As a youngster, my Spanish speaking family members called me Pepe (pronounced peh peh), except for one Grand Aunt who called me Oscarito (little Oscar) because my father's name was Oscar. Oddly, Oscar is my father's middle name, but let us not stray too far from the issue at hand. I've always found the nickname …
Steroids only help a little
My position on steroid use in strength sports is pretty straight forward: I don't care if people want to use them. They just shouldn't compete in drug tested Federations. I think the best way to look at drug use in strength sports is simply not to make the comparisons between drug using athletes and natural, …
I’m a Powerlifter
Long time readers will know I've trained on and off in the powerlifts for years. I occasionally would switch gears toward hypertrophy only training, but I prefer strength training. Actually competing in Powerlifting is not something I've done for over a decade, and when I did it back then, it was Equipped Powerlifting, which is …
Almost Go Time
As I write this, my first completely solo raw Powerlifting Meet is exactly one week out. Today was my final day of hard training, and all that's left is the fun stuff. I've learned a lot in the past few weeks, some of that education coming with pain and anguish, but I'm used to that …
Going for it
Why wait until November when there's a Meet in July? Why indeed. Motivated by all the Powerlifting competition I've been watching, I summoned my courage and signed up for the USPA Meet July 24th. I decided to scrap my $1200 investment in the RTS Emerging Strategies programming, which upsets me but it just wasn't working. …
Garage Gym Competition
I've been meaning to do a write up on my recent Powerlifting Meet, but just haven't felt up to writing these days. It was May 22, 2021 and overall, I'm very pleased with how it went. My goal was use this as a practice run for the November Competition I've already signed up for, so …
Ketogenic Experiment Fails
After much research, I hypothesized that a high fat, low carb, low fiber diet would maximize my hormonal profile. I discovered that oleic acid leads to high sex hormone binding globulin levels, which is bad for free testosterone, so I removed olive oil, avocados, almonds and most egg yolks from my diet. I increased the …
Time to Peak
I wasn't clear on why my body would stop adapting to the training stimulus I was applying, what the RTS Emerging Strategies folks call the Time to Peak. In their programming strategy, which I am slowly learning, a developmental cycle is designed to specifically improve Powerlifting performance, will reach a point of maximum effectiveness, when …
Vaccinated!
I received a surprising phone call yesterday. An automated message from the VA, where I get my healthcare, told me I was eligible for a Covid-19 vaccine and to contact my local VA clinic to make an appointment. Stunned, I made the call and was offered the Pfizer vaccine as soon as next Wednesday if …
Vitamin D-You’re probably deficient
You're probably deficient in Vitamin D, or at least insufficient. How do I know? Because I supplement the hell out of my Vitamin D and I'm barely into the optimal blood levels of the stuff. You can't get it from your food, so if you want to be topped off on this critical hormone, you …

