Haters made Justin Beiber Famous.

Eleanor Roosevelt (1948) proclaimed; Great minds discuss ideas, average minds discuss events, small minds discuss people. 

In 2010 I developed a concept in my mind, that I could motivate South Australians to embrace what was the defunct sport of power lifting, it was here the ideals, concept and process of ‘Radelaide Power Lifting’ was born. Through negotiation, diplomacy and team work the principles of this concept have lead to the development and realization of the biggest and most significant power lifting events in South Australian history.

In the sport and exercise industry there is an over whelming amount of political crap. Like all political shit is causes a divide between the warring parties and ultimately leads to a diversion of precious time and brain power away from achievement and progress. From the inside looking out these parties may feel their opinions are required.

However, from the outside looking in it simply creates an atmosphere of intimidation and discontent. We need to turn our eyes forward, accept we all share common interest and understand not ridicule others who choose a different path to greatness. 

In reality, there is no golden track, there is no direct boulevard to the illation of achievement there is only hard work. 
 

Men - What the Fuck Happened?

As I woke up this morning I see the blur of two skinny plebs called Jordan and Zac Stenmark being interviewed on breakfast TV. Now these two little fuckwhits have been strutting around Europe in their undies to the applause of cliché fashion gurus while teenage girls fall to their feet in front of them. 

Fuck I mean, I know haters make them famous but what the fuck happened to men?

Remember when werewolves were cool, we used to tell scary stories about them in school, Now you have these skinny pasty white dickheads as the pin up boys for curl warriors everywhere.

What about these no squatting, all curling, tiny waist Mr. Festival contenders? Well there is a new addiction to this community; Male sports models.

Honestly; I am not the biggest fan of body building at the best of times, but when I heard the sport now has an outlet for the ‘ascetically pleasing’ douches to strut their tiny waist lines around  and impress the female concentration of audience members by coming in with a ‘beach physique’ What if there was a Zombie Apocalypse? These guys are fucked!

I may make this statement multiple times; Men what the fuck happened? 

Remember when men could start fire with their bare hands, they would run for hours, days, even weeks to gather enough raw food for them and their families, no wonder we’re all fucking fat shits now.  If a giant Bear walked in to your cave you fucking wrestled it with your own hands, you didn’t call the police or hide, you fucking stood there and defended your territory like a fucking man and if that did not work, you ran like a black nigger who just raped a white girl. 

Remember when men did not give a fucking shit about fuel economy or the environmental impact of cars? They drove big fuck off V8’s that made shit loads of fucking noise, enough fucking noise to make Jeremy Clarkson take notice. Clarkson; now there is some hope for mankind right there! 

What about picking shit up off the ground, when I was a kid I would play in my backyard with friends, we would see who could lift the biggest weight off the ground, we would fill buckets full of bricks or sand, when that was too light we would go to the park and try to pull the fence posts out of the ground or see who could run the fastest for no other reason than to find out ‘who was the strongest and fastest’ no one gave a fuck about lower abdominal development or the fact your Biceps were out-of-proportion to your Deltoids or whatever.

Didn’t you ever want to be stronger than dad? 

You know why all those douches in the R&B rooms start fights? It’s because there is nothing left of their masculinity.  When I grew up we listen to KRS One, Rage Against the Machine, Korn. Shit that was fucking loud! 

Now all you fuckers sing along to girly house music and whatever shit is force fed down the ARIA charts. FUCK THAT! 

Here is the worst part; I have female clients that are stronger and faster than their boyfriends. If you cannot squat or dead lift 200kg your girlfriend is a lesbian. OMFG FACTS!

Men: 

Lou Simmons; He broke his back twice, he Squat 900 pound more times than anyone can count, he started a gym for men, he took steroids; why? Because he wanted to be the strongest mother fucker on the planet. He is a man! 

Ken Shamrock; He volunteered to have the shit kicked out of him no less than 3 times by Tito Ortiz. In his first fight with Tito, he was near death, broken bones, face destroyed stuck under Tito in full mount and what did he do? Bridges and rolls back to his feet. He continues to fight even to this day. Why? Because he is a fucking man! 

 Jeremy Clarkson; I know your thinking what the fuck. But let’s look at the facts; he makes a living from producing a politically incorrect show for men that want to see the ozone getting destroyed by super cars. He stands up to feminist and people that think ethnic people need a free ride. Yeah sure; he is no athlete but he can stand tall in the knowledge he is more masculine than 90 percent of the fuckers out there. 

What about Doug Chivas. If your too hipster or metro to know the name. He drove the late Peter Brocks LJ Torana over 60 laps at Bathurst in 1973. Back when gears boxes were like mixing cakes in diesel and brake pedals were like buckets in wet sand. On the last lap the car ran out of petrol so he got out and pushed the thing over the line. Yes pushed those big sticky tires in a big heavy race car in to wind and across the line at Bathurst.  Now that is a fucking man! 

You bitches need to stop worrying about how good you look in the mirror, how defined your arms are. What supplements are needed to give you the energy to train.

Real Men lift shit up, they pick up massive fucking rocks, and they try to see how much weight they can hold over head. They run. Fast. Men punch, Hard. When was the last time you tested your 100 meter sprint? But I bet you know your body fat percentage off the top of your head. Men squat, deep. We don’t fucking fuss over macronutrient ratios or how well are forearms are developed we drive big fuck off cars and listen to loud music.

Man the fuck up! 

Don’t even think about disagreeing with my opinions unless you Squat 190 and Dead 260 

Noobie Lifters - Common First Meet Mistakes - Part 2

In my last blog, I actually wrote some constructive and intelligent content. The theme carries on for part 2 of Noobie Lifters but rest assure I have my most epic white boy rant to date in the pipe line

Warm-ups

Curls are for Girls

A critical point of power lifting is the warm-up: You might be able to get away with a lazy warm up in other strength sports but in power lifting, forget it! Personally; I run through my standard dynamic warm-up program of; leg pendulums, hip rotations and shadow boxing prior to the squat. From there, I move to the active warm-up. I work in low repetition (singles and doubles) working up to around 90% of my opening lift (if my opening squat is 100kg, I would warm-up to a 90kg single). I suggest you practice your warm-up procedure 2 or 3 weeks out from the meet. 

Opening lifts: 

You only get 3 attempts at each lift and if you fail to make at least one successful lift in any one event you have ‘bombed’ (no longer eligible to record a ‘total’)

Openers should be 95% of your current best gym lift (if I squat 100kg in training, I would open at 95kg) second attempt can be +10% and third depends entirely how you feel on the day. Remember, you cannot reduce the weight on the bar so choose wisely!  

Referee calls:

I can honestly say the biggest mistake I see noobies make is failing to obey the referee calls!

On all lifts wait until you hear the verbal command “The bar is loaded for X” before you enter the platform

Squat: Take to the bar in your own time, once you have completed your walk out the head referee will drop his arm and loudly give you a ‘Squat’ command. Once you have completed your squat wait for the ‘rack’ command (the classic mistake is re-racking the bar prior to command). The spotters will assist you to re-rack the bar.

Wait for the down call young Jedi

Bench: Prior to getting on your back with your legs spread, speak to the handout guy about ‘where you want the bar’ the alternative is providing your own handout guy on the day. Once you hear the command ‘Your bar’ lower the bar to your chest and pause. Do not start to press until you hear the clear verbal command ‘Press’ or ‘Start’ from the head referee. Once the lift is completed wait in lockout for the ‘rack’ command. As with the squat the spotters will assist you to return the bar safely to the rack.

On a side note; if you cannot complete a lift the spotters will intervene and assist in getting the bar safely back to the rack. In this situation you are required to ‘stay with the bar’ until you hear the verbal command ‘clear’ or ‘safe’ from either the head spotter or referee.

Crossfit - Making woman hot & men weak (PTC Syd 2011)

Dead Lift: This is the simplest of the lot, Pick up the bar, lock out wait for the ‘Down’ call then ‘pretend’ to control the bar back to the floor (that is; keep your hands on the bar). 

There you go a list of noobie mistakes I often see (and have made myself). However, don’t be afraid. This sport can be frustrating, intimidating, emotional, but it is always rewarding. If you have any questions please shoot me an Email or better yet book a 1:1 PT

Noobie Lifters - Common First Meet Mistakes - Part 1

With the RADelaide Power Lifting Novice and Improvers meet coming up on February 25^th I thought I would detail a few common mistakes noobie lifters make

I have divided these in to before and at the meet (IE: Training and competition day) 

Maxing out in training: 

I have written about this many times before, when training you want to build strength not test it. Yes by all means set some personal bests in training but do not go overboard missing lifts every week thinking it will make you stronger. Remember; when you train to failure, you fail to train. 

Failing to de-load correctly: 

You want to arrive on meet day fresh, and moving freely, for this reason I personally suggest you peak your training cycle 14 days out. Days 13-7 should be spent on dynamic effort work (that is working at 60% of your current 1-rep max) during this phase aim to lift fast, correct any small technique issues and practice under referee calls. Days 7-1 should be spent on stretching, foam rolling and ensuring you maintain hydration levels.

Trying to cut too much body weight: 

If you fuck up, Beth will shoot you!

Power lifters seem somewhat strange compared to athletes from other sports, in the sense they always look at the last meets score sheets and say ‘I can smash those numbers’. Think about this; if you did a few test days in a V8 Super Car do you think you could win Bathurst?  

Remember, if this is your first competition you have a lot up against you, not only is the platform a potentially intimidating place to be, you won’t know what you don’t know. Just show up on the day and weigh-in. You have plenty of meets ahead of you to set records and win trophies. 

Nutrition: 

A classic question is ‘what should I eat differently before the meet’ the answer is nothing! In the week before the meet simply maintain your current eating plan. However, on competition day it is a little bit trickier. Personally I will have a 2 litre water bottle with a small amount of Pre-Workout and BCAA supplements mixed in (emphasizing the word small!).  After the Squat I typically try to get a protein shake and a few jelly beans or other high glucose lollies in to me. These few calories will assist you to maintain energy levels through to the Dead Lift.

There you go part one of noobie mistakes I often see (and have made myself). However, don’t be afraid. This sport can be frustrating, intimidating, emotional, but it is always rewarding. If you have any questions please shoot me an Email or better yet come train at either McLaren Vale or Prospect Strength Clubs!

Next week we look at Warm-ups, referee calls and opening lift.