Matias Amin Herrera

I'm hoping this turns out right. I am trying to post a picture of my newest nephew to my blog. His name is Matias Amin Herrera. Born to my sister, Nicki (a.k.a. my Pickle) & Brother-in-law, Jeffrey. I thought the news deserved a blog entry of its own. 5/29/11, 9:59 p.m.(San Diego time) 6 lbs., 6 ozs., 20 inches long. <3 I love you Matias <3

Waiting! (and waiting! and waiting! and waiting!)

Well, my sister has been having contractions for about 3 days....slowly progressing to active labor. I've had a couple breakdowns between today and yesterday not being there. I opted to not bench today, cuz I was pretty emotional and wasn't sure if I could handle it if the bench didn't turn out like it should. But, I'm also soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo excited. Just trying to get a better grip on this whole mental game and not put so much pressure on myself. Trying to allow myself to change the plan and not do things the same and realize it's actually NOT the end of the world and very well could be good for me a lot of the time. :-)

So, today went well. I was happy even though I didn't bench. Everything felt good!!

Dumbbell Bench Press - 35 lbs., 40 lbs., sets of 12. 45 lbs., 11. 50 lbs., 6. 40 lbs., 12.

Military Dumbbell Press - 25 lbs., 4 sets of 10.

Skullcrushers - 45 lbs., 12. 55 lbs., 2 sets of 12.

Chops - 30 lbs., 1 set of 12, each side. 40 lbs., 2 sets of 12, each side.

<3 Stretching <3

Say a prayer for my baby sister and the wee one. :-) Thanks everybody!!!! He should be here soooooooon!!!!!!!

And, I won't be blogging until next Wednesday. Brian's taking the weekend off :-) (Good for him!!!)

Quiet Day.

Not much to report today. Pretty good and uneventful day! :-) Visited the doc yesterday just to get checked over, cuz I really haven't been recovering well from workouts and been generally feeling pretty yucky. Waiting on some bloodwork to come back, but, I feel much more normal tonight than I have after the last couple of workouts.

Low-Rows - 60 lbs., 12. 70 lbs., 2 sets of 10. 60 lbs., 12.

Lateral Pulldowns - 50 lbs., 3 sets of 12.

Dumbbell Hammer Curls - 15 lbs., 2 sets of 12.

Shoulder Horn - 5 lbs., 2 sets of 20.

Sidebends - 2 sets of 20, each side.

<3 Stretching <3

Recovery

Starting the bounce-back process from the wall I've hit. Changing it up a bit, keeping things light, different types of stress than usual.

Bench w/ 3232 tempo (3 sec. down, 2 sec. pause, 3 sec. up, 2 sec. pause) - 95 lbs., 100 lbs., 105 lbs.(2 sets), all for 8.

Kettlebell Shrugs - 50 lbs., 2 sets of 12 and a set of 8.

Lateral Raises - 15 lbs., 3 sets of 12.

Seated Good Mornings - about 3 with the band but Brian was holding back all the tension, so he took it off and I did about 5 on my own.

Triceps Pressdowns - 1 set of 12 with the Orange Band, 2 sets of 15 with the Black Mini-Band.

<3 Stretching <3

I started on the TRAC program this weekend to gauge my recovery & my Central Nervous System stress. A huge thank you to Mike Tuchscherer for adding me to Team RTS as a sponsored athlete. Check out his website: www.reactivetrainingsystems.com.

There was no blog yesterday, because I didn't work out. Brian and I started a new schedule for Sundays. For a while, every other week or so we're going to skip the workout and take time to talk about questions I have about training, diet, etc. I'm pretty excited about it...I think it will help a lot in the mental part of my training. I don't think that it will be every other week for long. I've been reading a lot on my own, which has kind of brought up some of the questions, but, the more I learn, and after we get the initial questions out of the way, I'm hoping to work out more on the Sundays and just kind of leave it open for if I feel that I have enough that we need to take time to go over it all, then we will.

Awestruck.

In both good and bad ways.

I was sitting out in the parking lot, on the blacktop, stretching out because it was such a great day. The wind started to blow and I pulled my knees up to my chest to sit for a second in between stretches. The song that came on my mp3 player was "Time of my Life" by David Cook. I started to cry. Ya know how you just get complacent and used to things and you don't realize it but you start to lose your appreciation? Well, that's been me lately. I sat there and played the song over a second time and just thought about how I'm truly living a dream. It's a real life dream. I've got interviews for articles, and writing my own articles, and people asking my advice, and a trainer that is just as steadfast as anyone can be, through thick and thin. Then I thought of the Daughtry song that says 'Be careful what you wish for, cuz you just might get it all, you just might get it all...and then some you don't want.' And I laughed...there's plenty that comes with it that you don't bargain for. But, that's what keeps things hoppin' and interesting...and it's what brings you to these revelations of how completely amazing everything else about it is when you're sitting on the blacktop of your gym parking lot in the breeze of a spring day doing your stretches.

So, after that, I was ready and raring to go today. I was really ready to hit it. Just crush it. I went in and watched Brian finish up with the client before me. It was entertaining. I was having a good time laughing at the conversation. We started our session. We were doing singles with one left over (RPE of 9). 135 went up like a shot. So did 150 and 160. .......170 buried me. Again. Brian didn't miss a beat...he unloaded the bar and pulled me up, all the while whistling away to the song on the radio. I didn't even ask what it was. I kinda knew. All I said was "What'd ya see?" I kinda felt like I was in a little bit of shock...cuz I was SO ready to go today. Brian explained a little bit of the Central Nervous System to me again. He said he's gonna re-work my entire program starting next week and it's not a big deal and I'll be fine. I said okay. And we went about our business. I felt pretty calm. I understood more today of what he was talking about and connected it with myself and what I'm doing. .....But I was still pretty shocked because I felt so ready to go. And then I smiled and breathed. Because it wasn't mental. :-) It wasn't mental. Training needs tweaked and I'm mentally okay. ....Then I asked a question a couple exercises later, and we scratched the rest of the day so we could talk. Brian wrote stuff down and drew lines and circled things and then he drew his own little graph and he drew a little stick-figure of me AND my chair. :-) It was fun. And I understood...which is even more fun.

SO, as luck would have it, today my heart rate monitor came in the mail!!! YAAAAAY! And I'm going to get on this program called TRAC that tests your CNS every morning to see how stressed you are and what kind of a workout your body can handle. I'm gonna play around with it a little this weekend and then get signed up on the program probably the beginning of the week. I'll have to give all my reports to Brian so he can tweak my training to go along with what my stress patterns are. Then, hopefully in the future we can avoid 170 ever burying me again....especially several times in the same month!!!!!!

We did some Military Dumbbell Presses & some skulls, but, they were light...then we talked.

I had an interview today for the Vindicator to do another article on me. And here is the link to my commencement speech on youtube for anyone that I might have missed sending it to: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ceh7oc8Kdbc

Another Day

Having a few soreness complications. We improvised a bit. Things went pretty well. Brian said I looked pretty good.

Competition Bench - 135 lbs., 155 lbs., 160 lbs., 155 lbs., all for doubles.

Low-Rows - 60 lbs., 4 sets of 10.

Lateral Pulldowns - 80 lbs., 3 sets of 10.

Lying Sidebends - 2 sets of 20, each side.

<3 Stretching <3

The spot by my scar that has hurt for a long time hasn't hurt since my back popped on Monday! :)

POP! Goes the Weasel.

Haha. Not really. No weasels here. Brian's been really working on this one spot on my back to try to get it to not stick out so far. Today when he was tractioning my back he pushed on the same spot and it FINALLY popped!!! :-D It feels SO much better! Easier to sit up! Doesn't feel quite as lop-sided! Brian said it felt a whole lot smoother! .....Ironically, now my left side is getting tight. lol

So, benching wasn't that fantastic today.....due to my left side being uber tight. Lat & Teres are feeling pretty icky. Gonna do some major work on them tomorrow at massage. OH! Yesterday we just did like a little deload lat day. Here are the numbers from both days:

Sunday was Dumbbell Rows with 30 lbs., a few sets of 10. Then some Pullovers with 30 lbs., a few sets of 12.

Today:
Competition Bench - 145 lbs., 160 lbs.(2 sets), 145 lbs.(2 sets), all doubles, RPE 9.
Kettlebell Shrugs - 50 lbs., a set of 10 & 2 sets of 12.
Lateral Raises - 12 lbs., 3 sets of 12. (On my last set, I told Brian we could bench now!! My side finally loosened up!! lol. But, he said no, skip board presses today).
Seated Black Mini-Banded Good Mornings - 3 sets of 6 or 7. I'm loving these.

<3 Stretching <3

Advice to the Big Dogs

My buddy Clint, at Elite Fitness (that publishes my articles) hit a big PR on bench not long ago. Shirted, 443.5. He did fantastic. But as I watched his video, his arms were ALL OVER the place. So, I wrote him about some technique stuff that Brian has taught me and that John Bogart went over when Brian had his seminar at the gym. I couldn't tell 'exactly' what Clint was doing and what he wasn't, so I just typed out a bunch of things and told him to weed through and find what would help him. Today he posted log & video from his deload bench day from Tuesday...and he mentioned me giving him advice on his stuff. :-) It was pretty cool that I was able to give him some tips that he think will be useful for him. And when I told Brian about it today, he grinned from ear to ear like a proud papa. :-) And of course he didn't pass up the opportunity to point out to me "See how much you've learned? Listen to you." Yes, Brian, I see. I'm starting to put more together. ;-) ....Here's the link to Clint's log entry: http://asp.elitefts.com/qa/training-logs.asp?qid=145739&tid ...The ironic thing that kinda cracked me up tonight when I realized it is that the first two sentences when Clint mentions me, he says he started to work on his foot position and leg drive!!!!! Totally made me smile. MEEEE giving advice to HIM about foot position and leg drive. Oh, the ironies of life.

Today was a pretty big day in the gym. I hit 175 for a single with one still left in me. RPE was 9 today. So, that was pretty awesome. Here are the other numbers on the day:

Competition Bench - 135 lbs., 150 lbs., 160 lbs., 170 lbs., 175 lbs., 165 lbs.(2 sets), all for singles.

1 Negative at 200 lbs.

Dumbbell Military Press - 35 lbs., 45 lbs., 50 lbs., all for 5.

SkullCrushers - 50 lbs., 65 lbs., 70 lbs., all for 5.

Chops - 30 lbs., 3 sets of 15, each side.

<3 Stretching <3

Squeeeeeeeeze It In.

Car was getting worked on, so I had to get a ride to the gym. Was a little late getting there. Had to be done early for my ride back. Brian had to text me my workout numbers for the day. Now I'm exhausted and have to be up very early. Longer blog to come on Friday. :-)

Medium Grip Competition Bench - 140 lbs., 150 lbs., 160 lbs., 150 lbs.(2 sets), all for doubles.
T-Bar Rows!! - 45 lbs., 70 lbs., 70 lbs., 80 lbs., 70 lbs., all for 5.
1 set of 10, 15 lb. Dumbbell Curls while I was up on the T-Bar support.
Lateral Pulldowns - 80 lbs,. 90 lbs., 100 lbs., 90 lbs., all for 5.
2 more sets of 10 Curls from Pulldown seat.
Sidebends - 2 sets 20, each side.

<3 Stretching <3

Lining Things Up

Brian's been working on flattening out the hump in my back/ribs from my scoliosis. He has mentioned a couple of times that it seems to be getting better. Today I REALLY felt a difference in my scapula sliding when I was arching. :-) I think I'm laying much more evenly on the bench! Now I just have to get used to THAT new position. lol. It's feeling much better though. We also did a board press as a supplemental exercise and I think I'm FINALLY figuring out how to tell that I'm placing the bar in the correct place on board presses! June's meet was cancelled, so, we're working on deciding if we're going to do a 'mock meet' or if I'm going to go to an able bodied meet sometime in July. I'm also gathering information on measuring my Central Nervous System stress level, through a computer system, so that we can see what the best workout would be for me, day to day.

Lots of stuff getting up in order!!!

Competition Bench - 140 lbs., 155 lbs., 165 lbs., 155 lbs., all for 2. I got out of my groove again on 165. Trying very hard not to get too worked up over it. Brian says I'm always worse on Mondays and he plans my workout as such...so that my weight increases as the week goes on because I can handle it better.

2-Board Press - 135 lbs., 155 lbs., 165 lbs.(2 sets), all for 5.

KettleBell Shrugs - 50 lbs(?) - 3 sets of 12.

Black Mini-Band Seated GoodMornings - This was a fluke discovery. But, it was awesome :) When I leaned over one time to pick up the kettlebells, I ACTUALLY picked myself back up instead of Brian pulling me back up. SOOOO, we tried doing goodmornings with the kettlebells but I was using the weight to sway me back so I could get up easier. So, Brian put a black mini band around my neck and VOILA! They felt GREAT, Brian can have control and adjust the tension since it's a band, AND I felt it farther down in my back than the back raises!!!!!!!! So, Back Raises get bumped again :-/ BUT, this is going to be used to work back up to those once I get stronger! I think we did just a couple of sets of 6 or something.

<3 Stretching <3

Frequency.

I anticipate too much. I'm not good at processes and letting things 'play out' or 'work themselves out.' I anticipate things too much. I also worry that if they aren't fixed right away, they won't be. I like to have all my ducks in a row...a little too much.

Brian and I talked today about my shaking in mid-speech and how it correlates with me missing my last lift. Brian says stop thinking so much :-D It made me laugh...that's usually his answer to most things. A lot of times he's right though. He said that I'm normal and just like everyone else....actually a little better at things than everyone else, because I don't freeze right from the beginning. But, in the middle of it I realize where I'm at and what's going on. He said if I spoke more, it would eventually go away. He also said that as I compete more often, it will go away in that situation also. Just like I used to roll into my shoulders and I don't anymore. Just like I used to flare my elbows and I don't anymore. I just haven't competed enough yet. It'll come though. I just have to accept that it isn't here and I can't make it be here right now. It has to come in it's time. Not mine.

Double-Arm Dumbbell Rows - 35 lbs., 12. 40 lbs., 45 lbs., 50 lbs., 55 lbs., 50 lbs., all for 6.
PullOvers - 35 lbs., 40 lbs., 45 lbs., all for 12.
Black Mini-Band Face Pulls - 3 sets of 15. I requested facepulls today (When I do them on cabled, I call them cable iron crosses). I wasn't so excited when Brian suggested banded ones. I knew that meant I was staying in my chair. I don't normally like things that I stay in my chair for. Usually I can't pull my arms back and I can't figure out why. Well, today i finally figured out the issue. I had Brian put a strap around my belly and my chair so that I had something to push against. It helped A LOT. Brian didn't have to hold me back at all..Just held my chair down. I loved them. I liked them better than the cable ones. It felt great.

<3 Stretching <3

Commencement.

Commencement means an act or instance of commencing; beginning.
Commencing means to begin or start.

Today when I benched, I didn't do the reps that I wanted to or that I thought I should be able to do. I asked Brian how much it was, on my heaviest set. He said it was 165. It was a double. I felt the tinge of disgust with myself that usually evolves into complete frustration. Then Brian continued to talk. He explained to me (as he has done about a million times) how when I do reps, I accelerate on the way up, trying to be as explosive as I can be; but when I do that, it the bar starts to teeter cuz I can't push down with anything to stabilize & counteract the speed. So, on my second rep, when I start down, I'm crooked from trying to control the bar. When I'm crooked, I don't place the bar right. Then my elbows and triceps and lats are not in the correct position to get the bar back up with the ease that it should be and I end up fighting it out, and using up a whole lot of energy that I wouldn't use if I was in the correct form.

Today, (Finally), as Brian explained it to me, I gave myself a reprieve. It isn't that my strength diminishes one day and returns by the end of the week. It depends upon the amount of reps we do and if I'm actually doing the first one the way that I should, by being explosive, it throws me off for the reps to follow. I finally got it. So, just because I got 165 for only a double, doesn't mean I can't do 185. It doesn't mean that 170 should feel like a max. It shouldn't. With one single rep, it would be absolutely rock solid like it was supposed to be. Today I 'got it'. Today, I 'commenced' a new line of thinking. I'm not upset tonight about my workout. I don't need to worry about it for next week or the following weeks as I prepare for my next competition. It's simply a technicality that I have always known was there, but couldn't understand until I heard it over and over and finally the right words were all put together in the right way and the lightbulb went off.

Competition Bench - 140 lbs., 150 lbs., 160 lbs., 165 lbs., 155 lbs., all for 2. Then 2 negatives with 185 lbs., (meaning, I come down real slow and pause it, then Brian takes it, I don't push it back up).

Dumbell Military Press - 30 lb.s, 35 lbs., 40 lbs., 35 lbs., all for 6. (Had a big issue with stability with these today. Brian had to hold me from the front even after he strapped me)

SkullCrushers - 45 lbs., 55 lbs., 65 lbs., 55 lbs., all for 6.

Chops - 30 lbs., 3 sets of 15 on each side.

<3 Stretching <3 (Was pretty tight today. :-/ Hopefully tomorrow is better).

Tonight was College Commencement. Mom, Dad, Grandpa, Brother, Nephew & Brian and family came :-) It was super. My hands shook a little while I was holding my paper, but, my voice stayed strong. ;-) I realized something tonight though, I don't get nervous until the middle. When I'm in the middle of it, something in my brain goes "Crap. This is pretty big." .....I did that when I was giving my speech for Brian too. I'm wondering if there's a connection with my competitions, feeling like I'm okay and then somewhere in the middle getting nervous and missing my last lift.....something to ponder. Just not sure what to do about it :-P

Arrange & Rearrange

Sorry I missed the blog yesterday. I have to give my speech tomorrow at Commencement and I was informed just yesterday that I had to cut it down...way down. So, I did in 5 hours last night, what it took me 2 wks to do when I had to give my speech to present Brian's award. But, it's done. And I'm looking forward to it all now. :-)

Yesterday I felt good workin' out. We did T-Bars again!!! Had minor difficulty on the set up, but, we fixed a little here and there and it all worked out beautifully in the end. And I think we (Well, Brian) finally figured out the sure-fire setup for Sidebends. So, we should be all set to continue with those.

Medium Grip Competition Bench - 135 lbs., 145 lbs., 155 lbs., 145 lbs(2 sets), all for 3. I think my RPE was a 9, but, it might have been an 8...I got a little confused amongst all the talking. ;-)

T-Bar Rows!!!! - 70 lbs., 80 lbs., 90 lbs., 80 lbs.(2 sets), all for 5.

Lateral Pulldowns - 70 lbs., 90 lbs., 100 lbs., 90 lbs., all for 5.

Dumbbell Curls - 15 lbs., 2 sets of 12.

Lying Sidebends - 2 sets of 20, both sides.

<3 Stretching <3

Lock It In.

So, recently Brian has been working with me to 'lock it in' when I take the bar. Meaning (as if I'm not tight enough already) when he brings the bar out from the rack, before he releases it to me, I pull the bar apart as best I can and lock in my elbows and engage my lats, even tighter. I think it's been working pretty well. It seems to have helped with my stability on the handoffs.

Competition Bench - 135 lbs., 150 lbs., 140 lbs.(2 sets), all for 4. I think we were at a 9 RPE today. I'm not so great at remembering to blog that detail.

JM Presses - 65 lbs., 75 lbs., 85 lbs., 100 lbs., 90 lbs., all for 4.

Shrugs - 90 lbs., 105 lbs., 125 lbs., 115 lbs., all for 6, except, my grip dropped 125 slightly early on the last rep. Love shrugs :-)

Lateral Raises - 15 lbs., 3 sets of 8. I'm DEFINITELY getting stronger on these. I was able to hold my arms out REAL straight.

BackRaises - 1 set of 8. 2 sets of 10. I'm so thrilled that we are back to doing these!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I love them. I'm so happy he came up with a way that wasn't so stressful to my body so we could work on them.

<3 Stretching <3

I applied for an office job today. I graduate Friday. And I'm pretty close to set up to go back to school online for Counseling. So, keep me in prayer with all the busy-ness that's about to take place. It's crossed my mind a time or two that I don't want to stretch myself too thin and be worn out for my training. :-/ But, I'll figure it out.

Also, please keep my finances for training in prayer. I'm much much lower this year than in the past years. I need something unexpected to break through here pretty soon. Thanks for your prayers :-)

Feelin' Strong!

The fundraiser went very well on Saturday! I'm going to be holding one more event before I do the drawing for the auction items. Just need to finalize the date.

Today was a great lat workout! :-) It felt good, my shoulders felt loose, and my lats pulled evenly on each side!! Things are swell.

Double-Arm Dumbbell Rows - 30 lbs., 35 lbs., 40 lbs., 45 lbs., 50 lbs., 45 lbs., all for 6.

Pullovers - 30 lbs., 35 lbs., 40 lbs., all for 12.

Chinups - 3 sets of 10.

<3 Stretching <3