PR Squat...

My evening started out rough... I forgot my gym bag with my belt and squat shoes at home. Aaron was good enough to miss half of my kettlebell class to go back home and get it for me. Yet somehow, Maura and I both managed to hit PR's tonight! Here is how it all went down...

Back Squat
95X5
135X3
155X3
185X1
205X1
225X1
240X1
185X5
~ I am going to say 240lbs was a challenge. After I started going up I hit a major sticking point, but there was no way I was going to go back down. Here is a video for your viewing pleasure...




Kettlebell Swings
20X10, 24X10, 28X10 for 3 sets

Deadlifts

Another fun night of deadlifting at The Press Gym on Friday night! I met up with Maura Shuttleworth for our last night pulling off 35lb plates for this cycle. The end of a cycle is still difficult weights for me. I have been cutting back on my kettlebell training because my energy has been low. My energy has been low, I'm not sure why. Next week we are going to test our 1RM... that should be fun.

Here is how it all went down...

Sumo off the block
115X5
135X5
165X3
185X1
215X1
235X1X3
~ 235 was heavier than I expected... I am going to have to learn to expect the weight to be heavy, this will be an important lesson for me.

Conventional off the block
135X5
165X5
185X5
205X5

H-G Machine
6,6,4

Bench Press

I met up with Maura Shuttleworth... training partner and bench press champion. She is a god-send. A perfect partner for me... I do not love bench press, but Maura does.

It was our light bench press day. I got some advice from Mark Reifkind regarding my bench press last week. My form is quite nice... but I need to work on my power and speed. I will be focusing on pausing every rep and blasting the bar off my chest. Easier said than done...LOL. Here is how it all went down...

Bench Press
75X5X5
95X3X3
~Presses at 75lbs my focus was on blasting the bar up after a short pause. The presses at 95lbs, got press commands from Maura, so there was a definite pause on each.

Seated Plate Raises
25lbsX8X3

Face Pulls
50lbsX10
60lbsX10
60lbsX10

Pull-ups
3 sets of 5
~Maura had to talk me into these... I was ready to go home.

My energy was really low. Everything was difficult. I was sad when the workout was over... but happy to go home to my bed.

Squats...

Tonight was squat night. I got a little bit of a kettlebell workout with my class tonight. Punishers and double swings, step back lunges and clean & presses. Good prep for a squat workout.

I know I said I would be squatting 215 this week, however, I was just too scared. I like to squat, but having a lot of weight on your back is a little intimidating. I think I might be feeling the effects of too much fun this past weekend... oops! Oh well, it is important to have fun. I will simply have to schedule goof-off time so it doesn't interfere training.

Here is how it all went down tonight...

Back Squats
95X5
135X3
155X2
185X2
210X2X2
185X5
~Of course, looking back at it... I wish I would have done 215lbs.

Front Squats
95X5
115X5
135X5
115X5
105X5
~I just didn't have the juice for box squats.

Single Hand KB Swings
16, 20, 24 X5X2
~We did - Left, Right, Left, Right, Left, Right until we hit each bell once. Rest - and again.

Bench Press

Lots of excitement at The Press this afternoon. Here is how it went down...

Bench Press
75X5
85X3
95X1
105X1
115X1
115X1
110X2X3
100X3
~I tried to pause on every lift... 115lb. pause didn't really happen. 110lb. pause, sort of...

Deadlifts, Fun and a Couch Day

Friday night deadlifts were a lot a fun... like always! Mike N and Jodi made a cameo appearance, which was nice. Maura's friend Vicki also joined us, which was an extra nice surprise. Here is how it all went down...

Sumo Deadlift off a block
115X5
135X5
165X3
185X1
220X1X6
~I just realized I made a mistake on my calculations... I should have been at 210lbs. My right hip started bugging me half way through again... inside toe pulls cleared it up. I seam to want to flex my toes only on the right when I pull which is causing the hip thing. Weird.

Conventional DL's
155X3
165X3
185X3
185X3
205X3
~Not on the schedule... but it felt like the right thing to do.

Pull-ups
20lbs - 1
10lbs - 2
10lbs - 2
~After conventional DL's I was exhausted! We opted for some lat work in the form of pull-ups. After pull-ups I was toast.

I may be on the edge of over reaching this week. I did not want to do rack pulls or HGM, so I skipped them. I like to train using intuition... if I REALLY don't want to do something, I usually don't.

After DL Party, Vicki, Maura and I went to the Half Time Rec for some fun. Maura and Vicki's favorite band, Mark Starey and the Whiskey Roses were playing. We had a lot of fun dancing, laughing and drinking!

Saturday after my kettlebell classes, I was beat! I was low on sleep and had too much fun the night before on deadlift night, maybe not the greatest choice ... Ooops! I spent Saturday afternoon resting my sore muscles and just chilling out.

New Girl at Bench Night

The planets aligned in an interesting way tonight at Press Gym. There were 5 women powerlifters who just so happened to show up tonight. Cheryl Anderson was tearing it up on the deadlift platform... pulling 330lbs!!! Nice job Cheryl!!! I have got to get a kettlebell in this woman's hands! Angela Simons was squatting with the dudes from Hudson. Maura and I invited up and coming Powerlifter Anna White to join us on the bench press. Anna is going to Raw Nationals with us this summer. We are hoping to put together a Minnesota team or at least a Press Gym team. How cool is that??? Here is how my workout went down tonight...

Bench Press
75lbsX5X6
85lbsX3
~All with a solid pause at the bottom... the last set at 85lbs I got press commands from Maura.

Pull-ups
5,5,5

I had to show Anna my kettlebells. She is a student at the U of M... guess who is the TA for one of her classes... yep, Mike (Z man) Nelson!!!

Renegade Rows
12kg 6L/6R
12kg 5L/5R w/ a push-up
16kg 6L/6R

Overhead Presses
16kgs 5L/5R/5L/5R

We had a great time tonight!