My Original Plan Was to Lift All of the Heavy Things

[itsagoodday]

Long time no see. Impressive lifts!

Penny! How have you been? Great to see ya, thanks for stopping by

What are the 55lb Texas squat bars?? I couldn't figure out where to put my hands because I spaced them like I normally do (I eyeball from the inside of where the knurling starts), and my grip was all weird and I couldn't get my upper body tight. I guess I should probably learn to space using the rings rather than the inside of the knurling, huh?

Did not know the answer to that question, but this site is saying they are 81cm. Texas Strength System web site seriously sucks, they have pretty much no details listed on their own equipment

http://www.powerliftingtowin.com/pow...les-equipment/

The squat bars always feel odd in my hands, I think it's because they're so freaking thick. I position my hands just outside of my shoulders and go thumbless, so you'd think I wouldn't notice much of a difference with bar thickness, but it does just feel weird.

Are they going to run some screening tests before surgery to make sure the infection is not the cause rather then a symptom?

Darn good question, it's something I'd also wondered. They seem pretty convinced it's just caused by the hydronephrosis though. She started her antibiotics today and will have another try at a pre-op appointment on Monday again. Sigh.

I have lifts that feel better heavier too... nothing like you're lifting, but there are some I don't even want to do if they are 5 or 10lbs below my "happy" weight.

Isn't it the darndest thing? When it happens with something like squats, I figure, well maybe I just needed to warm up a little more. But when it happens with other stuff and I'm like why oh why. Makes no sense.

I read something about this very thing yesterday! Has something to do with kinetic chain, because when your head position changes is can force a hip change without realizing it... hmmm... wish I book marked it now. I'll have to see if I can find it again.

Interesting! I can definitely feel it altering the positioning of my upper back and shoulders. The jury is out on whether that's a good or bad thing yet, could go either way

Standingovation.jpg that is some hard and heavy work right there, killed it!

Oh man, that sucks the surgery was postponed. Not sure how she's feeling as far as appetite in general but I would be beyond pissed having to fast for nothing! In all seriousness I hope she's feeling better soon and those numbers get back to normal range so the docs can do what they gotta do.

Thanks! Luckily they caught her before she'd started her fast, yeah that would have sucked even more lol. My poor mom, she just wants everything over and done with so she can go back to her life. The basic problem we've been having is every time it looks like one thing is getting resolved with her health, something else crops up. She's getting pretty frustrated, I would be, too.

Oh yes, and diet accountability:
3/9 1853 calories

[Todayisforme]

Darn good question, it's something I'd also wondered. They seem pretty convinced it's just caused by the hydronephrosis though. She started her antibiotics today and will have another try at a pre-op appointment on Monday again. Sigh.

I would ask them to double check... you may have to push a little. Sometimes they don't like to admit when they were wrong the first go round... that's why I liked working ER lol it's a process of elimination ... lots of 'oh that didn't work, well let's try this test and see if we can't narrow it down then!'

Interesting! I can definitely feel it altering the positioning of my upper back and shoulders. The jury is out on whether that's a good or bad thing yet, could go either way

I'll try to find it again. I noticed my shoulders were starting to come forward and wanted to know why... turns out my neck was tight, so my body figured that was the happiest place for my shoulders, but it makes my posture crap. From what I was reading it can really have an impact on muscular imbalance and also it can make some really bizarre form things happen with squatting and dead lifts. Things like when you go to the bottom of the squat instead of holding the lift or butt winking, people sometimes wiggle their hips to one side, like make an "S" movement. I can't imagine it would be good for you particularly with heavy weight. I'll see if I can find it again so you can read it if you're inclined.

[itsagoodday]

Well hello there!

Last week or so has been pretty crazy. I think I'll just summarize.

- They cranked up the last radiation treatments on my mom and it made her really sick. So spent a lot of time with her, slept in a chair next to her and could barely move my ankles and hips for a few days lol. She had her stent surgery and it went fine. They're leaving her alone for a few weeks with a bunch of meds, but she's feeling better, so I'm hoping my schedule can normalize for a while.

- Got just a couple of workouts in since I last logged them. Deads were good, squats were fine, bench sucked. So nothing new there

- Was really sleep deprived and felt really down for a while. Had a birthday and was so tired that I can't remember it. Ate like an idiot for enough days that I gave myself blood sugar problems. Really not feeling like the brightest bulb about that. Diet is off again, obviously. Interestingly though, I think I'm seeing a link between the days that I don't work out being the same days that my diet is the worst. I'm a stress eater, so I'm wondering if working out really does make me feel better about, well, everything, and does me more good than I'm giving it credit for. I used to work out 6 days a week for years up until this past November, now it's 2 days or 3 days or maybe 4. Maybe I should try going back to 6.

- Meet is in 5 weeks. Pretty freaked out about that because my training has been so inconsistent. Still planning on competing, I'm going to show up with whatever I've got and do the best I can. And I'll probably just let them bump me up into the 181 class, it's not like I was going to break any records in the 165, and probably nobody cares about my weight class but me anyway. I'll be disappointed in myself, but it will also take some stress off.

- I need cliffs for my cliffs. Sorry

[thehobbes]

Glad to hear your mom should be having an easier time for a while. Happy belated b-day!

I personally ejoy 5-6x a week of working out, gives me something really fun to do almost every day as long as I have time, and in general I'm more motivated. Gives you the chance to spread things out more too if you need to. Your numbers look strong, go and have fun, wouldn't worry one bit about the wt class.

[VO2Maxima]

Happy belated birthday!

Sorry to hear about your mom getting really sick from the radiation, but glad that she's doing better now.

I wouldn't worry about competing 181. Unless it's a big peak meet, it might be better for overall development not to try to do a dramatic water cut anyway (or continue along the path of real cut like you were doing). I have a few friends who compete 132 in big meets, but 148 the rest of the time.

[SophieM]

Working out definitely helps me with stress most times. I swear working out saved my life back in the day.

[itsagoodday]

Glad to hear your mom should be having an easier time for a while. Happy belated b-day!

I personally ejoy 5-6x a week of working out, gives me something really fun to do almost every day as long as I have time, and in general I'm more motivated. Gives you the chance to spread things out more too if you need to. Your numbers look strong, go and have fun, wouldn't worry one bit about the wt class.

Happy belated birthday!

Sorry to hear about your mom getting really sick from the radiation, but glad that she's doing better now.

I wouldn't worry about competing 181. Unless it's a big peak meet, it might be better for overall development not to try to do a dramatic water cut anyway (or continue along the path of real cut like you were doing). I have a few friends who compete 132 in big meets, but 148 the rest of the time.

Working out definitely helps me with stress most times. I swear working out saved my life back in the day.

Thanks guys, really I'm now resolved to just come in at whatever weight I'll be at, which will be in the 181 the ways things currently stand. The good news is that I don't have to drive to Syracuse the day before for a 24 hr weigh-in that way, I'll just have a normal breakfast and weigh-in the morning of the meet. I'll wind up being one of the few people there competing at their actual walking around weight lol. No biggie. So really I'm just hoping to stay pretty much where I am for the next month, if I drop or lose a little along the way, that's fine, too.

And I got my taxes done! I'm self-employed and the paperwork takes frigging forever, so that's all I did for about three days. But it's done and I can move on now. No refund, but at least I didn't owe much more than I'd already prepaid, so that's always good news.

[Todayisforme]

- They cranked up the last radiation treatments on my mom and it made her really sick. So spent a lot of time with her, slept in a chair next to her and could barely move my ankles and hips for a few days lol. She had her stent surgery and it went fine. They're leaving her alone for a few weeks with a bunch of meds, but she's feeling better, so I'm hoping my schedule can normalize for a while.

Some of the treatments we use to treat things are terrible! I'm glad your mom is feeling better now, hopefully things will settle down for both of you.

- Was really sleep deprived and felt really down for a while. Had a birthday and was so tired that I can't remember it. Ate like an idiot for enough days that I gave myself blood sugar problems. Really not feeling like the brightest bulb about that. Diet is off again, obviously. Interestingly though, I think I'm seeing a link between the days that I don't work out being the same days that my diet is the worst. I'm a stress eater, so I'm wondering if working out really does make me feel better about, well, everything, and does me more good than I'm giving it credit for. I used to work out 6 days a week for years up until this past November, now it's 2 days or 3 days or maybe 4. Maybe I should try going back to 6.

Working out doesn't just give you a stress outlet, it releases endorphins ... so does chocolate that's why we love it so much. If you're going to go back to six, I'd ease into it. Don't want to get all zealous and end up hurting yourself. Until you have a schedule sorted out for when you're going to workout, you could always just throwing in an extra walk/run or doing some bw exercises at home just to get the blood moving.

- Meet is in 5 weeks. Pretty freaked out about that because my training has been so inconsistent. Still planning on competing, I'm going to show up with whatever I've got and do the best I can. And I'll probably just let them bump me up into the 181 class, it's not like I was going to break any records in the 165, and probably nobody cares about my weight class but me anyway. I'll be disappointed in myself, but it will also take some stress off.

5 weeks is a long way away, all kinds of things can happen in that time... there is nothing more powerful then a determined woman!

[itsagoodday]

I'm posting an actual workout! So happy about that! Last week was super sparse with workouts, so I think I'm going to go ahead and call last week a deload. Now I won't have to worry about getting a deload in otherwise, and the goal is to work up to full throttle for the next month. 4 1/2 weeks until meet day!

I was worried about getting back into the swing of things with that much time out of the gym, so I gave myself a break and started with deads. That's always the easiest thing for me to start with. They're also the most forgiving of me taking some time off, which is more than I can say for squats and bench. I'll deal with those over the next few days At least deads let me feel like I was back in the groove!

Tuesday 3/22 - Gym

Back Day

DEADLIFTS
5x135
5x195
3x235
3x265
1x295
1x315

Those all felt surprisingly good. Smoothest 315 I've ever pulled. Definitely could have put more weight on the bar, but I wanted to play with reverse bands again, this time setting them up at the gym instead of at home. I don't think I'll try for a stiff bar max anytime soon though on regular deads. I'm 99.9% sure I could pull 325 now and I think I'd have a good shot at 330, I just haven't tried it. But I don't like to test deadlift maxes the month before a meet, there isn't any real benefit to it and they're hard to recover from. I think I'll just stick with working up to 315-320 like I've been doing most weeks, but try to make them as fast and smooth as possible. I'll use reverse bands maybe once or twice more if I want to go heavier than that, they're tough on my upper back but not my lower back, which is a good thing.

REVERSE BAND DEADLIFTS - light band
1x315
1x345
1x365

Wut lol. Still working with a regular old stiff bar, but this one was more agreeable to pull with than the bar I have at home. I tried to set up the bands even more loosely than before for less assistance. The 365 pull felt like it was around the 320's at the bottom, so I think I was taking about 40-45 lbs off at the start. Definitely full weight at the top, that felt kind of ridiculous to be holding. Also looked epic to put 45, 45, 45, 25 on each side Guy walked past and said "you know that's 365 right?" and I'm like HELL YES.

Anyway, the 365 pulled me forward and rounded my upper back enough that I had to work to lockout, but it wasn't too big of a deal. I like that these force me to work on my lockout, normally it isn't something that is an issue for me with stiff bars at all. But I have had some concerns locking out with deadlift bars at meets, just because I never train with them and they do let me move more weight than usual. Grip was not a problem in the slightest, I just stood there and held it for a while like... huh?... lol. I'm not sure when my grip became bombproof, but I like it.

CYBEX LAT PULLDOWN - close grip, palms facing me
8x #9
6x #10
4x #11

Used a different pulldown this time and I was wishing for a seatbelt on this machine because it kept trying to lift me out of my seat on the last two sets. LOL.

1 ARM DUMBBELL ROW
8x75's
6x80's
4x85's

Bringing the reps down on accessories so I can throw some heavier weight around. Whee

[VO2Maxima]

Strong deadlifts, nice work. Refresh my memory, do you pull conventional or sumo?

[thehobbes]

Whoa, takes some time off from gym and BOOM pulls a 3 plate DL, good stuff OP! And holy db rows, those are heavy as fark!

[itsagoodday]

Whoa, takes some time off from gym and BOOM pulls a 3 plate DL, good stuff OP! And holy db rows, those are heavy as fark!

Heavy is fun Unless it's like that heavy stack of paperwork I had to go through for my taxes. That was less fun.

Strong deadlifts, nice work. Refresh my memory, do you pull conventional or sumo?

Conventional. Yeah, dat conventional recovery time has become an increasing issue the heavier my workings sets have gotten. I'm pretty much just once a week for deads currently, but they're appreciative of extra time off past that.

Would love for sumo to be an option, but my trick hip won't let me do wide stance anything. I even have to be careful how I set my feet up when I bench, or my right hip pops out lol.

Some of the treatments we use to treat things are terrible! I'm glad your mom is feeling better now, hopefully things will settle down for both of you.

I know, it's so sad when the treatments for something makes you feel as bad or worse than you did before. Cancer treatments probably all fall under the heading of "necessary evil".

Working out doesn't just give you a stress outlet, it releases endorphins ... so does chocolate that's why we love it so much. If you're going to go back to six, I'd ease into it. Don't want to get all zealous and end up hurting yourself. Until you have a schedule sorted out for when you're going to workout, you could always just throwing in an extra walk/run or doing some bw exercises at home just to get the blood moving.

5 weeks is a long way away, all kinds of things can happen in that time... there is nothing more powerful then a determined woman!

I love that! Determination, and the chocolate too, all of that lol

Great advice to ease back in, I would definitely have to. The next month will be a little weird with the meet coming up, so I won't want to do anything out of the ordinary. I figure after the meet I can have some fun and throw in some bodybuilding accessories days or dedicated arms day or something along those lines to get back into more days a week. I actually used to enjoy doing that kind of stuff anyway, it's just not a powerlifting kind of thing lol.

[SophieM]

I wish my lifts were as forgiving when I take time off! Awesome pulls!

[VO2Maxima]

Check PMs.

[jsari23]

really nice lifting -

sorry your mom was having a harder time hoping these coming weeks are better

[itsagoodday]

I wish my lifts were as forgiving when I take time off! Awesome pulls!

Only deadlifts, for some reason. Everything else is pretty unforgiving lol.

Check PMs.

Done, thanks much!!!

really nice lifting -

sorry your mom was having a harder time hoping these coming weeks are better

Thank you She is feeling better, finished the last of her prescriptions recently, so actually got out of the house and did some little chores on her own yesterday and today. And has been passed out on the couch ever since lol. We've got a boatload of check ups coming up in the future, I just hope she gets to keep healing for a while with nothing new happening.

[itsagoodday]

Thursday 3/24 - Home Gym

Legs Day

SQUATS
5x135
3x165
(5x) 3x185
8x155

GLUTE HAM RAISE
(3x) 6xBW

I was not looking forward to this. I haven't squatted in ten days, and I knew it wasn't going to be pretty. Got to the first set of 185 and discovered that I couldn't quite remember how to squat anymore lol.

Rep 1: drop like a stone until hamstrings hit calves, lean, get sorta stuck and pause on the way up. wut.
Rep 2: definitely not making mistake in rep 1 again, so just keep everything five miles too high
Rep 3: hey, let's come up on our toes, because nothing could be so difficult that we can't make it worse

Needless to say, I just kept the weight at 185 after that lol. The good news is that by set 5 at that weight, things were coming back to me and felt pretty normal. Goal is to squat again this weekend, I got the wheels greased and now I just need to keep them turning. I'd like to squat 250+ in my meet next month, so obviously I'm going to need to get higher than 185 again sometime soon

Quads were jelly from squats and my whole body was shaky (still having some blood sugar issues or something, I don't know), so just did three sets of GHR and called it a day. That probably went as well as it possibly could have. Tomorrow is another day, and I have to grease the wheels on bench. Sigh.

[Todayisforme]

I love that! Determination, and the chocolate too, all of that lol

Might have to come up with a recipe for a treat that will fit in your macros... Chocolate everyday keeps me from killing the terminally stupid

SQUATS
5x135
3x165
(5x) 3x185
8x155

GLUTE HAM RAISE
(3x) 6xBW

I was not looking forward to this. I haven't squatted in ten days, and I knew it wasn't going to be pretty. Got to the first set of 185 and discovered that I couldn't quite remember how to squat anymore lol.

Rep 1: drop like a stone until hamstrings hit calves, lean, get sorta stuck and pause on the way up. wut.
Rep 2: definitely not making mistake in rep 1 again, so just keep everything five miles too high
Rep 3: hey, let's come up on our toes, because nothing could be so difficult that we can't make it worse

Ohhh the volume! Holy snap! IF I could even lift that much, I wouldn't be able to walk for at least a week!

At least you didn't squat for 10 days... I on the other hand went two and managed to completely bugger my form!

[VO2Maxima]

Yeah no one likes squats anyway lol. But seriously, a workout or two and your body will remember how to squat again, I'm sure. And as soon as your body remembers how to squat, the weight will come back. I'm always stupid after a deload as far as remembering how to move haha.

[itsagoodday]

Yeah no one likes squats anyway lol. But seriously, a workout or two and your body will remember how to squat again, I'm sure. And as soon as your body remembers how to squat, the weight will come back. I'm always stupid after a deload as far as remembering how to move haha.

Yeah, time off doesn't help my natural klutziness lol. I usually have a hard enough time not walking into walls and falling down stairs, heaven forfend I need to remember how to do something that is actually difficult.

Might have to come up with a recipe for a treat that will fit in your macros... Chocolate everyday keeps me from killing the terminally stupid

Keep having chocolate so you don't kill me then

Ohhh the volume! Holy snap! IF I could even lift that much, I wouldn't be able to walk for at least a week!

At least you didn't squat for 10 days... I on the other hand went two and managed to completely bugger my form!

Well at least we can keep each other company in I-screwed-up-my-squat-land lol.

[itsagoodday]

Friday 3/25 - Studio

Chest Day

Met up with my friend at his studio for some 911 bench help, having knowledgeable input and a good spotter is invaluable. Long story short, I wanted to see where my bench was at after an 11 day hiatus, which I'm pretty sure is the longest I've gone without benching since I started lifting 4+ years ago. (Not counting that time I screwed up something in my lats and could only dumbbell press for a month.)

Let's just say I was riding the struggle bus big time. Then I had a brainwave. I've been playing with my grip for the last, what, six weeks or so, moving it out a bit at a time since it was so narrow to begin with. I thought, well, maybe I'm still not doing my best with this newer grip, let's try going all the way back in to my old grip. Bingo. Even after struggling with the wider grip first and the time off, it was like somebody flipped a switch and I suddenly found power off my chest again. I even got a little bit of confidence back because everything started moving so much better, and managed to put up a paused 140 which matches the best I've done since last August. So maybe some of the bench misery I've been going through lately has been the grip widening experiment not panning out very well. And we're talking about less than an inch per side, like what the heck.

I'm not totally abandoning the grip widening experiment, but I think I may need to pound on it for many, many months in my off season to get it to pay off. Sometimes you have to try things to see if they'll work, and failure may not mean that it won't ever work, but that maybe now just wasn't the right time. So for now it's going to be put on the back burner, and I'll use my old grip on all my working sets through my meet. (I may still mix some wider / narrower grip stuff into warm ups and back off sets, just because I did like using them for that.) I cannot begin to describe how relieved I am to have a plan in place for bench again, whew.

[thehobbes]

Congrats on hitting that 140 paused bp! That was a simple fix. Agreed it's great to try new ways sometimes to see what happens, always good to know where you're most comfortable too.

[SophieM]

Yay for having a light bulb moment on bench! Grip width can make such a big difference.

[adriannec]

Nice job figuring out the bench grip! I love that you opted to get help and input too instead of just wondering and working alone to figure it out. Like you said, often it's enough to just talk and work it through and they don't even end up needing to weigh in. Just listen to rambles (at least with me).

Ha, you talk about can't evening on my 20 rep deadlifts. I can't even your squats and all lifts! Majorly awesome weights you have. Plus those GHRs!

[itsagoodday]

Nice job figuring out the bench grip! I love that you opted to get help and input too instead of just wondering and working alone to figure it out. Like you said, often it's enough to just talk and work it through and they don't even end up needing to weigh in. Just listen to rambles (at least with me).

Ha, you talk about can't evening on my 20 rep deadlifts. I can't even your squats and all lifts! Majorly awesome weights you have.
Plus those GHRs!

Hehe, yeah my poor friend isn't even a powerlifting guy, he's more of a general strength and conditioning guy. He's had to pick up some powerlifting knowledge because of me though lol. It's nice to have that different viewpoint and another set of eyes though, definitely.

Yay for having a light bulb moment on bench! Grip width can make such a big difference.

I am actually kind of astounded by how much is affected with even itty bitty changes to grip width. I get the feeling the one I'm using is just my best because, well, I'm used to it lol. I'll still keep working different grip widths in here and there, I'm hoping one day something will "click". That's actually what happened with my squat stance width. I was warming up with a narrower stance before switching to a wider stance on working sets, and did that for most of a year. Then one day I realized that my narrower warm-up stance was starting to feel WAY better than my wider regular stance, so now everything I do is with the narrower stance and that has worked really well for me. So yeah, if something similar can happen with my bench grip months from now, I'll be really happy about that.

Congrats on hitting that 140 paused bp! That was a simple fix. Agreed it's great to try new ways sometimes to see what happens, always good to know where you're most comfortable too.

I think sometimes I tinker around too much and start overthinking and second-guessing everything. But if I never did that, I'd never find better ways to do things. Things like changing my squat stance and probably also my grip width, just seems to be a really, really (really) slow process for me. I'm ok with that. We'll see what my bench is doing in a year though lol.

[itsagoodday]

Actually got in two workouts since I last posted! Shut the front door!

Saturday 3/26 - Gym

Legs Day

SQUATS
5x135
3x165
3x185
3x205

Add wraps
3x225
3x235

No wraps
5x185

Definitely a better squat day. My lower body felt solid, my upper body was still being a little wonky. I didn't want to push for any singles, so stuck with the triples. And I definitely need to get in practice with the wraps since I'll be competing with them for the first time, so got in the two wrapped sets with those. Feeling more positive about squats in general, I'm hoping I can feel comfortable enough to get back into singles this week though.

I was squatting in the busier rack upstairs again. As I was finishing up, a guy came over to me and said "You know, it's not how much you squat, it's about using a weight that is appropriate for you." I kind of nodded, and then wondered what the heck that was supposed to mean, like did I look like crap squatting or something??? Then he loaded up the bar right after me and was squatted less than I had been. So maybe he was referencing himself and not me. I have no idea and I really don't care what other people lift, it was just a weird and confusing moment that left me wondering if I'd looked like I was about to die while squatting or something lol.

LEG EXTENSION
8x45's
6x50's
4x55's

1 LEG LYING HAMSTRING CURL
8x22.5's
6x25's
4x27.5's

DIPS
(3x) 5xBW

superset with

WIDE GRIP PUSH UPS
(3x) 12xBW

-----------------------

Sunday 3/27

Two hours of yardio cardio lol. It took all that time to clean up about a 20' section of leaves, branches, dig up a few small saplings and level the ground there. And I looked at the rest of the backyard and thought... it looks like I've done nothing at all. Sigh.

------------------------

Monday 3/28 - Gym

Chest Day

BENCH
5x95
3x105
3x115
3x125
1x130
1x135
(3x) 3x115

added wrist wraps
2x115
3x115

Back to my regular old grip, or at least I think that was my regular grip. I was having a hard time remembering for a minute there lol. I grabbed the absolute thickest bar I could find to bench with, since the competition bar is really thick and I have a harder time benching with thicker bars. Went pretty good!

I *think* the issue I have with thicker bars has to do with my wrists. On thinner bars, I feel like I'm pushing directly under the weight more. On thicker bars, I think my wrists may bend back more. (???) Not sure though. So I figured I'd try the last two sets with wrist wraps. I have occasionally tried to use those while benching before, and haven't been crazy about them so I tend to not use them. Figured I'd try it again while I had the thicker bar, and hated the first set, then kind of liked the second set. Huh. So I still don't know if I like using those on bench or not, argh.

NARROW GRIP BENCH - feet on bench
(3x) 5x95

WIDE GRIP BENCH - middle finger on rings
(3x) 5x95

On the last set I tried using the "pull the bar apart" cue and was really surprised how much I liked that with the wider grip. That's a cue that's always been worse than useless for me with my regular (narrower) grip, like it not only doesn't help, it screws me up. Maybe it just goes better with a wider grip??? So I made some notes to use that cue on my WG back-off work, and we'll see how it goes. Could definitely feel my lats engaging more on those, and that's great news. Hey, even if I can never competition bench with this grip but it teaches me to engage my lats a little more, I'd be happy with that.

INCLINE BENCH
8x115
6x120
4x125

DB INCLINE FLYES
10x32's
8x35's
6x37's

It's hard to do these while you're trying not to crack up. Guy on the bench next to me seriously sounded like he was having a personal moment with all the moaning and groaning going on. Almost lost it when he started talking to himself "gotta keep it up! come on! come on! uh uh uh! aaaaaaahhhhhh"

And why did you drop the dumbbells on your own head, Kelly?

BENT-OVER LATERAL RAISES
10x20's
8x25's
6x30's

CABLE TRICEP PUSHDOWNS
8x #8
5x #9 (oops)
6x #9

superset with

WIDE GRIP PUSH UPS
(3x) 10xBW

[thehobbes]

Strong workouts up there! What is up with your incline bench being higher than regular bp?? Srs, never have seen that happen before.

I was squatting in the busier rack upstairs again. As I was finishing up, a guy came over to me and said "You know, it's not how much you squat, it's about using a weight that is appropriate for you." I kind of nodded, and then wondered what the heck that was supposed to mean, like did I look like crap squatting or something??? Then he loaded up the bar right after me and was squatted less than I had been. So maybe he was referencing himself and not me. I have no idea and I really don't care what other people lift, it was just a weird and confusing moment that left me wondering if I'd looked like I was about to die while squatting or something lol.

LMAO I think that was a very unclear "hey nice squats, good to see somebody not pile on 3 plates and do atrocious quarter squat knee bend things," and/or an awkward "explanation" why you're out-squatting him. People are weird AF.

Also what is the reason meets use extra thick bars?

[VO2Maxima]

Also what is the reason meets use extra thick bars?

I think only the squat bar is thick.

One thing I struggle with is knowing when a form tweak will be good in the long run and just is taking time to get used to (and in the meantime the weights go down), and when it's not right for my body. I'm sure you'll figure it out as you continue to play with it.

You bench without wrist wraps?? Damn girl! Wrists of steel.

[penny0527]

I don't bench with wrist wraps either

That was a weird comment. Maybe he was trying to make himself feel better because you were squatting more. Nothing makes a person feel better than bringing someone else down right?

If you are curious how you look squatting video your sets. It's actually very helpful with form correction.

[itsagoodday]

Strong workouts up there! What is up with your incline bench being higher than regular bp?? Srs, never have seen that happen before.

I always flat bench all the way to my chest with a pause, but I don't touch chest (or pause) on incline. My shoulders seem to hate full ROM on incline, I decided I'd rather lose full ROM than my shoulders lol. And yeah, I wind up incline benching more than flat that way, which is very weird.

Guy at my gym once said to me "Hey, you should go all the way to your chest on incline! I used to, but now I can't do them at all anymore because they destroyed my shoulders!" and I'm like... you're not convincing me with that argument

Also what is the reason meets use extra thick bars?

The fed I compete in (RPS) uses specialty bars that are designed for each lift. The squat bar is Iron Wolfe which is heavy, thick, and really stiff so the guys with big squats don't kill themselves with the bar moving around, and has sharp knurling that is designed to not slide so it will literally rip the skin off your back. It's also extra long so you can throw a gazillion plates on it and still have space for spotters to grab the bar. I think it's 65 lbs and about 35mm. That thing freaked me out initially, but I've come to appreciate it.

The bench bar is the one that throws me every single freakin' time. It's also Iron Wolfe, again heavy, thick and stiff for the big benchers so it doesn't bend and whip around on them. I think it's 50 lbs and around 30mm. I just can't get comfortable with that thing.

The deadlift bar is an Okie. Love love love. It's narrow, easy to hold, flexible, and has a ton of whip, I get about +20 lbs off the ground with an Okie than what I get with a regular bar, because it's so much easier to start a deadlift when the bar bends off the ground that much.

I thought I read somewhere that Iron Wolfe may have stopped making bars though??? Not sure what RPS would use if that is the case. All the feds use different equipment, so there are certainly some other options out there.

One thing I struggle with is knowing when a form tweak will be good in the long run and just is taking time to get used to (and in the meantime the weights go down), and when it's not right for my body. I'm sure you'll figure it out as you continue to play with it.

I had the funny feeling in the beginning that I didn't have enough time before the meet to make grip changes. I didn't lol. I *think* it's still a good direction to go in, or I'd just give it up and move on. I'll definitely have to be patient and try to bring it up as more of an accessory movement for a while though.

You bench without wrist wraps?? Damn girl! Wrists of steel.

I used to use them, but I almost seemed to do better without them so haven't touched them in a year or so. I think sometimes my wrists are indeed a problem on bench, so you'd think the wraps would help??? I'll play with them with the thicker bar at my gym again and see what happens. I know on a thin bar they feel dead straight no matter what the weight is, but that doesn't help me at meets

I don't bench with wrist wraps either

Yeah, they're weird. They're an absolute necessity on my squat or I feel like I'm going to break both wrists but bench with them is more... meh...

That was a weird comment. Maybe he was trying to make himself feel better because you were squatting more. Nothing makes a person feel better than bringing someone else down right?

I've gotten some of the weirdest comments at this gym lol. I don't think anyone has ever actually tried to be snarky, but sometimes I just can't figure out what their point actually is. When I'm confused I just smile, nod, agree, and carry on doing whatever I was doing. Even if it is wrong

If you are curious how you look squatting video your sets. It's actually very helpful with form correction.

Good call! I do need to do that in the next squat session or two, for one thing to make sure my depth is where I think it is. I sometimes record myself when I'm squatting in the basement because it's quieter and easy to set up down there. If I'm upstairs, I'm not sure where I'd even put the stupid phone where people wouldn't step on it lol. It's chaotic and everything is jammed really close together. Getting my knees wrapped in the middle of that three ring circus was fun enough