Jogging

The hateful forums.  The American Open hype.  The hateful YouTube comments.  The nervous thoughts, twitches, and emotions.  The pain that this sport has casted upon me, and the pain that life has brought me.  The let downs and achievements.  The highs and lows.  The gold medals and bomb outs. My fight with drugs and alcohol.  My sad story that is called my relationship with my father.  My coach being away from me too long.  The constant eyes that watch for my next move.  The high bar that constantly stays floating over my head.  The stacked 94kg class.  All of this vanishes into the morning fog as I start my morning jog at 6:00 AM.

Something new for me, something that has helped me on and off the platform the last few weeks.  I find  a certain peace within myself that I never knew existed.  I have met another Jon North that I am drawn to.  A new me that is calm and quiet.  Peaceful and mysterious.  A Jon North that breaths clouds of morning fog and not flames of fire. Who never walks but runs, and who never talks but thinks.  These crying thoughts that drown me with shame must be freed.  These thoughts must run away from my skeleton pit mind, never to be seen again.  Run away from me you blood sucking Demon, your thoughts that tear holes though my heart, will be no longer, as I run from you.  Facing you has got me no where.  So I run.

This old race horse has trouble moving when off the platform, so starting a jog is always an up hill battle.  I step with pain as my knees start to play their own violin.  It's been said that my knees and back have their own Dark Orchestra.  The more I think about it, we all have a Dark Orchestra. What is a Dark Orchestra?  It's a dark stage where we can catch our breath, and listen to our skeletons play beautiful songs of sadness.  A family of outcasts that eat dinner together on a long wooden table filled with glasses of salty tears. A place called home. But this morning, there is no dark orchestra, just a quiet world where the sounds of bar slamming and judging eyes do not exist.  Ready to listen to the key board of sneakers that hit the side walk of pavement.  I am ready to enter the Apocalypse.  Ready to enter the clouds of fog.  I jog, I jog with rhythm and pride.  I jog like Ali.  I jog with Attitude, side by side with the Nation.  I jog to forget. I jog to think. I jog because jogging is not weightlifting, it's something different.  The faster I jog, the farther back the bar above my head falls behind.  The longer I jog, the less my body hurts.  The old race horse starts to wake, the fog starts to clear, and now you can call me Seabiscut.  Every drop of sweat that falls off my forehead is a weight off my shoulders. Come on coach, it's my time to carry you to the finish line.  Your presence is strong, even though hidden away in your own Orchestra of...... well, let's just say your presence is still with me, and me jogging is a metaphor of moving forward with you, Shankle, and the rest of my teammates. I will jog for us.  I will jog this morning to simply move, because moving is what I was put on this planet to do.  God made me move well, so moving is what I do.  God gave me bad book smarts for a reason.  He gave me ADD for a reason.  He invented coffee for a reason.  He invented jogging for a reason.  He invented weightlifting for us lost souls.  Weightlifting is a castle of happiness from our broken paths of doom.  He invented Klokov to not only look good, but, well..... Klokov is a damn sexy man.  That's all I have to say about that.  If you don't have a man crush on Klokov, then I don't trust you as a person.

I write about weightlifting now, but when I jog I think nothing of it.  I think of nothing. I focus on everything.  I focus on my stride, the landscape, the sunrise that can make even the strongest man feel weak.  I black out, this time not from alcohol, but from peace.  Running breaks the weightlifting shackles from my ankles, allowing me to move in a way I haven't done in years.  I feel no pain for the first time in years, no back pain, no knee pain, nothing.  It's like my body is rewarding me from not beating it up, slamming it with weights, crushing it with bars, kicking it down until it pees blood or I get the shakes at night.  My body cries when I crawl to the bathtub.  My body screams when I puke white liquid from the amount of creatine I intake.  But when I run, I feel weightless, I feel like Seabiscut.  Sometimes, taking the time out of the day for no weightlifting, is the best weightlifting training for a weightlifting meet.

I feel I am addicted to coffee. I am addicted to moving. I am addicted to weightlifting. I am addicted to jogging.  Yes, you can find me at practice everyday chained to the platform.   But now, you can also find me in the early morning running through the Apocalypse, side by side with a calm Jon North that you may never meet.  Salute.


Prefontaine Forever

PLUS a video from the General of the Attitude Nation, training for the 2028 Olympic games!  Setting a new baby World Record with some great bar slamming!!!  You can't teach speed!!!!  This baby is a freak athlete!  This video was sent to me from his dad, thank you Joe, Salute. (video below)

BABY WORLD RECORD 2028!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

T-Rex

The hip clean is a mysterious creature that seems to stay hidden in the dark away from the world to see or talk about. He is the fastest and most explosive creature in all of the land. His arms are bent like a T Rex, his hips plow into the bar like a punch from Mike Tyson. The sound the hip creature makes rattles the poor now half broken bar that echo's throughout the gym for all to here. It’s a chilling sound that gives you goose bumps from head to toe. The power the hip cleaner creates will make even Chuck Norris feel in fear for his life. He is a patient creature, one that waits a long time before he attacks. He waits on the pull like I wait for my wife to get ready to go out to dinner. His shoulders stay over the bar like a sling shot being pulled back, or like Tiger Woods setting up to launch the little white ball into outer space. A longer pull...yes , but much more explosive than the rest? Most definitely. His upper body is asleep when he kills his pray, his legs and hips do the snapping of the necks, they are the ones who bring home the bacon.

I have tried over and over to become a hip cleaner...but every time I am reminded by the weightlifting Gods that I was meant to kill with my thighs. I live in thigh land with most of the other Olympic weightlifting warriors. We think the hip hitters are elitist know it all's, and are full of themselves! They say they are stronger for being able to bring heavy weight into a higher finish position, and I say nay. We the thigh hitters say that we are just as powerful and such good athletes that we can get under any weight. It’s a back and forth battle, but at the end of the day we are all still friends and still lift heavy weight. "There is more than one way to get to the top of the hill"- Glenn Pendlay. There are just as many Gold medal hip creatures than there are thigh creatures.

The hip creature may live in you, he just might be hiding in the dark corner at the gym you train at without you even knowing. He lives in Spencer Moorman, Caleb Ward, and many others.

He even lives in Donny Shankle, pictured here.

But the one who has the most kills is the man in the video below....the Olympic record holder, World record holder, Olympic Gold medalist and my favorite lifter....the one..the only...ANDREI ARAMNAU!

Which one are you? I would love to get your feedback and what you think works better and why. I also put the legendary Dmitriy Klokov below as well performing the thigh clean. Enjoy and Attitude Nation salute!!

Hip Cleaner

Thigh Cleaner

Hip or thigh we still love each other 2016

Weightlifting talk - Shankle Is Back

The Lion Killer 2016

24 Hour Fitness

A family of hard workers, hard workers and professional mess-a-rounders. Great people who made the job even greater, and finalizing it with the crown of "best job I have ever had".  It was a job I will never forget, a job that to this day makes me smile from great memories.  It was a job that made me excited and alive while I drove to work, a job that I looked forward to every morning.  It was a second home that brought me comfort, stability, and a meaning to my life.  A band of brothers is what my co-workers were, brothers in arms who I couldn't wait to mess with and sell more than.  24 Hour Fitness was a fucken blast, and also the start of the most hated man in USA weightlifting, Jon North.

Walking into work at 24 hour fitness you would think the busy bees and bright lights never shut off for closing.  It was an ongoing coffee break without the break.  I looked out to a sea of money through the window my desk sat by everyday, a desk crushed next to many other desks like bunk beds full of sales people...wait no, sales friends, while people and cars past by.  Grumpy elf is what we called him, grumpy in a good way I should add, a funny "ok ok boss man I will get back to work and stop playing table football" way.  I should also add even though I got yelled at for messing around with the triangle piece of folded paper, grumpy elf was the one playing with me!  I think it's because I was winning that made him snap out of fun time and back into work time.  The best boss, leader, friend, and all around person that I have ever met, Greg Husten.  Thank you Greg for hiring me and taking me under your wing when I needed one so very badly.  Thank you for everything you have taught me in sales and in life.  I looked up to you then, and I still do now.

Greg Husten aka the boss man

Charles Shipman, yes you might know this name; he is a weightlifter, and my best friend.  Charles's first day at 24 was my second day, and we hit it off right away.  Beat boxing and free-styling was not unusual.  Actually, we sold more memberships after a good rap battle.  Nice cloths, gelled hair, coffee in hand, and the world at our feet. We were membership salesmen and we were damn good at what we did.  Well.....Charles was, I was too busy watching Shankle videos on my phone at a time before I ever met Donny, or became part of the Cal Strength Mafia.  Wow.....just thinking about the 24 hour fitness days seems like a lifetime ago, but then again I can remember everything so clearly.  I was a firecracker back then, keep in mind this was right when I first became a weightlifter.  If you think I am crazy and wild now, then you should of seen "Jumping Jonathan North" back then.

Charles Shipman

                                         

It was never about the commission, it was about beating Charles and Greg in sales. When a client walked in it was all business, the gym changed into a white house meeting.  All three of us concentrating on our sale in front of us, but always with one eye cocked to the side seeing how Greg, Charles and any other rookie (not apart of the cool crew)  was doing.  Either high fives at the end or throwing of a pen or clip board. Sales was a lot like weightlifting, a bitch.  But at often times a high that kept you coming back for more.  I have smoked meth, and done my fare share of coke back in my party days, and I will be the first person to tell you that making a big lift or landing a membership sale is the exact same high.  Having my boss Greg tell me "good job" made my day, and only made me want to sell more.  I loved Greg's style of leading, very much the same style as my coach Glenn Pendlay.  They let me breath, they lead from behind, and they both let me create my own style of training or selling.  A leader who leads from behind has always pushed me more, and made me want to achieve the goal at hand, not only for myself but for them as well.  Working with Greg and Charles was a lot like training with my weightlifting teammates now; there is very little difference the more I think about it.  A lifestyle full of goals and hard work, intertwined with a healthy dose of laughter and fun, which in my opinion is the key for success in anything.

A statue of a strong buff man holding the world over his head some how climbed itself onto Greg's desk.  I think it was a sales award he won, and a well deserved one at that.  Greg was magic when it came to selling.  Greg is not the type to go showing off, but one morning the statue was just there, sitting on his desk for all to see. Lol, just writing this blog is hard because I am already laughing so hard from the image I see in my head.  I see Greg sitting there, typing at his desk with his long chin stuck out as he types so relaxed and confidently.  I walk in a few minutes late like I have been known for still to this day.  He does not stop typing, but his eyes look over to the side giving me the "your late look". I sit down at my desk scrambling to begin my work day trying to show him that I have a "busy" day ahead, even though we both know that's a lie.  He finally stopped typing, and this time his whole head turned with his eyes along for the ride, he said, "glad you could join us today Jon boy".  It was so hard to keep a straight face with Charles at his desk quietly laughing at the situation.  Before I even gave him an excuse or told him, "sorry it want happen again" line, I looked at his overly big and bright statue and without thinking replied, "hey look, statue looks like me".  LOL!!!!!!  I slightly laughed while looking back and forth from the statue to Greg, waiting to see his reaction.  But there was none, he just stared at me for a good minute until he  slowly turned back to his computer screen and began typing again.  I looked over to see Charles's reaction, and yes, Charles was almost on the floor laughing.

Ever since that morning anytime anybody would walk by Greg's desk, he would say very loudly and cartoon like "Ooooo yea, statue looks like you".  And then he would come back into himself and under his breath say, "God dude, get over it," The best part about this was that the people Greg joked with never said anything about the statue, or even knew about the inside joke in the first place!  The poor guy would just walk away scratching his head.  LOL!!!!!  I am dying laughing, and if you don't think this is funny that I am sorry, I guess you just had to be there, or I am not writing this correctly.  At the end of the day Greg would crack a small smile and tell a joke, letting you know that deep down he was just messing around.

After a year went by we all got broken up and went our own ways, but we all still stay in touch, and are very good friends to this day.

24 Hour Fitness 2016  Charles Shipman 2016  Greg Husten 2016  Pre pay 2016  Two Week Pass 2016 

The Voice of Shankle

Bold Steps 2016

Team Commentary pt 2

Max out Friday with more team commentary! First 160kg snatch since coach has been gone, and killed a 185kg c&j before making a gutsy jump straight to 195kg......which looking back now, I would have made the smart jump to 190kg.  But what can I say, I had that SHANKLE Blood in me!!  Plus, Saturday's squat workout is at the end of the video.  I smoked a BIG 10 kilo PR in the back squat at 250kg before dropping down to complete my sets of 5.  Yes, sometimes when coach is gone we will have a little fun and go for a max squat, but still always move on to complete the actual workout at hand.  I hope coach is reading this so I can get some brownie points.  Here is the video below.  SLAM BARS AND KILL PR'S!!!!!!!!!  

MAX SQUAT 2016  

Solo

Weightlifting Talk was fun today.  First Solo show without the Lion Killer or Mr Black Beard.  The show had a different feel to it, a different flow that I really liked.  I didn't know how I would do, or where the show would go, but I thought the show went very smooth.  TOPICS:  Training without coach and Shankle.  Great call about the bottom position and catching the bar too high.  Self motivation.  The presents of a coach, Punching a kid, American Open, Training alone, Coach, Diet, Freak athletes, Jeff Wittmer,  Why no program? Why the show is called Weightlifting Talk.  (below)

I hope you like it, salute.  

Weightlifting Talk- Solo 09/20 by Weightlifting Talk0 | Blog Talk Radio

Here is Wednesdays Team MDUSA video below.  154kg snatch, 190kg clean and jerk! I really feel that this wide grip in the jerk can lead me to 200 plus....maybe even sooner than I think.  Who's knows, I guess more coffee, more training, and more Shankle.  LETS GO! 

Plus:  NEW YORK!  Calling New York! September 30th PortCrossfit in Setauket is kicking off the 15th Attitude Nation Certification Seminar!  Get your tickets now at www.Portcrossfit.com/our-store.html

Caleb Ward 2016