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.