Earning Stickers

Good day for doing so.
Brigid hits her previous squat 1 RM for a double double! Ron hits a front squat triple triple PR. Keith does the same with his front squat. Lotsa hard work by all three lifters.
Both Ron and Keith show that they have the strength for more weight in the two lifts. It will come soon enough.
Test Day better be ready for some fine lifting!

Lack of Testosterone Reported: Wussification Continues

In musing about the lifting session of the club yesterday, it became glaringly apparent as to what is upsetting about so-called training in gyms.
3 big, beefy men are working out on slide boards and on a Swiss (why do the Swiss have a monopoly on these balls??) exercise balls. There is a lot of grunting, groaning, and sweating by a couple of men in particular (possibly late 20s to early 30s and each well over 100 kilos). I notice one fellow in particular on the ball doing dumbbell presses with what appear to be incredibly heavy dumbbells. He is pressing 25 pound bells and grunting like he is wrestling a tiger.
I am pretty sure the testosterone level in his blood went down as he was thinking about his workout. I would bet he went home to Birkenstocks and an organic meal of tofu and beans.
Meanwhile, not even commenting upon the male lifters in the club, two female lifters have produced more testosterone in the last two days than those guys on the exercise balls could even dream about. Megan does squats with 130% of her bodyweight. Brigid does reps of heavy squats and RDL with 135% bodyweight.
The men, after finishing up with 30 second planks, comment about heavy weights being dangerous to lift as they leave the room talking about their latest waxing appointments and what spray tan to use.

What a Wednesday

Ron motors through a fast lifting session finishing off with an outstanding 140 CG deadlift. Most he has picked up off the floor. Excellent form.
Garrett realizes that he does have legs and getting tall, rather than expending horizontal energy, is critical.
Kayla, feeling sick, pounds out a PR set of 5 squats. She should be ill more often if she can lift more weight!
Brieh shows excellent promise with her speed on hang snatches.

Not only are weighlifting girls...

hot, they are kicking the guys all over the platform. More PR were accomplished this past weekend as Megan kicks it into high gear on her squats posting a triple triple triple at what was her 2 rep max. And, she put more weight over her head (albeit slowly in the form of a press) than she has done in the past.
One can only hope there are some guys who decide to "...cowboy the fuck up...", paraphrasing Lt A.K. Waters in the fantastic movie, Tears of the Sun.

Knuckling down to get stronger

Brigid, nursing an injury for the past few weeks, committed to getting stronger. This she has done by really knuckling down to do heavy squats. Her hard work has paid off and today had her lifting nearly 150% of bodyweight for 4 x 4. Awesome work. Whoop whoop!

Practice, practice, practice

Wow, what a concept. This is written by a former pro hockey player for The Hockey News. The next time you are considering the latest and greatest techno-gadget for core stability or to reveal your 6-pack abs, consider this:
"...Looking at all the knick-knacks, I couldn’t help but wonder about some of the folks handing over cash at the tables that housed the most mind-blowingly unnecessary products. The question I wanted to ask them was: how much of a difference do you think the improve-your-game trinkets actually make?

I hope they know the answer is ‘not much, if any.’..."

There you have it. Lift heavy stuff, lift it often, and try to move it quickly. Link to the article:

http://www.thehockeynews.com/articles/39054-Justin-Bournes-Blog-Want-to-improve-at-hockey-Practice-practice-practice.html

Ohio Weightlifting Club State Championships

This meet is set for July 30 in Butler County, Ohio, just north of downtown Cincinnati. The meet will determine Who is the Strongest Man in Ohio? Look for an exciting venue, information on tickets for Reds versus Giants that weekend, and more to come soon!

Happenings from the Arnold

Beta Laten Eva results.

A strong showing by 9 lifters for the club. Brigid made the trip and got some pointers on how to speed up her recovery to get her back on track. The club needs her so we can go after the state title in July.

Keith goes officially to the nationals as a 56 with the total of 68/82/150.
Ron hit some good lifts and got knocked flat by his PR CJ attempt. 80/96/176
John did well with 63/88/151. First meet since last year.

Jon, lifting according to a special Bulgarian/Slovakian program, came back from the kettlebell grave and hit 80/115/195.

Ben hit a PR total with 85/116/201.

Jake posts a terrific 3 PR meet with 118/153/271.

Megan, after a truly awful day prior to starting to lift, hit 47/63/110 for a PR total. She hits the 4th reward level with this lifting.

Our schoolage & junior lifters were impressive.

Dustin gets new shoes and goes 3 for 3 in snatch hitting PR lifts. then, he goes 3 for 3 in the CJ and beats his father on the last lift of the day. he posts 55/90/145 for 3 PRs.

Luke, lifting in his first big meet and getting compliments on his improved form, hits 65/80/145.