Monday, May 14, 2012

Nutrition and supplements leading into an unlimited contest



First things first, nutrition leading into an unlimited contest. I do not watch a\calories the week before a contest, infact I make sure to consume a few more than I am used to. I typically take the week before a contest off (I will address this later as well) so my appetite can be a problem from time to time, I just stay on a schedule and eat every 2-4 hrs. But all of this is common knowledge, lets get into supplements leading into a contest.

I aim for a few different kinds of supplements.
-Creatine
-Multi vitamin
-Joint
-Omegas

All of these together will prep your body to recover fully before the contest and almost guarantee a PR in contest if you have been training hard. My favorite types of creatine are Creatine Ester Ethel (CEE) however if there are heavy pulling events I will use Creatine Monohydrate in order to add a few pounds of water weight to aid in events like truck pulls. as for THE BEST creatine you will have to try different kinds to see what you like best, but I find these two to be the main types I run to for a contest.

Multivitamins should be taken year round, honestly, WHY NOT TAKE THEM!? But every once in a while I like to drop them for a few weeks to clear everything out, "Keep the body guessing" so to speak. Joint supplements are critical in my opinion, everytime I stop taking a joint supplement I feel it. That is enough for me to be on a joint supplement for a long time, I don't worry about stopping joint supps. I feel very similar to Omega acids, be it flax or fish oil, it does not matter, get those omegas!

Monday, May 7, 2012

Purpose

I have been looking to get a blog for quite some time now but have hesitated at committing to a site for a few different reasons, but mostly because I didn't think I had the time. Well, I have found time. I want to start my blog off with a bang, I will be writing on what I would like to get out of life from an accomplishments view point, but first a brief introduction on myself.

My Name is Zack McCarley, I am an ASC (American Strongman Corporation) Professional Strongman and full-time student at CWU (Central Washington University) in Ellensburg, WA. I am very competitive as a strongman, winning 3 National championships, one of which being "America's Strongest Man under 231lbs." I am also competitive in the classroom with a 3.65 GPA, I do not worry too much about grades, I let my level of comprehension be my guide, if I do not understand something I work hard to change it. At any rate, I would say strongman is one of the more major parts of my life. So here is the perspective on Purpose from a 3x National Champion.

In my mind I keep things very simple, "Do I enjoy what I am doing?" "Will this lead to something that is worth the sacrifice I am currently making?" I am analytical, and as such I came upon the question of "what is my purpose" at a young age. My first thoughts of death or "the end" were very happy, heaven and clouds, soft rainbows and unicorns (not really), but seriously. As a child I was religious, but once my analytical mind began to turn its wheels I began to search for proof, I recall asking my mother as a child "Who is God's mom?" and she said that he has always been, I did not like the answer so I pressed the question "There had to be someone before him, who was before god?" and she told me she did not know. Not long after this my perception of the afterlife changed dramatically. I began to envision vast nothingness and solitude. My perception later changed but this all has very little to do with purpose, my point is I realized from a young age that life does not last, in order to live you must die. So there was one question left for me to ask. "What will I do with my time?"

As a adolescent I liked to do typical things, hang out, watch movies, have fun. But I really had no clue what I wanted to do. Some people know what they want to do young, but I was not even close. So I stumbled through Middle school and High School, I even earned a wrestling scholarship and earned an AA (While working). Still not really knowing what to do. It was only recently that I realized why I was this way.

I am one of the few people that could really be happy doing anything, anything at all. See, while I was getting a degree, working, even in middle school, I was able to train with weights and I decided weights were what made me happy. It is what I enjoy and I would not give them up. One of the reasons I could not find something I wanted to do was because I was already doing it. So where do I go from there? Life weights til I die? It could not be that simple! I have always enjoyed a good challenge. I stated above that I am competitive in two aspects of my life, but really, I am competitive in EVERY aspect of my life. So what would a competitive person that enjoys challenges declare as a major in a 4 year university? One of the hardest subjects of course, chemistry!

I guess I should back up, coming to the university I had two carriers in mind, a Special education endorsement, or prereqs for a chiropractic college But after a short time at the university my mind started seeing problems with the world, things no one has solved, solutions to problems for everyday life, theories that have not be tested, questions that have not been asked. I am still writing a list of these, whenever I see a problem I write it down for later and begin developing the tools to solve it now. My purpose has become to solve as many of these problems as I can. I must have 100 written down right now and the list grows with about 1-2 new problems a week, many of which are linked, this is to say solve one and maybe 5-6 would resolve themselves. But what about strongman?

I love strongman, I honestly think it is the greatest sport in the world, before strongman I thought wrestling was the greatest in the world, but there was only one problem with wrestling, there has to be others to wrestle with. In  strongman you can become better alone (which unfortunately is what I must do while I live here). But my other goal in life is to be a world Champion in Strongman for the 105Kg/231.4lbs weight class. Sadly without a World Championship there is no title to be had. I have reached the top of the 105Kg class in the USA. I keep training for this though because as I said before I love to lift, I love a challenge, and I will not give up on weights.

One of my favorite quotes I read while I was working two jobs and going to school full-time. This got me through many tough days.
"Tough times don't last, tough people do!"