New Week, New Type of Training

I didn't really post anything last week because I ended up just trying to perfect the Snatch. I still don't have it perfect, but I will get it. So, I had to guess my numbers for some things, or go off old numbers for things this week. It's alright, though. It was still a good week of training.

It's been crazy, though. There have been so many squats that my thighs are sore. I'm loving it, though. I suppose, though, outside of the Snatch being difficult there isn't really much to talk about. So I think I'll just go on and post the numbers now.

Oh, there is one more then. For the Push Press and the Front Squats that I did on the 2nd, I had to hold briefly at the bottom. It is very hard to come back up out of those with any real force even with such a short hold. I understand why I have to learn how to, though. I may find that I have no choice but to pause for an extended period of time at the bottom of a Snatch. Still, it's rough.

Thank you all for reading.

9/30

Snatch: 55x5x3

Snatch Grip Push Press: 55x5x3

Squats: 135x10x3

Clean Romanian Deadlift: 120x3x5

10/01

Clean & Jerk: 80x2x3 and 90x5x1

Push Press: 75x7x3

Front Squat: 135x6x3

Snatch Grip Deadlift: 120x3x5

I've Been a Bad Blogger

I am sorry that I haven't been keeping this up to date on my training. Though, perhaps, it may be best that I start doing a once a week post instead of posting every time that I train. I say this because my posts are, as a general rule, becoming shorter since I have less interesting things to talk about. I don't have all the interactions that I used to at the gym and what have you. So, I may start posting less often unless I have something really interesting to talk about.

Anyway, that bit of rambling is out of the way now. I had a bit of fun when I did my cleans this week, though. I dropped the bar with 100 lbs on it, and almost all the weight landed on one of my thighs. I'm fine, though. It hurt like hell, and we had to use some Voodoo Tape on it immediately, but I didn't even bruise. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to finish my cleans for the day, though.

There's also something that you may have already read on my husbands Facebook page, or not. We are going to be trying to find me an Olympic Coach. In the meantime, though, there is some programming from an Olympic lifter with LBEB that I'm going to be starting. Next week I'll just be working on finding out what my 1 rep maxes are for the lifts so that I can properly do the programming. Much of it goes off of percentages of what my maxes are.

I also did a behind the neck Jerk for the first time. It was a lot easier then I thought it would be. I figured I would flame out on it pretty quickly, but after watching Liu Xiao Xiang what I needed to do for it clicked. He doesn't go into a split stance like most weightlifters when he does the clean and jerk, so it was more obvious what he was doing.

Well, I think that's about all I have to talk about for the moment. So I'm going to post the numbers now. Thank you all for reading! As always, it's appreciated.

9/18
Squats: 135x7x2

Deadlifts: 175x6x3

Barbell Bicep Curls: 45x5x3

9/19
Snatch: 65x2x4

Cleans: 100x3x2

Klokov Presses: 80x3x3

9/21
Deadlift: 265x1x1

Jerk: 105x1x1

A Couple Days

So, somewhere along the lines I forgot to make a post for what I did on the 12th. So this post will be including two days worth of training again. This past week I thought was a deload will, but it's been a Volume week. Next week we get to deload a bit. So that will be a nice change of pace.

Anyway, there's not a whole lot to talk about. I did some thing that surprised me a bit. Some of my lifts are stronger then I thought they would have been. Since there isn't much to talk about, and I'm currently thinking about doing nothing more then passing out, I'm just going to keep it short.

I will say that my dead lifts are suppose to be a 5 rep max. They way you warm up for this, though, on our current training is that everything you do up to your 5 rep max are all 5 reps. I was able to do 245 for 2 reps this way. So between the way you warm up, and the fact that our bar is a bit heavier then the one we used at the gym, I just couldn't pull what I normally would. I'm disappointed about that, but it will get better.

Anyway, here are the numbers.

9/12
Deadlifts:
215x5x1
245x2x1

Squats:
165x8x1

Sumo Stand Romanian Deadlifts:
115x12x3

9/14
Car Push:
5 times for 90 second intervals. I don't know how far I pushed it exactly, but I pushed it as far as I could in that time.

Box Jumps:
3 sets of 10

Sandbag Squats:
100x7x3

Event Day and More!

I have a couple of days to post for. I would have posted before now, but there was a hiccup in the internet that sort of interfered with the wireless on my desktop. It's all better now, though! So, I'll be talking a bit about the fun we've had over the past couple of training days.

This week is a all about volume! So it's a lot of stuff at high reps. Before that, though, on Saturday I had to do more stuff with the sandbag and what have you. Everything that we did that day was timed, though, so we could only do so much at our max weight.

So, the sandbag work and such was fun. We also scored a couple metal 45 lbs plates for fairly cheap. Well, a heck of a lot cheaper then you would be able to get them for new. I guess there isn't much to talk about aside from explaining what one of the things I did on Saturday consisted of.

I had to do something called bar walkouts. This is where you just stand with the bar on your shoulder for a set amount of time and increase the weight until you reach your max. It sounds a lot easier then it is. To me it's easier to squat 200 pounds then it is to just stand with it for half a minute.

Everything else I did was pretty straight forward I think. The sand bag to shoulder was where I had to pick it up off the ground and bring it up to my shoulder, alternating between them. That was pretty fun, though I did a little worse on it this time then I did last time I think.

Right, so on to the numbers. I was suppose to do decline bench for one of them, but we don't have a decline so I just did a normal bench. Oh, and I was suppose to do Farmers Deads for time, but since we don't have farmers handles I had to do regular deadlifts for time. I did the two sets at different numbers because I thought I would get more reps if I dropped from the 225. I didn't get more, but it was probably still the best call.

Anyway, on to the numbers now!!!

9/7
Bar Walkouts:
312.5 for 30 seconds.

Timed Deadlifts for 1 minute intervals:
225x3
220x3

Sandbag to Shoulder for 1 minute intervals:
100x4
100x2
100x2
100x2
100x1

9/10
Overhead Press:
75x7x1*

Close Grip Bench:
95x8x1

Seated Overhead Press:
65x7x1*

Bench Press:
105x8x1

*Note: I was suppose to do eight on those. However, instead of posting the next one down that I did reach eight on, I decided that I would just post the final set. I got very close to reaching the 8th rep on both of the overhead presses, and I'm still proud of getting that many reps for those weights, even if it wasn't the full eight that I was suppose to do.

Different Day, Different Lifts

I had even more fun training this my training yesterday. I even tried a proper Snatch, thought that didn't go very well. It's a very technical move and is almost assuredly going to require that I have a coach to learn it properly. Even though I did it wrong, though, it was fun.

There are a few things we'll still need to go to the gym for until we have all the plates and equipment we need, but it wont be long before we can just cancel the membership and do everything from home. Though, there are things that we'll have to find a new locations for if we want to do them properly, mostly the sandbag carries since our yard just isn't big enough for it.

Well, there isn't much more to talk about. I have some mobilization that I need to do on my IT bands and such, but I'm chugging along with that work. My back is much better then it was when I started pushing heavy weight. Still, there's a lot of work to do.

Anyway, here are my numbers. Thank you all for reading.

Muscle Snatches: 75x2x6
Hang Cleans: 90x5x5
Weighted Goodmornings: 95x5x3

Fun With Training

Alright, so I have a few days to tell you all about. Saturday I did a 100 pound sandbag carry for 500 meters. We were suppose to do the car push as well, but the celebration of our anniversary and my birthday sort of held it up. It was also sweltering hot, so that may have played a small roll in that being cut short. It will happen next time though. Nothing will keep me from doing the car push the next day that I'm suppose to.

I have had a bunch of PR's this week, so I'm pretty happy about that! Most of them have been 10 pound records, but some have only been five pound. One wasn't a PR at all, but that's okay. Most of my lifts have increased, so I'm happy about that.

There isn't a lot to talk about, though. I'm still very much enjoying training at home. It's just superior to having to go to a gym and rush through our session because the daycare will only watch my son for two hours. It's still good to give yourself a time frame, though, so that you don't take longer then you really need to.

Well, to the numbers now! Thank you all for reading!

9/2
Bench: 120x5x1
Push Press: 90x5x1
Lat Pull Downs: 150

9/3
Front Squats: 135x5x1
Snatchgrip Deadlifts: 215x5x1
Sit Ups: 100

More Training and More Gains!

Before I start I want to say that the deficit deadlifts I posted for last time were done without using straps. The last time I attempted them was with straps, and I got up to 225. So, only 10 pounds lighter without the straps is pretty awesome considering how difficult they are.

Now, on with the rest of it. It's still going awesome. I'm loving being able to train out of the house more and more everyday. Especially if our suspicions on the bar being heavier are correct. We have a couple of things we'll need to figure out for some bits of training, but it's good overall.

There isn't a whole lot to talk about, though, so I suppose I'll get on with the numbers. I've had increases in everything, so I'm really happy. I'm happier with some more then others, but that's always going to be the case. Without further delay, though, here are my numbers!

Full Clean and Push Press: 100x2x1
Klokov Presses: 75x2x1
Snatch Grip Romanian Deadlifts: 195x3x3

I wont have much to talk about when it comes to my training tomorrow. I've just got Sandbag Carries and the whole pushing the car thing. I'll post how much I carried for the sandbag on, since I can change the weight on that, when I make my post next week. Thank you all for reading!

Another Day, Another Awesome Training Session

There is something very liberating about being able to train out of your home. Our 6th wedding anniversary is coming up next week, which is the Iron anniversary. So, we sort of have a combined gift for one another not. We got a squat rack, barbell, plates and a bench. It's very fitting given the anniversary, and our training method. Especially since we have both come to love weight training.

So, for the last couple of days we were able to just train in our house. Since we started working with the new barbell, though, we have become increasingly certain that it's heavier then the one at the gym. Of course, we can't be completely certain of this without actually weighing both bars, though. We have our suspicions, but they'll have to remain just that.

Being able to train at home has been awesome, though. As I said in my last blog, we've decided to go with the Strong Man/Woman training. So we started that Monday. I'll be posting my numbers for both Monday and Tuesday, and then I'll post again after my next training day.

Monday:
Seated Overhead Press: 85x2x1
Clean and Push Press: 90x2x1
Push Ups: 150

Tuesday:
Back Squats: 225x2x5
Deficit Deadlifts: 205x3x1

For my back squats I actually did 235 for two reps, but I couldn't get it for more then one set unfortunately. Deficit Deadlifts are done by standing a little elevated from the ground. Though I couldn't do it for 3 reps, I did pull 215 this way for one. So I'm pretty happy with that. The weight I pulled for reps is still higher then what I did last time I did this training style.

Anyway, that's about all I have to post for today. Thank you all for reading.

More One Rep Maxes

Alright, so I found my one rep max for my squat and deadlifts on Saturday. They were not nearly as drastic a difference as my bench was, but I'm still happy with it. I've also decided what I'm going to do for my training from this point forward. I'm pretty much going back to Strongman! So, that should be fun.

I enjoyed the Strong Man, or Woman, training when I did it last time. I'm also a bit stronger then I was then so I should be able to do even more with it now then I was before. I also seemed to react really well to the more intense training, and the conditioning day, when it came to the re-composition of my body.

I don't know how far I will go with the training, or if I will try to compete in any Strong Woman competitions or not. As long as I have fun with the training, though, and get the results that I want then that is what's most important. Wish me luck on it!

Anyway, for my squats I was only able to get to 235 lbs. So, only about 10 pounds more then what I rep out. I still think it should have been higher and I'm not sure why I couldn't do the 245. My deadlifts were 255. Again, I think I should have been able to do the 265, and I almost did. I just couldn't lock out when I got it up.

I'll try to find my one rep again in a few months. For now, though, I'm reasonable satisfied. That's the most I've ever pulled with perfect form, and with my squats being below parallel. So it's still something to be proud of, even if it's not as much as I wanted to move. Thank you all for reading again!

Finding One Rep Maxes is Fun!

So, while I decide what I'm going to do I am sort of just goofing off this week and finding out what my one rep maxes are on a couple of lifts. I'm also taking a couple of extra days to do some mobility work. So, it's a nice deload sort of week with some surprises for me.

I went to train on Wednesday and had some surprising, and not so surprising, results. Well, really only one surprising result. Now, I was suppose to start off with my over head press, but both of the racks were taken and I ended up starting with the bench. Normally I wouldn't do both in the same day, but I'm not really trying to make progress, just maintain so I think it will be alright.

The bench press was amazing and I am extremely happy with what happened. I did 135 lbs for two reps, and then I did 150 for one rep! I didn't think I would get that high. I thought I would be lucky to get 135 because of how much lower then that my five rep max is. I still can't stop grinning when I think about it.

My overhead press and the Klokov (behind the head push press) were both less impressive. For the overhead press I was only able to do 85 lbs for one, and on the Klokov press I did 75 for one. Of course, by the time I got to the last one I was completely and totally exhausted so I'm not really all that surprised that it was so low.

Additionally, today I worked with the lacrosse ball on my back a bit and also used some voodoo take to try to work out some kinks in my muscles. The voodoo tape is good, but painful! I'll get used to it the more I use it I think. Though, maybe it's one of those things that you never really get used to. I don't really know. It's good stuff, though.

Anyway, I'll be seeing what my one rep max for squats and deadlifts are tomorrow. Hopefully they are both fairly impressive. Thank you all for reading!

Another Change is Coming

 So, it's come time for me to officially change my training. I'll post my numbers, or lack thereof for a couple of lifts, later as always. It's coming to a point where I need to do something else to help push my lifts further. I'm torn, though. I'm torn between going back to Strong Woman training, or moving on to the Texas Method.

For this week I'm just going to do a deload. This means I'm not going to try to increase anything, but just maintain while I decide what I want to do. The problem I'm running into with the sort of training I want to do from this point forward is that I'm not as certain of what I want to compete in as I had been at the start. The Olympic lifts look fun, but so does a lot of this stuff.

If anyone has a suggestion, or would like to give me advise on what they think I should move on to then I'm open to it. Either way, though, I will decide by next week so that I can get the ball rolling again. Thank you in advance for any suggestions that are made.

On a side note, I got a few comments on the numbers I pulled. That's always fun. One of the people I talked to competes in Power Lifting and said that my numbers were close to what he usually sees at the meets. Though, apparently there is one woman that lifts a lot more, and she's apparently been doing it since she was very young. I wish I had gotten her name so that I could look her up, but oh well. Maybe next time I see him I'll get it.

Alright, on to the numbers. I've missed my squats the past couple of times due to hitting my wall, and also likely because I didn't eat enough. I also missed my deadlifts. I'm not that surprised on that, though. My deadlifts and squats run pretty close together, so generally if I miss one I'm going to miss the other.

8/14
Squats: 227.5 Missed
Overhead Press: 80x3x5
Deadlift: Missed

8/17
Squats: 225 Missed
Bench: 117.5x3x5
Power Clean: 90x5x3

As always, thank you all for reading. I really appreciate it.

Being Sick Sucks

So, when I went to train Saturday I was a bit under the weather. I wasn't going to let it keep me from going, though. So I went, and I did well on everything but my squats. I think it was partially due to me being sick, but mostly due to the lack of mobility work that's been done to my calf.

I have a place in one of my legs that hurts, and I need to work on mobility for it to keep it from hindering my lifts. I got through as many of the squats as I could, though it wasn't nearly as many as I would have liked. Of course, I would have rather not missed due to something that I totally could have prevented. I'll get it tomorrow, though, and get my squats moving like they are suppose to again.

Other then that, it went very well. Though my calf was still wonky I made my cleans and of course it didn't prevent my bench from moving up. I don't think it will be long before I'm forced to start making lower jumps on the bench press. As much as I want to get to 135 before it happens, I am starting to think I wont quite make it. Still, I'm glad they are moving along so well.

Not much else to talk about, so I'll just get on with the numbers. Thank you all for reading!

Squats: Missed
Bench Press: 115x3x5
Power Clean: 90x5x3

Note:
It seems that I freeze up a bit when certain people watch me on the cleans. Primarily my husband. I don't know why, and it's something I have to get past. If anyone has a suggestion on how I can get past messing up when I know he's watching me, I'm open to them. I flourish with an audience for everything but that, it seems. So far, anyway.

Another Day, Another Lift

Yesterday went alright so far at lifting goes. I missed my Overhead Press, but we sort of expected that. We need to get half pound plates so that I can make a jump every time, instead of every other time. We'll have those soon enough. I'll probably need them before to much longer on my bench press too.

I made everything else, and had some good conversations with a couple of regulars up there that I like. There was a group of people doing bench presses towards the end of my deadlifts. I talked to them a little bit, which only started because their math was off when they were trying to figure out the weight they were pushing. Two of them, a man and woman, said I was stronger then them because of what I was deadlifting for one of my warm up sets. The other was benching the same I was deadlifting.

When the woman with them did her bench presses, though, they put fairly light weight on it. Which is find, at least she was doing them. I almost said something, though, because one of the men with her guided it up and down the whole time. She commented that the first weight didn't feel heavy, and it took a lot for me not to say "Obviously you didn't, because he was doing a good portion of the work for you." I thought better of it, though.

Anyway, that's about all I'm going to rant over. Even if there were other things that made me shake my head. So, it's that time again. Time for me to post my numbers! Thanks for reading.

Squats - 225x3x5
Overhead Press - Missed
Deadlift - 240x1x5

A Couple of Days Behind

So, I didn't make the last blog as I should have, so this is going to include the numbers for two days. Everything is moving along fairly well, except for my squats. I hit a bit of a bump with those Saturday, so I'll have to do 225 over again. I also am likely going to have to drop down to 2.5 pound jumps on those for a little while until I'm finally forced to switch to the Texas method for them.

Anyway, there's not a lot to talk about other then the numbers. Everything it moving along well enough. My bench presses are going beautifully. I don't really have a lot to complain about other then not being able to make a 5 pound jump on my Power Cleans to bring it back up to 90 lbs. As long as it moves, though, then I'm happy enough.

I don't think that anything really notable happened. I suppose it's time to move on to the numbers now. Thank you all for reading. Here they are now.

Numbers from July 31st:
Squats: 220x3x5
Overhead Press: 77.5x3x5
Deadlift: 235x1x5

Numbers from August 3rd:
Squats: 225 (I was high on a few of these, and flat out missed the last one.)
Bench Press: 112.5x3x5
Power Cleans: 87.5x5x3

Form Correction

As you all know, I had a bit of trouble with my power cleans the last time I tried to do them. That problem has been taken care of. This is pretty much thanks to my husband helping me with form correction, and timing. Now that I have that all right, I can do the cleans well enough. The form correction also, unfortunately, means that I'm not able to pull as much for it. It's alright, though. I think it will increase fairly quickly now that I have it right.

Aside from that, my training went very well on Saturday. All of my numbers went up except for the Power Clean, but that's okay. It's more important that I do the lift correctly, then get higher numbers and hurt myself. My bench press is moving beautifully, so I'm very happy with that.

I don't really have a lot to say. Here's to hoping that my overhead press increases tomorrow. I'll be happy if I get even a tiny movement out of it. I suppose it's time to move on to the numbers now, though! So here you go. Thank you for reading!

Squats: 215x3x5
Bench: 110x3x5
Power Cleans: 85x5x3

I Miss You Too

So, training was alright yesterday. It went about like I expected. Well, except for one of them, which I missed. It seems to be a theme for this week. This time, though, it may be a lack of good sleep or a lack of calories. I'm not sure which. It could be a combination of both.

My squats and deadlifts went well. Actually, my deadlifts went so well that I ran a couple of boys off from the squat rack next to us. I didn't realize it happened, I didn't hear what they said. According to my husband, though, they commented on the fact that I was adding more weight and then they left. I felt a little bad, but a lot triumphant. It always amuses me when guys can't handle a girl that's stronger then them. That may be petty of me, but I'm fine with that.

The overhead press, though, didn't budge. By all rights I should have been able to put the weight over my head, but I couldn't. There is no reason I shouldn't have been able to make a 2.5 pound jump, which is what I'm confined to at the moment because my upper body strength is no where near my lower body strength.

Next time, though, I should be able to get it. I'll make sure I'm sleep well, and eating enough. Other then that, though, there is not much to share. So, with all that said, on to the numbers! Again, thank you all for reading.

Squats: 210x3x5
Deadlifts: 230x1x5

Power Cleans: Fun and Annoying

Yesterday was a pretty good day of training. My squats went up, which shouldn't be a surprise since I dropped the weight down quite a bit. My bench also went up, which is awesome for me! My power cleans, on the other hand, did not budge. That part is annoying.

Now, so far as we can tell it's a mixture of a couple of things that may be causing the issues. By all rights I should have been able to jump to 100 pounds. Especially after doing that amount twice the last time. However, my timing is off on the jump I'm suppose to do. I'm working on that a bit. There is also a matter related to my anatomy that I wont go into detail about. Suffice it to say, though, that I'm swinging the bar our further then I should be.

So, I've been drilling myself with a super light bar that we have at home to get my timing down. The anatomy issue is going to take a bit of restrictive clothing to help alleviate the necessity to swing the part out so far. Hopefully, the next time I do them I'll be able to go to 100.

There really isn't more to talk about as far as that goes. I really can't wait until we can build our home gym. Being constricted to two hours because of the daycare has prevented me from being able to make jumps before, and it didn't help me in this case either. It wasn't the sole problem, but I didn't have enough time to try to correct my form before we had to leave.

So, with all that said, on to the numbers now. Thank you all for reading. It is appreciated.

Squats: 205x3x5
Bench Press: 107.5x3x5

A Couple of Resets

For those of you that read this blog regularly, you know that I've had some trouble getting past a certain point with a couple of my lifts. This hasn't changed, either. The max I seem to be able to rep for my deadlifts is 255, and the max for my squats is around 230. Now, I tell you this because I opted to reset them yesterday.

I wasn't excited about it, and I didn't want to do it. Unfortunately, there is sometimes little choice in resetting some of the lifts. So I did it. It shouldn't take me long to get back to where I was, but I imagine when I do I'll find that it's time for me to switch to the Texas method for those lifts. As much as I hate to do it, it's something that I knew would eventually need to be done.

My overhead press did not really budge. Even though the Strong Woman training seemed to help with my bench press, it did nothing for my overhead press. At least, though, I didn't backslide. My overhead reps had been 80 for 2 previously when I was doing the strict overhead press. I was able to do that 2 times again, but I couldn't do it for the 5 reps that this program requires. So, it's basically where it was before I switched my training.

It's frustrating to see a lift stand still like that. Especially since I thought the training that helped my bench would also have helped the overhead. Still, there are some suggestions by Mark Rippetoe that should help with that in the long run. We'll see how it goes!

Anyway, here's the numbers now. I don't really have much more to say about the training day itself. It was alright, but certainly not great. Thank you all for reading, though!

Squats: 200x3x5
Overhead Press: 75x3x5
Deadlifts: 225x1x5

Back on the Wagon

So, I began Starting Strength again yesterday. I would have started it on Tuesday, but I had a stomach bug and was unable to complete my squats. I tried, though, I got to 195 on the squats before I had to leave. So, there was a bit of a hiccup, but things seem to be back on track.

Yesterday was a great day of training. I did squats, bench press, and power cleans. The squats and power clean were about where I thought they would be. My bench press surprised me. I'm back to doing three sets of 5 reps, so the amount for the bench and squats are lower then they were with the lower reps I had been doing, but I'm still happy with it.

I thought I would be able to do 100 pounds on the Power Cleans, and I did manage to do two sets for that amount, but they exhaust your muscles quickly so I couldn't do anymore then that. Luckily it didn't prevent me from finishing my sets at 95 pounds, so I'm still happy.

That's about all that I have to say for today. Thank you all for reading, I always appreciate it. Now, on to the numbers!!

Squats: 225x3x5
Bench Press: 105x3x5
Power Clean: 95x5x3

Back to the Basics

I want to start this off by saying that I know I look like I'm a bit erratic at the moment. I've jumped between a few programs, and it probably looks like I can't stick with one. Much of this has been exploration of what programs are out there. Some of it has been a search for a bit more variety then Starting Strength provides. Unfortunately, this has probably done more to damage my strength gains then help them.

With all of that said, I'm going back to Starting Strength. The reason I'm doing this is because the strong woman training I've been doing is fun, but it's not for beginners. I need a better base of strength before I can really make any progress with that programming. There are a couple of things that it may be time for me to move on with. My Deadlifts and squats, for example, are probably about as high as they are going to go on a linear progression. I'll try to make a few more jumps with them, but it probably wont be wrong until I'm doing Texas method.

Starting Strength should, primarily, help me build my upper body strength again. There are suggestions in the book that should help with my bench press and probably my overhead press as well. So, I'll be going back to that tomorrow.

I'm sorry that I've been somewhat erratic. A lot of it is the fact that I've been focusing far to much on what my end goal is. While it's good to have an end goal, it's also important to focus on what you are doing at the present and set short term goals as well. So, that's what I'm doing.

Anyway, that's about all I have for tonight. Thank you all for reading. I really appreciate it.

Awesome Training Days are Awesome.

Well, training went fantastic yesterday! Some of you may know this due to the post that my husband made on Facebook. For those of you that don't know, it was really really good! Everything went up a little bit. Some of my lifts may not have gone up as much as I wanted, but they all went up a little.

Now, that being said I had some trouble with the Snatch grip Romanian Deadlifts that I had to do. I think that the jump I made was a little to big, as I had difficulty holding the bar up the entire time. I did 195 lbs, which is 10 pounds higher then the last time I did it. I probably should have only made a 5 pounds jump, though. Still, I'm pretty happy.

I also had clean and push presses to do. These are a lot of fun, and I got triple digits over my head! This is a first. No form of overhead work as been over 95 pounds before. I put 102.5 up, though. I'm extremely happy about that.

We also had Klokov presses to do. These are presses that you push up from your back, instead of the traditional way their done. I got 82.5 up with that, which is a small increase. It's only 2.5 pounds up from last time, but it's movement.

That's pretty much it for today, though. It'll be more fun training tomorrow! I can't wait for it! As always, thank you all for reading.

Beginning Again

Alright, so my husband and I have opted to restart the Strong Man training that we've been doing. We want to be able to do the same things together on the same day, instead of me being a month behind him. I also had a bad week, and was going to have to do the previous week of training again as a result due to a lack of sleep.

Anyway, my first two days of training went pretty well. Only one of my lifts was higher then when I started this, which was disappointing. Still, at least I didn't lose anything in the last week, which is good.

The first day was press day. We only had a couple of things we had to do that day, and it included dumbell clean and presses. That's the on that went up for me. Last time I did 35 pounds on it per arm. This time I was able to go up to 45 pounds. I was happy about that, but it's the only thing that has increased so far this week.

Tuesday we had squats and deadlifts. These remained what they were last time. Though, the deadlifts were deficit deadlifts, and I may have been able to increase it had I made a smaller jump towards the end. I was still able to do 225 pounds for it. I almost hit 235 pounds for reps, so I think if I had been 5 pounds lower that I would have gotten it.

That's it for the training so far this week, though. It's been an interesting week so far. I'm hoping that something else has gone up as well, but we'll just have to wait and see as the week progresses. Thank you all for reading!

A Slight Setback

Alright, so Sunday night I got very little sleep. I got about four hours of sleep and that meant that I couldn't train the next day, when we had planned to. Now, with the holiday and all I couldn't go train Thursday and so it sort of threw my whole week off. So what I was going to do was train Tuesday and Wednesday. Since this training has me doing a couple of them back to back most weeks I figured it wouldn't be a problem. I was wrong.

The first day I had to find my 8 rep maxes for all of my overhead stuff. Overhead press, bench press, and the like. That wasn't a big deal. I did it, and some of them were surprisingly high. Higher then I thought they would be. My 8 rep max on the bench, for example, is 95 pounds. That's pretty good considering that my 5 rep max is only 115 pounds. Others, like my Overhead Press, were really low. It's not that surprising, honestly. I probably would of had 70 pounds on the overhead if I hadn't tried to do 75 pounds.

The next day was squat and deadlift day. I always love that day. I did my deadlifts first, and that's where the problems started. I was not able to pull 255 pounds for 5 reps, even though I should have been able to. I can pull 260 pounds for a few reps. Part of the issue is that I'm trying to change my form up a bit to make it more accurate. I was able to pull the weight once when I went back to doing the weight as I normally do it. It was way harder then it should have been, though.

So, I finally decided that I would just have to do a bit of light work. It occurred to me that the high reps from the previous day may have been why I wasn't able to pull the weight. We know I got more then enough sleep the night before, and I've been eating plenty. Sometimes, though, you have to learn these things the hard way. Next time I only have a three day week on this training I will not even attempt to do back to back days. Clearly it wont work.

Now, what I did after the deadlifts was just a few medium weight squats. This is 185 pounds for me. I was getting deep in the squats, though. I also corrected some form issues I had that should help me to go deeper when I do my work weight.

Thanks for reading! I appreciate it.

Some More Good Training.

So, I had some pretty good days of training. I had to pick up the 100 pound sandbag, but I didn't have to run with it this time. No, I had to pick it up and put it on my shoulder a lot of times in a certain amount of time. I did pretty good. Not as well as I had hoped, but pretty good.

There was something else I had to do that gained me a few odd looks. I wont go into detail about it because I don't want to give to much information out. However, I was able to do it with 315 pounds, which was awesome. So, between how odd the workout itself was and the fact that I had so much weight I got some strange looks. I'm sure they didn't understand what I was doing. it was purely a conditioning thing, though.

I also had to do some hang cleans. I couldn't get my grip right and ended up just doing power cleans. The later is more work because it involves doing a full dead lift every time you pick it up, whereas the hang cleans down. I did 95 lbs with that. That was on Thursday though.

The only other thing I'm going to go into detail about is the Farmers dead lifts that I had to do. There was a lot more that I did Thursday, but I can't give to much of the programming away. Anyway, the farmers dead lifts are suppose to be done with bars. We don't have access to the type of bars necessary for it, but we've improvised. What we've done is taken two duffel bags and put sand in them until they reach whatever weight we need them to be at. Mine were at 80 pounds each. I had to pick them up for time.

I had a video that I wanted to show you of the farmers deads, but for some reason it wont let me upload it. I'll try again later, or try to post it to Facebook. Thank you all for reading, though.

Some Surprising Results

So, during my training this week there were some interesting and surprising results. The most surprising of which is a rather large jump in the amount that I can bench press. I was a bit surprised in a couple of other sets, but none of them were as drastic as that.

Now, for a few weeks I was doing sets of two for my bench press. This allowed me to push more weight then I could with 5 reps. Well, the Strong Woman training I'm doing uses 5 reps for that. On Monday I had to do that. I made it to 115 pounds. Previously, when I did 5 reps on the bench, I was only able to get to 80 pounds. That is a huge jump in only a week of this new training.

My Front squats were also high then what I did with my 2 rep sets. I got to 165 pounds with those. The last time I did two reps it was only 160 pounds. I also had to do a different type of dead lift then I normally do. It's more difficult and requires that you use straps, which I hate. I got over 200 pounds with that, though, so I was happy.

There are more things I had to do, but I'm only going to give out bits here and there to show that there is progress. So far, though, I'm very happy with how this training is going. It's hard, but it's worth it. Of course, most things that are worth doing are difficult.

Anyway, thank you for reading again!

A Pretty Good Week

My training went very well overall. There were some disappointments, but for the most part my lifts were about where I expected them to be. Saturday was triumphant, though. Last time I tried to do Strong Woman I ended up stopping because of the training Saturday. I made it though.

I'm sure you are wondering what I had to do, and I'll tell you. I wont give distances, but you'll get the gist of it. I got to hump around a 100 pound sandbag forever. I'll post a picture from that later. I also had to push the car around a bit. Unfortunately, there aren't really pictures of that since my husband had to steer the car while I pushed it.

Some interesting things did happen. We discovered that one of the YMCA's has bumper plates. This is great news for us considering that some of the lifts sort of require that you be able to drop the weight. However, we have seen some people doing some things with the bumper plates that was rather annoying.

The first thing we saw was a group that we call the 'Three Man Bench Machine" using them to do skull crushers. These are done using curl bar while laying on your back and bringing it down to their head. This is not what they were meant for. The second thing I saw was someone using the bumper plates to do shoulder shrugs.

There is also this aerobic training group that comes in there and uses the lifting platform for their stuff because, you know, that's totally what it's for. Oh, that group was also doing chalice squats in the squat rack. To be fair the squat rack does have this odd platform. I didn't know what it was for. Anyway, they had a dumbbell and were holding it down in from of them while they did their squats. At least I didn't have to do squats that day.

Right, now for horrible sandbag carry pictures. I figure that if I'm going to compete I may as well get used to unflattering pictures circulating the internet. So, here you go! The bag is 100 pounds. Thank you all for reading, as always.

Back in the Strong Woman Game!

Alright, so I'm doing Strong Man again. It's going well so far. Yesterday I did squats and dead lifts. Usually my back has started to hurt by the time I get to my dead lifts. That didn't happen this time. It didn't start to hurt until well after I had finished. So, I'm happy about it. It means that my back is getting better.

My squats were able to go up, and I'll post a video below of that. I went up to 230 lbs. So, that's a plus. I was also able to get up to 225 lbs before I realized that I should probably have been wearing a belt. That's another good sign. The further I can go without a belt, the better.

I did a little worse Monday on one of my sets then I did the first time I started Strong Man. I agree with my husbands assessment that I probably put a little body-movement into it the first time then I did this time. It was a different type of press then I normally do, and unfortunately the way I did it this time meant that I did not push as much weight. Still, it was higher then the normal press, so I'm happy with it.

Overall, I'm pleased with how this week has started off. I hope that tomorrow goes just as well. Saturday, though, will be the real test. Saturday is what showed me that I had to stop last time and work on my back. My back is doing so well, though, that I don't honestly think I have anything to worry about beyond getting used to the movement of the weight.

I'm sorry that I couldn't give you much information. Again, this is proprietary training stuff, though I now have permission from my husbands coach to do the program. After my husband told him my numbers and that I was interested in the Strong Man stuff he said that I should follow along on his programming. So, that's a huge bonus!

Anyway, here's the video. This is 230 lbs. Some of you may have already seen this on my husbands face book page. Thank you for reading, and I hope you like the video!

An Extra Rest Day

I know I didn't update yesterday, like I normally would, but that's okay. I opted not to train today, since my back is doing so well, so that I can start on the Strong Woman training on Monday. I think the extra day of rest will do me a lot of good, and that I'll be ready to take on the training then.

We went to a different YMCA on Thursday because it had the bumper plates that my husband needed for his training. It was interesting, it had better equipment, but not as many areas to train in. At least, not for the type of training that I generally engage in. Still, it was nice. There weren't a lot of people interested in using the squat rack. I did have to ask a lady that was doing aerobic style stuff to move so that I could do my front squats.

We met a gentleman there that was doing some strength training as well. He said, circuitously, that I was the strongest woman he's seen in person. It started off with a comment about the amount that I could front squat. Now, I keep making an error with my warm ups for my front squats that has me doing 185 pounds, but my work sets haven't even gotten to that point yet. I can do it, but it's still a bit high to do for reps.

It's not that big of a surprise, though, that I'm the strongest woman most people have seen in this area. Not many women actually strength train. I've seen a few other women doing barbell work, but none of them have been able to pull the numbers that I can. Honestly, though, I hope to see more working on gaining strength. It's a fun sport, and my body is changing so much faster then it did with anything else. I realize that may not be true for everyone, but if I get even one more woman to strength train then I'll be happy.

Anyway, I guess I'm at that point where I post my numbers. I'm proud of how things went this time. My dead lifts still did not progress, which isn't a surprise. However, with all the work I've done on my back and shoulders, I was finally able to break through the minor wall I had with the overhead press. My back, also, didn't start hurting until my last two attempts to pull my dead lifts. That's a huge victory. Usually I would of had to sit down a couple of times by that point.

Right, no more delaying though. I've only got two sets to post, but I'm happy with both of them. Now, on to the numbers!

Front Squats: 160x2x8
Overhead Press: 82.5x2x8

A Slow Day

Well, the training yesterday could have gone better. I didn't make any actual gains in my weight. Though, I've had a bit of trouble sleeping for a few days, so that could have played a role in my inability to move some of the weights. Some of it may just be that I've hit an overall wall with linear training. I suppose it's good that I'm just doing this until my back is better.

I also had to take some videos of my husbands work sets so that he could show them to his coach. Between that, and needing so much time between my own sets, I ended up running into some time constraints. What I would normally do, if I don't hit at least parallel on my squats, is just do the set again. I just didn't have time for that if I wanted to do my bench press or rows.

Unfortunately, I only made actually completed one of my lifts, and that was the Rows. My form was poor on them, though, so I can't really count them as being done. Overall, it was a bad day of training. I think there were reasons for it, though, and tomorrow should go better. Except my deadlifts. I'm pretty sure I'm still not going to be able to do 260 for reps. I'll try, though.

My back is doing better already, though. It takes longer before I feel the twinges of pain in my lower back from standing for a while. That should be a good sign, and hopefully it'll mean that I can go back to doing Strong Woman next week. I've been doing mobility work every day to help loosen the muscles that are causing the pain.

I've also been working on other areas that have caused problems in the past. My shoulders, my calf, and so on. With any luck I'll be able to go into next weeks training without any problems. That's the dream at least.

Anyway, I'm sorry that I don't really have numbers to post. Thank you all for reading anyway, though. It's always appreciated.

A Delay in Strong Woman

Well, training went well on Thursday. I had a bit of back pain while doing the dead lifts, but I did better then I expected. Unfortunately, I was unable to do my training yesterday. For years I've had lower back pain, usually it only reared it's ugly head when I did dishes or folded cloths, but since training started it has gotten worse.

Now, before I continue it's not an injury. It's a mixture of having poor posture for years now, sitting to much, and a very large knot of muscles in my glutes. We discovered that was the actual issue thanks to information from the book Becoming a Supple Leopard by Dr. Kelly Starrett. That book is proving to be an extremely good investment.

The pain was bad enough, though, that I couldn't do my training yesterday. What I'm going to do is take a week or so and go back to the linear progression I was doing before. It's not as strenuous as the Strong Woman training, and should allow me to recoup my back. The book has suggestions on how to stand properly, as well as sit.

I'll pretty much have to put myself in a lot of pain every day to loose the knot of muscle that's formed in my glutes, though. Hopefully, it wont take more then a week for me to work it out. It took years for it to get to the point it's at, though, so I'll be surprised if that's all it takes.

Anyway, you'll all start seeing numbers again next week when I start on the linear progression. Heck, maybe there will be some improvement on the numbers that I got stuck on before. I doubt it, but it would be a nice surprise if I could hit 260 lbs on my dead lifts.

As always, thank you all for reading. I appreciate it.

The New Training Begins!

So, I've had two days of my Strong Woman training now. Today will be the third. I can't really give a lot of details about what I'm doing, though, because the training is proprietary. I'll give you information on my numbers here and there as best I can though.

This week isn't really about progression, though, it's about finding what my working numbers for this training is. Monday was a couple of overhead lifts, and I did better on both of them then I had thought. Yesterday was squats and a type of dead lift that I hadn't done before. With the squats I was able to go up to 225 pounds, so that's good. I made progress even though it wasn't necessary for me to.

The dead lifts, because they are so different from what I've done before, were quite a bit lower then the ones you all saw in the video I posted. They are a lot of fun, though. Unfortunately, as I said, I can't really go into to much detail on what it is I've been doing. I'll keep you posted on the normal moves you see, though, whenever I make progress in them.

I think that this training is going to be a lot of help. There is a lot of variety that's going to be working muscles that were largely ignored with the linear training that I was doing. For example, there wasn't enough upper back work, and my upper back is weak compared to my legs and lower back. I can't wait to see wait to see just how far this training will take me.

Anyway, I know there isn't a lot here to go off of. I do appreciate you reading this, though.

Another Change of Plans

Alright, after hitting the wall with my dead lifts for the second time, which is 260 pounds, I'm going to have to change the way I approach my training. Linear progression is no longer an option for my dead lifts, so I'm left with two options. Change to the Texas Method with my deads, or move on to Strong Woman training. The latter is something I've been toying with for a few weeks now.

I've decided on the Strong Woman training, which I start tomorrow. For the first week I'll be doing Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday. I'm just following the training that my husband got from his coach until I am employed and can do the same.  So, you'll see a change up in my routine, and you aren't likely to see consistent increases in my numbers.

Yesterday was filled with more time constraint frustrations as well. My husband went with me because there was one lift he had to do with the squat rack. Unfortunately, only one of the squat racks was open. Since it was the one that I am literally to short to actually do my squats in I decided to start with my overhead presses. I was not able to finish the set. It seems that doing the weighted sit ups the day before was a bad idea and I probably just should have skipped them until the next time. Live and learn, right?

Well, after I failed in the overhead press I let my husband do what he had to. I should have just gone on and done my squats, and then he could have used the rack while I did my deads but, again, live and learn. I was annoyed and wasn't ready to move on to the next lift yet. When I did get to my front squats, though, they went beautifully. I got a suggestion on changing my hold on the bar for them from someone we've chatted with a lot there, and it helped keep the bar from sliding down my chest.

I simply ran out of time before I could do the lat pull downs while I was trying to do my deads. I only managed to pull the 260 pounds once this time. Considering I did it twice, last time, it shouldn't have been an issue to hit the 5 reps. That's the sort of thing that happens when you hit the wall on a lift, though.

My dead lift, even though it was only one rep, drew a bit of attention though. A couple of guys, one a USMC reservist and the other about to go to Marine boot camp, said that I was making them look bad. Then, after I started taking the weights off the bar, and older gent came over and asked how much I ended up pulling. I told him and he said that it was pretty good. I had seen him staring at me before he finally came over and said anything, though, so I already knew I had his attention. It's nice to hear things like that, though.

My father also knows someone that has competed in Power Lifting competitions. He linked my blog post with the videos (The Need For Hand Care), and I got some rather encouraging comments. He said that my squat form was good, and that it was good that I go so low into the squats. He also said that the speed I come out of the squat with is perfect.

There was the suggestion that I use Chuck Taylors for my dead lifts, and he said that my form on those could use some work. I'm not surprised by that from the video, honestly. My form was a bit sketchy that day, but generally I get compliments on it. However, I do know that a lot of people don't use weight shoes to dead lift, or they do it bare foot, so I may go back to using my Chuck Taylor wanna be shoes for those. It's certainly not a bad suggestion in the least, and I appreciate constructive criticism.

I was told that I could include the gents nickname that made the comments above. My father, and likely some of his other friends, just call him Gymrat. Again, I really appreciate the compliment on my form, and the suggestion on my deads.

Now, I'll give you the numbers. Again, I only managed to get one lift done yesterday, so that's all I'm posting.

Front Squat: 155x2x8

Thank you all for reading, and wish me luck with my new mode of training.

An Annoying Day of Training

Well, as the title says, I had a rather annoying day of training yesterday. So annoying, in fact, that it took yesterday and today for me to complete. Now, this is because the YMCA has a daycare that closes at a very specific time. Not only that, you can only leave your child in the day care for 2 hours. So, I ended up meeting with some time constraints.

Now, my training normally takes about an hour and a half on average, it's rare that the time constraints are an issue. Yesterday, though, I actually ran out of time. I was only able to do two of my lifts before we had to leave. I had to go to the gym today and finish them, because it wasn't even my inability to do them that prevented me from finishing.

I described some of the changes happening with my stomach in my last blog. Well, those changes have caused my stomach to be temporarily thicker then it was. So, now my weight belt doesn't fit right. Every time I went down on my squats, the belt popped off. It was so distracting that I would hesitate for to long at the bottom, and lose my momentum, so I wouldn't be able to get back up. I drained a lot of my energy having to bail on the weights, and a lot of time. I managed to do three sets before I realized that I just didn't have time for it.

When it came time for me to do my weighted sit ups, I just didn't have time for it. So, it was a pretty frustrating day. I was angry, and annoyed, but I went back in there today and finished my sets. I just had to take one of the belts the YMCA has. Unfortunately, they only have one good belt. Hopefully I'll manage to get that belt whenever I need it for my lifts.

Now, on my squats I did manage to do two sets at 225 pounds before I had to drop the weight down to 220 pounds. Looks like both my Dead Lifts and Back Squats are down to 5 pound jumps. That's alright, though, it's still progression. So, without further ado, here are my numbers:

Squats: 220x2x8
Bench: 120x2x8
Row: 100x5x3
Weighted Sit Ups: 35x5x3

Oh, you will see that my weighted sit ups dropped to 35 pounds. Apparently the lack of proper support on my feet was not the only issue I was having. I'll get it back up there soon, though. I may have to do this amount again, though, before I increase the weight.

Also, I was able to coach a lady to do back squats, though she didn't add any weight to it. At least I managed to keep her from using the Smith Machine. When she picked the bar up with her hands she said that it was to heavy. I convinced her that it wouldn't feel as heavy when she put it across her shoulders, though, and so she tried it and did a couple of sets before she moved on to something else. She even thanked me when we left, which was nice.

Thank you again for reading!

The Need for Hand Care

Hand care while doing any heavy lifting of any sort with your hands is extremely important. It's important to make sure that calluses don't grow to large, and that you keep your hands properly moisturized. These are things that I have neglected and, on two occasions now, has come back to bite me in the rear. Both of these times were during dead lifts.

Twice, now, I have torn a callus on my hand. Actually, it's been calluses in the exact same place on the same hand. Both times it's been on my second to last pull that I've done it. This time, however, I worked through the pain and pulled the last one anyway. So, I'm fairly happy with that. I mean, I wont get to stop if I'm competing. Not if I want to place, at least.

I also made a rather grave error when doing my front squats. I was looking at the numbers for my back squats and ended up warming up for more then my actual set was. I did 185 lbs twice. It did not, however, have an adverse effect on what my actual work sets were, so I'm happy about it. It also shows just how crazy strong my legs are since I could make an error like that and still do my work sets.

A gentleman also asked if I was going to shame him while I was doing my dead lifts. All I could say was that I was about to pull 260, and I'm fairly sure he said that I was shaming him. He was doing 270 or 275, I don't remember. Unfortunately, I was only able to pull the 260 twice before I had to drop down to 255.

Anyway, I've got a few videos to go along with my numbers. I've had a few people asking for it, so here you go. The videos only show one set each, and the dead lift video actually only shows one rep of the 260 lbs. Well, one and a half. I had to bail on the weights the second time I pulled because I did something wrong. The only video you wont see if of the Lat Pull Downs. Once I'm able to do pull ups I'll likely include those.

I will say that I hate how weight belts make my stomach look, but they are highly necessary. In reality, I should be using a weight belt for my dead lifts, but every time I try to it messes me up. Eventually, I wont have a choice. For now, though, I've been able to pull without them. I'll go as long as I can before I start trying to figure out how to do them with the belt.

Front Squats: 145x2x8

Overhead Press: 80x2x8

Dead Lift: 255x5x1

Lat Pull Downs: 100x5x3

I do also want to add, as a final thought, that there are more changes happening with my stomach. Some of you know of the issues I've had since my son was born. Well, the muscles are tightening and changing the shape of it. Unfortunately, it's going to cause me to look a bit heavier then general because of the subcutaneous fat that is still there. Though it's hard to see it this way, it is a good sign. With any luck I'll be able to avoid undergoing surgery to tighten the skin up.

As always, thank you all for reading. I greatly appreciate it.

P.S. I very nearly chickened out before I posted these videos.

Anybody Need Help With Their Car?!

My training today went fairly well. We did discover that the weighted sit ups were being done wrong, so I had to alter that and discover what the right weight was again. It's not far off from what I had last time, though. I'm happy about that.

The only trouble I faced was that I couldn't get anyone to hold my feet. I absolutely cannot do a sit up if someone doesn't anchor my feet down. In lieu of someone holding them, though, I will try to use furniture. I used to use an entertainment center because the opening at the bottom was just big enough for my feet. Unfortunately, there isn't really anything at the YMCA that is as stable as that.

I managed to get one person to do it for one set, but that I had three. I ended up having to us a stand alone bench and I put a weight on top of it to help keep it down. Unfortunately, the opening at the bottom was larger then what I needed, so it still wasn't really stable. I think if I had been able to get someone to hold my feet that I could have done more weight. We'll see how it goes next time.

I also tried another 10 pound jump on my rows. They were a bit rough, though, so I'll probably end up doing the weight again to be on the safe side. No need to get greedy about my numbers and injure myself for it, right? Everything else went very well though.

After I got home it was time to help my husband with his training a bit. He has started to do Strong Man training, so it's diverged from my own. We can still get into the gym together, but on Saturdays the work he does is all stuff that he can do at home. Like pushing the car, or walking with a bag full of sand. It's rather brutal. I'm very proud of him for what he's doing, though.

Now, after he pushed the car down the road I got curious and decided to see if I could do it. Being as I had already trained before that, though, I didn't get as far as he did. I managed to sprint while pushing the car with him in it for 50 meters. I'm fairly proud of myself for that.

That's really all I have to say. Here's the numbers now. I'm more proud of the bench then anything else. This is the most I've ever pushed on a bench press, and I don't think I'll be slowing down anytime soon.

Squats: 215x2x8
Bench: 115x2x8
Row: 100x5x3
Weighted Sit Ups: 40x5x3

Thank you all for reading again! I really appreciate it.

What Happens When You Don't Do Your Mobility Work

Right, so yesterday was a bit rough. I made most of my lifts, except for my overhead press. It wasn't because I couldn't push the weight, I did 3 sets at 80 pounds. No, it's because my arm started to hurt very badly. The good thing about that is, however, that it's not an injury. It's because I forgot to do something that is extremely important when you are lifting heavy weights; mobility work.

Mobility work is something that helps your flexibility. Some of what you do is almost like a simpler form of yoga, but other things you have to get someone else to do for you, or to help you with. There are mobility work outs that help you open up your hip, increase your shoulders range of motion, and a lot of other things. The one that we failed to do that was detrimental to being able to do the overhead press was my shoulder mobility.

We know that it was the lack of mobility work because my husband grabbed a mat and did it right there in the gym. This caused a bit of concern from a few people that were up there. Apparently they went so far as to ask if they needed to call for an ambulance. Obviously, that was unnecessary. The mobility work did help me push the weight, but I still ended up missing on the last rep. So my press isn't changing from what it was last time.

Really, we need to be doing the work on all our off days for a while. That will make it less detrimental if, for some reason, we do miss a day. It will also help our mobility a lot more in the long run. Some of them I don't look forward to doing regularly, but it's necessary. If I really want this, if I really want to compete, then I have to do what's necessary.

Anyway, on to the numbers now! Again, on the overhead press I missed the last rep. I also failed to state that after I did the 3 sets at 80 pounds I had to drop the weight back down to 77.5 pounds. I see no reason, however, that I should not be able to go back up next time I do these. I also think I'll need to do that lat pull downs one more time at 100 before I can make the next jump.

Front Squats: 135x2x8
Overhead Press: 77.5x2x8
Dead Lift: 240x5x1
Lat Pull Down: 100x5x3

That's about it for now. Thank you all for reading.

Good Days Training

Training yesterday went really well for me. I made some jumps that I wasn't really sure I would be able to make, but I'm glad that I attempted them now. The one that surprised me the most was my bench press. I went up 5 lbs from where I was last time, and with my history of struggling with them I really expected to miss. The key, apparently, is eating like it's my job. Of course, sleep is something else I need quite a bit of too.

Nothing really all that spectacular happened. I don't have any observations or realizations to really add to this post. I suppose all there really is to do now is to post my numbers. So, here goes!

Squats: 205x2x8
Bench: 110x2x8
Row: 90x5x3
Weighted Sit Up: 50x5x3

That's about it for today. Thank you all for reading, even though it was sort of a short post today. ^_^ As always, it's appreciated.

A Surprising Realization

After noticing something rather surprising in the mirror the other day something really hit me. I am likely not going to loose weight but, for once, I don't think it's a bad thing. What I noticed was the hint of 4 pack abs. There are actually subtle lines showing that they will develops as I continue to train. I've also noticed just how hard my body, overall, has become. There is very little fat on my body any longer.

I am going to end up being 190 pounds with good body composition. I think that the training will lead me towards having a low body fat percentage, judging by the changes that have taken place already. All it took was seeing the definition in my stomach to accept what is obviously going to be true. In that moment I stopped aiming for a number and truly just started thinking of how my body composition is going to change over the next few months.

This is obviously what I'm suppose to be doing. My food intake, which would seem like a lot to more then a few of you, is perfect for what I'm doing and my body is responding beautifully. It's even better because I enjoy the training immensely. Can it get any better then that? I don't think so.

I've tried other programs before, but I saw very minimal change. Even then, it was only my weight and it decreased very slowly. To make it worse, I didn't enjoy it. Sure, I could trick myself into thinking that I liked it for a few weeks, but that quickly wore off. I guess what I'm trying to say here is this: You should find something that you enjoy doing for fitness or training. In the end it just depends on what your goal is.

Now, with that rambling done it's time to move on to the numbers. My lat pull downs probably aren't going to increase next time I train. It was fairly difficult moving the amount that I did, and the next jump that it has is  15 pounds more. I should be able to make that before much longer though. When I get around 130 pounds with the lat pull downs I should be able to move to doing assisted pull ups. I think that's all that I have to note about my numbers, though.

Front Squats: 125x2x8

Overhead Press: 77.5x2x8

Dead Lift: 230x5x1

Lat Pull Down: 100x5x3

Thank you again for reading. I appreciate it very much.

A Good Day

Training today went very well. I was able to make good jumps on most of my lifts, and I made my bench this time so I'm happy. This training regiment is working out rather well for me, but ultimately I look forward to working under a proper coach. I cannot wait until I'm able to do Clean and Jerks and Snatches, but that's some time off. I have to increase my upper body strength a bit more before I can get to that point. It's a work in progress and I'm loving every minute of it.

I do want to say that a body builder we see in there regularly had a woman with him. She was doing pretty well, clearly a beginner but her squat form was good. He had her doing something that was like dead lifts. She was not using the Olympic bar for it, so the bar itself weighed next to nothing, and she also wasn't setting the bar back down and resetting. Here's my thing, though, she had around 50 pounds on it. Why wasn't she using the Olympic bar? She could clearly pick it up since the bar weights 45 pounds. As soon as you can move that weight you need to be using the Olympic bar. That's just my two cents though.

He also suggested using the free weight benches instead of doing a real bench press if they weren't free by the time we were ready for them. That's not the sort of training we are doing at this time, though it may become an accessory workout in time. Which I told him. He's a nice enough guy, but he's a body builder and clearly doesn't really understand what we are doing. That's okay, though, he's honestly just trying to help and I have no problem with that so long as he doesn't start talking down to me.

Anyway, on to my numbers! I'm particularly proud of my squat and weighted sit ups since they were both 10 pound jumps. The bench, again, was the same as last time because I missed by one rep. Next time I do them, though, I'll be able to go up. I may have been able to do more on the rows, but I didn't want to push it to far since I had to change my stance on them.

Back Squat: 195x2x8
Bench Press: 105x2x8
Row: 80x5x3
Weighted Sit Ups: 40x5x3

Thank you for reading again!

Strength is Beauty

I have recently started visiting a website called Lift Big Eat Big and, I have to say, that they are fantastic. There are a lot of very strong men and women there. There are also a lot of good articles there. Some of those articles deal specifically with strength training for women or issues that women may have while training. The articles are written by both men and women so we actually get a woman's perspective, instead of seeing article after article written by men that just talk at women, instead of to women.

I bring this website up because it's also introduced me to a lot of very powerful looking women. Women that are likely exceptional athletes but often get horrific comments because of the muscles that they carry. To all the men who think a strong looking woman is 'manish': YOU DON'T GET TO DECIDE IF A STRONG WOMAN IS ATTRACTIVE. Yes, you have your preferences. You are free to it. You have absolutely no right, however, to bring that woman down just because you don't think she's attractive or that she should be strong.

A lot of men seem to be intimidated by strong women, though. It's always been this way so it shouldn't be much of a surprise. Facebook tends to be a cesspool of the type of men that will eagerly tear a woman down because she doesn't fit their perception of beauty. Guess what? Strength is beauty. I thank the people at LBEB for that slogan, by the way.

The image above is linked from the LBEB Facebook page. The very powerful looking woman above is Melina. Now, all I can think is that she must be one hell of an athlete and, like my husband, I wonder how much she squats. There were comments that criticized her for how well developed her muscles are, though. I will not quote them because they have since been deleted by the LBEB people. Needless to say, though, they were the same caliber of comments you find all over the internet.

One thing that really impressed me about them, though, is that they not only deleted the comments but made a post in response to people that may visit their page and summarily try to tear down athletes like the woman above. This is how we should all be. Supportive of men and women that pursue different goals in their lives. Not everyone as the same goal, not everyone wants to look like a super model. It's very important to keep that in mind. It's very important to understand that beauty comes from more then just a couple of body types. 

Anyway, I think that's about it for my rant there. Thank you for reading.

Compliments Are Nice

It's always nice when someone compliments your form, or the numbers your able to pick up. It's even nicer when someone tells you that you are a natural weight lifter. Well, at least to me it is. Which is exactly what happened when we trained yesterday.

I was doing my dead lifts and a guy I had seen up there a few times came up to give me some pointers. Well, really one pointer but still. It was something that I knew I should be doing, and that my husband had told me to do as well, but I just couldn't really get the hang of it. When you are dead lifting you should be squeezing the weight up. The issue I was having is that I didn't really know when you were suppose to thrust your hips forward and pull your shoulders back. That's exactly what this guy told me.

After he told me that I thanked him and he went back off to what he was doing. He watched me pull the weight, though, and when I had it up gave me a thumbs up and that's when he said I had good form and that I'm a natural. So, two awesome compliments in one. My husband went over to talk to him after he finished his last pull and was told the same thing. The guy complimented my squat form and all. So, that's always a good day.

Other then that I did have a good day of training. We have, however, discovered that when we did our rows we were doing the wrong version of them. We did the body builder version which has you standing with your back at a slight angle. Apparently, the version that we are suppose to be doing would have you standing with your back parallel to the floor. So, my numbers on that may change when we do them tomorrow, or maybe stay the same. We'll just have to see how it goes. Anyway, here are my numbers for what we did yesterday.

Front Squats: 115x2x8
Overhead Press: 75x2x8
Dead Lift: 220x5x1
Lat Pull Downs: 85x5x3

So, everything went up, and that's always a good day. The lat pull downs made a rather large jump because of the way the machine is set up. There was no way to make a smaller jump then that, but it was easy. I probably could have done more then 85, but it's probably best that I just stayed there. I don't know what the next jump will be, I forgot to check.

Anyway, thank you for reading again!

A Change of Plan

Before you even think it: No, I'm not giving up strength training. However, after a chance meeting my husband made, and a call to an Olympic trainer here there has been a change in our training regiment. He told the trainer my numbers and how quickly I had gained them, and of course the response was that I have to lose weight. I know that. The other part of the response was that we need to get me into meets.

The Olympic lifts look amazingly fun to me, I don't really know why. So having an Olympic trainer say something like that, and by this I mean someone that teaches those lifts, has put the spark back into my training. I was getting a little down trodden about it, though I can't really explain why. I'm sure that some of you who have read my blogs, however, know.

Anyway, the training we are doing now is pure strength training. It includes front and back squats, overhead press, dead lifts, Pull ups (or lat pull downs for me until I strengthen those muscles, weighted sit ups, rows, and benches. Most of these sets are done differently then before. Instead of 3 sets of 5 reps we are doing 8 sets of 2 reps. So I'll list what all my numbers are here. Some of them will be higher then others. One of them I missed because I should of been a little lighter. My lat pull downs are the same as my previous post, but that's because I had done them just a couple of days before and we decided it was best to rest those muscles for now.

Front Squat: 105x2x8
Overhead Press: 70x2x8
Lat Pull Down: 70x5x3
Deadlift: 210x5x1
Squats: 185x2x8
Bench: 105x2x8*
Rows: 75x5x3
Weighted Sit Up: 30x5x3

*The bench press is the one I missed. I should have been a little lower then 105, but I only missed it by one rep. It was exceedingly frustrating because it was the last rep that I missed. So I'll be doing that number again and I should get it with no trouble.

Anyway, that's about it. I'm going to try to drop a little weight while I job hunt, and get my numbers back up there. When I have a job I'll be trying to get some training with that coach. So, wish me luck. Hopefully, in a relatively short amount of time, I'll be going to meets and competing.

Thank you for reading again!

Still Re-finding My Weight

As the title suggests, when I went to train on Tuesday it was another day to find my weight, though for different pulls. It went well overall. Yes, I lost on my bench and power clean, but not as badly as I had feared. Definitely not as badly as I had on the squats or dead lifts. I also added in lat pull downs, which'll help strengthen muscles used in a few of the other pulls.

Anyway, I left the squats at 185 lbs, but I think I was still high on a couple of them. I may drop back to 180 lbs to be on the safe side. We'll see. I've not fully decided on that yet. My bench was 80 lbs on five reps for three sets. My Cleans were 75 lbs on three reps for five sets. When I did my lat pull downs it was 70 lbsx5x3. So, things aren't as bad as they could be.

The good thing about this is that I really should be able to regain what I lost quickly enough, especially if I make sure that I'm getting enough of the protein I need. Lots of fish will be the key for me, I think. It's lean, delicious, has a lot of protein, and I don't ever seem to get sick of eating it. So, yeah. That'll be what my lunches are.

That's about it, though. Thank you for reading.

Back in the Game

So the husband and I had a bit of an unintended break. I ended up not lifting for about 3 weeks. I had a pain in one of my legs that would have made squatting impossible, but I did not mean to be out for as long as I was. Still, I'm back in the game and going to be working on my lifts once again.

I did lose quite a bit of the weight that I would normally be pushing, but I should regain my numbers quickly. I just need to get back into the swing of things. As it stands my squats are around 185 lbs. A couple of them were high, though, so I'll have to do it again before I can move up to 190. My overhead press would actually be 60, but I got so close to making it with 65lbs that I'll just do it again and I should get it next time. And my deadlift is 200lbs. I'm not that far off, but they are much lower then I would like them to be.

I'll be finding my weight again for my bench and powercleans tomorrow. I'm sure the powercleans will be laughable...and the bench. My arms are my weakest area after all. I have to double check but I think I'll be including lat pull downs as well to help make the other lifts stronger. I'll get back to you all on that when I make the next blog post.

Thanks for reading. <3

P.S. Maybe the break will prove to be a good thing for my morale in the long run. I was getting fairly frustrated with the apparent stagnation of my lifts. This may help to pull me out of that, though. Sometimes you do have to reset the lifts, after all, to get past a bump in the road.

Camelot Unchained: A World of Possibilities

There is a unique opportunity to be one of the founders of what promises to be a fantastic MMO, at least for those of us that want something in a similar vein to DAoC. What is the MMO, you ask? Well, it's under a temporary title of Camelot Unchained and is currently trying to get funding on Kickstarter. The link, as you can see, is at the bottom of the page.

It is going to be a Tri-realm, RvR based game. It should make PvP much more interesting then it is in games like World of Warcraft where you are confined to only two factions and primarily in instanced battlegrounds. RvR has a larger effect on the world around it, and many of the statements made by Mark Jacobs and the other wonderful people over at City State Entertainment lead us to believe that we are going to be able to have a much larger impact on the world then even in other RvR based games before.

You can find more information over at their CU website, and on the kickstarter page. We need as many people to pledge as possible so that we can get this awesome game made. There are also links on their website to the unofficial forums they have set up at Reddit and MMORPG, so that you can see what some of the backers are saying, or even help to support some things that backers are trying to see implemented should you decide to become a backer as well.

There may not be an official game play video yet, but there is a lot of very interesting information. What the developers are striving to do is truly innovative. That's something MMOs have been lacking. There have been some minor innovations that have made things interesting, but nothing that is really game changing. We have an opportunity to help make these innovations in this genre of gaming a reality.

Also, if you are a role player, or if you wish to help support us, please post on either of my threads to help get us a dedicated rp server. As I've stated before, I know I'm starting early. It's better to start early and make sure the developers know what we want, then wait until it's to late to make our wishes know. Backers have to show that this is something they want. The links are below.

My thread on the CU Reddit forums.

My thread on the CU MMORPG forums.

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/13861848/camelot-unchained

'Next Gen' X-box Always On?

The title is just what is suggests. There are hints that the so called 'next gen' x-box is going to require constant internet connection. This means that even games you play alone will not be playable if you do not have a reliable connection to the internet. That is -not- something that gamers want.

If any of you have played Diablo 3, then you know that you are required to have an internet connection for it. You are also required to log into your account with battle.net. Both of those things annoyed me when I first logged in, and I have not played it much because of that. When I play games like Diablo, which have always had solo aspects to it, I don't want to be online. I don't play them so that I can talk to my battle tag friends in WoW. I generally play them because I want some downtime to just completely and totally zone out to the game.

The Diablo 3 fans took another blow when Blizzard announced that it would be on the PS3 and that it would be playable offline. I've personally resolved not to play until they give an offline version to PC gamers. I'm certainly not going to purchase a separate copy, and console, just so I don't have to be online to enjoy the game.

I go over all of that to show that this is not something that gamers want. By forcing you to have a constant internet connection you are alienating players who cannot always be online. You are alienating people that may be able to purchase an x-box via tax returns, but are not able to afford the month to month payments of internet connections.

The arguments that Adam Orth, the creative director over at Microsoft for their Game Studios, made over Twitter were unprofessional, and completely missed the point. One of his arguments was to state that he wouldn't purchase a vacuum cleaner because power goes out sometimes. I'm sorry, that can immediately be torn down. A vacuum cleaner doesn't require constant power in order to run.

I think that we are going to see the death of the X-box if they don't fire him, and back off their stance of having a constant internet connection.

Thanks to Gamers book for their article and screenshots of some of the Twitter comments.

The Frustration Continues

Don't worry about the name of this blog. It's not really all that frustrating. I'm annoyed that I didn't get my deads again, but I will next time. Unfortunately, one of my calluses came off after my 3rd pull and I had to stop. I didn't have any medical tape on me to wrap it with, and the pressure on it was just to much. I have tape now, though, so I have no doubt that I'll get it next time.

I made my squats at 215lbs, though. I have a bit of a funny story with that however. I went to low on one of them, and wasn't able to stand back up. I ended up having to bail on the weights so it made a lot of noise when they fell off the bar. The guy in the rack next to me helped when he realized that was going on, and two of the employees at the YMCA came down to make sure I was okay. I thought it was pretty funny, though.

The employees suggested that I use the clips, but since I was working alone that wasn't an option. Both I and the guy that helped me explained that since I was working along I -had- to have the option to drop the weight if I needed to. Otherwise I would have been trapped under that bar until I could get someones attention.

I ended up doing that set again and finishing it, though. I haven't decided if I will go up next time or not since I did have that mishap. We shall see Saturday. I also missed my overhead press, so I'm going to drop some of the weight from that. I am not excited about it, but sometimes there is no choice. As long as I am, in general, making forward progression then I'm happy.

Today, unfortunately, we will not be going to train. There are a couple of reasons for this and they both stem from various parts being in a bit more pain then they should be. We're going to take the extra day to rest and recover. It shouldn't be an issue for us to get in there Saturday, though.

A Few Resets

We have decided to reset a few things. Our bench presses were not low enough, and I'm going to have to roll back my squats a bit further then 225. It's going to be about 215, maybe a touch lower then that. So I'm not really adding anything so far as my numbers go. I was able to increase my Power Clean, though, to 70 lbs. I did that 3 times per set for 5 sets. My bench is at 100, though, I'm sure of that.

Basically we made a few mistakes and we have to go back and fix them. It's all part of the learning process. As annoyed as we are with having to reset anything, we would much rather have very strong forms for our lifts then have to fix everything when we are supposedly at 300 and 400 lbs. So, if it means that we have a bit of a set back, then so be it.

That's really just about all that I have to say at the on this. We'll get where we want to be, it's just going to take some work. Everything worth doing takes a lot of work, though.

Training Today

This is not going to be a long post. There isn't really much to talk about today as my training...really didn't happen. Now, I was suppose to train yesterday, but I was under the weather and did not want to risk getting sick and having to rush to the bathroom while trying to squat. I did go to the YMCA today, but it still didn't really go well.

We recently got an app called Deep Squatter on one of our androids, so I tried to use that to make sure that I was getting parallel. Unfortunately, I can't seem to get it to work. It took a bit longer to get through my squats because I was fiddling with it trying to get the phone positioned right before I finally just gave up and went off how it felt along. I do think that I got parallel on my 2nd and 3rd set, but I'm going to do 225 again before I allow myself to increase the weight to be absolutely certain.

The rest of my training is the part that did not happen. I had finished my warm ups for my bench when my husband called and I had to leave. So, unfortunately, I wont get to finish those today. I'll get them Saturday, though.

Rampant Transphobia

One thing that I want to cover is what the HRC had done recently. When you are supposedly advocating for the equal rights of the LGBT community, then you really should include all parts of said community. Asking that the Transgender flag be taken down during a rally for equal marriage rights under the pretense that it doesn't affect Transgender people is a flimsy excuse at best. I agree with Transition Transmission that the HRC owes the Transgender community an apology.

Of course, I suppose this shouldn't be much of a surprise. the HRC often seems to exclude the T from the LGBT community when it comes to 'advocating' for their rights. This really needs to stop. All humans deserve the same rights. All humans deserve to marry whoever they wish to marry. It doesn't matter if they are the same sex or not. It doesn't matter if one or both parties are Transgender. If you are going to advocate for one of them, you need to advocate for all of them.

To make things worse the new Arizona Bill actually puts transwomen in danger. Even if they have considered this they clearly do not care. Discomfort of someone that is 'normal' in their eyes is more important then the safety of someone that is not. That's really all it seems to boil down to from an outsiders perspective.

Then there is this gem; "I don't believe that the opposing side should be able to impost their views on others," said Nohl Rosen, a Phoenix small business owner. "The way I feel, this is just the liberal left forcing their views on the rest of us." Someone doesn't seem to understand that everything they just stated actually applies to what they just said. Especially if you were to replace liberal left with conservative right.

It seems that for every step forward we take two back socially. One day we may see healthy changes in our laws, and our politicians views. I doubt that will be any time soon, though.

A Frustrating Day

Well, if would figure that the week I start my blog my training takes a bit of a dive. There is something else going on, though. Likely a lack of protein or calories. So I'll have to watch my food intake a bit more closely then I have the past few days. I also need to make sure I drink my protein shake every day.

Anyway, my training was a bit of a bust. I squatted 225 again, even though I had intended to go up to 230. Unfortunately, I did not notice this until after my second set. By that point it was to late and it's unlikely that I would have been able to do 3 sets at 230. I just stuck with it. If nothing else it will help make sure my depth is good.

I also missed my overhead press again. I don't know why I missed. I was close to making it last time and that usually means that I can make it the next time I do my sets. Then, when I got to my deads, I couldn't pull the 260 I was suppose to do today. The last two are why I think it's an issue with protein or calories. I slept well last night and, so far as I am aware, I got the full 8 hours.

I am not going to let it discourage me, though. I'll get it next time. I just have to make a few adjustments to my diet. Wednesday is going to be Squats, Bench, and Power Cleans. I'll make a post for sure about that day and how it goes.

Actually, we probably are going to stay at 225 until we are sure we have our depth before we move on. So I may stay there for a few days before I go up to 230. We'll see how long that takes, hopefully just a couple of days.