Trainer Knows Best

WOW! Fear really keeps you held back...way more than you know, until you get out of it.

I went to stay with Mary this weekend and go to the powerlifting competition. I had a lot of fun. It was a very good weekend for us. I got to watch Mary bench on Friday and then when we went to the meet on Saturday, she helped me decipher the difference between a good and bad lift. One person, I noticed imparticular, had a grip almost identical to mine, and his movement patterns were very much the same as mine...and all of his lifts got disqualified. It really knocked me for a loop, and showed me how much work I had to do to improve and be able to qualify in six months. I really thought it was going to be a lot of very hard work to widen my grip as much as I needed to...plus, I don't bring the bar all the way to my chest, and Mary does EVERY SINGLE REP. That was the other thing I picked up this weekend. So, I came home not sure if I was motivated or discouraged. It seemed like I went from feeling like I was really good at something to not having a clue what I was doing.

So, Adam and I started today and he wanted to know what I learned. We talked a little, I showed him how I warmed up, which was wider than I usually grip. But, he widened me even FURTHER!!!!!! It really worried me, how my arms could hold up the weight, not being close to my body. Well, I learned the first set, ALWAYS LISTEN TO YOUR TRAINER. If I would have listened to him two months ago, I can't imagine what my bench would be right now. I got five reps my first time without him having to touch my bar. Last week I got four reps my first set and he had to help me with the last one. In all, my bench went up SEVEN reps today, just because I widened my grip.

Bench, 155 lbs, 5, 4, 4, 4, plus 9 negatives at 135 lbs.
Incline Dumbbell, 45 lbs, 3 sets of 12
Close Grip, 75 lbs, 2 sets of 17
Cable Skulls, 21 & 16, but I'm not sure what weight..maybe 40 lbs? don't know
Smith Flies, 50 lbs, (tempo 211), 21, 15, 12, 15
Overhead Tri Ext., 15 lb Dumbbells, 4 sets of 20, each arm
Reverse Wrist Curls, EZ Bar, 70 & 452 sets of 20
Plate Twist Crunches, holding 25 lb. plate.

Before Brent left, I got him a shirt that said "Because I'm the trainer, That's Why!"...I think Adam's next in line for one. ;-) I've really gotta learn to not go with how I feel, and just do what I'm supposed to do. In the end, the only thing that was scary was the anticipation of trying something new. And I was probably hurting myself worse with the wrong form, because I was afraid to get hurt if I changed what I was doing. I feel a thousand percent better than I usually do after I bench because I finally used the muscles that I was supposed to use.

Mary got a good spotter for bench for the Spring...someone from the powerlifting team at Michigan, so that will help her out a lot. Thanks for prayers for that. Keep praying for Adam. He has pneumonia. :-( But, he got antibiotics at the hospital on Saturday and felt really good today, he just has a very bad cough. He's not allowed to work out for at least another week though, and last week he was supposed to start his official training for his triathlon later this year.