First State Power Frenzy 2008

Mr. anonymous poster - the Nautilus Duo-Squat is an incredible piece of machinery. It is actually one machine that I can use that allows me to work around the pain in my legs. And using it unilaterally allows you to focus on one appendage at a time -always good. We did those full stack last week for 3 sets somewhere in the 15 reps range... I won't be trainng tonight, however.
:( The virus going around has got ahold of me - of course! I get EVERYTHING!!!! At least it waited until after the First State Power Frenzy to release full force on me.


The meet was INCREDIBLE! I DO hold the best meets! Not all my doing - it is because I have the absolutely BEST help. The Dynamo Club out of northeast MD, the Jersey Iron boys, various ANIMALS in the house (Andy Sedar, Boz, Phil, Hoomgar,Big Al) and Len Walker and George Wilson, my right hand men (left hand , too, for that matter)!!!! Rob Haas - you rock, thank you for ALL you did, Justine Dohring as administrative assistant., and Big Al Fortney - "you told me so!!!" HAH! Thanks for wrapping me, and doing 285 lbs. for 35 reps is just SICK SICK SICK!!!Hank Stoklosa for all of the high quality photographs. Big Tone - I don't ever want to have a meet without you there - helping or lifting. You are awesome ( and NOT really that MEAN - lol!!!)
And everyone else who came to help, spot, load, judge, lift, watch...THANK YOU!!!!!

I had a rough morning getting up to the meet - I woke up 45 minutes late - then something in my car exploded on the way up ...me and the boys were covered in this strange white powder...at least my car wasn't on fire like I thought at first! It still runs - have to get that checked. So I was about an hour late, but things still ran perfectly and seems everyone had fun.

I actually managed to bench press - I wavered back and forth on that all the way up until time to roll. But I managed a friggin' easy as cake 280. I wasn't sure whether I wanted to go for the 300, or go for the 3 for 3. I had never achieved 3 for 3 in the bench at a meet before. I played it conservative and went 3 for 3. Get over one hump at a time, I say. I did go for the 300 on the fourth, but no steam left to lock that out. It is funny watching the clips of me finishing the lift then literally RUNNING back to the microphone.













I really just wanted to be able to hear myself say "Kate Baird, you are in the hole"...LOL!!

That's Big Al wrapping my wrists, even though you can't see his face! And Big Tone Barbaccio hitting a 750 bench. What a great time! No, I do NOT make but a pittance from these meets. I do it because I love it. I truly love it.

Spent

This was supposed to be a continued saga, but, hah!, I forget what I did the other night, other than the benching. Standard 230 x 10 stuff. I apologize. If I wait more than a day or two, The details just fade away.

Sunday - and I'm STILL feeling damaged from leg day. Someday I will squat again, dammit....somehow, someway....My hips got all wacked out too, so when it came time to do back yesterday, I wasn't feeling much like pulling on anything. GW wanted to do rack pulls, haven't done those in a loooong time. Gw was having a bit of an off day, as well...We just kind of warmed up , kind of, then got to 585, which didn't want to sit in my hands. Thing just fell out of my hand after 2...nothing else to do but try it again. Now, I hate it when people gather around to watch me lift -spying from afar is not so bad, but when they come over and sit down to watch, like spectators, and I tell them I hate being watched but they don't leave, what am I going to do? Anyhooo. I pulled the thing for 3. It wasn't the right groove - my hips and legs were so tight. I just couldn't get that proper range of motion and groove....oooooh well. Then we dropped it to 495, but it was like my upper body was pulling up and my lower body was strainingin the opposite direction. lol.
It sucked - it didn't move. THAT's what is called spent.
Cable rows - 180 x 10 felt like a ton, then I mistakenly left the stack at 225 after GW. I got 10...placebo effect. Ha. So I guess leaving it at that weight was to be for set #3.
Nothing else exciting in this session - machine pulovers, DB shrugs, Hammer curls and Nautilus machine curls.

I'm kind of irate at the moment. The Steelers are playing the Eagles right now, but what do they televise here? Ravens... :( gdmfsob

Next Saturday is The First State Power Frenzy at The Training Center in New Castle DE. Hosted by none other than....well, you know who - e-mail me for info. The day looks to be a POWERFUL Frenzy!!!

Oh, "Mr. Anonymous comment poster" who suggests that the adductor and abductor machines need to be scrapped...no, no, no . Dude, it's not a thigh master - the machines both have their benefits. Break down and use those girly machines in the right way, and you too can build muscle with them.

To be continued....

Lessee...

Yes, that word is in my dictionary, just as 'swolt; is, and 'relax' isn't....
What did I do on back day the other day? Barbell rows. I believe a 225 x 15, then 275 for 2 sets of 6. For the life of me I can't remember what else GW and I did ...??? I remember we both dressed in grey and lime green. I should have taken pictures. That was creepy.
For biceps I remember we did the barbell drop exchange again, as we have been doing every other week for the past few months. It really is hard for me to admit that reps have been working to grow my arms past that 15 and a half inch sticking point... but reps are working...groannnn. I said it.

Younz all know I hate reps. (All you people from the Pittsburgh area know that 'younz' is a real word, too). OK - I have to admit that I measured my arms recently,even though I said I never would. 16"..and that is on a non-arm training day, so they weren't 'swolt' or (even 'swolled').

Leg day....The pain in the sides of my legs had been kind of quiet lately, luckily. That is most likely due to NO squatting, and lots of massagees and stretching (not enough, but still alot).
We are trying to find a good "big" growth movement here at Midway Fitness as an alternative to squats, since I am unable to squat. The Hammer Strength Leg Press really worked well, but we don't have one of those here like The Firm Fitness Center does ( notice I give props to those who are good to me?) . There is this machine, I guess it is called a Squat Machine (?) made by Parmount...I call it the Thing...I cannot even describe it briefly enough in words, but most people at the gym look at it and shy away. If they even venture to try it, they never come back to use it again...It is God awful brutally hard to use. However, if it weren't for the leg issues, I would use it. GW and I tried it, but it brought back the pain issues, so we'll have to find something else to torture ourselves with. Three sets WRECKED me.We did use the Hammer Strength Deadlift machine next. Good Stuff. I LOVE this machine. Then dumbell hamstring curls and adductors and abductors. Then standing calves on the Nautilus Multi-machine and seated. My legs are NOT happy... :(. Oh, I measured those too. 25 1/2" un-pumped. Still, because of their shape, they need to be BIGGER to look bigger...does that make sense???

Just for the record, I love the new Metallica CD. Alot of old die hard Metallica fans don't like it, I hear...I love it.

OK - I'm tired and I dislike long posts, so I'll continue on to tonight's session tomorrow...

Horsing Around

Interesting week for training, for sure.

I am sleeping well,but I keep waking up feeling as if I got little to no sleep at all. Methinks it is allergies, but what do I know?

GW had called and said he couldn't make it Tuesday eve to the gym. That had made me happy at first, as I was looking for an excuse to not have to go in to the gym, but then I couldn't deal with that thought, so I think I got dressed three times Tuesday eve before I finally dragged myself to the gym. It was rainy and humid, hence the air was super wet and thick as proverbial pea soup inside the gym. My brain was still at home lying on a pillow on the couch. My good ol' buddy Sean was there when I arrived working his legs on the leg press, so I joined him.
I wound up doing four sets, three of which were paused reps on the Hammer Strength leg press.
YIKES!!! I got my swole on after the very first set. It was noticeable, too, visually. (Again, let's talk At Large Nutrition RESULTS!)Then onto reverse dumbbell lunges. GW doesn't like lunges, so, as usual, I like to do things that he dislikes when I train without him. They were brutal, but I think pedal pushes in the air would have been brutal after the leg pressing! Lying leg curls - regular, then a drop set, then a super slow rep, then 3 sets of duck squats...oh, and seated calves and standing calves.
It always boggles me that I can have the most intense and effective workouts when I am soooo listless when I first walk in. It is now Friday and my legs are still WRECKED! I had a massage yesterday and the soreness is especially deep down in there. They are coming along, my quads, they are.

Last night we made our way back to Midway Fitness in Rehoboth Beach, DE to train. It kind of feels like returning home from being overseas or something - LOL.
I didn't expect much, since I was dragging around all day again, had an hour and a half deep tissue massage in the late morning, and my legs were still feeling as if they were lead pillars, but heck, I was going to be fine.
Actually, whilst warming up, the bar felt pretty heavy. When I got to 230 x 1, I thought that a set with 230 was going to be way too much for me... nope! I hit a terrific 230 x 10. Where DID that come from???!!! Perfect groove, perfect pauses, just perfect. I don't know, but let's run with it. 280 x 3...not bad, Miss Kate... so why not see if I can still hit a 300....
Yes, I can! GW decided to pull a couple of people in the room to check me out, which made me nervous because I certainly didn't want to have to "perform", and my friend Cowboy Rob was there.... But I did it, good job, 2 count pause, locked out and held for a few seconds.
I got all warm and fuzzy from that because I have been wondering for awhile now if I could ever get PowerGoddess to come back. She is back.
Nautilus decline presses,high cable crossovers, Nautilus shoulder presses, lateral flyes, cable press downs, and dips! Then into the majical whirlpool for a hot steamy soak before returning home.
Needless to say - chest, shoulders, and triceps are WRECKED today ! Coupled with my legs, I am pleasantly sore all over :)

Let me give a shout out to my friend and local Cowpoke Rob - (hah!!) I knew you would be in the gym when I saw and almost stepped in horse kickey outside of the gym in the parking lot before I walked in...no, wait, maybe that wasn't horse kickey - I didn't see your horse.... Anyhoooo- good to finally meet you in person!

Rested : )

What magic a week of rest can produce! I won't say I feel inceredible beastly strong after a week's rest, but I do feel RESTED! Imagine that - an almost surreal feeling to me. Rested, and I do like it.
I know I swore off benching and deadlifting and all those big power movements for awhile, but I can't help myself. Those are the movements I love. So I lied - punish me!

So we benched Thursday eve, GW and I. It was a PERFECT groove. I don't get that sheer perfect feeling often, but it felt oh, so right. I was able to hold the pause for the 2 count on all my reps. 230 x 9, 250 x 5, 230 x 7... I'm not so wound up about the strength levels, which were ok, but the groove was, well, grrrooovy. Everything else felt good,too.

This morning we deadlifted. I felt the wrath of sinus pain and pressure all morning long, probably due to allergies, almost felt like a hangover, but I had a hankering to deadlift. Part of me was opposed to deads, GW certainly wasn't jumping up and down at the prospect of deads, but deadlift we did. My first set sucked because I picked the bar up crooked. But I commenced to two sets of 370 x 5. I could of pulled 6 on those sets, but I didn't want to over exert, though I'm not sure what I was saving myself for. I was just wimping out.

The rest of the session went well. Barbell shrugs, and T-bar machine rows, and Rope pull thingies (technical term) and damn it I forgot to do hip flexors! We did rope pulls for biceps then down the rack hammer curls, which proved to be quite an aerobic escapade. Doing biceps isn't supposed to be aerobic...

It was a very wet atmosphere in the gym today - Hannah is hovering above us right now, and when it is humid outside, unfortunately this gym feels twice as humid inside.

Yes, Tropical Storm Hannah is here right now. It is really raining out there and gusting winds about 60 -70 mph. I love walking in warm strong winds, so hopefully the rain will subside soon and I can get out there and exhilerate myself in the wind. Storms are dangerously beautiful, aren't they?
I ate a peanut butter sandwich today. I do eat peanut butter almost daily, but sans bread. I haven't had a PB sandwich in years - many years. It was yummy. I am not a jelly person.
I usually slather the pb on my MetRX Chocolate Crunch bars...now that is gourmet!

I am hanging about 172 -173.