Seriously, It's September?!

End of Week Training Update
Bench went well on Thursday, i was really happy with this session. The plan called for 5 x 5 @ 110. I went in thinking I'd pause sets 1, 3, and 5, and go touch&go on 2 and 4. I quickly changed my mind on that ;)

Bench - 5 x 5(ish) @ 110

Make a video - it's fun, easy and free!
www.onetruemedia.com

Happy with a good pause on at least the first 3 reps of sets 1 - 4.
On sets 4 and 5 the spot I got was just the tiiiiiniest bit of assistance through the sticking point, then hands off again.

Next week, I'll advance set one to 112 and go for all paused reps, then go back to 110 for the other 4 sets since I'm not quite ready to move on yet.

On to squats! Up to 135 for 5 x 5 on squats and they felt easier and better than ever. I do have one set on video but it's not so helpful so we'll skip it today. RC commented that it was my best squat session so far, that's promising, since squat is his thang. I did well keeping my elbows down and breathing through the squat...I'm excited to see where I can take this the next few weeks!

I've also identified a tremendous strength difference between my right and left quad. My right knee is the one that's frequently messed up, so maybe that explains the difference, but it is VERY pronounced. I'll be spending the next several weeks also trying to correct that.


On Another Front
Mentally struggling a bit with the food/weight thing this week. That's probably an understatement, but...I'm still trying to sort through it all and also I made an agreement with myself today, that the freaking out could resume if I still felt like a crazy person on TUESDAY. Until then...we're trying to chill out over here, and trying not to over-react and make any drastic changes. This morning (before the agreement with myself), I almost called Christie in a panic, but I calmed down and will just leave my already scheduled appointment where it is (9/14). I have to learn to deal with this. I guess that's progress...it is for the next few days anyway!

And Another One
Not a lot of news to share on the job front...a few leads, but nothing of substance, and no interviews...yet!

Training & Meet Updates

I've printed out my entry form for the Treasure Coast Classic meet at the end of August, I'll mail it in tomorrow (deadline is 7/28). I'm getting super psyched up the closer that gets!

I also got a very exciting call last night and an email this morning from my friend Brandi - she's going to fly down here for my full power meet in November, stay the week on vacation, and then we're going to drive up to Savannah the following weekend for her Olympic Weightlifting meet. (Roadtrip + girls weekend + lifting) x 2 = Awwwwwesoooome, hahahah ;)

So on Friday I had a very special guest with me at my gym - Raphael was my training partner for the day and we did legs.

It was pretty excellent having a partner, I definitely pushed myself hard (lots to live up to, hahah ;) and got a fantastic workout - it felt GREAT, until yesterday, hahah. Yesterday the sore had probably crossed the line into "a little too much"

My working sets were 5 x 125, 5 x 135 and a last set of 5+ at 150. I got 12...
Several ugly reps in there at the end but I was super happy with this set overall. One day I'm gonna get a fully clean set, all good reps that feel smooth and right!

Squat 150 x 12


RC did some pretty awesome looking sets...I think he ended up with something insane like 210 x 12 (really it might have been 15, I can't remember - but umm..either way, insanity), 220 x 10 and 230 x 8 or 10! Ahhh one day. He has excellent form (of course), he makes it look easy! I noticed he squats with a slightly closer stance than I do, and he stays better/more upright. His elbows are also more perpendicular to the bar than mine are. We're speculating as to whether my elbows being a little more behind the bar may be causing me to pancake over a little bit. Ahh...one day I fully plan on owning this lift :)

Today was Press day. I fully believe that my legs held me back today, they weren't fully recovered. Not sure if you can see it in the video (ahh, yup - you can) my legs were shaking like crazy during my last set. Overall I had a really great workout, but this set of presses could be a lot better. My first two sets were for 3 at 64 and 68 pounds. I tried a slightly wider grip on those, and found it really awkward. I brought it in a little for the last set (probably too narrow), 3+ at 72. I wanted 8 or 9, I ended up with 7 but there was nothin' left in there really. I'll have more weeks. I did try to take Myles' advice on the breathing and leaning back on the bar descent...still, a lot of room to improve on technique. I kinda felt a little all over the place with these today...don't use these as a "good" example, LOL:

BB Press 72 x 7


RC will be joining me again tomorrow for deadlift day. Tomorrow is a bit of a backoff week, not going for any max sets, which is good given last week and that my legs are STILL feelin' it from Friday. Next week I go for some singles again, so I need to save it. Should be fun :)

All in all - good stuff!

Work wise...still no word on anything. I feel good though, something is coming my way :)

More Fun with Squats

Squat day is really turning around, I like it so much *better* when I feel like I have SOME clue as to what I'm doing! Wow, what a difference.

Today was leg day, focus on squat :) HUGE squat PR, really HUGE. I've never broken the 200lb calculated 1RM, I KILLED it today...213! What?! Vid to follow workout...

Squats
3 x 130
3 x 140
3+ x 150 ... 12!
(former PR was the week I "learned to squat") I got 10, prior to that it was 9. HUGE yeah!

Deficit Deadlifts
10 x 135, 155, 175

RDLs
10 x 175

Hack Squats
10 x 140, 150, 160
15 x 90

Leg Press
(one-leg) 8/leg @ 70
10, 10, 8 x 230

Seated Curls
10 x 50, 65, 80

DB Walking Lunges
1 x 22 @ 25

Standing Calf Raises
4 x 12 @ 150

DB Walking Lunges
1 x 22 @ 25

Machine Hip Adduction
3 x 10 @ 160

DB Bench Step-ups
2 x 15 @ 25

Leg Extensions
3 x x @ 90

FB Hamstring Roll-ins
2 x 20

Sunglasses trainer guy complimented my legs today, which took me by surprise. Definitely not something I'm used to hearing, something I know that's taking shape but hadn't thought of anywhere near THERE! Though he also gave me his phone number..hahah ;)

Ok the squats!
Totally lost it with reps 6 and 7, fought hard to get it back on 8. I think I did but it zapped me and the rest were a struggle!

No head looking all over this time (up/down, up/down, wash-rinse-repeat), tried to stay very focused/conscious of that. I don't think they were as nice as that first time it all clicked, but...clear, clear progress! Practice practice practice... :)

So here they are...150 x 12 !

Ego Out

Today was Squat day again. After last week, I felt really good about where my squats were at, so I wanted to see if that would hold if I went a little heavier. So I pulled out old cycle 1/wk 1 of 5-3-1 and went for 5 @ 140 and 150, and 5+ @ 160.

Mmm...not so much. I'm not even going to post them here, they're just not good. So ego out, gotta just really master and nail the form lighter...I think 140 is max for a while and I'll spend more of my time around 125 - 135 and progress it more slowly than 5-3-1 calls for.

Here's the whole workout:

Squats
5 x 140
5 x 150
5+ x 160 - 5
135 x 8

RDLs
10 x 135, 165, 175

Here's the 175 set:


Hack Squats
10 x 130, 140, 150
15 x 90

Lying Leg Curls
10, 10, 8 @ 30

Inverted Leg Press
12 @ 150
2 x 10 @ 180

BB (same leg) Lunges
10/leg @ 85

BB (alt leg) Lunges
10/leg @ 75

Good Mornings
2 x 15 @ bar

Machine Hip Adductor
3 x 10 @ 160

DB Bench Step-ups
2 x 20/leg @ 20

Leg Extensions (Drop set)
95 x 13, 80 x 7, 65 x 6, 50 x 6, 35 x 5, 20 x 13

FB Hamstring Roll
2 x 20

Legs are changing, growing - definitely stronger even though I'm not seeing that translate yet to my squat.

Tomorrow is Chest/back/abs (bench) day again. Gotta figure out how to do the BB Floor presses at the power rack as Myles recommended, and will try to video the chin-ups. Chin-ups! Exciting :)

Squatting More Solid

FABULOUS, just FABULOUS workout today. Really incredible, I think there are changes goin' on down there, feeling stronger for sure, feeling more confident too I think. High volume today, legs are gonna be SORE tomorrow! Squat weight is relatively light (mainly around 70% with some short excursions closer to 80%) so I'm not overly concerned that I'm doing too much in that department.

Without further blah blahing...

Squat
10 x bar
8 x 70
6 x 95
5 x 115
4 x 8 @ 125
(set 4, still too wide but not bad - 125 x 8)


1 x 8 @ 135

(last few reps bleh, but let's cut me some slack considering the previous 60+ squats - I think these are like head and shoulders above some others and they felt FANTASTIC - I felt strong and at ease with this stance, *slightly* more narrow, head up but not UP UP, and eyes forward.)

RDLs
10 x 135, 165, 175(8)

Here's the the 165 set:


Hack Squats
10 x 120, 130, 140, 90

Lying Leg Curls 3 x 12 @ 20

BB (same leg) Lunges 1 x 10/leg @ 80
BB (alt leg) Lunges 1 x 20 @ 75

Good Mornings 1 x 15 @ bar

Standing Calves 4 x 8 @ 150

Machine Hip Adduction 3 x 12 @ 155

Leg Extensions (Drop! Ow!)
80 x 18
65 x 15
50 x 14
35 x 20
20 x 20

DB (same leg) Bench Step-ups 2 x 20/leg @ 20

Still feeling good, added a little extra protein earlier in the day and that seems to have done the trick. Little tired, but I'm fighting the dreaded TOM migraine so I think that's why. Bed soon, that should help the head.

Bench tomorrow - YEAH!

Silent Squatter

Gonna go kinda quiet on the squats for a while. In watching video after video over and over again, I think what I see is that my form is good to start and as I progress to heavier sets, it begins to decline. As the weight gets heavier, I start to do weird shit to compensate for the strength just not being where it should be...which works for a while, until it gets REALLY heavy, and then I just fail. Given where I started, I think his makes some sense. I'd been afraid for a long time to *really* work my lower body due to a number of knee injuries/issues over the years, most stemming from being so overweight for so long. I was afraid to squat, lunge, etc even just body weight. I only just *learned* to back squat a little over a year ago. The fear, probably unfounded, but true nevertheless. So I'm going to continue to squat, progress the weight a bit more slowly than I have been, and continue to work my legs hard - strengthening quads, adductors, hammies, glutes, calves. Also, I'll continue with the ab work I've been doing, and maybe hit'em a second time each week.

I felt great again today - ton of energy to power through my workout, really focused.

DB Chest Press
8 x 30
6 x 35
6 x 40
5, 5, 4, 4 @ 45

BB Rows
4 x 15 @ 65

BB Overhead Press
12 x bar
10 x 50
8 x 55
6 x 60

DB Lateral Raises 2 x 12 @ 15
EZ Curl Lying Triceps Ext 4 x 10 @ 30
Cable Reverse Grip Tricep Pressdowns 2 x 12 @ 60
DB Preacher Curls 2 x 12 @ 20
DB Incline Curls 2 x 8 @ 15
Wtd Situps 2 x 20 @ 10
Bicycle 1 x 50 (25/side)
Leg Raises 1 x 20
Plank 1 x 75 secs

SS Cardio - 30 mins

Rogue Squatting

So with the new shoes, I wanted to try EVERYTHING all over again - experiment city :) First I'll just put the workout down and the vids, then tawwwk about it!

Squat
10 x bar
6 x 70
3 x 95
5 x 125 -(head up/chin up)
5 x 125 -(eyes down)

5 x 135 -(eyes down)


5 x 145 -(head up/chin up)


15 x 125 -(close stance, neutral head/chin, eyes downish)


RDLs
10 x 135
10 x 165
6 x 185 (blah!)
10 x 135

Hack Squats 10 x 110, 120, 130, 90

Lying Leg Curls (the jacked up way) 10, 10, 8, 8 @ 20

DB Walking Lunges 1 x 30 steps @ 25

Free Motion Calves - 15, 15, 12, 12 @ 120

DB Walking Lunges 1 x 30 steps @ 25

Good Mornings 2 x 12 @ bar

Leg Extensions 2 x 15 @ 70

Hip Adduction 2 x 12 @ 155, 12 @ 145

DB Bench Step-ups (same side leg) 30/leg @ 20lbs, 20/leg @ 20lbs

Power Step-ups @ BW - 2 minutes

Squattage review :)
I thought both sets of 5 x 125 looked pretty good.
I thought 135 looked pretty damn good too, except last rep.
I thought 145 looked looked good as far as the knees staying forward, but neigher the shoes nor the head up/chin-up/attempt at chest up helped with keeping my chest UP...still pancaking, gah.

On the other hand, at least we know that the pancaking and the knees thing are unrelated. One step at a time?

I think the head up position just feels better so I'm going to continue to roll with it (no more experimentation), and work on staying totally focused...plant myself in position, focus, squat. I seem to look around a lot ;) Wandering eyes? hmmmm....

Great workout, felt really accomplished when I was done, and like I've been really getting some good work on my quads, I think they growed ;) Pretty wiped out tonight though...early to bed I think!

Rogue!

Hah! So exciting :)

My new shoes came today, just in time for squat day tomorrow! They are so nerdy and cute at the same time...rogue = vogue? ;) hahah...ok ready for the full-on fabulousness of this purchase??

From 2010-03-01

I laced them up and tried them on and they fit perfectly. And WOW were they stable?! Awesome feel, I'm really excited to try them out tomorrow.

Updates tomorrow!

Tuesday: SQUAT!

Hahah...not that I did squat (as in diddly), but that today was SQUAT day! I'm really not so sure anyone else is quite as entertained as I am by that word lately ;)

PROGRESS! I think :) My notes going into my workout this morning said, "SQUAT - wider stance, higher bar, torsoe/head/chin UP, ass OUT, knees OUT"

Those were the goals of my training today, really wanted to try to get a good feel for this form, and I think it was a good thing. At least it *felt* more comfortable. Tough to compare strength, I think right now I'm not as strong (fewer reps, lower weight - started low since experimenting :) but I think that I will progress quickly as I work with this form a bit longer and continue to focus on better strengthening my quads and adductors. There are exceptions, there are some REALLY BAD reps, but there are more good than bad overall, and the bad are towards the end of the heavier sets as I tire. Not only that, but this just FEELS more natural to me, which will be a big boost in confidence which can ONLY help my performance :)

Without further delay....dere it is:

Squats
Warm-up sets then

10 x 95

From February 23

3 x 115

3 x 135

From February 23

6 x 145

From February 23

8 x 135

From February 23

RDLs
10 x 135 165, 165
A lot of *thinking* going on in these sets...needs to become more natural and instinctual.

Set 1 135 x 10 (with wrong shoes and clunky all around)

From February 23

Set 2 165 x 10

Set 3 165 x 10 (again)

From February 23

Hack Squats (these are getting easier) 3 x 10 @ 110

Lying Leg Curls * 3 x 10 @ 20 (crazy hard this way and I'm still not 100% on execution here)

BB Split Squats 12/leg @ bar, 10/leg @ 65

Good Mornings 2 x 15 @ bar

Leg Extensions 3 x 15 @ 70 (quiver!)

Hip Adduction 12 @ 150, 12 @ 155

Standing Calves 135 x 10, 10, 10, 8

DB Bench Step-ups (Waaaaay harder than Freemotion Cable Step-ups - higher I think ;) 20/leg @ 20, 20/leg @ 10

Good stuff, this felt fantastic :)

Friday's (non-crippling, yay!) Workout

GREAT workout on Friday, surprising given my sleep the 2 nights prior.  Wednesday night I was at work (in the office) until 10pm, didn't really get to bed until a little after 11 and slept terribly.  Softball season started again on Thursday and we started the season with an 8:45 game.  Apparently there are no 9:45 games this time around (thank god), but that just means there's nothing to force the 8:45 game to end!  We didn't finish until 10:15 or so, so Thursday night again it was 11:30 until I got to bed, followed by another restless night of sleep.   I also ate poorly on Thursday - the whole day was just off and I was pretty low on calories. 

Despite all that, I did wake up feeling pretty good on Friday! Scratch that, i woke up with a huge smile on my face, feeling fantastic. It was COLD out Fri morning, so I got all dressed up in my best ninja gear, and hit the gym ;) 

Started off with some warm-up sets, then got into it as follows:

Sumo Work Sets (repeat of last week's rep/wt scheme)
5 x 205
5 x 220

5+ x 235


That's 13, 2 more than last week. Clangy, nearly bounced myself right outta view ;)
Back continues to round as I progress through. If I had to I could have cranked out maybe 2 more there.

Front Squats 3 x 8 @ 95
(3rd Set Front Squats, 8 @ 95)


Watching the front squats, I do think it's worth giving the back squat a solid try with a higher bar position and more vertical torso, chin up. Just looking at the form on those, it looks much cleaner (of course it's much lighter, I should video a set of back squats with 95 before I say too much more hahah ;) We'll see how things go with that. I'm also going to put a lot of emphasis on just building quad and adductor strength the next few weeks, even if it means leg extensions and plie squats ;)

Good Morning 2 x 15 @ bar

Plie Squats 2 x 15 @ bar


First time trying with a barbell, so no weight. Will experiment with some light weight going forward.

Hammer High Rows 3 x 10 @ 120 (stopped at 8, last two sets)
Pull Throughs 3 x 10 @ 100
BB Walking Lunges* 1 x 26(total steps) @ 40
Freemotion Seated Calves 4 x 12 @ 120 (12/12/15/15)
BB Walking Lunges 1 x 26 @ 40
Leg Extensions 3 x 15 @ 70
Back Extensions 12 @ 10lbs, 12 @ 25lbs

* BB Walking Lunges - I've always used dumbbells for these, so I wanted to give it a try with the BB. Felt awkward about taking up so much WIDTH trying this with a regular barbell, so I opted for the pre-weighted ez-curl bars, 40lb bar. The weight was fine, could've easily handled more weight for the exercise itself, the difficulty was positioning the bar on my back. No problem pressing the bar overhead, but lowering it down BEHIND the head was rough, then pressing it back up from that position to take it off my back - dicey, which sort of prohibits using the heavier bars. So either I'm just gonna have to get over using the big long olympic bar (since I can use the rack to position it and get out from under it), OR - stuck with dumbbells. Boo!

Mentally I've been in a superb place. Friday later in the day I started to slow down a little physically, little tired but not bad. And last night I slept like a rock so after rest tomorrow and another good night of sleep, I should be 100% :)

Anyway - I feel fantastic today. Quads are sore, as they should be. But lower back feels great, hammies a little sore but hardly noticeable...hips feel good. Plus you know, I can totally move, bonus ;)

Had a cheat meal out last night - chips and salsa, margarita (on the rocks, with salt please! Nice and warm buzzzz), big ole' cheeseburger and fries. Had dessert after at starbucks, a nice coffee with a reeses peanut butter/chocolate chip cookie. Mmmmm - OMG :) I could still talk about all of it for hours LOL.

The beautiful thing was I felt no trepidation over it - just an enjoyable meal out, without fear :)

Squats, Do Over!

Ok so I repeated the squat programming I did last week, but I'm feeling sort of all over the place with this right now. Part of me feels like I should not try to progress more in weight until I get this "habit" of mine worked out. So while I went with the 5-5-5 (week 1 of 5-3-1) structure, I may abandon it altogether for Squats for a while and pick it up again with Cycle 2 when I get there with bench/deads. I'm not really sure yet...like I said - all over the place.

Since I'm going to work with RC next week one of the things he wanted me to just try was (*ducking for cover*) to let go of the Ripster's form and try going with the head/chin up, higher bar, more vertical method. Well, I tried ;) And while I never had the Ripster's form down perfectly, I don't really have this one down either. I'll call it the Cooth Hybrid form ;)

I also did more warm-ups than usual. Really wanted to make sure my back was good and ready, since uhhh...well she took a bit of a beating last Friday ;)

Set 1 - 120 x 5


Set 2 - 135 x 5


Set 3 - 145 x 10


Rep 5 and 9 on that last set look *different* to me, I THINK...slightly less GM'y. WAAAY shakey there though, hahah...legs quivering, I like it :)

RDLs were next...from Myles on last week's RDLs - need to focus on being tighter on the eccentric and keep the aggressive lock-out on top, so that was my aim today. I also used straps this week on sets 2 and 3 :P

Set 1 - 135 x 10


Set 2 - 165 x 10

Set 3 - 185 x 8


Back got a little rounded out on reps 6, 7 with this set, but I think I pulled it back together for the 8th. I'll be working to PR with min sets of 8 on RDLs.

Success on tighter eccentric, keeping aggressive lockout at top?

Rest of workout:
Hack Squats 90 x 10, 110 x 10, 10
(I feel like these will help me a lot)

Lying Leg Curls (getting form check on this new way): 3 x 10 @ 30 (all 3 sets at 30lbs this week :)
Leg Extensions 3 x 15 @ 65 (all 3 sets at 15 this week, woot!)
Hip Adduction 2 x 15 @ 130
Standing Calves 4 x 12 @ 120
Freemotion Cable Step-ups 1 x 25/leg @ 40 (25 right, then 25 left)
then a second set 1 x 25/leg @ 30 (alternating legs)

And no cardio :)
And new low weight! 135 on the nose :) Whack yo!

Even More Betterer ;)

So resting yesterday was definitely the right choice. Tough decision for me to make despite feeling nearly crippled when I woke up in the morning, because the PLAN said - workout!

But I listened to the crippled me, yay :)

Later on in the day, when I'd moved around a bit, loosened up a little, I started second guessing myself..."oh maybe a little cardio would be fine to help stay loose, get some blood circulating." And while we're being all open and honest - I say all that kind of thing to myself, but what I'm REALLY doing is panicking about my weight ("oh my god I'm going to balloon up if I don't do SOMETHING, let me just do a little, 30 mins won't hurt..." yeah that kind of thing). Nice.

But the little birdie in my head said, "Really Cathy? Really? Cuz you could hardly get out of bed this morning, just chill yo, another day isn't going to kill you. And your weight will be fine"

So true little birdie, so true :) And my weight was fine. In fact, I'm hovering at my lowest since I came back down from July's high...135.6 this AM. With good rest, and no food logging :) I feel like I'm in some sort of support group...I've been "log free" for 8 weeks now...

So I rested all day yesterday, just doing the chores and errands that needed to be done. And today I woke up *totally*functional* Woot! Slept till *5* no less, then got up and went and did 30 mins moderate, SS cardio and a niiiiice looooong stretch session.

Feeling good :)

This week, I'm starting my 5-3-1 cycle over, so repeating squats from last week tomorrow and then I'll go from there. RC agreed to help me with a few sessions in the gym for squats, which I think will be super beneficial for me - really looking forward to that. I'm sure he'll successfully kick my ass while we're at it ;)

Also asked Tara if she'd hook me up with an Abs workout so I could better focus, and work my abs with purpose. I think she's trying to kill me...21 total sets?! Gah. I think I'll stick with 2 sets of what she gave me to start (so, 12 total), and will modify from there :)

The Big Return -Today's Workout (aka "Jello there, legs!")

First day back!  For squats I'm following a plan on a page (oh the irony! no no..time and place for everything...;) and for everything else I sort of went with it and kept it pretty nice and not too intense.  Need to add some more hammies in here, and I think I'm taking out Leg Presses and keeping the Hack Squat going forward, so there's some good room in there for hammie action.  Or I may just leave it as is and hammer hammies more on Friday with deads.  Exercises will swap in and out week to week anyway.  We'll see...still playing around.

So squats...I tried a slightly wider stance on my first set, as one of the first of probably many experiments with squats.  The wider stance felt awkward and unnatural, I think I managed with my first set (5 x 125) but with the next two I don't think I went quite as wide.


Set 1 - 5 x 125

The kicker is I think those look cleaner than the 135 and 145 sets, BUT - the problem does tend to increase/worsen the heavier the weight gets, so it's hard to say.  I need to try a more strict test and make sure I take the wider stance with each progressively heavier set.


135 x 5


145 x 10

I also changed my shoes from the flat ones to one that has some heal for the last set, but I don't think that made any difference whatsoever. Still, they're running shoes with too much cushion. Superbowl funds may go to new appropriate shoes :)

Jefferson squats - first try ever...uhhh...http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rt4igztQ1FI
I think it's best I leave this one alone, particularly since I can't reduce the weight :)
I left them alone after that (smart! hah!) and went and did the Hack Squat - something else I've never done :) 

Sooo...the rest of the workout:

Good Mornings:  2 x 12 @ bar
Hack Squats (Hammer):  3 x 12 @ 90
Leg Press (Inverted):  3 x 10 @ 110
Pull Throughs:  3 x 10 @ 90, 100, 110 (got 10, 10, 8)
Seated Rows (1-arm):  2 x 8/arm @ 45
Hip Adduction: 2 x 15 @ 125
DB Walking Lunges 1 x 24steps @ 25lbs
Standing Calves 2 x 12 @ 105 (toes in), 2 x 12 @ 105 (toes out)
DB Walking Lunges 1 x 24steps @ 25lbs
Cable Step-ups (Free Motion machine) :  1 x 25/leg @ 40lbs

No cardio (go me ;)