Going heavy to get light: My journey to self redemption

[mmater]

I had a sopapilla, does that count. lol

So, yep, I win!!! Woohoo. Not sure what shirt I want, I'm still searching.

Yesterday, I went to where the police academy was and ran on the track out there. I did a total of 4 miles in a little over and hour. This included:

.75 mile warmup walk/jog

10 100 yard sprints (sprinted the straights, walked the curves at the track)

then the remaining was side shuffles, high knees, butt, kicks, skips, etc.

Then about a mile walk around the old base (It was an old air force base at one point). My legs were starting to get a bit achy on that last mile. Overall, a successful workout.

Today and tomorrow I am in active shooter training. Basically, we learn how to go in and take care of somebody who is shooting up the place (i.e. a school). I did this in the Academy, and if y'all remember it's when I got all shot up, lol. So, I'm sure today and tomorrow will be much of the same. But, it's not in the academy, so hopefully not as stressful.

Best part is I get to go out to Chris' three days this week, since I won't be working my normal schedule. WOOHOO!!!!!

[Boomer29]

So, yep, I win!!! Woohoo. Best part is I get to go out to Chris' three days this week, since I won't be working my normal schedule. WOOHOO!!!!!

All this awesome!! WOOHOO yay!

[thehobbes]

Have fun with the active shooter training, that sounds interesting. Make them know you are a force to be reckoned with.

[mmater]

Had fun at the active shooter training. I didn't get shot up too bad. lol.

I was able to go workout with Chris in the evening the past two days, and Monday was Bench and Yesterday was Squat.

Monday
Bench Press - resistance band - worked up to I think 135 x 5 with the resistance bands on
Chest supported rows - worked up to 75x10
then elevated pushups/inverted rows - 50/10, 40/20, 30/30, 20/40, 10/50 - it sucked
finished with tabata on the air dyne

Tuesday
Trap bar squats - worked up to 2x10x155
leg extensions/leg curls - 3 sets of 12 reps each
DB thrusters - 2x10x20lb DBs- these were sucky

My back is a tad sore today (when I say my back, I'm specifically referring to my injured area). Going to take a rest day today.

[thehobbes]

Have not tried trap bar squats before, much like a pistol squat I assume? Mechanically I mean.

[mmater]

Have not tried trap bar squats before, much like a pistol squat I assume? Mechanically I mean.

mmm, not to sure about that one. Trap bar squats or deadlifts are good because it allows for a neutral grip. But, the drawback is unless you use straps you can only lift as much as you can hold. For me, even at the 155, I was starting to lose my grip. Plus, my shoulders wanted to start rounding forward. I am hoping to get back to back squatting when I come back from vacation. However, honestly, right now, I am looking more for middle of the road weights, bodybuilding type workouts. I love the compound movements, but I'm still trying to take care of my back. Trap bar squats were a good alternative for this, because it prevents you from bending over due to the weight load being on the top of your back or shoulders (for front squats).

[mmater]

Yesterday I was at Chris'. I wanted more of a full body workout. I did try out some back squats. I took some video of me squatting to see if I could see any issues. Of course I was only using 95 lbs so I shouldn't see any form break down. Then, I put my heels on some plates and then did some squats. Pretty significant difference in my opinion. No real disadvantage to using plates under the heels (keeping safety in mind). I will look into the some lifting shoes, but for now I don't plan on going super heavy so plates should suffice. I did get a good full body workout with one of the other girls there

50 calories on rower
40 wall ball
30 pushups
20 KB swings
10 burpees

rest and repeat in reverse order

10 burpees
20 kb swings
30 pushups
40 wall balls
50 calories on rower.

I am trying to get rid of being sore for my upcoming weigh in so today I just did intervals on the stationary bike at the gym. Did manage to soak my shirt so that's good.

[jjeane]

Glad you got some squats under you with no problems!

[mmater]

I have my final weigh in tonight for the competition with my friend. Yesterday I went out to the old Air Force Base (where the police academy was) and ran for about 4 miles but incorporated some "parkour" running, like running the stairs of the old barracks, jumping off ramps, laterals movements between trees, etc. I actually ran the 4 miles in 59 minutes, which is like 15 minutes faster than last weekend when I ran 4 miles.

Today, I went to the gym and just did a little circuit, just to burn some calories.

3 rounds of
500 meter row
10 pushups off tire
12 lunges
10 TRX inverted rows
10 squats
10 full situps
20-30 seconds rope work

Finished with a 10 minute incline treadmill walk.

Hopefully, I have done enough with my diet and workouts to win the competition tonight. I feel like I am seeing some good things in the mirror, I just really want the numbers to match what I see in the mirror.

Fingers crossed.

[jjeane]

Fingers crossed!

[mmater]

Well…..

I lost my competition. :-( It was close pretty much the whole time. I'm ok with losing, and my friend won fair and square.

What I am not ok with is that from the beginning to the end I GAINED 3% body fat. That makes absolutely no sense to me. I've had the night to sleep on it and I still can't wrap my head around that. My diet has been pretty solid the past two to three weeks, and even over the course of the twelve weeks, even with going on vacations and out of town and my back injury, yesterday's measurement was the highest of them all. The pictures showed some positive difference. Overall, it was a disappointing effort on my part. The only thing I can say is that I completed it.

Oh well, off to vacation and then back to the drawing board.

[jjeane]

I am so sorry Mmater. I can't figure it out either. How did they measure? But do NOT get discouraged! Enjoy your vacation and then like you said back at it! let me know when you get back and if you want to keep up the tracking and we can stay tracking buddies! And you better take LOTS of pictures!

[mmater]

Back from vacation. I basically gained one pound for every day I was gone, so like 14 pounds. ugh. griping won't help, so I'm off to figure out how to get those 14 plus 20 off. No more vacations or excuses to get in the way til the end of the year. pedal to the metal!!!

[jjeane]

Get your plan together. We start Sun! Get in touch with Lisa as well!!

[mmater]

Got right to work. Went and worked out with Chris

Back Squat
working sets
5x5x115

Lunges (bodyweight)
3x8 (each leg)
superset with good mornings
3x8x75

Then four of us did a WOD:

20 minutes AMRAP

10 goblet squats (35lb KB)
15 KB swings (35lb KB)
20 abmat situps

I ended up with 7 complete rounds and 6 goblet squats. Best part was I ended up completing the most rounds. I was happy. I'm sure I will be super sore, but it was fun while it lasted.

Just finished up dinner (steamed rice, broccoli salad, and coconut crusted tilapia).

Now, I'm off to enjoy my glorious, glorious, wondrous, beautiful bed. Oh, how I missed thee. And I won't have to wear earplugs (my sister snores) WOOHOO!!!!!!

[thehobbes]

Now, I'm off to enjoy my glorious, glorious, wondrous, beautiful bed. Oh, how I missed thee. And I won't have to wear earplugs (my sister snores) WOOHOO!!!!!!

LOL!

I bet the vacay wt is mostly water, should be fine if you detox from all the delicious vacay foods haha.

[mmater]

LOL!

I bet the vacay wt is mostly water, should be fine if you detox from all the delicious vacay foods haha.

Oh I'm sure some of it is water, but not all of it. We will see how well I "detoxed" the past two days when I have to put my uniform on this afternoon. ugh.

[mmater]

Alrighty, so here's the deal-e-o:

I am tracking with Jjeane again. Goal is 2000 calories or less. Trying to keep carbs to under 125, we will adjust accordingly for performance. Simply put, eat less and eat good foods.

I am also changing up my training. I need an outside push, that I can't seem to bring myself. That being said, I will be going to a Crossfit gym in Town. This is the one that is mainly police. I went with them when they first opened up a while back. The owners are super high on safety and I have talked with the female owner, Melissa, and stressed I don't care about times, I just want an extra kick in the pants to get the work done. She is more than amenable to kicking my ass. lol. that being said, I will post my workouts in here, but no times, just because I don't care about the time. Safety is first and foremost.


Today was

5 rounds for time
200 meter run
15 ab mat situps
10 deadlifts (155lbs)

All I know is I finished a good two round later than everyone else. haha. oh well. Gotta start somewhere.

[jjeane]

Safety first! Rock on MMA!!

[mmater]

A twofer today.

Morning workout at crossfit:
(modified for my abilities)
800m run
10 assisted pull-ups with bands (hardest I could do)
800m run
20 assisted pull-ups with bands (a little easier bands)
800m run
30 ring rows


Then I went and ate sushi with a friend of mine. Then went to Chris's gym since he won't be there this evening and knocked out some chest.

Bench press
95x5
115x5
135x5
145x2
145x2
95x18

triset of
35lb DB incline press
cable tricep pushdown
cable curls
3x10

Yep, I'm spent.

[jjeane]

Two a Days FTW!
Nice 95 rep out on that bench!

[mmater]

Yesterday's workout was strength based. Simply….

Split Jerk
3-3-3-3-3-3-3

These were my results - I started light simply because in the past, me and the "split" part of a movement have not got along due to my lower back. But, like I said, the owner here stressed technique over load so I worked on the technique and did a lot better this time around.

75-95-115-135-145-155-165x2-135x3

I was pretty excited about that. Definitely lifted I think about 20lbs more than the other two in the class (one girl, one guy). Definitely boosted my confidence in there, but just by a little. The endurance, cardio stuff they all kick my ass when it comes to that stuff. Oh well, I can only get better. Going today to finish off the week. Will take Sun/Mon off.

Nutrition has been going good. Steady. I am not overeating and tracking so I consider that a win/win. Have no idea what scale says. Don't care right now. Will probably go to my regular gym on Mondays to weigh-in.

[thehobbes]

Nice 165 double MMA.

Oh mah gawd, did you say you are TRACKING?!!! Haha good to see that, I remember the days of you pelting me with cantaloupes when I said dude just track everything!

[mmater]

OMG!! Today's workout was awful. Just plain awful.

So the prescribed WOD was:

5 rounds for time of
31 back squats (135/95)
12 power cleans (185/135)

Obviously, that's a crap ton of squats. So I had to consider that and adjust the weight accordingly. What I ended up doing was:

31 back squats (95lbs)
12 power cleans (95lbs)
31 back squats (75lbs)
12 power cleans (75lbs)
31 back squats (75lbs)
12 power cleans (75lbs)
40 air squats
12 power cleans (75lbs)
40 air squats
12 power cleans (75lbs)

I don't know how long it took me. I know I was over the time cap of 25 minutes. A couple of the guys stopped at the third round because their "backs got tight." Mine started talking to me, so that is why I took the weight off and just did air squats. I felt good doing the air squats, and still got the work done. Pretty sure I won't be able to move later today or tomorrow. Thank God I am taking the next two days off.

[jjeane]

That is A LOT of squats! I mean a lot!

[mmater]

I agree. Surprisingly, two days later I am a little sore, but not as bad as I thought. And my lower back feels actually pretty good. Scale wasn't nice to me today, but I am going to shrug that off and work hard again this week in my workouts and not eat excessively and just try to enjoy myself. I have really gotten to the point of being obsessed with no getting what I want. I am fluffy but I am not hugely overweight. I'm not a lard ass. I'm not lazy. I keep looking at what I want to look like, and get mad and upset with myself that I don't have it RIGHT NOW. I need to try and be happy in the moment. That's the goal for this week. Don't stress, just work hard in the gym and keep the really crappy foods away but don't get bogged down if I don't eat chicken and broccoli for every meal. (blah). end of ramble.

[jjeane]

Yes, DO NOT STRESS!!!!!!

[mmater]

so today's CF workout was absolutely brutal. I had a greasy burger and onion rings last night for dinner and today bubble guts reared it's ugly head during burpees. Spent half the allotted time in the bathroom. Won't even go into the WOD. BUT, I did do some interval running before hand and some interval rowing afterward (more to make up for performance in the WOD, or lack thereof.)

Burpees SUCK!

[mmater]

Lots to be happy about today.

Did my crossfit working this morning. Finally found a weight and modification to allow me to complete the workout and keep working and under the time cap.

21-15-9
75lb full clean
26lb kb press (each hand)

Then this evening I went and worked out with Chris. Did heavy bench and heavy back squat. Improved my bench from last week by a tad and did more on the squat than I thought I would do.

Bench press
75x5
95x5
115x3
135x3
145x3
150x2
went back down and did bench with the boards. basically, you do 5 reps and each round he put a bigger board on your chest. This really works the triceps and burns like a mother. did that at 95lbs

Back squat
95x5
115x3
135x3
155x3
175x3
185x5
135x15 - that probably wasn't a good idea.

I was really happy to get 185. Yes, I have squatted more, but considering everything I had done earlier I was really stoked to get 185.

then did a superset of arms and abs.

That is all.

[mmater]

started my 3rd week of crossfit yesterday. so far so good. noticing a better work capacity (small increase). Did bench press today and did 160 for 1 rep. tried 165 but no go. diet is alright. staying off the scale til oct 1.