The Pacific Coast

Its staggering when you look at it really.  3,173 miles in total according to google maps, and thats pretty close to the actual distance we covered (though I don't know exaclty what the real distance was...)
Day 1: A to B: East Stroudsburg PA to Toledo, OH.  About 488 miles, 9 hours including stops.
Day 2: B to C: Toledo, OH to Sioux Falls, SD. About 817 miles, somewhere between 14-15 hours including stops.
Day 3: C-D-E: Sioux Falls, SD to Mt. Rushmore to Greybull, WY. About 703 miles, another 14-15 hour day including our 2 hour stop at Mt Rushmore and others.
Day 4: E-F-G: Sioux Falls, SD to Yellowstone to Livingston, MT.  About 279 miles, about 12 hours, but we spent a lot of time in Yellowstone.
Day 5: Livingston, MT to Portland, OR.  About 775 miles, another 12-13 hour day with stops.
Day 6: Portland, OR to Eugene, OR.  About 111 miles, 2.5 hours with traffic.

So today, we woke up in Portland.  Before picking up the rental car, we stopped by Mac Wilkins'  Throwing Center near Condordia University in Portland.  Steve Prefontaine is the big star attraction for Eugene, Oregon and Oregon University - but like my good friend Paul, I say, "Screw Pre, Go MAC!"  Anyway, it turns out that Mac was actually at the throws center coaching a few of his athletes.  He was very welcoming to me and coach.  He could have told us to leave because he was coaching, or we needed university clearance or whatever, but instead he came up to us, introduced himself, and said "So this is my throws center!"  He even showed us around a little bit while his throwers were taking a break.  The amenities of his center include:
*4 Discus practice circles
*3 Shot put circles
*2 IAAF certified Hammer/discus circles
*2 more concrete slabs for drilling
*An all weather jav runway
*A massive overhang building that houses 3 hammer/disc circles, a shot put circle, and a javelin runway so you can throw while its raining.
Some pictures:



He also told us he plans to put in a full sized track and weight room on the grounds eventually.  It really will be pretty incredible when it's completely finished. 

When I asked Mac if I could take some throws, he said "Yes, please do.  This place is designed to be a resource for throwers, and I want it to be used."  At this point, I actually hadn't had breakfast, so I let Mac know that we were going to go eat, get the rental car, and come back.  I brought my own hammer with me, so he said it wouldn't be a problem.  So I hopped in the circle and got a quick throwing session in.

As you can see, 5 straight days in a car with a diet consisting mostly of fast/restaurant food is a good way to get slow and out of shape.  Who cares though?!  I've now thrown on the west coast, AND at the Concordia Throws Center nonetheless!

After the quick session, I jumped in Coach's car while he got in the rental, and we drove down to our final destination, a motel right outside of Eugene.  As I said up top it took a while because of traffic getting out of Portland.  Ah, to be back in a populated area where there actually is traffic...the highways are just like back in New Jersey, except out here you're close to the Pacific ocean, not the Atlantic.
We went out to dinner with my buddy Barry Krammes and Coach Curcio from Lafayette College, who is his main coach these days.  Barry will be throwing the javelin on friday and will by trying to get a spot on the 2011 USA National Team, either for the 2011 World Championships in Daegu, South Korea and/or for the 2011 PanAm Games in Guadalajara, Mexico.  He has been training his butt off since graduating ESU, and has been making great strides these past few years.  If you want to read about his training, or get coaching from him (this guy is a fantastic coach and taught me everything I know about the javelin) then visit his web site (which is what his name is linked too.)  He is a real class act and I'll be cheering for him friday.
 

So here we are in a motel, just outside of Eugene, Oregon to see the 2011 USA National Track and Field Championships!!!!!  Tomorrow the champs begin with the Men's Hammer Throw!  Kibwe Johnson will be throwing, which everyone is excited to see since he has the farthest throw by an American in over 11 years.  I'll also be cheering for Matt DiBuono, a throwing buddy of mine who I have trained/competed with before.  He has been throwing really well lately and will hopefully finish in the top 8.  Full reports come tomorrow.

Things I didn't know/had never done before:

While Barry is a better javelin thrower and a higher level athlete than I can ever hope to be, I whoop his ass when it comes to impressions of Harry Caray.

"Just travelling together..."

Well, to be honest, nothing really happened on Monday, the 5th day of our journey.  We just drove.  But luckily, the drive was through Montana.  The scenery and views were out of this world.  The mountains were incredible.  I drove for most of yesterday, so I didn't get to take a lot of pictures, but here are some that I did snap...



Coach got some more pictures, so you'll get to see those on facebook once they're up.

Other than that, it was just driving!  Lots of great scenery in Montana, Idaho, Washington, and Oregon, but we didn't really stop or see anything too interesting.  We arrived in Portland, got us a motel, and went to sleep.

Things I didn't know/had never done before:

Not even much here except a beer update.  I tried two new beers tonight:

Henry Weihnard's Blue Boar Pale Ale, and Widmer Brothers Hefewiezen.  The Blue Boar Pale Ale wasn't bad, but I'm normally not an "Ale" guy and this one proved to be to ale-y for my liking.  The Widmer Brothers, however, was a Hefewiezen, which you can never go wrong with.  Especially if you're on a trip to see some world class track and field :)

Coach's Quotes of the Day:

-First thing in the morning, we were deciding where to go for breakfast:

Coach: "Well, there's a McDonalds down the road, or the restaurant right next to the hotel, your choice."

Me: "I want an actual breakfast, lets just go to the restaurant."

Coach: "No McDonalds breakfast today Tom?...Oh, I get it, you want some girl to take your order, prepare your food, and wait on you hand and foot...you want to be married!  Well, I got news for you, it doesn't work like that."

-Checking out of the hotel - this one isn't by coach, but it leads into one of his:

Woman working the desk: "You boys together?"

Me: "TRAVELLING together, yeah."

...so later at breakfast, the hostess brought us to a table...

Coach:  "Is this cozy corner table ok with you Tom?  We can sit across from eachother, stare into eachother's eyes and develop our relationship."

Me: "Once again, we're just travelling together coach."

-Listening to Bruce Springsteen on the radio:

Coach:  "I was watching one of his concerts on TV once, and I thought 'Geez, there are a lot of old people in the crowd!  Why are there so many freaking old people in the crowd?'  Then I realized, I am one."

-On working security for Southside Jonny when he was going to college:

Coach: "So my one friend, who was a huge country music fan and never heard of Southside Jonny or knew who he was or anything, was given backstage duty.  The concert manager told him to not let anybody back there without a pass, no matter what.  So, Southside Jonny comes in, but he doesn't have  pass, so my friend won't let him back stage!  Southside Jonny says 'Do you know who I am?'  My friend said 'I don't give a (*&^ who you are, you're not getting back stage without a pass.'  So Southside Jonny is all pissed, he goes back on the bus, his manager comes out and explains who he is.  So during the show that night, my friend and I are working right in front of the stage, and Southside Jonny sees us, and he starts swinging his mic around in a circle, pretty close to our heads.  At first we thought it was part of the act, but then we realized, he was trying to hit my friend.  So after the song is done, in the middle of the show, my friend looks up at Southside Jonny and says 'If you hit me with that microphone, I'll come up on stage and rip your $&*%^#$ leg off.'"

Yellowstone National Park!!!!

"C" to "E" was the path we took on Day 3.  "D" was Mt. Rushmore.  "E" to "G" was the route we took on Day 4.  "F" was Yellowstone National Park.  IT WAS AWESOME!!!!

We began by driving from Greybull to Yellowstone early in the morning.  The drive alone was incredible.  Here are some highlights...

We made a stop at the Buffalo Bill Dam on the Shoshone River.  Here's a video of the dam and the river:

After that, we saw more unbelievable scenery, just on the way to the park.  The highlight were some buttes that we saw on an upper leg of the Shoshone.  One of them even looked like Bart Simpson...

So eventually, we got to Yellowstone.  The first thing I noticed (it was kind of hard to miss it) was all the snow.  Yeah.  Snow.  Here's the sign we saw shortly after entering the park:

Yeah.

Yup...

Later that day we found out that the forecast for Yellowstone that night was 32 degrees, 7mph winds, and a chance of rain/snow.  I am young (and stupid?) enough that I would have tried to camp in Yellowstone that night.  Yet, Coach made the executive decision to stay in a motel that night, rather than Yellowstone.  Yet, we still spent the day there and saw lots of stuff.  Most notably, buffalo, and lots of them!

One decided he didn't like my pictures, or something like that...

That was a crazy experience.  There were lots more buffalo, but like I said, I have to save space on my blog.

The next stop was the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone.  We hiked down to one of the water falls in the canyon.  Rather than try to describe it, because nothing in Yellowstone can really be described, here are some pictures of the falls and canyon...



After hiking the 600 feet back up to the road from that vantage point (which was tough, considering the elevation was about 7,500 feet, which by the way, is the highest I've ever been), our next stop was Old Faithful.

Once we saw that, unfortunately, it was time to go.  Since we weren't staying the night, it was back to the road.  We went out the northern entrance so we could get back on I-90 to keep going west. But before we left, we saw some other wild life.  Elk, to be specific.



They're basically like deer, but MASSIVE.  The female in the first picture was taller than I am.

So, that was my Yellowstone experience.  It was awesome, but a big teaser at the same time.  I was in and out of Yellowstone in one day.  There was so much stuff left to do and see (I saw some springs but they were hot, and covered in steam, so the pictures don't show much), which I didn't get to see since I was only there for a day.  It was like opening presents on christmas morning, but not getting to use them...until the next time I go back to Yellowstone.  Hopefully, it will be soon.

Things I didn't know/had never done before:

*Yellowstone actually has yellow stones.  My camera died, so I didn't get any pictures.  But, the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone literally has yellow walls up to 1200 feet high, that stretch as far as you can see through the canyon.  I guess thats where it gots its name.

*Beer update...Once we left the park and headed to Montana, we tried Moose Drool Brown Ale, on tap in a bar.  It was good stuff.  I also had Old Faithful Ale and Howling Wolf weisse beer, both of which I got in Yellowstone itself.  I'm not enough of a beer snob to describe exactly how they tasted, but they were all good.  Maybe it was simply the experience and excitement of just having come from Yellowstone when I had them, but they were good.



Coach's Quote of the Day:

This one isn't necessarily hilarious, but is absolutely perfect for me and both my brothers.

Coach: "Well Tom, if you come back to Yellowstone, you have to come for at least two weeks.  And you have to learn how to fly fish so you can do that, and hike, bike, kayak..."

Me: "I'll hike, bike, and kayak, but I'll probably never fly fish.  My dad tried to get me into it for years but I couldn't, its just too boring."

Coach: "Well, fly fishing is more than just casting a rod.  I think fly fishing is akin to throwing the hammer, or pitching a baseball.  Its really a skilled movement, with all these subtle, technical nuances that you have to be aware of in order to do it well.  If you don't have experience doing it or never tried it before, you really don't appreciate everything that goes into it."

Day 5 and hopefully 6 summaries come tomorrow...

Day 3 Story

Halfway through day 3

So I said we were camping in Yellowstone and I would give no blog updates...wrong!  More about that in the Day 4 story though.  For now, here's what happened on day 3.

We embarked very early from Sioux Falls, South Dakota.  There was grass, farms, open space, grass farms, open space, etc.  For a long while.  I was driving, and coach was on the phone.  At the last possible second, he desperately pointed to a rest stop, and once I barely pulled off on the exit, explained to me he needed to go to the bathroom.  Well, I'm glad he had to go to the bathroom, because this particular rest stop happened to have the most unbelieveable view of the Missouri river.

After a quick stop and more plenty more pictures being taken (which you'll be able to see on my facebook, I need to save space on the blog), we were back on the road.  Once we crossed the Missouri River, it opened up into the plains.  The great plains, I guess.  Long, straight, unending roads.

For fun, I decided to pick a point on the horizon, and see how long it took us to get there.  Going at about 70-75mph, it took us 5 mins, 43 seconds to get to the point on the horizon we picked.  It was 7 miles away.  We saw one point and it just kept getting closer, but it took over 5 minutes to get to it!  It was totally different than any highway ride you'll experience in NJ, PA, or NY.  Like I said, long, straight, and seems to go on forever.

Eventually, we stopped off at a certain National Memorial you've probably all heard of...



It was pretty far off the highway, farther than we originally thought.  It took a long time to get there.  At one point, Coach (whose idea it was to see Mt. Rushmore in the first place) wondered out loud, "why are we even going to see this thing?  Its really just a big sculpture, right?  Whats the big deal?" 

It might just be a big sculpture, but it was pretty damn cool.  The picture says it all, but the scale of it is just so incredible.  There is a museum there showing how it was constructed (90% of the construction was precision blasting with dynamite).  There's a trail to walk around so you can see it from all different angles.  If you're lucky, you might even see some wildlife, like I did:

They say you need to spend about 2 hours at Mt. Rushmore to get the full experience, so thats what we did.  After the 2 hours there, it was back on the road.  We stopped at a Wallmart somewhere in western South Dakota and picked up some cheap camping gear so we could spend the night in Yellowstone.  We heaved towards Wyoming to get as close as possible to Yellowstone before setting up camp for the night.  The crazy part is that in Wyoming, while on a state road, we ran into some "construction", if you can call it that.  We saw a sign that said "Pavement ends" - the road literally just ended!  No road!  An official state road, just gone!  There were cones marking the path the pavement should have been, but there was nothing but dirt for a couple miles.  I guess thats how its done in Wyoming.

Eventually we arrived at a campground in Greybull, Wyoming, and set up camp for the night.  I woke up the next morning thinking to myself "I'm camping, and I'm in Wyoming.  I just went camping in freaking Wyoming."  I dunno, I thought it was cool.

Moving on to Day 4... 

"That's why you buy bourbon..."

A quick update. Day 3... We left South Dakota, stopping at Mt. Rushmore along the way. We made our way to Greybull, Wyoming where we camped for the night ($62 for two sleeping bags and a two person tent...thank you walmart). For the first time in my life, I saw snowcapped mountains. It's June and it was 55 degrees when we entered Wyoming.

Its day 4, and I'm writing this from coach's iPad in a Mcdonalds in Cody, Wyoming. Elevation 5106 feet. On the way here I saw an antelope, and even bigger snowcapped mountains - the Rockies themselves. We're going to spend the day in Yellowstone and camp there for the night.

Since we're staing in Yellowstone, I likely won't be blogging again until Wednesday, when we arrive in Portland, Oregon. Despite wifi hotelier for Internet and all that, I'm not going to plug in my laptop and sit on my butt blogging while I have geysers, hot springs, mountains, buffalo, bears, and antelope to look at. I'll be taking plenty of pictures and will provide full day-by-day summaries once we're back to civilization, but until then, I'm enjoying Yellowstone. I'm not going to behave like a yuppie or 21st century brat - I'm going to enjoy one of the most spectacular national parks our country has to offer.

If you do want more up-to-date coverage, go to www.YouTube.com/jimdahammer for constant video blog updates.

Also, here's a coach quote of the day to leave you with:
Coach: "It won't be a big deal if we get to Yellowstone late, all we'll do is set up and go to sleep, it's not like we'll make lots of noise."
Me : "Depending on how much beer we bring...but they probably don't allow alcohol in National parks."
Coach: "They don't...that's why you buy bourbon, it's easier to sneak in."

That's all for now forks...

"Hey Tom, this is the most west you've ever been..."

A to B was Friday.  B to C was Saturday.



So today was a 680-ish mile trip from Toledo, Ohio to Sioux Falls, South Dakota.  Not really much to say - the day was all driving!  We got on the road around 9:00am.  We passed by a lot of farms, open space, farms, some more open space, some open space, and some farms.  There was a huge steel plant in Indiana, and that was about it until we got to Chicago.

Although it would have been cool, we didn't stop in Chicago, we just drove by it.  It was foggy, as you can see, but I still managed to get an ok shot of the Chicago skyline featuring the Sears Tower as we drove by.

Then we passed through the rest of Illinois.  We stopped at a Cabelas briefly to stretch our legs, and get some gas nearby.  We didn't buy anything, because we decided to get our sleeping bags and tent for cheap at a Walmart somewhere else along the way.  Did I mention the plan?

 

We got as far as we could the first two days so we could take our time the rest of the trip and see some of the country along the way.  It turns out that tomorrow, we'll be spending some time at Mt. Rushmore.  Then pass through whatever national forests we happen to pass through on the way to YELLOWSTONE!  AHHHH!  Needless to say I'm excited.  I've never been west of Ohio before, and now I'm going to see two big deal western landmarks on my way to the Pacific Coast to see the most elite Field and track the country has to offer.  It doesn't get much better than that.

After Cabelas, we went through Wisconson.  The Wisconson-Minnesota border turns out to be the Mississippi river, which we drove over:

A bit anti-climactic, I know, I couldn't get a good picture.  Still kind of cool though.



The only other thing worth mentioning is endless fields of windmill power stations throughout Minnesota farms:



Things I've never seen before/never knew:

*Wisconson really is that obsessed with cheese.  At a mini-mall area right off an exit, there was a store called "Gifts, Liquor, Cheese".  Bumper stickers saying "got cheese".  Signs for "Cheese farms."  At least along I-90, the cheese stereotype is all but confirmed.

*Indiana, Wisconson, and Minnesota are not nearly as developed as I thought they were.  LOTS of farms and not much else all throughout those states.  I guess the only place there wasn't farms was where it got too mountinous for there to be good farmland.  Otherwise, I was very surprised to see a LOT of farms, long, straight highways, and not much else.

*I am clearly not from the Midwest.  Here's the best way I can describe it...my mom, a child of Irish immigrants, has always told me I don't look very Irish - so I assumed that meant I looked German, since my dad is almost 100% German.  Yet when I went to Berlin two years ago, I realized I don't look that German either.  I felt like I just looked different - anyone who has been to Europe knows what I'm talking about, I'm not really sure how else to describe it.  After coming home from Berlin, I figured I just look American.

Well, I got a similar feeling when Coach and I went into a "Pizza Ranch" restaurant in Minnesota.  The way everyone dressed, the way they looked - just felt "different" again!  I guess I look like a Northeastern American?

 

Coach's Quotes of the day:

*We were driving somewhere in Wisconson, I think, on I-90 west bound, and this came out of nowhere:

Coach: "Hey Tom, this is the furthest west you've ever been!"...5 seconds later - "Hey Tom, this is the furthest west you've ever been!"...5 seconds later - "Hey Tom, THIS is the furthest west you've ever been!!"  And repeat a few more times...

*After mentioning my younger is entering his last year at Marist:

Coach: "Is he having a good career?"

Me: "Yeah, he's majoring in Sports com and has an internship this summer with the New Jersey Jackals."

Coach: "Oh yeah? Is he doing broadcasting?"

Me: "Yeah, a little bit of color commentary and play-by-play.  Its only internet radio, but its still broadcast experience.  I mean, how many people are going to listen to minor league baseball on internet radio?"

Coach: "Six."

*Quotes you'll just have to ask me about:  Blondie at Belmont Park, and The Toll Booth Incident (thats a really good one...)



"Real life gets in the way"...

I said I was going to post the specific details of my new program.  I said I was going to compete this summer.  Then real life got in the way.

I started my new internship at The Kombine in Mt. Kisco, NY.  I'm spending half the week with my cousin, and the other half back in East Stroudsburg.  So far, its a great internship - but unfortunately, the long commute and erratic hours have left little room for a regular training schedule.  If I end up working there for real, I'll be able to make my schedule a little more regulated, but while I'm the intern, I need to do whatever they need me to do, whenever they need me to do it.

So, training is once again going on the backburner while I sort the next phase of my life out over the summer.  Its happened before and its happening again.  I'm not retiring from throwing, just on a hiatus.

Speaking of throwing, today I began my road trip out to Eugene, Oregon to see the 2011 USATF National Championships!  Coach, aka The Unsung Hero of North American Hammer Throwing, and I will take our time driving out to Eugene to see a bit of the country along the way (the championships don't start until next Thursday).  We're basically going to make it up as we go along, it'll be more fun that way.  So here's a summary of day 1 of our trip;
Things I've never seen before:
* A sign saying "Speed Limit 70".  Yup, I knew you could drive faster in some states, but I haven't ever actually seen a sign that goes above 65 until today.
* A triple trailer big rig.  Apparently they're illegal in some states...including all the states I've ever lived in, since I've never seen one before.  But here's a picture of one...

*Had Great Lakes Dortmunder Gold.  We were deciding what beer to try, and of course I wanted to know if there was such thing as an Ohio microbrew...we found the Dortmunder Gold, brewed right in Cleveland, Ohio.  Its your basic lager, but pretty good.  Worth trying if you're ever in the Cleveland area.

Coach's Quotes of the day:
* In regards to being on cafeteria duty at the school he works at, how messy the kids are, the cursing you hear at lunch time, etc... "Lunch duty is a reprehensible view of humanity."
* Everyone who has been coached by Coach will appreciate this one.  I was driving, and I've never been west of Columbus, OH:
Me: "I wish I had a map or something.  I want to know what point I'm crossing, I want to know what point is when I'm officially the farthest west I've ever been."
Coach: "Don't worry about it Tom, you're just gonna go more wester."

There are others you'll just have to ask me about.

More tomorrow...

Health Tip of the Week: Hydration!



Yes, even though its not June 21st, summer is here in the fact that for the past few weeks, there have been a few days with an average temperature of about a billion degrees (at least in the NJ/PA/NY area).  Since July and August are yet to come, it won't be getting better any time soon, and its likely to get even hotter.  So it is important to make sure that you STAY HYDRATED! 
Whether you're exercising outside, working outside, or doing basically anything in the heat, it is very easy to dehydrate quickly.  This can lead not only to decreased athletic performance, but dizziness, general confusion, heat stroke, fainting, and lots of other things you just plain old don't want to happen.  Luckily, these can all be prevented simply by taking in enough water, or the right types of other fluids.

Here are a few guidelines/reminders for staying hydrated as the summer rolls on:
- Thirst is the last signal of dehydration!! Most people think that once they're really thirsty, they can just drink a ton and that will take care of it.  Unfortunately, it can take time for water to get into your system to the point where it will cool you down or spread nutrients throughout the body, preventing things like muscle cramps, or the confusion/disorientation that comes with dehydration.  By the time you're thirsty, you can drink as much as you want, but you're likely to remain dehydrated, sluggish and irritable for at least another few hours.  This is why its important to drink fluids throughout the day, every day.  Try to have a drink with every meal, and sip on something in between.  If you know you're doing something outside in the heat the next day, drink lots of water the day before, in addition to the day of your activity to make sure you're staying hydrated.

- Other fluids can hydrate you besides water.  Pretty much any drink has water in it, so it will hydrate you to some degree.  These include juice and milk.  However, stay away from soda and beer.  Soda has so much sodium in it that it cancels out the hydration effect, and as for beer - well, that just sounds nasty on a hot day.

- Its ok to drink sports drinks.  Read the nutrition labels people - yes, there is some sugar, but not nearly as much as in things like kool-aid, Hawaiian punch, Sunny D, or soda.  Not to mention that yes, they really do contain electrolytes, and yes, those really do replace what you lose in sweat.  The kicker is that the tiny bit of sodium in sports drinks actually jump start your thirst reflex and make you want to keep drinking.  Keep in mind though thats its only really worth having a sports drink if you are exercising or doing some real hard work outside in the heat.

Health Tip of the Week: The Best Exercise(s) for Putting on Muscle!

This one is for all the bros at the gym, trying to get that beach body for the summer.  However, it also applies to any athlete/person looking to gain weight in general, and gain it the right way - because lets face it, anyone can just go to Dunkin' Donuts every day if they don't care if they gain muscle or fat.

When it comes to muscle though, one of the more common questions is "Whats the best exercise to get big?" or something along those lines.  Well, there's actually a few exercises that all work equally well.  But first, a quick physiology lesson as to why they work...

It basically comes down to the male sex hormone, testosterone (yes, women do have testosterone - about 1/10th as much as men, which is why its effects are not as pronounced - but its there). Testosterone directly affects muscle protein synthesis - in other words, testosterone interacts with the DNA in your cells, giving it the go-ahead to make more muscle proteins.  More muscle proteins = bigger muscle cells.  Testosterone levels can be elevated after a workout, and the more elevated testosterone levels are after a workout, the more proteins you have being synthesized, and the bigger your muscles can get.  How do you maximally elevate your testosterone levels following a workout?  Its all about total work performed.  And the most efficient way to maximize the amount of work you do is to do exercises that work lots of muscles at once. And those exercises are:

-Dead lift and its variations (Romanian DL, Sumo DL, Rack pulls, etc).  These will work your calves, quads, hamstrings, glutes, lower back, upper back, shoulders, traps, abs, grip, and even a little bit of biceps and triceps - all at once!
-Squats. There are plenty of variations here - quarter squats, half squats, deep squats, performed as either front squats or back squats.  Front squats are a little more quad dominant, but a good old fashioned deep back squat will work your core and just about everything below your waist.  If you want to make your postural muscles indestructible, try overhead squats.
-Olympic Lifts. The clean, snatch, jerk, and all their variations.  And the variations really are endless.  These are quick, powerful movements that like the dead lift involve literally every muscle in your body all in one motion.

So there you have it.  Incorporate at least one kind of dead lift, squat, or olympic lift into EVERY cycle you do.  If you cover all the other bases of training, you'll elevate your testosterone and see gains in muscle size in no time.

Periodization for throwing and my next cycle (Part 2 of 3)

I know this was supposed to be part 2 of 2, but I have way too much to say so I'm dividing this whole topic into 3 parts.  Here's part 2 of 3.  Anyway...

So in my last post, I talked a little about periodization, how many coaches and throwers seem to go about it, and my developing philosophy on it as it pertains to throwing.  Basically, my view on things is that when many coaches/throwers make a periodized plan, the lifting plans are way too meticulous and the throwing plans are very general, or even non-existant.  I and some other coaches/athletes are in a minority who think that throwing plans must be much more meticulous, and all weightlifting/general athletic work must be based off of throwing.  Here now, I will go into how I plan on getting all the general athletic work I do channeled into my technique to make the hammer go further.

A bit of background info first...for a few years, my goal has been the 2012 Olympic Trials.  After last year, where I threw a whopping 51m, things weren't looking too good, but I wasn't giving up that easily.  This year, I decided I was going to train like crazy and improve as much as I could over the next two years in order to qualify for 2012.  Then, between a car accident last September, finals/straining my back last December, and collecting data for my thesis in March/April, I spent a total of 14 weeks this year either rehabbing or in the library instead of training.  This year = down the tubes.  And unless the top 400 hammer throwers in the country all decide to retire, I won't be qualifying for the 2012 trials.  Who cares though?  I'll keep throwing anyway.

So, I've decided that I'll start training for the 2012 season now.  My initial plan was just to focus on the 6k hammer, and throw the 7.26 sparingly until I can throw the 6k a distance that warrants a new PB with the 7.26k. My 7.26k pb is 54.59, so I'm shooting for 64m with the 6k before I seriously train for the 7.26k again.  However, a couple of meets have sprung up throughout June/July that I figure I want to try to throw in, and I would like to get a semi-respectable mark in them.  That leads us to my current training program, which is basically a short term plan to get the 7.26k to go far (click it to enlarge it)...

In my next and final post on the subject, I'll go into all the details about my program.