PR City!

Well! This is more like it! Monday I hit a 20# PR and today I hit a 10# PR! Monday we used a 1-board. It's a wood board, couple inches thick, that lays on the chest and you bench from it instead of clear to the chest. It helps with sticking points. I did 190 for 3 and last time we did it, I did 170 for 3! Today we did 3131 Tempo and I did 170 for 2 and last time we did it, I did 160 for 2! Wednesday Seated Low Rows were up to 90 lbs. I've learned a lot of lessons through all of this. Just in time for the Olympics to start. :) One is be patient. Things will happen if you just hang in there. Two is you don't always have to do everything everyone else does. It's not a bad thing to be different. And Three is never ever ever ever forget to be thankful every single day for the trainer that's still around after everything you've been through. It was a long hard year. There were times when we both just looked at each other cuz we just didn't know what to do. But, I think Brian's learning he knows a lot more than he ever thought he did. And he's learning to trust his instincts. He has fought through a lot to keep my dreams alive. It's funny....everyone says it'll never mean as much to anyone else as it does to you cuz it's your dream. But, it's gotta mean something to him for him to keep plugging away at all of this. Last Friday, when he was loading my bar for tempo bench he said "You know, this goes against everything I believe in." My response? "Yes, I know, but you're willing to do it and believe in it, and that's why you're my trainer and the others aren't." The proof is in the pudding. Everyone can tell you until the cows come home that you're doing it all wrong. but he has every number I've ever done to back us up on exactly why we do what we do. And he's even figured out the mechanical theories behind it. It's a completely different ball game to lift without any feeling from your hips down. Ya just have to learn to flow with it. We're working on it. He's better at flowing than I am. But, that's why I leave him in charge! haha. Stay tuned. More big numbers coming soon!

Repeat

Well, the main advice from Cincinnati at the meet a few weeks ago was to repeat exactly what I had done for the cycle before the meet. Don't mind it we do! So, this week we did touch-and-go bench on Monday and 3131 Tempo bench on Friday. I did 160 for triples for both of them with a dropset or two. Friday I did 135 with Cambered Bar Shrugs which I was very happy about! Never did that before! Workin' quite a bit on some thoracic extension and movement on Wednesdays at the end of the workout. It's not moving along very quickly. At all. However, I'm sure it's helping and all of a sudden the progress will just show up one day. That seems to be my pattern. I didn't work out today, just hittin' it again tomorrow. Been doing some different stretching, trying to find something that works best for my legs and back. I've had a lot of changes. I don't have near as much pain as I used to have and the pain that I do have is in a different place than it used to be. I also don't have near as many spasms. Which is awesome. But when it changes it's hard to catch up to it to figure out what works so that the spasms and pain don't start back up again. Anyway, we're learnin' a lot about my balance and stability issues and my neurological patterns for my technique. I'm extremely blessed that Brian is my trainer. I'm convinced I wouldn't do near as well with anyone else. He's been absolutely perfect for the job. So, here we go again....another cycle of technique and deliberate placement of the bar. Let's see what we can hit come September!

Go With Your Gut

Hello to all my Blogger friends. Well, it's been a whirlwind since I got back from my meet last weekend, but, I have lots of news. It's always very wise to keep an open mind and be ready for constructive criticism and to follow the advice of your predecessors. However. Sometimes. You just know. And you have to go with it. After 6 months of following the Westside training method, after having much trouble in training and not seeing improvement in any numbers, after the April meet, we switched back to benching 2-3 times a week. Suddenly, I wasn't getting buried by 160 anymore. Now, don't get me wrong. Westside is an awesome training method. Most of the people I compete with in able-bodied meets are on the Westside template. However, none of them are in a wheelchair, unable to use any leg drive. Almost all of them use equipment, as well as some other various differences in our training preferences. Brian describes it more as a neurological issue for me. When I do speed work, we use bands or chains and I get used to compensating for the extra imbalance that those items cause, but, when I go back to benching regular, it takes me a great deal of time to stop trying to compensate for that imbalance that is no longer there! So, even though it goes against every theory of speed making you stronger because of force, I bench slow and methodical. And often. So, we have stuck with simple. Waving my bench in and out 2 or 3 times a week, and mostly following the Reactive Training Systems program by Mike Tuchscherer. And I slowed down my lowering of the bar. Last week at my meet I went 3 for 3, hitting 180 as my last lift, which matched my PR. Then, in a rather unusual decision, Brian decided to 'ride out' my peak that I was on, instead of letting it drop by having me take the week after a meet off and yesterday I hit 185 in the gym with Brian to set a new PR!!!!! I have no words to describe how thankful I am that Brian never gave up and had the perseverance to stick with me until we figured out what would be the right combination for me, no matter how frustrated either one of us got. I'm sure it'll change again. But, we have lots of experimentation under our belts now and I'm sure it won't take as long for us to find the right combo next time.

Forever different

Sorry I'm a touch behind. Things get so crazy before I leave for a meet and one of my summer classes is wrapping up this same week that I'm leaving for my meet. So, it's been like double crazy. Anyway, Last Thursday I told my massotherapist about some issues with my arm, same issues, but, had a couple new exercise references to give to him so he could maybe trace it a bit better. Instead of laying me on my back, I flipped over and low and behold, he found it right away, in my triceps. He said, "Wow, I don't believe I've ever seen that referral pattern for the triceps." I laughed and said "That would be me! Whatever you don't see in anyone else, you'll find in me!" Then he laughed :-) Last Monday I did more on Cambered Bar Shrugs than I think I ever have! That was the highlight of that day. I didn't sleep much over the weekend, due to spasms. So, Monday wasn't the greatest workout in the world. Wednesday I used chains for the first time in a while. I like usin' them. Did pretty good for not having used them for a while. I also used my new bamboo bar. I love it. It's fun! And I think it's gonna help my form. Friday I hit 170 for a single with one left over. Yesterday we worked up to my opener. I said "I HAVE to bring this bar down slower." He said "Do it. It's pretty obvious in your numbers that you handle it better." In THEORY, you're supposed to be stronger the faster the bar moves. It's 'supposed' to save energy and give you more power. But I can do a tempo of taking 3 seconds to get the bar down and again back up and do better at that than my regular bench press when I try to rush my bench press. It throws my balance off very badly. Just one more way my body doesn't follow the rules that everyone else does! I leave Thursday, compete Saturday and come back home Sunday. I'm staying with some friends which I'm extremely thankful for and looking forward to. Will be a lot of fun. I'll write with an update on Monday. Happy Fourth of July and have a great weekend everybody!