Enter Planet Cybertron

Training Logs
1

Hello everyone. I’m not really new to T Nation, more so just new to actually signing up and saying hello. I’ve sat and read almost every single article on T Nation. And I’m happy that I have a very reliable source of info when it comes to body building. I’m currently in college studying to be a Hematologist, and an aspiring powerlifter. Most people refer to me as a black sheep, or a flower child. I’m kind of just always relaxing in my mind, and doing my best to see results from the effort I put in, or hugging trees, or doing something weird and random. I am a recovered Bulimic, after struggling for 14 years. And I’m glad I decided to delve into a realm that developes a woman’s body into something similar to a female Cyborg lol. I suppose I could share my stats.
Age: 21
Height: 5’ .25"
African American
Female
Is afraid of spiders

Back squat: 300 ( 300 is my PR, but there are the occasional days where I just don’t have the energy to go that heavy. On a smith machine however I can go well into 320-325, but I know some people despise the existence of the smith machine and call it cheating)

Leg press: 650 ( I feel like pretty much every man can leg press well over that so it’s nothing to be impressed with)

Bench press: 140 (pathetic I know)

Deadlift: 200 ( I wish this number was higher)

As you can see my lower body is a hell of a lot stronger than my upper body. My bench press is dragging along at a measly 140. And as you can see in my profile picture, my quads are rather overdeveloped. I’ve taken this as a cool genetic mix n match to strengthen my weak spots. I’m always wanting to start The popular Olympic lifts, and I will, but for now I’m just tackling everything in order so I don’t become overwhelmed with everything.

I currently cannot do a SINGLE pull up. Nope. Can’t do more than two dips without flopping and flailing around. I suck at sprinting, I can only run for about 3 solid minutes. So there’s TONS for me to work on, and I have an urge to always want to do my heavy lifts only. Nothing else, but I realize I have to do a variety of things to be well rounded fitness wise, hence that’s why I’ve started this journey. I’ll keep up with this log and post pics and videos when I can or if I ever get someone to come and snap a few of me in action.

I have slowly incorporated pump work, loaded carries, sets to failure, and drop sets into my workouts. Nothing intense just yet, just slowly melding these practices with my super heavy lifting. And I find things to always be a challenge and I think that’s why I’ve come so far and made so much progress. I’ve been body building for almost a year and I’m super glad I made the choice to back in December of '15.

I’m REALLY into Transformers. I think they’re awesome characters, and I’ve read too many comics to even count. And one of my goals is to look like i just might be a Cyborg lol. lots of muscle, and complex curves that make people think there just might be tons of hard wiring, and chrome, and flashing lights underneath all that muscle lol. I’m rather nerdy and am always reading stuff. Topics from cooking to Research on the latest medical technology, all read it all. I’m particularly goofy, and always catch myself smiling even if I’ve had a crap day.

Uhhh…my favorite food is tied between Beignets and perfectly sautéed onions lol.

But that’s pretty much my intro. I look forward to becoming apart of this T Nation family. And I hope you guys feel free to talk to me, ask me anything, and can even become internet friends. Or friends in real life.

3 Likes
2

Welcome! Planning to compete any time soon?

3

I would like to, However in the deep, dark, depths of my mind, I’m always thinking of how I’m not ready, or something could be better, I need a coach and don’t have one, I don’t know what the competition environment is like, money expenses, etc. BUT amidst all those things I will tackle them all one step at a time. It probably won’t happen this year, but by the late part of 2017, I plan to step foot into a powerlifting competition. Most likely during the summer, when I’m off for vacation from classes. And if it takes longer then so be it. I’m flooded with info half the time, so I usually am just sorting things out so I actually DO or try them to see if they benefit me. And thank you for the welcoming :slight_smile:

4

No problem. The best thing I did for my powerlifting “career” is to get that experience by getting the first meet out of the way. I reached out to a local legend in the sport who was willing to help me prepare for next to nothing. But even if you don’t get a coach, plan to do a meet at some point. If you are serious about lifting and competing it will give you a whole new perspective on preparation and passion for the sport. Best of luck :slight_smile:

5

Thank you for your words of wisdom and input :blush:. And I can feel it too, once I see and am around other folks from life all doing this…I’m sure it’ll give me that much more leverage in my journey.

1 Like
6

You’re ready

Something could always be better

You don’t really, powerlifting isn’t rocket science (or haematology); especially if you’re prepared to commit to doing the one percenters like sticking to the program you pick, turning up and doing the important, boring work.

Exhilarating, supportive and marginally overwhelming but nowhere near as scary as unracking a squat PR.

That’s kind of up to you in terms of what/how much kit you decide is necessary and where you compete.

You’ll be fine. Pick a meet in the first quarter of 2017, pick a program to prep, set out your training and go for it.

We’re a pretty supportive bunch here, and we kind of know what we’re talking about on occasion.

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7

Well I just want to say thank you for breaking everything down so flawlessly. I believe I can deal with overwhelming, shoot finals are overwhelming and I’ve been taking nearly four finals every 5 months lol. Never thought about powerlifting so simple like that before. As far as where I’ll compete I suppose I’ll stay in Texas for the time being, and since you stated monetary expenses are dependent upon myself I don’t see why I won’t show up to my first meet next year. Once I get my feet wet I’m sure I’ll go meets all over the country. Thank you Mark for giving me the shove of courage :grin: May I ask if you enjoy this type of sport?

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Wouldn’t do it if I didn’t. It suits my personality, and I seem to be reasonably physically suited to it as well.

9

IN! Looks like you already have a really nice back squat - 300 pounds is no joke!

Regarding “there’s TONS for me to work on…” For sure! That’s what makes this so much fun.

Your 5’ .25" height made me smile. I always say, “I’m not quite 5’2”! Haha!

Welcome!

10

LOG #2:

Today was rather regular. I didn’t put on any additional weights to my lifts just yet. I just focused on mind muscle activation. Squat: 305, dead: went down to 180 so I could focus on my grip. Bench: 140, squeezed out three perfect ones. For these I kept the rep range to 7. I just picked 7. Most of the time I stay with 4-6.

After I got my heavy stuff out of the way I did a “run the rack” version for all my lifts, and three in some 35 and 40 pound laying dumbell chest presses, and Arnold hammers. Slowly descending down to nothing but the bar. Each lift descending in increments like this: 35-30-25-20-15, etc etc. and for the dumbell exercises I went down until I was at the measly 5 pounders. The 40 and 35ers only got 10 reps, and everything else descended like my lifts did. took me an hour and 25 mins to finish my workouts. Which isn’t bad on account of the fact that I was trying to amp up intensity.

After that I cooled down and did some leisurely swimming. Mainly just doggy paddling around and say in the hot tub to relax and unwind. And then took a brisk walk home.

Pre workout was my usual C4 mix, and drank a little in between my sessions.

Post workout shake consisting of muscle milk, and lean body mixed together. Nothing amazingly Ming boggling.

Post workout meal was 3 cups of rice
Half a bag of grapes
Entire bag of frozen cauliflower
2/4 block of cheddar cheese
3 medium sized burger patties
1 chicken breast
Glass of milk
Few sips of OJ

Added up it was roughly 110 grams of protein, and I don’t really care how many carbs or calories it contained at the moment however I’m sure it’s a lot but I need however muc I can get.

Right now I’m at home finished showering and am going to lay in bed for the rest of the day and let this pre workout mix slowly leave my body because I’m still wired up.

11

Yea that question seemed stupid, but I’d figured I would ask. I’ve come across who compete but don’t seem to like it, same with some coaches I’ve met.

12

Thank you for the warm welcome Mrs. power puff. Thank you for the compliment too. And I’ve always caught myself saying " im 5 feet-ish", and someone always gets a little giggle out of it lol. As far as tons of work goes, I’m still shoveling out the perfectionist mindset that I’ve engrained into my head when it comes to lifting. Sure it’s helped me excel in college, but lifting is totally different and I’m just working out the kinks to where I keep the healthy balance between the two.

13

How is your ability to get tight? The MMC is arguably a lot more important in bodybuilding than powerlifting compared to the ability to generate tension from toe to head. Given you’ve got a decent squat you’re obviously able to do that to an extent, I’m just asking because I figure you’ll probably get more out of an improved ability to get tight AF than feel every muscle.

14

I mainly make myself do this when squatting. When I get down at the very bottom of my squat, I used to catch myself struggling to get up, so today I tried my best to get my glutes to stiffen as much as I possible could without becoming wobbly. I would say I’m okay with my ability to get tight and remain tight on squatting, but for my deadlift I’m struggling to lock out my arms completely, and I’m struggling to tighten my arms on my bench press. For benching my chest tightens nicely but my arms still do the the whole jelly wobble thing.

15

Pause squats. Maybe 5x3x65-75% after your regular squats (which is pretty much 531 FSL). Without video it’s hard to determine what the cause of the struggle is. Whatever it is though, pause squats will help.

From the get go? Worth fixing if only to protect your biceps, not to mention you leak energy with bent arms. If it’s your underhand gripping arm that doesn’t lock, try gripping your under hand about a half inch wide than your overhand. Also play with bending the bar around your shins, although that’s more an upper back tightener.

Are you locking your scapulae down? That’ll also push your chest up and shorten the stroke. The cue I often hear is put your scaps in your back pockets. Also pull the bar apart, or try bending it. I prefer the pull apart because bending it makes me over tuck my elbows. Push your upper back into the bench too. That, and squeeze the bejeezus out of the bar.

16

Sorry it took so long for me to reply, I’m only allowed a certain number of posts since I’m still new . I do apologize for not being able to upload any videos at the moment. I don’t even know how to upload pictures yet and I’m not sure if I have permission to since I’m new. However I can try to describe what I mean. Right as I get down to the bottom my knees kind of move back and forth. That’s really what happens on occasion. And yes that’s exactly what my underhand does so I’ll def. play around with that Thursday. And for the bench press, can you describe that a bit more in detail? I mainly just want to picture my scaps in my back pocket lol. However I will try pulling the bar apart and gripping the life out of it. Most def.

17

That could be a number of things, and I’m no expert. My best guesses from your description would be:

a) weak quads, which is possible but seems less likely given your quads aren’t exactly tiny; or

b) your stance width, which I think is more likely. Either you’re too narrow and you’re simply weaker in that position regardless of quad strength so your knees are all over the place, or you’re too wide and not able to push your knees out that much. Foot angle may also play a part. I have my feet around 45 degrees and a main cue for me is pushing my knees out and floor apart with my feet.

Push your sternum up. Feel that in your upper back? Now push your sternum up by pulling your scaps together and down. Now do that lying on a bench. Pulling the bar apart just enhances your ability to do that. To keep that locked in when the bar is moving up, focus on pushing your upper back into the bench (or pushing the bench away into the floor with your upper back, whichever description works better for you, or pushing yourself into the bench away from the bar).

18

Hard to diagnose without a video but it sounds like you may have a hard time forcing your knees outward during your descent and keeping them outside your toes. Do you squat with a wide stance or a close stance? I squat semi-wide and if I don’t concentrate on tracking my knees outward and “showing my crotch” during the descent my knees will try to buckle inward when I hit the hole and reverse direction.

1 Like
19

Yea I’m thinking I have to reposition myself. However I already squat wide, but squatting narrow means I can’t get to the depth I would like. And okay that makes more sense to push out the sternum

20

I squat with a wide stance. Although I don’t spread the floor apart as a cue which I think I’ll try like Mark suggested.