Author Archives: Christopher Lestan

Iron Addict Poem

By Christopher Lestan

Roses may be red,

Violets may be blue,

However, I’m addicted to making PRs,

As so should you,

Nothing better than protein after the workout,

Such as steak and burgers at a cookout,

Training is a priority for me,

It’s part of my life,

Just like regular power cleans,

My gym bag is very dear to me,

It holds everything I need,

Ranging from knee sleeves,

To an Inzer Belt,

My family thinks it smells of sweat,

Obviously, they never have met,

The guy at the gym,

Who doesn’t shower for hours,

Barbells and Dumbells is all I need,

To gain muscle for all to see,

Notebooks are the best way to record,

All the weights and workouts I have lifted,

That way I never get bored,

And see my progress,

Week by week reminding myself I am not weak!

– Poem by Christopher Lestan

 

 

 

 

The One and Only Heavy Lifts!

By Christopher Lestan

As I began my career in the USAWA in 2018 I only knew of the lifts such as the Ciavattone deadlift, or the Jefferson deadlift. Lifts that I could relatively understand and see mentally through my experience with Powerlifting and Olympic weightlifting. These times were simple and I loved it. I would head to Franks Barbell and do 1-4 lifts that would fit in the “push” or “pull” exercise categories. I seemed to gain a grasp on the whole idea of the USAWA and the lifts until Frank Introduced me to the Heavy Lifts.

Now for a time, I had heard of the “Neck lift”, for I would see awards in Franks basement that would say “700lb NECK LIFT” or something along those lines. Frank would also tell stories bout these “heavy lifts” and often was interesting to listen to because it seemed like a mythical lift. Something that was done in the past and only stories from the men and women who were present could tell about the tales.

Then one day I came into the gym. Set my bag down. Put on my converse and started to warm up for that day’s workout. Frank came into the gym but with a different look in his eyes. He had some excitement in his eyes. Some flare. I was curious so I had to ask him what was on his mind.

“What are we doing today Frank?”, I said gently.

He starred into my eyes and said calmly “Time to train the neck lift.”

Now before I could fully understand what was just said I said “Okay”. But then the whole sentence processed through my brain and then I quietly gasped “…. the neck lift….”. My whole day was turned upside down. Today was the day I tried this legendary lift. The day I decide to be calm and collective or look at Frank and tell him my C2-C3 in my spinal cord was hurting.

He pointed towards the corner of the gym and said “can you grab the harness and the heavy-lift bar”. I quickly stumbled over there and saw what looked like a medieval torture device. Then I turned my head to the barbell for the Heavy Lift. Now if you have never seen one of them well they are simply massive. I believe Franks is over 100 pounds. After starring at the medieval torture device and the pipeline for about 2 minutes I dragged them out to the platform. Then I just looked at them. I was lost. What was I supposed to do with them?

“Put 45s on the bar, and put the harness on your head,” said Frank. He then went on to explain which side the head harness should be, and the proper technique for the neck lift. After all the explaining I attempted my first ever neck lift….. and did it not feel good. For those who haven’t experienced the feeling of a neck lift imagine a massive amount of force being pulled from the back of the head. Now this sensation lasts about 1-2 seconds before you get the “down signal”.

The whole workout was centered on active and singles. The heaviest we went to that night was 300 pounds for a top single. The next week only consisted of me being super tight in my trap area and feeling like I got hit by a truck.

A classic example of what a neck lift looks like! This is 700 during training last year!

A classic example of what a neck lift looks like! This is 700 during training last year!

The next lif introduced to me was the Hang and Thigh lift. Now, this lift requires more of a leg drive in the extension part of the lift. However, if your hands are not strong then it will be challenging to get the lift off the ground in general. My introduction to this lift was when I was doing a typical deadlift workout. I was months away from my next competition and was doing the standard light reps but the emphasis on form. After I was done I was going to do rows however, Frank had other plans. He had me take out the Heavy Lifts barbell again along with something that looks like it came from a metal factory. It was a handle with chains on it. Again it looked like a device used in England in 1250.

After about 5-8 sets of Hang and Thigh singles, I woke up the next morning feeling super tired and sore. My whole back was weak feeling, and my glutes weirdly enough were extremely achy.

The last lift that I learned from Frank from the Heavy Lifts was the Hip Lift. This lift is less intimidating and more about power through the legs. There is a belt worn around the hip that attaches to the Heavy Lift bar itself. After attaching the chains together all you do is push with the legs and try to lift the weight about 1 inch from the ground. Now when I first tried this lift I loved it. I have strong legs so this type of lift suited me. However, the next morning my legs were screaming for help. The 1 inch off the ground doesn’t seem like much, yet the amount of stress on the legs is what really kicks in the soreness.

Now I know what you are thinking… WHY WOULD YOU TRY THESE LIFTS. Well, personally I love the idea of a challenge and something new. Additionally, like a lot of these, lifts the is history. These lifts were a staple in the 80s and 90s of the USAWA and IAWA and would be even part of National and Worlds. The amount of fatigue that would set after these lifts after Day 1 of a Worlds weekend would definitely affect the performance of some lifters. Another reason why I love these lifts is they really teach you how to control fatigue. You can’t just one rep max every week with these lifts. There is an art form to the quality and quantity of the workouts with these workouts. Lastly, they are just cool. How many you know personally that can lift hundreds of pounds with a lift named the Neck lift? Or even hip lifted a 1,000 pounds? I can answer that and it’s 0.

When the opportunity arises try these lifts. It’s very difficult to find the bar and harnesses to perform them. But I am telling you they are a blast to try and even perfect!

The Excitement and Memories of Competition Prep

By Christopher Lestan

Since there haven’t been any in-person competitions I think it would be fun to reflect on when the time comes when in-person competition becomes normal again.

The preparation for competition is what stimulates the regular strength athlete and soon becomes all they can think about for the next couple of months. The training schedule, reps, and sets are all determined 8-12 weeks out from the day of the competition. The journey from the beginning of prep when you write down goals you want to achieve. Then at the end of the competition prep you recall on what you have written down to see if you achieved your goal or goals.

That is the beauty of competition. The journey! Everyone has as prep that they remember like the back of their hand. The prep that pushed that individual to the brink, or maybe have to overcome some sort of adversity during prep. Those are the  memories that stick with us the most. The moments that we recall as defining us or redefining us as people. It’s what makes competition prep almost seem like magic.

My personal competition prep that sticks out to me to this day was my first Heavy Lifts Nationals back in 2018. I had just finished competing at College Raw Powerlifting Nationals and as soon as I got home I went to Frank Ciavatone to start training. Now normally I give myself a decent 8-10 weeks before a major competition. This allows myself to peak for the day of completion with phases of hypertrophy, strength, and power. However, during this time Heavy Lift Nationals was only 4-5 weeks away. Thank goodness I have one of the greatest Heavy Lifters of all time Frank Ciavatone. I remember we talked for hours on end deciding what to do for the prep and how to get ready. Finally, he made the decision (because he’s the coach and I am the athlete) to do 1-2 workouts a week of the Neck, Hand and Thigh, and Hip lift.

During that time I learned so much about timing of training, and how to control intensity. I learned how to be a listener whenever Frank gave some advice or technique tips. I learned how to recovery from the lifts, for the style of recovery is vastly different from recovering from powerlifting workouts. I loved every minute of it. It was one of the best 4-5 weeks of training of my life because Frank taught me so much about how to get ready for these lifts. I guess it worked in the end because I achieved all of my goals by the end of 5 weeks and found a new love for the Heavy Lifts. This time of my life sticks out to me because of how much I learned from Frank about the lifts, and also I was allowed to push myself in a different discipline of strength sports.

As I said before… Everyone has these types of memories. Maybe it was your first Powerlifting competition? Or the time you deiced to do a strongman competition? Or the first All-Around Weightlifting Competition. All different stories that come with different memories!

Learning A New Skill

By Christopher Lestan

I thought I might make a post recently because I haven’t been active in a while.

During this time of social distancing I been learning about myself a lot since there is plenty of time to just think now. One of the important things I learned from my father is to keep headstrong and focused during times like these. In other words he says “Keep busy”. Now after school ended early for me around March I was lost in limbo for a few weeks. No more jobs are available. No ability to train with friends. Not being able to have a couple of beers with the boys at our favorite local bar where the beers are 2$ a pour!

This was a strange time indeed. Fortunately, my family is always there to help. My dad who recently became an electrician and worked for the city of Boston was off of work until mid-May. He realized that I was very lost in what to do. In a conversation he and I reached an agreement of him teaching me how to landscape and plant trees since he worked at our family’s nursery when he was young. He also added that he would help me redo our Aunt’s Yard, for she recently moved into a new house and the yard needed some fixing.

For the past month and a half I can confidently say my Aunt’s yard has new grass seed, mulch, trimmed bushes, and new plants. I also planted a couple Hemlock trees in our back yard. I was soon fixing both grandparents’ houses and even took a tree stump out of the ground and put in a new willow tree for one of them. Soon I was in charge of taking care of 3 lawns.

Now you may be asking what was the point of me telling this story… Well, I think it’s important for people to learn new things especially when times are strange and even in their free time. I never thought I would be redoing whole lawns and even spreading mulch and soil to make lawns look nicer, or even plant trees. It’s a rewarding experience.

When you do something rewarding you build confidence that can be utilized for other things. SUCH AS LIFTING!!! My lifts are finally coming back to normal after my injury in December and have learned to gain confidence when there are no spotters. Now with the nice weather I can build an outdoor platform and compete in the 3rd Postal!!

I can’t wait for things to slowly come back to normal and to see my friend group.

Training Partners Are Your Best Friend

By Christopher Lestan

Training, working out, or simply picking stuff up can be tough. Sometimes its a drag, and often can wear and tear on our minds. This can lead to over-training or even the worst of the options…. quitting. That is why it’s always important to have a training partner. While this article can be about training partners are important. I’m going to reflect on why they are your best friends and simply the closest thing to family outside of the family.

To put it simply… your training partner sees you at your worst, best, and even both at the same time. They have seen you scream at the barbell when it doesn’t move on an attempt in your 5×5 workout program. They have seen you come into the gym angry, frustrated and upset about something in your personal life. They have seen you make personal bests on lifts, and the hard work and determination it has taken to you to get to that goal.

Your training partner or partners are there always in the lowest of times, and the highest of times. They are there when you win 1st Overall at Worlds, 2nd overall at Worlds, or not even placing in the top 10. Heck, when you bomb out of meet they tend to be the first ones to tell you “it’s alright”. No matter the place of a competition they are always there. They don’t leave and go off to find the next “big thing” in the field of lifting. They stay put and get you ready for the next training cycle.

They help you load your barbell for the first set for the workout and decide whether or not that was “RPE 9”, “RPE 7.5” or “RPE 11/10″. Often they will be pushing you to do another set because they want to go home and go to bed. Sometimes you sit there with your training partner after a set of 10 and stare at each other and say at the same time ” 3 more sets”.

Your training partners are also your best critic. Often the saying “you had one more”, “didn’t hit depth”, or “no lockout” are often sayings that will be heard in the gym. This can lead to some heated arguments, but in a couple of hours, you will be on good terms again.

Your training partners are best friends. They are always there. They won’t leave.

 

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