Coming Fast

I leave in one week from today to fly into my aunt's house. She lives in Texas and she's going to drive me up to Oklahoma on Friday. We'll stay overnight and then drive back to Texas after my meet on Saturday.

Cambered Bar Rows - 95 lbs., 4 sets of 10.
Lat. Pulldown - 80 lbs., 3 sets of 10.
Cable Rope Iron Cross - 80 lbs., 3 sets of 10.
Dumbbell Bicep Curls - 20 lbs., 2 sets of 12 and 1 set of 11.
Medball Circles & Stretching.

Getting Personal

It's been a little while since I wrote a 'lesson' blog...so since my routine was considerably shorter, I'm gonna write about what God's taking me through right now.

I had a fairly rough night mentally. I think my inexperience is still working against me a bit. One of Brian's more famous sayings (at least with me) is "it changes from day to day Chelsi." I hope he keeps saying it to me...forever. I'm a huge fan of reliability and consistency and stability. I want everything to stay the same ALL THE TIME. It doesn't...in any area of life, nor does it in powerlifting. I think that because I did well on my lifts last week, I should again this week. There are so many factors to take into consideration...but I'm very bad at that. It takes lots of talks with trainers to get me past a bad lift (or what I consider a bad lift). But, after a few times of pounding it into my head, and answering all my questions, I usually do a pretty decent job of bouncing back and not having a bad lift the next time, just because one was unexpectedly bad.

Which kinda leads me into my next lesson. I've come up against this one a ton of times...but I'm never sure how to deal with it, and it usually ends up getting stuffed back down for a while. I have a very hard time with forgiving myself of things or of thinking that I'm worth being 'taken care of'...and that has lots of dimensions in it that we won't get into, considering this is all out on the internet and everything. But, if you ever are involved in any one of those dimensions, you'll definitely know, because I will thank you out the earlobes for making me feel worth the time :) But, I realized tonight that...I've always had the habit of doing things for other people because it's easier (for me) to make up for it when I disappoint them than if I had to deal with the fact that I'm disappointed in myself. I found it quite interesting.

So, I think I'll leave it at that. My night was actually fairly decent as far as lifting goes...but, my final lift just felt a little bit heavier than I expected it to. And, the first time I tried it, it wasn't too clean, but once we waited, I did MUCH better, and I didn't really feel like I wasn't going to get it, it was just not what I expected when I started pressing it. On top of that, I did a triple to start things out, and I'm only going to have to do one at the meet. Anywho :-) Here's my tonight:

Bench Press - 135 lbs., 3. 150 lbs., 1. 160 lbs., 1 & 1. Those were all done competition style with the proper pauses. Then, he put some heavier weights on (not sure what) and he just had me hold it above my head to get used to stabilizing heavier weight.
Arnold Presses - 30 lb. Dumbbells, 2 sets of 10.
Tricep Pushdowns - 70 lbs., 2 sets of 15.
Shoulder Horn - 5 lb Dumbbells, 2 sets of 25.
Band Abs & Stretching.

Havin' fun.

Tonight, after training, Brian took me to a high school football game. We had a good time. It was fun...I'm really glad I got to go with him. Don't do that with a whole lot of people (other than my parents). I'm so much more in my element with this whole tom-boyish, lifting/sports fan thing. I really enjoy it.

Bench Press Speed Drill - 95 lbs., plus 1 set of chains, 4 sets of 3. 95 lbs., plus 2 sets of chains, 4 sets of 3. Then he took me up, I think 20 lbs., but I'm not sure, and I did a single. Those were all with the pauses.
Dumbbell Floor Presses - 45 lbs., 10. 50 lbs., 10. 55 lbs., 9.
Dumbbell Floor Tricep Extensions - 20 lbs?? 4 sets of 12.
Tricep Pushdowns - 80 lbs., 2 sets of 12.
Front Raises - 15 lb. Dumbbells - 2 sets of 12...these felt a lot stronger tonight. I'm glad, cuz I hate them...but I'm finally getting used to them.
Medball Bounces - 8 lbs instead of 6 lbs.

We're also switching places I get weighed. I'm going to the nursing home in Columbiana. They have a chair scale. I went today and it weighed me at 127, which makes much more sense than 130-133. So, we're just maintaining now, or losing 1 or 2...wouldn't really matter.

Thicker

So, apparently my upper body has grown a bit since I started working out with Brian. My favorite part of this evening was him grabbing behind my armpit while my hands were in the air for medball circles and saying "Ya know, generally women don't GET thicker." He's fairly entertained by it. :) Makes me laugh. Yet again, my body doesn't follow the custom rules that most people's bodies do. Imagine that.

It's been the focal point of conversation recently because I've been weighing so much to make sure I'm staying in the weight class...but the scale varies a lot in what it weighs me at, so we're trying to figure out which weight is actually right. We're going to figure it out though, got another idea tonight of somewhere I can go get weighed. But, at least I got to back off of eating so much for the time being.

Barbell Rows - 85 lbs., 2 sets of 10. 95 lbs., 10. 105 lbs., 8. This went SO well tonight :) Someone was on the incline that we normally use, so Brian put a piece of wood underneath the flat bench to help it incline. Felt very good, and he said I looked stronger.
Pull-Ups - 3 sets of 8.
Cable Rope Iron Cross - 90 lbs., 3 sets of 12.
Lateral Raises - 15 lbs., 2 sets of 12....these felt a lot heavier tonight for some reason.
Bicep Hammer Curls - 20 lbs., 2 sets of 12 & a set of 10.

So, I was having a chat with my cousin today, whom is the reason I started my blog, and he didn't realize the chain of events that I have to go through to make it to the Paralympic level. I thought I had put it in a blog entry before, but, maybe I haven't. At any rate, this is what's going on: I have my competition coming up in October, and I have one more sometime after the new year, both at which I will earn international ranking points. Then they will pick the Worlds team. The Worlds competition takes place in Malaysia next July. Then I have to qualify for the Pan-American meet that will take place sometime in 2011. Then, I believe I have to be in the top 12 in the World after that meet to get to the Paralympics. So I have quite a lot of qualifying to do before I can reach the Paralympics. Taking it one step at a time.

Little Princess

Well, I've always been my Daddy's Little Girl. But, it's nice to know that it works on more than just my Daddy. ;-) I can't really say that I'm Daddy's Little Girl when it comes to Brian, but, we'll just say I'm the little princess in the weight room.

Last Tuesday when Brian texted me to see how I was doing (Isn't he awesome? Seriously, who has a trainer that does that?)I told him I was better physically than I was mentally b/c I wouldn't get a chance to redeem myself on 175 lbs for a double for another week. I was supposed to deload tonight(which means go light)...and I COMPLETELY forgot until I got to the gym and Brian was talking to me while I was stretching. I told him I forgot and put my headphones back in and left the conversation...so he followed me across the gym and said "You want your chance at 175, don't you." And I said "Yeah." He said "Then don't screw around with it, just get it. Are you going to get it??" I wasn't too quick to answer, but I wanted it pretty bad. I still have to work on that confidence-in-myself thing. I don't wanna answer yeah, and then not get it...but not answering right away is the first sign of doubt that you won't get it. I'm sure it will come. I've come pretty far in this past year, and with Brian knowing as much as he does, especially about the game of it all, he'll work on boosting my self-confidence as much as he works on boosting my weights.

Anyway, he let me do it :-D He said I gave him 'the look'. lol. He knew I had my heart set. It's good to know that, as tough as I have to act in the gym w/ all those guys, I still have a few tricks in the bag to get what I want when I truly want it. lol. But, he already told me tonight, absolutely no way next week. So, I won't push it. I know my limits, and I know he's really looking out for me for this meet. He does a good job lookin' out for me, in a lot of ways. I tease him cuz he's so protective...but I really appreciate it. It means a lot. And...when I'm certain he doesn't have to worry so much, I can just get out my small bag of tricks. ;-) We'll balance each other out.

Bench Press - I don't know the weights that he threw on to work me up, but I did get my 175 lbs. for a double. Then I did 155 lbs., twice with pauses, and then once, two times, with a pause.
Close Grip w/ Board - 95 lbs., 3 sets of 12 with a pause.
Arnold Presses - 20 lbs., 2 sets of 15 (haven't done these since I was with Brent!)
Shoulder Horn - 5 lbs. dumbbells, 2 sets, 25 & 30.
Band Abs & Stretches.

Really good, fun, night.

Dilligence Reaps Rewards

There was a kid at the gym tonight talking about how much time he has put in the last few years, to get to the point that he is at. He said that he gets accused of steroid usage all the time and it used to offend him. Now, he takes it as a compliment, because he must be doing something right to get those kind of results to where people would question. He is a clean lifter though, and I'm proud of him. We talked for a long time about how much it takes out of ya to beat the crap out of yourself all the time, and come in and do it again, repeatedly. But, when you have goals, it helps keep your focus intense and where it needs to be. He's looking for a little extra motivation to keep going...I hope he gets involved in some competitions or something, because he definitely has what it takes.

My point is, everyone says "Oh, I'd love to be able to do that." The truth is, we are able to do 'that'...we just want to be able to wake up tomorrow and do it without the effort that it takes. Real goals don't work like that. Believe me, if they did, I'd be in my glory. It takes effort, and emotion, and hard work, and dilligence, and all the fight in you, when you really truly want something worth having. Next time you watch a movie, or live production, or a game or match of some sort, or you go to your favorite restaurant, think about all the time and effort and frustration and drainage (emotionally and physically) that people had to put into that thing.

My parents took me to see STOMP in Pittsburgh last night, and the one thing that I kept thinking over and over was "How many times did they just wanna kill each other before they got it right?" I could go see that performance every single year it and it would never cease to amaze me...the hours of practice and the preciseness that it takes them to put it on. It's truly incredible to me. But, that's what it takes. I read a book not long ago called "Talent is Overrated." It talked about all the great people that have been at the very top of their chosen field, and it wasn't because they showed any signs of inborn 'talent'...it was because they worked their tails off to get where they wanted to be.

Bench Press Speed Drill - 95 lbs. + 1 set of chains, 4 sets of 3. 95 lbs. + 2 sets of chains, 4 sets of 3. Then got a single of 125 lbs. with both sets of chains. All sets were done with my 2-second hold I need at competition.
Dumbbell Floor Presses - 45 lbs., 10. 55 lbs., 10.
Dumbbell Floor Tricep Extensions - 20 lbs., 4 sets of 12.
Tricep Pushdowns - 80 lbs., 3 sets of 10.
Front Raises - 15 lbs., 3 sets of 10.
Y, T, W's - 5 lbs., 2 sets of 10 each.
Medball Bounces - Brian is such a brat! He's been commenting lately about how much better I've gotten at these...so tonight, my second set, he just let me keep going, didn't keep the time that he usually does, just to see how long I'd go! Made me smile...after I bounced the ball at him! ;-) He thought he was pretty funny.

Streeeeeetchhhhhhhh!!!

Brian has been a most wonderful trainer and been stretching me out the last few weeks to keep me good and loose. I have him and Jack working on figuring out what is going on in this leg of mine. I've been having spasms for about a year, and can't seem to find the source of the problem. I think we're getting closer though. Anyway, it feels really good to get loosened up like that. I appreciate the help. :)

Cambered Rows - 95 lbs., 10. 105 lbs., 3 sets of 8.
Pull-Ups - 4 sets, 8-10.
Lateral Pull-Downs - 80 lbs., 10. 90 lbs., 2 sets of 8.
Cable Rope Iron Cross - 90 lbs., 10 & 12.
Lateral Raises - 15 lb. Dumbbells, 3 sets of 10.
Barbell Bicep Curls - EZ + 10's, 3 sets of 10
Dumbbell Hammer Curls -20 lbs., 2 sets of 10.
Broomstick Twists and Medball Circles

Frustrated

The hardest thing about things not going right on bench night is that I have to wait an entire week to redeem myself. When my form is off, I have a really big habit of blaming my legs...but, I'm starting to find out it's not always my legs. But, when it's not, it seems it's harder to figure out what the problem is...then the frustration sets in. Something was off tonight, I think it was my shoulder positioning. I only got a single 175 lbs....should have been at least 2. But, my arms just wouldn't go. But, the good thing about it all is that's still 15 lbs. over where I'm ending in my meet in October...so I should blow this meet out of the water. I held 160 lbs. tonight very nicely, and I still have a couple of weeks to work on it. So, the meet weights should be A-OK. Now, I just need to figure out why I've been thrown off in technique the last couple days.

Bench Press - 150 lbs., 3. 165 lbs., 3. 175 lbs, 1 & a poor attempt at another. Then I did 160 lbs., with my pause, and got the first one very well (not the second)...but after that many sets, to get it up, I should be just fine at competition.
Close Grip w/ Board - 115 lbs., 3 sets of 10.
Shrugs - 115 lbs., 3 sets of 10.
Smith Military - 25's on each side - 3 sets of 12.
Band abs - 3 sets of 20.
Shoulder Horn - 5 lb. dumbbells, 2 sets of 25.

Mediocre

Brian thought I had a good night. I, on the other hand, thought it lingered in the middle somewhere. I skipped massage last week, so I'm pretty tight...it being the end of another week and all. Can't wait for tomorrow to go get one again. He also kept my weights pretty light tonight....but, he keeps telling me not to get upset about that, so, as long as it's accomplishing what he says it's supposed to, then I guess it's nothing to worry about. It isn't because he thinks I can't handle more weight.

Bench Speed Drill - 95 lbs., plus 1 set of chains - 8 sets of 3. He said I'm getting faster!!
Dumbbell Floor Press - 45 lbs., 3 sets of 10.
Dumbbell Floor Tricep Extension - 25 lbs., 4 sets of 10.
Tricep Push Down - 90 lbs., 10. 100 lbs., 2 sets of 6. 90 lbs., 10.
Front Raises - 15 lb. Dumbells, 3 sets of 10.
Y, T, W - 5 lb. Dumbbells, 1 set of 10 each.
Med Ball Bounces (only overhead tonight!! YAY!) 2 sets.

Eat Up!!!

Went to the vet tonight to get weighed...I lost 3 stinking pounds in two weeks. I haven't been able to that EVER in my life. That's puts me waaaaay too close to the cut off point of my weight class...so...I gotta increase the eating. Grrr. There are a lot of things that I didn't expect to have to deal with when I started this venture...but eating has got to be the most annoying. Oh well...how bad do I want it? That's what I have to keep in check, all the time...every morning when I wake up I ask myself 'how bad do you want it?' Gotta do what ya gotta do.

Good night tonight...not really a lot of increases, but better form with exercises and it's going a lot smoother...not having to mess around and figure out what works best all the time.

Cambered Rows - 95 lbs., 10. 105 lbs., 4 sets of 10.
Pull-Ups - 4 sets of 8.
Lateral Pull Down - 80 lbs., 10. 90 lbs., 6 + Brian's help w/ 2 & then another set of 6.
Cable Rope Iron Cross - 80 lbs., 10. 110 lbs., 2 sets of 10.
Lateral Raises - 15 lbs., 3 sets of 10
Barbell Bicep Curls - EZ + 10's on each side, 3 sets of 10.
Dumbbell Hammer Curls - 20 lbs., 2 sets of 10.
Med Ball Circles & Broomstick Twists

4 weeks till I leave for Texas for competition. Going to my aunt's house first, then she's taking me to competition in Oklahoma.

VERY Postworthy!!!!!

Thanks everybody for all of your prayers!!!!!!!!!!! Brian has been waiting on this phone call from the bank to tell him if his loan is approved so that he can buy the gym...and they called today and said yes!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! He's very excited...and I'm very excited for him....and I'm very excited my trainer's gonna be around all the time :) So, I know I didn't mention specifically what it was before, I wasn't sure if he'd want me to. But, now you all know what you were praying for.

CONGRATULATIONS BRIAN!!!!!

Positioning.

With as unlevel as my hips are on my body, a lot of times it takes two or three tries before we find the correct positioning of my body on the bench. Today I even got as far as Brian unracking the weight before I realized that I wasn't positioned right, he had to rerack it, restrap me, and try again. It still wasn't exactly where I like to be. But, I couldn't figure out why. In the end though, it was good that I wasn't exactly right on...because, I still got the reps he wanted, with heavier weight, which helped to 'reposition' my mind to go to competition and know that even if they don't strap me just like Brian does, I'll still be able to handle the lift. I knwo I've gone to competition before, and Adam wasn't there to strap me, but, my form has changed a lot in the last month with Brian, and I'm, in part, capable of being able to hold the form, because the straps are so tight and help keep me positioned.

Anyway, it was an awesome day...just simply because Brian came in to let me work out on the holiday. But, it got even better. Got my highest weight that I've ever gotten with Brian and I fought hard for it on my last rep. He was yellin' for me not to stop and everything...then he couldn't stop grinning for the rest of the session. It was awesome. THAT is what powerlifting is meant to be like: loud, obnoxious, and very rewarding when it's all over. I love when people get excited and loud and in my face. Makes it all the more empowering to be able to get the lifts. :)

Bench Press - 125 lbs., 155 lbs., 170 lbs., all for triples. Then back to 150 lbs., for 2 with the stop at my chest.
Close Grip with Board- 135 lbs., 8. 145 lbs., 7 & 6.
Smith Military Press - stayed really light, 25's on each side, 3 sets of 10...but he made me keep my form perfect since I was going lightweight.
Shrugs - weren't good.
Shoulder Horn - 10 lb. dumbbells, 2 sets of 24. I got SO mental on these. I did them sitting on the bench...that's how we've done the last couple weeks, just right after shrugs. It feels SO weird without a back. But, today, I verbalized it, and started thinking about it instead of just doing them...and I lost my balance, because I was so afraid to, that I made it happen. I regained it. Brian was really surprised...he said "what was that?" and I said, "Me getting mental." But, I'm glad he made me keep going...it's a good one to help strengthen my back for balance.
Band Abs - 3 sets of 25

Feeling Loose

Well, Brian's really lightening my load with the detail stuff. And tonight he took (a lot) of extra time to help me stretch out...I'm skippin' the massage tomorrow, and I was worried about that, so he helped loosen me up after the session to hold me over. So, I'm feeling much looser (both mentally and physically) and not near as stressed. I didn't want to throw too much at him too soon, but, he's been really willing to work together with me on EVERYTHING. It's awesome.

Really good night tonight!! (And I didn't even have a bad day! lol.)

Bench (speed drill) - 115 lbs, plus a set of chains, 9 sets of 3.
Dumbbell Floor Press - 50 lbs., 10. 55 lbs., 8 & 7.
Dumbell Floor Tricep Extensions - 20 lbs., 10. 25 lbs., 2 sets of 10 (I think). 30 lbs. didn't go so well, so we scratched that and dropped back to 25 lbs.
Tricep Pushdowns - 90 lbs., 10. 110 lbs., 5 1/2 (Brian helped on the 6th). 100 lbs., 7 1/2 (Brian helped on the 8th).
Front Raises - 15 lbs., 2 sets of 10.
YTW's - 5 lbs., 1 set of 10 each way.
Medball bounces & stretching :-D

Triceps are getting stronger!! And we really found a good form for my bench tonight. My lifts went a lot smoother and I was keeping my back pretty tight. It doesn't feel so great when you sit up, but it helps to bench! lol. Everyone have a WONDERFUL Labor Day, and think of me and my totally fantastic trainer that I've fallen into because I'll be working out at 11 a.m. on Monday!!! FINALLY a holiday that doesn't disrupt my routine! lol.

Safe Haven.

Hey everyone...sorry I'm a day late with blogging. I've been crazy lately with last minute things for October. It's been kinda stressing me out. But, luckily, I can escape to training and hanging out with Brian. It's amazing how once we get started, the whole world disappears. I enjoy training so much...I couldn't wait for Brian to get there last night and get going. A lot of times I wish I was doing something that I could go do every day with my trainer. But, gotta give the muscles their rest time. Anyway, it was an excellent night. Brian commented on how well my workouts have been lately, and I told him maybe I should have bad days more often. It gets a little fire going in me to be able to handle all that weight. lol. I'm so glad I've found something that I love doing and I'm so thankful for the support that has been given to me to enable me to do it. And I'm extremely thankful to have found Brian, who is so willing to do anything to help get me to my goals...and to make it so much fun on top.

I actually might not remember everything...we got talking last night and then Brian had another client, immediately following me, so I forgot to ask to look at my sheet.

Cambered Rows, we started out with 95 lbs. for 10 reps. I can't remember how many sets we did...probably 4. I know he went up in weight, I think twice, probably ended up around 115 lbs. or something like that. He was shooting for 5-6 reps.
Pull-Ups - worked out REALLY well last night. Brian spotted my legs, which significantly decreased my swaying. 4 sets of 8.
I don't know what my weights were on Lat Pull-down. Probably started at 80 lbs., because that's about where I am...but he was increasing all my weights last night, so I'd imagine I ended up around 100 lbs., for a couple sets of 6-8.
We did a new exercise on the cable, instead of scarecrows. We used the Rope and it was kind of like an iron-cross that I do with the band. We did about 4 sets and ended up at 90 lbs., for about 8.
Lateral raises 15 lbs., 10. 20 lbs....I think I got 10 there too.
Barbell Curls - I think there were 5's on each end to start, and then we went up to 10's maybe. 3 sets, I think....10, 10, 7 reps, maybe?
Dumbbell Hammer Curls - 20 lbs., 10, superset 15 lbs., 7. 20 lbs., 7, superset 15 lbs., 5.
Medball Circles & Broomstick twists.

Got more sponsorship today. Very grateful for that. Lots of unexpected expenses coming up lately.