lwow

How many calories are you aiming for daily? Saving for a trainer is a great idea, I never thought I needed one, was gifted some sessions and now I am hooked. I am certain that I progress quicker than I would alone; at this point, he is designing my programming, nutrition, and I meet with him 1-1 about every 2 weeks. However, not all trainers are created equal. Based on info in your thread it looks like you are coming back from a bad past injury, some trainers specialize in working with that. I feel your pain on delicious treats lingering in the office. Mine is full of valentines day baked goods. Last week, there was home made candy and a birthday cake. Can't we just have birthday asparagus and chicken? Anger is amazing for PRs. But don't over-analyze the gym bros, always assume ignorance, not malice and you'll be correct far more often.

Rest day yesterday, will go to the gym tonight (weather permitting, but it should be fine). I'm a little sore, but not bad. Getting a lot more sleep than last week so recovery is going better. I'm on nutrition plan day 38 which feels like a long time. I am in the 3rd to last week of having all my meals planned out for me. I am getting a little concerned about how I will deal with exiting the plan after 8 weeks of building habits. A big part of me wants to continue eating like this right through my contest, which will be a total of 4 months of eating really clean and nutritionally dense. A few things I hope stick: eggs for breakfast - easier than I fearedmore veggies in general- green things with every mealdrink more watermore frequent, smaller meals - especially 2 lunches; not swinging from starving to full all dayno room in my diet for sweets, they are not fulfilling, even special occasionsalcohol is special occasions only at least until I am back under 200lbs which could be a while as I am trying to add muscle toono office junk food - even the things i can rationalize like granola bars and honey roasted peanuts, and especially not cookies and candy

Can...can I watch? Put the ice cream on the cookie bar. Yeah, like a sandwich. Now, eat it. OMG.

Yesterday was an awesome workout. Strongman Sundays at the gym are always great, and now we are starting to get ready for the contest, we are focusing in on specific event work. The group generally consists of my trainer, 2 guys who are competing as 231s in the same contest as me (one of those is my husband), a guy who competes as 200 and has been training for around 10 years but has no upcoming contests, and a guy who started strongman at the same time as me but weighs around 330 and is like an ox. So, Mike, D-Rock, DJ, Dan, Billdozer and me. We warmed up, did 2x8 sets of dynamic squats - I did @105 Circus dumb bell one arm clean and OHP- work up to heaviest weight - I was expecting a new PR here because of all the upper body work I have been doing. I hit 50 easily and kind of hit 60 which was my last PR. So, some disappointment there. I think it might just be that I am a bit fatigued. I fully expect to be hitting #70 soon which is contest weight. First I need to get over a fear of smashing my head. Then 75 seconds AMRAP; I got 7 @ #50. My training partners were working at #105-140. Atlas Stones - I hadn't done stones in a year, so I was excited to get back to it to prep for the contest. I am at a new gym since last year, so I wasn't sure what they weighed. I did a warm-up on a little stone, tried to remember my technique, then moved onto another little stone for my working weight. We did a rotation, everyone do 1 lift of a stone to a platform around 48" x5. Even though I had gotten the stone once before, I couldn't pick up the stone because I had forgotten my stones shirt and was wearing layers of technical dri-fit kind of stuff that the stone was just slipping off of. So...I took off my shirt. I have always wanted to be comfortable enough with my body to work out in just a sports bra. I am not quite there yet, but I really wanted to just get the lift. Without the slipery shirts, I got the stone up fine. The best part is that after the reps, we weighed the stone which I expected to be around 80-90 lbs and it was actually 120. My contest weight is 150 which I should get easily, especially because we can wear tacky and it just needs to go over a 44" bar. Still, I could use some work on this one to get my technique. My training buddies were lifting 210 and 230. Sprints - So at this point we have had a pretty full workout. We've moved lots of things and are feeling a little tired. Our trainer says, ok clean up your weights, pack up, and we can drive over to the high school track across the street for the end of our workout. I seriously, completely thought he was joking. We strongmen folks are not big on running. Cardio kills gains. We need to have good conditioning to do well in events like sandbag carries and long medleys though. So he was not kidding. We packed up and hit the track (which is really nice) and did 4x400m sprints. It was... uncomfortable. Now we are doing track stuff every Sunday apparently. Not my favorite work, but it is character building and gives me a nice kind of tired afterwords. Later my husband and I hit costco to stock up on meat, eggs, veggies, and grapefruit for the week ahead. Then made some protein/veggie shakes and went over to our friends house to watch the superb owl, where I made nutrition plan approved nachos for everyone and fell asleep for the 4th quarter of the game. I don't feel as sore today as I would have imagined, I got great sleep last night and woke up early this morning feeling totally ready for the day which is much better than last week.

Good bench workout 1-on-1 with trainer yesterday. I went to a party last night and kept to the seltzer and munched on carrots which I am really proud about. Big workout today (cross your fingers for event training, and starting taxes like the adult I sometimes pretend to be.

So I mentioned to my trainer that I was having issues with very low energy, and he started asking about my sleep. This uncovered the obvious - I have been sleeping like crap for about a week, but I hadn't really thought about it. He gave me an out and said that I could skip the gym last night. But I was thinking it would be a good idea to go and work out with the goal of tiring myself out. I went and it was a sad sad workout. Between CNS fatigue and lack of sleep fatigue, I had hit a wall. The good news is that I went home, had a protein shake, and got 8 beautiful hours of sleep. I am feeling much better today and it is a rest day. Plus tomorrow is a sleep in! Hitting the gym at 8 though, so not too much. Yesterday I did box sumo deadlifts, which were simultaneously silly looking and super effective.

I know there are a lot of options out there. Recently someone showed me 6 pack bags which look pretty useful, but disturbingly, all sport a six pack on them. Lately, I've been getting by with old Athleta bags, but should probably advance to something a little more stylish/professional to take to work. Also as it gets warmer out, I can't rely on the weather to do my refrigeration for me, so I'll be on the lookout for a better bag. Probably something like a small cooler.

Way to spread the word on heavy lifting! I bet that your new recruits will get overwhelmed if you do more than 1 kind of lift. There is so much to remember for each of them, you could review them all in 90 minutes; but they might get confused. There are so many details in each movement to get it right! In addition to your list, benching is good for upper body.

Day 32 of nutrition plan. It is a training day and I don't know how I am going to eat this much food. Which is frustrating because yesterday I was (for the first time on this plan) so so so hungry last night. I pack meals 1-3 to bring to work. Today they did not all fit in my lunch bag - I needed to upgrade to a paper grocery bag. As I mentioned, training tonight. Most of my soreness has dissipated, but my energy is really low. Hopefully this feast of a day will help with that. I am feeling like I am changing shape though which makes me happy. Clothes that weren't fitting are getting back in rotation, it is like shopping in my own closet. I wish I had taken some measurements before I started. Breakfast (meal 1) 2 whole eggs (*pan fried, hard boiled, poached, etc)*if pan frying use pam or similar non stick spray rather than butter or oil 1/3 cup Trader Joes Cage Free liquid egg whites 1 cup Brussels sprouts 2 tablespoons pumpkin seeds 1 grapefruit 1/3 cup oats Meal 2 1 cup (container) fage greek yogurt 10 RAW asparagus spears 1.5 cups organic mixed berries 1 slice Ezekiel bread Meal 3 4 oz. chicken thighs 2 cups broccoli 1 cup rice Meal 4 HUGE protein and veggie shake Meal 5 Chicken stir fry: each serving is- 4 oz chicken thighs + 1 cup rice as desired: (stir fried w chicken) snap peas, broccoli, onion, red/green peppers, garlic, scallions, mushrooms

Nice work, you can see changes around your collarbone for sure

Day 31 of nutrition - I am supposed to get on the scale every day, but the numbers were all over the place and messing with my head, so I have been limiting to every 3 days or so. Now that I have been at this plan for nearly 5 weeks it is apparent that the weight trend is going down for sure. I started at 212 and this morning had 206. But wait, there's more! Last night I hit a PR on bench for 110# single, hooray! Leaning out while getting stronger - it's not a myth! I think I have the strength to do more, but my technique is not coming together. To illustrate - I hit this PR by kicking my left leg out off the ground. Good explosiveness I guess, but imagine if I actually lifted effectively. Anyway, last night in general despite a PR, I just felt like I was going through the motions. I went really hard Thursday-Sunday and I am feeling it. Last night I was so tired but when I got to bed I could not shut my mind off and wound up getting less than 6 hours of sleep which is not a good place for me. Today I have another rest day which I am very happy about. Work up to heavy single bench press: 45 75 95 105 (killed it) 115 (killed me) 110 (just right) 1x4 @ 100 close grip 3x3 @ 85 3x 10 each arm DB bent over rows #55 8-10 dips 3x 10 seal rows 25# 10 french press 50#

Day 30 of nutrition plan. Still going strong. Meals are getting bigger on training days and more carbs in general. This morning I had eggs with egg whites, sprouted grain toast, brussels sprouts, pumpkin seeds and coffee. For my lunches I have a bunless burger with broccoli and then chicken thigh with asparagus, more pumpkin seeds, and a sweet potato. Big preworkout shake with lots of veggies, yogurt and protein, then post work out protein shake and sweet potato sheppards pie. All I do is shop, cook, pack, eat, lift, sleep. I am training tonight even though my glutes are non-functionally sore from Sunday's single leg barbell deadlifts. I suspect it will be a pressing workout. I've got my end of last challenge/beginning of this challenge progress pics. Progress is definitely happening! I'm excited to see where I am next month. I wish there was an easier/more accurate/cheaper way to see how my body fat percentage is moving. I guess it really isn't that important, but it would be a fun metric to know especially given that the scale isn't moving. Did a meditation session last night - woot! Off to a good start.

My next strongman comp: April 2 Delaware's Strongest 8 Strongman Lewes, DE https://strongmancorporation.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/DelawaresStrongest8-1.pdf note that they are still taking competitors even though the website says capped at 50. They are up to about 70 now and taking more

Good luck with your contest! When I started lifting, I was tempted to go the power lifting route....and then I learned that there was a sport where you could run and throw the weights around. Oh and also that I pretty much suck at static strength. And that I don't want to wear a singlet.

Oh no, I will never be able to compare my lifts to yours again because I cannot math and you have gone metric on me!

I live in northern VA near DC, but my husband is from upstate DE and his brother lives downstate so we find ourselves visiting DE pretty often. The competition is in Lewes on April 2 all info is here https://strongmancorporation.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/DelawaresStrongest8-1.pdf My husband, brother in law, and another guy from my gym will be competing. It would be awesome to see you there, it should be a great event

The downside of these is that if you are doing them at the gym, everyone just assumes you have no idea how to do a push up

And this week there are such dinners as shepards pie, chicken soup and for super bowl sunday - nachos! Not just meat and veg; and meat and veg; and meat and veg;and meat and veg;and meat and veg...

Cue the music...we're gonna need a montage 8 Weeks of training before a week of rest before contest time. I will Continue my nutrition programTake progress pics, log workouts, track PRs, log food if I switch to a macro planMaintain consistency of training (4x week plus active recovery)LUYL: Continue to try to get a meditation session a week. Add gratitude journal. Below is my contest info for Delaware's Strongest and my current state updated from last month. Circus DB Press for reps ­ Clean and press every rep ­ 60 second time limit 70# (3†loadable handle) PR 60# 6 weeks ago. I've been working a lot on bench and OHP; I an confident I could hit 70# now and should be retesting soon. I would like to get 4 lifts in contest. Max Barbell Deadlift ­30 second time limit Wessels rule; max 3 attempts ­ miss at anytime and you are out; 20lb jumps : minimum starting weight 200lbs Max deadlift 230 without belt. I did sets of pause deads at 225 last week though. I suspect my max is getting closer to 240. I am confident that I can make good progress here and would like to be able to hit 280-300. Farmer’s Hold – max time 155# I have not done a farmers hold in a long time, but my max was 150, so this needs some work. Once I can pick this weight, I should be good for the hold. Sandbag carry medley ­ Carry sandbag 50 feet straight drop, pick up heavier sandbag carry 50 feet back ­ 60 second time limit ­ no shouldering, must carry bear hug style 100# 120# Yesterday I did 8x100 with 80 lb sandbag. I need to work on my pick speed, but I should do well in this event. Stone over bar series ­ 44†bar for women­ 60 second time limit 150# 150# is my current PR for stones, but it was to a higher platform. I have lifted 75 but could not get it to the higher platform. It has been a while since I tried. Looking to hit 2-3 reps

All in all this was a great challenge for me to kick off the new year. I stuck to my nutrition plan for 4 weeks and am on track to continue for another 4. I hope that my performance and aesthetic improvements continue.I got my consistency for going to the gym back to where I want it to be (aprox 4x week plus active rest and recovery activities)I hit some new PRs and started training for events for the April 2 contest. Noted my baseline lifts. I meditated a few times, but could do betterI did a few house projects, so that is a work in progress

Glad to see you back! I just stalked your strongman show - holy truck pulls and keg tossing! Have they posted weights yet?

Why do you need cardio? I'm not saying you shouldn't, but you just say you need to, but with no reason. Getting workouts in is so much easier when you are doing something you love. If you do need it, have you tried lifting lighter weights faster? Or moving with weights (sandbag carries, farmers walks)? It might appeal more to your preference of workout?

Workout last night was ok. I was working with my trainer so I didn't write down all my sets and weights but the general gist is below. The good thing was that I am starting to get the hang of benching and I think that I still have a lot of noob gains to make on that lift. Due to my unexpected break from the gym due to weather and work, I'll be going back tonight and both days this weekend. Strict OHP sets of 5 @ 80 lbs Standing Zydrunas press in rack (work on top half of OHP) 5x5 Bench 5x5 @ 65 Bench up to 5 each until failure using one block, 2, 3, 4 do rotation x5 Accessory work rolling tris scarecrows bent over rows I drank a ton of water yesterday, but kept cramping up on bench in my hips and obliques; so apparently not enough. Eating is good. Sleeping could be better, I've been getting to bed a little later than I would like all week and it is catching up with me. Tonight gym, early bedtime and a sleep-in tomorrow.

Are you doing progress pictures in addition to the scale and measurements? They are super helpful for seeing progress in the right direction that the scale isn't showing. I am doing them once a week and amazed to see changes in just 7 days.

Spent an inordinate amount of time staring at that steak. My husband has planked with me sitting on his back, and can pick me up like and atlas stone if I roll into the smallest ball possible. Sadly, I cannot reciprocate, but it is fun