Welcome Weckingball to the PDXstrength coaching staff… lol

May 23, 2018 / By j0ssy

THE most Jacked skateboarder in the world biochemically engineered in the scums of New Jersey. 5’10 AND A HALF! Scorpio

Favorite Exercise: DEEP SQUATS

If you want to get jacked, please contact us to hire Weck as your personal trainer.

Meet our new coach at PDXstrength, Weckingball! from PDXstrength on Vimeo.

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Our 2nd Annual PDXstrength Beer Mile

May 20, 2018 / By j0ssy

Our 2nd Annual Beer Mile on  Friday was a blast! We raised some money for the St. Johns Center for Opportunity, shared tons of laughs, and sneaked in some running. Here are some photos, Meghan McGuire took.

Men’s and Women’s First Place: Joe and Jule

Men’s and Women’s Second Place: Tyler Z and Laura

Men’s and Women’s  Third Place: Marshall and Christie

Thanks to everyone that participated, volunteered and cheered.

Start training for next year!

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What Weightlifting Has Taught Me (Part 2 – Failure

February 27, 2018 / By j0ssy
Coach jen is back with another guest blog. If you missed part one of her series, check it out here: https://www.pdxstrength.com/2018/02/weightlifting-taught-part-1-patience/
 

Hi Friends! I’m back with another installment of lessons learned from the barbell. Here we go…
 
Lesson 2: It’s OKAY to Fail
 
Let me repeat for those in the back: IT. IS. OKAY. TO. FAIL.
 
First, let’s talk about it in the context of weightlifting:
 
Of course, the ideal situation would be where we never miss lifts ever and we all hit every single snatch and clean & jerk until the end of time in Magical Unicorn Fairyland! But, sadly, THIS IS NOT REALITY. (And if this Magical Unicorn Fairyland does exist, someone PLEASE let a girl know so I may visit/buy a condo there.)
 
We miss sometimes. Some lifts are bad. Some lifts are good and we still miss. 
 
(Side note: You CAN miss a lift and it can still be a good lift. I have told this plenty of times to athletes I have worked with. It IS possible to have done everything well and fixed the particular problem that needed to be fixed but something else could have been off. Any lift in which you have learned something about yourself as a lifter can be considered a “good lift”. A lot of times when you fix one thing, it may throw off other aspects of your lift until you take the time to fix that next thing. But we can only really focus on one thing at a time and drill it until it becomes consistent… and so the process goes.
 
On the other side of it, it IS possible to make a lift and it can still be a bad lift. I’m sure you’ve all seen them a time or two… someone makes a heavy or PR lift but it’s ugly as shit/the most cringeworthy thing you have ever seen. Improvement in weightlifting is not just about the numbers and the PRs but also about the constant pursuit of perfect technique. Plus, good technique will eventually equal heavier lifts.)
 
This is all to say that failure is inevitable. It means you are trying. Failure means you are putting yourself out there, you are putting yourself on the line, you are taking the risk. It means you are attempting to put a ridiculous amount of weight over your head and though it may not get overhead the first time (or the second, or third, or fourth, or… you get the idea), with persistence and resilience it will get there. Eventually. But that weight will never get overhead if you never try in the first place. Failing means that you took the risk and though it may not have been successful the first time, you were GIVEN the opportunity to learn what worked and what didn’t and now you can apply that information to the next lift.
 
Hmmm… kind of sounds like life, right?
 
Being successful in life and moving forward and growing as a person is about taking those big risks without the guarantee that the outcome will be good. Do you think at the end of your life you will regret all the big crazy beautiful things you did or would you regret all the things you never had the courage to do? Travel to that country you’ve always wanted to visit? Ask that special person out on a date? Climb that mountain? Start that business you’ve been dreaming about?
 
There are inevitable risks in life and nothing is guaranteed but you will never know what is on the other side of that risk if you never try. And trying means failing sometimes. Failing takes courage. Failing means you take a moment to reassess, learn, and move forward a little wiser and more experienced.
 
Trust me, I know how scary failing is. Growing up, I was a perfectionist. (Maybe chalk it up to growing up in an Asian household.) Everything I did, I had to do perfectly and I had to be the BEST or it wasn’t worth doing. And so I would start things: gymnastics, ice skating, ballet, martial arts, acting, playing the violin, applying for med school… but then I would quit before I could get anywhere because I was too afraid of failing. I was too afraid of looking like I had no idea what I was doing. (News Flash: I’m pretty sure no one really knows what they’re doing but we all just kind of “fake it ‘till you make it” until we figure it out.) I was too afraid of looking silly or foolish or stupid. I was too afraid I would disappoint the people around me and disappoint myself because I wasn’t good enough. 
 
You WILL fail. It WILL happen at some point. And you will fail at many different things in life: in school, in your career, in your relationships. I have lived WAY too much of my life being afraid of failure. And this has caused me to hold myself back from going for the things I really want in life WAY too many times. It wasn’t until I decided I was good enough and realized the risk of failing would never outweigh the risk of not trying that I started to see some forward movement in my life. (P.S. This, like, just recently happened. It ONLY took me 32 years to figure out – which kind of annoys me, tbh. I’d probably be a cast member on Saturday Night Live by now like I said I would in my high school yearbook.)
 
TL;DR – Go ahead, take the risk. TRY. Fail. And then get back up and do it again.
 
Until next time, Happy Lifting!
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What Weightlifting Has Taught Me (Part 1 – Patience)

February 16, 2018 / By j0ssy
Hey Strength Tribe! Once again we are lucky to have a guest blog, from our weightlifting coach Jen Javier!
What Weightlifting Has Taught Me (Part 1 – Patience)
 
As many of you know, weightlifting is and has been a big part of my life for a significant amount of time. Hell… I even have a barbell tattooed on my forearm, if that’s not commitment then I don’t know what is! Weightlifting has kept me grounded and sane when life fluxes and changes. One thing remains the same: the barbell continues to be there and it continues to challenge me. Weightlifting has taught me countless lessons that have spilled over into my life outside the gym and I can honestly say it has shaped me into the person I am today. It has helped me to be a better, kinder, more resilient person and to learn how to take on challenges with patience and grace.
This is the first installment in a four-part series where I will discuss the lessons I have learned through the barbell. I hope weightlifting can help you as it has helped me.
Lesson 1: PATIENCE
Patience with the bar, patience with yourself, patience with the process. This has become my mantra over the past few years and I can attribute this zen-like quote to weightlifting. (Go ahead, you can use it too… just make sure to credit me when you post that inspirational Instagram pic!)
 
Patience with the bar – Success in weightlifting can be attributed to good positions and moving well through good position. This takes HELLA patience. I get it. The bar feels heavy off the ground. But guess what? It’s heavy weight! IT’S GOING TO FEEL HEAVY. Do you want to lift heavy? Then get used to things feeling heavy and hard sometimes. The goal is to be patient with the bar EVEN when it feels heavy so you can set yourself up into good positions and gain the most transference of power from your legs into the bar. This means avoiding the “grip and rip” and slowing down your first pull off the floor (not necessarily a “slow” pull but slow-ER so you can accelerate into your second pull). If you are not patient with the bar off the floor then you will rush your way through the rest of your lift, missing all of your positions along the way, and it will all snowball into a big, bad disaster. Be patient with the bar in order to set yourself up for a good lift.
Patience with yourself – Yes, we all want to snatch a million kilos (2.2 million pounds if you want the conversion) and we all want to do it tomorrow but that just ain’t gonna happen. Weightlifting takes years and years and years to master and you can’t get everything right all in one day. I have been weightlifting for 9 years and I STILL feel like a baby in the sport, for Pete’s sake! There is still so much for me to learn, so much I can improve on and all I can do is take it one day at a time. Sometimes it’s just one LIFT at a time. There are some days that feel wonderful and amazing and things are just clicking and then there are other days where everything feels awful and my body doesn’t know what’s happening. It’s like my body just FORGOT how to lift. (“Oh, you wanted to snatch today? LOL J/K, Jen, I totally forgot how to move. I’m just gonna turn your legs into spaghetti noodles.”) But you have to work through those tough days with patience and grace and a sense of humor. (It’s also okay to cry, I have most DEFINITELY cried during a training session a time or two… or ten.) Consider that I haven’t PR’d my clean & jerk in over 2 years and my snatch in almost 3! This can be frustrating but being patient with myself also means seeing how far I have come and celebrating the things I have improved on and what HAS improved is that I can lift higher percentages (80-90%) more consistently, which is way more favorable in weightlifting anyway! Moral of the story is: Do your best, that’s all you can do… and be patient with yourself along the way.
Patience with the process – There are two major components in the improvement of weightlifting, building strength and improving technique. Not one is better than the other and not one can exist without the other. Being successful in weightlifting means paying attention to both; this can be increasingly frustrating. You may go through periods where you may improve in strength but your technique may suffer and vice versa. Learning to see the big picture is SO important and approaching each training session as a step in your plan of action to get you to your ultimate goal is the key to improving. Trust the programming and trust your coach. Remember, there is no magic programming. To a degree, ANY programming is good programming. What makes the difference is the amount of focus and intention and diligence you put into your training. Elite level weightlifters sometimes spend MONTHS at a time not pulling anything off the floor – just block work and pulling from position, NO FULL LIFTS. I mean, talk about patience with the process! But they trust that working the basics and focusing on specific areas of weakness will lead to success once they finally do get to the full lift. Keep your nose to the grindstone but also keep the big picture in mind.
I hope this gives you a little insight into why I believe weightlifting can be so beneficial for people, not just physically but mentally as well.
Until next time, Happy Lifting!
Coach Jen
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What’s in your gym bag?

February 5, 2018 / By j0ssy

What’s in my gym bag might not be what is in yours…but hopefully this might help those that are putting together their gym kit.  If a workout is gonna go bad, I don’t want to use my lack of preparation as my excuse… maybe just my lack of fitness haha!

Well here we go, in no particular order this is what is currently in my gym bag.

Jump Rope- I actually have two in my gym bag. That’s how neurotic I am about having the exact sized rope! If one breaks, I have the other one for back up. Having my own rope is crucial if I’m going to be doing a workout with double unders.

Athletic Tape-  I use tape all the time! If I’m doing muscle ups, I like taping my wrists. I also tape my thumbs on days we are doing lots of cleans, deadlifts or snatches… hello hook grip! Also if I have a cut on my finger, tape stays on way better than band aids when I get sweaty.

Gymnastics Grips-  Some days your hands just feel beat up, and gymnastics grips save the day! On high volume bar work, I will always use my gymnastics grips. Tearing up your hands is painful, and only sets your training back while you wait for your hands to heal.  I also have two pair in my gym bag. I hate having to break them in, so I have two pairs that are perfectly worn in, in case I misplace a pair.

Smash Packs and Bananas-  You know those days when you just haven’t had enough to eat? If I need a quick pre workout snack that isn’t gonna weigh me down, these work great! I also use them intra workout, if I am working out over an hour so I won’t bonk. I also use them post workout so I get some protein in (the smash packs have protein).

Knee Sleeves-  I really wish my knee sleeves didn’t stink so much, it’s the worst! But they provide my knees warmth and compression so sometimes I’ll suffer through their stench. I’ll wear them on days that we are doing a lot of squatting movements.  They also work great on rope climb days. I just slide them over my shins, and they protect from rope burn way better than long socks do.

Weightlifting shoes-  I don’t wear my weightlifting shoes all the time, but if we are gonna do strictly weightlifting or squats, I’ll use them. There are many benefits to wearing weightlifting shoes, that’s a whole other blog subject!

Weightlifting belt-  On heavy lifting days, I like to have my weightlifting belt. I try not to be reliant on it, but it does help me out on days we are going over 85%.

Water Bottle-  I think this one is pretty obvious haha, but staying hydrating is pretty key!

Some other items you might consider that I don’t have in my gym bag….  wrist wraps, long socks for rope climbs ( I use knee sleeves), straps for weightlifting, knee wraps ( different than knee sleeves) extra change of clothes, shaker bottle and protein powder for post workout gains, your workout journal  to log your workouts ( I use my phone),  pre workout for those extra tough workouts, sweat towel if you are prone to sweating a lot, deodorant on those smelly days, extra pair of socks, head phones, ibuprofen…   Like I said previously what is in my gym kit, may not be what is in yours….but it alway helps to be prepared. Then there are some days I forget my gym bag completely, and you know what? That’s life! Learning how to roll with the punches and being adaptable is also important as an athlete. Things aren’t always gonna go your way!  Let me know if I’m missing any crucial items in your gym kit! Thanks for reading and  hope this helps! Till next time campers!

xoxo

Jossy

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