paulapalooza

It really makes me feel shameful because all the people who say that arching will hurt my back are kinda right. I get it in my middle back though.

Oh lord, that sounds highly uncomfortable. D: Once the owner at that gym taught me how to set up for bench, it has become a much less comfortable lift. I was planning to do some bastardized version of 5/3/1 where I do the main 5/3/1 lifts and program my own assistance. The assistance includes squatting heavy twice a week. Would that be sufficient? Hmm, I never thought of diet being a factor, but that's definitely a possibility. I sweat a shit ton in that gym and sometimes don't drink enough water before so I may have been dehydrated as well.

Update: I hit 115 pounds yesterday! Now I just have to do it with a pause and my feet planted to the ground. https://instagram.com/p/6YZD1cGshs If anyone can tell me how to not get a cramp in my back and hamstrings while going all out on bench, I'd love to know.

Do your triceps feel like they're cramping up every time you try them? I have that same problem. I don't have a solution myself, but I'm just sharing my pain and would love a solution as well.

I actually haven't done a low bar squat in over a month. After this I'll be running 5/3/1 on high bar. See what all that hype is about. I hope I get 115 on Friday or my gym partner is going to leave me at the gym and make me walk home for four miles. During this program on week one you look at week 3's weights and think no way, but as you approach week 3 you still think no way. Then you do it and impress yourself. To put my program precisely, I took my maxes for front squat, back squat (high bar), sumo deadlift, and conventional deadlift. Then, I calculated what weights I'd do for 5/3/1 and do those sets 3 times without the AMRAP. That was my lower body maintenance work. Then, I'd alternate among chin-ups, pull-ups, face pulls, and some horizontal row as a supplementary back exercise to keep things balanced out. I'm in Madison until the end of the week. Then I have to leave. :'( And to your last sentence: NO :( I'm glad you feel that way though. Two Smolov workouts in a day? Are you a monster?

Dear lord it'll be hard to find love for squat again, but if I can go from #fuckbench to loving bench, anything is possible, right? I have so many excuses for not liking squat: - Poor leverages (long legs, short body). - I keep tweaking my back doing it. - It's the scariest lift. - It's hard!!! - Did I mention it's hard???

Three weeks ago, I decided on a whim to run Smolov Jr. to improve my garbage bench. I wanted to share my experience with it, in case anyone would find it helpful. I have to admit, I also wanted to humblebrag a little about my progress. Stats: Female, 5'4", 123 lbs Diet: Attempt to eat 2300 calories every day. I probably could've done with less beer and going out, but I wanted to enjoy my last few weeks in Wisconsin. Before Smolov: 1RM: 107.5 lbs I once hit 95 lbs for 6 reps, so there's that. Routine: Week 1: Everything felt pretty easy. 6x6 with 72.5 lbs 7x5 with 77.5 lbs 8x4 with 85 lbs 10x3 with 90 lbs Week 2: I'm starting to feel slightly challenged. 6x6 with 80 lbs 7x5 with 85 lbs 8x4 with 92.5 lbs 10x3 with 97.5 lbs Week 3: Oh god this is hard, I'm doing multiple sets of weights I've never even done for that many reps. 6x6 with 85 lbs 7x5 with 90 lbs 8x4 with 97.5 lbs 10x3 with 102.5 lbs On the side, I did some maintenance work for squat and deadlift, pulling movements, and a bunch of sled pushes. I actually increased my deadlift by 15 pounds because of all the rest I gave my hips. I can't say the same for squats. Instead, I've grown to hate squats because they're hard. Thoughts: I've heard horror stories about this routine, but I didn't think it was that bad (probably thanks to the amount of food I was eating and the fact that it was bench, not squat). I found out that I respond really well to high training volume, and definitely plan to bench more often after this. More reps means more practice, so I got really comfortable with my bench form. I learned how to really engage my back muscles in the lift, and my setup has gotten pretty tight (quads and hips are feeling quite stretched out). If you feel great shame for your bench, you feel comfortable with your form, and you respond well to high training volume, then I would recommend running Smolov Jr. once for shits and giggles. Video of the last set: https://instagram.com/p/6MAQnJGsnj/?taken-by=paulapokedyooh I don't know if my butt-to-bench contact was competition-legal, so I'll have to work on keeping my butt down or getting a phatter ass. I'll be testing my new max on Friday. Will update.

Well, I completely forgot that it's important to hydrate BEFORE working out too. Thanks for these great reminders on how to avoid heat exhaustion. I'm only at this gym for the summer. Thankfully, the Wisconsin heat doesn't seem to get as bad as your Florida heat, insanity. It's just humid, which I'm not used to. Ew. It's just too bad there's no appreciable silver lining to this suffering. Maybe feeling like a badass and instilling good habits of adequate hydration.

A towel--why didn't I think of that? I've been wiping my sweat with my already sweaty shirt. Not too effective. I also realized that hydration is pretty important when I finished a set of squats pretty dizzy and losing vision. Not good. I'll keep hydration in mind. I've been lifting more high-volume lately so I think the heat will actually matter a bit. On the bright side, the forecast for the next 10 days is going to be pretty filled with clouds and gloom and thunderstorm, so training should be more comfortable. Midwest weather sure is weird.

This summer, I found a super cool serious lifting gym. It's super cool. It has a lot of equipment (10 racks that you can squat off of!!!). The downside is that it doesn't have air conditioning, and it gets pretty warm and humid (mid 80s and did I mention humidity). I'm usually sweating buckets by the time I walk to the squat rack, and I'm pretty winded after doing just five squats (although that just might be my poor work capacity). How do you deal with training in heat and humidity? Is there any secret benefit to doing so? For example, will I perform any better at an air-conditioned gym once I've grown accustomed to the heat? Will I burn more calories and thus get to consume more burgers and beer?

I knew I'd be back, but I didn't know I'd be back so soon. I unracked the bar for squats. I took a deep breath in. I choked on my spit. I put the bar right back while coughing vigorously. Even worse, someone noticed and said, "It sucks when you choke halfway through, right?"

Another fun story to share: I was doing some band-assisted pull-ups. I'm tired so I swing my body a little bit to get in one last rep. The band snaps off my foot right into my crotch. Ow. I'll probably be back with more embarrassing stories since I'm really good at embarrassing myself.

My main reason for not doing oly lifts is because powerlifting is my focus and I don't have anyone to teach me how to properly do oly lifts. I felt that way about the bench press at first until I realized that I need to learn how to do it in order to call myself a powerlifter. To each their own indeed. Additionally, my awful shoulder mobility makes snatching very scary because when I've tried it, my shoulders were ready to blow with the bar over my head.

Heh, please take anything I say about Olympic lifting with a shaker of salt. I don't do any. Thus, I imagine that if I am to fail a snatch, I will do so disastrously since I know nothing about the technique.

No spotter can save you from a failed snatch.