2 Meets 5 Months Bring It!

Bigger Stronger Leaner Powerful Women
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Alrighty, so I finally have a goal and a plan…time for a journal.

I did end up setting the Washington State Raw records for deadlift and squat for my weight class which is pretty cool. The girl with the bench only beat me out by .3. I know the numbers for my squat and bench weren’t stellar so my goal is to raise those up. There are two powerlifting meets this summer, early July and mid August. Clearly I have been out of the game for several months so it will take some work to get back into conditioned shape. My boyfriend got the first in a series of strength coaching certs by Charles Poliquin which he has mixed feelings about, but definitely has several benefits. So I am being his guinea pig for the next few months to train for these meets.

Up first is trying to readjust to being in the gym and getting onto a five day training schedule. Also, I am reformulating my diet since salads muscle do not make. Although vegan is where I want to be, I really can’t afford a lot of what is necessary to eat vegan but still accomplish the physical strength goals I have. Some may disagree, but I doubt anyone can say that vegan protein powder is cheaper than whey in terms of volume. I will stay veggie though, and my main protein sources will be eggs, whey protein, pea/rice/hemp protein, and beans. I will incorporate soy and tempeh several times a week.

I would really like to drop some bodyfat and potentially get to a more competitive weight class, but it really all depends on how this training cycle goes. Basically it is not my goal.

We are going to divide the next few months into Structural Imbalance training, GBC, Advanced GVT, Cluster training, and an intensification phase. I’m really excited to have this all planned out.

Here are the last two workouts we did for Structural Imbalance, trying to train muscles we usually don’t hit with such concentration with compound movements.

3/15 - Ham and Calves
with 40X0 pace
A1 Lying Leg Curls (extension with feet in) 4 X 4-6
A2 Lying Leg Curls (Concentric with feet out)4 X 4-6
A3 Lying Leg Curls (neutral) 4 X 4-6

B1 Good Morning 2-3 x 6-8 (4020)
B2 Romanian DL 2-3 x 8-10

C1 Seated Calves 3 x 6-8 20X0
C2 Standing Calves 3 x 6-8 20X0

3/16 Upper Back and Bis

A1 Neutral CG Chins (Eccentric holds) 5 x 5 (50X0)
A2 Preacher EZ Curls 4 x 8-10 (4010)

B1 Shoulder Retraction 4 x 10-12 (2410)
B2 Trap 3 4 x 8-10 (4010)

Farmers Holds 3 x 30secs

No cardio for now, but doing plate pushes with the sled and some light sledding 1-2Xs per week. SO that’s the plan. Good times!

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nice to see you back…interesting training plans…

I need one of those…a plan I mean :slight_smile:

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glad you’re back and good luck with all the meets!
I don’t envy the leg curls. Ouch!

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Ooo look at that tempo work…

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Thanks ladies! And let me just say, I am so sore right now that I can’t even lie down. My upper back is destroyed, its ridiculous.

Rest day today, back in the gym tomorrow!

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Do you lift USAPL? Do you plan to stay raw? What is your current weight class? So many questions!

I’m curious why your boyfriend has mixed feelings about his Poliquin certification. I have heard such good things about that. How fun to be a guinea pig for him!

I used to pay attention to tempo like that. Maybe I should incorporate some of that back in to my training.

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Hey kpsnap! I had a previous log “Shauna’s Journey to 350+”…it has disappeared in the Powerful Women log wormhole but if you can find it there are a few videos and some training logs.

I did do USAPL and I was in the 181 class raw. I ended up with a 231 squat, a 143 bench, both of which I am not very proud of, and a 341 dead. But it was my first meet and I had like 4 weeks to train for it, so I’m not trippin. Right now I do plan on competing in the same division since dropping weight isn’t my first goal…but if it comes with the package I will do 165. That class is much more competitive so it might be fun…to get my ass kicked! I decided not to do a state meet earlier this year because I was going to try to drop some bf, but my focus turned to veganism and even though I have never felt better in my life, all carbs all day turned me pretty soft, especailly with not getting in the gym very often or training hard. So fingers crossed some weight comes off with just bustin ass in the gym and cleanin up my diet.

3/18
Recovery day - still too sore to get in the gym for real
30 mins walking on treadmill 3.5 with 7-8.0 incline
45 mins foam rolling
cleaning the house (fuck yeah I break a sweat)

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Oh I forgot…Aaron liked most of what he learned from the cert class. However, basically the instructor he had was a bobsledder or something who didn’t know shit about strength trianing until he worked with Poliquin. This is great, but what Aaron found was that the instructor had no foundation of knowledge from which he could do some independent analysis. Like, someone would ask a question outside of the provided information material and he would have absolutely no answer because he only knows what Poliquin says. It is like going to a powerlifting workshop but only having Westside be taught…there is just so much more and it is so complex that having only one line of thinking and reasoning can be very limiting. So he is utilizing the information he found really helpful, but is undecided whether to continue with the certification series.

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3/19 - Benching Accessories

Dynamic warm-up (per usual)
walking warm-up 5 min
band stretching
foam rolling

A1. Dips (3 sec eccentric downward hold) 4-5 x 3-4 reps
A2. Widegrip Pulldowns (4010) 3-4 x 8-10

B1. Ext. Rotation 3x8 (4010) 30 sec rest
B2. Lat DB Raise 3x10 (3010) 30 sec rest
B3. Powell Raise 3x10 (3010) 60 sec rest

15 min walk on treadmill 3.0 at 6.0 incline

This was fucking hard. But after I was done I just wanted to see if I could actually do dips, since the last time I even tried to do them was a year ago and I dropped like it was hot…I mean pathetic. So I went back, with Aaron yelling in my ear that I was pushing it too hard, and did 2 legitimate dips! Then I went back again and did 3. And not those kind that all the guys do where they come down an inch; I went all the way down, all the way up. I’m pretty proud of myself, especially for never doing them before, being out of shape, and weighing 175+ (I think…I haven’t weighed myself for weeks because it is too depressing since I’ve put on weight). Anyway, Ham, core, and bis tomorrow.

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SHAUNA!! Great to see you back and training like your butt is on fire. YEAH!

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[quote]kimbakimba wrote:
SHAUNA!! Great to see you back and training like your butt is on fire. YEAH![/quote]

Damn Kimba! You look SMOKIN in the profile pic! Right on lady!

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Hi Shaunar…nice to see you back. I’ll definately be following along.

How is veganism going? My boyfriend is vegetarian going on 11 yrs now. He looks like the average meathead…lol. It’s amazing how the human body adapts.

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[quote]skyel7 wrote:
Hi Shaunar…nice to see you back. I’ll definately be following along.

How is veganism going? My boyfriend is vegetarian going on 11 yrs now. He looks like the average meathead…lol. It’s amazing how the human body adapts.[/quote]

Thanks skye, same to you!

I’m doing the form of veganism I can afford at the moment. No meat and no dairy EXCEPT for eggs. However, I have about $40 worth of white fish in my freezer that makes me sick just thinking about it, but without going into details I may just be desperate enough financially to have to dig into it. Other than that though I am doing vegan protein and lactose-free whey when I can find it. Again, pretty broke so am just getting by with what is available. Starting on a pseudo-restricted diet tomorrow or Monday to accompany a “circuit” training cycle, German Body Composition. I’m interested to see how it goes and if I will have an ounce of willpower this time around:)

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Hi Shauna! I look forward to following along. I lurked a bit on your old log, and you are damn strong!

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Hey RBlue! Thanks for that nice compliment! Especially since I don’t feel so strong at the moment :confused:

Same workout as last week…

3/20 - Ham and Calves
with 40X0 pace
A1 Lying Leg Curls (extension with feet in) 4 X 4-6
A2 Lying Leg Curls (Concentric with feet out)4 X 4-6
A3 Lying Leg Curls (neutral) 4 X 4-6

B1 Good Morning 2-3 x 6-8 (4020)
B2 Romanian DL 2-3 x 8-10

C1 Seated Calves 3 x 6-8 20X0
C2 Standing Calves 3 x 6-8 20X0

Threw in some plate choppers and standing cable crunches at the end, which I also did last week but didn’t log. This structural imbalance training is really showing me my weak spots and where I have “injuries” that I have never noticed because I have never trained the muscles and ligaments in this fashion. And let me tell you, it ain’t pretty.

My abs and obliques are sore as fuck today. Actually my whole body is just killin me. Drank too much last night, didn’t drink any water or eat any food when we got home, and running on 5 hours of sleep…but seriously good times!

Hopefully I can pull my shiz together by this evening to go do some prowlin!

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I’m familiar with German Body Comp. Is your goal weight loss? Can’t wait to hear how it works out for you.

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kpsnapalicious - Yes, for the next month I would like to aim for fat loss. I am thinking about starting an ephedra cycle as well. Basically I get a month to try to cut some fat (which BTW, I already notice and feel a difference just from a couple tedious workouts) before I need to boost my calories for some cluster training. My hardest challenge has always been cutting (shocking, huh?) so I am really trying to encourage myself out of self-love and not telling myself I suck and am failing if I eat chips and salsa (anyone recall my obsession with Mexican appetizers?). We shall see :wink:

No sledding tonight…feeling a little crazy from last night. Going to do a double workout tomorrow.

Counting down for the Breaking Bad Season 3 premiere!!

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Love that kpsnapalicious moniker.

So sorry I can’t really relate to all the weight loss chat. I have been blessed with a lightening fast metabolism. Ephedra. Be careful with that, Shaunar.

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Oh no worries…done it several times. I ain’t no heart attack junkie!:slight_smile:

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Another vegetarian, awesome, and you’re really strong. I’ll be picking your brain a lot. I rarely do soy, you do a few times a week though? No pseudo estrogen concerns?