Albeus51's Epic Journey to Become an Amazon Warrior

[Jord]

On 8/2/2016 at 10:14 PM, Brovatar Korra said:

 

 

 

Haha this is basically what I told the SO yesterday when we going to bed -  after he came and spotted me for bench. "Thank you for supporting my dreams, you know, of lifting all the weights off my chest."

 

Congrats on your awesome benching! Bench bench benchy bench bench. 

[Brovatar Korra]

Wednesday 8/03:

Today's workout was kind of weird, it ended up being a grab-bag of accessories because my MWF training plan got thrown off a bit due to dumb work.

 

1. Pec Flyes DB 3x8 17.5#, drop-set 15#

2. Tricep Pushdowns 30x10, 30x10, 20x10, 20x10, 10x10 (all done sort of without stopping, like 10-15 sec breaks between sets)

3. Face pulls 4x10 30#

4. Lat Pulldowns 55x10, 70x10, 85x10, 100x10, 75x10, 60x10

5. Seated Cable Row 4x10 55#

 

Thursday - REST DAY!

 

On the docket:

Friday - mother EFFIN DEADLIFTS YEAH!

Saturday - yoke carry, log press, rumor is we might have a truck to pull this weekend!

[SevenofSeven]

So casual, you know, this weekend we might have a truck to pull! OMFG! Awesome!!!!!

[Emerald_Dragonfly]

On 8/4/2016 at 9:23 PM, Brovatar Korra said:

 

Saturday - yoke carry, log press, rumor is we might have a truck to pull this weekend!

 

Did rumor, in fact, have it?

[SevenofSeven]

Our enquiringly minds neeeeeed to know!

[Brovatar Korra]

Our enquiringly minds neeeeeed to know!

So we DID have a truck pull this weekend, but I missed it! My husband left to run errands an hour before I got ready to leave, and we didn't realize until it was too late my car keys were still in my gym bag. - which was still in HIS car from the day before. Sad day for everyone I still met up with my coach at the tail end of the workout to talk about training. He also went to a seminar recently so I wanted to hear what tips he might have got from Ed Coan.

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[SevenofSeven]

Total bummer! Next time. 

 

Still totally jelly you have access (being in the same country) to some mighty warrior types! Even if for a fleeting moment, or through a third person! 

[Brovatar Korra]

Monday 8/08: (Week 6 of 16)

1. Squats 4x1 (80%) 215#

Did these with my SBD knee sleeves. I can now put them on in under 5 minutes!

My coach suggested I make my last set an AMRAP, so I actually did 3x1, and on the final set hit 6 reps! 

So new Squat 6RM = 215#

The AMRAP set is sort of a benchmark way to track progress during my 16 week training cycle, since I won't 1RM anything until meet day.

 

2. Leg Extensions 80# 4x12

 

3. I tried doing assisted pull-ups and dips because I haven't worked on them in forever. And it showed. Even with just 50% of my bodyweight I thought my shoulders were going to rip right out of the socket. Guess I have some work to do here.

 

Tuesday 8/09:

1. Explosive Deadlifts 6x3 155#

My set up at the bottom is getting so much better! I know I'm in the right position when the weight actually comes off the ground before I start my pull. (Obviously for heavier weights that's where you would get the bar bend.) I hit that "floaty sweet spot" almost every single rep today!

2. Bench 4x1 (80%) 155#

So technically 155 is 83.7% of my 1RM, it felt fairly heavy today.

On the last set I did an AMRAP, so I actually did 3x1 and then for my final AMRAP set I dropped to 145# (78%) and did 9 reps!

So new Bench 9RM = 145# yay!

 

Planning to do some accessory work and explosive squats tomorrow if I have time. I have a feeling work is going to run late. There's always Thursday. And then Friday is heavy deadlifts yay!

 

I'm very happy with my nutrition and macros this week. Overall I'm down 2.5# from my highest weight last month. Hoping it keeps trending in that direction! I would still like to make the 198# weight class for October, but honestly if I don't it won't stop me from still having fun and doing my best.

[Jord]

11 hours ago, Brovatar Korra said:

 

I'm very happy with my nutrition and macros this week. Overall I'm down 2.5# from my highest weight last month. Hoping it keeps trending in that direction! I would still like to make the 198# weight class for October, but honestly if I don't it won't stop me from still having fun and doing my best.

 

I love your attitude. Your spirit and ambition and drive to succeed is inspiring. Not just in regards to bodyweight, but also in regards to lifting. 

 

How much do you need to lose to get to the weight class you want? 

 

Awesome deadlifts of late!

[Brovatar Korra]

 

I love your attitude. Your spirit and ambition and drive to succeed is inspiring. Not just in regards to bodyweight, but also in regards to lifting. 

 

How much do you need to lose to get to the weight class you want? 

 

Awesome deadlifts of late!

Haha sometimes I'm just trying to convince myself I think....

I'm 217 now, so it would be 19# in 9 weeks. The ORIGINAL PLAN was 19# in 16 weeks, and then my weight refused to budge (or just went up) for the first 7 weeks.

Dropping up to 5 or so pounds in water weight would be doable in the last 48 hours prior to weigh in, but I'm not comfortable (nor do I think it's even feasible) for me to attempt to cut more water weight than that.

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[Brovatar Korra]

Thursday's Brotastic Workout:

Today I got off work early, so I decided to do the one thing I needed for my program (squats) and then just bro out on upper body stuff.

1. Explosive Squats 135# 6x3

These felt really solid. I love lifting barefoot now. I would bench barefoot too except I need the shoe height to reach my toes to the floor

2. Military Press with DB

I decided to see what was the heaviest weight I could do for 4 reps. I got up to 35#, and then it become questionable if I would be able to lift higher weights up to the starting position so I did one more set and called it there  

3. Cable Flyes (using the cross-over machine)

I finally did this for the first time with the cross-over machine (is that what it's called?). Went with 20# per hand, it felt more than anything like a really good stretch.

4. Karlsen Flyes 10# DB 3x10 with 10 second hold on last rep

5. Bicep Curls 15# DB 3x10

6. Face Pulls (Rope) 30# 3x10

7. Tricep Pulldowns (Rope) 30# 3x10 plus drop-sets 20# 1x10

8. Rear Delt Raises 5# DB 3x10 

 

Now I have to study for this dumb pharmacy law quiz tomorrow blurgh.

 

To procrastinate I have an idea - I want to see how much variety I have in what I eat for meals. So I'm going to create a master list of everything I've eaten for Breakfast/Lunch/Dinner/Snacks in the last 7 days. Gonna look for some deficits I can shore up. I can tell you right now it's gonna be light on vegetables.

 

 

 

[Brovatar Korra]

I did it! Here it is! I only listed each food once, even if it was eaten multiple times.

Example: Mozzarella string cheese - I have eaten 2 of those with my lunch like 4 of the last 7 days.

I'm not really sure what this accomplishes. I'm looking at it and it is honestly just making me hungry LOL. But this is pretty reflective of the things I eat on a regular basis.

Breakfast	Lunch	Dinner	Snacks
Maple glazed donut Coffee with heavy whipping cream Summer berry oatmeal Chocolate Frosted Flakes Wheatgrass juice Scrambled Eggs Bacon Protein milkshake Watermelon Toast with guava jelly Mesquite smoked sausage Juiceland peanut butter/protein/ spinach shake	Jamaican style salad Kickstart String Cheese Quest bar Larry complete cookie Monster Lychee coconut jelly Asian style salad with chicken Praline Pumpkin seeds Sante fe style salad Sirloin Steak Protein milkshake Apple cinnamon ricke cakes Amino energy pre-workout Roasted chicken (my fit foods) Apple Red Bull	Chipotle chicken burrito Frozen yogurt Chickfila chicken sandwich Steamed vegetables Garlic pesto salmon Baby dutch yellow potatoes Goulash Top Ramen Sirloin steak Watermelon Little Cesear’s deep dish pepperoni pizza White rice Tuna Miller Highlife Macaroni and cheese Iced Tea	Apple cinnamon rice cakes Starbucks frappaccino Rx coconut cacao bar Pizzeria combos Skinny cow cookies and cream sandwich Quest bar Lemon tea biscuits Mango lemonade

[Emerald_Dragonfly]

I'm guilty of procrastination as well.   Sometimes I get some pretty cool stuff out of it, and sometimes I wonder how in the heck I spent so much time not doing what I was supposed to do.  Meh. 

[Brovatar Korra]

Friday 08/12:

1. DL

135x5, 185x3, 205x2, 225x1, 245 3x1

AMRAP 225x5

That's a new 5RM yay! At 78% I was hoping to get more like 7-8 reps but I'm still happy that everything felt solid. And something to beat next time. And it wasn't too long ago 225 was a 1RM. Progress!

 

2. Explosive BP 115# 5x3

Set-up is getting more efficient every session.

 

3. Lat Pulldowns 55# 3x10

 

Life update:

I finished my first rotation of my final year in pharmacy school yay! 1 down, 6 more to go. Or you could say: 6 weeks down, 36 weeks to go! It actually went really well I enjoyed working at the hospital. Next rotation is all critical care in the ICU, I think it might be a bit more stressful but I'm excited. And I only have to drive 45 minutes instead of the usual 60-70.

[Brovatar Korra]

Post workout photo because why not. Please ignore the mess behind me.

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[Brovatar Korra]

Strongman Saturday:

 

1. Farmer's Carry

We decided today instead of going super heavy we should go lighter and work on speed. So I ended up doing 66# each hand, and our runs were 100ft.

1st run - 12 and half seconds

2nd run - closer to 12 flat

3rd run - 11 and half seconds yay!

So for my 4th run decided to go all out and push for under 11.

4th run - 9.58 YEAAAAAAAH!

I was spent after that though.

 

2. Keg Press

Unfortunately our gym has empty kegs ~45#, and then the next heaviest is 100#. So I can do the 45 just fine but I can't OHP the 100. So there wasn't really much progression for me to do... I ended up doing a lot of overdue foam rolling and mobility at the end. Still time well spent!

 

Nutrition is going well, but weight is right back where I started. I seem to lose the same 3# over and over again. Even though the primary goal is dropping a weight class, it is a real bummer to not have any sort of progress to track. I think I might start using the measuring tape again. It won't help me with the competition, but at least if that moves I can say something is going right.

[Jord]

On 8/13/2016 at 10:57 PM, Brovatar Korra said:

Nutrition is going well, but weight is right back where I started. I seem to lose the same 3# over and over again. Even though the primary goal is dropping a weight class, it is a real bummer to not have any sort of progress to track. I think I might start using the measuring tape again. It won't help me with the competition, but at least if that moves I can say something is going right.

 

I have been having this same problem all year. I thought about it and at least for me I think it is because when I start to see some measure of success I then get lax on things like food tracking and conditioning. Because it's working, so like ummmm why try so hard? Then the weight goes back up. I'm not sure if this happens with you. But taking some time to think about what might be causing the up and down swing of 3# is worth a shot. You may unearth some kind of solution, or at least awareness.

 

Although 3# is not a lot, so it may just be a coincidence? Just nature's chaos theory? 

[SevenofSeven]

On 13 August 2016 at 0:21 PM, Brovatar Korra said:

Post workout photo because why not. Please ignore the mess behind me.

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What mess? It is perfectly legit to have a bedrobe!

[Brovatar Korra]

Monday 8/15:

1. Squats 45x5, 95x5, 135x3, 165x3, 185x3, 195 3x5

- I didn't realize this until afterward, but my weight increases were 50, 40, 30, 20, 10 and that was oddly satisfying

- I'm pretty sure 195# is the highest I've ever done for 3 sets of 5!

 

2. Explosive DLs 135# 6x4

- These were so powerful and efficient! I'm really happy my coach got me to start doing speed work

 

3. Leg Extensions

65x12, 85 3x12

drop-set AMRAP 75x10

 

4. Calf Raises 90# 3x15

[Brovatar Korra]

6 hours ago, Taddea Zhaan said:

 

I have been having this same problem all year. I thought about it and at least for me I think it is because when I start to see some measure of success I then get lax on things like food tracking and conditioning. Because it's working, so like ummmm why try so hard? Then the weight goes back up. I'm not sure if this happens with you. But taking some time to think about what might be causing the up and down swing of 3# is worth a shot. You may unearth some kind of solution, or at least awareness.

 

Although 3# is not a lot, so it may just be a coincidence? Just nature's chaos theory? 

 

Yes I think I definitely should take a step back and look at the numbers. I was ***assuming*** that since I had been eating around 2900 calories before, If I dropped down to 2600 that would be a sufficient deficit. 

 

So my weight has held constant (in the 216-220 range) since 6/20.

 

Let's look at weekly calorie averages:

Last 7 days: 2608

1 week ago: 2513

2 weeks ago: 2643

3 weeks ago: 2864

That's an average of 2,657 over the last month.

 

My fitbit says I'm burning on average: 2,568

 

Soooooo....... YOU DUMMY!!! I've been eating at maintenance for my activity, NO WONDER my weight has been unflinchingly steady. 

 

 

 

NEW PLAN:

Keep doing everything I'm doing, but add 45 minutes of walking twice of week.

This might be worthy of a 4 week challenge.

 

 

 

[Jord]

12 hours ago, Brovatar Korra said:

 

Yes I think I definitely should take a step back and look at the numbers. I was ***assuming*** that since I had been eating around 2900 calories before, If I dropped down to 2600 that would be a sufficient deficit. 

 

So my weight has held constant (in the 216-220 range) since 6/20.

 

Let's look at weekly calorie averages:

Last 7 days: 2608

1 week ago: 2513

2 weeks ago: 2643

3 weeks ago: 2864

That's an average of 2,657 over the last month.

 

My fitbit says I'm burning on average: 2,568

 

Soooooo....... YOU DUMMY!!! I've been eating at maintenance for my activity, NO WONDER my weight has been unflinchingly steady. 

 

 

 

NEW PLAN:

Keep doing everything I'm doing, but add 45 minutes of walking twice of week.

This might be worthy of a 4 week challenge.

 

 

 

 

YAY for realizations and for challenges and for new resolves! You got this. 

[Brovatar Korra]

Throwback to my very first workout of my very first challenge February 2013:

 

"OKAY! First workout of the challenge went great, I'm setting personal records all over the place! I think all those Reeses peanut butter cups I ate yesterday gave me a burst of energy   

 

Bench: 45x8, 65x8, 85x5, 105x5, 115x4 (PR!), 105x5

 

Squats: 45x8, 65x6, 95x6, 115x5, 125x5 (PR!), 125x5

 

Deadlifts: 65x6, 85x5, 115x5, 135x5, 145x3 (PR!), 145x4"

 

Four years of progress, the PRs don't happen as often or as fast but still...

 

 

 

[Jord]

you have made just amazing progress since then!

[Brovatar Korra]

Monday 05/22/17:

 

Front Squats - 45x5x2, 85x5, 105x5, 125x5, 135x5

Was aiming to work up to 150 (75%) but 135 felt so rough I decided to stop here for the day

 

Single Leg Press - 50x10, 90x10x3

Weight listed is just the plates added on. WTF does a leg press weigh empty?

 

Leg Extensions - 50x12, 60x12, 70x12, 80x12, 90x12, 70x12

90# always seems to be where my form breaks down and I can't hold it for a pause at the top

 

Crucifix Hold - with DB 10# ~45 sec, 12.5# DB ~ 30 sec

The event on June 3rd is a chain crucifix hold for time, 30# per hand. Ooph. It looks like this:

 

[Jord]

16 hours ago, Brovatar Korra said:

 

 

Single Leg Press - 50x10, 90x10x3

Weight listed is just the plates added on. WTF does a leg press weigh empty?

 

 

I don't know and I was just lamenting this myself! There are so many kinds of leg press and so many companies, it is probably hard to say. 

 

16 hours ago, Brovatar Korra said:

 

 

Crucifix Hold - with DB 10# ~45 sec, 12.5# DB ~ 30 sec

The event on June 3rd is a chain crucifix hold for time, 30# per hand. Ooph. It looks like this:

 

 

That is going to be rough! I googled that yesterday after you said. It doesn't look hard but then if you go to do it, damn it sure is. But you are strong AF. Keep on trainin'!