The rest time on those is on the lowish end - about 90 seconds.

Good point about the added stress. It is only a baby comp and looking at last year's results, my squat is way more than those in the same weight class, so I doubt I will need the extra help (watch, now someone will come in with a squat just better than mine ;-P).

Following. MUAH!

:happy:

10/7/13

Rest day.

Weight: 146


10/8/13

Weight: 147.6


Week 1, upper volume.

Kinda sucked. Still getting my weights down.

Bench - all paused :

45 x 10
95 x 2
115 x 2
105 x 5,4,4,3,3

Last one I did the roll of shame...I was extremely graceful while doing it

I am having problems with my bar path and with getting my arch without ending up too far down the bench. I focused on gripping the bar which seemed to help, but was not feeling very strong. I am not sure how much the pause made a difference (as I usually touch and go), but I usually can do a lot more than 105 for reps.

Chest Supported Rows 1:

130 x 6,6,6,5,5,5,4

OHP:

Totally sucked.

45x5
65x5
85x1
75x5
70x5
65x5

I was supposed to do my first set as a set of 8, but overshot what I thought I could do. I had not taken into account the fatigue from benches and rows (I usually do OHP as my main lift). I only did 1 at 85 as some idiot in the gym decided to yell really loudly and throw his weights down, also really loudly so I got thrown off - I also realized that there was no way I would have done a set of 8 anyway. I kept rest times a bit shorter than usual.

Chest Supported Rows 2:

100 x 12,10



I am really hoping that my sucky sessions are from being a little thrown by the new routine and not because I actually suck. I have been doing a version of 5/3/1 for over a year and so was very comfortable with it.

I also need to try not to get too worried about my lifts for the meet as it is early days yet. My deadlift is pretty good relative to women of my size so I am not too concerned about that (at the moment). I am a little worried about my squat, however, I just checked the rules and it does not appear that a pause is required by the APA (the federation hosting the meet). My biggest concern at the moment is my bench. It is my weakest lift anyway, especially after my shoulder issues, and I am sucking at it big time. I know it is a baby meet and my results do not matter in the scheme of things - it is really to get a feel for competitions...but I am a competitive bish sometimes so I want to do well. However, I just need to focus on my lifting sessions and try not to get too hung up on the actual weights I am lifting - I just need to continue to push myself and work on form.

10/9

Weight: 147.6. Refeed day today (I was planning on doing it today, but breakfast pastries happened!)

Week 1, Lower Power Day

Squats:

Warm up:

Bar x 2 x 10
135 x 5
155 x 3
175 x 3

Walk outs:

260x 1
270x 1

[should have been 3 but I got confused :embarassed: again]

Main:

This should have been doubles, but, as I mentioned, I got confused and did triples :grumble:

200 x 3 - 2 sets
190 x 3 - 6 sets

Felt a bit better this time although I am a bit far forward. The weight was not that much comparatively, but I was happy that I was able to make sure I got depth (by quite a bit) without looking at the mirror. I practiced looking up, where I tend to automatically look at myself when squatting. It actually seemed to help with my form. I also played around a bit with my stance, but I seem to keep coming back to a mid stance. Knees caved on a few of the earlier sets, but I was getting better at focusing on pushing my knees out which also seemed easier to do when I was not watching myself in the later sets

Deadlifts:

Warm ups:
135 x 5
185 x 3
225 x 1

Main:
255 x 1 x 5 sets

Managed to get all 5 sets done even though it was frigging hot in the gym and rather late. Back was trying to round. I played around with my starting position as my butt was coming up early. The pulls where my butt did not come up early were the ones where I felt my torso was too parallel to the floor. So, still some playing around to do with my set up.

I was supposed to pull throughs...but it was late, the gym was full of twats, I had a niggle in my hamstring/glute tie in and I was tired, so I gave them a miss.


10/10

Weight: 147.6 (happy with that after a refeed day)

Tomorrow is the test/technique day - I am kind of looking forward to it but kind of nervous as this week has been a but bleh, and I will have to train again in the evening (which is not my best time to train). I may try to sneak at least squats in before I leave for work.

10/11

Weight: 147.2

Ended up having to have a rest day as work was so crazy I did not get off until late, needed to eat, and by the time I had got home and eaten, it was 11pm, so I thought I should defer as I would have a really cr@ppy session.

10/12

Weight: 147.2...again!

Week 1: Test/Technique Day.

This was a bit of a monster of a day...3 hours and I did not even do the assists. The good thing was that I lifted in the morning which I prefer as I usually have better performance.

Squats:

Felt much stronger today. I was playing around with depth and I know I missed a few, but all in all, pretty happy. I do think I am a little forward though - bar path looks a little in front of mid foot, but I am hesitant to play around with it too much at this stage.

Warmed up with the bar then:

135 x 5
185 x 3
195 x 1
225 x 1 (belted at this point)
215 x 3
205 x 3 x 6 sets

I think my rest periods are too long. ^^that took me over an hour. I was a little distracted by the guy with the 2" ROM squats saying 'sexy time' to himself in the mirror and dancing and singing between sets though.

I was happy though as the 205 felt about the same RPE as the 185 earlier in the week. I am not sure how much is the slightly increased carbs kicking in or the fact that I lifted in the morning. But whatever it is, I will take it.


Bench, Close Grip

I do not usually do these so they felt a bit awkward.

Warm up with bar, then:
65 x 5
85 x 3
115 x 3
105 x 3 for 4 sets

I stopped a bit short as I still needed to do deads and I had been in the gym for 2 hours at this point and needed to get to work at some time!.


Deadlifts:

Started to feel fatigued and some idiot threw me off by talking to me as I was about to lift and hovering around trying to get weights off a BB right in front of me, so I stopped sooner than planned. D!ck could have waited the whole 30 seconds it took to do my set! To add insult to injury, he took the plates (which, btw, there are loads of around the gym) and proceeded to do 2 sets of 5 squats at 105lb!

135 x 5
185 x 3
205 x 1
255 x 3 (the set that the pratt interjected himself)
235 x 3

I spotted the idiot in a different part of the gym and then proceeded to tell him off. I am obviously used to people moving around when I lift and I can ignore them, but having them in my line of sight, hovering, trying to get plates, all within a foot of me when I am pulling was a bit much, especially after he asked me a question just as I was lined up to bend over to grab the bar. I was pretty steamed.

Anyhoo...at the 3 hour mark, I decided it was enough in any event and called it a day. I think I am doing too many sets and/or having too much rest time in between. Volume is not that high at all, but I am taking 'main lift' type rests - between 3 and 5 minutes a lot of the time.

I do not usually say this..but I am really looking forward to a rest day tomorrow. I do not have DOMS as such - I just ache...all over. My hammie/glute tie in is the worse. I really need to do some mobility work before my body reminds me that I am really too damn old for this shiz!

^^thanks.

Chatting to SideSteel a bit today and I am probably going to try low-bar after the meet (I currently do high bar). I have tried it once before and it felt off, but that was over a year ago and I was really new to squats at that time. The reason I am thinking about it is that the bar path is a little far forward as my natural torso position is more like a low bar's. I was thinking to try to 'force' myself more upright or sit back more, but my body position has served me pretty well so far and it is more natural to me - so maybe its a case of moving the bar position rather than moving my body position.

Example is here if anyone has input (and yes, I know I am a little shy of depth on the two reps =p. I was trying to play around with just hitting depth - but decided in the end its not worth the risk of not getting depth and I get a decent bounce out of the hole when I go lower in any event). http://tinypic.com/r/65zsbb/5

I also managed to get a clip of 2: ROM sexy time without realizing when videoing a different set - you can see his reflection in the mirror - far right, towards the bottom (and it's him re-racking that shakes my phone). Vid is not a good angle to use as an example for me as it is too high, but I thought I would include so I can show that I really was not exaggerating. Unfortunately, this was not one of the sexy time sets. http://tinypic.com/r/vi179z/5