I watch the movie the gladiator with russel crow before war takes place on sunday.  I watch that movie before battle, to gain courag and strength.  I will become maximus on sunday,  I will fight like him and I will kill any kilo or competitor that stands in my way.  Every kilo I kill will get me closer to victory, respect, my national title, my world team and my olympic team.  Every kilo I kill in battle will get me closer to MY gold medal.  I will go out fighting like maximus, I will have pride like maximus, I will have heart like maximus, and I will die trying like maximus.   The warm up room is where us gladiaters prepare for battle.  I am scared for what awaits me on the battle field, but  I look around at my california strength gladiaters  and we give each other courage.  Now I am ready, now I am mad, now nothing can stop me.  The chip on my shoulder gets big and loud and fuels me to fight with everythign I have.  As the doors open to the battle field I walk with pride and courage.  Right in front of your eyes I turn from a slave into a gladitater.  I grab the chalk from the battle field.  I rub it on my hands to feel what victory will taste like.  I stand beside my galdiaters becuase we are a team, becuase we are all fighting for the same thing.  Becuase without each other we would fall short.  I stand by Donny Shankle, Caleb Ward,  and Max Aita  lead by my king Dave Spitz and my honorable coach Glenn Pendlay.   Men that I would die for, men that I will fight with and smile in victory with. This Gladiator Jon North goes to battle for California Strength.

Lately, in preparation for the weightlifting “season” (referring to the consecutive months focused on national events), we have been training so hard that I have found myself falling asleep while trying to put on my weightlifting shoes. This is a problem because I usually only put my shoes on before I practice, although I did wear them to school once (this is not a joke). Then, I have to find a way to motivate myself to do one of these “marathon” work outs that I know are going to put me through some serious pain.

So here is my dilemma: I am constantly questioning myself whether or not this is all worth the tired days and pain.

Of course it is! Who, at this level of training, doesn’t question what they’re doing? If you can’t be honest enough with yourself to question your motivations behind the sport, then you haven’t been pushed hard enough yet. It’s human nature to question your own actions when your limits have been crossed. But why is it all worth it?

Well, everyone should have a different answer. My answer lies in the fact that when I was 6 years old, entering the first grade, eating my Pop-Ice (don’t judge) and sweating the Texas heat, I watched the 1996 Atlanta Olympics and knew I had to do that. I didn’t know why I had to do it, I didn’t know what it would take to get me there, but I didn’t care. What I knew was that I wanted to feel the same way Kerri Strug felt when she landed her vault on a broken ankle for the gold medal (people don’t understand that that is probably the most inspirational feat ever performed… ever) or when Michael Johnson became the first man to win the 200m and 400m races in the same Olympics. Just to experience the same thing that they felt saluting the judges or crossing the finish line has been my main determination every single day for the past 13 years and is still the reason I wake up everyday, put on my weightlifting shoes and work harder than the day before.

Training with Glenn, Donny, Max and Jon every day and pushing myself to these mental and physical limits has led me to be somewhat inspirational myself. While I’m trying to motivate myself, I’m also trying to be a fearless leader and motivate my troops. I have found myself thinking up my own, original quotes that sound like they came from my own hero’s. Each time I come up with one of these quotes it pushes me through my workout and makes me forget that I’m lifting heavy weights and remember that I’m training towards the goals that have made me come the determined athlete I am today.

Some may say that training solely to go to the Olympics is detrimental, because it is so hard to peak at the right time, and  if you don’t,  you will have disappointed yourself. Well here is my rebuttal to that: “The Olympics don’t just happen every 4 years, they happen every day in the gym. Every 4 years is simply a celebration of achievement.” I would love nothing more than to celebrate my achievements at the Olympics in London and 4 years later (hopefully in Chicago), but it is not the sole factor that determines my own personal satisfaction or success. Every day that I work harder than the day before is my own personal Olympics. Every day that I make a heavier lift stands for the Olympics. Every day that I wake up and pick up the bar, means just as much to me as going to the Olympics, and that makes it worth every single time.

Alright, I’m finally joining the cool kids and writing a blog for this site.

A little bit about me as an introduction for this blog:

I just moved from Texas to train with better lifters and lift in a more competitive atmosphere. I was not poached, I’m capable of making my own decisions, and for those who care, Glenn chose to move to California after I made my choice. Glenn, as previously mentioned, is my slightly overgrown, hairy, one of a kind coach. Glenn is the best coach for me because he works just as hard as I do in and outside of the gym to help me achieve my goals, which is the most humble, altruistic thing anyone has ever done for me. I compete in the 1-0-fatty-plus class, yes I know I’m fat, Mark Rippetoe, but so was Chemerkin, Steiner, Reza and most other Olympic Champions in that class and at least I’m better than anyone you ever “coached.”  I set high goals for myself and work harder to make those goals old news. Although 2009 has been my worst year in weightlifting, I’m finally healthy and looking forward to 2010. Weightlifting is business for me; I’m not looking for a good time… and besides who likes waking up in the morning after a hard, joint grinding workout? I think that this helps me be a better weightlifter than I would be if I were in it for fun because my focus in the gym each day is to make all lifts successful like my life depends on it (missing lifts is not acceptable on my platform).

I trained by myself every day for so long, that now, training with 3 great lifters is like having 3 new brothers. I look to them to push me every day.

Donny- If you don’t know who Donny Shankle is then you need to make a trip on over to Cal Strength and meet this guy. Donny is one of the strongest guys I’ve ever met and training with Donny is like playing against the computer in a video game. It’s like the odds are always on his side and no matter how well I am training that day, he always pushes a little harder and beats me. One day I’ll have Donny shedding tears, but for now this is my biggest help in training.

Jon- I’ve watched Jon North at 2 competitions before and made fun of him so much that I was almost embarrassed to meet him. This kid has some energy, and some amazing potential for this sport. I think most people have overlooked how hard it is to work to the numbers, in clean/untainted fashion, as he has, and not to mention his “needs-improvement-technique.”  Now that Glenn has changed around a few things, I may have to watch my back from 2 weight classes down for Jon North.

Max- Max Aita is great to have around in the gym. Before I visited California I had never heard of him, but now that I do, I feel like everyone should get to know him. Max is one dedicated individual to the sport of weightlifting. Max can easily be not only a great American Weightlifter, but one of the next great coaches for the Untied States. He lives, breathes and eats weightlifting every day. His knowledge of weightlifting and technical eye are such an advantage for the lifters at Cal Strength that everyone should sign up for a session with THE Max Montana Aita.

-Caleb Ward

By Donny Shankle CPT

I know I have made reference before with the importance of commanding yourself to move in training but of all lifts the power snatch certainly will find the person who is just being lazy. No other lift demands more attention given to speed than does the power snatch. Sure you can sneak under a clean half ass sometimes and still with a “pull and a prayer” manage to still stand up with it. This is not the case with the power snatch for so much emphasis needs to be put into the finish of the second pull. For me it’s always been a love hate relationship with this lift and they typically upon completion always follow with the question “ Was it high enough? “ at least for the perfectionist  in me. It seems as though the power snatch is ever and anon on my mind. Forever reminding me to move quickly and soon to be causing me frustration due to inches. I’ll explain why but first let me give a brief description of what this lift entails.

Knowing that a snatch by itself is lifting the bar straight over your head in one motion, (if you need a video just check our website) the power snatch is lifting the bar over head in one motion making sure you receive the bar high enough for the thigh muscles to be considered at or above 90 degrees. Or just make sure the hip joint is above the knee joint. Relying on a strong overhead bottom position doesn’t matter for this lift because all the emphasis is placed on catching the bar higher.

Personally, I believe my best power snatch is only 145k, although I have been told by others it’s as high as 160k. Now I’ve caught some high snatches but I’ve also gotten use to hearing from my coach Glenn “Donny that’s a nice snatch but it wasn’t power.” I stand in frustrated disbelief at times wondering if he wants me to power snatch the thing or catch the bar on straight legs. In the end I realize he’s just trying to get me to finish more and move faster but I still want to break out the video camera. Instead I sit down put on my Popeye face and give it another try. I may add I would beat myself into a pulp trying over and over to catch it just an inch or two higher if I didn’t have such a good coach telling me to save some for tomorrow.

The power snatch is by no means my favorite lift to perform in training in fact I think I’ve come to the point where I dislike them all. If I had to choose between snatches and clean and jerks I would have to pick the latter. There is a special kind of bite to the power snatch as the weight tries to push you down into the full. Try to envision that picture of Atlas holding up the sky. How his brow is focused down and you can feel the strain in his legs. His arms are pulled back behind his head as he balances the heavens above him. Well the power snatch is kind of the same feeling only worse because at least the gods were smart enough to rest the weight on there back. Not only do the muscles in your hips and thighs wrench from the exertion of fighting that weight high but the muscles in your shoulders and arms work in sync with them to produce one hell of a grind.

The dramatization is palpable when you’re in there on a Monday morning and open up your training with this exercise. I guess throughout the rest of the week you just become numb not just to the power snatch but everything else that comes with it. I remember training with Uncle Ivan one morning and it was his response to my foiling that summed up my new found treatment towards the power snatch. I said “uncle I’m trying to power it but it just keeps pushing me down!”Uncle’s response was, “My friend, yes, when bar pushes you down you must push up!” Amazing how we perplex ourselves in life so much with things only we ourselves could make so difficult, when it’s the simplest answers to those adversities that bring forth uncommon results. Just keep pushing and who knows what you or I will accomplish.