hey molly. don’t think i’ve ever posted in here but i’ve been a fan for quite some time. i’m glad i don’t have to go over to the figure site to read ur threads anymore. =+)
ur workouts always give me great ideas and ur strength is amazing. keep up the killer work!!
what do you mean by ‘activating your glutes?’ lol…I did 2x20 of walking lunges on WED., and um, I can feel that my glutes were activated alright…HAHA!
[quote]dejavued wrote:
hey molly. don’t think i’ve ever posted in here but i’ve been a fan for quite some time. i’m glad i don’t have to go over to the figure site to read ur threads anymore. =+)
ur workouts always give me great ideas and ur strength is amazing. keep up the killer work!! [/quote]
Hey there Dejavued! =D Thanks so much for posting in my thread! =D You are very sweet! Yeah I am glad I have a thread over here now too… For a while it seemed that no one on FA cared about my Powerlifting journal, but I started a new one with a new title and they actually seem excited about following along! That makes me happy!
I am glad you get good ideas from my workouts! I have to constantly be searching for new things to do, or even old-school stuff that I have forgotten about just to keep the workouts FRESH! =D Thanks so much for following along and PLEASE come by more often! =D
[quote]mom-in-MD wrote:
what do you mean by ‘activating your glutes?’ lol…I did 2x20 of walking lunges on WED., and um, I can feel that my glutes were activated alright…HAHA![/quote]
hee hee! Good for you! You are lucky to have activating glutes! haha
I have been suffering from ‘glute amnesia’… that’s seriously what they call it! It is usually caused by lots of sitting on your ass (literally… this happened when I was in grad school, and now I sit at my computer almost all day) and having super tight hip flexors… and over time, this prevents your glutes from firing correctly.
So I have been working on getting them firing again… they are better… but still not where they were… BOO! Be glad you don’t have this problem! =D
Well, I wasn’t thrilled with tonight’s workout. I was looking for another increase on my incline Bench Press… 115 for 6 felt SO LIGHT last week! I was hoping to get 120 for 5-6 this week. I know that’s a big jump… but a girl can dream right? =D
It started out OK… warm-ups went fine… and my friend’s husband was there to spot me. I had 120 on the bar, but got buried on the 4th rep! GRRR!!!
He said I was lowering the bar WAY SLOW… so I tried to speed it up a bit, but I got buried on the 4th rep again! I was pretty annoyed at this point… but my friend and her hubby had to leave, so I just dropped down to 115 and repped out 5 with no spotter =D
**** I am thinking that there were a couple of contributing factors to my sucky bench this week vs. my awesome bench last week.
Last week, I ate a crap ton of food on Thursday (Thanksgiving) the day before I set my big PR on Incline bench… when looking at this week, yesterday was an OFF day and it was low carb AND low calorie…
Also, last week was a light work schedule for me. This week, I have been up until 3 AM or later 3 nights in a row (Tues, Wed, Thurs) working. I have been sleeping in and getting plenty of sleep… but my schedule is still out of whack.
So anyway, it is what it is. I would love to say that I hit another PR this week, but sadly, I did not =(
Here was my workout:
Incline Barbell Bench Press (Paused on the chest)
Warmed up, then got
2 sets of 3.5 reps =D @ 120 lbs
1 set of 5 reps @ 115 (could have gotten 6, but had no spotter)
DB Floor Press
10 reps/10 reps @ 50 lb DB’s (same weight, +2 reps, + 2 reps) I felt amazing doing these!
BB Bent Over Row
12 reps/11/11 reps @ 105 lbs (same weight, +4 reps, +3 reps, +3 reps)
***supersetted with ***
Bent Over Rear Lateral Raises
10/10/9 @ 17.5 lbs DBs (+2.5 lbs, -2 reps/-2 reps/-3 reps)
1 Arm Lateral Raises
3 sets of 15 reps @ 20 lbs! Same weight as my last set last week, +3 reps/+3 reps/+3 reps)
supersetted with ***
EZ Bar Curls
3 sets of 10 @ 50 lbs (same weight as last week, -2 reps/-2 reps)*
**** Haha I forgot that I don’t normally superset these two exercises. I did last week b/c of lack of time… so I did it this week, and my reps decreased and I felt weak… guess that’s why! =D
Today was DE Lower Body
Saturday 12/6/08
Dynamic Effort Lower Body
Box Jumps
Around 29-32"
6 sets of 3 (+ 2-4" from last time)
Bulg Split Squat with front AND back foot elevated
2 sets of 10 with 20 lb DB’s (+5 lbs each DB, + 10 lbs total, same reps! =D)
Then did one set of PLYO Bulg Split Squats with front and back foot elevated. Just exploded out of the bottom position so that my front foot would come off the ground.
*** I also mixed this up, by holding the weight over my head in an OH Press position instead of down by my side, or by holding 1 arm in the air and 1 by my side… I have to keep tighter to stabilize myself this way =D
Pull Throughs
3 sets of 12 @ 72.5 (+5, same reps)
DONE!
Sunday
12/7/08
Tonight was a killer 60 minutes yoga class. At one point she had us doing a move that looks very similar to a close grip push-up with your elbows tucked in and we were hovering over our mats (about 2-3" off the ground) and then dropping to the ground for a second, then pushing back up to a hover and then back to a full push-up… BRUTAL! I loved it though! =D I am also noticing that I am getting more flexible! This is a very good thing!
Decline Pushup (Feet on Swiss Ball)
30 reps/23 reps/18 reps (+6 reps/+4 reps/same reps)
Reverse Grip Lat Pulldown
12 reps/12 reps/10 reps @ 120 lbs (Same weight, same reps… Grrr)
***supersetted with ***
Scarecrows
3 sets of 12 @ 70 lbs (+ 5 lbs, same reps)
Cable Lateral Raise
3 sets of 12 @ 45 lbs (+5 lbs, same reps)
***supersetted with ***
1 Arm Arnold Press
3 sets of 12 reps @ 30 lbs (+5 lbs, -2 reps/-2 reps/-3 reps)
Cable Tricep Pressdown
9 reps/8 reps @ 52.5 (+2.5 lbs, -1 rep/-2 reps)
I think my Lat Pulldowns suffered a bit because I was throwing some random sets of pullups in there… I can’t help myself! Other than that, my weights went up on almost everything… the Arnold Press was tough b/c we don’t have 27.5 lb DBs… just 25’s and 30’s… so I had to make a 20% increase in my weight on that exercise and my form started to break down…
All in all… a good workout! Then I had a 75 min massage… HEAVENLY!
Off to eat and then to bed! =D
So my training schedule has gotten a little messed up this week. Yesterday I took a bunch of cool shots in the gym of me lifting… I didn’t realize how long it takes to get a halfway decent shot. We weren’t even messing with lighting or anything!!!
So I basically squatted 185 about a ZILLION times! I also benched 135, did pull-ups with a 30 lbs chain around my neck, and deadlifted 225 and 275 a BAZILLION times… SO… needless to say I did not get to do my regular workout.
Then today was supposed to be OFF, but one of my good friends (who is doing the PL-ing meet with me) REALLY wanted to train back and shoulders today and we haven’t trained together in almost 2 months… so I gave in =D
That means I am doing Upper Body work 3x this week… EEK! I will have to cut volume on Friday’s upper body workout I think… and I am also lifting legs 2x this week, which is normal… but I usually have a rest day! I am lifting 5 days in a row! I NEVER do that. But it’s cool… since I NEVER do it… I think my body can handle it. Plus I am getting 8+ hours of a sleep a night and eating plenty of food! =D
Today we just did some pullups, Push presses, seated rows, side laterals (I used 22.5 lb DB’s for sets of 10… WHOO HOO!!! Good form too! =D) and then we did some T-bar row and cable rear laterals…
It was done in circuit fashion like this:
Back exercise
Shoulder exercise
Ab Exercise
STRETCH
REPEAT 2x…
I must have missed it. When is your powerlifting meet?
mmgalb727…nice journal and workouts…welcome to the wonderful world of PL!
Mr beefy
aka
Frank
pl meets and figure comps. you are THE woman!!!
Claire - May 9th in Morehead Ky… there is also one in Ohio in March that I MAY do… depends on $$$ and how my lifts are going then =D
Thanks Mr Beefy!!! =D Come back and visit!
Deja - haha thank you! I like being able to do both! My favorite is when people are like: “You can’t train for figure AND powerlifting…” I mean obviously, if I want to get to the TOP of the either sport I would have to focus more on one or the other… but I do it for fun and to challenge myself =D
[quote]mmgalb727 wrote:
Deja - haha thank you! I like being able to do both! My favorite is when people are like: “You can’t train for figure AND powerlifting…” I mean obviously, if I want to get to the TOP of the either sport I would have to focus more on one or the other… but I do it for fun and to challenge myself =D[/quote]
yeah i don’t think u have to compromise strength to be lean as much as some people like to think. a little focus on nutrition and one can have the best of both worlds. ur definitely proof of that.
Thank Deja! =D
Oh yeah, I know many of you all don’t venture over to the Figure Athlete side very often (if at all…) BUT… I am on the front page today squatting! =D Check it out if you’d like! I am hoping to inspire more women over there to lift HEAVY HEAVY HEAVY! =D
Hey, that’s really cool Molly!!
Just checked out FA, nice shot. Have you retested your max’s since your figure comp.?
Thanks Betty! =D
Myjennycbd - no I haven’t tested my Max since my competition. I feel like I JUST started getting strength back about 4-6 weeks ago =P I have been lifting heavy and pretty CLOSE to my maxes…
I HAVE pulled 275 from a deficit deadlifting (my max is 315 from the floor)… and I have squatted in the 200’s for reps… but I haven’t tried any more 1 RM’s…
I DID hit PR on my 6RM on incline bench (115 lbs) a couple of weeks ago…
To be honest… I MUST focus on my form and stick in the 3-5 rep range right now for most of my lifts…
I am afraid I am not as accustomed to “straining” as I should be… and my form tends to go to SH*T when I am fighting to get the weight up. I do need to plan a max testing day for each of my lifts though =D
Will talk to my coach about it and see what he thinks…
Thursday 12/12/08
Dynamic Effort Lower Body
Box Jumps
Around 31-34"
8 sets of 3 (+ 2" from last time)
Bulg Split Squat with front AND back foot elevated
2 sets of 10 with 22.5 lb DB’s (+2.5 lbs each DB, + 5 lbs total, same reps! =D)
*** I also mixed this up, by holding the DB’s over my head in an OH Press position instead of down by my side, or by holding 1 arm in the air and 1 by my side… I have to keep tighter to stabilize myself this way =D
Pull Throughs
3 sets of 12 @ 77.5 (+5, same reps)
45 degree calf raises
3 sets of 10 reps (toes in, neutral, out) @180 lbs
Have your tried your split squats with a barbell instead of dumbbells? I’m wondering if the higher load would be worth sacrificing the stabilization that goes into keeping the db’s overhead?