All too often we find ourselves preoccupied with measuring our own self-worth based upon another’s successes and failures. As if you’re better because someone else is worse. That’s a poor system for developing success. Athletes and coaches across the country are all too aware of each other’s progress. Secretly hiding and watching behind the other end of the social media lens. Judging the perceived flaws they see, and using that as the proof they need to substantiate their own superiority. Stifling progress in a sport because they safeguard their knowledge like money buried under a mattress. It’s you, not your competition, that determines whether or not you’ll be the best. And really you can only hope to be your best. Sharing with each other and focusing on an internal locus of control is the path to greatness.

Focus on an internal locus of control. Looking inward can lead you to productivity. Concerning yourself with external forces that you can’t control, and blaming the rest of the world for your difficulties, that will not lead to any improvement. How much you learn, how hard you train, how dedicated you are to your craft. Those are all variables that you can influence. The best that we can strive for is that we will unlock the full limits of our own genetic potential. Collaboration, not isolation, will push you further, faster. Stop pretending that you have all of the answers and start learning from each other. After all, your success has nothing to do with someone else’s failure. If we spent more time sharing with each other, instead of judging each other’s mistakes behind closed doors, we could avoid our own wasted time from known mistakes.  

Pay no attention to what you can’t control. A common misconception in basic economic theory is that one more dollar for me is one less dollar for you. Wealth is created by, and owned by, the individual in the same way that one’s success is created by, and owned by, the individual. It’s not a finite shared resource. You can’t control how many elite athletes another coach creates any more than you can influence how much an athlete will improve. And if the coach, or the athlete, improves, that doesn’t mean your potential is any less. Usain Bolt broke all of the growth rate curves in the world of sprinting, effectively pushing the sport ahead many years in its expected rate of improvement, all while being told that he wasn’t built right for the sport. That couldn’t have happened if he wasn’t internally driven and focused.

Greatness comes from within and it arrives sooner with collaboration. Better implies a comparison to an external standard. Better means that you achieved some modicum of success because someone else just didn’t show up. Seek to be great, not better.

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Click to purchase a beautiful holiday red poinsettia. Sales end 12/11/17. Pick up at LVB begins 12/15/17 and ends 12/16/17.

All 18 members of the LVB Weightlifting Team are selling poinsettias for our non profit club. The beautiful red poinsettias are locally sourced from our friends at Blue Mountain Farms. Each poinsettia will consist of 5-7 hand selected red bulbs in a 6.5" pot. Perfect for the holiday season. Our team will collect paid in full orders until 12/11/2017. On 12/15 Blue Mountain Farms will deliver all orders to LVB. You will be able to pick up your orders on 12/15 from 12pm to 6pm, and on 12/16 from 8am to 12pm. You can purchase directly from our members, or you can purchase online and select who you would like your donation to go to. 

In 2018, LVB Weightlifting is paying for every member to train, travel, and compete. We have 18 members who need to fundraise between $600, and $2200, for the 2018 season. When you purchase your poinsettias, you will have the option to select who you would like your donation to go to. You can also select Team LVB if you don't have a specific person in mind. Each and every dollar from this fundraiser will pay for competition fees, plane tickets, and hotel fees, for our team. We are also using the fundraisers to help us to scholarship athletes who can't afford their gym fees. 

We realize that we are a non profit sport club, and that there are many non profits with much more serious causes. We hope that your generous donations to LVB will help us to improve the mental and physical health of all our members, and to foster future USA Olympians for our sport. We are also doing great work with our ever growing youth and junior members. But, as a club, we will also be volunteering in community outreach programs throughout the Lehigh Valley. To be a club team member at LVB you must do good beyond the good you will do for yourself. 

Help us reach a broader audience. We need a small army to help our club. Thank you in advance for your support. We have large goals, and high standards. We couldn't do this without you. 

Brooke Loane went big with a 496lb total this past weekend, taking home the gold for Team LVB. This also marked our first time competing in a sanctioned USAPL meet. ​If you didn't know already, Brooke is the VP of the LVB Weightlifting non profit club. When she isn't training she's busy being an incredible mother, a loving wife, and works a very stressful job managing a ton of people. 

85.5kg / 188lb bench press by Brooke Loane

140kg / 308lb deadlift by Brooke Loane

On November 3rd, 2018, the LVB Weightlifting Team non profit club will hold it's first ever profit share meet. This USAW sanctioned meet - link here- will be open to all ages, and abilities, and will serve as a way of putting money into the pockets of weightlifters who need it. We will have more info in the coming months, but make sure you mark your calendars. This will be one day only meet, and space will be limited. Our goal is to give $5000 back to the top 3 male and top 3 female lifters. REGISTRATION BEGINS SEPTEMBER 1, 2018.

If a profit share meet wasn't a thing before, then it is now. For our Big Money Meet it means that 100% of the earnings will go back to the weightlifters. For the competitors, 50% of the total earning will go to the top 3 male and top 3 female athletes. The other 50% will go back to our non profit club scholarship fund. Our scholarship fund is how we help our athletes who can't afford training, traveling, and competing.  

​The 2018 Big Money Meet Fundraiser will be our first ever profit share meet. 50% of the proceeds will go to the top 3 male and top 3 female lifters, and the remaining 50% will go towards the LVB Weightlifting Team 501C3 non profit organization. Each and every dollar from every registration, and every donation, will go back into the pockets of weightlifters who need your help. Sign up to compete in a friendly USAW sanctioned meet, and, at the very least, give back to a good cause. 

• 1st place male and female will split 60% of the total share dedicated to the competitors
• 2nd place male and female will split 30% of the total share dedicated to the competitors
• 3rd place male and female will split 10% of the total share dedicated to the competitors

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Why You Should Sign Up
​This meet is perfect for all ages and abilities. Even if there is no chance of winning. Your registration goes back into the pockets of weightlifters who need your help.
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How We Will Raise Money
Registration will cost $70. When we sell out at 80 athletes that will be $5600. 50% of that will instantly go to the winners, and be divided accordingly. The LVB club will be seeking out corporate sponsors for additional donation. Donations will be collected from spectators. Family and friends will be able to also donate online. We are also working on running 50/50 raffles, auctioning gift baskets, and more. The goal is to raise a total of $10,000 so that each 1st place athlete will receive $1500, each 2nd place athlete will receive $750, and each 3rd place athlete will receive $250.00. Sky's the limit, and we hope that this meet is so successful that it significantly impacts many people in need.  

In 2018 LVB will become three different entities: 1 gym, 3 Phase Fitness; and 2 club teams, LVB Weightlifting and LVB Powerlifting. 3 Phase Fitness will represent the vast majority of the members. It will help members to move better, be stronger, and encourage athletic hobbies such as: obstacle course races, crossfit, endurance races, and more. Again, this will represent the vast majority of our members. Club members will exist for competing in weightlifting or powerlifting. The overview to follow is limited in its scope to club members only.

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We believe that all weightlifting clubs should act more like other sport clubs. Swimming, cheerleading, and gymnastics, to name a few club sports, regularly raise money to help their teams. It is time that USA Weightlifting clubs start to exist for the benefit of their members. Most USAW clubs are merely hobbies for their coaches, or even worse, exist to raise money for coaches who are trying to sell workshops, and online programming. At LVBW we want our club to be self-sustainable. We want to create job opportunities for coaches, cultivate a love for barbell sports for any age, secure college scholarships for our youth and junior athletes, achieve stipend payments for high-level competitors, and develop USA team members. Everyone in our team should be responsible for fundraising. It should be a group effort, not just an individual show. In 2018 every single member will get the opportunity to be grow as an individual while acting like a team member.

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A friend, and member, asked me a question last week about how to overcome his fear associated with resuming his barbell training. There are risks associated with all sports, and fear doesn't just come from injury. My hope is that this discussion can serve as a launch point for any person who is struggling to restart their fitness .

Again, there is always a risk of injury for any activity. It doesn't matter if you are driving, walking, competing in powerlifting, or running an ultra marathon. The key is your approach to training. If you train smart, then you can minimize the inherent risks. Just because you lift, or run, doesn't mean you are destined to get hurt. Find a coach who is qualified to help you. 

Another risk associated with training is that you will not improve. What if you spend the next year, or more, training for something specific, and you still aren't winning in local competitions? What if you never qualify as a national level athlete? Let me ask you something. Did you start training for your sport because you thought you'd become a professional athlete? Probably not. So what's the worst that could happen? You live a healthy lifestyle while training for a sport, but you have to maintain a normal job to afford your life? That kind of sounds like everyone's reality. 
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It isn't fair for you to set unrealistic goals for yourself, only to set yourself up for failure that shouldn't have existed in the first place. I think that the larger issue is when we lose sight of why we started training. You probably did so because you liked it. You didn't like other forms of training, but you could get on board with this particular activity. You liked the way it made you feel. Maybe the way it made you look. You made friends, created experiences, and did things you never thought you would do. Manage your expectations, and don't lose sight of why you started in the first place. 

Why does everything need to be all or nothing? I can't being to tell you how many people I meet who think that they need to dedicate their lives to each and every activity that they partake in. It is totally possible to find balance in your hobbies. If you're looking to be a professional athlete, then that may be less true. However, that most likely doesn't describe you. See above, "managing expectations." In many cases it is more healthy to maintain a variety of types of physical activity. Search for balance. Don't just do what you want. It's probably not enough of what you need.

This post serves as only a surface level overview of the fears associated with training. I'm not pretending to have all of the answers. If anything, I think that I'm trying to say that its ok not to. That its ok to just do something because it makes you happy, and helps you to feel good. That your experiences are all part of the journey. Every activity has some risk. Risk of injury, failure, or unrequited commitment. But the risks are actually quite low when we manage our expectations, diversify our training, and seek help from qualified outside sources.