Been a whe since I have posted here but the time has come to get back after my goals and prep to hit an elite total. The short version of the last 3-5 years includes: major injury, twin pregnancy, marriage, divorce, relocation, dropping 50+lbs, crossfitting and now refocised on my first lifting love…powerlifting.
The best part of my recent weight loss is that I am actually just as stron if not stronger than when I peaked 6 years ago at Diablo Barbell. Today I had the chance to meet with a new team, Valley Barbell, and eventhough they aren’t as big or widely known as some of the places I have trained, they are great and have the tools and support I need to reach my goal and total Elite in November!
Today’s workout:
MES
Box squat w/ chains and safety squat bar
155 x 10
Added 1 chain = 40lbs x10
2 chains = 80lbs x10
3 chains = 120lbs x6
4 chains = 160lbs x4
Stayed at 4 chains for remaining sets
245lbs x 1
295lbs x 1
335lbs x 1
355lbs x miss
Not a bad start. The 335 was equal to 495 at the top. Felt good to have some real weight on my back!
Chain suspended Camber bar GMs
185 x 4 x 10
Reverse hypers
90 x 4 x 10
GHR
Bw x 4 x 5
Ab pull downs
80 x 10
90 x 2 x 10
100 x 10
Glad to see that you’re back at it. I remember a few years ago reading your w/o journal before I joined the forums. Congrats on the weight loss, I see that it hasn’t affected your strength any.
I am quite sure my boyfriend tried to “off” me today! Despite the fact that I had my first true max effort squat day in 6 yrs yesterday, he insisted that we honor a fallen hero and complete the crossfit wod Murph. We modified it to accomodate for injuries and such but it still kicked my ass!
1 mile run
100 bent over tbar rows
200 sit ups
300 air squats
My legs are numb.
On a side note: I emailed my old coach today and found out that last night’s squat was an all time 40lb pr on that move
Good to see you back here. I remember you from before and your previous log was inspiring. Sounds like you have been through quite a bit of stuff hopefully things are going well now. Good job on Murph it is brutal.
[quote]HARA wrote:
Awesome to see you back. I’d love to read about your Crossfit experience coming from powerlifting.[/quote]
Thanks!!
As for the transition to and from crossfit, it has been interesting. There are definitely some areas I was strong in because of powerlifting but I also lacked in other areas…especially cardio. Once I kicked up my cardio training and ditched the heavy weights I faired pretty well on the WODs I did and got into great shape as a result. Now that I am switching gears back to PLing I have found that I have made some serious strength gains and my explosiveness far surpasses what it had previously been. As I get closer to competition prep I won’t be doing any crossfit because that type of training lends itself to nagging injuries that I am just not willing to risk as I make gains on the big 3 lifts.
So…here’s what went down…last year that squat I missed at 355 with 4 sets of chains sent my disc out again. Re-herniated between L5-S1. Now, most people would be done putting heavy weights on their back but you don’t get into powerlifting, especially as a female, if you are timid or weak.
Rehab has been an even harder road as there were times in the last year that I couldn’t get out of bed at all and had to walk with a cane. Western medicine had me all sorts of doped up and contemplating lumbar fusion. F that! Thank God for my chiropractor and his acceptance of my relentless pursuit of a 500lb squat. I break it and he fixes it…a pretty perfect relationship.
It all boils down to this…I am back and stronger than ever and am prepping for the SPF Women’s Pro/Am on November 3rd. My goals for this meet are:
Compete as a 181 (I was formerly a SHW)
Go 500/300/400…lofty but doable for me.
Get my first ever Elite Total!
My current gym PRs (all done in just a belt, sling shot and light groove briefs):
squat = 350
bench = 235
dead = 330
Bar x 10
95 x 10
light groove briefs (I can literally squat atg in them with no bar on my back)
135 x 10
185 x 5
225 x 5
275 x 2
305 x 1
325 x 1
350 x 1
Called it there because I was squatting solo in my garage. I trust the pins in our rack but the rack isn?t bolted down yet so I decided to be smart.
GMs
Bar x 4 x 20
Single Leg DLs
20 x 10
30 x 3 x10
Landmines
45 x 4 x 10
Reverse hyper
60 x 4 x 15
?we desperately need more weight for this?.
Pretty happy with the squat but know I have a lot more in me. Looking forward to hitting Valley Barbell and possibly heading to Reno too for some gear testing.
Bench
Bar x 20
95 x 10
135 x 10
135 x 2 x 8
135 x 6
115 x 10
My bf decided to have me take his Sling Shot for a ride. It is an XL and I am most certainly NOT! Super loose but still effective. Last week I hit a raw PR of 175 for a double. So seeing how it translated to something similar to a shirt seemed smart…lol
205 x 2
225 x 1
235 x 1
Good times and quite the spectacle in a small commercial gym surrounded my scrawny teenage boys who already stare…chalk, weird equipment , heavy weights and yelling = my own personal heaven!
DB Incline press
25s x 4 x 15
Cable flies
30s x 2 x 15
40s x 2 x 15
DB Iso Curls
20 x 3 x 10
BB Curls…not done in a rack because I am not an idiot!
BB x 2 x 10
65 x 2 10
Ack! You are so strong. It is awesome and I look forward to following your progress. Women like you inspire me and make me so excited to lift. I am a video junkie so I hope you post some videos soonish.
OH BB Press
Bar x 15
95 x 10
?at this point some older man comes up and asks me how much longer I will be using that rack. (there are 3 racks there and both of the others were empty). I told him I had just got on it and wasn?t sure. He then asked how many more sets I had to which I replied, ?it?s a max day so hopefully a lot?. Then he asked, again, if I knew about how long it would take me. C4 was kicking in and I told him to go use another rack because I wasn?t in a hurry. The icing on the cake??he and another guy squatted in the rack next to me and worked up to a painfully difficult 225?.my working weight on squat days?..and had horrendous form. Knees in, ¼ squat forward on their toes. Had he not been such a d-bag I might have helped him out?.
115 x 10
135 x 5
135 x 3
155 x 1
BB High Pulls
Bar x 5 20
DB Military Press
25s x 2 x 15
30s x 2 x 10
Plate raises
35 x 4 x 10
Cable Delt raises
20 x 4 x 10
Face Pulls High/Low
60 x 10
70 x 10
80 x 10
90 x 10
100 x 10
Rope curls
50 x 2 x 15
60 x 2 x 10
Hammer Curls
20s x 4 x 15
BB Curls
45 x 2 x 10
55 x 2 x 10
Battle ropes
5 x 1min
