juliewatkin Member

After thinking about this I had to double check the IPF approved list and was super happy to find Best Belts are now on the list.

I have one of theirs too. I got it in three shades of blue with my initials embroidered on the back. I'm wearing it in my picture. They sent me a bunch of suede swatches so I could pick the colour. Unfortunately, for those of us that compete, they are no longer IPF approved which is why I ended up getting a wahlander belt.…

I agree with this. I have a number of belts, single prong, double prong, lever and most recently a wahlander belt. The Inzer 10mm single prong is, in my opinion one of the most versatile and long lasting. Unless you gain or lose a lot of weight it should last forever (hence the name:) Like Sonya said, you don't wear it,…

I wonder if it's the stairs making your calves hurt. Squat shouldn't really impact them but any time I've done a lot of stairs, my calves are on fire.

I can relate to shifty. I usually hit that point at rep 5. I lose upper back tightness and the rest just seems like an attempt to recover it.

Exactly. In addition, you really don't know what anyone else's goals are. Finally, I think we're all guilty of ego lifting. I remember doing a deadlift rep contest that may have been ill advised but was fun as hell anyway. Always being pristine in form and goals seems a bit humourless.

Like another poster said, find which you prefer and devote yourself to doing that. Form can sometimes be tricky to figure out but there are plenty of youtube videos on form. You can also video yourself to see how you are progressing. I remember when I first joined a gym and didn't know anything. I had no confidence in my…

The gap is closing. I think we're still about 33% women although we have been getting more and more meets where the mix is 50/50.

Gotcha. I'm in Ontario. We had an insanely large team go to nationals this year. The sport is growing by leaps and bounds. Last November when I stepped down as Ontario President, we had over 850 members just in our Province. It's also grown considerably for women. When I joined in 2008, there were 48 women in Ontario. It's…

Where are you located?

Nice job. Way to stick with it. Can I offer a tiny bit of advice? Your hand position seems a bit wide. When they are wide it puts you at a mechanical disadvantage. You have to go lower to get to the bar. Try hanging your arms straight down and see where your hands hit. Every fraction of an inch in getting a higher set up…

I wouldn't worry about getting your hips down. It may be stronger for you but the way your pulling now may be better for you. Play around with it. I think people tend to become focused on 'the right way' to do a lift. Depending upon your own mechanics, it's different for different people. I revert to pulling with my back…

I have scheduled deloads every 10 weeks or so. Our cycles are 10 weeks. We start lightish weight/higher volume. Over the course of 9 weeks volume drops and intensity builds. Week 10 is super light/low volume like the week leading into a meet. I never used to schedule deload weeks but have found them helpful for recovery.…

It's a good thing you got in this year. Starting next year anyone who hasn't yet competed at nationals will be required to first compete at a regional championship.

Nice job. Was this your first nationals? It looks like Rhaea and Ryan ran a great meet. I really like the addition of the commentary on the live stream.

That's great that it works for you. It won't work for everyone. No plan is optimal for everyone at all times. One of the reasons that this is a marathon and not a sprint is the mental energy that goes into what works best for you. You have to figure that out yourself by trial and error. In addition what works for you this…

Because some people aren't into it. Why don't more people run marathons? Because they aren't into it. It's a bit egocentric to imagine that your thing is the be all and end all of what everyone should be doing. I find this type of thing typically comes up with people who are new to whatever and are still in the evangelical…

When I was first lifting I tried doing box squats with a too heavy weight. I got pinned to the box and was too high up to dump the bar on the pins. There was only one other guy in the weight room at the time and he was facing away wearing head phones. I had to shout for a while to get his attention. All the while I was…

I share the long femur issue. I can squat quite low without difficulty but because of the length of my femurs it feels like I travel through time zones and I also get forward lean in order to keep the bar over the centre of my body. I never thought I would envy people with short legs.

I find paused reps work best for me. I pull sumo but it's the same thing. Pull off the floor and pause just below the knee and then pull to lock out.

I agree with this. A barbell squat is different than a body weight or goblet squat. The most significant difference is the position of your shoulders. When you squat with a barbell, your shoulders are pulled back. Body weight and goblet squats allow your shoulders to roll forward. This will affect flexibility. When I do a…

The one I never do is lunges of any variety. They always seem to F up my quads and knees. That's one that's not worth it for me.

I'm 51 and have a pretty hot bod according to me and my mirror (and my husband) :smile: I didn't drop a ton of weight. However, about 10 years ago I got quite thin trying to get my dream body and no matter how much weight I dropped, I didn't think I looked good. I had about the flattest *kitten* going. Once I started…

Good luck making the team. Are you open still or masters? I'm taking a bit of a break from nationals for a year or two. Maybe I'll think about it the year Worlds is in Calgary; 2018.

What squat program are you running?

Have fun. I did Smolov a couple of years ago and I swear to god I'm still recovering from that.

I agree 100%. I found the gym incredibly boring when I first started because all I did was cardio and machines. Then I got into free weights and competing and love it. That's not for everyone either. Find what blows your skirts up and do that... like volleyball :smile:

It doesn't have to be fancy. I got mine on the cheap buying mostly second hand and knowing the right people. I bought my plates (800lbs) for $100 from a strength coach for a rowing team who was unloading his stuff. I had to drive for it though. It's been more than worth it over the years but, to be honest, I'll still go to…

Nice work. I would have thought overhead pressing would come naturally to someone with a solid bench. However, my husband has proven otherwise.

You're kidding I hope. If you're competing, you make want to work on not quite so deep. You'll leave unnecessary pounds on the platform. You don't get more points for extra deep :smile: For reference, I'm a ref in an IPF affiliate (CPU) and don't need to see anything nearly that deep. How do you like the sleeves? I found…