New Year...New Adventures

Well, what better time to catch you all up on my journey than the beginning of a new year, and not to mention a sport form week! I believe I'm a couple meets behind on informing you all of my progress. In October I went to Florida for an able-bodied meet. Brian Schwab with EliteFTS was my handler. He did an OUTSTANDING job with me. I was extremely impressed and would be more than happy to do a meet with him again some time. My actual meet results, however, were less than satifisfying. I only made my first lift of 160 lbs. I attempted 175 on my second attempt and it went nowhere. I thought I could make a few minor adjustments, and the 3rd lift would be no problem, so, I increased my attempt to 180. And again it was stapled. I had been in some pain in my back for a good portion of the week...come to find out when I got home, I had about 3 or 4 ribs out, which compromised my arch pretty badly, which totally took me out of my groove and made it pretty impossible for me to get any kind of decent weight. In December I was feeling much better in my back, although it's been rather continuous that a rib or two pops out & I need an adjustment. As a matter of fact, I had to go to a chiropractor while I was in Cincinnati for the meet because the day before, I had several pop out. I got all fixed up though. I lifted 160, but, on my second attempt, I missed 175 again. My stability was off extremely bad, right from the lift off. We took a look at the video & Amy Weisberger (WR holder) said my straps should be tighter. So, we moved them up and Shane tightened them for my third attempt and 175 went up like a shot. It was night and day, literally. They were all amazed at the difference. It was a pretty big lesson for all of us for just how technical my lifts are. If something is off in even the very slightest of ways, there's just no way I am going to be able to push the weight. It was a good year to learn more lessons, being that I was off from any National or International IPC meets. My next meet is just under 6 wks away. I'll be going back to Oklahoma for my first National of this quad. I'm pretty excited about starting up with them again and seeing my National team again. Brian has added a new type of bench to my routine. It's called Oxidative Benching. It's a timed tempo type bench. I do 10-12 reps (depending) for 30-40 seconds (depending if it's 10 or 12). Then I get a minute break and repeat 3 times. Then I get a 5 minute break and repeat the entire series 3 times. No pauses at bottom & no solid lockouts at the top, so, that I'm always under the tension of the bar. It has given me A LOT more push and drive through my lifts. I don't get fatigued nearly as quickly when I'm doing reps, even heavy ones. My sticking points are almost nonexistent now. Even when the weight feels heavy, I'm able to shove through it. It's helped me improve my technique with the slower & methodical practice. I also have a range now of knowing if I have 1 left over or 2 left over, etc., where as before, if Brian added 5 or 10 lbs to my bench sometimes it would just crush me after I got the previous weight so easily. It's really helped in so many ways. I'm so thankful for a trainer who's open-minded and just hasn't stopped searching for the right formula for me. That just about brings you up to speed!! I would greatly appreciate all of your prayers for Brian and his family, as his son has come up with some pretty serious health issues. I'm extremely thankful to have some pretty awesome friends who are stepping up to the plate and filling in to train me when Brian has to be committed to appointments and such with his son. My New Year's Resolution is to keep you all more informed, as I used to. We'll see how well it sticks.....you know how those resolutions go, I'm sure. ;-) Thank you all for your continued support in my journey. I'm having the time of my life. I absolutely love it. And I'm continually thankful to have found a trainer who's so committed to sticking with me and helping my dreams come true.