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TSC TSC Participation ?

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Norville Barnes

Norville Barnes

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So I entered last Saturday’s event on short notice. I participated at @Ryan Toshner ’s facility outside Milwaukee. The last time I was there in 2019 there were 40+ participants, this time about 15. Looking at the preliminary results it seems like there are fewer entries in every division, which makes me wonder why the drop off - Covid? Powerlifting meets? Other pursuits? No bench press? No advertising / awareness?

I know there are several past participants here, just wondering why there seems to be less interest. My excuse is that I chose to pursue some other goals in 2020, which of course got sidetracked by the pandemic.
 
I can't say I would have participated anyway since I suck at pullups, have never snatched more than learning the movement, and am mediocre at deadlifts at best. However, even though I have been to SF seminars and am on this forum daily I didn't know it was even happening until Sunday.
 
I would posit that COVID changed a number of things that motivate people. For me, I was occasionally using kettlebells as part of my strength training but they were peripheral at best. I mostly used them for warm ups. COVID changed the availability of other gyms so I started drifting from one DIY program to another, never really finding anything I could sustain. I know we're all responsible for our own motivation and mind sets but it was difficult to maintain focus.

During the holidays at the end of 2021, I used kettlebells, sandbags and bodyweight exercises, along with paying more attention to diet, to "dump the plump". I figured the holidays would be a good time to do a full-on shred, partly to stage me for a good start to 2022 and partly to minimize the holiday fluff most of us seem to gain. My plan was in place and I felt my motivation growing stronger as the numbers on the scale went down.

In January, I shifted gears and started a basic strength training program using the main compound exercises. Again, motivation increased as numbers improved. Still, something seemed to be lacking.

I had tried to read Simple & Sinister and Q&D a few times in the past but they never really gained traction. In March, I was on the StrongFirst website looking to add some spice to what was starting to become routine in my strength program. I clicked "Hard living types START HERE" button out of curiosity. At the bottom, I found the link to the TSC. I pulled up the results of the Oct 21 event and had an epiphany: I needed a reason for what I was doing! I read some more about the Community Edition that would be happening in May. I can't find it now but I seem to recall seeing something that the CE would be good for "setting a baseline". That was perfect!

I know I'm not competition material so before I could find a thousand reasons not to, I went back to the one reason I should... I needed a goal. I looked at event locations. The closest one was an hour away...another reason not to and another reason to stop listening to that inner negative voice. I signed up right then and there.

I spent the next 9 weeks trying to get ready. I engaged a SF instructor for some one-on-one guidance. Staci Trout in Hilliard was incredibly helpful. It was by far the best hour I have ever spent with a trainer. Unfortunately, my schedule got in the way. It was our only session but she saved me weeks or even months of trial and error hacking at it myself.

Last Saturday, I got up at 5:30 am (not my normal time) and made the drive to the Mansfield YMCA. The whole way up, I'd talk myself out of going every minute or so. Then I'd talk myself right back in. I had worked hard for 9 weeks. There was only one other participant but Reneta and Heidi treated the event as if it was a packed house. They were a lot of fun to work with.

Before we started the deadlift event, Reneta said we could warm up and asked how much weight we wanted on the bar. The other guy said "I don't know. Let's maybe start with 315." WHAT?! I couldn't pull 315 off the floor on my best day and he was going to warm up with it?! ...crap... And I quit again. And I got back in again. "How about if I go first and you can have it after I max out?" Oi!

But we got into a good routine. He was amazingly strong and did extremely well. I felt bad for the coaches. They had to keep adding weight for him and taking it off for me. In the end, his max lift was almost double mine.

I did better than I expected and even managed to completely failed on my third lift. But I learned an amazing amount. During the rest break, Reneta and Heidi were incredibly generous with their tips, advice and encouragement.

The other 2 events were just as "educational". In the end, the only thing I can say that I'm truly proud of is that I left everything I had on the competition floor.

The point of all this is that people will either find what they are looking for, or what they need will find them. Just looking at my numbers, my performance was abysmal. But it was exactly what I needed, when I needed it and I'm grateful that it found me. TSC will find the people who need it most...even if it's just one person.
 
Funny enough was due to the lockdowns that I finally decided to host and judge a TSC

I had a former student who wanted to dabble into GS so I said why not use the TSC as a launchpad

I then had other students who used to do the Spartan race and were looking for an alternative activity so I signed up the facility where I consult and also had to judge all their attempts.
 
Norville Barnes said:
So I entered last Saturday’s event on short notice. I participated at @Ryan Toshner ’s facility outside Milwaukee. The last time I was there in 2019 there were 40+ participants, this time about 15. Looking at the preliminary results it seems like there are fewer entries in every division, which makes me wonder why the drop off - Covid? Powerlifting meets? Other pursuits? No bench press? No advertising / awareness?

I know there are several past participants here, just wondering why there seems to be less interest. My excuse is that I chose to pursue some other goals in 2020, which of course got sidetracked by the pandemic.
Click to expand...
Was the 2019 event in the spring or fall ?
 
Everything on this thread is excellent...

@Norville Barnes , thanks for bringing this up. There seem to be a variety of reasons for the drop-off in participation. COVID had and continues to have an enormous impact. Numerous past hosts have had to close their facilities and/or are working on re-building their memberships. Fewer hosts mean fewer participants right from the start. From the participant perspective, there are still plenty of people who haven't gotten back into their training routines or have different priorities from the past couple years. Awareness is also an issue (something we're working on), along with a few other smaller reasons—reducing both host and competitor participation—which aren't major culprits by themselves but which add up when combined.

@BJJ Shawn , awareness is something that we're working on. I'll leave it at that for now. But in the meantime, TSCs are currently scheduled for the first or second weekend in May and always the last weekend in October. Registration opens about 12 weeks prior.

@B McKnight , I'm glad that you did participate and that you had a great experience. Really, participating is not so much about—in my best Randy Savage voice—"posting amazing scores" as it is about setting a baseline, observing progress, testing training regimens, having a specific reason to train, being a part of the community, competition (for some people), and a variety of other unique personal reasons. At least, that's why we want folks to participate. If you (or anyone else reading this) has any suggestions on how we can really emphasize that to the entire StrongFirst community, please DM me with your suggestions!

@Mark Limbaga , thank you for hosting!
 
Ryan Toshner said:
Numerous past hosts have had to close their facilities and/or are working on re-building their memberships. Fewer hosts mean fewer participants right from the start.
Click to expand...
This, for sure. The first time I did a TSC (pre-COVID), I could have picked from 4 gyms nearby.

This spring, I had my choice of 0 gyms. :(

COVID was definitely really hard on the gym business - particularly on the smaller gyms that were more likely to host a TSC.
 
Ryan Toshner said:
Everything on this thread is excellent...

@Norville Barnes , thanks for bringing this up. There seem to be a variety of reasons for the drop-off in participation. COVID had and continues to have an enormous impact. Numerous past hosts have had to close their facilities and/or are working on re-building their memberships. Fewer hosts mean fewer participants right from the start. From the participant perspective, there are still plenty of people who haven't gotten back into their training routines or have different priorities from the past couple years. Awareness is also an issue (something we're working on), along with a few other smaller reasons—reducing both host and competitor participation—which aren't major culprits by themselves but which add up when combined.

@BJJ Shawn , awareness is something that we're working on. I'll leave it at that for now. But in the meantime, TSCs are currently scheduled for the first or second weekend in May and always the last weekend in October. Registration opens about 12 weeks prior.

@B McKnight , I'm glad that you did participate and that you had a great experience. Really, participating is not so much about—in my best Randy Savage voice—"posting amazing scores" as it is about setting a baseline, observing progress, testing training regimens, having a specific reason to train, being a part of the community, competition (for some people), and a variety of other unique personal reasons. At least, that's why we want folks to participate. If you (or anyone else reading this) has any suggestions on how we can really emphasize that to the entire StrongFirst community, please DM me with your suggestions!

@Mark Limbaga , thank you for hosting!
Click to expand...
Credit due to my students. If not for them, I wouldn't have mustered the courage to take action.

Looking forward to hopefully getting more involved
 
Ryan Toshner said:
Everything on this thread is excellent...

@Norville Barnes , thanks for bringing this up. There seem to be a variety of reasons for the drop-off in participation. COVID had and continues to have an enormous impact. Numerous past hosts have had to close their facilities and/or are working on re-building their memberships. Fewer hosts mean fewer participants right from the start. From the participant perspective, there are still plenty of people who haven't gotten back into their training routines or have different priorities from the past couple years. Awareness is also an issue (something we're working on), along with a few other smaller reasons—reducing both host and competitor participation—which aren't major culprits by themselves but which add up when combined.

@BJJ Shawn , awareness is something that we're working on. I'll leave it at that for now. But in the meantime, TSCs are currently scheduled for the first or second weekend in May and always the last weekend in October. Registration opens about 12 weeks prior.

@B McKnight , I'm glad that you did participate and that you had a great experience. Really, participating is not so much about—in my best Randy Savage voice—"posting amazing scores" as it is about setting a baseline, observing progress, testing training regimens, having a specific reason to train, being a part of the community, competition (for some people), and a variety of other unique personal reasons. At least, that's why we want folks to participate. If you (or anyone else reading this) has any suggestions on how we can really emphasize that to the entire StrongFirst community, please DM me with your suggestions!

@Mark Limbaga , thank you for hosting!
Click to expand...


Thanks for your insight Ryan. And thanks for the great hand taping ;-)

it’s such a great experience I am genuinely surprised that participation has fallen off. I decided to pursue some other goals in 2020, but that got delayed because of Covid like everything else. I entered this event on a whim, and am so glad I did. We had a great group of locals, plus several of us who drove 2, 3 or 4+ hours to participate.

Now, what about October…
 
I would love to go to one, even though pull-ups are my worst strength. I think I could make a decent showing in deadlifts and snatches.
 
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