Legs

Next week marks the end of this training block.
I've trained less in the last 6 weeks than I have in the last 6 years. More on the reason for that later, but suffice it to say, going from training 5 days a week to 3 days a week has taken some adjusting. Add in the fact that I took a "Mental Health Week" in which I bagged the gym altogether and missing a few days when I was sick has turned what was supposed to be a 4 week block into a 6 weeker.

Anyways, while I've enjoyed it, I'm looking forward to wrapping this week up and moving on to something new. Hopefully that means my log won't be such a snore.
Also, I haven't deadlifted in about 7 weeks now and I'm anxious to get my mojo back before meeting up with some of the Juggernaut team in a few weeks.

Saturday morning

- Foam rolled
- dynamic warm-up

BB Bulgarian split squats, superset with
Single leg RDLs

Front Squats, superset with
GHR

Polished off with some bodyweight lunges, glute bridges and ab wheel roll-outs.

This session was a killer but I had visions of post-workout sushi dancing through my head and somehow that makes even the most grueling training more tolerable.

Ladies, the two best things you can do for your ass: heavy squats and Lululemon pants!

Back from the dead - total body

That is what I said just one week ago and then KA-BOOM! I felt kind of weird on Wednesday and by Thursday I was down for the count. Catching a cold in the summertime is one of those weird things that has never made sense to me, akin to organic pop-tarts or trying to eat a taco from the middle.

I tried to be optimistic and thought, Well hell, I have my laptop. I'll be super dooper productive by doing a bunch of writing and catching up on other things I've been putting off.
Or....
I could watch approximately 27 episodes of Grey's Anatomy on Hulu.

Care to guess how that played out?

I was feeling better and back to training on Sunday. Due to my missing a few sessions, I'm taking a "do over" for last week's training.

I got in the gym tonight and got in a good session, although I felt weak as hell and was sucking some serious wind, which I'm sure is due to my cold.

Foam rolled
Dynamic warm-up and mobility work

1a. DB walking lunges
1b. Squat press
1c. Chinups

2a. Inverted rows
2b. KB swings

Finished with med ball slams and skipped the Prowler pushes that were called for because, well, I could barely stand on my own two legs.

Weight lifting belts

I got the chance to try out my new weight lifting belt yesterday and it really helped me with my workout in the gym.  When I did my squats, my body felt much more supported and I was able to add more weight to the bar than usual.

The same goes for my deadlifts and overhead press.  I was able to lift more weight and my back felt a lot more solid throughout my whole workout.  There were no weird twinges or anything in my back during my whole workout.

I got my belt with help from here: http://powerliftingbelts.org/womens-weight-lifting-belts

I am wary though to not wear my belt all of the time as I'm a little bit concerned about my back being weakened by wearing it through the whole gym routine.  I only wear it for the really heavy stuff that take a toll on my back.

I went for a comfortable womens weight lifting belt like a crossfit style velcro one.  If I progress into the really heavy weights, I will get a really leather one which is a more powerlifting style.  But I like the one I chose based on the review from the website above and it was definitely the right choice for a lady like me. 

Front squats & lower body circuit work

I love Saturday's. They always go in this order:

8am: Train hard
10am: Eat food
Noon: Go for coffee
2pm - 5pm: Shop
5pm - 9pm: Eat eat eat
Sleep

It's the ideal day in my opinion and I always look forward to Saturdays. :) Yesterday was more of the same.

My coach had me performing less sets overall but more reps. Like a total rookie, I assumed this would be a cinch until I found myself nearly blowing a gasket trying to incorporate Front Squats for sets of 8 in a circuit. Quads and lunges ... on.... FIRE.

All in all, I did a sick medley of Single Leg RDLs, Bulgarian Split Squats, Front squats, GHR, and then iced it off with an obscene amount of bodyweight step-ups and squats. I skipped the glute bridges at the end but that is our secret. Two more weeks on this training block before we switch it up!

The guy using this bar ^^^ got upset at me because I took a set of 5# plates that were on the floor by him while I was working up for my Front Squats. Umm... he already had SIX nickels on his friggin' bar. Apparently he was going for eight. (O_o) Silly rabbit.

Upper Body Day

My upper body session yesterday went really well! I've struggled a bit lately getting motivated to train upper body because since I've retired from benching back in June, it has just seemed kind of ... blah. But yesterday was much better!

I started off with supersets of pull-ups and overhead press. My pull-ups aren't strong enough *yet* to be able to get good working sets unassisted, especially when combined with other lifts so I used a band for assistance. My pull-ups < my chins.
Moved on to some barbell corner press (one of my favorite exercises) and heavy single arm DB rows.

I was supposed to be pounding the tire to smithereens with the sledgehammer but the owner had a big circuit going using it so I did a few intervals of 30 second heavy KB swings instead.

I finished up with 30 minutes of cardio! This was different since I currently do... well, NO cardio whatsoever.

All in all it was a good session. I'll get some video up next week!

Chin-ups, thrusters and lunges... oh my!

As previously mentioned, I barely got through my session last Tuesday, which I've fondly nicknamed my, "Total Body Destruction" Days. When I looked at my program for yesterday my stomach did a small backflip when I noticed that Carter had increased the required sets. I had to put my big girl pants on and really suck it up because last night was tough.

7 sets of walking lunges
7 sets of DB thrusters
7 sets of chin-ups (AMRAP)

I love to use circuit work. I feel like it's really the best training setup for most women that are looking to be strong and look incredible - I like it so much that I'm working on a training e-book that will be out towards the end of the year! Woo! And speaking of that book, I was running some things past Chad this morning and well.... damn you autocorrect!

In other news, we went to watch old school performing strongman Mike "The Machine" Bruce on Saturday. He broke a world record for having steel bars bent across his neck. I have to say, it was an amazing and entertaining performance. He had two of his mentors there and those guys are just abnormally strong. One of the guys, David Whitley, owns a Kettlebell place in Nashville and he did a bottoms-up press with a 32kg KB. He also did an overhead press with that same bell using just his pinkie. Interesting to see such different feats of strength!

No lifting for me today, just some hill sprints tonight. Back in the gym tomorrow!