Personal Narrative: Back In Black

We landed our axel and a new jump consistently, and a bliss came over us. Joy filled our bones and we finally felt free from the weight that was once upon us; however, two or so weeks later we lost both jumps and thus the longing to try again. We could feel the disappointment growing in our parents’ and coach’s faces. Heaviness grew upon us every time we stepped a foot into that ice rink, it was time to move on.

It was late one day in June, and the sky was as blue and clear as sparkling wine. I sat back in my hammock reading the book Unbroken enjoying myself, and my uncle came up and asked me if I wanted to play poker with him, 5$ buy in. I jumped at the idea finished my page and went inside the house. Poker is a pretty big thing in my family and I’ve grown up playing and my uncle was one of the best, so spending time with him playing poker is always one of my favorite things to do. We proceed to set up the table, “Texas Holdem“ he says, Jacks to open”. Nothing weird, so we get the game going and the pots getting pretty big when all of the sudden he drops his cards. I stare the cards dead in the eye and see that i'm going to surpass him! He looks

This exercise is done with a barbell and a incline bench (“Exercises”). The way to do this exercise is to lie down faced up on an incline bench. The exerciser grips the bar with a medium-width grip and lifts the bar off of the rack (“Exercises”). the exerciser then holds the bar straight over his or her head, and keeps the arms locked. This is the starting position of the exercise. Next the exerciser inhales slowly while moving the bar slowly down toward the upper chest (“Exercises”). After a slight pause, the exerciser pushes the bar back to the starting position while exhaling and the arms should be locked. Before the exerciser brings the bar back down again the exerciser squeeze the chest for a second. The exerciser repeats the process for the desired number of repetitions. When the exerciser is finished with the exercise the bar should be placed back on the rack (“Exercises”).

When I was in 3rd grade I begged my mom to sign me up for cheerleading. I had always pictured myself on the sideline of a football game. Except, that wasn't exactly what I signed up for. Actually, it wasn't even close My mom signed me up for a team named Rocket Cheer. A team that did not cheer on the sidelines at football games but instead competed in competitions nationwide throughout the whole year.This has been more than just a sport to me. Rocket Cheer has taught me commitment as well as time management, the true meaning of family, how to not give up on any goal, and taught me to be me.

I landed face first. As I collected the pile of papers scattered around me, I cringed and briskly glanced at the unfamiliar faces fixated on my every move below the narrow landing of the school stair case. I briefly questioned whether I was in a cliché high school film before I was brought back to the reality of my freshman year by a stranger who yelled at me to move so she could get to class. As I fumbled back up on my feet and trudged to my sixth period class, my thoughts lingered on the unsurprising nature of this turn of events. Only two weeks earlier I tumbled to the ground in the middle of a half marathon. This clumsiness was not a new development. My evident lack of coordination had loomed over me since childhood, memorialized by the

I completed my floor routine with ease! It showcased my best event and I nailed it; however, bars really created the pressure. My coach for the event was Coach Alex, and the determination I felt to make him proud overwhelmed me. I loved all my coaches, but he stood out as someone very special. I knew I would miss his constant nagging at me. I approached the springboard, enveloped with chalk and trembling from head to toe. I hit the springboard with such power it jumped backwards. My hands felt like fire as I spun around the bars. My hands released the low bar and after an eternity, I felt the bar again, but by that time I grasped onto the high bar. Before I knew it, I had finished my last bar routine with a successful

There are two main class levers being used during the lift. The 3rd Class lever is being used towards the lower part of the back since the athlete is bending over. The fulcrum is the lower part of the back, while the MAF is the shoulder area and the MRF is the barbell itself. The barbell is causing resistance in the opposite direction of the lift. Another lever that is being used is the 1st Class lever. This lever is being used twice in this lift. The first time is in the arms, the elbows are the fulcrum while the shoulder areas are the MAF and the barbell is the MRF. This structure also applies in the legs. The knees are

The test performer secures the desired amount of weight to the waist if need and steps on the chair. He then proceeds to grasps the bar with the overhand grip and assumes a straight arm hang once the chair removed. Student/ athletes then pulls upward until the chin is about the bar. Two pull ups are permitted and the one with the greatest amount of weight lifted is recorded.

Guo Sheng squats down and clutches the coarse and bumpy bar as sweat trickles down his forehead. He pivots his feet outwards, straightens his posture and thrust his chest outwards. He takes a few deep breaths, and finally he lifts with tremendous power. The 80kg weight is now at his shoulders. Guo Sheng stops as the cumbersome weight rests on his shoulders, and he prepares his final stance of the Clean and Jerk.

My arms shuddered and I began feeling like the titan Atlas carrying the weight of the world. I was so close to finishing my max rep, yet the weight felt too grand and the bar began to lower. Just then coach instructed my spotter to rack the weight; and as the words reached my ear I felt a wave of disappointment towards myself.

Have you ever worked out so hard that you puked? There are two workouts that have caused me to do this in fact. Achieving this requires a vast amount of physical and mental effort. When I first started working out I couldn’t lift a large amount of weight. Since then I have gained much more strength than before I started lifting weights in Mr. V’s class.

With every jump vaulters began to fall. Time drew on and before long there were only two vaulters left. He had just missed his last attempt at fourteen feet and I was on mine. The clearance of the jump would be a personal best by six inches, champion of the Sectional meet pole vault, and a new school record previously broken by my father and my great uncle before him. Since I was the last one in I was given five minutes to prepare for the next jump, I had all the time in the world. I close my eyes and take a long breath in and feel my chest rise. It’s very quiet. There are no distracting conversations, cheers, or starting guns. Whether that was real or just myself eludes me to this day. I exhale the last remaining butterflies which fluttered in my stomach. As I open my eyes, I watch my pole rise and reach its peak where it is most comfortable. Its weight feels natural in my hands, a familiar feeling. I count as I take my first step, starting slow and steadily increasing. One… Two… Three… Four… Five… Six… Seven. When I jump, the pole’s strength pushes against my arm. I use my left hand and drive with with all the force I possess. My legs heave upwards toward the sky with my upper body soon following. As I turn over, I feel myself slowly soaring higher to the point where I was able to pitch my pole back towards the runway. From that moment I knew I was different. I was exceeding my brothers, I was exceeding my dad. I was now the new pole vault record holder. I was better than any vaulter that had ever attended Sainte Genevieve High School. My back softly hits the mat and I immediately

When it was Aaron’s turn to go he was very nervous and excited. Aaron lifted the most weight the first day out of every one. Aaron was very excited that he finally got to do his first lift and got all the pressure off his shoulders. Aaron felt excitement and joy now that he knows that he is the best one in the

I venture up to my starting mark-palms sweating, heart pounding. Three deep breaths followed by a few warm up tuck jumps. Following my routine warmup, I begin the highly technical ten-step approach to ensure the correct take-off position. From here I let my pliable body take over to be able to arch my back over a bar.

As I got an invitation to go to open gym with my friends, my main thoughts were, “I hope I can get some new skills tonight.” Little did I know, my thoughts about four hours later would be, “I have never been so upset, angry, or disappointed in my life.” As I walked into the cold, noisy gym, I was prepared to achieve my round off back handspring back tuck. I assured myself that I would be able to do it successfully. I wished that the ground was as soft and comforting as the dark trampoline with orange and blue bumpers. Seeing girls doing back walkovers on the thin, beige, four- inch beam, swinging their bodies around the slippery, uneven bars, and flipping themselves into the sky blue, squishy mat made me tell myself, “If they can do that,