Hi! Tell us about yourself and your training
My name is Cru Blanchard and I am 17 years old. I am a football player, powerlifter, and shot put thrower. My current PR’s are a 660 squat, 450 bench, and 550 deadlift. I am a two-time state champion powerlifter for Louisiana but missed my shot for a 3rd due to Covid-19.
Describe a typical day of training
When I get to the weight room, I make sure to incorporate explosiveness and strength into each session.
A typical day of training for me consists of waking up at 8-9 and going for a run (Note that I am out of school right now due to the outbreak. For a school schedule, just push everything ahead by 3-4 hours). It gets the blood flowing for the workouts ahead.
Throughout the day, I do push ups and sit ups. It is like a little goal that leads to bigger ones. My minimum amount for each is 150 a day.
When I get to the weight room, I make sure to incorporate explosiveness and strength into each session. Both are important for my lifestyle.
Explosive workouts that I include are powercleans, snatches, trap bar deadlifts, and any Olympic style lifts.
Strength lifts include the usual squat, bench, and deadlift, as well as the variations to them such as lock out squats, incline bench, or RDL’s. I always do some sort of core work every session.
I either work out alone or with one partner who won’t distract me. If I have to work out with a group (like my team) then I’ll make sure everyone is on track.
How do you keep going and push harder?
To keep myself motivated, I imagine where I want to be and how I’d feel if I were already there. That pure joy of reaching my goals keeps me motivated. I also want to make my father and grandfather happy. They were and are my biggest supporters.
How are you doing today and what does the future look like?
My training is all home-based as of now due to the outbreak but it has not slowed down any progress. My goals for the next few years are to get an athletic scholarship to college to play football, get my degree, and see where life takes me.
If I could change one thing about my training early on, it would have been to do more powercleans. Those will never do you wrong.
How do you recover, rest and handle injuries?
I avoid injuries by practicing perfect technique before every lift I perform. If I do get injured, I just let it heal and DO NOT rush the recovery. If you keep trying to tough it out, you’ll only see regression.
The only supplements I take are any protein and creatine. I have no big name brands that I gravitate towards, just whatever they have in stock at the store. The supplements don’t work unless you do.
I try to get around six to eight hours of sleep a night. It is one of the most important parts of recovery.
How is your diet and what supplements do you use?
For my diet, it depends on what season I am in. Preparing for football season is comparable to a cut in body building. I need to slim down to perform at a high level. I use different fasting techniques (which are completely safe) and any form of cardio.
For a powerlifting seasons, I get heavy and pack on as much muscle as I can. I compete in the superheavy weight class (275.5 and higher). My competition weight usually sits around 320-335.
During this season, I consume no less than 200 grams of protein a day. My diet does not follow any strict rules. It is only to keep fuel in the tank.
I do not drink coffee or tea. I handle junk food and cravings by just keeping my goals in mind. Do I really want to jeopardize my goals for a 3 second snack?
What has inspired and motivated you?
What inspires me the most is being the man I have envisioned when I was a kid. I have always wanted to play college football and I am getting that opportunity because of all the work I’ve put in.
My motivation is seeing how far the work has got me and what doors it can open. That is enough for me to never stop.
I usually do not listen to music because I feel it is a distraction to what I am doing. If I had to choose though, it would be some sort of heavy metal.
Advice for other people who want to improve themselves?
You can’t have a house without a base so you need to create a foundation before you start anything new.
Have a goal to reach and set it at a metaphorical spot in the sky. Now to reach it, you need to stack smaller goals on top of each other.
You keep stacking these smaller goals to eventually reach that big goal you set for yourself. Now set an even bigger one, and repeat.
You can’t have a house without a base so you need to create a foundation before you start anything new.
Are you taking on clients right now?
I do not take clients, but I do help whoever asks for it in my community (free of charge).
People usually ask me how to get stronger. My answer to them is stay consistent to progress. Be consistent in your training, techniques, diet, and work ethic and you will see the results you want. Do not slack off in any of those areas and you will get stronger.
Where can we learn more about you?
The only form of social media I have is a Twitter @CruBlanchard
