Author Archives: Justin

Lifting in the Cold

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This winter I’ve been training in a garage in Utah, and it has taught me a few things about training in the cold. This probably won’t help the experienced guys that lift in cold weather every winter, but the following tidbits may reinforce what they already know or educate less experienced cold weather trainees.

Night time temperatures have dropped below zero Fahrenheit a few times, but daytime temperatures usually hover in the low teens. When it snows, the temperature will rise to the 20s. My garage temperature is warm enough to slowly melt ice and snow off the truck, but cold enough to make every breath misty. I would not recommend training or storing your equipment outdoors. If you know you’ll regularly be training in a cold room, basement, or garage, then get a space heater. If you already have a heating system, you may schedule a portland furnace repair home service to inspect or fix your heating unit. If you have a heat pump, then you want to get it serviced to ensure it is running as efficiently as possible. Professional bellevue heat pump repair is highly recommended to ensure your heat pump receives the care it deserves.

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Your attire will vary

The type of fabric you wear isn’t really a big deal since you’ll just be lifting in a protected environment. If you were going to be outside for longer than an hour and away from shelter, then avoiding cotton would be imperative. Nevertheless, dress in layers and cover your head. Avoid excessive layers and bulky clothing; you don’t want it to impede on your movement. This isn’t a big deal if you’re only deadlifting and pressing, but it is for squatting, cleaning, and so on. Layers will allow you to peel them off if you get too hot, but realistically you would only need pants and a long sleeve shirt with a sweat shirt.

Don’t be a Tommy Tough Guy; it doesn’t make you cool to have less clothing on if it is very cold (though the opposite is true in football). You need to keep your muscles and tissues warm and pliable, especially when you aren’t adapted to the lower temperature.

Warming Up

I suggest warming up inside the house if possible. If your tissues are cold, it won’t be possible to stretch or perform soft tissue work on them (i.e. mobility stuff). If mobility work can’t be done properly, then most readers will have crappier mechanics when lifting, not distribute force across all of the necessary musculature, and ultimately have a less efficient workout. I prefer to wear the clothes that I’ll wear in the garage while doing mobility work; it helps to warm my body temperature and tissues up prior to the general and specific warm-ups. Take more care doing specific lifting warm-ups with the bar; you may need to do a few more lighter sets to make sure your body is primed for the heavier lifting in the cold environment.

Intensity

Training intensity is the percentage of 1RM that is used (Note that this is completely different than having an intense attitude while training). Generally speaking I would not expect to lift at a high intensity when in cold weather, especially when it’s cold enough to see your breath. In fact, I’d go so far as to make other programming plans, like reduced intensity volume work. While intensity lifting is important for top end strength — especially in powerlifting — the potential injury from non-pliable structures isn’t worth the risk. Just don’t expect to be at your best when it’s cold, and especially keep this in mind when you aren’t adapted to it.

Conditioning or Running

If you’re going to do conditioning in the garage itself, it isn’t a big deal to take the sweat shirt off. Conditioning, by definition, is not a high percentage of 1RM and therefore keeping structures warm and pliable isn’t as important. Besides, if you are conditioning after lifting, you’ll be warmed up and primed for the activity anyway.

Keep in mind that the cold air will provide a very different stress than warmer air. First, the temperature itself is colder and will provide a unique stress on the lungs. Second, the relative humidity will increase as air temperature drops; cold air cannot hold as much moisture as warm air. Whether it’s the higher relative humidity or simply the cold temperature, cold air will put a serious hit on the lungs and alveoli — the sacs and ducts that exchange gases with the capillaries to transfer oxygen and carbon dioxide. The lungs receive a general stress from the higher ventilation rate due to the intensity of the activity, the trainee’s work capacity, and the adaptation to the type of air that is being breathed. The result is an inflammation that causes a phlegmy cough that will often be gone in the morning (Note that this type of stress and cough can occur in warm weather too).

As for running, or any other horrible-ass activity done outside of the garage, be aware that your structures and tissues will be cold. Progressively adapt them to the activity over a couple of weeks and implement a comprehensive warm-up. Be aware of their exposure to the elements.

Summary

Basically I’m providing the message, “Be careful when training in the cold,” to general strength and conditioning trainees. Athletes or applied fitness trainees (military, LEO, etc.) may need to thrive in this environment and may take more risks while training in it. However, the premise behind training in adverse environments is to take the time to adapt to it instead of barging into it like a pervert in a sex shop. Prepare thy body; make it ready.

If you’re a regular cold weather trainee, add your suggestions in the comments.

PR Friday – 11 Jan 2013

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PR Friday: Post your training PR’s and updates to comments. This gives you chance to communicate with like-minded readers, get encouragement or tips, and to be a part of our community.

Weekly Recap: “The Next Step” is a follow up to “Letter of Intent Day – 2013“. “Get Your Hands Out of Your Pockets” will hopefully motivate you.

NFL Playoffs are going on this weekend. Who do you want to win and who do you think will win?

Here’s a video of my Olympic weightlifting pal Ben Claridad squatting a PR 270kg, which is a few pubes under 600 lbs:

Get Your Hands Out of Your Pockets

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There are several different things that I’ve responded to this morning that result in today’s post. They all collide into a common theme: people who are unwilling to do what they need to do to be successful.

This is a timely post on 70’s Big. In December I made the point that waiting for the New Year to start a new habit was stupid; “If something is important to you, do it right. fucking. now.” Then I asked everyone to commit to a competition and explained what to do after committing. This is the time of year when gyms swell and nutrition challenges are everywhere.

Yet everyone looks for a short cut. And it drives me fucking insane.

I’m currently reading Arnold Schwarzenegger’s autobiography. I’ve read his previous biography and have always been a fan of his drive and determination. But reading this recent, more in depth life account shows two things: 1) Arnold always did everything he could to achieve his goals, and 2) None of us are anywhere near that level of commitment (including me). Even in the first decade of his acting career, he was diversifying his portfolio by investing such as investing in Indianapolis real estate, buying and selling properties, selling cars to buyers like used cars for cash Wollongong, running his mail order business, and traveling the world to promote every movie he made. And if you’re also looking for some used cars to invest in, then you may check out this used cars in murrieta car dealer.

He is the epitome of undying motivation. He always gets professional help from conveyancing solicitors to ensure a smooth transaction. Managing a property can be very tricky so be sure that you do your own research and educate yourself. In addition, if you’re thinking about your children’s future, ISA options for young investors are the best for them.

For guidance on real estate investments, he also consults a reliable real estate agency such as Sarabi Realty Group, whose expertise ensures that his property transactions are handled efficiently and strategically to maximize returns. In addition, he decided to create rental property llc maine to structure his assets and streamline management of his rental properties. He also consults an estate agents in Canary Wharf to find the best property with a good location. When exploring international options, he considers Your Koh Samui Villas for unique investment opportunities in a picturesque setting. And if you’re looking for a luxurious, yet affordable real estate property, then you may check out New Construction Homes in Myrtle Beach SC here.

While Arnold fights to succeed, all of us accept laziness and sloth. When Arnold heard businessmen talking about how hard they worked for 10 or 12 hours, he’d say (and this is a direct quote from the book), “What the fuck are you talking about, when they day has twenty-four hours? What else did you do?”

Right now there are paleo challengers who want to know if they can use artificial sweeteners, there are veteran lifters going to bed late, and there are sedentary people considering exercising but not actually doing it.

These are the same people — some of you, even — that look at someone successful and think, “They are a genetic freak,” or “I wish I could have as much money as them.” And that is such bullshit. I’ve gone on this rant before, but all my life I’ve been accused of using steroids or just having superior genetics, but I’m the one who has squatted every week with hardly any breaks for 12+ years. I’m the one who made the decision to stop drinking soda at 13 years old. I’m the one who felt like shit, but woke my ass up at 7 in the morning or walked into the garage at 10 at night to train. And I’m not even anywhere near Arnold’s motivation!

Write your goals down. What do you want to do? What do you want to be? What do you want to have or know? WHO do you want to be? Do you think squatting 405 is a big deal? Then do it — because I believe every man can squat 405. Do you want to drop your body fat below 15%? Then do it. Anyone can accomplish these basic training tasks. But they are harder than being a slack-jaw piece of shit, they are harder than deciding to eat the candy, and they’re harder than being content with a sub 350 squat.

In last weekend’s seminar I made a reoccurring joke about “the naysayers”, something Arnold has talked about in various speeches. These are the people that think your dreams aren’t possible, that they are too lofty. The naysayers aren’t always out there in the world talking you down. In reality, the naysayer is you.

For gods’ sake, when you have that moment of weakness in managing your time, going to bed, eating the junk food, or going easy in training, have the courage to tell the naysayer —  yourself — to go fuck himself. When you’re done telling yourself to go fuck yourself, stop whining, stand up, and start productively working towards your goals. I leave you with a quote from Arnold:

“When you’re out there partying, horsing around, someone out there at the same time is working hahd. Someone is getting smarter and someone is winning, just remember that.

“You can’t climb the ladder of success with your hands in your pockets.”

— Arnold Schwarzenegger

The Next Step

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Last Friday you were tasked with pulling your balls out from between your legs and committing to a competition. The day you sign up will be one of the greatest days of your life because your training will suddenly have new meaning. You won’t understand this until the end of the competition. You’ll either walk away from the competition’s last effort thinking, “This was one of the best experiences of my life and I can’t wait to do it again,” or “I could have been better, I should have been better, next time I will reach my full potential.” Either way, you will be of the mindset that your life craves competition, needs it.

If you haven’t signed up for something: do it. There’s no better time to sign up. It’s like cleaning a toilet; the longer you wait, the more it stinks and the less likely you will be to do anything about it.

Assuming you’ve signed up, it’s now time to ensure your training is efficient so that you have a fun and successful first competition. Most likely you can just keep doing whatever program you’re doing now, but just do it better. Increase your bar speed on every rep. It’s easy to go through the motions, but when you actually grit your teeth, clench your B-hole, and attack every rep like it owes you money/sex/bacon/chocolate, you’ll accomplish much more. Make the bar go fast; make the weights go boom.

I found this when Googling “B-hole”

If your program has a lot of dicking around — activities that will not improve your performance in the competition — then cut them out. This is, of course, an individualistic and circumstantial thing, but you don’t need to do conditioning or irrelevant assistance exercises in the six weeks before your lifting meet (other competitions may have different guidelines). Let this be a time where you train primarily for something, and you’ll be rewarded with good progress. Especially if you put a premium on spending all of your recovery resources on specific training (i.e. recovering from compound strength lifts instead chest flyes and wiener lifts).

Next, pay attention to the “outside the gym recovery”. Improve your daily protein requirement, hydrate, sleep, do your mobility (this post is a little dated, I’ll write a new one), and eat well. If you do any of these things poorly, you will not be as prepared for your competition as you could be. If you don’t go 9/9 in powerlifting or 6/6 in weightlifting with PR’s, then you could have done something better. To be clear, PR’s are not necessarily the goal in competition because competition lifts are different than gym lifts. But, if you walk away from a good or bad competition thinking you could have done better, chances are that these “outside the gym recovery” variables could have been improved. And they can’t just be worked on a few times a week like lifting — they have to be done well every day.

Summary

Commit to something. Bash the shit out of quality reps in training and then start good habits outside of the gym. Eliminate the fluff in your program. Have a week of reduced training leading into the competition and be smart with weight choices (there are many resources on this site pertaining to meets), and you’ll walk away knowing that you busted your ass for something, and it paid off. Is there a better feeling?

 

Letter of Intent 2013 & PR Friday

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PR Friday: Post your training PR’s and updates to comments.

This morning I’m travelling to DC for this weekend’s 70’s Big Seminar, so there won’t be a lot written here. Check out the MopeilityWOD video by Brent below; he makes an intriguing point and then easily squats 405×5 (Chris then squats something a lot heavier than 5).

Letter of Intent – 2013

Follow this post up with “The Next Step“.

In 2009 my friend Gant asked website readers to commit themselves to achieving something through competition (Letters of Intent – 2009, 2010, and 2011). This isn’t merely a list of “resolutions” or meager goals — the point is to get your ass into a real competition, especially if you’ve never competed before. There’s no better time to sign up for a powerlifting, Olympic lifting, strongman, highland games meet, Tactical Strength Challenge, the dying CrossFit Total, or other strength and power events. We would prefer that you prevent in something that would take advantage of your strength and conditioning training so that you have the direct benefit from your training. In other words, flag football is competition, but it isn’t as dependent on your training as doing a meet. Adults will probably get more out of solo sports (like martial arts) than team sports since we don’t have the time to commit to proper team practice.

As Gant said in the original post:

I don’t want to hear any crap about how you can’t win. Competition isn’t all about winning at the amateur level as much as it is learning about yourself. Hell, I don’t win most of the stuff I compete it (in fighting, you have the added benefit of possibly breaking something or being choked unconscious), but I keep going back, and I get better every time.

 

Competition is helpful for more than just the introspective learning. Again, from Gant:

Competition puts your training into focus. A date on the calendar forces you to taper your program (hell, HAVE a program), tweak your nutrition (especially if you’re in a weight class), and arrange your schedule (sleep comes to mind).

You also get instant feedback on your training program. You will quickly find out if you did too much or too little conditioning, spent too much benching and not enough squatting, or didn’t work your technique enough.

You also learn game day management. I’m talking about how to pick lifts, when to warm up, what and how much to drink before your event, and the myriad other things that don’t come up during training. This can ONLY be learned by competing. Most of it is learned by watching and asking other competitors, many of whom will become your friends.

 

Gant has a focus these days on performing and teaching Judo, but he will always use proper strength training with high intensity conditioning to prepare for the sport. It’s easy for all of you to jump into a powerlifting meet since you’re already performing the lifts (squat, bench, and deadlift), but if you’re jaded with that sport that perhaps you should try learning something new, like Judo, and compete in a local tournament. There are Judo forums that could provide you with basic information, but find a local place and get started.

Today is about committing to a competition. Search the internet, find what is near you, and circle the date. Commit to it today. You don’t need to be a certain strength or skill to compete, but you do need to have a pair of balls (or ovaries) to actually commit to it, and that is much more meaningful. Committing to competition will immediately make each training session meaningful.

What is your intent?

It is not the critic who counts, not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena…who strives…who spends himself…and who at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat.

–Teddy Roosevelt