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08-07-2015, 10:39 AM #1
baby muscle's powerlifting/training journal
SO, I'm 5 weeks out from a powerlifting world championship (my first, having never gone before due to not getting time off from work and injury setbacks).
I qualified earlier this year with a little old 655 total, (I lift in the 123 weight class). Bench press is my best lift, currently sitting at 175lbs. Looking to break the record of 190...
It's been a rocky road so far. I've been training for well over two decades but I've also struggled with health problems for longer…asthma since I was 6, hospitalizations for recurrent complex breathing issues, injuries…and now I broke my foot last week.
Good thing I did legs the day before I broke it…so I'll start with that.
(day before accident) 7/29- Back squat, 185 5x5,
then, paused back squat 3x3 w/ 135 (count to 1-2-3 and then up)
Supersets of 3 sets of 25 walking lunges w/ 20lb DB in each hand
coupled w/ 3 sets single leg Romanian deadlifts w/ 20lb DB in each hand
Ortho says 6-8 weeks in aircast and says I can still bench and work back and use leg extension machine and hamstring curl machine. (I actually hardly use those machines but I will now). I can swim some (no strenuous kicking because of foot drag) so because of edema and pain, no cardio was done from Thursday 7/30 until I discovered pool on Monday 8/3.
I actually think I'm lucky, it could have been a crazy sprain that takes 6 months to a year to heal. This throws a wrench into my plans to make weight as my activity level is down because of foot. Traditionally, I've use LISS cardio (HR 120) to whittle down as I stay low carb. I swam for 30 minutes on Monday after the ortho. Fasted 40 min lap swimming this morning w/ BCAA on board...
I'll do separate entries for Tuesday and Wednesday to catch up with what I did the rest of this past week but I figured this is a good start...
So, like everyone else, I have obstacles…Today I weighed 131.2. Gulp…here we go!
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08-07-2015, 11:00 AM #2
Baby muscle started a journal?! Oh I am soooo in!!
Totally sucks about your foot! Injuries never do come at a convenient time, do they?! :-/
I know you to be a warrior so I have no doubt you will pull through this as if it's just a blip on the radar screen AND crush that 190 record!
Pool is great for cardio even with a broken foot. For drills my kids' swim coach has them use a piece of foam between their knees so they just pull with their arms and btw it is a killer adductor workout at the same time holding that thing with your legs! You can get them at swimoutlet.com.
Looking forward to more journal entries, seeing you beat this broken foot right back to baseline and kill it on that platform in a few weeks! Go get um, girl!2016 RX Member of the Year & March 2015 Member of the Month
https://www.instagram.com/sunny52kg/
https://granitesupplements.com/ideva...ate.php?id=127
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08-07-2015, 11:07 AM #3
Thank you for reading. I'm gonna try my heart out and I don't give up easily. I'm one of those little worker bees but I'm trying to be a queen too. Here is Brandon's words of wisdom.
http://www.jtsstrength.com/articles/...coming-injury/
Great guy in real life, absolutely NOT a bull shitter, tells it how he sees it. Will judge you at a meet, give you a red light and then offer feedback on what you did and how to improve. The Brandon in those Animal videos? He is the EXACT guy you get in real life but better, because I can feed him my protein cookies.Last edited by baby muscle; 08-07-2015 at 11:10 AM.
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08-07-2015, 11:20 AM #4
Sunnyday, you are incredibly encouraging so I'm gonna blow it up.
Sooo, Tuesdy 8/4 I did back and I learned not to push to hard with a fresh injury right out the gate. Did I mention the ortho was a workers comp doc? Yes, I did this injury at work.
Dunno if that makes a difference but my parents told me on the phone yesterday that I should get a second opinion if I can but it seems pretty cut and dry to me.
Back day
3x10 pull ups, my wonderful boyfriend, (who thankfully is also in medicine) had to lift me to bar and also catch me and put me down…
3x8 wide grip lat pull downs w/ 105lbs
3x8 narrow grip lat pull downs w/ 115lbs
2x8 straight arm lat pull downs w/ 25lbs (1st time on these and quite challenging!)
3x8 DB rows w/ 60lbs DB
3x5 shrugs w/ 135lb barbell, easy but damn painful on my little arch and heel.
Sooo, next time I'll ask BF for help getting DB for rows out of rack. Not wise when you have a broken bone in your foot to walk it over to bench w/ single arm bent over rows. Same goes for shrugs, I'll do them w/ DB's next time. I would've tried 145-150 if I had better leg to stand on, haha.
2nd day pic
Attachment 180808
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08-07-2015, 11:28 AM #5
Friday, 8/5 Bench day!
I should probably write that I do extensive warm ups w/ dynamic movement on floor, band pull a parts etc and rolling and it didn't occur to me to put those in journal. So yeah. I do that every workout and it takes forevvverss. Like 20 minutes…
Bench Press
barx10, 95x3, 115x3, 135x2, 145x1, 155x3, 165x1, 155x2 for 2 sets
Reverse band bench press (red bands)
175x2, 190 3x3
Barbell floor press w/ legs straight out
135x2, 150lbs 3x3
DB flies seated, 3x8 w/ 15lbs
seated shoulder press, upright w/ DB's 3x5 w/ 40lbs
rear delt pulls 3x8 w/ 12lbs
tricep red band press downs 2x20
nothing amazing to report other than I ordered my own bands from westside as the gym's were falling apart and gave virtually no assistance for accommodating resistance. I need that overload so we switched out bands multiple times and used old blue ones at one point.
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08-07-2015, 11:38 AM #6
one week after (yesterday, 8/6) still painful to bear weight so i use crutches a lot. Least I can see my tendons again though
photo-12.jpg
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08-07-2015, 01:14 PM #7
Baby Muscle, wishing you a speedy recovery.
"Don't make me angry. You wouldn't like me when I'm angry" -Dr. David Banner
“Despite everything, I believe that people are really good at heart” - Anne Frank
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08-07-2015, 01:20 PM #8
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08-07-2015, 01:54 PM #9
Ughhhhhh .... I immediately started getting ghost pain from my right foot -- back in 2009, about 8 weeks out from my first national show, a friend accidentally pushed a 25 lb plate off the storage peg on the smith machine while we were chatting (he went to lean on the peg and the plate was hanging off the edge). It landed on my right big toe and immediately spewed blood and got swollen. I had my podiatrist look at it to confirm it didn't F up things because I have some pins & screws in both feet from bunion surgery. Luckily it was millimeters away from causing nerve damage, but holy hell, it was painful. I was able to do bike cardio until the bruising went away, but dang... when you can't really put pressure on one half of your stabilizers for lifts, it really makes you 1) appreciate your feet and 2) have a greater appreciation of the importance of balance. The toenail still falls off about once every 2 years and grows back, but it seems it can only grow so far before it stops and then I start watching to avoid knocking it so it falls off again. Ew.
Swimming is magical for rehab. I wasn't able to use it for exercise when my shoulder got screwed up, but back when I went away to college, I was an emotional wreck my first semester away from home & in upper level physics courses, so I started doing 30 laps every night in the aquatic center next to the dorm. Talk about awesome - stress relief, full-body movement, no resistance except you moving thru the water. Glad you're able to find a viable alternative for cardio - frankly aside from the foot, you may end up more mechanically flexible than if you were doing all the std cardio I also found, once I found my "stride", my breathing / cardio capacity improved as well. Except for the green hair I get from the chlorine, I've always thought swimming was one of the best exercises out there.
Love the perspective on injury - it makes you aware of and respectful of things you previously always took for granted. You may find you come up w/ some useful alternatives to getting things done that you can add back as another dimension to your "normal" training when you are healed!
Your attitude is awesome and this will make for great stories when you clean up at the meet!
RE: warmups --- yes include them! They count! I've been a little lax w/ my usual warm up since I've been on vacation, but I can see I will be adding it back in if I want to stay optimal thru my first contest prep in my 5th decade on the planet!
You got this girl!
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08-07-2015, 04:11 PM #10
You got this too! I'm in for your prep and going to be watching for pointers
When I PM'd you last week I was thinking of your feet and was so glad you're as "good AZ new"! You can see my bunion is the least of my problems right now, haha.
I was thinking of bike cardio but decided swimming would be smarter. I'm not the strongest swimmer, though my siblings and I were on swim team as kids, I haven't done actual lap swimming since I was 13 or 14 until now. Was more interested in lifting, which is so funny to me when I think back to flexing in the mirror after doing shoulders with my dadLast edited by baby muscle; 08-07-2015 at 04:15 PM.
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08-07-2015, 06:36 PM #11
X2 on including the warmup work! Funny you groan at 20 mins - sometimes it takes me AN HOUR until my body is moving like it should. :-/
A friend of mine had to have foot surgery and like you she also came in the gym with boot and all. She's a PL too. Did kneeling squats on a bench and modified deads off a bench like a kneeling DL, badass that she is! She's all about no excuses and do what you can until your body lets you do more. So I empathize with you trying to hobble along in the gym. Because she HATED crutches, one thing my friend got was one of those kneeling contraptions on wheels so she could do standing exercises pain-free and non-weight bearing. It really helped her get around for the times her husband couldn't come to the gym with her.
Thought on the shrugs: you thing doing them in the Smith would work better? Might be able to do comparable weight but takes the balance issue out of the equation. Could also be of use for bent over rows.2016 RX Member of the Year & March 2015 Member of the Month
https://www.instagram.com/sunny52kg/
https://granitesupplements.com/ideva...ate.php?id=127
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08-08-2015, 05:52 AM #12
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08-08-2015, 11:38 AM #13
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08-08-2015, 11:53 AM #14
8/8 bodyweight 131.0 Started ECA stack and 25mcg T3.
40 min fasted cardio, swimming in pool, Scivation BCAA on board.(The only flavor that doesn't nauseate me is watermelon)
Pain is less this morning. Post pool, I had an Isolyze shake w/ 1 tablespoon of macadamia nut oil in it.
Was feeling froggy and decided, screw it. I'm gonna work legs! I got a shake in me!
So I played with the hammer strength machines and nautilus, did 3x5 sets of leg curls w/ hammer strength and the switched to nautilus and did 2x8. Interestingly, w/hammer strength I used 70lbs (plates) and nautilus was supposedly 90lbs. Then I did the same thing with leg extensions set/rep wise.
6 sets of pull ups, 3x10 w/ no weight, then added 25lbs and did 3x5 and was smoked could barely finish 5th rep on last set but I'm gonna count it! The cast adds 4.5lbs incidentally…so thats gains, right??Last edited by baby muscle; 08-08-2015 at 11:55 AM.
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08-08-2015, 11:57 AM #15
Anyone going too the Cutler show in Richmond, VA on 8/29??
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