you are doing well, cheryl. it's awesome seeing your drive and determination.
i think feeling trashed and hungry is something i just need to adjust to if i want to get to 198 by november. i have to keep reminding myself that im not DYING OMG when i am hungry and in that "seek food" mode, if i don't fulfill my body's wishes.
monday was great, tuesday and wednesday were not great and today i am working again towards being great. at this point, i don't care if i go over in calories as long as they are foods that i need to eat and i am staying away from foods that trigger me. i've got to get back in the groove and it's just knucking down and doing it, so that i can get used to the new way.
i'm probably going to log my foods here to help me. i know that can be boring (or triggering) to some. if this bothers any of you, let me know and i will put it somewhere else.
breakfast
coffee with half n half and splenda
grilled boneless skinless chicken breast
steamed french green beans with that new creamy mustard stuff. it's pretty good.
snack
special k protein bar. (gotta stop these but i was in carb fever)
lunch
big *** salad with strawberries, purple onion, mixed greens and chicken breast. annie's light honey mustard dressing
snack
4 ounces strawberries, 3 ounces frozen wild blueberries, 5 ounces plain nonfat greek yogurt and 1 cup silk coconut milk with a teeny bit of almond extract
dinner is roasted chicken breast and thigh with skin, and roasted asparagus in sesame oil with sesame seeds
we can 86 the roasted asparagus for half of a small caramel brownie blaster from sonic.
Location: Lyin' in a puddle of sweat on the floor.
Posts: 2,296
S/C/G: 235/201/175
Height: 5'7"
Good job on the food today, Kat. We do what we can do. My food is crap at Regionals and I swear I'm gonna be back up to where I started before it's over. Boo! But, I'll have 4 weeks to dial it in and hit below 180.6# for the weigh-in. I might have to call in the big guns near the end. One of our gym members is an MMA fight coach, and I might need his help to do a water cut if I can't drop the weight "for reals" before then. Will read up in the meantime, once this crazy weekend is over, because I think I have to start a couple weeks out or at least several days, drinking water and dropping caffeine or something like that. The food every day has pretty much been some version of cold sandwiches...one day lettuce wrap, one day tortillas, and today was with bread. I never eat bread, so the doughy stuff is grossing me out, but it's all there is to eat, and I need the fuel to get through the busy day, so I just keep eating it.
There was some 40 minute torture workout on the board at the gym today. I skipped that, knowing I'd have plenty of work to do all day. I did some bench practice instead, just with the bar a few times then a few higher rep sets working up to 95#, and basically supersetted that with fat bar clean and jerks...still trying to get the hang of that monkey grip (aka suicide grip, aka thumbs not wrapped around the bar) clean. I could not get 103# today, kept losing it during the transition from pulling to the rack position, but I got 83 easy, and 93 with a lot of effort, so there's still hope. If I could do that with 110 in the strongman contest, even for a few reps, it could get me a lot more reps, since it's so much faster than the continental clean. Tried regular thumbs wrapped clean grip, too, but that wasn't as good...my hands are just too small so I could not hold the bar during the second pull (aka the part where you get past the knees and jump to send the bar upward). Anyway, good practice session. Must sleep!
I'm going to increase my food intake and see how things go. Today will be my last weight workout until Monday. We're going to visit my brother and his fiance and go to Kentucky Kingdom. So I'll be getting alot of walking done on Saturday. Sunday I'll rest and get back to it on Monday.
I'm excited and motivated by this! Looking forward to my workout today. Will post details later tonight if I have time, otherwise, you may not hear from me until Monday.
and then i did that entire circuit again, but with the prowler weight reduced to +90 lbs.
the last two prowler pushes at 180 lbs were a ****ing joke! at about 7 yards to finish each way, i literally could not push anymore and had to drag it to the finish line.
monday i finally get to bench press and do some squats. from here on out, tuesday and thursday are dedicated to conditioning and MWF are weight training set up in a very similar way to sheiko. i have every opportunity here to get my total up to 733 lbs (my goal for november). if i don't do it, it will be because i was slacking, and not the fault of programming.
Just got home from my workout at the gym. It took me longer today, mostly because I was walking around the gym probably looking ridiculous because I couldn't find the other half of a 15 lbs db set. One girl was using a set and then there was one other 15lbs db, but I couldn't find it's match. SO FRUSTRATING!!!! I went on with the rest of my workout, thinking I'd be able to come back and have a set to use.. NOPE! Finally went to the locker room to leave and here comes the girl that was hogging them pretty much the whole time I was there.... So I ran back out and did my shoulder presses. I felt so much better that I was able to get them in..
Anyways, here's the damage!
assisted bench: 1x8-30lbs, 2x10 or 12- 30lbs, 1x1-35lbs
db curls: 3x5 20lbs
deadlift: 50lbs
leg press: 3x8 200lbs
calf raises on leg press: 3x15- 200lbs
seated row machine: 3x8- 55lbs
assisted chin up: 3x2- machine set at 160lbs
I was excited about the bench today. At the end I tried 35lbs and got out a good rep. I think I will go with 35lbs for my sets starting on Monday. Not a big increase, but exciting for me!!!
So when I first started lifting a few weeks ago, I experienced DOMS. This may be a dumb question, but if you don't experience DOMS the day after you lift, does that mean your not making gains? Should that be a gauge as to whether or not your working hard enough?
I am planning on increasing my food intake a little bit to see what happens.
Sorry, I ignored the Congrats Kathy, I thought I had already replied to that post, but remembered I hadn't been able to post it.
Our daughter was stillborn on March 21st, 2014. She was and is so very cute and beautiful. I went in for my 38 week appointment and was told she had passed away. Please don't feel guilty in anyway, I know you had no way to know and I had not mentioned it. Besides, I LOVE to talk about her. Her name is Isabelle Francis and her momma is proud!
Sorry, I ignored the Congrats Kathy, I thought I had already replied to that post, but remembered I hadn't been able to post it.
Our daughter was stillborn on March 21st, 2014. She was and is so very cute and beautiful. I went in for my 38 week appointment and was told she had passed away. Please don't feel guilty in anyway, I know you had no way to know and I had not mentioned it. Besides, I LOVE to talk about her. Her name is Isabelle Francis and her momma is proud!
Talk about Isabelle anytime with me. I lost two babies at 20 weeks, and have a small idea about what you have gone through and how much people just want to gloss over talking about your baby.
I have just purchased two sets of weights. One for the living room (next to the TV!) and the other set for the deck outside. Now I can workout in my two favorite places!!
So my genius idea of biking to the sports centre for workouts was pretty good, save for two small points that slipped my mind:
1) The way home is a gradual uphill pretty much the whole way.
2) It takes my body at least a week to stop aching from the saddle. (ouch!)
On the plus side, it feels freaking awesome to be on a bike again. I haven't rode properly since I was travelling via bicycle in Europe. for that.
On a side note, I forgot how intimidating it is to lift when there are actual people around. My home setup has made me spoiled, and now I'm having to adjust again to using a public weight room. Probably good for me, anyway.
And I've broken down and actually started planning meals. I hate doing this, but I have been 'stalled' for nearly two months now. No good, something needs to change.
Aaaaaanywho, how's everyone else doing?
PS. Sweet holy (*&$ there are a lot of different wacky smileys to play with!
Location: Lyin' in a puddle of sweat on the floor.
Posts: 2,296
S/C/G: 235/201/175
Height: 5'7"
Morning, all. I'm on day 5 of rocking 4 hours of sleep a night. Pretty much running on caffeine, sugar and wishful thinking at this point, lol. One more day of competition to work today...we will pack it all up and load it on the trucks by tonight, then I'm working the morning shift at the gym tomorrow, and planning to come home and sleep however long I need to after that. On the plus side, it's always a fun weekend, I see a lot of peeps I like that I only see at this event, so it's pretty good as long as I keep moving and stay busy. I only really notice how tired I am or how bad my feet and legs are killing me when I get home.
I got to talk to a gal yesterday about powerlifting. She's local and was able to point me toward some federations that are more fun to lift at than the USAPL (which looks about as much fun as dry toast). The gym she trains at hosts a powerlifting meet in the fall and spring every year, and she also pointed out a second meet in the fall that I might plan to do. So, it looks like I might have found my first powerlifting meet. I think it happens August, or maybe she said November (it's not listed yet), which would give me a good training window between the strongman next month and my first powerlifting meet. Anyway, super excited to find a meet where they actually play music and have a good time, rather than the stodgy "olympics wannabe" set-up I thought I'd be stuck with. Bonus is that I know her trainer through the Crossfit stuff, so it won't be like going out the first time and not knowing anybody. Maybe I can even get up there and train with those peeps a few times before the meet, just to get familiar with the equipment, since our gym does not have a monolift or competition benches. Super excited about that. She said she thinks I can make weight for the strongman no problem, with a month to go, once this weekend is over. She used to do crossfit and has tried strongman. She said she is just powerlifting now, and gave up the crossfit stuff because it was just too hard to do both, being at her competition weight (which is maybe 190 or 200?). I'm wondering if I can do that, or maybe just do the crossfit workouts twice a week. Pretty much did that when we did our last strength training phase, and that felt about right...just enough to get the conditioning bit satisfied, but not so much that I was beating myself up too bad to lift heavy. Now, all I have to do is slide that by my trainer, lol.
Better get ready to get out the door. One more day! Hope this makes sense. Seriously sleep deprived and trying not to sound completely out of it, lol.
i;m glad this is almost over for you, cheryl. sounds pretty intense. fun, sure, but what an intense schedule.
USAPL looks pretty boring to me, too. which fed did you find that looked more fun? i wish nasa was in your area. nasa peeps are so nice.
defining, hurrah for getting on the bike! i love bike riding, too, but it's fallen by the wayside. i even bought a nice new trek, but it's sitting unused atm. i wish my little one were old enough to go riding with me. he can't, and also won't sit still in one of those trailers, so i am SOL for now.
90 seconds rest before KB
120seconds rest after KB Kettlebell swings between sets
16kg x15 each
Bench
same rest sequence as above
65x5
80x5
90x3
90x3
105x3
105x3
105x3
105x3
105x3
90 seconds rest before KB
120seconds rest after KB Kettlebell swings between sets
16kg x15 each
16 sets total of kettlebell swings
16*30=480 KB swings total.
Squats
135x1
Notes
Day 1 of doing Sheiko Rich Kahle style. HOLY ****. Eventually my workouts should look like:
Squat
50%x5
60%x5
70%x3x2
80%x3x5
Bench
50%x5
60%x5
70%x3x2
80%x3x5
& then more squats. And all of that interspersed with various conditioning crap he wants to throw at me.
For squat and bench with KB or other conditioning work thrown inbetween sets with timed rest. And you round that off with more squats.
Obviously today I did not get everything done, but Rich says that is to be expected and I won't move up in weights until I am able to do the workout as written. I think that's a pretty cool idea.
He has worked this program himself with good results and said that he normally wouldn't throw this at someone who is still basically a beginner, but because I have goals and heart, he is tossing me into it. I am happily being thrown in the briar patch.
Location: Lyin' in a puddle of sweat on the floor.
Posts: 2,296
S/C/G: 235/201/175
Height: 5'7"
Dang. Just lost my post. Stoopid laptop touch-pad thingy! I'm always hitting that with some part of my hand when typing.
Okay, Regionals is over. My friend's daughter took third so is going to the CF Games in July (woot) along with her training partner, who took first in the men's division.
I barely made it through morning gym this morning and driving home, but was able to get a few hours of sleep then, and after some tylenol and liniment, am feeling almost human. A full night of sleep tonight and the rest day I took today should get me back to workouts tomorrow.
Four weeks out from the strongman contest, so the training and diet pressure are now officially in full force! Got right back to normal eating today, after a week of sandwiches and way too much caffeine and sugar at the venue, but that was the only way to stay awake and alert enough to get the job done on 4 hours of sleep a night.
Kurtis and I didn't get out of the venue till 9pm last night, and each got about the same amount of sleep. We joked about just putting a note on the board and taking a nap this morning, like, "Row 5K. Write your time on the board." lol. Instead, we put a 10 minute "as many reps as possible" workout on the board, on top of front squats for the strength program peeps, tag-teamed working the smaller groups, both coached the big groups from 9-11, and got the heck out of there at 11:05 when the last morning group was done.
Kurtis writes my training program, so I just go in and do what he says, but I think the plan is to stick with the lifting and crossfit for another week, along with one event day where I will pick 2 or 3 of the strongman contest events to practice, then next week there will be a change to that plan, but I'm not sure what it is yet. Pretty sure Kurtis doesn't know, either, as he had his hands full with Regionals up to last night, but I'm sure whatever he does will be fine.
The diet has me worried, though. I need to read up on how to do a water cut, and see what kind of prep I can do to keep that option open. I'm going to do what I can with just eating clean and maybe ditch the caffeine and all sugar to try and help things along. Not looking forward to that, but I have to make weight because otherwise I won't be able to handle most of the weights in the next higher weight division. Sucks having to cut for a first contest, but in strongman, there's no choice unless you're just a beast, which I am not!
Okay, not making sense even to myself, so will sign off. Kat, I think one of the feds was USPA? I tried to write it down when I got home but had already forgotten what the other fed was that she mentioned. Pretty happy to know there ARE local options, though, that will be more fun than the stodgy USAPL meets. Mel said, too, that you can compete raw with knee wraps (like) and that you don't have to bench flat-footed like in USAPL, which I also like, because I can get a much better arch and more comfy/stable shoulder position if I don't have to put my heels down. Right now my plan is to do the strongman contest, take a few days or a week off (not sure how much I'll need to recover from that), then start training for my first powerlifting meet, which will probably be the one at the crossfit/PL gym in Lynnwood, WA...I know it's in the fall but don't have the specific date or meet info yet. Might be able to make a couple trips up there before the fall to train with them and get some exposure to the competition bench and monolift so it's not a totally new experience at the meet.
Back to the gym (for workouts) tomorrow. Probably front squat heavy, which I missed today. Will talk to my trainer, but hoping he will give me a sub for the jerks and power cleans in the strength program, maybe deadlift and an overhead press/strict press or axle clean and press, because I think the whole cleans and jerks on top of front squats is just too rough on my old shoulders and wrists.
Location: Lyin' in a puddle of sweat on the floor.
Posts: 2,296
S/C/G: 235/201/175
Height: 5'7"
Kat, meant to say, that looks like a heck of a workout! I love KB anything, but that is a LOT of swings and squats, wow! What is this program designed to do for you...strength gains, I presume?
after a couple days, youll know what your walking around weight is. how much approx do you need to lose to get into the next weight class?
that's so cool that someone you know is going in july! i have a friend who is an intense athlete and she didnt qualify. i hope she will next year. she's a badass.
there are 3 phases to my training. this first phase is to get my conditioning up to speed. it is a serious weakness of mine. he's throwing the book at me because i suck so bad at this. this will likely last 6 weeks. maybe 8.
then the conditioning work is scaled down to just conditioning days and lifting days are strictly for lifting.
and finally my lifting days become technique work instead of more volume oriented.
i am gonna be hatin life for the next six weeks, basically. it's also going to help with weightloss.
Looking forward to my workout today. Will post details later tonight if I have time, otherwise, you may not hear from me until Monday.
Yes! I am LIFTING!!!
So my genius idea of biking to the sports centre for workouts was pretty good, save for two small points that slipped my mind:
for that.
I hate doing this, but I have been 'stalled' for nearly two months now. No good, something needs to change.
