Persevere....

That's all I can do -truth be told - I did a small APA meet this past Saturday. I had hoped I could come here and say that I beat that "thing"...well, actually I did beat that thing. I did not do that "thing" that I always did when benching....255 was my opener. Talk about EASY. That was like, as I say, playing with Tinker Toys. HOWEVER (always a friggin' however with me, isn't there???) I had no steam to put up more than one. Was it because I was sick last week? Was it because my lovely son and his lovely friends kept me awake Friday night until 2:30 or 3:00 in the morning, or was it just because???? I don't know. I got my opener deadlift, too, at 400, then ran out of oomph for anymore. We agreed, however, had I gone all out for bigger numbers on the openers, that I could have, I just wasn't programmed on Saturday for anything more than one. :( :( :( So I am plagued by a curse, or what is it? I still suck on the platform.

See that picture of me with a blue belt on - Hell, that's simply not a fashion plus with a purple singlet. One of the prongs fell off of the lever on my belt just moments before the meet began. I borrowed my friend Paul's, but it really was a bit large. Anyhoooo, that's me after missing my second bench - not happy, no...

Monday was a SMOKIN' leg day at the gym Again, I am so tired - I have not been sleeping well for weeks. But, sometimes, even though the strength levels drop, there is a certain ability to push further into "the zone" when I am tired - maybe because part of me is too exhausted to think about it or argue with myself over it. I'm getting the hang of the wide stance squats. I can go deeeeep. B wasn't there to tell me this or that, and so I gave this and that no regard, and it worked. Sometimes you just have to trust that you know what you are doing is right for you. I'm liking this technique, and today, the day after - my legs are totally fried in every fiber.

8 and a half weeks to go -

8 and a half weeks out - 162 pounds.
Sorry for the bluriness

Improvments -

Not much to elaborate on concerning Monday's training. It was "bodybuilder" style training with GW...just work, hard work - it was not a squat night, we chose Smith Machine lunges on a box - good stuff. They are like one legged squats. You are supposed to use the box to your advantage and go deeeeeeep, using the hamstring to power you up. Pant pant wheeze...I cut my total volume back tonight, for certain reasons, but it didn't matter. The pump and leaden feeling in my legs was outstanding. Those lunges really did the trick.
I've got a touch of that "thing" that is going around - my son and his friend both had it last week, hence my contracting it from them. It's been coming on since last week, and now the fever is confirming it.
B took some progress pics of me, with just a little less than 9 weeks, but they are very blurry. I'll put up a couple, but keep in mind that they are blurry...ok, like you wouldn't notice the blurriness, duhhh...
Biggest improvements in my physique - at 9 weeks there is distinct leg definition, whereas it took much, much, much longer to appear last couple of times. AND, my quads are definitely bigger. I did measure them, but I take bodybuilder stats with a grain of salt, as most of them do lie concerning measurements and max lift poundages, so I'm not even going to elaborate - just note that they ARE bigger. You won't get by without noticing. And as I stated in an earlier post - I'm much fuller and rounder, I've got more of an hourglass shape happening this time... My biceps have come back up, too. I'm actually much more "symmetrical" ( I know that this term is erroneously used, but that's how the bodybuilding world uses it). My abs are still going to be the last thing to come in, as they always are, but they are there, waiting...and NO, I haven't trained them directly. B suggested I might do a set or two last night just for the heck of it....I scoffed at the notion.
I did a very short chest, shoulder, tricep session last night, Tuesday - I'll tell you why at a later time.
Still hanging at around 161 - 162. B thinks 5-6 pounds to go, I say 7-8.
Methinks I've almost got the draft of my posing routine...music? Tool!!!

Curvier Physique

There is absolutly no reason to elaborate on last night's training. I was dragging all day, tossed and turned and was awake most of Thursday night. I worked all day with a client showing property, so I had no time to rest, hence I was feeling like a wet dishtowel by the time I got to the gym. And the weather didn't help -what gives?? Cold, grey, damp, windy...that's enough to sap anybody's energy. It is supposed to be spring, but the weather here has been blahhhhhh. I waited with excitement all week to go in and play with the new Texas deadlift bar, but Kate was not in a playful state. My feet have been really hurting, too. I don't know what it really is, has been happening for years. In the center of the balls of my feet it gets to where it feels like my feet are splitting apart when I walk. It comes on every once in awhile, and for some reason something spurred it on last week. Yesterday the weight of the deadlifts were enough to agravate the left one so bad that just standing on it was aggravating it - VERY painful, like a foot on fire. I pulled my shoe and sock off to look, and sure enough it was swollen. Obviously, I didn't do calves last night, and probably shouldn't for awhile.

We did deadlift, had to. There was a new Texas deadlift bar - but it certainly wasn't stellar - I am just so glad to have gotten through it without pulling my back out one week from....aaahaaa.....

Update on that foot situation - B looked it over carefully. He is diagnosing some kind of fluid retention right there in the middle of the balls of my feet. What spurs it on? ?????? Dunno -It comes, it goes, it is painful. This is why I do not often wear shoes with high heels or shoes without good padded support under the balls of my feet. I walk, it feels like my foot is splitting apart. What to do about it??????? Dunno -

My physique is going to look soooooooooo different on stage this year. I'll be coming in with a lot more "curves", rounder, less angular than before. I already don't quite recognize myself when I look in the mirror in certain poses.I'm not so sure I'll be as dry onstage, but THAT is obviuosly not what the judges are looking for these days. I like the dry look, though, but we'll see. It's nine weeks out now and we still have some experimenting to do before I step on stage. I did mail my entry out the other day, so I WILL be at the Masters' Nationals.

9 and 1/2 weeks

The lighting is not very good, but here I am at nine and a half weeks out - that reminds me, I should send in my entry fee, thanks....

Good news - the Power Goddess is on the upswing again! Still not quite up to where I was, however 275 paused was easy as pie, as they say somewhere or another - I was going to do two, but I did not want to spoil that moment. It has been awhile since 275 went up like that. Like SMOKE!!!I did a static with 295 for 10 seconds, no sinking - EGADS!!!That should be a contest right there. How much weight can one hold for how long without sinking the bar?

Oh, that's right, I'm supposed to be talking about muscle shapes and sizes and definition and vascularity because I'm in bodybuilding mode. HAH!!!! Hanging about 163 with about 9 and a half percent bodyfat.

155 is the goal, and I'm on target - diet wise I am ahead of the schedule, but that's because I have some time scheduled to go off the diet ( stay tuned). I was noticing, by looking at some pictures of me, and how could one NOT notice - how friggin' developed my gluteus medius is -

as well as my lower back. The judges are sure to hate that! I also noticed how wide my leg biceps are - I was wondering why I could never get that look where from the rear you see the quads flair out beyond the hamstring so big and full on some women - because my hamstrings are wiiiiiiiiiide - and peaked low. I'm just a different breed of body.

That's just what they call a "teaser" there from my new gallery from my Members' Section.We spent a lovely afternoon in beautiful Cape Henlopn Park last Sunday. OK,so it was public nudity, and illegal, but we got some really good shots. If you ever get to southern Delaware, do not miss Cape Henlopen State Park. It's a real treasure. We go there often for photoshoots, and never run out of scenery.

Dave - chocolate cake-come and get it!!!

When you get back to Delaware Dave Kergaard, GW and I are taking you out for a big piece of chocolate cake with EXTRA whipped cream...I forget wether we are supposed to take you to Fish On or Big Fish, but it is a date when you get back, HAH!!! Counting down ---
I had a photo shoot yesterday, reviewed the photos, and I am NOT at all happy with what I look like...ooooooo! I have relegated myself to the fact that the judges will NEVER reward me...WHY? you ask - I have this physique, that collects muscle as curves, I wear my muscle so "feminine". Not such a bad thing, you say, and in reality, it is not, but heck - I could weigh 200 lbs and still look like a big figure girl. Seriously - some women, they put on as little as 5 lbs. of muscle - they look big and powerful, some look blocky, some look masculine, some look MUSCULAR. I put on 40 pounds of muscle, I look curvy. What gives? OK, not such a bad thing, but in a competitive SPORT where judges "say" they like that kind of physique, but do NOT reward it., in fact they score it DOWN..well....... Is that why I am unhappy with my physique? In part. Never mind - don't feel like elaborating on that subject any longer.
GW and I had another kick butt workout session. I used up all of what I had to give. We squatted. My second session with the wide stance. I went even wider this time than last time. This extra wide stance allows me to go deeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep. That is good. I am still having trouble remembering to thrust forward instead of blasting up. When I get that down I think this stance will allow me to hoist great numbers. We did slooooooow hacks after that, slooooow leg curls, and then Hammer machine single leg deadlifts. Oy Vey!!!!
I like training with GW very much. He's a good guy, and motivated, and SICK!!! I miss B, but I think he'll be training with us in a few days...I hope.

Deadlifting Maniac

In my Power Goddess photo gallery, there is a photo of a man named Paul Timmons. The caption reads something to the effect that he was the first man to swim across the Delaware Bay from Cape May NJ to Lewes DE, which he did in 7 hours and 15 minutes. (Just imagine yourself swimming for 7 hours and 15 minutes nonstop!) Paul has been in the IronMan Triathlon several times, he has swam around Alcatraz Island, he has done so many athletic feats, and just keeps on doing them. He loves to challenge himself.



Recently he became fascinated with the 300 Challenge, and the philosophies and training methods that are associated with www.gymjones.com. Paul read about one of their challenges - how many double bodyweight deadlifts can one do in 20 minutes. The record Paul set out to beat was 36. He asked me to come in and video his feat, and to stanby with moral support.



Paul crushed that number with a total of 55 reps at 325 lbs (his bodyweight just moments before the attempt stood at 161).
I believe he went 18, 10, 8,7,7,4,and 1. He didn't go for the calculated method, rather the all out balls to the wall method. He's so superiorly conditioned, I am still in awe after watching that. Needless to say, yesterday, the day after, it was rather hard for him to stand! I can't wait to see what his next personal challenge is -

GW and I trained back last eveining. We did barbell rows, which I probably only do a few times per year, and haven't done in a very, very long time. But they felt very effective. We only went up to 225, I got 12 on my last set, I do remember that, then cable rows, stiff arm pull downs, barbell shrugs, kettle bells slow curls, and the Hammer preacher machine...and seated calves. Nothing out of the ordinary, but a good couple of hours of work.

No cardio

First I must brag on my darling son, Slater. He is 14, in the 8th grade. He won an annual award from his school last night for recognition of his artistic talents. The picture here is one he drew a year or two ago. I like it because it actually kind of looks like Slater. He is also an extremely talented musician. He plays guitar, base, keyboards, and trombone. He even writes his own music and he and his friends in their band play it. I always say I must have done something really right in my previous lifetime to deserve him(couldn't be this one)! A proud mama I am.

GW and I had a kick ass workout today. My bench is still not up to par, but it was much improved over the last couple of weeks. Improvement is always good. I'm being conservative in my expectations, even though it is a false conservatism. It was a good all around work session, both of us tired, both of us stressed, but still putting what we had into what we could, and making it all work out positively.

Dieting is coming along fine, in fact, I probably need to ingest more calories. I'm already eating more than I think I should, and I've already lost 8 pounds in 10 days. I'm going to reiterate a point here that no one believes, but is true. I do NOT, nope never, don't even THINK about doing cardio. I honestly believe that most people overdo it wayyyyy too much, then try to compensate the overtraining and muscle loss by adding in extra pharmaceuticals that they could have foregone in the first place had they skipped the cardio. Most of them aren't doing true "cardio" anyway... you don't want to believe that I don't do any, well, don't, but I'm certainly making out ok not wasting my time bouncing up and down on the friggin' eliptical machine or stationary bike. I have better things to do.

Thigh pulverization

We have this Paramount Leverage Squat machine, that is kind of a wicked machine. It usually just sits there, very uninviting. No one wants to even acknowledge its presence. It is not an easy machine, actually quite hard to get used to, hence its unpopularity. We have been using that. We did leg presses prior to them. I took a tight control on all of the down movements on the presses, slower than usual. I was imagining myself in an inverted squat. Back to some slow repping on extensions and curls, too. I love/hate that. ANyhoooo, what yesterday's session did to me -
I live on the third floor of a condominium building. I have to walk up / down four sets of nine stairs each. 36 total stairs. Short of a few times that I have been injured, this was the most tortuous trip down the stairs I have ever taken. My God!!! The mid outer thigh area is pulverized. Up was a test, but tolerable. But Down!! - I almost laid down and rolled the way down to alleviate the pain. Wow. I'm inclined to stay inside for the next few days just to avoid the trip back down. I'm not even sure if I have soreness in any of the other areas of my legs, this is so darned overwhelming. Broderick says my body likes being a bodybuilder. I say poppycock.

Standing straight and pulling hard

Deadlifting was interesting last night. It was the first time back deadlifting since I pulled my back out...was that four weeks ago already??? I trained alone, which made my mind set a bit more relaxed - no pressure to perform, go at my own pace. "relaxed" as I went in thinking that with the state of things, I might just back off after the first rep if it didn't feel right, and I did not expect it to at all. I made sure I warmed up until I felt ready. I decided 315 would be my first and possibly last set. I surely got the groove going right away, even though my right hand grip wasn't right. I had to reset the grip at least half of those reps. I made ten, so no telling what number that would have been had my grip been proper and I could have zipped right through. So what the heck, 365 it was, for 6. Perfect.
That's about where the energy started fizzling and the weighlifter's headache came in ( like an ice cream headache, but caused by training)...so I backed down instead of loading up and did another set of 10 with 315...perfect. And when I was all through deadlifting, I was still able to stand straight up, no back pain, no hip pain, no pain anywhere...
All of the work Broderick has been doing on me is just showing amazing results. I look back at pictures of myself through the years, even before training, and can see how bad my stance was. It is so different to be straight. Remarkable.
I'm still learning where my sugar intake needs to be. I was sipping on a homemeade magic sugar potion all through the session last night, and it sure made a difference in my physical state, but I still most definitely need to consume more throughout the day. Everybody else sees sugar as toxic - I thrive on it.

wigged

I'm not so sure my bench sucks, I think it's just kind of a "burn out" phase...not that I mean "just", as those who know me will attest to the fact that this kind of thing really wigs me out, but I keep working and trying and overcompensating and it leads me into that big sink hole called "burn out".
I'm trying new things on the bench, as well as the squat. I did a "static pause" with 275 for 10 friggin' seconds! I didn't let it sink into my chest at all, I held it very well, thank you, but pushing it up after 10 seconds certainly was not possible.

I LOVE playing with the kettle bells! Used them for lateral raises and triceps overhead extensions. Using variations of standard dumbells and barbells is great for a variation on muscle fiber stress. There was a time that I was in Puerto Rico for a month. I stayed in a cute little house with a big oceanfront yard. Behind a shed in the yard I found some poles, some cinder blocks, and some buckets, and some rocks. I'd put the cinder blocks on the poles and used that for the barbell. I filled the buckets with water and rocks, and some with sand. They were my dumbells.

JC wants to know what color Kool-Aid I drink? I like all kinds, yesterday was orange. My favorite is lemonade. I am a lemonade and limeade freak. Fresh squeezed lemonade just properly sweetened is to die for on a hot summer day. Kool-Aid gives me the sugar that I need quickly upon rising in the morning.

Relearning the Squat

Because my hip flexors are a problem - a big imbalance of strength - we've decided that I should give wide stance squating a go. It certainly is a trying task learniing new tricks and shaking off the old habits, but I do believe that once I get this wide stance squat technique down, well, big numbers. It was kind of scary because I wore my Inzer power shoes and they are somewhat slippery on Midway's floors, so I had to not only concentrate on squatting, but keeping my feet flrom slipping out from under me. I only went up to 315, no wraps, but I think it's going to work for me in the long run. Then we used the Paramount machine that somewhat simulates a sissy squat. NO ONE else ever uses that machine, but it is quite effective, I like it.
Soreness is happening in new places - don't we all love/hate that feeling?

I've been dieting for three whole days now. My big problem is convincing myself to eat enough sugar. I just finished my morning glass of Kool-Aid.

One thing after another....

New injury - something around the area of the left shoulder blade...I woke up the other morning and it made its presence know, I don't know where it came from??? The rest of my self is on the mend, but the right glute is still out of sorts. One thing after another after another....

Tonight I changed up on my bench teqnique a bit. I'm making a consious effort to decend slower, so when I get to the bottom stopping isn't such a shock, then I won't feel I have to gather up and sink the bar into my chest - yep, that's what I do on the platform. People have been telling me I relax at the bottom, and I have been wondering what the heck they are talking about, because I know that I don't "relax", however it does look like it as I am regrouping and sinking the bar into my chest. My benching was fine this evening, even all beat up and sleepy.
Some day I will get it right on the platform.

Since I am technically in bodybuilding mode now, we played pre-exhaustion on our legs the other night. I hated that. 2 kinds of leg curls and leg extensions before we even made it over to the leg press... then we finished off with something I DO like. One legged lunges on the Hammer Strength deadlift machine. Those are so awfully gruelingly good.
I was back up to 171 last night. B thinks we can get me to step on stage in the low 160's in July...yikes! The judges will never like me, so I may as well do whatever I like as far as bringing a physique to the stage.

Delaware Power Classic

The second annual Delaware Power Classic is now in the books and I couldn't be happier!!! Well, Yes, I could be happier if I was actually able to have competed, but it just wasn't happening as far as the squatting or the deadlifting. My back and hips were a mess. Cramps were a bit of a problem, too, for some reason. I did bench, but I did what I always do on the platform...I sucked. However, I THINK I know what I'm doing MENTALLY as well as physically, so I've got my plan brewing. Keep on plugging....sigh...
The meet was tremendously successful. They came! Over 40 competitors this time - and very good lifters at that. The helpers we had - judges, spotters, loaders, administrators, photographers, videographers, DJ, clean-up, EVERY ONE of them, were priceless. Never enough praise for them. Powerlifters seem to bond very much differently than bodybuilders. I feel quite honored and blessed to have had the individuals that were there with us helping in pure spirit and love of the sport, many of them I had never even seen before yesterday, and several who show up for support every time we gather, bless their hearts.
As I did not squat or deadlift, I finally got to sit in my own judge's chair and judge for awhile. I will probably be doing more of that as the meet is really getting a good reputation, and as it grows, so do my responsibilities and I may have to bow out of competing in my own meets...(but, as you may know my ways by now - don't hold me to that).
I won't go into names and numbers performed, because you can read the results and view video clips on www.DE-APF.com when they are prepared. However, I must say that the caliber, determination and spirit of the athletes was second to none. I am so proud to be a part of this event. I have told Broderick he would be allowed to compete in our next event, and I would take his place, but I will NEVER be able to step into his place and expedite a meet the way he can. So B - forget it - HAH!!! Jack and Chrissy Osborne, owners of The Training Center - THANK YOU!!!

he's magic!!!

He is magic - Broderick I am speaking of. I have been to a couple of chiropractors on a very regular basis for going on six years now, since I slipped a disc. He's better than both of them combined.
He has been "adjusting" me daily since I screwed my back on Saturday morning. I believe he has analyzed the situation correctly and we have a plan. I went into the gym to have my daily adjustment this evening. I picked just the bar off the squat rack to test squat so we could analyze where I was at. It was painful and very uncomfortable no matter what foot position I took. I really had no hope whatsoever for squatting this weekend. At the end of his workout, he worked on me~dug his magic fingers and elbows in and assessed my position. I went back to the squat bar and tried squatting again. I now have HOPE!! Miracles do happen. Three hours later and I can still squat down and feel no pain.
How blessed I am to have someone who will actually take the time and care and want to fix me?!!
He has explained to me that the problem is that my hip flexors are imbalanced in strength compared to my glutes and back and thighs...we did some grueling (yes, GRUELING) exercises this evening to start to help to combat the situation.
Will I squat this weekend? I am going to go into it as if I am. I will warm up, and assess my position. I am looking positively at squatting on Saturday.
Bench? Heck, it's still not where it was a couple of months ago, but I will try.
Deadlift? I have a feeling that I will be too scared after what happened last weekend. Fear is a killer. I have fear. If I can possibly release the fear, or at least numb myself to it, it's a go.
Those are my plans, but don't expect anything.

Strained

I strained my back pretty bad this morning..deadlifting. Not enough warming up is my educated guess. It's not "out", but manuevering around is difficult...and painful. I jumped from 315 for only two warmup reps right to 405, which I did lock out, but I definitely need to throw a 365 in there, maybe even two, and some warmup pull downs and db rows or something of the sort to begin with. I will be ok for the meet, I am sure, but methinks today and tomorrow are going to be void of much movement on my part. :( The rest of the workout was so-so. We didn't move all that fast through it, because the guys were helping Bill Lewis break in his new bench shirt, which tore down the center when he attempted a 585. That sucks, because he has a meet next weekend. Bill has the potential to be one of the best benchers anywhere...we all can't wait for the day when he realizes his potential.
I couldn't shrug after the pulling of the back. However, I was able to do prone rows on the machine, and v grip pulldowns.
Paul got some kettle bells in for the gym. I adore kettle bells. Couple of sets of regular speed biceps curls with those, then the last set was a super slllllllooooww one, and the kettle bells were just God-awful for those...awful in the best way!!! Then B had GW and I on the preacher bench where he applied constant resistance for two sets....awful, they were simply awful.
Donkey calves really made my calves swell today.
Didn't attain the 175 lb. goal - missed it by half a pound. I must begin the diet today to get to 165 for the meet next week.
Now it's hot bath and rest time.....

Lasik

So what was I doing in Phoenix???? Lasik eye surgery. Why fly all the way to Phoenix from Delaware for the procedure? I have a prerequisite that my eye surgeon be handsome and personable. Oh, and he is the world's best - Dr. Michael Granberry, of the Lasik Vision Institute of Phoenix and the Lasik Spa in Los Angeles (www.Lasikspa.com). I can't tell you enough how hospitable his entire staff is, and how expert they are at making you feel comfortable.

No, it doesn't hurt, and the procedure takes only about ten minutes on average, but anytime you are in apprehension of somebody poking around in your body, especially when you are awake, and in your eyeballs nonetheless, there is a level of fearful anticipation that you just cannot deny. Dr. Granberry has a very gentle aura that diffuses that fear. (If I could just have Dr. Granberry there with me on the lifting platform...). Dr. Granberry, I've thanked you already, but I truthfully cannot thank you enough. So, thank you over and over and over again and again and again.

174

I know I should never train two days in a row, especially back to back after legs. However, there wasn't much choice for me this week. It was a "labored" session. GW and I trained chest, delts, tri's last night. Neither of us were in our strong modes, but for some reason both of us got incredible pumps...like my delt meat was ripping right through the skin. At this point, my bench is so off, I am negative about benching at the meet, however, both B and GW have already decided for me that I am. B's already planned my sequence of attempts...sure, I can refuse, but not attempting is as big of a failure as a failed attempt - even bigger... but don't read that as a definite. I am still undecided. I was up to (OMG) 174 pounds last night. My all time heaviest - approximately 12% bodyfat. I have to get down to 165 for next Saturday, so best cut out my late night Debbie Cakes tonight.

I'm baaack

Squat day - last one before the meet. The Delaware Power Classic held at the Training Center in New Castle Delaware...my meet, my baby, my big party...
I was TOTALLY out of it all day. I slept 9 1/2 hours last night, when as a norm 5 1/2 to 6 is usually a difficult stretch. My eyes rolled to the back of my head and didn't want to emerge back to the front. It's 10 pm now and I still haven't come out of the coma, but the training went well in spite of my state of being.
I pulled a VERY good 445. Then B made me put 500 on my back, unrack and stand there for 10 seconds. My hip was out again, it always gets misaligned when I travel. It prevented me from doing a down set of reps, but as walking to the refriidgerator a few minutes ago was a total chore, my legs won't miss it. B yanked it back into place afterward, thank goodness.
Barring anything wierd happening, I will squat at the meet. I trained for the meet this time by not training for the meet - just simply train like I always do - to get stronger. I think it's the way to go for me from now on for powerlifting meets., by cracky!

pulverized pecs

So, when I don't bench it's supposed to be easier, right??? NOT!!! We did flat bench db's (up to 120's)and decline barbell(up to 315), and by the time we got to incline smiths, my pecs didn't want to work anymore! and THEN...swinging up some one armed 60 pound db lateral flyes for delts...crud - WRECKED, I am wrecked for sure!

I meant to finish this posting and have it up the other day, however, I got sidetracked getting ready to fly out to Phoenix, where i am right now. I will elaborate further on my trip upon my return.

squats are on

I'm finally over the 170 lb. threshold, and boy! Do I feel like a TANK...I was up to 171 and a half the other day.
Squatted yesterday, on a Sunday afternoon, just to throw ourselves off the norm of usual Monday eves. I hadn't had anything over 405 on my back since weeks before the New Year.
435 was ridiculously easy. I just told somebody that if I can't pull off a 455 at the meet, then I am going to go bury my head in the sand.

To make up for the lack of reps in my squat, they made me do a 40+ rep set of leg presses...ooooo! My upper glutes got to burning again where I couldn't find a comfortable spot to put them at ease. I'm working on the "shelf butt" effect!

We trained at Midway Fitness Center, here in Rehoboth Beach. Marti, the owner, just invested in a super duty power cage, and I am in love with this thing. Who cares about men when you can have a super duty power cage instead?
B just started working at Midway, so we'll be performing our circus act there from time to time.
It is a well equipped gym, save for the fact that the dumbells only go up to 125's, otherwise lots of good equipment. There are numerous older Nautilus machines, that are fantastic machines, and they should have never stopped manufacturing some of them. Nothing compares to the Nautilus multi-exercise machine, the decline chest, the duo-squat, to name a few. Midway is a nice place to train at when you are visiting lovely Rehoboth Beach DE.

JC - keep your comments coming, I love them!

Body parts at 169 lbs.

Yankin'

I was up at the Training Center on Saturday - did my back. No, still not recovered. I may never be recovered again in this lifetime...I don't know. I was hoping to use their brand new Texas Deadlift bar, but alas! It was locked away in a closet. Perhaps they are waiting to break it out next month at the powerlifting meet that will be there? What powerlifting meet you ask? Well, since you asked - April 21st, the APF/AAPF Delaware Power Classic, produced by none other than yours truly... me! (and Broderick - who is the DE APF state chairman) We run a good, fun, well expedited meet - lots of lifting talent in the groups of lifters we manage to have had with us in the past - Brad Vargason and Scott Yard have both set wold records with us, just to mention a couple - and we have a RAW (in capital letters - HAH!) division. Will I lift in it? I plan to do something, but I doubt I'll go in full power tis time - stay tuned.

Anyhooo...even though I was tremendously drained of energy, I just couldn't walk out of there without yanking on some heavy dumbell rows. I did manage two sets of deadlifts, 365 x 5 and 405 for one measly rep... telling ya, I am still just so terribly tired after a few reps. As none of the gyms in my area have anything heavier than a 150 dumbell, I had to - HAD to yank on something heavy. They were calling to me - "Kaaaate, pick me up". I was too fatigued to even think about the 180's, but I did do a set of 150 for 8, with 160 for 6...then 170 for 4... not my best, but it felt really, really good to pull those. REALLY good.

I want to have a contest of "odd lifts" and include dumbell rowing as one of the events.

This picture has nothing to do with training, nor does it have anything to do with anything relevant to anything I have to say at all.
It is me buying tomatoes at the grocery store.

Juggling

Rather than sit here and type about my training sessions this week (and my new wrestling/jui-jitso/self-defense lessons), I'm going to touch upon something that I get asked frequently - how do I juggle all that I do and get it all done? Heck, when juggling, I drop alot of balls, believe me...and then I go the other way and over-extend myself, and get into "the hole" (where I am now, by the way). I am a single mom, ok - divorced single mom, work full time as a real estate agent, part-time as a personal trainer, competitive powerlifter, competitive bodybuilder, produce two powerlifting meets per year, oh my God, STOP!! I'm tired!!
I was blessed with a wonderful child, who is 14 now and his age makes things a little easier as he gets older...Real estate can be flexible, yet sometimes you have go to go when "they" beckon you. I am very lucky to have a partner who puts up with me! (If he is reading this, well, remember Jody, I have to put up with you, too!!! )He is a great business partner. He even gives me encouragement to pursue my extra curriculars. The powerlifting - bodybuilding juggling hasn't been too much of a problem, but it IS getting more difficult the better I become at bodybuilding. What does that mean? Well, for example, I got reamed out by my trainer (B) the other day, he says that indeed I really do walk around much too lean to be continuously lifting the poundages that I do... read: WEAR AND TEAR! However, I feel much too "clunky" to walk around over 11 or 12% bodyfat...I can't figure some of the bodybuilders who put on so much body fat when they aren't in competitve mode -
Producing the meets? Well, that's just like being the hostess of two big parties to me...I love it. And me competing in those meets, well, I'd just be pacing back and forth anyway, so use the energy constructivly, right?
I brought up this topic, mostly because I am "in the proverbial hole". I had the surgeries, didn't ease back into things like I should have, just went hog wild, started with the wrestling...on and on - My body is starting to physically rebel by the constant tiredness, the bothersome joints, non-recuparative muscles after workouts... it all adds up. I have to be good to myself now so as to avoid any perpetual repercussions. It is entirely possible I may skip competing in the Delaware Power Classic on April 21. Of course, that would make B very happy that I could tend to only running the show - I may just do that, and be "the anal judge"...(no one wants me to judge - I am very, very strict). Maybe I will compete, I don't know yet. Bodybuilding -I am definitely planning on the Masters' Nationals on July 21 - that is my priority at this point in time. I need to try to make those judges wipe the crust out of their eyes and notice me. I may never accomplish that, but at least I know that I am better than they have given me credit for thus far...

Leg Pressing

I am just dragging my big ol' butt this morning. Maybe the time change affected my sleep, because I haven't been sleeping soundly the past two nights. Maybe I pushed myself just a little too hard last week? Or maybe alot?
And last night - wow, George and I went to town. He felt like he was on the verge of having something, and I was brain-numb tired - did you ever get so tired that your brain was numb? So, we claimed that we were going to "back off just a bit"...we lied.
We didn't squat - I try not to squat every week anyway...we used the Hammer Strength leg press, which I am learning to love. The movement is so much like a squat. It works the entire leg in the same fashion, regular leg presses don't really do that. AND - a milestone!!! I wrapped my own knees for two sets. I've tried to put that off as long as possible! There is room for more practice and improvement, but they were sufficient - not too bad. I think I did sets of 12, 12, 12 20 - not my usual low reps, but, again, I don't think my legs will shrink after the way they were pounded last night.
I introduced G to Sissy squats, manual with a 25 pound weight...I learned to do this movement when I first started training, and still love them to this day. It is RARE to see somebody else do them. B hates them, so when I train with him, I don't get to do them much,but I beleieve in sissys...
We got out of the gym in less than an hour and a half - incredible. I see some sweep coming, but my legs are never going to look like they have as much sweep as some others because of the long vastus lateralis - it attaches into my knee. I'm going to have to grow big FREAKY legs to make them look like they are as big as they are. They are big, but deceptively so.

Saturday morning and I feel like the big choo choo train has taken me for a ride underneath for a few miles once again...so good to be back -
Wednesday, chest day was a bit off strengthwise - not that they touched the muscle at all during the operation, but I imagine that since it is the immediate area there is some local trauma to the pecs just being in the same vicinity? What do I know, I'm not a medical professional...maybe I was just plain weak on Wednesday for no reason - ??? 225 bench for 6 pauses - good, long pauses, but still, a few off my form. I backed off the total routine by three less sets than normal. Thank goodness, because here it is 4 days later and my chest is still WRECKED!!! owwwww - my delts and triceps are probably sore, too, but the pecs are so pulverized that it takes away from any other sensitivities I may be experiencing.

Last night - deadlifts! I had no expectations...well, ok, I always have expectations to pull maximum poundages, but I wasn't going to chastize myself if it didn't happen. My energy levels deplete rapidly, still, and again they did last night. I find myself panting after a few reps exhertion...strength wise I was on, but when it comes down to the last rep and max effort, I couldn't tally forth into that zone...I'll come around again soon, I do imagine. I did 365 x 5, 405 x2, 315 for 5 resets...I opted for the resets rather than go for the normal 315 for max reps.

I may have died! George and B were doing these awful 30 + rep sets just for the heck of it...rest assured that I did NOT join them in their antics. I did do one high reps set of 20 on the cable row, but for the most part, I stuck in my usual low rep range.
My biceps were pummeled last night, too. Went up to 60's for a few on the dumbell curl...I try like heck to enjoy working my biceps, I really do...but I reall don't enjoy training them at all.

I fell asleep early last night and slept late this morning. I'm just a poor ol' tired little girl.

Having troubles keeping my weight up - or should I just say I can't seem to eat enough. I'm still hovering below 165. I feel like a stick.

TOAST

No easing back into things for me. I told B not to let me go hogwild. But, i think he gets all warm and fuzzy when he sees me go hogwild so he let me, he encourages it... I went 315 for 9(dammit, nobody stops at 9!!) then 365 for 3...no knee wraps...so then B decides I'm going to do a 405 with no knee wraps. Could I have said no? - well, yeah, sure, I could have...but if you read my blog on a regular basis you are getting to know me well enough to know that I wouldn't back down at the challenge if somebody paid me....well, maybe if it was a very, very large sum of money... so I tried my very first 405 with no wraps. I made it halfway down (which by the way is a full squat to most people) , but I knew I was too exhausted to stick with it, so I left it at that. I didn't wimp out like my usual, I KNEW it was too much. I was exhausted after the first set, winded, toast, so by the 405 it was just too much. Next wek - Hell yeah...2 with no wraps...I will, because I can. Biomechanically my groove has come back better than ever, just lovely ol' squats they are.
We then progressed on to FRONT squats...yeah, taking it easy - HAH!!! Only 135, but I made sure to do them floor deep, and B said I even unlocked on a few of them...y'all know what that means?? It is when you go down, then go down some more with just your butt...three sets, about 10 , 8, 6 I don't remember....
We did extensions and curls, mixed regular and slow, and donkey calves, but by the second set of calves - I knew I had over done it...danger zone. Luckily I brought some gummy Legos and had some dried peaches in my bag...my blood sugar just plummeted, and it goes so fast, not with a warning - it just drops from being ok to danger zone, just like that. And then I got wierd and scared to drive home....it was almost like being drunk. Had I been one iota over that line I would have eaten more then waited.
Good to be back? You betcha!!!

87%

That's about how much of my normal self I feel today - about 87%. I was wavering back and forth today about hitting the gym for an abbreviated training session. I couldn't decide if going would be pushing it and be detrimental, or if going would actually help my system "jump start" for Monday- because no way in H-E- double hockey sticks am I missing training Monday, no matter what the story is. So I opened my front door. It was at least 60 degrees out, and sunny. That was enough to push me outside and down the road I went.

I still have these lovely swollen black eyes. It is kind of interesting how people either look at you, or try not to look at you without asking what in the world happened.

I did about half of the amount of work I would do on a back - bicep day. No really heavy movements...my lowest rep set was 8, most were in the 10-15 range. I set out to do one armed lat pull downs, but as soon as my arm reached up to and grabbed the handle, I knew I'd have to scratch that one off of my list of exercises. It felt like it was stretching my breast open.

All told, I did 15 sets, including 3 for shoulders (heck, can't let those wither). I weighed in at 162...my arms and shoulders and legs look a little leaner, even after laying around for two weeks. My abdomen is bloated, but that is probably due to all of the drugs, the laying around, and a bit of an off-kilter diet.(what, me eat Pringles???) I had to take some super duper anti- biotics, because the doctor wanted to be cautious and to make sure my fever wasn't an infection. I knew it wasn't, but better not to risk it - I took the last one yesterday but they really made me funky. Glad they are over with.

So I came home, ate, took a hot bath, and actually fell asleep!!!!

Anyhooo - here's a "16th" place back for you....yeah, that's right...yes, I'm griping, and after looking at pictures I just received from Eric Lemke taken the morning after the Nationals...well, Hell, I have to.

Granted, I looked a bit fuller the morning after the contest, as many people do, but 16th place was highway robbery... there, I finally said it out loud, but that's all I'm saying. A few new pics were posted on my free site, on the Nationals page....Eric Lemke is a pure joy to work with, can't wait to work with him again. And someday, when my webmaster REMEMBERS...there will be a new video posted on my free video gallery page (he'll read that, but will he post it???)

Knee Wraps

First - Let me announce that my Members' Section is up and running. I am very, very pleased with the outcome. I have lots of mini-movies, and training video clips, and photo galleries, and even a special Members' Blog. I was I was thrilled to procure several members my first week online!
I will be posting some fresh photographs on my free site, within the next few days, as well.
I am going batty being sequestered in my home for a week! I figured I would stop in and chat about something...I thought knee wraps would be a good topic.
First, I'd like to recommend learning how to wrap your own knees from the get go.
I've been powerlifting for almost two years, and I still have yet to wrap my own knees!!! I learned how to wrap only a few months ago. I wrapped B's once in practice, and once in the gym. My forearms were sore for two days after wrapping B's knees in the gym. I guess that's how you know you've done it correctly. I always think to myself that I am going to go in and wrap my own knees someday...I mean, what if I got stuck by myself at a meet and couldn't find a wrapper? But, the princess always puts the notion to the back of her head when B or somebody offers to wrap....pitiful, I am plain ol' pitiful.
Second, they need to be tight, but not so tight that they prevent you from rebounding. They can also be so tight that they prevent you from reaching proper depth. B was always wrapping me so derned tight, and when I finally mentioned that perhaps they were TOO tight, he scoffed at the notion, so I closed my mouth again for awhile. However, recently I had him relent and back off the tightness a bit, and lo' and behold - I can work them properly again. I don't believe I am ever getting as much 'bounce' out of them as I could, but I will continue to work on that, as it feels all new to me again.
B will hate that I mentioned this, but I really believe that I may have missed my 425 squat in September at the Power Frenzy due to the wraps being so tight. I've gone over it in my head, and watched the video - I went as deep as I thought I could go without breaking form.
I currently use APT Black mambas...as well as the Black Mamba wrist wraps.

Squats back on track

The hip realignment has really put my squatting back into its proper groove. I am able to get back down deep, with a narrower stance. I think I did 365 x 6, then 405 x2, 405 x2, and 315 for 8, no wraps. I'm wimping out again on the last rep or two of heavy squats, so I've got to undertake that as my mission again, to stop wimping out. I could have gotten 3 to 4, but that fear of exertion, or effort, or laziness, whatever it is - I just wimp out.

No training for the next week and a half - just a lil' surgery, but I'll be back soon!

Psychologically disabled

There is my 250 bench press from the APA Delaware Open last week - grrroooaann. No arch - and have you ever tried to utilize a foot plate that has three large holes in it? And a lip around the circumfrence, and a hole in the middle? I can come up with a million excuses, and even some reasons, but at this moment I am going to publicly admit - I choke - severe performance anxiety. I am going to do some research on sports psychology. I may make a trip back to the hypnotherapist. I don't know exactly what I'm going to do about this problem. What I do know is if I can get over this block, I can prove to the world how strong I really am. As of now, I'm sure many think I'm all talk.

Last night GW and I went to town on our backs. It was his first real deadlift workout, ever. There are some fine points that he needs to rectify, but GW has the capability of being formidable on the platform. I will tell you this also - if most of the 25 to 30 year olds I know worked out half as hard or with a fraction of determination as this 59 year old...George is remarkable. He's got this split in both of his biceps trying to poke through - awesome guns!

I'm trying to stick with the "just pick it up" theory in the deadlift, and I think that is going to be the key with me - just walk over and yank it, no analyzing, no deep breathing, no mind setting, no perfect set up -just yank on it and whip it through.

Anyhoo - getting back to that footplate problem - and the fact that that bar in the picture is my own personal bar that I brought for the meet. A couple of the other guys brought their own personal deadlift bar, also. A meet director should ALWAYS have equipment, and if not their own, then have it lined up prior to the meet. This means proper equipment. Relying on competitors and not knowing what the facility has for usage is unacceptable in my book. Run a meet - run it right!

Back to the benching board

B couldn't make it to the gym last night - 'twas just George and I. We decided to just train and have some fun, and we did. We kept the reps high - 10 is high for me!!! I didn't want to go over 225 on the bench, because I was determined to relearn a groove, if I needed to...well, there was no lack of groove last night. Of course, the weights were on the lighter side, but the arch, the push, the rotation - they were there...hmmm. Do I need to pull out the "nervous theory" to explain last Saturday? Then again, my hip is starting to slide back into the jammed position - I can tell that I'm standing incorrectly again, with my hips pushed out instead of back.
I managed a 225 x 10, x 10, x 8, x 6, and G gave me just a little help on the last two sets to make it up to 10. All paused - I tried to un-pause the reps on my last set, but I am so used to pausing that not doing so feels foreign to me now. So, for the rest of my life - I pause.
We did declines and crossovers and later flyes and front laterals and all those movements that powerlifters eschew!
This morning I feel tight, I feel trained, I feel pleasantly trained. However, I still abide by my favorite theory - 'Reps suck", so don't get used to this kind of workout from me!

APA Delaware Open

I watched the video clips of my benching, and sure enough, my set up was not right. It was more like how I used to bench last year. The arch is almost non-existant, and my legs are not on the right "elevated plane". But I could not feel that whislt I was laying on the bench. It proves the re-alignment theory is at least partially, if not mostly, the reason behind my unexpected performance on Saturday. Back to the benching board.

Here are some pics from the meet on Saturday :

John Cristaldi (aka "Jump Rope")

235Raw bench 415 Raw Deadlift at 146 lbs.

Paul Timmons - 425 Raw deadlift at 164 lbs

I don't know the green haired guy's name - but he needed a singlet to be able to lift and I donated him my extra. He looked good in it, dontcha think?

Below:
Sean Beam - Best Overall Lifter, ????, yours truly, Tim Hunter and Chris Webb. The guys are all from Dover DE Gold's Gym.

Flip flopped results

Oh my! The day couldn't have turned out on a more opposite end of the spectrum than I had planned!
My bench press was not at all good yesterday - I'll get to the reasons (ok, excuses, but there are some valid) that possibly may have shot it all to heck in a bit.
I opened with 250 (RAW, of course - ). I actually backed that number down from the 275 I was going to open with. I did get it, no problems.
Next -280 miss
Next -305 -miss.
Now mind you, I've been benching a good 315 for one or two good pause reps for a couple of months now...so what happened???? I was good for a double body weight a couple of weeks ago....so what in the heck happened????? WTF???

My nerves eat up part of my energy, for sure, and boy, did I over analyze this one from the get go, and they had those damned weights that are rubber with three large holes in them. Not good for foot plates, let me tell you! Broderick and I talked on the way home. If you have ever read my training blog you have read my mentioning about it -I've suffered what I thought were primarily back problems for a long time, several years. I go to the chiropractor a minimum of once every three weeks, sometimes every week, sometimes more than once a week. But about a month or more ago Broderick, who you might know has a degree in biology, poked around on me, after I have whined so heavily about my back and hip being non-stop sore and sometimes downright painful or the past 3 months. He said I know what your problem is. It's your hip, not your back, not your spine. So he has been yanking on my leg about once a week, trying to unjam my hip. This past week, lo and behold, I think it was Wednesday, he finally popped that thing out. I stood up straight, really straight for the first time in several years, probably. The pain has been incredibly lessend, I have been so thankful and happy. Anyway, where I'm taking you with this, is that we both think that it took my body into a whole different line than I am used to, hence the groove that I am used to, is no more. I have to find a new groove again. Sounds quirky, but most likely true. That's a 70 pound dropon my bench. I was on line to set a world record. I was not pleased with my performance. It baffled me much, but as I kept going back and reliving it in my head, there is nothing that I can pick out that I did wrong. It just didn't work right....I have to go back and relearn a groove again on the bench. I guess life could be worse, but this was not what any of us had envisioned!

HOWEVER...and thank goodness there is a however...I decided at the very last minute to deadlift. I mean about 15 minutes prior to deadlift warmups. The meet director let me go in as the "guest deadlifter", and he should have, because I brought the bench bar, I brought my lightbox, and I brought some other things he used. (Thank goodness for me, huh? )I had no expectations, especially since my deadlift has been quite depressing lately in the gym. I didn't sign up to deadlift initially because my deadlift has just plain SUCKED since November. My best on the competition platform until yesterday had been 400 (raw). Yesterday I started light, and didn't really plan on doing much in the way of numbers, because of how it has been going in the gym lately. I wasn't even thinking of deadlifting until the very moment I decided to. I went 335 - 385 - 410. I went ahead and took a fourth attempt, for a PR and a state record and I pulled an easy 430. I should have and could have done a 450, anybody who saw it will tell you that, but who woulda thunk after that terrible bench performance? Who woulda thunk after months of wrestling with my deadlift in the gym???

The now aligned hip probably helped my deadlift as much as it hindered my bench.

After I decided to deadlift, I realized that I had no flat shoes to deadlift in, I looked around the gym, to see if I could find somebody with about my size feet in a flat pair of shoes. This pretty woman, who had come up to me and admired me earlier, was watching, and she had on flat shoes, actually short flat boots, cool ones too, that laced up. I asked her what size her shoes were, and she let me try on the shoes. They fit and she let me wear them. After the deadlifting I ran over to her and told her there must have been magic in her shoes, and thanked her. Can you believe that she actually GAVE me her shoes? So I came home with these really cool shoe-boots that I just love!

All in all - 2 good points over one bad. I guess I win.

Counting down

It's 3 and a half hours before bench-off....My nerves are rattling and my system is operating at about 20 times amped over it's normal "air of urgency" levels...why am I so nervous? This will be a fun meet, because it is so many local people. (of course, never as fun as the Delaware Power Classic or the First State Power Frenzy). I know many of the lifters. I'm even donating the use of my own personal Magic Bar for the bench press portion of the meet.
I weighed in at 160 EVEN - that is perfect!
Let's go!!!!

Standing straight

Last night B grabbed ahold of my leg and yanked it just right. My hip moved big time , I felt it and you could hear it. I don't know how long it has been since I have stood straight, many years, many, many, but I can actually stand straight now! I exaggerate not. Wow. I wonder what kind of difference this will make in my lifting - will I have to adjust all over again, now that I finally have a bench groove and a squat groove? This is such a great feeling. Thank you Dr. B (he truly is missing his calling - he is a healer). You can catch a picture of B in this month's PLUSA, page #42. I imagine that picture was taken seconds before he passed out!

Monday was a tremendously gratifying night in the gym. Leg night - I moved my stance back to my old narrow stance. One of the reasons was because I could - I have had to keep a wider stance lately because of all of the hip and back pain. But, because B and I have been tending to the problem with extra care and attention lately, much of the pain was gone, so I was able to move my stance back. I cannot get down deep enough with a wide stance. For me it is biomechanically impossible to squat wide, at least with a competition legal depth. My narrow stance allows me to get down past legal point and also allows me to remain strong. YAY!!!

Unfortunately, the bubble burst on Tuesday evening. Of course, I wasn't recovered from Monday, that was point #1. I just cannot train two nights in a row. Point #2 is that for EVERY meet thus far, I have bombed out in either my last bench workout or the one prior to that, no exeptions. I should have figured, since last week I was on fire. So 255 wasn't even a go. Sad, no?
But, I've consistently worked with 315 for the past couple of months, and I've been good for two good pauses at that weight for several weeks now, so as long as I can get some sleep, and eat good food, and keep my mind from wandering back to the 255, I'll be fine on Saturday.
I am down to around 161 or 162 today, so I must maintain this for weigh-ins tomorrow night.
They don't start until 6:00 pm, that sucks.

Turn me off

Last night was a kind of a crash and burn session. Crashed after I walked in the gym doors, actually - deadlifting was not quite a disaster, mostly because there wasn't much of it. I was not just 'off' last night, but I was 'turned off'. I did a few sets of high cable one arm rows, and that was it. No need to drive myself further into the ground, which is usually what I do. I need to be in good form form benching next weekend. Besides, it is supposed to be a 'back off' week anyway.
My weight is down hovering 164-165 now. I was up to 168 last week, but I needed to make weight for the meet next weekend, and waiting until the last second just isn't for me. I'd like to come in at 162.
B figured out what my pain problem is - the muscles around my core section (obliques, etc.) and hip are tighter on my right side than on my left. Was it that I've been so off kilter for so long that caused this. or was it this that caused me to become so off kilter? We will never know, though I think it is the former. No wonder I can't drive for long distances without screaming out expletives! I am prescribed (by Dr. B) to place moist heat on my right side for periods of time every day. Also to roll up a towel and place it under my gluteus medius whilst laying down to stretch my lower back. It helps.
If you watch a video clip of me squatting, you can usually pick out a wobbly kind of movement on my right side as I descend. This is an effect from the tightness I am talking about, that has been getting worse of the late. Pain, especially when I wake up, has become a daily experience. I don't like that. Let's see how much looseness I can acquire before my next full power meet, because, I am telling you, that squatting is suffering from this.

I forgot to Mention -

that I am planning on benching at the APA Delaware Open on February 10th...it's being held at Gold's Gym in Dover, so I only have to travel 45 minutes.
Send me some positive vibes, please, so I don't choke on the platorm.

365 - soon

My favorite night of the week - bench night! Looks like George Wilson will be joining us every Wednesday night for bench night. A great addition to our weekly circus!!! George is awesome - and I'm the lucky girl who gets to train with two terrific guys, B and G. I found out last night that G is 59, but I swear he looks 10 years younger. And strong he is! We just need to keep his butt anchored to the bench, 'but by cracky' I think he's on the right track. (get the pun?....sorry)

I felt kind of stiff last night when I arrived, and had planned a 275 as a warm up to my 315, B had different plans.... I did a couple at 225 and B wanted me to go right to 315. I didn't think I was quite warmed up enough, but I did get two very nice pause reps at 315! Then...to overload and prep my nervous system, B had me get under 365! (See picture as proof). I was expecting to do just one negative, but....B had different plans. After unracking, I didn't really have the feel of it, then B kind of pushed it into the groove, and it went WUMP!!! down into my chest, he pulled up on it some, of course, while I pressed. Then immediately again. It went up a little too high on my pecs this time, actually I feared that it was going to crush my throat, but I stuck with it, and B. By the time the third rep rolled around, I finally got the groove of it, and accepted the feeling of 365 (F'ing heavy!!!). I actually gave it a really good go on the way up! I did not realize it until after reviewing the video clip but these were all paused! Sometimes after doing a set or more of pause reps, it is hard to unlock the mode from your brain. That is exactly what happened to me. I WILL have that 365 sooner than most of you think. I may have to go up a weight class, but it's in me - just give me some time.

Hang in There

My website is still in process of transition. I imagine it will be a few more days until the kinks get all worked out. The Members' Section is almost ready to launch, too! So yunz all hang in there (you Pittsburgh area people know that word).

I didn't make any postings last week becuase my site has been down, although you can
access my blog from www.DE-APF.com.

Last week B wasn't around, but I didn't really have to venture out all alone. Monday I did train alone, but I went down to Rehoboth Gold's, and my darling Jump Rope helped me out whilst I squatted. I call him Jump Rope because before I knew his name I noted that he always began his training sessions by jumping rope for 5 or 10 minutes. Jump Rope is about 5'5, 150 pounds, and strong as Heck!!!! If he spent some time training with us, or anyone for that matter, learning technique, he'd be incredible, naturally. Jump Rope volunteered to wrap my knees for squatting after I told him I never wrapped my own knees before...so I STILL haven't ever wrapped my own knees. Isn't that scary? I've wrapped B's twice - once in practice and once in the gym. At least I can wrap my own wrists... still the princess. I AM capable of really putting forth and working hard on my own, and I did just that. I didn't squat terribly heavy, 365 for 5, just enough to keep in practice. Lots of tension and pain...it was good, but I did miss B.

Wednesday George Wilson came to work out with us, but as I was solo, he kind of just wound up helping me out, which was really sweet of him. George has won many powerlifting events. He won the Delaware Senior Olympics last year, with a 450 bench, I believe. George is 55 or 56, but he looks great. And he's handsome. I benched 275 for 5 pauses, then 315 for 1 pause... could have done 2, but we planned a 335 pause, unnfortunately - nope. I tried to put myself in George's mode, didn't work. I did get it halfway up. I guess the rotation, or forgetting the rotation, was the problem here. He helped me out for the rest of chest, then exited.
I finished with delts, and tri's, and got a big swole on!

Friday Bill Jentz (Women's Physique World) came to town. He was on his way to Ocean City, MD, so he stopped in to train with me on the way down...mostly he followed me around and videoed me. He did try some dumbell rowing, and some barbell curling. It was so much fun. I like Bill very much. I deadlifted, nothing remarkable, up to 395, which came up notedly easy, I should have put 20 more pounds on the bar, it still would have been easy. I seem to be stuck at doing one heavy rep on the deadlift though, easy or not easy, then I get tired and peter out. Moved on to dumbell rows. Bill thought 150 for 12 was exceptional...I thought it was eveyday dumbell rowing. I'm hoping to get up to The Training Center this Friday and rep with the 180's...it's hard to find a gym with big dumbells - what gives? Strong people need their nourishment, too. Bill repped a 135 for 5 in the barbell curl. We went to DogfishHead and had steak and wine and ale.

Last night, Monday night, B returned! We "backed off'"...because it's my "back off" week...We remembered to do hamstrings first, which I forgot to do last week.
My hip was so jammed up. I went to the chiropractor, but he couldn't budge me much - thank God B knows a bit about the human structure. he grabbed on me, pushed on me, manuevered me and mangled me. He managed to unjam me enough so I am not in constant pain at this time.
My right hip just jams up on me, and my whole right side gets pained, from my neck down to my toes. Ever since I slipped a disc five years ago, it's been trouble and pain. The chiropractor wants to unjam the spine, but B says unless the hip is aligned, the back isn't goingt to work it out. B is right so often it is scary. I am glad he is back. Though I had a good week and enjoyed my time with fresh faces, I missed him.

Power Benching!!!

I was on fire! Since I didn't bench on Saturday, and last week was an abbreviated workout, heck, I sure should have been ready to bench press. My forearms were sore from Monday (the only thing I can figure was from wrapping "B's knees", so I figured if I bombed there was my excuse.

I warmed up relatively quickly last night. I was in a relaxed mode, too ( I used the "R" word!) . 275 was my first set. I did it very determinidly (is that a word?). Since my forearms were sore, I had to really focus on tightening my chest, and that made all of the difference in the world. I forgot to put my wraps on, and B stopped me short of expending my energy. I did four pauses. He saw my mode and popped three wheels (I love saying that!) on each side, and told me that I was going to pause. This was my goal for my meet in April. Was I ready for this so soon? Heck yeah! Not one, but two PAUSE reps at 315! I even impressed myself. So what then, on my next set??? 335, of course. Not pause reps, but touch and go, becuse, heck, it is a whole bunch of weight. Two reps,all mine...

So, the question is, can I bring that to a meet without choking? My technique is much better than last year, so much better, maybe not completely flawless, but certainly golden technique these days, if I do say so myself. I even have a small arch going on. OK, truth be told, it's the magic shoes. Shoes can make a heck of a difference, yes.

Rediscovering hams

Up until several months ago, we always trained our hamstrings first on leg day. I'm not even sure when we dropped the habit. Even before performing big squats, hamstrings always came first. I always found that this helped me feel supported - to know that my legs were actually down there to hold me up. Even if we fried them with 3 or 4 all out sets of leg curls or whatever, "feeling" the hammies always seemed to help me in the squat.
Somehow we fell out of the practice and I even forgot that we did that. I have been wondering what the heck has been going on in my squat, and as soon as Broderick suggested we start doing the hammies first again, I knew that was it. We started doing this again last night. I did not squat, I leg pressed, but yes indeed! That was the ticket -
We went to The Training Center, hadn't been there in about a month. It feels good to be back. Leg training anywhere else just is not the same. Leg presses up to 1290 for 3...knees to chest, none of those partial movements some people call reps.
I have to find myself a powerlifting meet to do within the next month. I'm not even going to "prep" for one, just go do one, to make up for missing Henri Skiba's meet on Saturday.

missed it

The Jersey Iron meet - I was all packed by Friday morning, I was ready to roll. Sometimes things just don't work out the way you had planned. A misfortunate incident occurred -
It wasn't me that it happened to. I am fine. Broderick had an MRI on Friday. Apparently he is severely allergic to whatever the stuff is that they give you before the MRI. He was violently ill.
Had we any inkling that I would have missed the meet, I would have driven myself up on Friday, but by Saturday morning it was all but too late. I can't drive long distances and perform without resting my back - y'all have to remember I have an "angry" back. That's the short version of the story.
I really wanted to compete in Henri Skiba's meet, because he is a truly super guy with a heart as big as the sun. I hope his meet was successful, and I have the opportunity once again to compete in a meet that he produces.

OK, so enough whining and wimpering. What can I do but plug on for the next one....

I did go to the gym, and deadlift. I pulled 400 very easily, which makes me believe that I could have pulled 420 in meet conditions. I took my time yesterday, trained hard but was laid back about it, rather than my usual tense self. Maybe it was because I was in a bummed mood that I did not have my usual mode going. But, I will be all that much better for the next meet...no injuries, lots of rest, loads of enthusiasm. I'll be there.

bloggy posting

I AM still working on getting the Member's Section up and running


My eyes are bugging out from staring at the computer editing pictures Hopefully it will be ready next week!



The red dress shoot was last weekend. It was unusually warm - 75 degrees give or take. A perfect day for the beach! The scenery is Cape Henlopen point. Photographer - Jody Hudson, my real estate partner, who is also one of the best landscape photographers! We tested his new Canon digital camera.




-Monday I had planned to do a short, no squat leg routine, due to the meet coming up, but as the day wore on, I got antsier and a feeling of "must get under the bar" swept over me. I heeded to my from the gut calling. I grabbed my squat boots, and I squatted. I did much better than I had planned, but I'm still not squatting Saturday. My guess is I might get 425 , but I'm not chancing it. My squat psyche does not have time to re-gear for this one, and I want a higher number than that, anyhoooo. I'll save the squatting for the Delaware Power Classic, on April 21.

I will be benching this weekend. I don't normally do a bench session so close to a meet, but there was no choice, unless I skipped it all together, which may be the way to go, but I haven't figured that out yet. Tradition has it that I screw up the last bench workout before my meet. I just do, why, I don't know. I didn't totally screw up this one, but it was, rigid, for lack of a better word.
I should be playing with a raw 300+ meet bench, I am playing with that at the gym but I'm just hoping that I get the 275 at the meet . If I screw up and don't get a 275, then I need to do some major adjustments, to not only my training, but to my thought processing.

Will I deadlift this weekend? I'll decide when I weigh-in.

Warped

It feels really great walking around in flip flops and a tank top in January. It doesn't feel really great having the flu. It does feel really great knowing that the reason I had a mediocre training session last night was the fact that I have the flu, and not that I am burnt out or overtrained or just plain ol' weak. What a warped method of thinking.
It was in the mid-70's here today. Donned a new red sleeveless mini dress and went for a photo session down on the beach. The lighting was as warm as the air was. I was cramping up all over the place whilst posing, however, and that's about the time the FLU feeling finally slammed me.

If you read my journal even semi-regularly, you know I get just about everything that is making its way through the populace. Seems my son bestowed his illness upon me....grrrrrrooooan. I feel like sludge.

Thursday January 04 2007

I am frantically working on getting the Members Section of my website ready. It is bunches of work!!! I have had many requests from fans already, so I am have high hopes that it will be a succesful venture. I've got tons of unreleased photos, unreleased video clips, etc. etc. just waiting. I am excited. If anyone has suggestions for me, please e-mail me. I'm getting alot of requests for my foot shots, too - I have awesome feet, if I do say so myself.

My son has been sick this week. I had the thermometer out the other day after taking his temerature. Just for the heck of it (and because I've been feeling bad) I took mine, and lo and behold, my temperature was a degree and a half higher than base temp. So, I've been sick, and not as burnt out as I thought. I swear I get so used to feeling bad that when I am sick, I do not know it. Here is a picture of "the boy" at Christmas, Slater. 13 years old, the "Magic" age, for a few more weeks, until he turns the "Super Magic" age of 14..

Benches last night. I was about 10% - 15% off normalcy, but close enough not to gripe about it. And I haven't been taking vitamins, either. I confirmed one thing last evening - The rotation of the wrist is my key in pushing the bar back and up. We also determined that the heavier the bar is, the better my technique gets. Perhaps it is the thought of being crushed underneath of it if I don't get it back to the rack that enhances my performance??!! 275 for three pauses were so/so. B put 315 on the bar, for a PAUSE REP, said he'd help me get it off of my chest - plan being that a 275 or 290 after 315 was going to feel so much lighter. OK, that makes sense. He helped me, but only an eeny bitsy bit - as I stated, my technique gets better the heavier the bar. SOooooooooo, my plan is to get the 315 raw at a meet before another woman does else does. And if someone gets it before me, I'll have to work on the 325!! : ) As you can see, as my muscles get bigger, my hair gets bigger too. Bill Jentz of Women's Physique World, has voted my mop "Most Muscular Hair"!!!

Wishing you all a powerful New Year

2007 - my oh my time is flying by...don't be looking for me to post any new year's resolutions. I make daily resolutions.Today is no different to me than say, yesterday or the day before or...I reflect and analyze continuously, and try to make myself not only better on the outside, but the inside as well every day(well, MOST days). OK, OK, my resolution is to make at least one person smile every day. Now THAT is powerful! Think about that next time you make someone smile.
Let's go back to Wednesday. I had someone different spotting me, my dear friend "Big" Bill...he kindly stuck around and spotted me as I was alone that evening. It had been a whole week since I had trained anything at all. Either I was super Kate that night, or Bill helped me on the spotting. I would like to assume the former, as Bill is quite an accomplished bencher (recently benched bodyweight for 39 reps. He weighs 280.), and he knows how to spot. So let's just say that I did the 275 for six pauses and 295 for four pauses and be done with that.

Sunday I knew I wasn't physically prepared for squatting, but mentally I HAD to. I was either going to squat, or I wasn't going to squat, but I had to find out. One and a half days after training back, even without deadlifting, is much too soon to train legs. The Hammer Strength rack is totally wierd to me. it's the first time squatting in it. We went to the back rack, as the front just threw me off completely. B can stand up and get out with no problem. It's just not quite right for me. Normally if I'm mentally tired, I can just let my physical self take over. When I am physically tired, I can get my mental being to take over. Yesterday, I was mentally AND physically tired, and I just couldn't get it going. BURNT OUT??? As B said I looked, I also felt "rusty". WTF???
385 may as well have been 500. I did two singles with it. Then 275 for 10. I have truly lost my squatting groove, and I need to find it. Now, all told, my knee held up very well. It hurt when B wrapped it, oooh, it did hurt. And it was impossible to walk to the chalk box once wrapped. But, the down and up motion of squatting did not hamper it, at least apparently. We then did two sets of slooooooww leg presses, and some slooowww leg curls. That was it. Oh, and some calves. How depressing....
Highest probability is that I will only bench and deadlift come January 13...but if y'all know me, and if you read this journal you might guess, that I could change my mind at any given time. It all depends if the groove finds its way back home to me. I miss it desperately.