2 weeks

I forgot to look at my board...but I think I can muddle my way through guessing my numbers. lol.

Bench Press on Smith Machine - I know it was at least 95 lbs. for the first two sets and I'm pretty sure he went up 10 lbs on the second two sets. I did a set with each of 10 and Adam counted backwards from 10, then 9, then 8, etc. down to 1. Then I just did a regular set of 10 with each.
Incline on Smith Machine - probably somewhere around the same weight. Reps were 12, 10, 8, 6.
Curls w/ the EZ Bar, and I think 10's on each side. I did two sets and then I did a Reverse set. But I don't know how many...between 15 and 20.
Machine Bench - 150 lbs, 30, 18, 16
Machine Flies - 50 lbs, 25, 25, 20
Dumbbell Curls - 15 lbs, 20, 20, 16
Rope Wrist Curls - 6, 5, 5
Decline Abs - 25, 22, 20

Good Day. Next week I start early mornings. Adam's schedule gets a bit crazy in the summer, so my slot is now 7:30 a.m. We'll see how that goes. :) Oh, and it's 2 weeks until my Oklahoma competition.

I <3 Training

I love my training days. I have so much fun.

Smith Military Press - 95 lbs, 12. 105 lbs, 8. 115 lbs, 4.
Cable Double-Arm Rows - 150 lbs, 3 sets of 15.
Supersetted with Straight Arm Backwards Flies w/ Band - 3 sets of 20
Cable Single-Arm Upright Rows - 50 lbs, 3 sets of 10.

Pull-Ups - 13, 10, 9
Machine Military (vertical) - 110 lbs, 3 sets of 20
Lateral Raises - 10 lbs, tempo of 1, 17, 15, 12.
EZ Bar Wrist Curls - 3 sets of 25
Supermans - 3 sets of 25

Chillin' out...

I'm all better. Had my little tiff about not being where I want to be...but that isn't gonna help me get there. :) Adam's done some rearranging to my diet to try to help bulk me a little bit more, and we're practicing more holds. No real 'improvement' from last week...but nothing lost either. Two weeks till I leave for Oklahoma.

Bench Press - 115 lbs, 10 with holds, 10 without. 135 lbs, 5 with holds, 3 without. Attempted 155, that was not my friend today.
Dumbbell Flies - 35 lbs, 3 sets of 15
Pec-Dec - 90 lbs, 12. 110 lbs, 10. 120 lbs, 8.

Machine Bench went much better this week. I did it first instead of flies. 180 lbs, hold of 2, 2 sets of 20. 200 lbs, hold of 2, 2 sets of 10.
Machine Flies - 60 lbs, 20, 15. 70 lbs, 10, 7.
Tricep Kickbacks and Sideways Kickbacks - 30 lbs. - 14, 14, 12 & 15, 14, 15.
Side Bends, 3 sets of 40
Rope Wrist Curls, 3 sets of 5.

Happy day. Cardio has been going well. I haven't blogged about it for a while. I think I'm gonna kick it up a notch and do both outside and pool cardio on some, if not all, days...except day before and day of big bench. Can't touch that. Massages are going well...they help tremendously. School is going well also.

...And Then The Storm

Isn't that the way it goes? The sigh of relief and just as you aren't expecting it, it all hits you in the face!!!! Like when my grandma died...she was the best she'd been for months the couple days before she died.

It dawned on me last night that I'm no longer 40 lbs away from qualifying weight, like I thought I was before I went to competition in Michigan. I'm now 80+ lbs away. Being able to bench press 225 lbs. and being able to lay idle with 225 lbs. at your chest for approximately 3 seconds is a big difference. I couldn't budge 165 lbs, so I'm probably somewhere around 145 lbs. And when I asked Adam today if it was going to take me longer to get there because of the hold, he said yes. That didn't make me very happy. Now, I have to dig even deeper within me, to somehow make that happen by the time it needs to happen.

Today's Routine:
Bench Press - 95, 105, 115 lbs, all three sets of 12
Incline Press - 115, 125, 135 lbs, 8, 6, 4
Cable Fly-Ups - 30 lbs, set of 20. 40 lbs , 15, 12
Supersetted with Cable Fly/Curls - 30 lbs, set of 20. 40 lbs, 2 sets of 20

Machine Bench - 150 lbs, Holding tempo of 2, 25 & 20. 180 lbs, same tempo, 13, 9
Machine Flies - 50 lbs, Same tempo, 13, 11. 60 lbs, same tempo, 2 sets of 6
Cable Curls - 35 lbs, 3 sets of 20
3 sets of 5 Rope Wrist Curls
3 sets of 25 Decline Abs.

Talked to my friend April's husband when I got home. He gave me this quote... Tom Hanks said in A League of Their Own, "It's supposed to be hard. If it wasn't hard, everyone would do it. The hard... is what makes it great." - I guess I gotta go make it great now.

R-E-L-I-E-F

Adam watched my tape. He said that the holds at my chest were much longer than what we had prepared for. I'm SO relieved that there was an explanation for me not getting those lifts!!! I was VERY confused. But, no need to worry about it. He already has new drills that will help us improve my holding time. I should be A-OK in Oklahoma.

Military Press - 105 lbs, 8, 6, 4. I held for a second or two on the first set and half way through the second set.
Lying Rows - 3 sets of 15, 70 lbs-80 lbs, increased by 5 lbs per set.
Reverse Straight Arm Cable Pulls - 40 lbs, 15. 45 lbs, 2 sets of 15
Lying Close Grip Pulldown - 120 lbs. 3 sets of 15

Pull Ups - 11, 10, 9
Machine Military (vertical) Press - 100 lbs, 3 sets of 20
Lateral Raises - 10 lbs, holding a tempo of 1, 3 sets of 15
Wrist Curls w/ EZ Bar - 3 sets of 25
Supermans - 3 sets of 25

Adam makes me laugh. He lightens my mood a lot. I'm much more comfortable now that he's watched my tape. I'm sure he'll get me on the right track soon. I leave in less than three weeks.

Learning to Climb

Well, for those of you who haven't heard, none of my lifts counted this weekend at my competition. I had three disqualifications because I couldn't get the weight off my chest. Not sure why. Adam's going to look at my tape, and we already began working on various things today before he ever saw the tape. So, we go from here and keep on learning.

Biggest lesson of the weekend was that I don't have grace or forgiveness for myself when I don't do what I've set out to do. I let my shortcomings define my self-worth in my brain. Not a good thing to do...but it's a good thing I figured it out. I want everything to come naturally and when it doesn't, I get very upset and feel like I can't learn it. But, that's very wrong. I just have to keep on working at it.

Today's workout was much longer than usual.

Bench Press -115 lbs., 2 sets of 10, 135 lbs., 4 & 3, 145 lbs., 2. The first set of 115 and 135, Adam had me hold at my chest, like a competition lift, between every rep. By the time we got to 145, he stopped me after 2. My form was extremely off. But, it helped give him time to study how it gets there and what exactly I do when I'm tired.

Dumbbell Incline Press - 4 sets of 12, 30-45 lbs, increasing 5 lbs every set.

Cable Skull Crushers - I'm not sure what my weight was on this. I did two sets, either of 12 or 15

Single Arm Cable Skull Crushers - 25 lbs, and 20 lbs. My reps weren't very good. Especially on my right arm. So, that was good to figure out...although I'm not sure what he's going to do about it.

Machine Flies - 60 lbs, holding a tempo of 2, reps 15 & 12. 70 lbs, same tempo, 8 & 6.
Machine Bench - 200 lbs, holding a tempo of 2, reps 12 & 10. I was supposed to do sets of 230 lbs after that but I couldn't get it up
Cable Tricep Kickbacks - 30 lbs, 15, 12, 12 (i think)
Cable Tricep Sideways Kickbacks - 30 lbs, 10, 25 lbs, 12, 14
Rope Wrist Curls - 3 sets of 5
Side Bends - 3 sets of 40

The Climb

Okay all, my last post until after competition.

Here's today's "light" workout:

Bench - 115 lbs, 15, 12
Machine Flies - 60 lbs, 20, 20
Lateral Pulldown - 70 lbs, 20, 20
Machin Military Press - 80 lbs, 20, 20
Bench - 135, 2 sets of 2 competition lifts

I'll be leaving Thursday morning, around 10:00 a.m., with my Mom (& I think my Dad), my bandana, my mp3 player and my picture of my Guardian Angel, Dawn Rae, in tow. I think that God can give her a break from her duties with Him to take care of me on Friday. I compete from 7:30-9 p.m. on Friday evening. Everyone say a prayer. Putting the lyrics to my focus song below:

I can almost see it, That dream I'm dreaming, but there's a voice inside my head sayin, You'll never reach it, Every step I'm taking, Every move I make feels lost with no direction. My faith is shaking. But I got to keep trying, got to keep my head held high. There's always going to be another mountain. I'm always going to want to make it move. Always going to be an uphill battle. Sometimes you going to have to lose. Ain't about how fast I get there, Ain't about what's waiting on the other side. It's the climb. The struggles I'm facing, The chances I'm taking, sometimes they knock me down but no I'm not breaking. I may not know it but these are the moments that I'm going to remember most. Yeah, just got to keep going. And I, I got to be strong, Just keep pushing on. There's always going to be another mountain, I'm always going to want to make it move. Always going to be an uphill battle. Sometimes you going to have to lose. Ain't about how fast I get there. Ain't about what's waiting on the other side. It's the climb. There's always going to be another mountain. I'm always going to want to make it move. Always going to be an uphill battle. Sometimes you going to have to lose. Ain't about how fast I get there. Ain't about what's waiting on the other side. It's the climb. Keep on moving. Keep climbing. Keep the faith baby. It's all about, it's all about The Climb. Keep the faith. Keep your faith.

Here it goes...my very first powerlifting competition. 3rd lift goal: 187 lbs.

1 Week from Departure

I'm not sure of all my numbers today (What's new?) But, it's close.

Incline Bench - either 95 lbs or 105 lbs, 3 sets of 10
Bicep Curls w/ EZ Bar + 10 lbs each side, 3 sets of 15 (i think)
Supersets of Cable Flies and Cable Fly/Curls, I don't know weight, but I did 2 sets of 20 on Flies and on my third set I got 15 (he raised the weight) and on Curls I got 3 sets of 20

Cable Bicep Curls, 30 lbs, 3 sets of 20
Machine Bench, holding a tempo of 1, 200 lbs, 20, 15, 15
Reverse Wrist Curls w/ EZ Bar, 55, 40
2 sets of 30 Decline Abs

Having some jitters today about everything. Just gotta get there. I'm the worst at the pre-event, but I'm fine once the event is upon me. Just gotta get there.

Time is Drawing Near

Smith Military Press - 105 lbs, 2 sets of 10 and a set of 8
Decline Cable Backwards Rows - 150 lbs, 3 sets of 15
Decline Front Raises - 10 lb. Dumbbells, 3 sets of 20
Single Arm Pulldown - 70 lbs, 3 sets of 20 (minus 4 with my right arm on the middle set. Don't ask why I got more on the 3rd and not the second. I don't know...Adam laughs about it all the time).

Lateral Raises - 5 lbs, holding a tempo of 1, 3 sets of 20
Iron Crosses w/ Band, holding a tempo of 1, 3 sets of 20
Rope Wrist Curls - 2 sets of 2
2 sets of 20 Supermans and Plate Twist Abs.

Tomorrow is a week until I leave for competition. I got another sponsor today. Very grateful.

Starting Final Preparations

This was the last big bench day before competiton. I even used chalk, like I will at competition, instead of my gloves.

My first lift was just like a competition lift, held at my chest, with 180 lbs. Then I did it twice, twice and once. Then I had a burnout of 135 lbs, 10 reps...Adam had to help me quite a bit on that.

Pec-Dec was 120 lbs, 10, 7, 7

Skull Crushers & Straight Arm Pull Over were supersetted and done on the cable. Skull Crushers were 40 lbs, 50 lbs, 60 lbs, 15, 15, 10. SA's were 50 lbs, 60 lbs, 70 lbs, same reps.

Machine Flies, held with a tempo of 1, 50 lbs, 4 sets of 20
Cable Tricep Kickbacks, held with a tempo of 2, 30 lbs, 15, 13, 15, 12
Wrist Curls, w/ the EZ Bar + 10 lbs, 2 sets of 30
Side Bend Abs, 3 sets of 40

REALLY good day. My competition lift felt SO good. I'm not near as nervous after today. Adam picked my lifts to be 165, 175, & 185 for next week.

Meet my friend MAX

Today, Adam wanted to make sure I remembered MAX...he said that MAX wanted to go to lunch with me and cook me eggs so he came to finish my workout with me. I had already had eggs for breakfast, but Adam said that I shouldn't hurt MAX's feelings because he wanted to be nice to me cuz he hasn't been around for a while.

Incline Bench Press - 135 lbs, 3 sets of 8 & 1 set of 7
Supersets of Dumbbell Flies - 25 lbs, & Dumbbell Hammer Bench - 30 lbs, 3 sets of 15
"Surf" of Bicep Curls, all 8 reps - 10 lbs, 12 lbs, 15 lbs, 20 lbs, 25 lbs, 20 lbs, 15 lbs, 12 lbs, 10 lbs.

Machine Bench - 150 lbs, MAX reps 30, 20, 15, 15
EZ Bar Wrist Curls - MAX reps 80, 60
Decline Abs - MAX reps 30, 25
Cable Bicep Curls - 40 lbs, MAX reps 20, 15, 15, 15

Really good day. I was pretty exhausted, it was very fast-paced. But it felt good. I have two weeks until competition day!! Next week I'll be training Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, because Adam won't be here Friday.

Please pray for protection for Adam and his softball team. They were going to a tournament today and tomorrow in a city where they've found the Swine Flu...

P.S. - if you didn't pick up on it...MAX isn't a real person, I was to do the 'MAX' amount of reps during my portion of the exercise that I could do...can you see why most of the time it's said that my ab workout is Adam making me laugh?