Whew! Checking in to say hi and record some stuff. I’m still planning on the meet in Colorado Springs on the 30th, although I missed the regular deadline and now it will cost more. I got the Snapper singlet, so I know everything will go well
I’m on week three of the simple strength and still feeling pretty good about the accessory work attacking my core front and back. I’ve moved to sumo deads, albeit at only 135 lbs, but I feel like I could go quite a bit more on those so I think I might make the jump from conventional. Started glute activation work just this week and I’m pretty sure my butt is higher. If this translates to better squatting and deadlifting I’m a happy girl.
today was squats and I went very very deep but didn’t shoulder much weight. I discovered the lowest few inches are irrelevant and the sticking point is higher than I thought. I may have figured out a way to do partial glute-hams on the seated leg curl machine.
Yesterday, I LOVED lockout bench day again. Who would have thought? I thought lockouts were stupid at first, but what I learned was how to stabilize my back when there is a lot more weight in my hands. I started broadening my back for the lift. (hi sbmartie) Very happy.
[quote]arachne12 wrote:
what I learned was how to stabilize my back when there is a lot more weight in my hands. I started broadening my back for the lift. [/quote]
You mentioned this the other day. And I got to thinking. I don’t understand what you’re saying. What I’ve been taught is to drop my shoulders and squeeze my shoulder blades together, which actually minimizes the amount of my upper back that is contacting the bench. Broadening your back seems like the opposite, like spreading the lats. How do you stay tight like that?
snap, when the weight is heavier, I found I was rolling to one side or the other rather than being stable on the bench. You are right, I am spreading my lats a bit, but I am also dropping my shoulders and tightening my core. I’ll show you next time we work out and you can see if I’m on the right track. fwiw I am feeling stronger and more stable at about 90% rm on several of my lifts from using this program.
Hi everybody! Well, the meet was excellent but I have no video. eyes George as if this is his fault I forgot to bring a camera. Oh well. You can see me lurking in the background of snap’s vids.
Snapper, as you know, killed it and is a joy to hang with. I went to this meet determined only to beat my total at the first meet in March (177.5 kg). As she told you all, this meet just flew by, being only teens and women with the men to lift Sunday. Wearing a borrowed singlet from the snap and my new piratey kneesocks, I looked quite stylish. I brought a lot of good food and some zone bars. Note to self, skip those next time!
I opened the squat with 45 kg which was pretty close to my warmup. It was good! Second attempt at 50 kg also good! So I said what the hell and put in for 60 for the third attempt.
New squat PR at 60 kilos (132 lbs)! I’m still buzzing about it! And it didn’t even feel like the best I could do. Yay!
I was feeling good during my bench warmup so I increased my opener from 37.5 kg to 40. I was thinking about form and arch and tightness as I grabbed the bar for my first bench attempt and uhoh forgot to wait for commands. Completely. Forgot. I retried the lift at 40 kg and it went fine. 42.5 kg was a total ratcheting mess at the last meet and this time it went up at a snail’s pace, but without any ratcheting. Now I feel like I deserve that weight. I can’t believe they let me have it last time. Total so far: 102.5
Heading out for the deadlift attempt at 75 I felt just fine. I decided to stay conventional even though lately I’ve been liking the sumo. It came up fine which meant I equaled last meet’s total. Second deadlift at 85 I thought should have been easier. It came up sloooooow. Meet total now at 187.5 so I could have gone home happy, but I put in for 90 and decided to switch to sumo. It wouldn’t come up. I don’t think I put nearly enough time into set up.
Got my medal for masters whatever b (IIB?) and pictures with all the lifting women. I’m still excited at finally moving my squat up and maybe I can get that bench to budge in the next month.
Much appreciation for snapper coach who couldn’t resist mumbling form tips to me every so often as he walked by.
I’m hooked, people! I’m looking at the push/pull meet in October. I’d like to see you locals there.
:)!
Miss Spider: You did awesome and are great company as well. Your third squat was a great accomplishment and must have you feeling as high as a kite, it being a PR and all.
Here’s a photo of most of the lifters from the meet, with Ms. Spider being third from the right and me being second from the right. One of the strange things about this meet was that the female lifters were all so tiny. One girl in the 105s, Miss Spider and I in the 114s, four in the 123s, and one in the 132s. From my experience, that is unusual.
