Shauna's Journey to 350+

Training
181

I totally understand your feelings regarding gear. My first meet, I saw a chick crying because she couldn’t get her suit off after deadlifting, and I thought I’d never be that girl. LOL. I went into gear because I wanted to compete at the national and international levels. The biggest thing for me with gear, is that yeah, it hurts, but you feel so much SAFER.

Once you figure it out, and you realize you can squat and your hips won’t be aching the next day, and your shoulders won’t prevent you from squatting the day after a heavy bench day, it’s pretty cool. Now, when I go raw, I find myself almost tentative.

182

[quote]pushmepullme wrote:
I totally understand your feelings regarding gear. My first meet, I saw a chick crying because she couldn’t get her suit off after deadlifting, and I thought I’d never be that girl. LOL. I went into gear because I wanted to compete at the national and international levels. The biggest thing for me with gear, is that yeah, it hurts, but you feel so much SAFER.

Once you figure it out, and you realize you can squat and your hips won’t be aching the next day, and your shoulders won’t prevent you from squatting the day after a heavy bench day, it’s pretty cool. Now, when I go raw, I find myself almost tentative. [/quote]

Oddly enough, I’m finding the reverse of that true at the moment. Because I’ve been training raw for months, I feel very uncertain squatting in my suit again. Bench and deadlift are fine but squat has me in a tizzy and pulled all over the place. However, when I trained raw after my last meet I was tentative with that for a bit.

183

[quote]ouroboro_s wrote:
pushmepullme wrote:
I totally understand your feelings regarding gear. My first meet, I saw a chick crying because she couldn’t get her suit off after deadlifting, and I thought I’d never be that girl. LOL. I went into gear because I wanted to compete at the national and international levels. The biggest thing for me with gear, is that yeah, it hurts, but you feel so much SAFER.

Once you figure it out, and you realize you can squat and your hips won’t be aching the next day, and your shoulders won’t prevent you from squatting the day after a heavy bench day, it’s pretty cool. Now, when I go raw, I find myself almost tentative.

Oddly enough, I’m finding the reverse of that true at the moment. Because I’ve been training raw for months, I feel very uncertain squatting in my suit again. Bench and deadlift are fine but squat has me in a tizzy and pulled all over the place. However, when I trained raw after my last meet I was tentative with that for a bit.[/quote]

Yeah, I think it does go both ways - we are more comfortable when we are familiar with the equipment/raw - but I think I get used to the suit faster than I get used to raw.

184

[quote]shaunar25 wrote:
For my own sanity, sometimes I just need to eat cookies.

yeah.

[/quote]

Absolutely 100% right. A wise woman I know says “everything in moderation”. I find that applies very well to food.

185

Benching went ok today.

Dynamic WU - lots o’ push ups

Bench:
bar X 10
75 X 8
95 X 5
115 X 2
125 X 1
135 X 1

called it a day for the singles after that. Note to all: I tried a narrower grip, pinkies on the ring, and I wore a belt. It definitely helped with my confidence, but I still struggled with 135, so I don’t know if it helped with my actual bench. Oh well. I will work to get my numbers up after this meet.

Board Press:
1 board - 125, 130, 130

DB Shoulder Press (slight incline)
3 X 10 (30, 35, 40)

Cable Tricep Pushdown
3 X 12 (90, 100, 110)

DB Front Raises
3 X 10 (12, 12, 10)

Oblique Bends
3 X 10 per side - 50 DBS

Plate Choppers
2 X 15 - 25 plate

Yes, I am frustrated that my bench is my weakest lift and my numbers at the meet won’t be great. But I will get them up after the meet over the next few months.

I’m tired. Looking forward to eating tomorrow. Not looking forward to awkward family gathering tomorrow.

hmmmm, biscuits…

186

Ok, Thanksgiving recap…

pleasant. and delicious. didn’t overeat, but did eat sugary white bready, carby foods. the biscuits were amazing, have a new love for roasted brussel sprouts, and rationalized three pieces of pie because there was protein in the meal (turkey coated in gravy)…I love lying to myself on Thanksgiving! it truly is my favorite meal of the year.

And now 8 days to clean up my diet and recover before the meet. I am not going to do any real workouts in order to not over exert myself. I will do lots of recovery work, some super light cardio, and on Monday probably go in to do some light back work, light squats, etc, just to keep the movement ingrained my muscle. All the advice of coach Todd! It kinda sucks not to be able to lift, but that’s all part of the plan.

Gonna start logging my food again to keep solid on my calories and splits.

woot woot.

187

So I mentioned that new shoe commercial in Belini’s log, the one that says it “tones” your legs 11% more than other shoes (11%, what the fuck kind of data analysis is that bullshit), and it got me thinking about how much I hate the word “tone.”

You either have muscle or you don’t. You can either see muscle or you can’t. In the end, tone is just some stupid commercialized phrase some wannabe fitness guru came up with to encapsulate being lean. If you are lean and see muscle you are “toned.” And we all know that getting lean is absolutely not simple like they make getting “toned” out to be. Like my ginormous (and I say that with all meant endearment) legs are going to get lean by buying and wearing some fucking Reeboks. Fuck that.

It is just another example at how bullshit the commercialized idea of “fitness” (I cringe at that word too) really is. Like the mascara commercials that advertise the product that will give you amazing lashes like these - showcase model “wearing” mascara that actually is just fake lashes…I could go on for hours with this. Appealing to womens’ (and mens’…sometimes) weaknesses and insecurities is a guaranteed way to make money…“you have big fat gross thighs but want ones like this anorexichasneverbeentoagyminherlife model, then buy these shoes, because that is the only way we, the cool kids of society, will accept you.”

Anyway, just a thought.

barf.

188

Those shoes keep popping up every couple of years, I think.

Oddly enough, my first reaction to the ad was “Oh, the anatomy on that diagram looks wrong.”
Thanks T-Nation.

189

Preach on! :stuck_out_tongue:

190

[quote]shaunar25 wrote:
So I mentioned that new shoe commercial in Belini’s log, the one that says it “tones” your legs 11% more than other shoes (11%, what the fuck kind of data analysis is that bullshit), and it got me thinking about how much I hate the word “tone.”

You either have muscle or you don’t. You can either see muscle or you can’t. In the end, tone is just some stupid commercialized phrase some wannabe fitness guru came up with to encapsulate being lean. If you are lean and see muscle you are “toned.” And we all know that getting lean is absolutely not simple like they make getting “toned” out to be. Like my ginormous (and I say that with all meant endearment) legs are going to get lean by buying and wearing some fucking Reeboks. Fuck that.

It is just another example at how bullshit the commercialized idea of “fitness” (I cringe at that word too) really is. Like the mascara commercials that advertise the product that will give you amazing lashes like these - showcase model “wearing” mascara that actually is just fake lashes…I could go on for hours with this. Appealing to womens’ (and mens’…sometimes) weaknesses and insecurities is a guaranteed way to make money…“you have big fat gross thighs but want ones like this anorexichasneverbeentoagyminherlife model, then buy these shoes, because that is the only way we, the cool kids of society, will accept you.”

Anyway, just a thought.

barf.[/quote]

lol. starting a list of words that make us cringe!

tone

fitness

diet

cardio

soy

thin

191

cbear - nice avi. you covered most of them, but here are some more words and ideas./

fitness club/center

in shape

low fat - not in theory, just for product advertisement

low carb - see above

aerobics

jogging

running

and ANY fitness magazine…I especially love how, I think it was Muscle and Fitness for HER, put Kim Kardashian on the cover for being “fit”…if any one even saw 5 secs of her workout videos (we were clicking through On Demand and clicked on it out of curiosity) you would not only realize this was the MOST bullshit bananas thing that could ever be considered a workout…but you might blow chunks…be prepared.

gyms with tanning

192

[quote]shaunar25 wrote:
So I mentioned that new shoe commercial in Belini’s log, the one that says it “tones” your legs 11% more than other shoes (11%, what the fuck kind of data analysis is that bullshit), and it got me thinking about how much I hate the word “tone.”

You either have muscle or you don’t. You can either see muscle or you can’t. In the end, tone is just some stupid commercialized phrase some wannabe fitness guru came up with to encapsulate being lean. If you are lean and see muscle you are “toned.” And we all know that getting lean is absolutely not simple like they make getting “toned” out to be. Like my ginormous (and I say that with all meant endearment) legs are going to get lean by buying and wearing some fucking Reeboks. Fuck that.

It is just another example at how bullshit the commercialized idea of “fitness” (I cringe at that word too) really is. Like the mascara commercials that advertise the product that will give you amazing lashes like these - showcase model “wearing” mascara that actually is just fake lashes…I could go on for hours with this. Appealing to womens’ (and mens’…sometimes) weaknesses and insecurities is a guaranteed way to make money…“you have big fat gross thighs but want ones like this anorexichasneverbeentoagyminherlife model, then buy these shoes, because that is the only way we, the cool kids of society, will accept you.”

Anyway, just a thought.

barf.[/quote]

I get some good lols from those shoe commercials.

Yesterday I was watching the news and the health segment came on where they were going to talk about the science behind why women can’t lose fat like men. While I was already in a tirade yelling at the TV of the bullshit about to be fed to me, they actually said that basically women don’t work hard enough and if you can sip on a coffee and chat with your friends while you’re working out then you’re not doing it right. So I had to stop ranting.

On another positive note, a co-worker brought in a nutritionist to give some free seminars and actually promoted high protein diets, criticized the Canada food guide and it’s American counterpart and generally spoke good sense about diet, health and fitness.

193

toned is in a league of its own.

i srsly throw up in mah mouth a little any time i see/hear that word.

194

hey, what does bump mean…in internet terminology?

195

[quote]shaunar25 wrote:
hey, what does bump mean…in internet terminology?[/quote]

Adding a post or contributing to a thread so it shows up at the top of the forum (bumping it up).

196

[quote]shaunar25 wrote:
hey, what does bump mean…in internet terminology?[/quote]

im going to assume that it means posting in an old thread/topic to bring it to the “most recently discussed” ← or whatever, part of the list, so that people who haven’t seen it before can comment.

but u know what happens when we assume.

im scared to look this up in urban dictionary.

EDIT: damnit deb. tell me when you’re gonna be quick like bunny.

197

debra - it is both comical and defeating when you realize how horribly confused and lost America is in regards to strength and nutrition. It is interesting to learn how Russia has always dominated the strength field because their training ideologies have focused on just that, strength. America, however, is cardio obsessed. The overwhelming pressure to be “thin” then leads so many people to the dead-end road of excessive running, cycling, etc. thrown in with excessive carbs from the food pyramid. This not only leads people to UNsuccess, but onto the road of health problems.

198

So tonight was my pussy workout…basically in a super deload week and can’t do any weight because of the meet. Kept everything light, everything easy, everything pussified.

Dynamic WU - band stretching, weighted push-ups, glute bridges, BW back extensions, etc.

T-Bar Row - 3 X 10 w 25 plate

DB Rows - 3 X 10 per (55, 60, 60)

Seated Cable Row - 3 X 10 (100, 110, 80 - to focus on the squeeze)

Lat Flies - 3 X 12 @ 12.5DBs

BB Bi Curls - 3 X 15 w 40BB

Front Raise/Lat Raise combo thingy - 3 X 10 @ 10DBs

a few other blah blah movements…god I’m bored by this workout I don’t even want to keep writing.

Did about 15 minutes of LISS.

I have never felt my hatred for ridiculous chains gyms more than tonight. I have been so spoiled training at Todds that going back to this circus of a gym was super defeating. Everyone is just a goon. I guess some old man pulled Aaron aside and was like “your girlfriends strong…you better watch out, she could beat you up.”

LIke what the fuck old man? Aaron may not be tall and huge, but he is so fucking strong and there is no way in hell I could ever take him down…although I try:) My point though is who the fuck says that to someone, especially a guy? Such bullshit. This is just an example of all the goons who frequent this stupid gym. God I hate it.

Shaking it off, shaking it off.

Anyway, pretty boring. I’ll get to your journals to find something more interesting:)

199

Hey, I just skimmed through your journal, impressive lady!

I go to a commercial-y gym and it’s funny the old guys are the ones who stare and make comments to me too, guys my age just get out of the way when they see me, lol.

200

It is hard to hear all the mixed messages, and see all the fast food around, haha!

Do lots of cardio eat lots of lettuce…binge of junk because you felt deprived, gain 20lbs back…cardio, lettuce…

aghhhhhhhhhhhh! Its a vicious cycle! But until people(women) are ready to change, no matter who or where they hear even the slightest bit of smart advice, they won’t.