Brovatar Korra

Okay I might switch gears and not do daily updates on here due to time constraints, but the rest of the week of training went really well, shoulder is healing and ROM is improving a little every day. It has been 4 weeks since I tweaked it, and thinking it might be 100% healed within the next 4 weeks. This weekend I was able to overhead press 45#, woohoo! Planning to crush some heavy squats tomorrow. Averaging 8k steps daily and avg protein is close to 140g.

Epic catching up post! Friday 5/13: 1. Steps - 7,144 2. Training - rest day 3. Protein - 190g - whoah eggs, chicken, beef, protein shake, and a quest bar all in one day! Saturday 5/14: 1. Steps - 10,941 2. Training - complete! 3. Protein - 128g Sunday 5/15: 1. Steps - 11,872 2. Training - complete! 3. Protein - 126g Monday 5/16: 1. Steps - 8,599 2. Training - rest day 3. Protein - 154g Tuesday 5/17: 1. Steps - 8,298 2. Training - complete! 3. Protein - 89g Oh no my first day in like 3 months not hitting my protein goal - eh I was super busy and I ate a very light lunch that was more snacking Total points so far: 23 I have already given up on keeping track of the extra weekly bonus points, that is too much effort. Honestly whatever reward I was going to earn... I 'll probably just get it for myself anyway whatever my point score is 😀 Saturday 5/14 Workout: Belt Squats - 155x8, 165x8, 175x8 BP - 105x8, 110x8, 115x8 Lat Pulldowns 70# 3x12 Sunday 5/15 Workout (Dynamic Effort): Back Squats - 135# 4x2 BP - 120# 3x3 Sumo DL 155# 4x2 Tuesday 5/17 Workout: Back Squats - 165# 3x3 (I felt like poop and it showed in this workout) BP - 145# 3x3 Cable Rows 70# 3x12 Leg Curls 50# 3x12 Overall shoulder continues to improve, ROM I would say is 85% recovered. I was hoping there would be a bit more progress this week compared to where I was at this point last mesocycle, but it might be taking me just a little bit longer to bounce back from the 9 day vacation break and getting back in the groove then I expected. Plus the rehabbing. After this weekend only 7 more weeks of training!

Originally my hope was to set a new BP PR (my all time best is 198), but with my shoulder tweak I'm worried that might limit how far I progress toward that goal. Not sure if I could hit triples much higher than 160 right now. For SQ and DL, I don't think I'll be hitting new all time PRs, BUT I haven't competed since 2018, and this will be my first comp since baby brovatar came along, so honestly putting up any numbers on the platform will be a win for me, and something to try to top next time. If I can get SQ to over 200 and DL closer to 250 I would be pretty happy with that!

Thursday 5/12: 1. Steps - 7,968 2. Training - rest day 3. Protein - 144g Total points so far: 11 Husband and I played Switch Sports last night which was a lot of fun. We got very competitive playing volleyball and thought we were doing really good until we played on "powerhouse mode" and the computer kicked our butts.

Wednesday 5/11: 1. Steps - 7,299 2. Training - complete! 3. Protein - 127g Total points so far: 9 Wednesday's Workout (doing this today instead of Thurs due to time constraints): 1. Leg Extensions 50x12x3 2. Leg Curls 60x12x3 3. KB Squats 3x10 4. Cable Rows 70x10x3 5. DB Incline Press 10# 3x10 (shoulder continues to slowly improve!)

Tuesday 5/10: 1. Steps - 10,077 2. Training - complete! 3. Protein - 124g Total points so far: 6 Tuesday's Workout: Dynamic Effort 1. Squats - 125x2, 130x2, 135x2, 140x2 2. BP - 105x3, 110x3, 115x3, 120x3 3. Sumo DL - 135x2, 145x1, 155x1x3 Compared to this workout last mesocycle I'm at slightly heavier weights for everything, yay! Shoulder is getting a littler better every day, didn't bother me for bench or setting up for back squats at all. I have to do a total of 6 workouts this week (instead of usual 4) to get back on track for my meet training, due to how the vacation travel time fell. This is the simplest way to right course, I didn't want to drag it out over 2 weeks. I 'll keep the increased frequency in mind with weight selection.

Nice start! I like the cats/owls tracking system!

Monday 5/09: 1. Steps - 14,638 (whoah!) morning walk, yard work, gym, errands, really added up 2. Training - complete! 3. Protein - 137g I miscalculated before, the total possible points are actually 150. So goal will be to earn at least 120. Total points so far: 3 Monday's Workout: 1. DB OHP - 10# for 3x5, this was an improvement, before vacation I couldn't OHP weight with my left shoulder at all 2. Belt SQ 155# 3x8 3. BP 95x8, 105x8, 110x8 4. Lat Pulldowns 60# 3x10 Successful first day back at the gym post-vacation and deload!

I actually recently FINISHED a very successful challenge, and looking to keep that momentum going! Just got back from 9 days of vacation visiting the family, drove a total of 2,000 miles, but it was also planned time off from training/tracking and it went really well. Really happy with the balance I struck of enjoying myself and not worrying about the macro nutrient profile of everything that went in my mouth - but not overdoing it either. This challenge lines up fairly well with my second mesocycle prepping for my next powerlifting meet in July. Some of my goals will be focused on supporting this but trying to keep a holistic approach as well. CHALLENGE GOALS: 1. Steps - at least 7k daily (+1 point each day, +4 points if the week is over 60k) 2. Training - at least 4x per week (+1 point each day completed, +4 points if I surpass reps/weights from the previous mesocycle week) 3. Nutrition - 120g protein daily, (+1 point each day, +4 points if I consistently track the entire week) Total possible points: 165 If I earn at least 130 points I will do something nice for myself, TBD. If anyone is interested this is the template for the PL program I am running: https://rippedbody.com/intermediate-powerlifting-program/ The only wrench in the works is I am still rehabbing my shoulder (I tweaked it playing on the monkey bars about 2 weeks ago), nothing is seriously damaged but I am going to PT to try and get full ROM back. It is limiting OHP quite a bit, and to a lesser extent BP. But I should still be able to proceed with most of my training.

Is it time to add DL bodyweight to the list? 😀 Did I read that you recently hit 75%? 💪

Thursday 4/28 1. Protein - 159g (whoah!) 2. Walking - 12,911 steps (mowed the lawn) 3. Training - complete Challenge total so far: 84 points Today's workout: Modified a bit - played with the DB for BP but that just wasn't going to happen with anything higher than the 5# DB, which also told me trying to even set up for sumo DL was probably pointless. So instead: Leg Extensions Leg Curls Lat Pulldowns (less wide supinated grip was okay on my shoulder) Seated Cable Rows Bicep Curls Friday will be busy packing and getting read for traveling, so I will officially end my 5 week challenge here. Success! My goal was to get more than 80 points. Hitting daily protein and walking goals went really well. Training took a bit of a turn once I decided I wanted to do another PL meet, but that's not a setback just shifting goals. Really the only downside was messing up my shoulder being dumb on the monkey bars. But thankfully it's nothing serious (no rotator cuff tears!) and should be ready to go after a restful week of vacation. See you all in the next challenge!

Wednesday 4/27 1. Protein - 143g 2. Walking - 6,818 steps 3. Training - rest day Challenge total so far: 82 points Slowly realizing that a 1,000 mile road-trip is happening in 48 hours and we still have a lot of (all the) packing to do. We did make a checklist, and I'll be able to spend most of this evening getting our suitcase ready. It also might get as hot as 97 degrees while we're down there, blech! Shoulder is basically same as yesterday. Weight Loss Journey:

Tuesday 4/26 1. Protein - 127g 2. Walking - 7,159 steps 3. Training - complete! Challenge total so far: 80 points Shoulder still recovering - I did a workout but it was pretty modified, which is a bummer it was supposed to be heavy doubles on BP and I was looking forward to it! One more workout planned on Thursday before vacation (scheduled to be heavy DLs) we'll see how everything feels but will probably again be modified. At least coming back from deload/vacation everything should be healed up and ready to go again!

I love playing around with that website! That one and the equally informative https://whatanimaldoyoulift.herokuapp.com

Monday 4/25 1. Protein - 106g 2. Walking - 8,808 steps 3. Training - rest day Challenge total so far: 78 points Yesterday my left shoulder was still pretty sore and ROM quite limited, ibuprofen and hot shower helped. This morning seems to have brought some small improvement! ROM regained a bit of ground compared to yesterday, putting on my jacket was 10% less difficult. This gives me confidence it's likely just a tweak that will resolve on its own with the proper care and maintenance. I went ahead and set up an appt on Friday to see a PT just to be on the safe side.

Sunday 4/24 1. Protein - 133g 2. Walking - 13,321 steps 3. Training - complete! Challenge total so far: 76 points Sunday's Workout (Dynamic Effort Day): 1. Squats - 125x2, 130x2x3 2. Bench Press - 110x3, 115x3x3 3. Sumo DL - 160x1x4 - added 5# to every lift from last week's session, very happy about that! Spent Sunday morning in the park taking Baby Brovatar on the swings and slides and it was a lot of fun! I was a silly goose and decided to try and go across the monkey bars. I may have tweaked my left shoulder immediately. Being the stubborn person I am I still made it across the bars but have been favoring the shoulder all day. I highly doubt it is anything serious - but I did have to gingerly shampoo my hair and carefully take on/off my t-shirt last night. And it is still sore this morning. Oy what a dumb way to hurt yourself. We'll see, if it is not feeling better by Tuesday, I might push the session back and throw in another day of rest.

Saturday 4/23 1. Protein - 112g 2. Walking - 13,025 steps 3. Training - complete! Challenge total so far: 74 points Saturday's Workout: 1. OHP - 85x4, 85x4, 85x6 - new best set of 6 for the year! 2. Belt Squats - 155x8, 175x8x3 - same weight as last week but for 3 sets instead of 2 3. Bench Press + one set chains - 85x8x3 - felt like doing something a little different to liven it up so I through some chains on for some accommodating resistance. No way to really compare it to previous weeks since I haven't been using chains, I think they weigh about 18# apiece. I remembered how fun they are - For my next 4 week mesocycle I might make one BP day with chains throughout (probably the Sunday dynamic effort day). 4. Face Pulls 40x10, 50x10, 60x10

Friday 4/22 1. Protein - 105g 2. Walking - 11,089 steps 3. Training - rest day Challenge total so far: 74 points Played a new board game called Horrified! - it's a co-op game where you try to save the village and fight off Universal Monsters. We defeated Dracula and the Creature from the Black Lagoon. It was fun just the two of us, but definitely would be better with more players. Very much looking forward to when Baby Brovatar is old enough to participate in family game night! Then eventually she'll be too cool for it... but there will be a golden age and we intend to make the most of it!

Congrats those are some solid 5RMs!!! I'm jealous of the OHP

Thursday 4/21 1. Protein - 117g 2. Walking - 12,394 steps 3. Training - complete! Challenge total so far: 72 points Thursday's Workout: 1. DB Incline Press - 45# 3x7 2. Sumo DL - 155, 175, 195, 215, 225 (new PR for the year woohoo!) 3. Lat Pulldowns - 80# 3x12 Weight Loss Journey:

Wednesday 4/20 1. Protein - 141g 2. Walking - 5,981 steps (missed it, doh!) 3. Training - rest day Challenge total so far: 70 points I can't believe I was that close to 6k steps! I thought I was nowhere near it so I didn't even bother to check before I went to bed, oops. Closing in on the end of week 3 of meet prep, week 4 is a bit of a mini-peak and then week 5 is resting and vacation! Our trip is going to be a total of 9 days, 7 of it will be my deload/rest week which is great, but it will also start to cut into the following week of prep, that will throw things off a bit. But I can smush the timeline to bring it back on track by the end of week 7.

Monday 4/18 1. Protein - 135g 2. Walking - 9,548 steps 3. Training - rest day Tuesday 4/19 1. Protein - 119g 2. Walking - 11,019 steps 3. Training - complete! Challenge total so far: 69 points Tuesday's Workout: 1. Squats - 180# 2x2 - Woohoo! Personal best for the year, super happy with how these went 2. BP - 155# 3x2 - Same weight as last week, I was considering going up to 160# but the first set felt tough. After the second set I realized I should have went for it. Oh well, going for it next week! 3. Seated Cable Rows - 60# 3x12 4. Seated Hamstring Curls - 50# 3x12 Counting down the days until road trip to Texas! I am very excited to see family again, not looking forward to a grand total of 16 hours in the car with a 17 month old.

Awesome work!!!

Sunday 4/17 1. Protein - 121g 2. Walking - 9,533 3. Training - complete! Challenge total so far: 65 points Sunday Workout: 1. Squats 125# 4x2 2. BP 110# 4x3 3. DL 155# 4x1 Same weights as last week's technique/dynamic effort day. During warm-up weights working upward, it seemed like things were just starting to slow down at the same point so left it alone.

Friday 4/15 1. Protein - 103g (barely made my goal! realized it was because no protein drink today) 2. Walking - 8,989 3. Training - rest day Saturday 4/16 1. Protein - 147g (making up for yesterday apparently, and delicious brisket!) 2. Walking - 10,618 3. Training - complete! Challenge total so far: 63 points Saturday Workout: 1. OHP - 80# 3x5 - (woohoo! last week's session doing 75# for sets of 6 was tough and wasn't sure if I was going to be able to make this jump but it felt solid!) 2. Belt Squats - 135x8, 155x8, 175x8x2 - (more progress I am quite happy with) 3. Bench Press (2 board) - 105x8, 115x8, 125x8x2 4. Lat Pulldowns 80# 3x10 - (increased from 70# for 3x12 last week's session) Week 3 of meet prep is off to a better start than I was anticipating! Weight Loss Journey: