So I am POOPED! Lifted tonight and finished with some energy systems work and I am D_E_A_D! Increased weight on all of my exercises… and felt really strong! Decided I need to use straps for my rack pulls b/c their purpose is teach me to bring my hips and get a GOOD 2 second glute squeeze at the top… but my grip starts to give and I am focusing more on holding the weight than squeezing my glutes… so I think I will use straps for at least the last few sets. I am using 265 for 4 sets of 8… and I am pulling from right above my knee… just enough ROM to feel it in my glutes.
I did several other exercises after that… and then finished with DB swings. They went like this:
***DB Swings (finishing w glute squeeze at the top)
8 sets of 10 reps
70 lb DB
30-35 sec rest in between
***Those about killed me! I was exhausted and trembling at the end! My HR was 180+ when I was finished and I was hating my life in between sets! But felt awesome about using the 70 lbs w good form!
Thanks y’all! I surprised myself too! I know I had used 60 lbs at some point… (but thinking back I can’t remember if it was for this set/rep/rest scheme or not…) so anyways I decided to grab the 70… regretted it by set 2 and literally thought, “F*******CK! I wanna go down to 60 lbs… but what would my Powerful Women think???” haha seriously! You guys kept me going! =) These SUCKED bad! I was definitely grunting and cussing my sets number 4… =-/
So I woke up kinda sore today… especially the hammies and glute/ham tie-in. But I am PUMPED… my tanning system came in today! (if you missed me talking about that… you can read about my HEALTHY tanning system here: http://tanningbeds.mercola.com/tanning-beds/standup-tanning-systems.aspx )
My BF didn’t get a chance to set it up today… but he said he would do it tomorrow! Can’t wait! I will let you know how it goes!!!
I did try yoga a couple of times. I can’t remember which ones. I think I’m just not used to slower forms of exercise? I don’t know. I guess its just way out of my norm - I should probably try it a couple of times consistently before I give it the thumbs down, no? Would probably be great for me with all my tightness.
PS Do you feel/suspect that the bodybuilding contest regimes had anything to do with your recent thyroid/other issues? I’ve been watching one of my coworkers do contests, and it’s convinced me that I’ll never do it, nor do I think it’s very healthy. One of my other coworkers used to be anorexic and once she recovered she developed hypothyroid issues.
She has a family histry of them, but feels that they never would have popped up if she hadn’t triggered them.
I did try yoga a couple of times. I can’t remember which ones. I think I’m just not used to slower forms of exercise? I don’t know. I guess its just way out of my norm - I should probably try it a couple of times consistently before I give it the thumbs down, no? Would probably be great for me with all my tightness.[/quote]
Mascherano - if you get a chance you may like to try Ashtanga yoga. It’s extremely fast paced and very athletic, plus you get all of the loose and juicy benefits of the stretching
MMG - I’m going to school for nursing. Hopefully in the O.R. one day.
And 70 lbs?!? GOOD LORD! That’s my girl!!
I, too, am very curious about this tanning bed! Hurry Hatter, hurry!
Yes, Masch. Try Vinyasa or Ashtanga where there’s a lot of flow involved. I did Bikram for awhile but found myself planning my grocery lists in my head. It’s just too static for me.
Amazing work, Molly. I think most of us are in awe with the 70-lb. weight!
Masch - I agree that trying a form of Yoga with more flow should help! The class I did had me sweating and my heart racing like crazy!
Oleena - thanks! And yes… I VERY MUCH suspect my thyroid issues come from competing for several reasons:
It’s OBVIOUS that competing is one of the reasons I have Adrenal Fatigue… and when you Adrenals are not functioning properly and producing hormones optimally… then sometimes your Thyroid works overtime to try and pick up the slack… which can cause problems.
Eating the same foods daily during contest prep can cause food allergies… which in turn makes my body produce antibodies to attack the allergens… and then those antibodies can begins attacking my healthy tissue as well (i.e. my thyroid).
I agree with your friend… I think I am probably predisposed to having these problems… but I think competing kind of “pushed me over the edge…” =-/
Kimba - thanks!!! And he set up my tanning thing for me and it didn’t work =-( It’s defective! I am so annoyed but they are sending me another one! Will let you all know how it goes! =)
Sincity - nursing sounds perfect for you! One of my BFFs works in the OR right now but is REALLY hoping to work in the ER soon… she LOVES blood and guts and what not. She always has disgusting stories to tell me (I am SQUEAMISH!)
Snap - THANKS! I was pretty proud of it! However, I think I may go back down to 60 and make sure my form is PERFECT-O! I emailed Mike Robertson about my issue with squeezing my glutes w/o hyperextending my back… and he said he thinks it’s my weak anterior core that’s causing the problem. When I push my butt back (and arch my lower back) I can’t contract my abs well… so he said if I stay tighter in my anterior core then I should be able to squeeze my glutes w/o hyperextending. He also said stretching my hip flexors between sets would help…
Had a FANTASTIC and TERRIBLE workout tonight! I am starting to F-ing HATE front squats! They are getting so stinking hard as I get heavier… I actually had a friend there watching me who is an Olympic lifter turne Powerlifter… and he has been coached by a guy named Doc who has been coaching Oly lifts for 40+ years I believe (I know he went to Beijing a couple years ago for the Olympics to either Coach or officiate I can’t remember)… Anyway… this guy knows his stuff! So he was coaching and cue-ing me while I was squatting. Here was the highlight of my workout:
Front Squats
4 sets of 8 reps @ 153-155 lbs (not sure of bar weight) supersetted with*
Pushups w weight plate on my back
4 sets of 8 using a 25 lb plate for my 1 st 2 sets, and a 10 lb plate for the last 2
(rested about 90-120 sec between exercises… I was SMOKED!)
About to go foam roll now!
BTW… got an email back from Mike Robertson… I sent him a video of my front squats (8 reps using 143 from a few weeks ago, I believe) and he said they were fantastic! So that’s awesome! I was pumped about that! I will likely be getting another program from him in a few weeks when I am done with this one… =D
shit yeah that workout sounds brutal, grueling, disabling. Supersetting heavy front squats with ANYTHING sounds hard, let alone something that hits your upper back. You’re a freakin monster. Cute monster.
[quote]mmgalb727 wrote:
I emailed Mike Robertson about my issue with squeezing my glutes w/o hyperextending my back… and he said he thinks it’s my weak anterior core that’s causing the problem. When I push my butt back (and arch my lower back) I can’t contract my abs well… so he said if I stay tighter in my anterior core then I should be able to squeeze my glutes w/o hyperextending. He also said stretching my hip flexors between sets would help…
[/quote]
Interesting! I’ll have to evaluate my own ab squeezing ability.
Molly, you strike me as a little bit insane (in a totally awesome way, of course). Talking about the db swings, here.
Can you post the front squat vid? I’m curious as I am struggling so much with squats - even front squats are aggravating my back. I’ve done no squatting at all for two weeks and my back feels a lot better, in fact.
Owlie - oh yes! It was all of those things! I was yelling curse words left and right and I kept screaming about how much I hate front squats. People were seriously giving me looks like, “Dude! If you don’t like front squats them don’t do them! Just shut up about it!” hahahaha… I am dreading my next workout where I have to move to 4 sets of 10 instead of 4 sets of 8… YUCK!
Kimba - yeah… it just feels like there is so much to remember! I tried squeezing my abs today during pull throughs… it was a weird experience. It helped a little bit I think… but I think it’s something I will have to work at.
Cal - well thanks love! That means a lot coming from you since you are the Queen of things such as swings =D
And yes I will post the video below… =D
nice nice nice!