Team Idaho Coach's Blog

I Can't Believe it's been a YEAR!

2011-08-26T12:46:00.000-06:00

I feel horrible that I haven't kept up with my blog since last September...it's like life got in the way or something. I promised myself I was going to continue adding thoughts and stories throughout the year during our training sessions and our other trips, but I definately got behind.

Of course I can always use the excuses that I tore the biceps tendon in both arms last November and then there was the heart attack in late January followed closely by the quintuple bypass surgery in early February...and I am still working on my Master's, but "hell"! how could I have let that stuff get in the way of staying up to date on my blog. I mean think of the thous...er... hundre...ummm...two or three people that actually read this stuff; they must be disappointed. Or at least frustrated that they have nothing to read...nothing to bide their time while waiting on the grass to grow or their kids to graduate from something.

Well since I am writing here now, you realize I did survive the past year even with the few challenges I had to face. But I am a better man and a better coach for it...I think?. For the first time in my life I experienced a pretty major injury (not even while lifting, that's another story) and found myself face to face with the possibility of dying. I have only had thoughts of dying a couple of times in my life that I can remember, but those were only passing brain waves that make you feel mortal...this one was more like a major kick in the "nads". I had always known that someday I would have to face my most wonderful inheritance from the genetic make up of most males in my family, arterial desease. I just didn't expect it would raise its ugly head so soon. I mean after all I take care of myself, eat pretty well, work out, don't smoke....you know opposite of all of those men before me that died early. I figured I wouldn't have any heart problems until I was way into my 60's. NOT!!! Surprise!!!....52 and I find myself with some guy and his hands are buried in my chest cavity while some other guy is pulling the veins out of my leg to use as some kind of plumbing experiment on my fuel pump. And then to top it off the next day they make me get up and carry all of the crap hooked to me and walk back to my hospital room....figured I needed some cardio work or something!!

But I survived....not as strong yet as I used to be, but working on it. Glad to be here for sure...oh and did I tell you about my kids, my lifters. You see my heart surgery was done the day before I was supposed to host our State Powerlifting Championships. I had already postponed the meet once when I tore my biceps tendons in November, I wasn't going to postpone it again. I even tried to get the doc to let me out of the hospital long enough to put on the meet and then come back for the surgery...he wouldn't buy it. Anyway, my high school powerlifting team went on and hosted the meet, put up with all of the adult lifters when they complained about missing lifts or wearing illegal gear, coached and helped each other through the day, all of them that expected to, qualified for the National Championships and then took the time to come by the hospital and bring me a big sign of encouragement that everyone at the meet had signed. Love those kids!

That's why I love to coach!

Czech Republic...Last Day of Competition

2010-09-04T18:37:00.001-06:00

The US Sub-Junior Team had one last lifter this morning, Preston Turner of Texas. Preston is a pretty wild looking Texan with long black hair that is normally in his face and of course the girls over here all love it. Don't tell him though, we don't want it to go to his head!! :)

Preston was lifting in the 110 kilo or 242lb class and he must win for the Men's Sub-Junior Team to take home the Team Gold. "There would be no more opportunities for the American team. We either had to put the competition away by winning this weight class or settle on the silver.

Squat warm ups were going very well until we put Preston into his squat suit. The suit was so tight that he could not reach the proper depth at the weight we had opened with. Instead of taking a chance of failure by increasing the opening weight on the bar, we chose to put Preston into a suit that fit a little looser...Preston hit his first two squats just like he was meant to and then we changed him into his tight suit and called for a new World Record...335.5 kilos (739.6lbs). Preston buried the weight and finished the lift to 3 white lights. At the end of the squat session Preston had a .5kilo lead on his nearest comptetitor, Konstantin Ugarov, the Russian. You already knew there would be a Russian involved in this, didn't you?

So we do the only thing that made sense, we open with a new World Record bench to go with the squat. Preston missed his opener by bobbling the weight on the way up, but a little adjustment to his bench shirt and the next attempt went up easily. During the bench session the Russian would not complete a lift and would be eliminated from the competition.

This did not mean Preston could let up on his lifting, as he had a Slovakian, Robert Valach, that could still put Team USA in the silver medal position if he won....Although the Slovakian had a better pull than Preston, he was not able to make up the lead that Preston had created in the bench press.

Preston would go on to finish in 1st place and finalize the USA team's gold medal position. Team USA had managed to hold off the Russians this year and put a gold cup on the shelf!!! This would be the first gold position for the American Boy's team in the last few years...and with the looks of the boys coming back possibly next year, it won't be our last.

USA Boys - 66 points
Russia - 60 points
Ukraine - 44 points
Japan - 39 points
Poland - 34 points

There were 23 Boys teams involved in this year's championships, we are very proud of our kids and how they performed on and off of the platform. USA should be proud of our young people that made this trip...all handled themselfves very well.

Czech Republic, Day 5...The Turning Point!?

2010-09-03T17:42:00.000-06:00

Today's lifting was excellent by our boys who competed in the 82.5 and 90 kilo classes. Jesse Norris, Zach Garza and Ian Bell. And our last 3 girls, Alexis Contreras, Natalie Luna and Becky Cook.

The USA really needed wins in these 2 classes if we were going to have any chance at all at taking the Team Gold. The girls had lost the chance for Gold yesterday when we kept coming up just a deadlift short almost every time. The girls today performed very well with Alex finishing with an 8 for 9 day and a Silver Medal overall. The Russian girl who took the overall gold had a perfect day on the platform making all 9 of her attempts. This is a rare occassion at the World Championships where judging is so very strict and sometimes political.

In the 90+ class it was all the 2 American girls going at it. None of the other lifters in the class ever stood a chance against Natalie and Becky. All of the coaches agreed that the number 1 goal was to ensure the the US finished 1st and 2nd no matter which girl was first, as long a the two were at the top of the podium at the end of the session. Natalie and Becky fought each other all the way through the session with Natalie taking the squat portion and Becky taking the Bench Press portion, so it would come down to deadlifts and the two of them would end up pulling the exact same weight in the end, leaving Natalie on top by 12 kilos overall. This was a fun class to watch as both of them performed very well and Natalie finished with a new World Record in the Squat.

Our boys performed excellently as well....Zach Garza was a last minute move to this weight division from the 75 kilo class because a Ukraine lifter had moved down to his weight class trying to get away from Jesse Norris. We didn't know how great this would be for Zach until the very end of the session. Jesse would end up winning the class, but in the deadlift portion of the session the Russian, who was in 2nd place at the beginning of deadlifts pulled a hamstring during his last warmups and after the deadline for opening weight changes, which means he had to open with what he had originally planned. The hamstring pull would not allow the Russian to qualify in the deadlift which opened up 3rd place for Garza to slide right into. Zach had performed very well up to that point finishing 6 for 9 in lifts and posting a 642.5 kilo (1416lb) total. Who says things can't happen for the USA Team from time to time.... :)

Ian Bell would own the 90 kilo class from the start by posting a 300 kilo squat on his 2nd attempt and he would never look back. Ian would drop a few kilos in the bench press, but everyone knows he is a great puller. Ian would open his deadlifts at a number that would award this class to the Americans and in the end he would just miss a new World Record deadlift.

At this point the American Boys Team had done just enough to stay close to the Russian Team so that on the last day of competition we would have to go head to head with the Russian lifter whether or not he lifted in the 110 kilo class or the 125 kilo class. We knew that after today if we did our part we would have 2 wins and the Russian Team would have 1 in the 100 kilo class.

Does anyone really know where Estonia is? Well Estonia is a small country that was one of the break aways when the old Russia became the new Russia....and guess what?  They do a little powerlifting down there. Actually they do quite a bit and usually when they show up in a weight class they tend to perform very well. The Russian Team was not ready for Raus Alex-Edvard, from Estonia. He would, without really trying put the US in the best position we could be in for tomorrow's finish, Team wise. He would win the 100 kilo class which would only allow the Russian Team to score 9 points instead of 12. With that, the last American to lift tomorrow,Preston Turner, will have to win his weight class for America to take the Team Gold!

Stay Tuned!!!!!!!!!

Current Team Scores: Top 5 Teams Shown
Girls are Final...

Girls - Russia 72                                                     Boys - USA 62
           USA 60                                                                 Russia 57
           Ukraine 53                                                            Ukraine 36
            Japan 32                                                               Finland 33
            Hungary 23                                                           Japan 32

Tomorrow Finally Comes....What a GREAT DAY!!

2010-09-03T16:51:00.000-06:00

As a follow up to yesterday's "tomorrow" posting....did I really just write that? Anyway, woke up early this morning, say about 2:45am to find Jesse wandering around the room, digging in some protein bars and drinking some water...he was having just a little trouble sleeping. No worries I told him, try to get some sleep. He told me later in the day he finally got to sleep around 4 am and was able to sleep until about 9:30.

KENZIE:

While he was finally sleeping later in the morning, Kenzie had already started warming up, getting ready for her turn with the iron. She was very relaxed and for once she was not sick!! :) She got herself ready and hit all of her practice lifts before moving to the platform. We had worked out our goals for Kenzie earlier in the year as I had said in yesterday's posting...

Squat over 500lbs, Deadlift over 400lbs, Total over 1100lbs and get on the podium overall. If she could accomplish this in her first Juniors level meet we would be quite happy. Her trip would be successful. Well Kenzie didn't have the perfect meet, but she did manage a 5 for 9 performance with a 230 kilo (507lb) squat which tied for the Russian for best squat and she pulled a new personal record 185 kilo (407.8lb) deadlift, which, I never thought I would see the day, but she took Bronze in the deadlift. We were both dissapointed in her benchpress on this day, but she managed enough to push her overall total to 502.5 kilos (1107.8lbs) and this total got her to the podium in 3rd place overall.

I could not have planned a more perfect ending for her on this trip except maybe a 9 for 9 day on her lifts. She planned her goals, she worked very hard over the last 6 months, got herself in position to be here and then made it all happen. I am really proud of what she accomplished.

JESSE:

Jesse started this trip with a few goals that we had worked on, but Jesse has had so much success in this sport this year we kept having to modify our goals on the fly. Seemed like everytime we would set a goal he would achieve it and it was time to set it higher.

One of Jesse's major goals on this trip was to take home the overall Gold medal. Since his performance in Brazil last September, placing 2nd in the world just didn't seem to set well with Jesse. Now for most of us placing 2nd at the state level in anything would probably and should be a great achievement, but Jesse, in this sport proved to himself last year that he could lift with the best 18year olds in the world...and last year he had just turned 16.

Of course he wanted to set new personal records in all 3 lifts and we expected him to reset his current World Record in the squat, but he also hoped to be able to pull a big deadlift over here and put his name beside that World Record as well. I have to say Jesse's entire demeanor was totally different than last year. He spent much more time in his hotel room, staying fresh, reading, he even brought a variety of American foods to have so he didn't have to just eat Czech food. He participated with the other team members and watched his share of events, but he was in bed everyday trying to get his rest...and he wasn't very happy when his flight of lifting got moved to Friday due to the number of lifters that had entered. Jesse was focused on what he had come here for...a Gold Medal.

Jesse looked very relaxed in the warmup area and a number of foreign lifters and their coaches had come to watch him warm up and compete. Everyone knew who he was and except for those in his weight class, everyone was anticipating his performance, especially his squats.

Now Jesse had a great day of lifting today and the scorebook shows he went 7 for 9 on his lifts. His opening squat of 310 kilos (683 lbs) ended up being the best squat of the session, even including the 90 kilo lifters that followed his class. Only 1 lifter in the 100 kilo class ( the winner) squatted more that Jesse and he only bested Jesse's opening attempt by 5 kilos. But on Jesse's second attempt I chose to take him to a new World Record squat 325 kilos (716.5lbs). This would have increased his current world record by over 10lbs. Two of the 3 judges red lighted him for not going deep enough, I didn't necessarily agree with the call, but I can live with that one. So we took the same weight again on his 3rd attempt. This time they called him for carrying the bar too low on his back during the lift. We glanced to the head table for support, but it was clear that they were not going to overturn the judges decision. Of course they hadn't overturned any decision for an American lifter at this world championship, so nothing new. This call to me was very bush league, as we would say in the good ole U S of A. A great way of saying, "Take that you American Brat" or if this was a Seinfeld episode, "NO SQUAT FOR YOU!" Jesse carries the bar exactly the same evertime he squats, if the bar had been too low, why wasn't it called on the 1st or 2nd attempts...like I said, totally Bush League!

The speed at which Jesse squats 716lbs is incredible, even on his 3rd attempt Jesse completed the lift faster than a lot of lifters complete their opening attempts. The crowd was stunned, the other team coaches were stunned and the Russians immediately started huddling to discuss Jesse's narrow stance and his speed under the bar. I guarantee they will continue to follow Jesse for years to come if he continues to lift in this sport.

Jesse would go on to go 6 for 6 in the rest of his lifts set a new personal record in the bench press and break the current World Record in the Deadlift with a 301.5 kilo (664.6lb) pull on his last attempt. This pull would also have Jesse owning the overall Total record as well with a 784 kilo or 1728lb total. Remember when I had said earlier that we were constantly having to update Jesse's goals...This morning Jesse had told me he really wanted to break the 780 kilo mark today. Oh yeah and after the opening round of deadlifts Jesse's nearest competitor was over 42 kilos behind and was not going to come close to catching him. The second place finisher, a Canadian, ended with a 692.5 total. (1526.7 lbs) almost 100 lbs behind Jesse. He accomplished his biggest goal...the 2010 World Championship!!!

I love these 2 kids and what they do and how the represent our state, our country and themselves. All of the coaches constantly comment on their positive attitudes and their preparedness. That we can all be proud of.

The Idaho Lifters Day.....tomorrow

2010-09-02T14:57:00.000-06:00

As I wrap this up tonight along with checking emails from work I also worked on the opening attempts and lifting strategy for my 2 lifters, Kenzie Hower, a 19 year old 90 kilo Junior lifter and Jesse Norris, a 17 year old 82.5 kilo lifter on the Sub-Junior team.

No matter what happens tomorrow, I have to say that I am very proud of both of them for being here. Most of you that might read this have no idea (except you parents) of what these 2 kids have done over the past year to prepare for tomorrow.....as both of them started this journey when we caught our plane home last year from Brazil after the 2009 Championships. The 3 of us talked on the way home about what each needed to do to prepare themselves for tomorrow.

A week later we were in the gym writing out new goals and plans to achieve them so that tomorrow could happen. Kenzie started college, Jesse started his junior year in high school and of course during the process life got in the way many times, but it never diminished the drive they have had to maintain to show up to the weight room 3-4 days a week, go to work, go to school, back in the weight room, go to work, save money, do another fundraiser, start a new lifting cycle, go to a meet just so each of them could qualify to be here...and when they arrived at those meets to lift, they had to win. In Idaho we only get a couple of opportunities for powerlifting meets. Usually one state meet and then the national events. So basically Kenzie and Jesse have 1 or 2 opportunities to get their chance at tomorrow. They always have to be their best on those days.

I am not taking anything away from the other lifters on this American team and yes I know all of the kids here have had to do special things to be here as well, that's what makes this trip each year so worth it for us coaches....we live with these kids in the weight room and watch them give up other things, other fun, to get back to this event.

But this post is for my 2 kids, the 2 kids that I live with almost each and every Saturday. (just ask my wife :))The 2 kids that I either email or facebook or chat or text with multiple times each week to make sure they are still focused on tomorrow. And they have been; for 365 days Kenzie and Jesse have been focused on tomorrow. Both have grown tremendously as lifters and ambassadors for the USA and as individuals. I can't say enough how ready each of them are for tomorrow.

If I do my job right tomorrow both of them will do what they need to do to reach the goals we set for this event over 6 months ago. The 3 of us know what the other needs to do to successfully accomplish the end of this year's journey.

Being here in the Czech Republic is not the end, being here was expected....tomorrow is the end of this journey for these 2 athletes, for these 2 students of this sport, for these 2 kids of mine and I am so glad to be here with them to take part in another small piece of their journey and I want to thank you parents that allow me to share this moment with your kids. :)

Czech Republic Day 4

2010-09-02T14:16:00.001-06:00

We could not have asked more of our two girls that lifted today. Shantel Noel of Texas and Stacie Pomrening of Wisconsin both lifted great and both finished the last lift of their session with the opportunity of winning their weight class and taking overall gold medals.

Shantel Noel lifted in the 75kg class and after struggling a little in the warm up area with her squats hit the platform and went 3 for 3. The last 2 squats looked to be barnburners, but she held on and finished both. After squats she was sitting a solid second place behind Elena Ovcharova, a Russian girl that we were confident we could outlast in this weight class.

Again Shantel struggled in the warm up area, but this time with the bench press. We lowered her opening attempt to ensure she didn't miss, but this would end up dropping our overall total behind the Russian girl to 15kilos. Shantel felt strongly about her deadlift so we went into the deadlift portion of the meet still feeling like we could make up the difference. Shantel opened with the exact same opener as the Russian and Ovcharova would pull right with us up until the final pull. We waited to see what Ovcharova put on the bar for her final attempt and then we would just have to pull 2.5kilos more since Shantel was heavier in body weight.

Ovcharova ended up going 3 for 3 in the deads and finished with a 160kilo pull which put her total at 450 kilos...Shantel had to pull a 177.5 kilo deadlift if she was going to get this victory. With the entire venue cheering her on Shantel grabbed the bar and was able to pull it just above her knees before gravity became a little too resistant. Shantel ended up in 2nd place behind the Russian, but the best ending to this weight class was the reaction of the Japanese team.

You see, when Shantel missed her final pull of 177.5 kilos, that meant Nakayma Mai would take the gold medal in the deadlift with 162.5kilos to her credit and the Japanese girls don't win that often. The entire girls section of the Japanese team decended on Mai and they all hugged and cried to the point of sobbing. It was just one of those moments over here that remind me why I enjoy this so much.

Stacie on the other hand in the 82.5 kilo class just had one of the most frustrating days of lifting a lifter could have. She would not get a squat passed until her final attempt which would still end up being the 2nd highest squat and then even though she pressed the weight she would only get 1 bench press passed as well. Going into the deadlifts Stacie was trailing Ekaterina Tsigankova (another Russian) by 22.5 kilos.

Stacie opened her deadlifts 15 kilos higher than the Russian so after 1st pulls we trailed by 7.5 kilos. We decided Stacie would rest her back, pass her 2nd attempt and wait to see where Ekaterina would finish. We would just have to pull more. Of course we were heavier in bodyweight again so what ever she pulled Stacie would have to pull enough to pass her by 2.5kilos.

Katerina would get here 2nd deadlift, but missed her 3rd and would add another 7.5 kilos onto her lead. Stacie would need to pull a 182.5 kilo (402.5lb) deadlift to overtake the Russian.......Well the gravity gods that had been pestering our lifters today decided they needed a little more work. The weight shot off of the floor but Stacie would not be able to lock it out and we would take second again to another Russian lifter. Stacie's opening lift would earn her a gold in the deadlift and Stacie would take silver medals in both of the other lifts. Stacie finished with 3 passed lifts and in the end she was pulling for a gold medal. It's not too often a lifter gets an opportunity like that with only 3 made attempts. I know if is a big word, but just if she could have gotten that first squat passed, the whole session would have been totally different...maybe next year.

None of our boys lifted today so scoring on the boys side of the team competition would remain the same. The girl's attempt at team gold would end today. We needed a win in both weight classes today to have a chance of earning the gold team trophy. With 2 weight classes left the girls Sub-Junior team scoring looks like this:

Russia - a perfect 72 points
USA - 56 points
Ukraine - 53 points
Japan - 32 points

The Ukraine and Japan do not have any more girls lifting tomorrow so they cannot catch the USA for Team Silver, but we have 3 more girls that will be working hard tomorrow morning to take home their own gold medals and in the 90+ kilo class the USA has 2 girls that we hope will be scratching and fighting each other for that gold medal.

Czech Republic Day 3 Wednesday

2010-09-01T17:52:00.001-06:00

Well it's after midnight and hear I am at the computer again. Today we only had 2 lifters so it was a relatively easy day, as coaching goes over here.

We started with our first lifter, Beverly Crawford, she is only 1 of the 2 lifters that aren't from either Wisconsin or Texas. Beverly lifts in the 148lb class and to make it even a little easier her own coach was able to make the trip along with her mother.

Have I said anything yet about struggling in the squats? Oh, yeah...just about every post. Well Beverly held true to form for the Americans and was able to complete her opening attempt. The next two squats were red lighted for lack of depth. Nice though that Beverly took pity on the poor tired coaching staff who had worked so hard the day before and posted 3 very nice benchpresses and had now finished 2nd in both disciplines...and Beverly was a puller, her best lift was still to come, this might just be a chance at gold...to hear our anthem again!

Well remember that only 1 squat business...that came back to haunt her and even though she pulled great...a 162.5kilo (358lb) deadlift for a gold medal in the deadlift, it was still not enough to beat out Ekaterina Kotova....Name sound familiar? Well it should....you all know who she is.....a Russian! So you know what that means! Yep. Boom, Russian National Anthem....

Not again, I had hoped I could actually get a new melody in my head today...I had even started singing B-I-N-G-O just in an effort to eliminate that damned anthem, and now here I was again along with the rest of the staff standing for the Russian National Anthem. Things just have to get better!

Our other lifter today was Charles McDonald...we have moved Zach Garza to the 82.5kilo class in a effort to get him a better chance at making the podium, hopefully it works as one of the top Ukrainians had also made a move out of that class to the 75kilo class to get away from our American, Jesse Norris. This may work very well. But that leaves Charles(Chaz) to go against 2 Ukraines and a Russian by himself.

Chaz would squat very well, going 3 for 3, unusual for this team so far...but this would set him up and keep him within the sights of the newly planted Ukraine and of course the Russian. We knew Chaz would probably fall back a little as bench is not necessarily his best lift, but the question of the day would be, could he stay close enough to the top 2 lifters to make a play for the top spot on the podium.

Well pull as he may, and he did, Chaz did finish on top of the podium for the deadlift, but would not be able to pull enough to better his 3rd place position overall. And of course you all know what that means if you have bean reading any of this mess I have been putting out here...Boom! Ukraine national anthem...got ya didn't I?!

Well it's late, I have to get my kicks somehow! :)

By the way, I did get to travel outside of the walls of the hotel today with my 2 Idaho lifters and we visited a very small little Czech Italian Restaurant...yes, I did write that. They served a variety of pizzas and spaghetti and other Italian dishes, even breakfast items. The 3 of us did invite Nick Laznovsky our 148lb lifter to tag along and lucky for us he did. While we all munched down our Salmon/Spinach pizza and our Artichoke/Spinach pizza and Kenzie's pick the Popeye the Sailor pizza...Spinach, Bacon, Chicken and fried egg.....awesome pizza by the way, went back later with the coaching staff and ate more of this kind. Great flavor!!!

Well anyway, I regressed there for a minute...while we were eating our pizzas Nick decides to order chocolate filled pancakes. Well, whatever Nick, you can order a breakfast if you like. That's okay. So rich even this 18 year old could not get more that one of the 3 rolled very thin pancakes down. And to top it all off we awarded Nick with the "Quote of the Week" so far:

"I really can't believe we flew across the ocean and we are really here!"

I know this doesn't sound like much, but at the time had we of all just taken a drink it would have been coming out of our noses...it was classic Nick!

I also have a feeling the waitress, although she had to manage with our lack of local language skills, she didn't mind the tips...and then when I brought the coaching staff back in an hour before they were supposed to close and with 5 people we ordered 10 pizzas, all different of course, although frustrated with us again, she liked those tips as well... and invited us back :)

Almost forgot current team scores:

Girls - Russia 65 points                                          Boys - Russia 54 points
           Ukraine 53 points                                                  USA 50 points
           USA 45 points                                                       Ukraine 28 points
           Japan 26 points                                                      Japan 18 points
           Poland 14 points                                                    Poland 17 points
                                                                                         France 12 points (had to give them their credit)

Keep in mind the scoring only counts the top 6 finishes of each team so thing could change drastically over the next few days. Keep checking back! Good night.

Czech Republic Day 2 Tuesday

2010-09-01T17:11:00.000-06:00

Let me start by apologizing for not getting this post up yesterday evening...it ended up being a longer than usual day and the internet was very sketchy last night when I got to my room....

You know how you get a song stuck in your head after you have heard it let's say 4 or 5 times in the same day...well I have one of those after today. And it's one of those songs that I really don't necessarily want to have floating around that grey matter I call a brain...The Russian National Athem! Man I am just tired of hearing that song, it has a pretty nice melody and the beat isn't too bad, but everytime I hear it it just reminds me that they have scored a few more points.

Today wasn't necessarily a bad day for the American Sub-Junior Team, it just wasn't what we had scripted out...of course scripts don't always tell the story. We had our 123 and 132 lb girls on the platform and our 132 and 148lb boys. Katie Durham from Texas was scripted to take this weight class...remember from one of my earlier blog sessions, she was deliberately moved up to this weight class to compete head to head with two very competitive Russian girls. Katie only managed to get one of her squats passed by the judges, managed two benches and then proceded to scare the crap out of all of the American coaches when she missed not only her opening deadlift attempt by not budging it off of the floor, but then also missed her second attempt when she fell down with the weight. At this point she has 3rd place in the squat, 3rd place in the bench and we knew if we raised her deadlift by 2.5 kilos she could get the silver medal in the deadlift. The Ukrainian girl behind her would not be able to catch her, unless of course she misses again and bombs. As a staff we increased the weight 2.5 kilos without telling Katie of course and gave some of our best motivational advice and turned her loose on the platform. What seemed to be 10 minutes later she successfully completed her last deadlift, stayed in the meet and placed 3rd overall...Boom, Russian National Anthem.

Kelsey King, another Texas girl had also been moved up a weight class and was competing in the 132lb class. We had anticipated the move would actually be very beneficial for Kelsey and might produce her an appearance on the podium. Kelsey, like Katie, would struggle all day finishing only 4 lifts out of the nine, but we did mange to get her on the podium for a bronze medal in the squat. Kelsey finished 4th overall which was very repectable for her first trip to the World Championships. She responded very well all day to our coaching advice and was wonderful to work with. Kelsey now understands the pressures and the judging at the international level. Guess what? Boom, Russian National Athem!

Sir Isaac Nunez got the US started on the boy's side today in the 132lb class. After missing his first squat he came back to finish very well with the silver medal in the squat and only 15kilos behind one of the best Russian Sub-Juniors we will compete against, Alexander Molin. We knew Sir Isaac needed to gain some ground in the bench and we all expected him to finish well in the bench...but a World Record!! Oh YA! Nunez posted a 163kilo (359.5lbs for you Americans reading this), 2.7 times his body weight, bench press! After benches Sir Isaac would move into the deadlifts with a 3 kilo lead over the Russian. We could almost hear the US national anthem playing, but we also knew Molin was a great deadlifter. Nunez still had some work to do. Nunez would go 2 for 3 in the deads and finish with a 603kilo total, but would it be enough to hold off Molin? Weeelllllll, not quite. Molin went 8 for 9 and got all 3 of his deadlifts to gain back the 15 kilo lead he had after the squats to take the gold medal...you guessed it, Boom, Russian National Athem!!!

Well we still had 2 guys in the 148lb class later that evening. Of course they got started after 8:30pm due to some changes in the scheduling for the Junior girls sessions, so we knew we were in for a very late night, but we had very high confidence in both Nick Laznovsky and Jason Rupnow and actually hope that both would make the podium before they turned the lights out in the ballroom. Nick started with a bang and took the gold in the squat, but struggled with a bronze in the benchpress which of course was won by ......a Russian lifter, Anton Polyakov. Crap, here we go again. Jason was only able to finish one squat, and then followed that up with 3 straight misses in the bench, which is his better, if not best lift. he pushed the weight, just received 1 too many red lights for technical problems with the lifts. He was devistated along with the coaches who had anticipated a good meet for him. So now it was up to Nick to finish this alone and prevent us from listening to that same tune we had been hearing all day. Nick went on to go 2 for 3 in the deads, barely missing a 250kilo(551lb) final deadlift that left him in 2nd overall...you guessed it Boom, Russian natio......wait a minute that's not the Russian national anthem......Who invited the French!!! And who would actually be glad they showed up to fight??? :) They haven't done that since....well I don't know that they have ever done that! But they did here and took a nice 12 points away from the Russians, actually Polyakov ended up 4th so belive it or not the American team needed help and the French stepped up and we ended the evening with all of the French powerlifting team singing their country's national anthem very loud and very proud...had I known the words, I would have sung along as well!

IPF Sub-Jr/Jr World Powerlifting Championships Day 1

2010-08-30T14:55:00.000-06:00

It's always nice to hear the Star Spangled Banner...But when you hear it being played because one of your athletes has just won the World Championships, well, then it is REALLY NICE!! The US team enjoyed that sound on two separate occasions today.

Our first World Champion was Michelle Van Dusen in the girls 48kg/105lb class, and our second was Eric Torres in the 56kg/123lb class. Eric also added a new World Bench Press Record to his championship. Both US teams stayed close in the Team competition and of course even though it is still only the first day of competition, we were trying to score every possible point we could.

Sheila Mays held on to take the Silver Medal overall in the 44kg/97lb class. She stayed very solid in second place until the Deadlift, when she got just a little out of sync on her second attempt and opened the door to the Russian girl. We had to make a quick adjustment to her attempt, provide a little coaching motivation...and of course she came through for us like we expected when she pulled 2.5kg more on her third attempt than her second forcing the Russian girl to try a weight she could not finish. Sheila's thrid deadlift became a very important lift for the girl's team as it pushed Russia into a third place spot which may prove to be very important later this week as we match up very well with the Russian team across the board and anything lower than second place will not be enough when it comes to the point totals.

As I wrote at the top of this evening's blog, Michelle Van Dusen handled herself very well as she should in her third World Championships. Michelle was never challenged and as a matter of fact one lifter moved all of the way up to 56kg/123lb class to try and compete for a first place victory.

The US moved our expected 52kg/114lb female, Katie Durham, up to the 56kg/123lb class as a team point maneuver. We anticipate Katie will do much better place wise in the 123lb class tomorrow afternoon, so she got to spend the day eating big time! Matter of fact I saw her this evening carrying not one, but two bags of Czech McDonalds food...smiling of course!

On the boys side of the competition, Thomas Soto at 52kg/114lb boys fought off a very painful hamstring injury to place 4th overall and Third in the squat. Just as he had squatted very well and benched himself into a postition to make a move for the podium his hamstring shot him down, allowing him only to complete his opening attempt. Thomas will have another opportunity again I am sure. He is an excellent lifter and competitor.

In the 56kg boys class we had Eric Torres who did place first and set a new World BenchPress record at 144kg/314lbs, but we also had competing one of our youngest lifters, Travis Charles @ 16 yrs old placed 5th overall in his first trip to the World Championships. Travis lifted extremely well and impressed all of the coaches with an 8 for 9 day and a few new personal records. I am sure, like Thomas Soto, we will see Travis on another Sub-Junior World Team very soon.

Rough scoring top 3 teams- Girls Sub-Juniors - US 21, Russia 28, Ukraine 37,
Boys Sub-Juniors - US 21, Russia 18, Japan 12

Tomorrow we will see the following lifters: 56kg/123lb girls - Katie Durham and another team shift, Kelsey King @ 60kg/132lbs.
Boys - Isaac Nunez @ 60kg/132lbs and two lifters at 67.5kg/148lb class Nick Laznovsky and Jason Rupnow.
Hopefully more gold will be had by the USA tomorrow!!

I hope you are getting to take advantage of watching the live streaming video at: www.youtube.com/powerliftingtv

Night All!!

Czech Republic +1 day

2010-08-29T15:23:00.001-06:00

Got a lot of maintenance items done today...most of the coach's and 3 of our lifters got a good workout in early this morning and by 10:30 we had met with all of the lifters and gotten everyone's rack heights for squat and bench taken care of. This should reduce any required time to get this done at the beginning of each session. Tends to reduce any hurried stress for both coaches and lifters as well.

The breakfast being served here at the hotel was very good. Eggs, sausage, bacon, deli meats and cheeses, choices of yogurts and fruits...and of course juice and coffee. I don't think the hotel was quite prepared for the numbers of lifters that would be eating as they kept running low on food and coffee...but everything was worth the wait. Definately liked the sunny side up egg circles...

Took a short walk over to a small grocery to stock up on water and pop for some, Red Bull for others...made the walk back after we waited for a pretty strong rain shower to freshen the air. Chaz(Charles) McDonald, our 75KG Sub-Junior was the first to score a shirt trade. He managed a quick trade with his main competition, the 75KG Russian that is ranked #1 in his class. The Russian took Chaz back to his room and presented him with an unwrapped Russian workout shirt. The highly unusual piece of this is that normally the Russians don't trade items much...has been kind of taboo in years past. It appears this lifter came prepared to trade which means maybe they are coming around a little and loosening up a bit. Maybe some of the other Russians will be prepared to trade as well. If so, this would be a great turn around.

Took our team pictures this afternoon out amongst the greenery in the back of the hotel. I will upload a new team picture tomorrow for the blog site. After pictures, the coaches sat in on the technical meeting and we all got an update as to how many lifters would be changing weight classes for both the Sub-Junior and Junior teams. Our Junior team arrived about 5:00 this evening and are checked in and now, I am sure, sleeping...trying to adjust that body clock before competition starts in the morning.

We will handle 5 lifters tomorrow and hopefully come out swinging for gold medals right off of the bat! The US needs to get an early jump on the Russian team to have any chance of taking Team Gold this year in both girls and boys divisions.

Will post again tomorrow evening with the results of the day. Now it all starts!!

In the Czech Republic

2010-08-28T14:28:00.000-06:00

The plane touched down this afternoon and surprisingly, it turned out, all of our luggage was on board as well!! What a great way to start a World Championship event...all of the lifters and their luggage right where they were supposed to be.

We went through the typical currency exchange with very minimal disruption and everyone made it through the customs check with absolutely no issues. This trip so far has been beyond expectation...anytime you try to herd 21 teenagers through a new environment where no one understands the language or the signage, you always expect some hiccups. Today there were none. Very surprising when you consider only 3 of the young lifters have experience going through this process.

Caught our bus and had a very nice 50 minute drive to our hotel in Pilsen which surprisingly look very similar to the website photos we have been reviewing for the past couple of months. The hotels never actually end up being what is posted online, they always have a few things that are just a little, well let's just say not as they appear or are described. Not this year! Very nice accomodations and the restaurant food is excellent.
The 70 kilometer drive reminded me very much of my drive this year from Madison, WI to the Wisconsin Dells for High School Nationals. A lot of rolling pine filled hills bordered by hay fields scattered with rolled bales of hay. Every so often a small valley half filled with a small but what seems to be a thriving little community.

A lot of road construction in the town of Pilsen which might create a little challenge when we try to venture out later in the week and of course the route the driver took seemed to meander around the town like a lazy small river through the flat land. Hopefully the kids will be able to experience the city during the week and we have tried to arrange for a trip back into Prague for an afternoon just to let the kids get a site seeing tour of the city. A tremendous amount of history here!

Day one in the books...the coaches are dragging a little and the lifters are all still pretty wired about being somewhere other than home. Quote of the day, "I can't believe we are already really here."
Tomorrow we will get a liitle more acclimated to the area and try to get some nice pics of the area outside of the motel...

BSU Powerlifting Club Reunion

2010-08-15T11:28:00.000-06:00

Last night I attended the reunion of the original BSU Powerlifting Club. Of course the reunion was actually of the original group of powerlifters in Southwest Idaho that basically got the sport started back in the 1978 time frame, but is started with the BSU team.
I was introduced to the group in about 1981 and worked out with them down at the YMCA in Boise and under the BSU stadium every once in awhile. Great times...Great stories...Great memories.
What was so interesting last night as I scanned the room at the aged faces was the love of the sport that originally got us all together was still so evident. Even though most haven't competed in years or even decades, each person in the room was eager to share their powerlifting experiences and stories from the past. Everyone was very excited to visit and take pictures and of course share a moment or two that they remembered from those days with the iron.
A few are still lifting regularly and a couple are either still competing or getting ready for a competition, including Jerry Englebert, a 74 year old, who figured he still had at least one more good competition in him and after not being in the weightroom for a number of years, went in for his first deadlift routine and pulled 400lbs...at 74!!! What a great gentleman and competitor. I am hoping he will attend our Idaho State Open this December and wow everyone with his skill in this sport.
I myself used the opportunity to spread the word of our current young lifters and let everyone know that powerlifting was still alive and doing quite well in Idaho. I even gave an update on the two young teenage lifters that will be representing Team USA at the Sub-Junior/Junior World Championships.
Everyone was quite pleased that what we had started so long ago was still being preserved through the lifting of so many young lifters here in Idaho.
Of course the evening was not without the sad news of fellow Idaho lifters who we have lost. We shared stories of them and remembered them as the great friends and lifters who played such a major part in the original development of this sport we call "powerlifting" in Idaho.
I certainly hope the young lifters I deal with on a weekly basis will cherish these quickly passing years of lifting and will keep their experiences close to them as they too age. The years spent competing in this sport are far too short lived and become memories far too quickly. But they are memories to be shared and enjoyed as we shared last evening...Thank each and every person that attended our little event. It was so wonderful to visit and rekindle the relationships that had dimmed over the years. May we be able to do it again and again...

Close of Another Year

2009-12-30T11:12:00.000-07:00

Just a few random thoughts to close another year:

Will we ever be honest with ourselves as a nation, and really call a spade a spade? Political correctness has gotten ridiculous!!

Will the democrats and republicans actually learn to play well with each other? We the people are really getting tired of your arguing and accomplishing nothing!

Will the economy get turned around? I hear all of the military branches are hiring!!

Will their ever be restrictions added to receiving welfare? If you can afford cigarettes and liquor you don't need welfare!! Plus I hear all of the military branches are hiring!!

Will we see the military draft come back? PLEASE!!!!!

Not so funny to see Mr. Obama speak of the same communications failures in our security systems that were supposed to be fixed after 911. That was over 8 years ago. If they can't work together, FIRE them!! Sounds like a good idea for congress as well!!

Americans have great power, we just have a tendency to follow and listen to the latest rhetoric instead of doing our own research and making a decision for ourselves. It's easier to listen and join the bandwagon. Don't take sides because of your political color, make a decision because it's good for our country. Take the health care bill for example; all of the republicans voted against it, democrats for it, none of them read it because it's over 2000 pages long. We freed our country with a single page document containing 1337 words, not pages!! Our politicians today need to actually get involved with the bills they are voting on.

Have a Great New Year, and get involved!!

BRAZIL - In Country

2009-09-06T18:53:00.000-06:00

Our plane touched down in Ribeirao Preto, Brazil at 2:40pm local time. A very beautiful city from the air with green planted fields almost touching the concrete of the city streets. As the plane taxied to the terminal it was clear to see some of the poorness surrounding the high rise apartments of downtown. All of the houses around the airport reflected severe poverty with tin roofs and in the cases where there was a covering over the main doorway, usually resembled a worn quilt or blanket of some kind.

The red dirt was evident everywhere from the runway to the car and bicycle tires and shoes on the resident airport workers feet. Stepping off of the plane, I thought I had landed in a community of 2 or 3 thousand people not 700,000!! There was only one gate and the luggage was delivered by a tractor with a flatbed trailor behind it. It would have been easier to take the luggage from the trailer than the 20 feet of moving belt that was the luggage carrousel.

The hotel has been excellent and is one of the best facilities I have been in during the World Championships. The rooms are quite large and beds very comfortable. The air conditioning keeps the room at a very nice 18 degrees centigrade, perfect for a good sleep.

I had beers with some of the local Brazilian lifters last night. Amazing that even below the equator all lifters can laugh at the same jokes, even through an interpreter, and throw the same insults at each other for fun. Got reaquainted with friends and lifters from championships past and enjoyed catching up with them. It was an excellent first day and evening.

Homecoming

2009-09-04T18:10:00.000-06:00

It's almost like a homecoming of sorts. Watching Team USA come together at the Houston airport is a lot of hugs and laughter and sitting cross legged on the floor, in the fixed string of airport chairs or wherever they can find a spot. Chatting, exchanging stories about their summer or home or lifting, whatever, it doesn't matter. It's like a family at Thanksgiving or Christmas. What's interesting is that some of these kids are really kind of meeting for the first time.
Each qualified for the team in their own way, either High School Nationals or Women's Nationals or Men's Nationals, now they are here a part of something for some of them that will bond them to this group forever. They will follow each other in some manner, especially with today's technology, for maybe a lifetime. They will share friendships and hardships with each other because of this trip. As a coach, this is what being a part of the USA World team is all about. The relationships I have managed to create with these young people is the reason for me being here. I am truly blessed to be a small piece of their transition into adulthood. Whether they finish next week as a World Champion, a World record holder, make it to the podium, just finish or bomb, they will grow physically and mentally and be better human beings because of this experience.
For some, it will be their only time at the World Championships, their only opportunity to represent their country in any manner. For others they have been here numerous times. Except for the ease of international travel, it's hard to tell one from the other. They blend into a blur of red, white and blue uniforms, smiles, chatter and laughter.

Lessons

2009-08-23T21:13:00.000-06:00

It would be so much easier to just lead your kids through their life. You could ensure their decisions make good sense. (at least from your perspective!) You could use all of your life's knowledge to make their life so much easier than you had it. They wouldn't have to suffer all of the set backs and let downs you had to work through. They would only know the successes and highlights, never the hard times. When hard times did find their way into their lives you would have all of the answers ready to solve any problem.

That would be so much easier. On us anyway....

The real difficulty is having to watch them struggle with the little problems of life that seem so large to them. Knowing that they have to work through these issues so they are better prepared when the REAL problems confront them. And will they be any better prepared for the REAL problems? Only time will tell.

Struggling is okay.... you have to remind yourself that it is true. You can't protect them all of the time and issues that involve the heart are the worst. Definately not your territory and if you try you are reminded how far off base you really are. You really have no opinion on the matter. No matter your position, it's wrong!

They will ask. When they do, you have permission to listen and support, but not to have an opinion. An opinion will only complicate an already complicated situation. Be support...

I am trying.

Team Idaho Sponsors

2009-08-21T21:35:00.000-06:00

I will say more about our sponsors after we return from Brazil, but I want all of our sponsors here in Idaho to know how much your support means to each of these lifters and to me their coach. Without your continued support both monetarily and spiritually we could not make this journey.
I promise each of you that these lifters are working their hearts out to do the best they can. Each week they improve over their last cycle and continue to surprise me with their accomplishments. Amanda, Jesse and Kenzie each want to do Idaho and the USA proud and do their part for Team USA to leave Brazil as World Champions. As a member of the coaching staff , we will do our best to ensure each of our USA lifters have the opportunity to hit the best meet they can and if possible, stand on the podium at the end of the day.
I love this opportunity of representing the USA and work with these great kids from all across our country. I am very proud of our team every time we compete on someone else's soil.
Thank you Idaho sponsors for helping this dream come true for these kids. They will realize how important an opportunity this is each in their own time, and they will return the favor to another. That's what it's all about.

Heavy Triples Tomorrow

2009-08-21T21:24:00.001-06:00

Tomorrow we will be hitting what we would be expecting to be our openers at the World Championships. Each of the kids will be doing 2 sets 3 reps and if things go well this should end up being their opening attempts. Kenzie should be squatting 470 for triples and Jesse should be squatting 625 for triples. If they hit these it will definately prepare us for big numbers in Brazil. Kenzie has already tripled 195 in the bench in her new Inzer RageX shirt and tomorrow we will try her new Titan Katana, see if it fits and if it will make a difference. Her new squat suit came in as well so we will hit her triples in that. I don't know yet if Jesse's Titan gear has come in, but if not he is very comfortable in his Inzer suit and he will try his new Inzer RageX shirt tomorrow as well.
Lots of chalk dust and loud tunes for some big numbers. I hope everyone on the USA team is having the lifting cycle we are. Things are looking very good at this point!!
Amanda, have a great lifting session this weekend and try to stay focused. Lots of changes going on in your life right now, stay the course for a few more weeks and we will see you in South America!!

14 Days Out

2009-08-20T21:21:00.000-06:00

It's amazing how much time you spend as a coach going over the nominations and shuffling placings between lifters to try and calculate where and who needs to place in the top 2 or 3 compared to the Russian team or the Ukraine team and which team can sneak in to take a spot either in our favor or against us.
I know it all comes down to how we lift on our day, but running numbers prior to the championships can drive a coach crazy!! The USA team is so close in team points to the Russian team in both boys and girls categories, if either team doesn't quite come in according to the nominations list or happens to win a weight class not expected to, then the Team Gold is up in the air. Then of course you have to watch out for the other countries that can sneak up on you or move from one weight class to another in order to gain a spot on the podium. This is what makes this a fun coaches sport.
And while we coaches are going through all of the possibilities, our lifters just need to hit the numbers they have been training for. As a coach, you hope the numbers they are hitting in the gym are quality reps and leave room for no doubt as to depth or pause. We can't be there to watch each lifter. We must depend on their training partners to push them and ensure their lifts are good international quality lifts.
My Idaho lifters have 3 more heavy lifts before we leave on the 4th and this Saturday will be the Saturday that will really determine where they are able to open their attempts which will pre-determine somewhat where they will finish if they go 3 for 3 in a particular lift. I just hope they get all of their gear to work in for the next 3 weeks, I know we are still waiting for Jesse's, although he is very confident in his current gear.
Before you know it we will be counting hours instead of days. I love this time of year!! :)

Won't do that again!!

2009-08-18T07:32:00.000-06:00

Have you ever heard about someone accidently injurying themselves and you think to yourself, "What a moron!" "How could they have done that?" I always did that when I heard about someone getting hurt using a table saw. I never could figure out how in the hell they could cut themselves using a table saw. It just didn't make any sense to me. I mean this is a very high speed piece of equipment, you have to be careful when you use it.
Well, it makes sense now!! I get it or should I say I got it?! Now I realize just how fast that blade turns and I am just a little slower to react than the saw. I know what you are saying. "What a moron!" But I have to tell you until the moment it happened I would have said the same thing. I just had to make this specific angle cut on a 3 foot long pice of hardwood. Of course the cut had to be length wise and of course it had to be on edge, so as I am pulling the board through the saw and pushing it with my other hand, I am watching very carefully. I realize it is not the best of conditions, and a table saw is probably not the best piece of equipment for this cut, but the table saw was out and I wanted to get the job done and I knew I could make it work. Well as I am pulling and pushing I looked from my pushing hand to my pulling had only for a moment to make sure the board was riding correctly and of course the board fell into the slot for the blade and since my thumb was what was applying the pressure on the board, it followed. Before I could glance back to see what had happened the board splintered in the blade and I got a nice thumbnail manicure. Needless to say it trimmed a little more than the nail and to top it off one of those lovely hardwood splinters ended up in my index finger. My response at this exact moment. "What a Moron!"
I inspected everything and figured out I was going to be fine, just feeling a little stupid (and lucky) and once I got the bleeding stopped realized the work I had done on the piece of wood was for not. I would have to start over again.
Now this proves that I am definately male and human. I started over again with another piece of wood and wouldn't you know it, I went through the same motions and made the same cuts using the same equipment. Now that's either persistance or stupidity!! I tend to lean towards persistance, after all I can't let an inanimate object like a table saw kick my ass. Can I?

20 Days Out

2009-08-14T15:22:00.000-06:00

We are 20 days out from the 2009 World Sub-Junior Powerlifting Championships in Brazil. Amanda has left the group and is moving to Louisiana for school. She will meet us in Brazil in September. Jesse's lifts are going great and Kenzie is performing just as well, both should have great competitions if they stay focused. I am a little frustrated in that I can't verify if the hotel has received our payment for our rooms. The fax I sent out on Tuesday showed that it was received, but I haven't seen any charges on my card verifying that they have processed my payment. I emailed the contact today at the hotel, but to no avail. Today is the drop dead date on the rooms so I am keeping my fingers crossed that they have everything they need for our rooms.
Tomorrow is week 5 in our cycle and I believe Jesse is supposed to rep 600 in the squat and Kenzie should be at 455 for reps. This will be a really good indication if the cycle is going to finish well. Should be our first day in Bench shirts as well so I will have to see how that goes. Kenzie hit a triple of 195 last Saturday in her new shirt, but Jesse hasn't worked in his for any numbers yet.
Amanda trained yesterday somewhere in Wisconsin with Krogman and I guess he blessed here with a new nickname, "Puke Princess". I guess she had a slight accident during her squats and blew chunks on the platform during a lift. Nerves I guess in a new gym. :) Today she is on the road again headed south across the great plains of the midwest. As of 3:45pm today she has no idea where she is going to stop. I am guessing Oklahoma or somewhere in Texas. She should make it to Louisiana tomorrow sometime. She is lucky her sister chose to go along for company. Sisters can get along sometime I guess and Amy is a sweetheart for making the trip. One of those things Amanda won't have living down south.
I think the fundraising is winding down, but I hope to get in a few more bucks in before we leave. I and the kids have had some great luck with our repeat sponsors. They are great to have as supporters and truly are wonderful people that are willing to provide this experience to these kids. I hope each of our sponsors realize the opportunity they are providing, and I hope my kids will relish in the experience of this trip. I will do my best to ensure they do!!

No Moe No More

2009-08-04T20:31:00.000-06:00

As parents we raise our kids and hope the job we have done prepares them for success in life and we hope that we have raised some one we would be proud to associate with.
Well coaching is very similar to parenting.
I have to say that with everything Team Idaho Powerlifting has going on this weekend, the live video stream at Bodybuilding.com followed by further filming at Gold's Gym for future video segments, I am not looking forward to this weekend actually ending. It will end a wonderful experience I have had the opportunity to be a part of. One of my first female lifters that has grown up in front of me will be leaving Idaho for the great state of Louisiana to train and finish college at Louisiana State University, Alexandria.
Amanda started lifting as a very young 14 year old freshman at Skyview high school. She was kind of a band type geek and played a little basketball, but wanted to try powerlifting so we welcomed her into our group. As a coach I was always looking for new lifting athletes and especially girls that were willing to take on a sport like powerlifting. She caught on rather quickly and developed a great sense of humor along the way which was basically a requirement when you are the only girl in a gym full of testosterone ladened boys. I have to admit, I fell in love with her desire and commitment to wanting to get stronger and better at the sport.
In what seems to be 5 very short years, Amanda has become Idaho's first 4 time high school state powerlifting champion, one of the first to set a National and American Record, the first to win the High School Varsity National Championships and Idaho's first Sub-Junior World Champion. This year she will return to the World Championships for the 3rd straight time. She has been able to visit France, South Africa and this year Brazil representing the USA at the IPF World Championships.
Amanda, I will miss you every time Team Idaho is in the gym training. I will miss you coming in late rushing to get caught up on squats. I will miss telling you to get deeper on your squats(That has become less often by the way), I will miss your smile and the way you bounce around getting ready to lift. I will miss reminding you to keep your grip tight on the bar during benches and keeping track of how long it takes you to finish a heavy deadlift. It has been a distinct pleasure of mine to have been able to coach you and be associated with you over the past 5 years. You are truly a beautiful young lady and a great powerlifter. I wish you all of the luck and success you can ever hope to achieve as you journey southward and I expect to continue to see you at national and international venues. You will always be close to my heart and I will always consider you one of my favorite lifters. I am very humbled to say I was your coach. You are some one I would be proud to associate with. Love you girl!!

W W R D

2009-07-31T15:50:00.000-06:00

A nice little reminder for all of my lifters. What Would Rayborn Do? It has become the chuckle around the weight room while we are lifting as we discuss what the lifters are doing outside of the gym. I always try to remind them to make the right decisions when they are out on the town or hanging with friends so they have picked up on the whole acronym of WWRD. Kind of nice to be thought of in a similar light as WWJD. So to speak....
Big squats and benches in the morning. It will be a nice milestone to see where the kids are in relation to what I am expecting at Worlds in September. We will also be discussing what will happen at the live video feed @ Bodybuilding.com next Friday afternoon. That should be fun for them.

7 Weeks Out

2009-07-26T19:22:00.000-06:00

Everyone lifted well today, and after yesterday's Yard Sale event I am very pleased with the numbers we hit this morning. Mandy hit her squats for the day and they looked deep. Still have to work on her sitting back in the suit a little more so her knees don't drift over her toes, but she looked strong. Her new Inzer gear fit real well and she hit a quick 190 bench in her new shirt. That's the most I have seen her handle in quite awhile so maybe the new shirt might be the ticket. Her raw benches have been going real well and I expect that by time we get to Brazil she will be right on target.
Kenzie's squats looked great as usual, nice and deep and plenty of room for more. Her deadlift suit was too small so she will exchange it tomorrow. Benches looked good today. Still raw, but she is getting stronger on the bench. If she continues to develop her bench raw, I believe she will do some good things in Brazil.
Jesse looked great again. He continues to impress me with his raw strength. His form is next to perfect and I am looking forward to getting him in Titan gear for squats. I really want to see if that will make a difference. We put on his new Inzer bench shirt after his workout and he hit a quick 335 to make sure he could touch. Bar popped off of his chest like 135 and the touch was smooth. I know he is also looking forward to trying the Katana when it comes in.
From a coaches perspective all three lifters are right on target for September. Now if I can keep the reins pulled in enough that they don't sprint out too fast on this cycle. NO Over training!!
WWRD

Are All Yard Sales Successful?

2009-07-25T21:23:00.000-06:00

I guess you pretty much have to expect some level of success every time you host a "Yard Sale" even if your expectations are not really achieved. Today's Fundraiser Yard Sale was a success and each of the lifters will net about $120-$150 depending on a couple of items still to be paid for. This was far less that we had hoped for, but at the same time we are very happy with the outcome as this was more than what we had started with and other than a few hours in the hot sun it was actually a fun day. Of course it's back to lifting bright and early tomorrow morning and everyone will be a little worn from today's work so hopefully we can hit our expected numbers in the weightroom better than we hit our numbers today at the yard sale.
Financing the trip to the World Championships is well worth the efforts we endure and the final product will be experiences for these lifters as well as myself that most people only just think about and sometimes wish for. You can't wish for this; you have to go after it and make it happen. A yard sale, no matter how successful is a small piece of making it happen and the continued work and efforts on all of our parts make this experience what it will be. The yard sale is like one of the weeks in the gym, a step towards a goal, if we stay focused the end will be in sight very soon and more than likely get here sooner than expected.
WWRD

The Joys of Fundraising!!

2009-07-24T15:01:00.000-06:00

We are at the day before our Fundraising yard sale trying to raise money for the kids to travel to Brazil in September for the World Championships. 1st off, yard sales are always a hassle to begin with. That's why we only do them as a last resort and then we swear we will never let our crap pile up so high that we have to have another yard sale. But in this case we are actually going out and asking other people to donate their crap to us so we hopefully there will be enough crap to tempt the passersby to stop and take a look. Of course we only want the passersby to stop if they are serious about buying some of our newly donated crap to take home so that after the sale is over we won't have to take our crap along with all of our newly donated crap to the local Salvation Army so they can try to sell our crap.
Don't get me wrong, I appreciate all of the donations we have received so far and a lot of the crap we have received is excellent crap. It's just one more step in the process of getting to the World Championships. Can't wait to get to Brazil though!! USA will be represented very well!!
WWRD