december 3, 2001
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1.....RICKEY DALE says.....
good day to all............well christmas is just around the corner.......and everyone seems to already be cheating on their training and their diet.........naughty...naughty.......this is the time of the year that your will power is tested both in what you eat and how you train........only the most dedicated keep on keeping on...............a champion does not become one in any sport by not going over and beyond the average person in training.....and dedication.......
LET ME ALLAY ANOTHER MISCONCEPTION......the newsletter is dated each week with a monday date.........to give it some continuity........the letter usually does not go out until wednesday or thursday each week...........all the letters are sent electronically at the same time...no favorites are played........individual internet servers across the country and/or around world can cause the delays that some of you seem to be having...but again...all are sent out at the same time...no one has an unfair advantage over another in the trivia questions and teh free t-shirt giveaway (which is where this seems to be going)......of course a few of you are living at the computer (like me AND RICK FOWLER, disa hatfield.....etc ........).....so that is the only advantage one might have..........
ALSO....another quick note......i try to keep this newsletter, federation free as to politics...i welcome all federations and will post any info from any legitimate federation........i deal with all lifters from every part of the globe and from every federation and try to respect all points of views as long as they are logically put forth....i attend most of the federations national and/or world meets each year....(the only person to do so)...also i believe i have a different perspective than most since i am constantly in touch with the grass root lifter all over the usa.......this point of view and perspective is where i come from as i talk and write.....
Motivation seems to come and go in most people and it always affects the training. The trick is to keep it going during the heavy training times and relax it during the slow times. As we all know you cannot keep 100% motivated all of the time. Your workout partners can be a big help in this area. Keep each other pumped, keep all distractions to a minimum (i.e. no phone calls, etc.) during the workout. While you are stretching and getting ready for the workout, concentrate on each set and each rep. Go over it in your mind, watching yourself perform it. Get a head start on the workout this way. I am in the process of working on my deadlift book. I am soliciting pictures to put in it, so start sending them. i am also doing a second edition of my squat book and will be adding some squat pictures....so i am soliciting pics for that....anybody can be in it......(get those unusualpics in)
Make sure whatever supplements you are taking before, during and after the workout it is on a continuous scheduled basis. Remember to have everything you need for your training time already there before you get there. Drinks, equipment, etc. Keep focused and keep the distractions to a minimum. Be polite but stay away from all the others in the gym, especially the pencil neck geeks. You can be nice to them later and help them with their "curl routines" at a later time. Focus, focus, focus and let nothing distract you from your appointed time with "the iron"........
need to brag on some of my team members.......below are a few pics from last week's aau world bp and world dl meet in laughlin, nevada.......
below is 14 year old 120 lb nick rinderer benching 181 lbs...
here is the motley crew that flew to the meet...from crain's muscle world, ltd...
here is 19 year old j-j talton at 176 lbs deadlifting 617.75 lbs...
and near 60 year old...190 lb bob crouch pulling 407 lbs...
2.....POWERLIFTING PARAPHERNALIA.....TRIVIA and STUPID QUESTION OF THE WEEK........
and the winning answer to last week's trivia question is joe ladnier........and the winners are thomas klose from witten, germany (actually he won last week and i forgot so he will be the fourth winner from this week---everyone getting this????)....travis werner of lafayette, louisiana.....joe scalzitti of downers grove, illinois....and mike o'donnell of ann harbor, michigan........and we have a new cmw t-shirt design we will be using this week...way to go guys....come on gals...........
and this week's trivia question is.....?????.......
I want to touch on a point for all the ones that keep asking, "when should I put on the gear". First let me say, I always wear a belt from the bar on up, for a few reasons. I want to keep the feel of something around my waist, even a different feeling can mess up your form. You do not have to cinch it up tight until you put on some bigger weight but keep it on. It also helps to keep your lower back warm. Your lower back has very little blood running through it and can cool off very easy, so even a loose belt can keep it warm and loose. That is one of the best reasons of all to help keep injuries at bay. You can cinch it up tight at 50-60% or better. Now for the wrist wraps. The wrist can take a beating on all lifts, it can be injured (sprained) very easy. The ligaments and tendons are susceptible to tearing after many years of hard working out. I know, I ruptured a tendon in my hand and had a tendon transplant, so I am very hard on people who think they are indestructible. Just wait till it happens to you, your wrists can cool off very easy also. Keeps them warm and tight while squatting, benching or whatever. I keep them on from the empty bar on up. Knee wraps I put on loose at about 50% and tighten them up as I get higher. Same reasons, for protection and support; and the older you get and the heavier you get, the more you will appreciate being injury free. Be smart, keep your egos in check and use the gear for all the right reasons. Protection and support...and the extra pounds will do wonders for your head...........
for all of you history and trivia buffs.....i have available a video tape of sergio oliva and frank zane (a combo) from 1972......a gem of two of the best........and we have a lot of old bodybuilding mags and powerlifting mags for sale.....we have a few very old ones we have framed as something you might want to hang on your home gym wall or give as gifts.......
see below sharon waters and greg costello from australia.......a couple of our readers........
3.....FORM.....STYLE.....TECHNIQUE.....and ROUTINES.....
Workout logs....... thanks to Dale Glenney for this reminder. I have been keeping workout logs of my workouts since 1974 and they have well been worth it. For nostalgia purposes alone they are worth it. But more important is the fact that knowing what seems to work and what doesn't, is worth it's weight in gold alone. Keeping track of every rep and every set, including all of your warm-ups you will find to be most advantageous down the road. You can add in your bodyweights, eating habits, supplements, how you feel, etc. anything that you might find pertinent to your training. Obviously it would not be as important to a super to know what he ate as it would be to me, who always was trying to keep his weight down close to a class limit. But the better your records are, the better you will know how to plan for future training. You can look on my shelf and find 28 years of workout logs neatly stacked (Crain's Muscle World logs of course) and I look at them often, not only for myself but for my workout partners. As you age or change weight classes they can be quite helpful as a guide and as a tool...... Keep them and use them. Compare your lifts in the workout to your meet performances, etc. You can get something from every angle, they are like gold.
Let us look at and analyze sticking points. Most people believe or tend to think sticking points are bad (but they are not if they are at the right spot) and they believe wherever the weight tends to stop, that is the sticking point and that if they work that spot "they shall overcome". This is a fallacy also, so now that you think I am crazy or such, let me logically prove my point.
Let us take an example of the bench press. Someone pushes it to within 2-4 inches from the top..... now almost all of us would say, "oh he needs tricep work, because the bar stopped at the top and that is where the tricep starts/stops". Sometimes this would be true if the bar off the chest is very slow, grinding its way slowly up and then stopping. But in most cases one explodes off the chest and pushes, gradually slowing till he almost reaches the top and then stops. The speed of the bar in the bench press is responsible for how far the weight ends up (as well as a bench shirt if he has one on). To simplify the argument let us state for example that in the bench, the pecs are used first at the bottom. Then the deltoids kick in. Then the triceps, depending on where your hand placement is, The height of your chest (i.e. the distance the bar travels). These will dictate as to when each muscle groups kicks in. There are other things that influence it as well, such as the speed of the bar, the length of the limbs, etc. But to keep it on a simple level we will use the previous mentioned items. Ideally you want each muscle group to kick in as late as possible, i.e. your deltoids would not kick in till you reached half way and the triceps perhaps three fourths of the way up. Now this is probably not the case but it would be ideal. As you blow the bench off your chest for previously mentioned reasons we feel the delts kicking in, then the triceps. If you stall out toward the top, in actuality most likely deltoids are the weak spot. Because of speed and a bench shirt (if used) the bar is carried into the tricep zone. If you get the bar close to the top, just after the triceps kick in and it stalls it could be the triceps but most likely not. The stall out for triceps would be almost at the finish, as the stall out for the pecs would be just a few inches off the chest. Many people grasp the idea immediately, but many or most do not understand. using this logic, go to the muscle group before the stall out zone and do extra work in that area or work on your form in that area....... Ideally the sticking points should be at the bottom of each lift. Squat at the bottom, bench at the bottom and deadlift on the floor. If all of your muscles have been worked evenly you should be able to finish anything you start, ideally. Most do not, that is why we go back to each sticking point and work those areas. See if this will help each of you to work the right areas that need the most work in improving your lift.
4.....NUTRITION and SUPPLEMENTS.....you are what you eat.....
vitamins........vitamins........vitamins...........do not leave them out of your regiment.............. i ran across an interesting article in the collegiate baseball newspaper.........on supplements.... below is a list of supplements given by tom house, a phd in sports performance..... as one of the ways to recover .....
...creatine
...l-glutamine
...carnitine
...coq10
...ginkgo biloba
...ginseng
...glucosamine
...vit c
...vit e
...lipos
...acetyl cysteine
...bcaa's
...choline bitartrate
...chromium
...folic acid
...inositol
...taurine
...b12
......
looks a great deal like the much of the list we tout ........
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The Gullibility of The Powerlifter
A wise old powerlifter once said, "If Eskimo's won't buy ice why will powerlifter's buy Rhinoceros Powder or Pitt Bull Optimizer in a Barrel?"
It's New!
It's the greatest weight gain/mass building product ever produced in our time!!
The ALL New "Metabolic Monkey Juice" from the Hahawe Gyppedyou Fitness Co. with 42,000 calories per serving (the MOST calories ever offered by anyone in a serving)
I was so excited after reading the ad I couldn't wait to get some of the product - I had visions of 60 to 80 lbs of muscle gain each month, increasing my squat from 295 to 735 by a week from Sunday - I'm sure I can because, Hey... the ad said so!
Well, I decided to get a two month supply to cover me 'til the next meet. I did need to make a few arrangements though, before buying my two month supply.
Let's see:
1. Get a pick-up truck and a dolly.
2. Pallet in truck.
3. Three workout partners with weight belts and wraps.
4. Letters of credit with bank for $2,000.00.
Alright, I'm on my way to my local health food store, "The Gyp Pit Health Store". As I walk into the store I saw the "Metabolic Monkey Juice" stacked in the corner. Those huge cans of powdered juice just waiting to be metabolized by my hungry body. I couldn't wait...I was excited...just think, me, bigger, faster, stronger, and a most awesome sight after only two months of using the "Metabolic Muscle Juice". Hey guys, go get the dolly so I can pick up a couple of cans of this stuff. I couldn't help but gain weight, and on just one 42,000 calorie serving each day. I know an 80 gallon can of "Metabolic Muscle Juice" was a bit more than the other brand, but I knew it would be worth it because Hey, the ad said so! Wow, time to pay for it. Let's see...with tax that comes to $1938.42...(hope my letter of credit doesn't bounce)...but hey, it's worth it, the ad said so! Hey guys, dolly the two month supply out to my truck and put it on the pallet. I can't wait to try it, starting next paycheck! You see first, I have to take out a loan to buy a cement mixer to mix each serving size!!
BUT HEY, IT'S WORTH IT...THE AD SAID SO!
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Remember
Nutritional products should be of high quality, but do not spend money on every wild scheme that comes along! Hard work and recovery with nutrition is the answer!
still have oat bars on sale.... $.75 each.........
.....and check out the incredible supplement specials at
www.crainsmuscleworld.com/supplements.asp
5.....PARTING THOUGHTS.....
well it's time to say goodbye........(sounds like the old mickey mouse club????)
so here's to you.......
If you woke up this morning with more health
than illness...you are more blessed than the
one million who will not survive this week.
If you have never experienced the danger of battle,
the loneliness of imprisonment, the agony of torture,
or the pangs of starvation .. you are ahead of
500 million people in the world today.
If you can attend a church meeting without fear of
harassment, arrest, torture, or death...you are more
blessed than three billion people on this earth.
If you have food in the refrigerator, clothes
on your back, a roof overhead and a place to
sleep...you are richer than 75% of the worlds
population.
If you have money in the bank, in your wallet,
and spare change in a dish someplace...you are
among the top 8% of the world's wealthy.
If your parents are still alive and still married,
you are very rare, even in the United States.
If you hold up your head with a smile on your
face and are truly thankful...you are blessed because
the majority can, but most do not.
If you can hold someone's hand, hug them or
even touch them on the shoulder...you are blessed
because you can offer a healing touch.
If you can read this message, you just received a
double blessing in that someone was thinking of you,
and furthermore, you are more blessed than over two billion
people in the world that cannot read at all.
have a great week....
Rickey Dale Crain
5 time world champion
CRAIN'S MUSCLE WORLD, LIMITED
www.crainsmuscleworld.com
APPLETREE MINISTRY
www.appletreeministry.com
3803 North Bryan Road
Shawnee, Oklahoma 74804-2314 USA
800-272-0051
405-275-3689
405-275-3739 fax
405-627-0134 cell
crain@ionet.net
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