So its been crazy the past week or so, with me trying to get all of my data collected and analyzed for work. Still been lifting and trying to focus on getting in the appropriate number of healthy calories, but just haven't had time to spare to update the training log. Rather than trying to go back and give you all a run down of the past week or so all at once, I'll hit the highlights here and start with the training log for the week starting with tonights work out.
So last week was a week of accomplishment and PR's in both aspects of my life, lifting and work. On Tuesday of last week, I maxed my bench with a brand spanking new PR of 155. That is still somewhat unbelievable to me, as I can still remember the days not so long ago when 90lbs seemed really tough and I honestly wondered if I'd EVER get 135. I'm now pushing 135 for sets of 4 or 5 and I love it.
That day I also recieved notification that I had been awarded a grant from the Kentucky Academy of Sciences that will basically fund the second project in my dissertation research. This grant is my first "real" money, received from a granting agency that was NOT part of the University I was attending, so I am pretty excited that my work has been deemed to have enough merit to warrent funding!
Did some basic cardio type work on Wednesday and Thursday, trying to keep my back loose (I let my form fall apart the previous saturday while deadlifting and managed to tweak my lower back). By friday I was feeling back to normal again, so we decided to go with a max effort deadlift day. Brad went, in his words, "off the reservation" with this workout. We decided rather than full deadlifts to do rack-pulls as my hip drive timing is still off and we wanted to work on that issue. Pulled my heaviest weight to date during that session: Rack Pull, from the bottom pin, PR of 325x2! Followed that up with speed squats, step-ups, broad-jumps and pallof presses...have to say this is one of my favorite workouts, i'm generally wiped by the end and its great!
Saturday morning was my max effort bench day, pressed 135x5, followed by 135x4, another PR for me. Military press was pretty weak that morning, just one of those days I guess. Got in good sets of incline presses and straight am press downs, followed by minute planks to round out the day. All in all a good couple of days. Took Sunday off which is good since I've got another ME Bench day (formerly known as MP day) with sarah tonight, and then ME squat day tomorrow!
Hope you all are staying focused and working toward your goals...remember to keep your focus on today!
You have to want it bad enough to work for it!
Monday, February 28, 2011
Saturday, February 12, 2011
Catching up on this weeks training
So we started with the new "higher volume" cycle on Thursday, and I have to say that I was worrying needlessly...the work is tough, don't get me wrong, but as per usual, Brad hasn't thrown anything at me that I can't handle. Here's the rundown
Thursday - (Bench Day)
Speed Bench - 5x5x85 + chains
T-bar row - 4x10x70
Superset 1:
Landmine - 3x20x70
Band Pushup - 4x10
Superset 2: (probably could have gone heavier on these, but my arms were still hurting from all the rope fun this week, so I backed off a little - will increase next week)
SA Press - 3x10x35
SA Row - 3x10x35
Friday was a lighter day for me, mostly because I was an emotional disaster for some reason (probably a little to do with not sleeping well), so I just hung out with Sarah and Brad while she did her deadlifts - Brad lets me "coach" a little on these days which is good practice for me. Then she and I did cardio. Had planned to do timed bosu ball sled pushes/laps (got one it at 1:15.45), but Sarah's knee was bothering her, so we scrapped that idea and headed for treadmill sprints...been awhile so I didn't even try for a PR here, but I did manage 11mph for 27 seconds at the end, all in all not a bad workout.
Saturday - (Squat Day)
Speed Squats - 5x5x135 + Chains - switched back to back squat for the first time in months with these and I LOVED it...felt good to have the weight on my back again, and getting to depth was much easier than usual.
ME DL (5-3-1 protocol)
5x165
5x190
10x215
StepUps - 4x10x50
Broad Jumps (clearing 3+ carpet tiles) - 4x10
Palloff Press - 4x10x35
Tomorrow is my off day - going to enjoy the break and work on getting my meals planned for the week. We calculated my caloric needs this week and have decided I'm not eating nearly enough, so we are upping my calorie intake to 2200/day with ~100-110 g of protein/day. This is a heck of a lot harder than I thought it would be...2200 healthy calories is a WHOLE lot of food.
Thursday - (Bench Day)
Speed Bench - 5x5x85 + chains
T-bar row - 4x10x70
Superset 1:
Landmine - 3x20x70
Band Pushup - 4x10
Superset 2: (probably could have gone heavier on these, but my arms were still hurting from all the rope fun this week, so I backed off a little - will increase next week)
SA Press - 3x10x35
SA Row - 3x10x35
Friday was a lighter day for me, mostly because I was an emotional disaster for some reason (probably a little to do with not sleeping well), so I just hung out with Sarah and Brad while she did her deadlifts - Brad lets me "coach" a little on these days which is good practice for me. Then she and I did cardio. Had planned to do timed bosu ball sled pushes/laps (got one it at 1:15.45), but Sarah's knee was bothering her, so we scrapped that idea and headed for treadmill sprints...been awhile so I didn't even try for a PR here, but I did manage 11mph for 27 seconds at the end, all in all not a bad workout.
Saturday - (Squat Day)
Speed Squats - 5x5x135 + Chains - switched back to back squat for the first time in months with these and I LOVED it...felt good to have the weight on my back again, and getting to depth was much easier than usual.
ME DL (5-3-1 protocol)
5x165
5x190
10x215
StepUps - 4x10x50
Broad Jumps (clearing 3+ carpet tiles) - 4x10
Palloff Press - 4x10x35
Tomorrow is my off day - going to enjoy the break and work on getting my meals planned for the week. We calculated my caloric needs this week and have decided I'm not eating nearly enough, so we are upping my calorie intake to 2200/day with ~100-110 g of protein/day. This is a heck of a lot harder than I thought it would be...2200 healthy calories is a WHOLE lot of food.
Tuesday, February 8, 2011
Challenge and Control
So I made a realization today...this may not come as a surprise to most of you reading this, but I have always known that I have some control issues. I don't like the feeling of being out of control, of not knowing what is coming and how, or whether I can handle it. Over the past year+ I thought I had worked through most of that with Brad in the gym...he's been throwing new stuff at me pretty regularly. Well, I obviously was wrong....
Last week he told me he's changing things up this week when I come off deload, said he was going to increase my volume. I had no idea what he was talking about, and didnt really realize how much that bothered me until I spent the majority of that night tossing and turning, while my little brain worked up all KINDS of ideas about what he might ask of me. Control issues much?
On top of that, he mentioned a week or so ago (really jokingly I think) that one of his new goals was to push me hard enough that I would literally puke. This particular statement has been in the back of my mind all week, especially not knowing what was coming in terms of the mysterious "volume increase". Here's where my control issue comes in...I honest to god don't think I have it in me to let him push me that hard. I seriously think that quitting would be an option before allowing myself to lose enough control that I could puke in a public place (we all know that tears would coincide here and seriously - puking and crying are about as weak in my mind as a girl could get in the gym). I happened to mention my concern to him tonight - which possibly due to some poor word choices on my part, ended with him assuming I was challenging him to prove me wrong...which he tried valiently to do tonight. He failed, although he did get damn close, and nearly made me pass out in the process, twice.
I know some of you are reading this wondering why in the hell I would even consider letting him attempt this craziness...and here's the thing - its not about whether or not I ever actually throw up during a work out - its about not allowing my fear, and my control issues to short change me and keep me from reaching my full potential - "I can't" is NOT a phrase I like in my vocabulary, but I caught myself using it multiple times tonight while he tried to kill me in a 30 minute session. I am not a quitter, I am stronger than that and I honestly believe that the only reason he's pushing this issue is that he KNOWS I'm not a quitter and that I'm strong enough to handle what he's throwing at me.
I have my last deload lifting day tomorrow - deadlift, followed by broad jumps and pistol squats. Thursday starts the new "higher volume" cycle that we will be working over the next two months...my goal for thursday - no use of the evil phrase "I can't" - I will push until I can either no longer hold the weights up or until I pass out...which ever comes first. Time to suck it up and give up a little more control - maybe easier said than done, but if I want to get better and stronger, then I have to give control to the only person I trust to get me there...Brad.
Last week he told me he's changing things up this week when I come off deload, said he was going to increase my volume. I had no idea what he was talking about, and didnt really realize how much that bothered me until I spent the majority of that night tossing and turning, while my little brain worked up all KINDS of ideas about what he might ask of me. Control issues much?
On top of that, he mentioned a week or so ago (really jokingly I think) that one of his new goals was to push me hard enough that I would literally puke. This particular statement has been in the back of my mind all week, especially not knowing what was coming in terms of the mysterious "volume increase". Here's where my control issue comes in...I honest to god don't think I have it in me to let him push me that hard. I seriously think that quitting would be an option before allowing myself to lose enough control that I could puke in a public place (we all know that tears would coincide here and seriously - puking and crying are about as weak in my mind as a girl could get in the gym). I happened to mention my concern to him tonight - which possibly due to some poor word choices on my part, ended with him assuming I was challenging him to prove me wrong...which he tried valiently to do tonight. He failed, although he did get damn close, and nearly made me pass out in the process, twice.
I know some of you are reading this wondering why in the hell I would even consider letting him attempt this craziness...and here's the thing - its not about whether or not I ever actually throw up during a work out - its about not allowing my fear, and my control issues to short change me and keep me from reaching my full potential - "I can't" is NOT a phrase I like in my vocabulary, but I caught myself using it multiple times tonight while he tried to kill me in a 30 minute session. I am not a quitter, I am stronger than that and I honestly believe that the only reason he's pushing this issue is that he KNOWS I'm not a quitter and that I'm strong enough to handle what he's throwing at me.
I have my last deload lifting day tomorrow - deadlift, followed by broad jumps and pistol squats. Thursday starts the new "higher volume" cycle that we will be working over the next two months...my goal for thursday - no use of the evil phrase "I can't" - I will push until I can either no longer hold the weights up or until I pass out...which ever comes first. Time to suck it up and give up a little more control - maybe easier said than done, but if I want to get better and stronger, then I have to give control to the only person I trust to get me there...Brad.
Saturday, February 5, 2011
This week and Change
Training this past week has been a whole lot of interesting, but fun and really educational in some respects. Food has been on target all week - got in at least 5 gallon+ water days too! Started deloading this week - that will continue through Wednesday of next week.
Brad has promised changes to come starting on Thursday - increasing volume, which I'm told means a change in load, reps and sets, and probably some new stuff. Anybody that knows me well knows that change is not my favorite word (especially when i don't know what the change is going to look like). I'm trying to maintain the positive - I trust Brad implicitly, so I know whatever he throws at me will work, and I know its something he believes I'm capable of handling. I'm sure it will be tough...but I'm equally as sure that I'm up for the challenge!
Here's a quick recap of the week:
Monday, Jan 21, 2011 - Cardio Only
30 minutes - stairs intervals (3-13, 3-14, 3-15, repeat)
25 minutes - Arc (30 sec speed intervals, 2 minutes down)
Tuesday Feb 1, 2011 (Military Press 5-3-1)
Bar Only (warm-up) - 1x5
75 - 1x5
85 - 1x3
95 - 1x2
Tricep Pressdowns - 50 - 5x10
Lat Pulldowns - 90 - 5x10
Cardio - Stairs 30 minutes (Intervals 3-7)
Went a little lighter here because we'd already done some ball work with Brad for Sara's training session and I wanted to save my legs for deadlifting tomorrow...
Wednesday, February 2, 2011 (Deadlift 5-3-1)
By the way - this was my first glove-free, chalk-handed deadlift session...gotta toughen up my hands!
2x10 Warm-ups (don't remember what weight we did these at)
185 - 1x5
215 - 1x3
245 - 1x5 (could have probably done one more, but I lost my form on the 5th and didn't want to throw my back out pulling another one)
Broad Jumps - 5x10, got a little over three carpet tiles...shooting for 4
Pistol Squats - 5x10
No cardio today - had to immediately head back to campus to cover an exam. Was REALLY sore!
Thursday, February 3, 2011 (Bench DELOAD)
This is where things started to get interesting this week - Brad got some new toys (4 sets of 10lb chains...he put them to use quite well I have to say) Don't really know what my bench lifts were, exactly because I wasn't really paying attention...suffice to say it was at least what was planned (plus chains hanging from the bar)
PLANNED:
Bar only (warm-up) - 1x5
50 + chains - 1x5
65 + chains - 1x5
80 + chains - 2x5 - had to do two sets here because I misunderstood what he wanted, which was slow negative and rapid explosion on the positive end of the lift - worked like a charm once I understood the plan :)
Chest-Supported Row - 80 - 5x10
Chain Push-ups - 40 - 5x10
Brad has promised changes to come starting on Thursday - increasing volume, which I'm told means a change in load, reps and sets, and probably some new stuff. Anybody that knows me well knows that change is not my favorite word (especially when i don't know what the change is going to look like). I'm trying to maintain the positive - I trust Brad implicitly, so I know whatever he throws at me will work, and I know its something he believes I'm capable of handling. I'm sure it will be tough...but I'm equally as sure that I'm up for the challenge!
Here's a quick recap of the week:
Monday, Jan 21, 2011 - Cardio Only
30 minutes - stairs intervals (3-13, 3-14, 3-15, repeat)
25 minutes - Arc (30 sec speed intervals, 2 minutes down)
Tuesday Feb 1, 2011 (Military Press 5-3-1)
Bar Only (warm-up) - 1x5
75 - 1x5
85 - 1x3
95 - 1x2
Tricep Pressdowns - 50 - 5x10
Lat Pulldowns - 90 - 5x10
Cardio - Stairs 30 minutes (Intervals 3-7)
Went a little lighter here because we'd already done some ball work with Brad for Sara's training session and I wanted to save my legs for deadlifting tomorrow...
Wednesday, February 2, 2011 (Deadlift 5-3-1)
By the way - this was my first glove-free, chalk-handed deadlift session...gotta toughen up my hands!
2x10 Warm-ups (don't remember what weight we did these at)
185 - 1x5
215 - 1x3
245 - 1x5 (could have probably done one more, but I lost my form on the 5th and didn't want to throw my back out pulling another one)
Broad Jumps - 5x10, got a little over three carpet tiles...shooting for 4
Pistol Squats - 5x10
No cardio today - had to immediately head back to campus to cover an exam. Was REALLY sore!
Thursday, February 3, 2011 (Bench DELOAD)
This is where things started to get interesting this week - Brad got some new toys (4 sets of 10lb chains...he put them to use quite well I have to say) Don't really know what my bench lifts were, exactly because I wasn't really paying attention...suffice to say it was at least what was planned (plus chains hanging from the bar)
PLANNED:
Bar only (warm-up) - 1x5
50 + chains - 1x5
65 + chains - 1x5
80 + chains - 2x5 - had to do two sets here because I misunderstood what he wanted, which was slow negative and rapid explosion on the positive end of the lift - worked like a charm once I understood the plan :)
Chest-Supported Row - 80 - 5x10
Chain Push-ups - 40 - 5x10
Friday - February 4, 2011 (unscheduled day of torture)
Sarah had an hour schedule with Brad and wanted some company so I jumped in with her...what a killer workout, particularly on a deload week...
Tire Pushes - 2x10 (warm-up)
Circuit of PAIN (we repeated this little circuit 3 times...really painful, but effective)
Kettle Bell Swings - 35lb - 1x10
Medicine Ball Slams - 1x10
Dueling Chains - 30 seconds - these are horrifically tough - if you watch biggest loser you've seen this exercise done with ropes, one in each hand, creating a ripple alternating right to left...now picture it with 20lbs of chain...ouch!
Saturday Feb 5, 2011 (Front Squat - DELOAD)
Bar only Warm up - 2x10
60 - 1x5
75 - 1x5
90 - 1x5
Glute-ham raise - 3x10 - Brad made me do these a little slower, working on more control, which makes them hurt ever so much more
Vertical Jump - 5x10 - I'm beginning to wonder if my verticle will EVER improve - these frustrate me to no end! but i will NOT give up :)
Cardio - Treadmill 30 minutes
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