no matter what they say, they aren't natural.
A while back, Paul Carter (of Lift-Run-Bang) wrote a really good article based upon the ideas of patience, self belief and progress.
This article has been in the back of my mind since I read it and I wanted to share my perspective on training, progress and the psychology of both.
Sports psychology is a bigger market than we think. After all, they say that the mind and the body create one. Psychology itself along with self help, gurus, fortune telling, all of that is a big market in our society. Why? Because people want instant gratification. I can be one of those people. Without re-inventing the training and self belief wheel (Paul did a great job covering those in his article), I want to instead talk about why the psychology behind making progress is so important.
A long, long time ago (1898, to be exact) a psychologist named Norman Triplett did a basic study of cyclists. He found that cyclists got better times when they were competing against other cyclists versus when they cycled alone. No surprise there, right? We know that competition is human nature and it improves performance overall. But why?
The drive to win likely stems from our caveman days when we would fight for food and shelter. To lose the fight was to die. Today, the consequences aren't nearly as dire, but losing doesn't feel good.
Training for a competition changes things. I recently learned this when I signed up for my first meet. Picking out a 5k will change how you train because it will change why you train. Picking out a bodybuilding contest will change your perspective on training. Your training will likely now be more about bringing up lagging parts, getting rid of as much water weight as possible, looking more full, etc.
We like to change our training strategies around when we have a competition fueling our progress because we don't want to lose. We want to be our best. We want to perform our best. For some, paychecks are directly related to how well they perform. For others, it's sponsorships and contracts that could be lost due to a lackluster performance.
So, you want your training to feel more meaningful? Pick out a competition and then train your ass off to win it. Nothing will fuel your training more than the thought of winning or losing after months of hard work and preparation.
And nothing lets you know you've made progress like setting a new PR at a meet, winning the gold instead of the bronze at a show, or beating your previous best time by 4 seconds.
Life has a funny way of teaching you hard lessons. It will sometimes throw you into the proverbial deep end of the pool while you try to either learn to swim or drown.
Life also has a way of giving you things and presenting you with opportunities.
But you have to be able to recognize the opportunity when it is presented. Some people float through life hoping for something amazing to fall into their laps, while sometimes, something may. But these people are so busy looking for something terrible or bad or complaining about how much life sucks that they miss the opportunities before them.
This is a blog not only dedicated to getting stronger with iron, but stronger in heart, in mind, in spirit and also in body. All of these facets work together to make us humans what and who we truly are.
While having a big total is a great thing in the world of powerlifting and being able to show how strong you are in the gym or on the field is something worth achieving, it is also worth noting that having a strong personal sense of who you are and what you truly want out of life is important to strive for as well.
I was recently presented with an opportunity. I had lost out on something fairly recently and was upset about it, complaining and whining about it. But I eventually put on my big girl pants and said "OK, something else will come along and if I have to work harder to get it, I will."
Then life dropped a sapphire right into my lap and I was able to seize the opportunity because I recognized what it was. My ability to not be a "green grasser" gave me the chance to take the opportunity and now just run with it and make the most of it.
"Green grassers" are people who just cannot seem to simply appreciate and accept and truly enjoy and be happy with what they have already created or have in their lives. Do not mistake this for apathy. While we should all continue to try to be better, stronger and greater human beings in all aspects and continually grow, we ought to also be able to stop and appreciate the journey and the stops we have created and taken. We cannot continually look over the fence and hope that side is better than the side we're on. Granted, sometimes it is and sometimes it isn't. But we should at least try to appreciate what we have while we have it while still trying to improve and become better versions of who are are.
You can't win them all, but you should certainly try.
It never ceases to amaze me that a lot of people just need help getting started correctly.
This post is directed at the new-comer or the ones coming back after some time off who need some guidance. This post is inspired by a slew of questions I have received lately regarding supplementation, nutrition and general exercise programming.
A lot of articles can get very scientific. Lucky for you, I'm not a scientist. Let's learn something, shall we?
What to eat:
While this question can be answered differently by 10 different people, I'll break it down and enlighten you as to what your options ought to be. None of this is set in stone, and you can do with this information as you please. As TMW says, this is all just advice.
Nailed it.
1) Don't eat kit kat lasagna. Seriously.
2) Don't eat too much stuff that comes out of a bag or a box, unless it literally says "chopped brocoli" or "peas" or "frozen berries" or something very similar. If you're not sure, look at the nutrition label and see how much other stuff is added in, if any.
Seems legit.
3) Eat more protein.
4) Drink more water.
5) Log your daily calories.This does several things, one of which is letting you know what's working and what's not. MyFitnessPal is my counter of choice and they have mobile apps available for both Android and iOS.
Those are the basics to getting more healthy over-all. Without digging deeper into gluten allergies, lactose allergies, carb sensitivity, etc, this should pretty much do everyone a solid.
As far as how often to eat, that's a whole other post. But choose an eating pattern you can stick to. I personally do intermittent fasting, but that's not for everyone. Some people fair well on 6 meals per day, others on 3, and some on eating every other day. It's all about finding what works best for you.
What to Take:
1) Creatine. If you're trying to gain mass (often referred to as "bulking" in bodybuilding circles) or lose fat (often referred to as "cutting"), creatine is good for both. I like the creatine from True Nutrition and I like the company itself and its practices, but you can choose any type of creatine monohydrate you'd like, so long as the label states "Creapure" (which basically means that nothing has been added in as filler). Creatine is the most scientifically studied supplement on the market and has been shown to improve athletic performance over time more-so than any other supplement.
Other Supplements, Case by Case:
A multi vitamin. If you go this route, try to get a super food multi. But note that these have not been shown to significantly affect health or performance. These are usually used to just fill in gaps in your diet, if you're a vegetarian or vegan, for instance.
Vitamin D3 (if you want more info on this, check out Ice Cream Fitness on YouTube...Jason does a great job of talking about the benefits. (linked below) )
Protein Powder. This is one that people will say is either good or bad. And while, yes, different types of protein are "better" because they offer more bang for your buck, just meeting your protein requirements is a must no matter if you're trying to get bigger or lose fat. I get mine from True Nutrition (custom mixes are awesome) and they have tons of options, even for the vegan and vegetarian athlete. I would choose 1) Whey Protein then 2) Egg protein then 3) Rice protein. I'm not an advocate of soy in any fashion, but to each his own.
I always recommend Starting Strength for those really interested in getting strong using iron, and using a barbell correctly. It's got great information on body mechanics and it's very useful for getting you into the right type of programming. If you're looking for a very solid, general baseline foundation program, buy this book. You won't be disappointed. And don't forget to log your training sessions!
Programming is something that can be talked about until my dying breath, but I'll try to keep it simple (and it's not my forte). If you're not wanting to compete in something and just want to get in shape, just start moving more than you do now.
It's important to note that not all exercise is created equal, but that any exercise (generally) is a lot better than none.
There are a ton of mis-conceptions out there, so I'll try to be frank.
I am a strength athlete. I like lifting heavy things. Some people don't. I recognize this.
1) Try not to do cardio the same day you lift things. If you must do cardio the same day, fall back to "bro-science" and do your weight lifting first in the session, then cardio after. Better yet, separate your cardio and weightlifting by a few hours, at least. Cardio can be quite catabolic (muscle wasting) without the use of external compounds to negate this (anabolic steroids), hence the reason for splitting up the work.
2) Lift heavy things. If you're not sure what "heavy" is in this context, you aren't lifting heavy. Heavy is subjective. I cannot lift 600 pounds from the floor like Ronnie Coleman or Ed Coan. But lifting 175 is heavy for me. It's all a matter of context. But don't sacrifice good form for the sake of more weight. That only literally hurts you later.
3) Find something you like to do that will get you to your goals efficiently. Maybe weightlifting isn't your cup of tea. Maybe you like golf or boxing or basketball. How do you know what your cup of tea is? It's hard work, but it feels good. It brings you peace. Realize that there will be good days in the gym or on the field and there will be plenty of bad days, too. But if you generally enjoy the work you put into your sport and the results are getting you closer to your goals, then you found your tea.
Different flavors for different folks.
4) Don't over think it. Just get in there and do work. If you're not sure of your form, find or hire someone to help you learn it and perfect it. If you want to get into a certain sport, find others who are already into it and learn from them.
And always remember, this is our chance. Your health is something you can pretty much control. A healthy and sexy body is more apt to breed a healthy and sexy mind as a result.
We live in a society built on fear. Fear of the unknown. Fear of the different. Fear of failure. Fear of success. Fear of falling. Fear of our fear.
We are afraid to die, yet, a lot of us in the western world eat Cheetos and drink soda and go to McDonald's for dinner more than once a week (that is a very generalized statement, of course).
Why do we live in fear? I have my own personal theories, but one of the stronger ones is that we are conditioned to do so by those "above us" on the power chain. If we, as the small folk, got too big for our britches, many corporations would go down in flames.
There are societies that believe in preventative medicine. Here in America, we mostly believe in rehabilitative medicine.
In 2010, the leading causes of death according to the CDC were as follows:
Data from CDC.gov
Yeah, so, as you can see, we're all happy and healthy here in America. I think there are a lot of factors at play. There is no cure for Alzheimer's or aging, that is where we are all headed. There is no cure for many cancers and once it's terminal, that's pretty much it. We're not even sure of what causes Alzheimer's or cancer. Sure, certain behaviors like smoking a lot or drinking too much can lead you down either one of those paths, but there are people that get cancer that are seemingly healthy and eat "right".
I digress. What am I getting at?
We live in a society of fear. Without all of these things to fear, what would we do? Would we buy all the OTC supplements, the magic weight loss pills, juice our vegetables instead of eat them? Run faster after we buy those new shoes that are supposed to be better for our feet? Lift heavier, move more, eat less? No. We fear, so we consume, and then we fear what we consume (this is a part of a much, much longer could-be series).
Back pain? Pop a pill. Allergies? Pop a pill. Hungry? Tired? Coffee and sugar will hold us over.
But we are slowly killing ourselves. Just looking around tells us so.
At some point we have to stop and take a look around and accept responsibility for our situations. Then we have to decide what to do about it. We can stop eating so much garbage and start eating more actual food, or we can stay the unsustainable course and poison ourselves slowly. Granted, yes, we are all headed to the same destination. But it's the journey that counts, remember?
Maybe there is someone in your life who is so unhealthy, that fuels your work outs or training sessions. Maybe there's someone like April who inspires you and is the fire to keep you going. Maybe it's just you and the iron, or the road, or the CrossFit gym.
Caitlyn Trout, world record holder in powerlifting
Either way, it's pointless to eat "correctly" and sit on your ass all day just as it is pointless to slave away in the gym or on the field and eat garbage.
Don't let them scare you into submission. Think for yourself, seek the truth and know that your morals and beliefs will be challenged along the way. It is not easy, but it is worthwhile. The path we take leads us to a wider and less lonely road if we take it together.
You don't need that pre-workout supplement to set PRs. You don't need that weight-loss pill to help you lose weight. You don't need to eat that or eat this magical food in a magical combination. You do need to use your brain and look for valuable and reliable sources of information.
Martin Berkhan, AKA, the Father of Intermittent Fasting. Leangains.com
And then you need to lift heavy stuff for a while, or run for a while, or even walk for a while 4, 5, 6 times a week. That's it.
So, you guys may be aware now that I was, for a time, coached by Clint Darden. Clint is a man of honor and duty. He is a father, a husband and an elite level athlete. He's been around the block and, to boot, is a great guy. I am not shamelessly plugging him, but...The story behind this series is something I wanted to explain and give full credit to Clint. He does a newsletter "The House of Biceps" and he's asked some of his readers to send him their ideas of "Strong" whether that be video, writing, stories, etc.
I stated a while back that I have had a long journey. This is the first part of a much longer story. This is one idea of what "Strong" to me, personally, is.
What is "strong"? Strong is having the courage to set boundaries, but to recognize that they change over time. I remember back in 2008 when I could do 10 pull ups like it wasn't any work. I forget how hard I worked to get there. Now, in 2013, at 29 years old, things have changed. I am slowly coming back from an injury, and am happy I can now do 1 pull up on any day. Why is that "strong" to me? Because, I didn't get hung up on what I used to be able to do. We used to shit our pants when we were babies. We may get back to that point. But we're not there yet.
Life has a funny way of coming back around. Our relationships are built on trust, and the gym is no different. Life, however, doesn't wait for you. If you don't get stronger, you have no one to blame but yourself. Strong doesn't just reflect how much weight you can lift, but how many times you keep coming back to lift it, even when people tell you you can't. You won't be able to ever touch a barbell again. That's what they told me. Then they gave me prescriptions for muscle relaxers, Ibuprofen and sent me on my way.
Let's go back a bit.
It was November, 2005. I was at work. I was checking the perimeter of our base (I was active Air Force at the time) and we got an emergency call. I sped off, didn't have my seat belt on, and to make a long story short, wrecked the truck. It flipped over 2 times. I was ejected from the seat along with my partner. I was due to deploy in less than a month for my first overseas deployment, Iraq. Somehow, I lived. I woke up, in shock, lying in the gravel, unsure as to what had just happened. I tried calling for help, but nothing came out. I couldn't move. I wondered if I was paralyzed.
I didn't break a single bone. I didn't lose a limb. I even still had all my teeth and now, carry some scars. I deployed on December 5th, 2005. I came back with all my fingers and toes, but as many of you may know, going to war changes you. It was in Iraq that I found solace in the barbell. So when the doctors, years later, told me I would never touch one again due to my back injury (un-related to the accident, maybe, but no one is 100% sure), I couldn't stand the thought.
I listened to them. For 2 years I didn't lift a thing. My pain got worse.
Then, I said "screw it" and got a surgery done. The day of the surgery, I touched a barbell for the first time. I lifted just the bar. I did curls and bench press.
All roads lead me here, with the barbell and the plates.
Sometimes, you must trust yourself. A PhD doesn't make you any smarter than a degree in life or knowing yourself. Only you know your true limits. If you let others tell you what your limits are, you might as well start digging your own damn grave.
That is strong. I am a woman. But more than that, I am a strength athlete. I am strong in the gym, and I try to be strong outside of it.
I don't understand gym-goers who don't use a training log. I was at the university gym a couple weeks ago and looked around and saw no one but myself with a log. Granted, some of these people may perhaps use a log on their phone, but I didn't see a lot of phones....which brings me to the point of this short post:
Training logs are important. How do you get to where you're going without some sort of written document (or smartphone document) your journey? The iron road is paved with good intentions, but if you don't know why you're suddenly stalling, or why you're not gaining progress, or why you're so tired all the time, the training log can be a huge resource. It can enlighten you to these troubles and help pin point any issues you may be having.
I have training logs from 2008 to present-day...some of them half half-years, some of them are filled up and some have PRs that I like to go back and look at. All of them have value.
These date back to 2008, 3 years after I started lifting and when I got serious about tracking
So, how do you keep a log? What do you keep it in? May be a silly question for some, but for others, this is important foundational knowledge to have. You have many options. I will go through some of the paper options, as I have tried the smart phone apps, but just never use them the way I do a paper log.
The next shots are the guts of my logs...please excuse the super pussiness of some of the training and the numbers.
First up, my first log, the BodyMinder. This worked well for a while, but I found I was too cramped when I had to write in those tiny boxes. Some people may like this because it's pretty organized. There's a body stats page, a photos page, all the good stuff.
Next up, just a plain ol' ledger book. This can be very organized as well and there's tons of space for multiple workouts for any given week, which comes in handy when you're programming or going for a max.
Next up, just a plain notebook and how I used it. There are multiple ways to log things in a notebook, or even a ledger...it just takes some messing around to figure out what works best for you.
And what I have been using the last 2 years or so, the weekly calendar book. This is my preferred log choice, lots of room to write and mark notes on and easy to go back, plus the built in calendars for the months are very useful for documenting certain things.
The point is, just log. Take good notes like you're in a really hard science class and think of your log as your textbook. It can be very beneficial to making progress and knowing what works well for you and what doesn't work as effectively.
As for what to track: the basics always do me well, but sometimes I log when I start a certain stack of supplements so I can track if they are effective, or when I cycle off things. I track my composition changes like weight and bodyfat% so I know which direction I am headed. I sometimes write in my calorie breakdown or simply print my food log for the prior week and analyze if it I'm having trouble sleeping, hitting decent weights, or recovering in general. This also helps me know "what works" nutrionally and calorie-wise.
You could get more in depth if you'd like...hours slept, temperature when you awake, muscle soreness, illness, general feelings of well-being. It's up to you. But most importantly, log what you did that day in the gym, how long it took you and how you felt prior and after or even during. This is one key to success.
Remember the quote from Alice in Wonderland?
Knowing where you're going is half the battle...but if you finally get there without documenting anything, how do you keep going forward?
Not only because abs are sexy when you have them, but because they increase your lifts, your athleticism, your speed, your stability.
Whatever sport you enjoy, working your abs is a great way to improve efficiency and power in that sport.
Affected exercises from ab work include:
Squats
Deadlifts
Military and Push Press (which translates over to many overhead movements, such as the Clean and Jerk)
Why is working your abs important and how do they improve your power, efficiency and stability? Weak abs (more scientifically, serratus anterior, rectus abdominis, rectus sheath, iliac crest, linea alba, external abdominal oblique, otherwise known as "those six-pack or 2-pack things under your shirt) cause weaknesses in other parts of your body, which then cause pain, instability, and poor flexion/mobility.
Everything in the body works with everything else. Once we understand that, we start to stop treating our bodies like they're that old exercise bike or your asshole boss and start actually treating it like it’s our damn temple.
Some people want to see their abs, some don’t. I’m still sitting between that middle ground, but getting more to the “don’t care if I see them or not” crowd, only because I have switched gears from bodybuilding to powerlifting, so I have been eating more carbs in order to gain more leverage in my lifts.
Just because you can’t see them doesn't mean they aren't nice and strong, though. My favorite ab move lately has been side bends. If done correctly, these can help build a strong and stable mid-section, which will translate over to your big lifts. I personally am not a big fan of working my abs, but I do it not for how pretty they can be, but for the translation into my lifting weight and putting it down again.
Speaking of, it’s high time I put a face to this blog, so here you go. Granted, I’m no figure competitor and I don’t have a ton of muscle (yet) but I started this blog, hoping to begin teaching you what I am currently learning, to get my ideas out there and to become more well-versed on the subject of the human body in general.
Dedication. What's that look like to you? Is it going to bed at a certain time most nights, managing your time; dates and family time around your training and eating? Is it foam rolling, hot/cold baths, getting up before everyone else so you can train?
For me, dedication is about seeing something through til it's done. In the world of iron, though, I don't know if we're ever really "done" until we're dead or paralyzed. Granted, dead and paralyzed don't have to be literal, they can be entirely metaphorical, but....
Are you alive today? Go life something heavy.
These past two weeks (I know, I'm sorry for having not written in a bit) have been pretty intense.
Aside from some serious personal shit going on, school was kicking my ass pretty hard core. I wrote my coach (Clint Darden) and told him he may not hear from me for a bit. What did he say? He didn't say "okay" or "sounds good" he pretty much told me to suck it up and keep training, to find the time. Make the time. He told me, flat out, that training must continue because I cannot, under any circumstances, miss an entire week's worth of sessions.
It's amazing how important each and every session is to the next one.
Just like your meals, your sleep, your stress management. Everything rolls into everything else.
So, instead of missing sessions, I managed to make the time to train. I did a 50 minute session with some lighter weights because I was exhausted. Training when you're exhausted is hard. But once you do it, you know you can actually do it.
Lucky for me, I met a nice fellow at my school gym. He's into oly lifting and he's pretty damn good. He helped me a bit with my push press (which is now actually getting up to par, thankfully...maybe I'll write about that soon) and I had some good sessions. Just knowing he was going to expect to see me lifting in the gym made me more willing to go. It was harder to talk myself out of going.
Find that one guy/girl at your gym and it helps a lot.
So, it's been a rough month. But, I am more committed than ever to my training goals. Dedication feels good.
I’m currently studying urban planning and design at UMKC. You may have no idea what an urban planner is, so I’ll break it down simply for you. An urban planner plans cities and makes plans. The roads you drive on, the grocery store and where it’s located, how things look, parks, water systems, types of shopping venues and centers....all of these requires someone somewhere planning them out. Urban planning is important. We’re sort of like the screenwriters, artists and directors for the city. A lot of people just show up to watch the movie or TV show, but don’t really think about who wrote the movie, planned it, paid for it, and did all the hiring, makeup and special effects.
Got it? Awesome. Why the hell do I care if you know what urban planning is and what the hell does that have anything to do with lifting heavy ass weights?
Not everyone has the same access as I do, or maybe you do. In 2010, the United States poverty rate was 15% (an estimated 4.6 million people)(1). This undoubtedly impacts one’s food choices and training options. Granted, if you qualify, food stamps (SNAP) can sometimes mitigate the loss of access, but it does not help with training, or even allowing one to consider becoming a serious athlete. When money is tight, our health (as a society) tends to go into the shitter rather quickly.
Why is that?
Access. There may not be a Whole Foods or Trader Joes or (enter your locally sourced grocer here) near Joe Noname (and even if there were there is no guarantee Joe could afford it). So Joe doesn’t have the same access I personally do to quality, affordable locally sourced products. But Joe does have access to McDonald’s, Burger King, Taco Bell, and all the other fast food chains and their very enticing “dollar menus”, and not to mention gas stations and their processed food that’s fairly cheap as well.
This map illustrates food desserts in the U.S. Light blue=impoverished households, Orange=No food access within 1 mile (urban)/ no food access within 10 miles (rural) | (Mapped using USDA.GOV).
What some impoverished folks may not know, however, is that some local farmer’s markets do allow SNAP benefits to be used to purchase their food. Farmer’s markets generally have much lower overhead costs, distribute/sell their products themselves (which cuts out the middle man), and are not your average industrial produce/meat growers. But not everyone is aware of these resources.
That, dear readers, is where we come in. It’s our job to help others in our communities understand how food affects them, and how to get the best food they can realistically afford.
Wal Mart’s meat may not be as good as the grass fed local stuff, but what do you do if Walmart meat is all you can afford? You do the best you can do. Athletes need protein. If you’re to become a champion (or even sort of good) in your sport, then you need to make protein a priority. And protein is expensive.
There are a number of protein powders (mostly whey) at big box stores that are spiked with partial proteins. Companies will spike a powder in order to get the protein content up enough to slap on “29 grams of protein per serving!” their label. When in reality, there may be more like 15-20 grams of protein per serving and the other 9+ grams are made up of partial proteins derived from BCAAs, and not full proteins at all (and yes, this does have an impact on what’s called muscle protein synthesis, but that’s really sciency and not something you need to understand in this moment) (2).
The point is, sometimes people have limited choices, so it’s better for them to take the shitty cheap powder and supplement their protein intake that way because it’s cheaper than paying 30 dollars for a tub of quality whey. We have to make concessions, each of us. Sometimes the impoverished athlete needs to make more concessions than his better-off counterparts, and there’s nothing judgemental about that.
In the end, you are the only one who cares if you succeed at your training goals. If quality food is something that is hard to come by, you need to make concessions. It IS possible to eat decently well on a very minimal budget. Canned tuna, locally baked bread, seafood (on sale), meat products that are marked down because they are close to expiring (or on sale), cottage cheese, frozen vegetables and local products from your farmer’s market (if you have one and can access it) are all excellent ways to fuel your training if your budget is tight. Hell, even some college students may find these tips useful.
I don’t think it’s fair to chastise someone who is doing their best, given their situation and circumstances. It is fair, however, to give these people the proper information and resources and allow them to make informed decisions about their health, and food is a huge part of our overall health.
Do the best you can do. If you’re not satisfied, find a way to become a little better than you were last week. After all, that’s all anyone can do. Nothing magical happens overnight. Don’t let someone else tell you that you can’t do it. You can.
I’m sure everyone has heard of sports psychology. Sports psychology is a big deal in our country, especially because athletes that are pro can get paid upwards of millions of dollars for a contract. I’m not really keen on how football, basketball and baseball all work. I know they all involve throwing balls, goals (or baskets, obviously...) and running around and sometimes slapping someone on the ass. But I also know there’s a lot of pressure, millions of fans of the team(s), people watching and either winning/losing money, and future contracts hanging in the balance with every game.
Sports psychology is important in these sports (and pretty much every other sport as well) for a myriad of reasons. One being which, someone has to lose, so make sure it’s the other guy (or team). You know how in those cheesy (but sometimes barely enjoyable) sports movies, the Coach walks into the locker room right before the big game and gives some long tearful emotional speech about not sucking and “it’s okay to lose, but we won’t” and all that other shit? That, dear readers, is sports psychology at the monkey level.
I’m currently reading a book called “Psych” by Judd Biasiotto. Biasiotto is above the monkey level. This book is mainly geared towards competitive weightlifters, but can be pretty much applied across the board. Obviously, I like that it’s geared towards weightlifters, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t read it if your sport is golf or CrossFit or gymnastics.
“Psych” is all about methods used for athlete arousal and performance enhancement via that awesome thing called the mind. The mind is known to play tricks on us. It tells us we can’t possibly follow that diet, because we’ll starve. It also tells us to eat potato chips and drink soda because they are A) the devil’s food and B) made in a lab somewhere based on the human brain’s reward systems*.
So, how we do reign in the power of our minds and get into a state of being awesome, but not too awesome that we blow it? Biasiotto goes into depth discussing the civil rights movement (it fits in perfectly, context-wise) and he starts digging into what makes a competitive athlete a winning athlete (or team) and how the trainee/athlete can use some of the methods he lays out to do so.
To a degree, I think most serious trainees do, in fact, use some form of psyching. I know for me, when I’m about to go for a PR, it takes me a few seconds, sometimes a minute or two, to get my mind in the right spot. I think about getting onto the top 10 list of the PL totals. I think about how strong my legs feel that day. I think about how I won’t let this bar beat me, not today. But what I need on any given day sometimes changes a bit. I’m not always chasing a PR, so I don’t need the same level of psyching up that a PR day needs.
In order to bring the intensity that is necessary to achieve your goals, you need to find out what works for you. That means, the right training program, “diet” or eating habit (along with meal timing knowing what carbs/fats/protein work best for you and your goals) and the right psyching up in the gym or on the field. Are you the type of person that needs to be slapped to get ready to attack the weights, or do you prefer if someone is yelling “you can do this!”. Or maybe you like quiet, and to be inside your own head, talking yourself up. Maybe you stomp around looking insane but then squat 900 pounds.
Psyching can even be something simple like wearing a specific shirt, pair of socks, or pants/shorts or shoes. Sometimes, I wear long sleeves. Sometimes I wear short sleeves. But lately, I always wear a beanie. Mainly because my hair gets in my face and it’s distracting, but it’s come to be the sign of “game time” to my brain and it helps me turn my switch on.
Experiment with psyching yourself up and controlling your performance anxiety. Try to never think negatively about your sport and how you’re doing, or how much weight you’re pushing. That negative shit interferes with healthy psyching up and is called psyching yourself out.
At the end of the day, it’s about what works for you to be the best you can be. I know, personally, I want to be better than average.
After my brutal deadlift session last week, I was unloading the bar so I could do barbell curls. I had the bar down to 115 and said to myself “someday, I’ll be able to curl this”.
Someday is Today.
Today, I deadlifted sumo-style for a PR of 155 for 5 reps. It was hard. Real hard. But, when I got back to deadlifting only 2 months ago, I was doing 95 pounds and that was hard.
Granted, with my injuries and physical limits, my mind takes some convincing. I often question my own ability. I suggest you try not to do what I do and doubt yourself. It takes time to build up strength and it takes even more time to learn the lifts correctly.
That being said, why not make “someday” today and give it all you’ve got? We only have right now, so we should push ourselves while we’re able.
We don’t need to push 100% every day, but we should have the intensity levels and focus of an animal. We should hit the weights like it’s our last time. We should try, every single day, to do better.
We won’t always succeed. We have to fail sometimes. Life wouldn't be awesome if we succeeded at everything. Well, it may be awesome, but it would be boring.
The beauty of failure is it lights a fire under our asses. At least, it does for me.
We can’t be good at everything. Pick something and practice perfectly and beat the next guy. Then do it again and don’t stop until you’re number one and someone is gunning for your spot.
I keep telling myself “top of the list” on big pulls. I want to make the top 5 women’s PL list this year. Is it going to be really hard? Yes. Will I be trying everyday to make sure I did the best I could do that day to get into the top 5? Hell yes.
Find something to work towards and then don’t stop until you’ve reached your goals.
We should all have a mentor. Mentors teach you, are patient, and are quick to tell you when you screw up because they actually give a shit.
In life, we are given the opportunity to create friendships and use these people as mentors. Maybe some friends of yours are really good at making smart investments (I have zero friends like that. I should consider getting some!) Or maybe you have a friend that's really got a good head on their shoulders when it comes to rolling with life's punches.
I, in particular, have what I consider a great friend who has helped me along my fitness (now powerlifting) journey. This friend of mine and I have never met in person. We met in an online Facebook group called Lean You (used to be run by Paul Nobles over at Crossfitters Eat to Perform (which he started recently and the guy really knows his shit! I learned a lot from him, initially). I got directed to there from somewhere else (I think it was Berkhan's Lean Gains site a long time ago).
I digress.
The point is, my friend is amazing. She's a girl (yay!) and she recently pulled 220lbs on the dead lift. The woman knows a thing or two about stress. She handles her kids, her husband and makes awesome cakes on the side to boot. She's done it all. Keto, CBL, Paleo, IIFYM (to a degree, she still does I believe) and is looking lean and mean:
Jacked Girl!
So, there I was, about 2 years ago (give or take), looking to get back into training. I had the long layoff with my back troubles and was really scared about lifting again. April and I hit it off fairly quickly and became fast friends. Our friendship has grown naturally over the past 2 years and we're really starting to get to know one another now. But from the start, I knew I had to learn how she operated and what made her tick.
I asked her lots of questions:
"How do you stick to it through all the emotional shit in life" And she would tell me things like (paraphrasing...it's been a long time!) "Because I use that as my outlet" and other similar messages.
I know it's hard getting started. Maybe you started long before I came along and told you to start. Maybe you started and then stopped again.
But April makes it her mission to get to the gym everyday she has planned. She does high volume work and recovers well. I am usually afraid to text her at 8 PM for fear of waking her up. She gets up early and does her motherly duties. She always makes amazing and healthy meals (We are working on getting April to do some guest posts on recipes and some nutritional information, so stay tuned for those awesome posts soon to come!), and somehow manages to keep her shit together.
I'm no April, but I do my best.
Why does April inspire me? Because she's a real person that I can talk to usually whenever I want to. We give each other advice now. I help her with certain aspects and she helps me with certain things. It's a give and take. If we lived closer together, I know 100% we would be destroying shit in the gym together and making the men feel emasculated or give them wood. Either way, we'd be double amazeballs because we'd be a force to be reckoned with.
When you find someone like April and you have a good feeling about the direction of your friendship, don't be afraid to ask them for help. Maybe it's someone at your gym. Maybe it's your uncle or someone you already feel connected to who has the ability and knowledge to help you. Take advantage of that. Lots of people pay way too much for the same information I get from April near-daily.
I can email her or text her questions about my nutrients, or if I have troubles, and she gets back to me quickly because we're friends. She's invested in my goals and I am invested in hers because we care for one another.
Great friendships are hard to find, especially in a sport that can be very intimidating. Great mentors are even more rare.
Make something of yourself, but don't be afraid to enlist help to become the person you want to become, no matter what aspect that is. This is your life, your shot. The journey is always more fun with great friends.
