Sunday, June 2, 2013

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.

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