I'd like some shoulder boulders... w/a side of gunz and round glutes of peace

[IrishLassie78]

Asian pork tacos - The marinade/sauce on the pork is made from tamarind paste, rice wine vinegar, sesame oil, Thai chili paste, and brown sugar. The slaw that you kind of can't see under the pork is broc**** slaw with orange miso dressing.



Hatch chilia tortilla pie - corn tortillas, roasted hatch chilis, shredded chicken, green enchilada sauce, cheese, and a bunch of random veggies I needed to use.

[BubsNBean]

Why is b r o c c o l i a banned word? I don't get it....

Anywho... how's it going Lassie! I have some catching up to do but wanted to wave hello!


Edit: Looks like you've been dealing with some life changes, happy to have you back. I thought I was going to leave because life is so busy for me too, but here I am. I lift about 3 days a week solid and I'm happy to have made that progress. We'll see if I can managed a 4th day in there some time!

[anandagirl]

Hey girl! Yeah, glad to see you back! Sorry the knee has been giving you trouble - have you seen a doc about it? I used to have the knee tracking issues but making sure my IT was looser helped a ton. Yay for the new job even though it is kicking your butt

[IrishLassie78]

Why is b r o c c o l i a banned word? I don't get it....

Anywho... how's it going Lassie! I have some catching up to do but wanted to wave hello!


Edit: Looks like you've been dealing with some life changes, happy to have you back. I thought I was going to leave because life is so busy for me too, but here I am. I lift about 3 days a week solid and I'm happy to have made that progress. We'll see if I can managed a 4th day in there some time!

Yeah, it's been nuts. At least I have a job I don't hate anymore though. Makes a big difference in how I feel about life as a whole even though I am stupid busy.

Hey girl! Yeah, glad to see you back! Sorry the knee has been giving you trouble - have you seen a doc about it? I used to have the knee tracking issues but making sure my IT was looser helped a ton. Yay for the new job even though it is kicking your butt

I have an appointment with my orthopedic guy on Tuesday. I hope the tracking issue is all it is but I have a sinking feeling there's some torn cartilage of some variety in there catching on my knee cap Hopefully a cortisone shot and a few days of total rest next week will calm it down enough for me to lift in this meet on the 7th and then I can take a couple of solid weeks off, do some PT, and hopefully avoid another knee surgery. I'm just going to have to be really smart about how I ease myself back into full lifts after a couple of weeks off and really smart about when and how I start adding squats back in. My coach said once we know what is really going on in there we can come up with a more solid game plan.

[IrishLassie78]

Tuesday's lifting:

Snatch Complex: Snatch DL + Snatch High Pull + Snatch:
Triple at 28
Double at 31
2 x 1 at 33
3 x 1 at 35 ***This smoked me. Especially the triple and double. My back was lit up.

Clean Complex: Clean DL + Clean High Pull + Clean:
Triple at 35
Double at 38
2 x 1 at 41
2 x 1 at 45 ***Not as tasking on the back as the snatch complex but my I'm not happy with how slow I am out of the bottom of my cleans right now. Especially at only 70%. F*cking knee

Jerk Balance:
Bar x 5
20 x 5
25 x 5
30 x 5
35 x 5 x 5 ***FFFFFFUUUUUU These are really hard for that many reps. Shoulders were pretty trashed after this

We have back squats in the program on Tuesday but I am not squatting right now. I attempted some lunges and they felt awful so I did some banded air squats, some forward and backward monsterwalks, and this other rehab thing I do which involves a pull-up band looped around a squat rack and then looped around the back of my leg just above the knee, starting with the knee bent and straightening it against the tenstion of the band. They suck but I feel like they work.

Thursday EMOM Hell:

Snatch:
Triple at 28
Double at 31
Double at 33
Then... EMOM 35 x 1 for 10 minutes

Clean & Jerk:
Triple at 35
Double at 38
Double at 42
Then... EMOM x 45 x 1 for 10 minutes ****Power cleans and Push Jerks for me for these. My knee gets super aggravated by split jerks and I decided power cleans were going to be a better option for that many reps if I wanted to live to lift at least decently well at our inter-gym meet on Sunday.

Strict Chin-ups:
3 x 10 **** Did not get any of these unbroken. This is one of those things that you really do lose them if you don't use them. And I can say with 100% confidence that they are much easier when you weigh less. Speaking of weight my coach had me and another girl I lift with who sits between weight classes experiment with some water manipulation this week. We have learned that if you are someone like me who drinks a sh!tton of water every day anyway, this doesn't work all that well. I literally lost zero weight. I am 61kg today which is actually 0.4 more than what I was last Sunday when we decided to embark on this adventure. Will explain more in a minute.

More Re-hab Crap Instead of Front Squats:
Step Downs - 4 x 10/side in bare feet for stability and mobility work, really slow on the decent, foot no touch at the bottom, fast back up to full knee extension
Step Ups- 4 x 10/side focusing on completely extending my supporting leg and not letting my quads be lazy.

One thing we have discovered is that I am VERY posterior chain oriented. I have lazy quads which is probably why my knees keep crapping out. I've got an EMS thingy and I've been using it on days I don't lift. I think it's helping. I kind of have a visible VMO now. My coach also had me go pick some ankle weights so I can do weighted straight leg lifts and weighted leg extensions.

So this water loading thing... The premise is this: Let's say you are 6 days out from a meet and you need to drop 3 kilos to make weight. Monday you drink 5L of water in addition to your coffee and intra-workout stuff, Tuesday you do 4L and so on until Friday you have 1L of water and when you weigh in on Saturday determines how early in the day you need to be done with that 1L. People can easily drop 3 or 4 kilos this way without a whole lot of stress on the body. The problem with me is that I drink close to 4L a day anyway. My body is used to being very hydrated. So when I lessen the water intake it holds on like made to whatever I do put in there. After doing some reading, if I were to try this again, I'd need to do it a little different. I'd need to start with 8L (that's a fukking lot of water) for a couple of days straight, then cut it to my normal 4 for a day, 2 for a day, and then as little as I can manage. I think I'll just compete as a 63 and work on putting on more muscle to fill it out. Much less margin for error that way. It's not like I am going to be setting records and winning sh!t anyway. The only person I'm competing with right now is myself considering all the other sh!t I'm dealing with. Just looking to add kilos and make more lifts at this point. And right now I'm not even that concerned about adding kilos considering clean & jerks at anything close to max are not happening right now. So now it's just make six lifts at whatever weight I'm capable of on that day with great technique. Considering I went 3/6 at my meet in April 6/6 would be a massive improvement and one I'll be very happy with.

[IrishLassie78]

Sunday's Mock Meet Shenanigans

Snatch:
40 - Over pulled it and basically muscle snatched it. It counts, but I'm a little disappointed in myself for reverting to ****ty technique under pressure.
42 - Same ****. Counts but I wasn't happy about it.
44 - Threw the bar basically to the back of the gym. My coach said he wasn't even mad about it because that is 1kg of my 1rm and if I can literally throw a backwards field goal with it, I have a helluva lot more in the tank.

Clean & Jerk:
50 - Started out playing safe because my knee has not been thrilled about these but this felt way too easy
55 - Again, super easy
60 - Coach gave me two out of three so a make but he said it would have been a no-lift at the AO where the judges were beyond picky about lockout. This is only 4 kilos off my max so I am definitely not upset about this at all. I didn't think I'd sniff over 55 so I'll take it. The thing that got me with my jerk is that my dip was slow which made everything else slow. Will work on that this week.

Early Ass Lifting on Tuesday

Snatch Complex - Snatch DL + Snatch High Pull + Snatch:
Triple at 28
Double at 30
2 x 1 at 32
2 x 1 at 34
2 x 1 at 36 ***These felt slow and heavy. And reminded me why I am not a fan of lifting at ass o'clock in the morning

Clean Complex: Clean DL + Clean High Pull + Clean:
Double at 36
Double at 41
2 x 1 at 45
2 x 1 at 48
2 x 1 at 51 ****Did power cleans because my knee was being an azzhole. They were easy though

Jerk Balance Triples:
Bar
25
30
35
40 x 5 ***I actually got about half of these right. As opposed to a push-press with a foot stomp. These suck.

Re-hab Crap Mixed with Other Sh!t:
Step Downs - 4 x 10/side
Curtsey Lunges - 15lb dbs x 4 x 10/side
GHD Sit-ups - 4 x 10
GHRs - Blue band for assistance x 4 x 10

And then I went to my knee doctor. And guess whose right knee is now fukked and is highly likely (pending the results of an MRI on Friday which my doctor fully expects to confirm his suspicions of a torn meniscus that the bone spur that can be seen on my knee cap from the x-rays I had today keeps catching on) to require surgery. He said keep training as much as I can tolerate. Going in strong is better than going in weak. My sister's baby is due in two weeks (actually the day before this meet that I may or may not be competing in depending on when she actually goes into labor) so I'll wait until the baby is born but I'm not farting around with this one. I'm going to get that surgery scheduled for sometime in October, get it done, start rehabbing, and be back up to full activity before Christmas.

[anandagirl]

Yay for a meet and more in the tank! Sorry about the other knee

[IrishLassie78]

Yay for a meet and more in the tank! Sorry about the other knee

I'm trying to see this as a positive. As in I'm going to have two fully functional legs at the same time for the first time in literally two years. And I turn 40 in 2018 which means I can compete in the 40-44 age group which has a (very slightly) lower qualifying total for Master's Nationals. That's my goal next year is to qualify for Master's Nationals and/or the American Open next year. I'm not far off now but I'm going to be starting, not from square one because my technique has definitely improved over where I was last year by a lot, but over. Again. Having great in person coaching is going to help a lot too. My coach said we can get creative when we need to and we'll make this work. I'll be his first real ground up rehab project that he's not related to (his sister has had 4 ACL surgeries, 2 on each knee, and she's a totally kick ass lifter and athlete in general).

[thehobbes]

And then I went to my knee doctor. And guess whose right knee is now fukked and is highly likely (pending the results of an MRI on Friday which my doctor fully expects to confirm his suspicions of a torn meniscus that the bone spur that can be seen on my knee cap from the x-rays I had today keeps catching on) to require surgery. He said keep training as much as I can tolerate. Going in strong is better than going in weak. My sister's baby is due in two weeks (actually the day before this meet that I may or may not be competing in depending on when she actually goes into labor) so I'll wait until the baby is born but I'm not farting around with this one. I'm going to get that surgery scheduled for sometime in October, get it done, start rehabbing, and be back up to full activity before Christmas.

WHAT, you gotta be kidding me! Ugh, sorry to hear the other knee is injured now. At least it was a fairly quick process to get the other one fixed, considering it's surgery. Back to full activity by the end of the year sounds great though. It'll be here before you know it, may as well get everything fixed and back in action. Do they know what caused the knee damage to both?

[IrishLassie78]

WHAT, you gotta be kidding me! Ugh, sorry to hear the other knee is injured now. At least it was a fairly quick process to get the other one fixed, considering it's surgery. Back to full activity by the end of the year sounds great though. It'll be here before you know it, may as well get everything fixed and back in action. Do they know what caused the knee damage to both?

So the left one has been fukked up for a long time. The first time I tore my medial mensicus in the left knee was doing some kind of stupid human trick my junior year in high school (so like 1996). The second time I tore it was my sophomore year in college slipping on ice, at which point they just took what was left of it out because my doctor then said it looked like shredded mozzarella and there wasn't much he could do with it. The surgery I had on that knee last December was to clean out scar tissue, bone spurs, and other arthritis junk that I probably would have had any way but it wouldn't have been to the extent that it was if I hadn't already had two surgeries on that knee. The right one has basically spent 20 years on and off compensating for the left one, and especially for the last couple of years so it was bound to go sooner or later. The arthritis was destined to happen. I'm not really sure how the meniscus tear in that knee happened though. I think it was just one of those things that maybe started as a little knick and that seminar that involved 16 hours of lifting over two days, followed by a ROMWOD that involved 10 minutes in a saddle pose (horrible position where you sit on your heels and then lay back as far as you can) which I probably had no business ever being in, followed by 6 sets of back squat doubles at 90% of my 1RM 2 days later. I had told myself after that lifting seminar that I was going to take that whole following week off of lifting, but I felt OK so I didn't. And I love heavy squats so common sense lost that day. You know, just me refusing to understand that I'm 38, not 28, and can't recover from sh!t like people 10 years younger than me can

[thehobbes]

So the left one has been fukked up for a long time. The first time I tore my medial mensicus in the left knee was doing some kind of stupid human trick my junior year in high school (so like 1996). The second time I tore it was my sophomore year in college slipping on ice, at which point they just took what was left of it out because my doctor then said it looked like shredded mozzarella and there wasn't much he could do with it. The surgery I had on that knee last December was to clean out scar tissue, bone spurs, and other arthritis junk that I probably would have had any way but it wouldn't have been to the extent that it was if I hadn't already had two surgeries on that knee. The right one has basically spent 20 years on and off compensating for the left one, and especially for the last couple of years so it was bound to go sooner or later. The arthritis was destined to happen. I'm not really sure how the meniscus tear in that knee happened though. I think it was just one of those things that maybe started as a little knick and that seminar that involved 16 hours of lifting over two days, followed by a ROMWOD that involved 10 minutes in a saddle pose (horrible position where you sit on your heels and then lay back as far as you can) which I probably had no business ever being in, followed by 6 sets of back squat doubles at 90% of my 1RM 2 days later. I had told myself after that lifting seminar that I was going to take that whole following week off of lifting, but I felt OK so I didn't. And I love heavy squats so common sense lost that day. You know, just me refusing to understand that I'm 38, not 28, and can't recover from sh!t like people 10 years younger than me can

Alright, well this gives me some hope that I guess if I have a more minor knee injury maybe I don't have to deal with it for 20 years? Lol kidding, kidding! I have major paranoia about stuff like that which is partly why I do a chitload of stretching and rolling. Not that it means I can never get hurt, but I guess it'll help to some extent. Also wtf I'm never doing a squat max again. I like to think I'm pretty safe and reasonable about not overloading on weight but I know we've ALL been there doing things we probably shouldn't. That is really comforting to know you can get it repaired in Oct and will be good to go by January. If you lived in Little House on the Prairie days, oh man, you just had to limp around with a fukked knee for the next 30 years until you died from being eaten by a bear walking to your outhouse at 3am. :/

[IrishLassie78]

Alright, well this gives me some hope that I guess if I have a more minor knee injury maybe I don't have to deal with it for 20 years? Lol kidding, kidding! I have major paranoia about stuff like that which is partly why I do a chitload of stretching and rolling. Not that it means I can never get hurt, but I guess it'll help to some extent. Also wtf I'm never doing a squat max again. I like to think I'm pretty safe and reasonable about not overloading on weight but I know we've ALL been there doing things we probably shouldn't. That is really comforting to know you can get it repaired in Oct and will be good to go by January. If you lived in Little House on the Prairie days, oh man, you just had to limp around with a fukked knee for the next 30 years until you died from being eaten by a bear walking to your outhouse at 3am. :/

I really think a lot of chronic injury stuff is genetic. My dad has sh!tty knees, his mom had sh!tty knees, and my sister and I both have sh!tty knees. I think being prone to arthritis at an early age has a genetic component too. Mobility and soft tissue work never hurts. I think part of the reason I have a lot of the issues I have is that I have just about the most immobile ankles on earth. My hip mobility is great, no issues there, but my ankle mobility sucks and that puts a lot of strain on my knees. It's gotten better but it's always going to be something I have to keep hammering away at. It was never something I gave a lot of thought to until I started in with the Olympic lifts because I didn't need an ass to grass squat all day every day. So my hips and knees have been having to make up for my immobile ankles which has exacerbated knee issues that have always been there. So I'll keep hammering away at the ankles, maintain the hips, and fix the knees.

Lol'ed at the LHOTP reference. I was actually sitting at work the other day think about how if there was a fire in the building and I couldn't take the elevator down (walking down steps is awkward as fuk even when it doesn't exactly hurt) I'd have to slide down 5 flights worth of bannister or jump out a window, or I'd die in the stampede.

[IrishLassie78]

Thursday Clusterfukkery

High Hang Power Snatch Doubles EMOM:
Bar
25
28
30
32 x 10 ***Supposed to be snatch singles from the floor at 37kg. Was NOT happening. My knee told me to **** off during my warm up so I went with this. I can always stand to work on faster transitions and intentional power snatches anyway so still productive.

High Hang Power Clean + Push Jerk EMOM:
25
30
35
40 x 10 ***Supposed to be Clean & Jerk at 53kg. But again it never hurts for me to work on elbow speed and a straight dip and drive so still productive.

Chin-ups/Step-ups SS:
Chins - 4 x 8
Step-ups - 4 x 8 w/10lb DBs

Curtsy Lunges/SS with Toes to Bar:
Lunges - 4 x 8 w/10lb DBs
T2B - 4 x 10

Then played around with hollow arch swings and free handstand holds. My coaches and I talked about programming for the next couple of weeks and after my surgery while I'm rehabbing. There will be lots of over-head work, lots of back work, bro-building shoulders and arms, muscle snatches and cleans, gymnastics and core work because that never hurts, and of course whatever physical therapy I'll be doing. I like having a plan and I like that I'll have eyeballs on me with the plan this go round. One of my coaches is a former almost national team soccer player and ankle injuries derailed his soccer career so he gets it (and my continuing ankle mobility struggle). He's been around the rehab block a time or two. His sister (who is a bad ass lifter and a physical therapist) had her volleyball career ended with multiple ACL surgeries so having her around will be great too. Plus having the support of all of the other amazing people I lift with is going to make this even smoother than the last time around I think. I am so glad I found this gym and this group of people. They're all just amazing humans and I can't imagine my life without them now.

[thehobbes]

Ah yeah, I could see a genetic predisposition playing a big part in that. Hmm, not sure if any physical injury like that is common in my family, nobody really exercises lol and all the big medical problems over here seem to be linked to alcoholism, obesity, and smoking. :/ It's much better to have the physical stuff to deal with IMO, at least that can be fixed. Would rather injure an ankle than have a liver stop working.

Make sure you have a motorcycle helmet if you're gonna slide down 5 flights on the banister. They also make this backpack thing where you can anchor a line in a high rise and rappel yourself to safety on a rope, srs. I discovered that after researching all these horrible high rise fires where people get trapped. That blows my mind there isn't a standard item like that in all apartments and office buildings so people can get out via the window if need be. They really can't have an emergency back up plan for that? Drill some big hooks outside everybody's window when you build high rises, and then have the firemen send a drone up there with a zipline if chit goes down. Zipline your ass down to one of those big inflatable rescue things. Seriously people, figure something out instead of standing around with your thumb up your ass while people burn to death, good lord!

Well those were a couple off topic rambles, carry on with the lifting!

[anandagirl]

I'm trying to see this as a positive. As in I'm going to have two fully functional legs at the same time for the first time in literally two years. And I turn 40 in 2018 which means I can compete in the 40-44 age group which has a (very slightly) lower qualifying total for Master's Nationals. That's my goal next year is to qualify for Master's Nationals and/or the American Open next year. I'm not far off now but I'm going to be starting, not from square one because my technique has definitely improved over where I was last year by a lot, but over. Again. Having great in person coaching is going to help a lot too. My coach said we can get creative when we need to and we'll make this work. I'll be his first real ground up rehab project that he's not related to (his sister has had 4 ACL surgeries, 2 on each knee, and she's a totally kick ass lifter and athlete in general).

Great way to think about it! Small setbacks now = awesomeness later

[anandagirl]

Been thinking about you!