Christmas Deadlifts, start of a new cycle

Only the dedicated... :)

It's a new cycle for this lift, too (with new deadlift shoes). I will NOT be peaking out before Nationals with this one, and will probably end with 325 as I had before the Hudson Open meet.

Light and easy sets for Christmas Day, with a single that is 100 lbs. less than last week's...

Sumo Deadlifts
45x6 (conventional)
45x6 (sumo)
135x1
165x1
195x1
225x1 (loose and notorious neon orange training suit, courtesy of Pete Alaniz/Titan)

Heavy single of the day...
240x1

Drop sets...
210x4x3

Conventional DLs
185x4x3

Weighted Ab Crunches
25x20x3

Low Ab Crunches
10x15x3

Squat Day, start of a new cycle

I've started a new training cycle for my squats, too. My end goal for this training cycle is a Nationals-meet-deep 290, which I have done a couple times before in training. The first time I ever squatted 290, I was at The Gym in Plymouth, MN and had Terry Bloom spotting me with Mitch calling my depth. I had a hard time unracking it, lost my balance walking it out, and re-racked it. BUT... I then took a few seconds to re-focus, as I was pretty ticked off that this had happened. I walked it out again with more determination (and my knee wraps feeling like tourniquets about to cause a couple of amputations). I squatted down, heard the call... came back up... and it was a great feeling. That was before IPF World's 2007, pictured above. I need deja' vu all over again!

It was just me and Mitch training squats yesterday in the Icebox, a.k.a. power room.

Squats

45x10

45x5

75x3

105x1

135x1 (light knee wraps)

165x1 (loose training suit and wraps)

195x1

225x1

Heavy SQ of the day...

235x1

Drop sets...

205x4x2 (4 reps feel like cardio to me, lol...my hips were still burning from the deads last week)

Heavy walkout

265 x slow count of 10

Static hold

295 x slow count of 10

Laying leg curls

60x10x3

Bench Day, start of a new cycle

Getting ready for a bench attempt at the 2008 NAPF North American Regionals in Oranjestad, Aruba (June). Despite failing with 165 in my training cycle before that meet, I was thankfully able to bench 170.8 for a new North American Open Bench Press (3-lift meet) Record in the 105 lb. class!

I started a new training cycle for my (stubborn) bench press today and went light with higher reps and more sets than usual, all raw.

Bench Press

45x10
45x5

65x3
85x1

105x1

Heavy single of the day....

125x1

Drop sets...

115x4x3

Board Presses

135x4x3

Decline Presses

135x4x3

Dips

0x10x2

I haven't done these in a very long time...I love this exercise, but ever since some whiplash I sustained in a bad car crash back in June '07, dips have caused my neck to spasm up, so I took a break from them until now -- and made sure to do them unweighted.

Weighted Ab Crunches

10x20x3

Low Ab Crunches

0x15x3

340 lb. deadlift attempt -- to the knees

I tend to go out on a limb, which is what I did today. I attempted a 340 lb. deadlift this a.m. weighing 102 lbs. (you have to do strange things every so often) and managed to get it up to my knees. This was my first time ever trying to pull this amount.

My last full powerlifting meet was Nov. 8th, when I gritted-out 335 lbs. but it went smoothly... so after I recovered from this half-pull today, I pointed at that ominous loaded bar and said (OK, growled), "I know I've got that lift!!!!!!!"

...just not today :(

Back in July, I attempted 336 lbs. at a single-lift WABDL meet, and in November, I got that 335 lbs. in a full power meet. So it was probably a little too soon to try this. However, with the fairly easy 320 last week, I would have ordinarily gone up 10-15 lbs. to 330 or 335 for my heavy single today. But I've done that already and really wanted to just get that new number in my hands. Even if it went for only half a ride.

Below, the (half) footage:




Fuel for the fire... next time!!!

Deadlift Day (320x1 and 290x2)

Here's how my deadlift day went yesterday:

Sumo Deadlifts
45x6 (this set conventionals)
45x6
135x1
165x1
195x1
225x1

suit...
255x1
285x1

Heavy single of the day...
320x1 (came up strong, minimal effort for this weight)

Drop set...
290x2 (easiest double of 290 I've ever pulled, to my surprise -- I felt I had another 1 or possibly even 2 more in the tank)

Conventional DLs
260x2 (straps down)

Assistance work? No (again). Crazy as it sounds, it appears to me that my minimalist training, further minimized, seems to be helping me get to where I want to be. I continue to have great confidence with this lift and feel that 340 (at a meet, 341.5 or 155 kgs.) is a realistic goal in the near future.

Are we talking... maybe even next week? Hmmm....

But an even bigger question... can I ever translate this sort of confidence into similar progress for the other two lifts? HMMM...

Here's a video of a 319.5 lb. (I just call it 320) deadlift from back in da' day... well, May 2006. This was at the WABDL Midwest Regionals, breaking their National DL Record at 97 lbs. bodyweight...

Bringing Motivation to Kids -- through Powerlifting!

Last Friday, I received an awesome opportunity to bring Powerlifting beyond the gyms and the platform -- and boost the spirits of about 100 5th, 6th and 7th graders at two assemblies in their school cafeteria!

John Gross, photojournalist from KSTP TV and ABC TV news reporter, invited me to be a guest speaker with him at Grandview Middle School in Mound, Minn. With fun props, demonstrations and stories, we brought the important topics of goal-setting, determination, motivation, how to handle failure, getting better grades and self-esteem to this young and impressionable audience, their teachers, faculty, staff, and even the school principal.

John introduced me by asking how tall I am, and how much I weigh. He then turned to the kids and asked them, based on my size, what sport they believed I competed in -- and we heard responses ranging from gymnastics, to swimming, to running, to (the very cute one) basketball.

He played the KSTP Eyewitness News video clip/feature he had produced about me and Mitch Edelstein, and our powerlifting accomplishments earlier this year. As the footage aired, it was fun to hear the kids' reactions. Mitch was also in the audience, and when John told the audience about our best deadlifts -- mine at 335 lbs. and Mitch's at 700 lbs. -- I heard a few "that's SICK!!" and "no WAY!!" shrieks that really told me this cool, young crowd was totally engaged.

I was able to talk about how I achieve my goals in powerlifting and how I overcame tough times as a kid, being called names because of my size and racial background. I shared how, even when I wasn't involved in athletics as a kid, I found a way to compete with others through academics. And it was gratifying to be able to tell these kids that they could do whatever they set their minds to, if they set goals, want to achieve it enough and do what it takes to get there, step by step, and with patience. I was able to share my son Glen's recent lifting and personal goals and achievements as an example of someone their age, doing big things. And I was able to talk about how their thoughts and their own beliefs can, and will, affect what they are able to achieve.

It was even more fun when the kids and teachers asked for autographs afterward!! They approached both Mitch and me, asking questions that only these awesome kids could ask -- like, "Could you pick your boyfriend up off the ground?" I was able to talk to especially the girls and realized I had finally gotten the rare and precious chance to take some of the things I've learned in my sport and in life, and pass it on to them!

Endless thanks to John for this honor and opportunity of a lifetime. I look forward to working with him again!!

Chilly Deadlift Night at The Press

We Minnesotans really are hardy (and crazy). The Power Room at The Press last night started off with just me and Mike Seigler in there, then Kevin Kartak, then Brian Durham and Sean Timonen... and next thing I sensed (when I wasn't focusing on my deads), the room was packed with serious lifters, every piece of equipment in there taken -- and the space still felt like an icebox.

Well, the whole dang STATE is an icebox...and will be, for several months forward. I've survived 15 winters here; you'd think I would be used to this by now.

Sumo Deadlifts (except for 1st warmup)
45x6 (conventional)
45x6 (sumo)
135x1
165x1
195x1

Deadlift suit on...
225x1 (straps down)
255x1
285x1 (straps up)

Heavy single for the day...
305x1

Drop set...
275x2

Conventional Deadlifts
245x3x2

I deviated and improvised again, this time with the conventionals, as I was pressed for time and needed to leave sooner than usual. Instead of doing bentover rows (or any other assistance work), I chose instead to stay where I was and add an extra set of conventionals, each with an extra rep. These went real well, and I believe they probably served my purposes even better than any rows could have.

If you ever need to cut your workout short, focus on the powerlifts. Assistance work is meant for assistance!

I could not leave The Press without carrying out a couple of 25 lb. dumbbells for the speech presentation at the school. Maybe I should count that for something, too :)

Motivational Speaking For Elementary Students

Here is another "first" for me: I have been contacted by photojournalist John Gross of KSTP TV (our Minneapolis/St. Paul ABC TV affiliate) to join him as a guest for two motivational speeches/presentations at an elementary school this Friday! The speeches will involve the topics of goal-setting and getting better grades. I will be getting more details soon about this exciting opportunity, but we will be incorporating how some of my childhood and life experiences have played a part in my achievements in powerlifting -- and what I have learned through the sport.

I'm totally honored by this and didn't expect it. I've given speeches to college students and other adults, but never to youth. But having a 10 1/2-year-old son myself, I'm not entirely a stranger to giving Our Future a little pep-talk now and then :)

Here's what happens when a motivated 84 lb. kid grows up watching his mom deadlift over... and over... and over again...



(...you know that came with a post-pull pep-talk about telling that foot what to do next time...)

As he works on perfecting his lifting, Glen is already being sponsored in this sport! Thanks for your support, Pete!

Squat Day in Pursuit of Bringing Training Goals to the Meet

I had been training heavy squats on Sundays, but because I deadlifted on Friday, my squat day this week was pushed to Monday.

I plan to have an end-goal of 285-290 for this training cycle. This is the (very) elusive goal range I have been pursuing in contests for almost 2 years now. I was able to squat a contest PR and MN State Record 281 at the 2007 USAPL Women's Nationals (Feb.). Since then, I had lifted in only 3 other full/powerlifting meets - two of them IPF (2007 Worlds in Austria and 2008 NAPF North American Regionals in Aruba). In each one, I missed attempts at 285 or 286.5 in some way, shape or form, getting stuck with 265... and, most fresh on my mind, 255 in exotic Hudson, Wisconsin.

Yet I have squatted 285-290 about 4-5 different times in training in the last 2 years, with meet-legal depth. These are the things that make a lifter want to come back for more, in this sport. Try, try again (with a vengeance)!!!

Squats
45x10
45x5
75x3
105x1
135x1 (very light knee wraps)

Titan Dual Quad suit and knee wraps on...
165x1
195x1
225x1

Heavy single for today...
245x1 (straps up; weight came up easy/fast)

Drop set...
215x3 (I was suppossed to do another set but was pressed for time and was also still sore from the compressed schedule this week)

Heavy Walkout
275 with slow count of 10

Static Hold
305 with slow count of 10

(The difference between the heavy walkout and the static hold is, as you could guess, I walk out the weight and set-up in my "start" stance with heavy walkouts; the static hold is simply lifting the weight off the rack and standing there.)

Leg Curls (laying)
60x10
70x10x2

Heavy Bench Day at The Press

It was heavy bench training day at The Press this morning. I went in with the mindset of knowing I need to ramp it up with this lift. I wore my Titan F6 training shirt, which is looser, and it actually worked pretty well today.

Bench Presses
45x10
45x5
65x3
85x1
105x1
125x1

Titan shirt on...
145x1

Heavy bench single for today...
155x1

Drop-set with reps...
145x2

Board Presses (2 boards)
165x2

Decline Bench
135x3
145x3

Weighted Decline Crunches (crunches on the decline bench, holding a plate over my chest to add weight to the reps)
25x20x3

Low Ab Crunches (0 = unweighted)
0x20x3

I paused all of my bench and board press reps and found that this works pretty well. It almost seems the pause gives me that one-second of switching gears in my mind where I can focus on the upward motion -- like what I envision at meets.

I choose the number of reps and sets I do, based on how close I am to the end of my training cycle. The closer I am to the end, the fewer the sets and reps, and the heavier the weights. I am doing 3 "mini-cycles" of four weeks each for the bench press, each one peaking progressively. And I never jump ahead of schedule, regardless of my strength level. I pre-planned a single of 155 today and nothing heavier. Next week, it will be 165. The following week, it will either be 170 or 175.

This was how all of my training used to be set-up when I first started full power training; it was based on the Gaugler Routine (Rick Gaugler's). (For the squat and deadlift, I will be doing longer training cycles of 6 weeks.) Rickey Dale Crain had originally set me up with my first powerlifting training routines, back in 2002/2003. Much of it has stayed the same and used the same progressive template, but with various modifications over the years. For example, I used to have many more assistance exercises that would follow the basic lifts, but I have cut them out to save time or the need for recovery.

It felt like a strong day of training for me, although I am still sore from yesterday's volume. Mitch, my son Glen, and I headed out to Jake's in Maplewood for lunch with Mike and Jane Seigler afterwards -- great time talking with them! (If you ever want to have an awesome post-training burger, they have a real good selection on their menu...the Garlic Burger is da bomb.)

Post-Thanksgiving Deadlifts

My training schedule can sometimes be... let's say, flexible (and when I look back at my calendar of how 2008's training went, it's amazing how I have even maintained my strength, let alone made gains with the deadlift -- it was all OVER the place!). I typically pull on Wednesday or Thursday evenings, but with Thanksgiving this week, my deadlift training was pushed over to today. Recently, Mitch changed his training routine and schedule up, which means he's squatting as an "early-bird" on Fridays now -- and I'd totally forgotten. Long story short, he asked if I wanted to ride with him to The Press at 9:15 am, so my schedule changed too, and I deadlifted this morning earlier than expected.

I'm posting this in the evening, and I am already feeling it! It's too bad the hot tub closes early at the IGH Community Center tonight, or I would have made it a point to get in there for sure.

I'm doing two 6-week training cycles for this lift, the first one ending with a projected goal of 335 (or possibly 340).

Sumo DLs (except 1st set)

Warm-ups...
45x6 (conventional)
45x6 (sumo)
135x1
165x1
195x1

DL suit on...
225x1 (straps down)
255x1

Heavy single for today...
290x1 (straps up)

Drop-set with reps...
260x3x2 (1st set, straps down... 2nd set, straps up)

Conventional DLs:
230x3x2 (2nd set stronger and more explosive than the 1st; came complete with bloody shins and displaced skin, but refrained from posting such graphic photos online)

Bentover Rows:
45x8
65x8
85x6x3

I'm saving my ab work for tomorrow morning, after heavy benches!

I have teased Mitch more than once about starting his own blog... but after his own experiences today, we both could see why that would not be a good idea. LOL. I admire how he continues with this sport non-stop, even after 27 years. After raw squatting this morning, things came to a standstill and I was a little worried about him. But then he was singing "Too Legit 2 Quit" a little later, so I think he'll be OK.

Angela Simons baked up a bunch of cookies (again) and spoiled us on the way out the door. We brought them home and feasted on Thanksgiving leftovers. (I absolutely love this holiday... and no, I'm not sick of turkey yet!) Blueberry pie and ice cream is on the agenda for later tonight - the ultimate pre-bench power diet :) Maybe I should be thankful I can't compete in the 97's anymore, at least in USAPL/IPF... LOL.

New Blog, New Training Cycle, and Hudson Open Review

This is my first post on my first training blog, and what better way to begin than with a brand-new training cycle? Thanks to Fawn Friday for her encouragement with getting this up and running. Back when I began full powerlifting training, I used to post my training days for feedback on a message board called Weight Trainers United, where the supportive veteran powerlifters literally coached me online, successfully placing me on the road to where I am today.

This past week, I started a new training cycle to get back into the gym and rev up for the upcoming 2009 USAPL Women's Nationals, Feb. 14-15 in Miami, Fla. I will be logging what I do each training day here. As a brief overview of this past week (for now), I deadlifted 275x1 and 245x3x2 (that's weight x reps x sets) last Thursday evening. Saturday, I benched 145x1 and 135x3x2. Today, I squatted 235x1 and 205x3x2.

If you are seeing any sort of pattern here, stay tuned. These are precisely some of those things that make you go "hmmm..."

For some background on my last competition, I lifted at the 2008 USAPL Hudson Natural Open, which took place on Nov. 8th in Wisconsin. I weighed 104.0 lbs. and totaled 760 lbs. My attempts:

Squats
1st attempt: 255
2nd attempt: 285 (missed due to depth, but came all the way up smoothly)
3rd attempt: 285 (missed due to... not being able to stand up this time)

This took 30 lbs. off my potential total of 790 lbs. (I realized immediately with a cringe that usually happens with this, my least favorite of the 3 lifts). Not cool. My coach and boyfriend, Mitch Edelstein, typically calls my depth for me as insurance, because I typically have a hard time sensing where "deep" is when the weight gets heavy. On that 2nd attempt, I thought I was deep enough and figured if I kept descending, it would be harder to stand back up (the panic mode sets in). So I beat his call. My bad. The weight went up smoothly, with no sticking point, so he believes I could have gotten if I had just kept going down about an inch or so more.

This sport is so "mental." Even a 1/2 second of panic will ruin much of what you have worked for, over a 12-week (or a 12-month) period.

Bench Presses
1st attempt: 150
2nd: 165
3rd: 170

I am content with benching in the 170s, but I am certifiedly stuck here for the time being and really should be progressing into the 180s by now. I think a lot of that has to do with only training 3 days a week right now; I am doing a heavy bench day each week, without a 2nd day of needed tricep and shoulder work, which I used to have in my routine.

Deadlifts
1st attempt: 305
2nd: 335 - Minnesota Open State Record and PR (Personal Record)
3rd: pass (called it a day)

Ahhh... thank God for this lift :) Every lift is an experience, as is every meet. But then there is the deadlift. The 335 lbs. was a personal record for me all around -- I had never pulled it successfully before anywhere, in training, single-lift or full-meet competition. It felt awesome.

Here is a neat video that Mike Siegler Jr. put together after he captured all the action, highlighting lifting by Maura Shuttleworth, Fawn Friday, and yours truly at the Hudson Natural Open...