Wednesday, June 6, 2012

June Summer Update

Oh YEAH it’s that time again, I’m ready for some Blogging how about you!!?

You know before I began writing this last update I have to admit that…I was afraid….I was petrified….. and I just kept thinkin' I could never live without bobsled by my side; But then I spent so many nights thinkin' how it did me wrong…And you know what!? I grew strong…. and I LEARNED HOW TO GET ALONG AND NOW I’M BACK FROM OUTER SPACE!! Ok I’m done!! Lol

 After world championships I remained in Lake Placid to help some of the younger guy get ready for the America’s Cup Races that were scheduled for late March. While in Placid I continue to train for a few more weeks because being in Placid and not training just makes time go by sooo slooooowly! Well that was until my body hit a wall and I stopped working out completely for a good two weeks…ok maybe I rode the bike for a little bit (45 min or so depending on the night) and maybe I did sit-ups in my room (a couple of hundred or so) but other than that I did not work out. lol

 Towards the end of March I hoped a plane out here to Colorado Springs to begin MY summer training in preparations for the 2012-2013 World Cup Season. Upon arriving in Colorado Springs I began a really lite training regime to help increase my cardio and maintain my strength. The training I was doing was really lite and mainly consisted of running on the treadmill, biking, and some cosmetic lifting. I will say this though the pre training I did definitely paid off because I just finished up my first 3wk block of heavy training along with 1 down week of training, and I feel GREAT!! I know it’s early in the off-season but things are clicking, I just pray that I keep making gains as the summer progresses because if that happens….look out!!

 In order to increase my overall versatility I decided to learn how to Ice Skate, Rollerblade, play the Guitar and have been doing yoga; basically I’m stepping my game up all around.

 I do have one funny story to share with you all! We’ll call it “Adventures in Your Average Weight Room” Allow me to set the mood if you will…this past Saturday I worked out in your typical city weight room that is attended by your average Joe/Jill making sure they look good for the beach, which I can respect. This particular training facility had several different rooms dedicated to weight training. The first area had your typical barbells, some dumbbells, and free weight racks, while the second room had dumbbell racks along with some universal gym machines, stability balls, BOSU Balls, and jumping platforms. The story begins with me in the first weight room where I was doing some stability ball lateral shoulder raises when this happens.  

Guy: Comes over and says hey you mind giving me a spot on bench?

Me: Sure no problem. But as I walk over to the bench I see the guy has 315lbs on the bench! As I am sizing this guy up I am thinking this is going to be good! lol This guy was about my height maybe about 215, box built and a bit chubby but you can tell he thought he was jacked by the way he walked.

Me: How many you reps you going for? Guy: About 4 or 5 Me: Ok! You call it! Guy: 1,2,3 I help him lift it off the rack! And OMG on the first rep this guy arcs his back about a foot off the bench! He looks like a freaking Rainbow!! I thought his back was going to break! Then he proceeds to bench bringing the bar about two inches down from where the rack was hitting his chest that was arced so high it could hit the ceiling!

 Me: My facial expression I know had to be classic because of the weight lifting atrocity that was being perpetrated before my eyes.

Guy: Is struggling on the first lift and tries to squeeze out two more looking at me to curl the weight up for him

Me: Screaming Come on Dawg push you can do it! Lol all the while I’m thinking hey you asked me to spot you not lift the weight for you because I don’t do that!

Guy: Racks it the weight after barely getting

Me: How much weight do you normally press?

Guy: I usually do this(315lb) three set of five

Me: Really!? Well you want to drop down to 275lb and try that?

Guy: Well I’ll go to 295lb and do that, but the other day I did Squats and my Traps are a bit sore but I should be good to bench! Lol I mean its been five days since I squatted I should be good! I don’t know what’s going on with me today

 Me: Ok…..looking at the guy sarcastically

Me: just staring at him like Really?…. Really Man?…your traps are sore from squats which caused you not to bench as much as usual!? Yeah ok. No I did not tell him that I was just thinking it! Lol

Guy: Loads 295lbs on the bar and once again Rainbow Brite shows up on the bench trying to lift weight way above his ability! And once again he look at me expecting me to curl the weight up for him

Me: looking down at him as to say if you can’t get the weight don’t expect me to do it for you so either lift it or rack it! And yes I can say a ton of phrases with my eyes. Lol Guy: Racks the weight, explaining how it’s an off day

 Me: Oh ok yeah as I walk away to finish my work out! You would think that this debacle would come to an end, but like most train wrecks it just kept going on! After leaving Mr. Can’t Bench Right! I went into the second lifting room to do some inverted pushups, when Mr. No Bench comes in and hope on the incline bench (which is directly in my line of sight) and proceeds to grab two 100lb dumbbells and tries to bench them!! YEAH I DON’T KNOW WHAT WAS GOING ON IN THIS GUYS HEAD! So of course he does the rainbow technique and barely gets five reps, but that does not stop him from going for a second set! After he gets up from the bench he looks at me, kind of rotates his arms a bit as to show he is sore and walks out the weight room!....Yeah it does not stop there. I go back in to the other weight room to finish up on some abdominal work. And to my chagrin this guy is not doing decline bench press! He starts off with 275lb and after doing his back bending technique again and barely getting it for a set of four he decides to put 295lb on the bar. All I could think is please do not ask me to spot you and your terrible form again. I guess he did not hear my mental plea because sure enough he asks me to spot him again. At this point I have seen enough and since I have been taught buy some great strength coaches I can no longer be involved in this mess………

Me: Listen Dawg you can take this personally and ask someone else to spot you or you can put your ego aside and learn something from what I will show you but I am not going to spot you until you take some of the weight of the bar and change your form because you are going to hurt yourself and I will not be a part of it.

Guy: Ok well show me

Me: How long have you been lifting? Guy: 5yrs, and you?

Me: About 17yrs…Ok forget everything you know about benching I’m going to show you the right way! I proceed to take the weight down to 225lbs(the weight I figured he should be able to do) demonstrate how he was lifting then showed him how to keep his back on the bench, feet flat on the ground and bring the bar down to his chest and not bring his chest up to the bar. I then explained to him that when it comes to lifting we all have to put our ego aside because technique is more important and the ability to lift heavier weight will come in time. He seemed to take my words to heart and I seriously hope he did otherwise he will have a bulged disk pretty soon.

That’s all for now and remember check me out on Twitter @jessbeck3

 Sincerely, Jesse