I be squatting bout tree-fiddy (vid)

[birdiefu]

It's a pretty nice milestone to make, so gonna brag a bit . Squat has been my best lift ever since I began the road to PLing but was struck by the fact that I was one who "couldn't squat" at first. You know the story - could in no way make depth unless I was on my toes, holding onto something. Found the Dan John looooong squat video and began my journey of worshiping at the altar of form on squats. Also am afflicted with lumbar scoliosis and hip dysplsia with almost no ankle dorsiflexion so had to make a ton of adaptations and constantly work on imbalances and mobility.

First ever meet April 2011 (at the young age of 33) after 1 year of solid training I squatted 225 raw no sleeves/wraps. Got a 300 raw raw (no sleeves/swraps) squat Oct 2012. Got a 315 raw w/wraps June 2013. 320 w/wraps Nov 2013 (all these were 148 class).

I discovered Mike Tuchscherer's Reactive Training System and dove into learning as much as possible about the details and science (I am such a science dweeb) of training and programming. Autoregulation, increased frequency, and identifying my weaknesses lead to some of the best strength gains since I was a newb. Especially for DL and bench (both also affected by my neck issue I finally addressed well), but also my already pretty elite squat responded well.

Nov 2014 (at higher wt class), I got a 325 raw w/wraps meet squat, but that was super easy. Almost got 340 but was a touch high so 2 reds. As this was my first meet running RTS up to it, I did *not* have months-long huge strength drop like in the past. Had a 330 x 2 squat 3 weeks out from that meet at BW of about 175.

Today, at BW of 164, 3 weeks out from my April 2015 meet, I hit 350 x 2. I will be competing at 165, as I have put on a lot of actual muscle since my first-ever meet at a skimpy BW of 136. I am still planning to cut to 148 class (which means actual BW of about 155-160 and the rest water drop just for 24 hr weigh-in) for probably one last hurrah for a meet this summer, to easily total elite there (finally), smash some records by some STRONG ladies, then probably never see that weight class again.

Video of today's PR (350 x 2 set at 1:52):



And for comparison's sake, my first-ever meet almost exactly 4 years ago as a string-bean. (225 at ~2:40)

[NorwichGrad]

That was amazing, Birdie! Congrats!

I enjoyed watching both vids. Wow! You have come a long, long way. Not only your strength development, but also your physical transformation.

I love the outdoor setup btw! That was a great idea.

"Hey let's hold a PL meet."

"Sounds good! Where?"

"Don't matter. Let's find a pavilion. Move the picnic tables out of the way. AND BITCHSLAP GRAVITY!"

[JimmyJonny]

Awesome, congrats !!!!

I can't wait to see how good your meet turns out, lookin forward to it.

[PiperBill]

You rock! To say I am impressed and inspired is an understatement. You have quite a wide stance. Is that something you arrived at after some experimenting or were you trained to do that?

Bill

[mtpockets]

Amazing!

[pharmamarketer]

Fantastic. Congrats

[drudixon]

Damn girl! Perfect form and you make it look so easy. Jealous!

[Bando]

Impressive, have some internet reputators

I'll never figure out why some lifters walk out from a mono

[raynerd]

That was amazing, I hope to squat that some day...
Very impressive and very strong!!! Best of luck in the competition, I assume you are going to do extremely well

[MissHolly]

Inspiring as always, Birdie!!!

Can't wait to see what you do at the meet.

[Jbizzlechizzle]

Had no idea you had such obstacles to climb. That makes your strength even more impressive. Great job birdiefu. On spread...

[ArchAngel'73]

Your progress is very impressive!
Very strong squatting.

[bob1776]

awesome post, great strength and thanks for pointing out the most helpful resources (Mike T / Dan J)

[shaneinga]

Impressive, next time someone tells me I squat like a girl I will think of you and take it as a compliment, if not a large bit of an embellish as your squats put mine to shame. Great going, good luck at your next meet!

[birdiefu]

That was amazing, Birdie! Congrats!

I enjoyed watching both vids. Wow! You have come a long, long way. Not only your strength development, but also your physical transformation.

I love the outdoor setup btw! That was a great idea.

"Hey let's hold a PL meet."

"Sounds good! Where?"

"Don't matter. Let's find a pavilion. Move the picnic tables out of the way. AND BITCHSLAP GRAVITY!"

Yeah, those were fun meets! That fall I was DLing with autumn leaves falling behind me, so purty. That first meet was also less than a week since I had a huge life turnover (husband arrested for ****, me and the kids split and went solo with no looking back), and it was so great just to channel all those jumbles of feeling into moving heavy ish around. The start of stronger me all around

Awesome, congrats !!!!

I can't wait to see how good your meet turns out, lookin forward to it.

Thanks, me too!

You rock! To say I am impressed and inspired is an understatement. You have quite a wide stance. Is that something you arrived at after some experimenting or were you trained to do that?

Bill

I am not built well to squat - long femurs, crappy mobility, etc. I squat pretty wide with feet angled out a lot in order to hit legal depth. I have arrived at that particular stance over the years, have done some trial and error along the way. Also bar/hand placement has been adjusted as well. I also refrain from "looking up" and try to keep as neutral neck as possible due to ruptured cervical discs and bad spondylosis with associated nerve and spinal cord compression. Will need surgery eventually, but it's stable at the moment.

Amazing!

Thank you!

Damn girl! Perfect form and you make it look so easy. Jealous!

Lol, thanks, still working on form tweaks tho

Impressive, have some internet reputators

I'll never figure out why some lifters walk out from a mono

Thanks for green skittles! Yes, it does seem counterintuitive to walk out of a mono, but I suck otherwise. I only take just the tiniest steps to indicate to the operator he can pull the pins, so when I'm done I don't need to walk it back in, can just lean it forward. Reason is I need that proprioceptive feedback of where the weight is on my back. Depending on the mono operator and the actual mono (some have grooves where I can unrack *not* directly against the upright, which is better), if I stand up and am still just *slightly* leaning forward against the upright and they pull it back, I pitch forward and even if I can manage to recover, doing it with that much weight on your back taxes you even before the squat attempt. One of the reasons I missed my 340 at my last meet - pins were pulled early, I wavered and in flustration didn't get my feet set right and didn't quite hit depth.

[birdiefu]

That was amazing, I hope to squat that some day...
Very impressive and very strong!!! Best of luck in the competition, I assume you are going to do extremely well

Had no idea you had such obstacles to climb. That makes your strength even more impressive. Gest job birdiefu. On spread...

Thanks so much, yep I just keep on trying to get stronger even if I'm not "made" to be a great lifter.

Your progress is very impressive!
Very strong squatting.

Thank you

awesome post, great strength and thanks for pointing out the most helpful resources (Mike T / Dan J)

Welcome, I've learned a lot along the way from many people, but those are a couple that really helped me get some "a-ha" moments and let me progress much more.

Impressive, next time someone tells me I squat like a girl I will think of you and take it as a compliment, if not a large bit of an embellish as your squats put mine to shame. Great going, good luck at your next meet!

Aww, thank you!

Will try to rep you all as I can!

[robosphere]

This is fantastic. Both vids are great, and your progression is impressive. I hope one day to be able to squat like you. Good luck and have a great time at your meet in 3 weeks!

[kimm4]

That's amazing girl congrats!

[cmoore]

Defile Gravity!!!!

[Bando]

Thanks for green skittles! Yes, it does seem counterintuitive to walk out of a mono, but I suck otherwise. I only take just the tiniest steps to indicate to the operator he can pull the pins, so when I'm done I don't need to walk it back in, can just lean it forward. Reason is I need that proprioceptive feedback of where the weight is on my back. Depending on the mono operator and the actual mono (some have grooves where I can unrack *not* directly against the upright, which is better), if I stand up and am still just *slightly* leaning forward against the upright and they pull it back, I pitch forward and even if I can manage to recover, doing it with that much weight on your back taxes you even before the squat attempt. One of the reasons I missed my 340 at my last meet - pins were pulled early, I wavered and in flustration didn't get my feet set right and didn't quite hit depth.

Well whatever you're doing - It's working

[phamine]

Strong. Weight moved like pancake. Looking good for the meet!

[Fishman15]

It's a pretty nice milestone to make, so gonna brag a bit . Squat has been my best lift ever since I began the road to PLing but was struck by the fact that I was one who "couldn't squat" at first. You know the story - could in no way make depth unless I was on my toes, holding onto something. Found the Dan John looooong squat video and began my journey of worshiping at the altar of form on squats. Also am afflicted with lumbar scoliosis and hip dysplsia with almost no ankle dorsiflexion so had to make a ton of adaptations and constantly work on imbalances and mobility.

First ever meet April 2011 (at the young age of 33) after 1 year of solid training I squatted 225 raw no sleeves/wraps. Got a 300 raw raw (no sleeves/swraps) squat Oct 2012. Got a 315 raw w/wraps June 2013. 320 w/wraps Nov 2013 (all these were 148 class).

I discovered Mike Tuchscherer's Reactive Training System and dove into learning as much as possible about the details and science (I am such a science dweeb) of training and programming. Autoregulation, increased frequency, and identifying my weaknesses lead to some of the best strength gains since I was a newb. Especially for DL and bench (both also affected by my neck issue I finally addressed well), but also my already pretty elite squat responded well.

Nov 2014 (at higher wt class), I got a 325 raw w/wraps meet squat, but that was super easy. Almost got 340 but was a touch high so 2 reds. As this was my first meet running RTS up to it, I did *not* have months-long huge strength drop like in the past. Had a 330 x 2 squat 3 weeks out from that meet at BW of about 175.

Today, at BW of 164, 3 weeks out from my April 2015 meet, I hit 350 x 2. I will be competing at 165, as I have put on a lot of actual muscle since my first-ever meet at a skimpy BW of 136. I am still planning to cut to 148 class (which means actual BW of about 155-160 and the rest water drop just for 24 hr weigh-in) for probably one last hurrah for a meet this summer, to easily total elite there (finally), smash some records by some STRONG ladies, then probably never see that weight class again.

Video of today's PR (350 x 2 set at 1:52):



And for comparison's sake, my first-ever meet almost exactly 4 years ago as a string-bean. (225 at ~2:40)

Damn Miss Birdie...that was a great story and some great lifts! Congrats...

[Jtbny]

You're a badass lifter (that's a compliment btw )

What are you looking at doing at the meet in April? (Good luck btw) Also, can we convince you to show up in Rochester in August for the NYS RPS meet?

Wow, once your out of the hole you seem to get faster too. Strong squats all around!

[ChazWood]

Nike: "Just Do It".

Birdiefu: "I Just Did".



Amazing achievement! Watched the vid this morning and it inspired me to get an extra rep on Squats, so thanks.

[itsagoodday]

Wow, just wow. Super strong!!!

[wetjet87]

Impressive strength and form!

[Mark1T]

Very impressive, birdie

[JerryB]

Wow
Great job!

[Smelly bull]

aint no doubt you be squattin' tree fiddy.....Congrats!

[SteveWright1]

inspiring squatting there Birdiefu
350 for a double and a veritable tonne of work before and then after in addition to that double

be interesting to see just how much you improve your competition total on squat this time
your big 3 total in your signature looks under threat also in my opinion