I made the decision to enter the Central National powerlifting meet coming up on 19th of April and this is fast approaching! This has made me realise HOW much planning is involved. It's cray cray.
My programme is on point so my first job was GOALS!
I have 2 goals - my numbers and my overall goal of the competition.
Firstly I'd love to hit 175kg deadlift, 90kg squat, and 70kg bench press. My bench press and squat numbers are very conservative because these are my weaker lifts. I'm intending to go all out for the deadlift! I estimate I will comfortably hit 150kg and anything after that would make me very happy.
Secondly, I want to get a total high enough to qualify to compete in British competitions in 2015.
CHALLENGE.
Wednesday, 24 December 2014
Thursday, 16 October 2014
cauliflower pizza - AMAZE
I spotted the original recipe on The Diet Kitchen and if you're not subscribed to their youtube channel then you need to go do it! My favourite videos they put up are the "my favourite things" videos where they show off 3 or 4 macro friendly food found in the UK. Much good things.
Ingredients:
800g of cauliflower (I got two from Tescos and that gave us 934g and that worked just fine)
1 egg
herbs (we used garlic powder, basil, oregano, salt, and pepper)
50g cheese
tomato puree
toppings (we used 2 chicken breasts - protein-tastic)
Step 1
Cut off the rubbish from your cauliflower and cut all the white bits into smaller white bits. Place in a bowl and take a weird photo of it.
Ingredients:
800g of cauliflower (I got two from Tescos and that gave us 934g and that worked just fine)
1 egg
herbs (we used garlic powder, basil, oregano, salt, and pepper)
50g cheese
tomato puree
toppings (we used 2 chicken breasts - protein-tastic)
Step 1
Cut off the rubbish from your cauliflower and cut all the white bits into smaller white bits. Place in a bowl and take a weird photo of it.
Step 2
Put the cauliflower into a food processor or use a hand blender to turn it into a mushy "cauliflower flour". I used a hand blender and I honestly thought it would never work, but I kept at it for 5 minutes and had the mush required!
lovely mush!
Step 3
Put the mush bowl into the microwave for 7 minutes and pre-heat your oven to 220 degrees C. Warning: this will make your whole house smell like horrible cauliflower. Once it's out of the microwave let it cool or you will burn your hand in the next step like I did.
Step 4
Take a clean tea towel and lay it out flat. Pour the mush into the tea towel, wrap the towel up around it to make a wee ball, and over a bowl squeeze out all the excess water. The more water you squeeze out then the crispier your base will be.
Step 5
Once you've squeezed out the water it's time to add flavour, half the cheese, and the egg. We added salt, pepper, garlic powder, dried basil, and dried oregano.
Step 6
Base constructing time! Take an oven tray and place a non-stick baking sheet on the tray. Spray liberally with low calorie cooking spray or use a teaspoon of oil. Plop the cauliflower mush onto the tray and spread out using your hands into a pizza shape...ours was more of a rectangle pizza...but don't make it too thick or it'll taste gross.
Step 7
Cook the base for 25 minutes or until golden and crispy enough for you. The edges will probably go browner than the rest of it but don't panic!
Step 8
Pizza out, toppings on! We used tomato puree, the rest of the grated lower fat cheese, chicken, pesto, and spinach. Pop it back in the oven for 5-7 minutes for everything to melt and get amazing.
TA DAH!
I'm not going to lie, this is nothing like a proper like pizza hut pizza, but it is fucking tasty. For someone watching their macros this is PERFECT. We endulged a little with cheese and extra chicken but the macros for half a pizza worked out roughly as:
Calories - 497.5
Carbs - 14.5g
Fat - 18.5g
Protein - 62.5g
Or without toppings:
Calories - 272
Carbs - 12g
Fat - 12g
Protein - 23g
Will defo be doing this again!
Wednesday, 15 October 2014
Review: Pulse V4 sour apple
I really wanted to go back to using pre-workouts and I wanted to try this Sour Apple flavour for ageeeeeees so I went ahead and picked this up from Myprotein.com for a reasonable £19.99.
First thing, the flavour is actually pretty good for a pre-workout. It's never going to taste as good as something like BSN No Xplode Green Apple which tastes AMAZING. But for the price i'm really not disappointed at all with the taste. I think it tastes better if it's super cold, so use ice water or mix it and put it in the fridge for a bit.
Now, the important stuff. What the hell is in it?
The ingredients list looks like this:
Perform and Pump blend (Creapure [4g], AAKG, Beta Alanine, Citrulline Malate) 9.2g
Focus and Energise Matrix (L Tyrosine, Taurine, Guarana Extract, Caffeine) 3.8g. A 17g serving of Pulse® contains approximately 168.4mg of caffeine.
Focus and Energise Matrix (L Tyrosine, Taurine, Guarana Extract, Caffeine) 3.8g. A 17g serving of Pulse® contains approximately 168.4mg of caffeine.
What you want to stay away from is proprietary blends in pre-workouts. This hiding under-dosed ingredients behind the term "proprietary blend" to mislead the consumer. Luckily, we don't have that here. You can quite clearly see from the label what you are putting into your body.
Creapure is a Creatine Monohydrate product that is meant to be more pure than standard Creatine Monohydrate (99.9% pure) and is therefore more expensive. Whether that product is supperior to standard Creatine Monohydrate, I have my doubts, but still. A nice bonus. It probably bumps up the price of the product though! According to Antonio and Ciccone (2013) Creatine and resistance exercise can increase lean muscle mass and strength. It is widely recognised as a supplement that anyone who is active should take, and I side with that too. But the minimum dose should be 5g per day so at 4g you're coming short. So on top of my pre-workout i'm still gonna have a scoop of creatine at some other point in the day.
Arginine Alpha-ketoglutarate is also known as AAKG or simply arginine. This ingredient is said to improve muscular endurance and strength, but the research I have done doesn't seem to like it at all! Wax et al (2012) found no correlation between acute ingestion of arginine and improvement in muscular endurance and strength, but they did say that that may suggest that a loading phase would be necessary. I don't think it'll hurt taking in arginine, but I'm dubious on it's effectiveness.
Beta alanine is the ingredient that can produce the "fizzy face" associated with pre-workouts. But what does it actually do? It is basically a stimulant that can help increase performance. Hobson et al (2013) found that beta alanine increased the speed of performance in rowers. A similar study was run by Ducker et al (2013) that found that there was a "very likely" chance that runners supplementing with beta alanine would improve their 800m race time. So if you're doing sprints rowing I imagine this supplement will positively affect your results. I would also imagine that this will help with power movements in weight lifting, so might help with that big surge of power required when sitting at the bottom of a squat.
Citrulline Malate is notorious for being a fighter of fatigue, especially for endurance athletes. Lopez et al (2012) carried out a study on the effects of citrulline malate on fatigue for high performance athletes and found that the supplement allows for a better recovery of blood lactate and of fatigue therefore promoting recovery and improving the chance of further high intensity exercise.
The remaining ingredients (L Tyrosine, Taurine, and caffeine) are all there to help with alertness and as stimulants.
I actually feel they are underdosing all these ingredients a little. After the 4g of creapure are taken off the 9g in the "Perform and Pump blend" you are left with 5 g of AAKG, Beta Alanine, Citrulline Malate and I really would prefer to have 3g of each ingredient in my pre-workout. When I first tried the pre-workout about 2 years ago I felt the effects massively, but since then my body has got used to the ingredients so when I tried this supplement I didn't feel a massive stimulant effect like I would expect. I think if I upped the dose, or reduced the caffeine in my diet, I would see great results using this product, especially for the price.
Price 8/10
Taste 7/10
Performance 6/10
Citrulline Malate is notorious for being a fighter of fatigue, especially for endurance athletes. Lopez et al (2012) carried out a study on the effects of citrulline malate on fatigue for high performance athletes and found that the supplement allows for a better recovery of blood lactate and of fatigue therefore promoting recovery and improving the chance of further high intensity exercise.
The remaining ingredients (L Tyrosine, Taurine, and caffeine) are all there to help with alertness and as stimulants.
I actually feel they are underdosing all these ingredients a little. After the 4g of creapure are taken off the 9g in the "Perform and Pump blend" you are left with 5 g of AAKG, Beta Alanine, Citrulline Malate and I really would prefer to have 3g of each ingredient in my pre-workout. When I first tried the pre-workout about 2 years ago I felt the effects massively, but since then my body has got used to the ingredients so when I tried this supplement I didn't feel a massive stimulant effect like I would expect. I think if I upped the dose, or reduced the caffeine in my diet, I would see great results using this product, especially for the price.
Price 8/10
Taste 7/10
Performance 6/10
References
Antonio, J and Ciccone, V. (2013)
‘The effects of pre versus post workout supplementation of creatine monohydrate
on body composition and strength’ Journal
of the International Society of Sports Nutrition, 10:36.
Ducker, KJ., Dawson, B., Wallman, KE. (2013) ‘Effect
of Beta-Alanine Supplementation
on 800-m Running Performance’ International Journal of Sport Nutrition and
Exercise Metabolism, Vol. 23 pp554 -561.
Hobson, RM., Harris,
RC., Martin D., Smith, P., Macklin, B., Gualano, B., Sale,
C. (2013) ‘Effect of Beta-Alanine With
and Without Sodium Bicarbonate on 2,000-m Rowing Performance’ International Journal of Sport Nutrition
& Exercise Metabolism, Vol. 23 Issue 5, pp480-488.
Wax, B., Kavazis, AN., Webb, HE,, Brown, SP. (2012) ‘Acute
L-arginine alpha ketoglutarate supplementation
fails to improve muscular performance in resistance trained and untrained men’ Journal Of The International Society Of Sports
Nutrition, Vol. 9, pp6.
Tuesday, 7 October 2014
moving forward
I have realised through the years that I am my best person when I am working for something, fighting for something,or moving forward in any way. I cannot be satisfied with coasting, it doesn't sit with me. And when I am at the bottom I have more drive and ambition than any other time.
Recently I've felt like I was coasting and subsequently failing at things. Coasting at Derby and the gym and subsequently failing at both. It's actually been a really rough week. But as a result I've kicked everything up a gear and I feel like I'm fighting and working for this again, and that's when I feel most alive.
For derby I continued to put effort into practice but something was missing but I didn't know what it was. It was only when the privledge of being on a team was taken off me did I see how much extra effort I could put into practice. Now I will fight for the entire 120 minutes to prove without a doubt that I should be on a team. Yes it was shit and I was heartbroken, but it was the best thing for me.
In the gym my bench press has just not been progressing. It's the only lift I am genuinely struggling with and for the first time I was failing to hit my numbers. I should never fail to hit my numbers. First problem - I was training at a gym with substandard equipment and surrounded by people who don't have the same goals and don't push me to be better. Solution? I changed gyms and it's AMAZING. In the new gym I'm surrounded by people a lot stronger than me and it's pushing me. They also have more than one barbell so yeah. Because I'm now in a suitable environment I'm thinking all day about getting to the gym, I'm thinking about my lifts, the numbers I'm gonna do, picturing myself completing the lifts, and itching to get in there. This itself has made me feel like I'm not just working out anymore, I'm training. Everything I do up until that moment in the gym is prep for the lift. It's all training and I am focused and ready to progress!
Since making these changes (also adding in an extra bench press day and really nailing leg drive) I've already beat my current pb and I imagine in future I'll be doing a lot more of that.
I guess what I want to get across is that sometimes things are shit and you feel like you can do nothing right, but dig deep, push through, and fight to move forward. Maybe one day I'll not be able to pick myself up and dust myself off but today is not that day. I think I'll keep saying that forever. Today is not that day.
Recently I've felt like I was coasting and subsequently failing at things. Coasting at Derby and the gym and subsequently failing at both. It's actually been a really rough week. But as a result I've kicked everything up a gear and I feel like I'm fighting and working for this again, and that's when I feel most alive.
For derby I continued to put effort into practice but something was missing but I didn't know what it was. It was only when the privledge of being on a team was taken off me did I see how much extra effort I could put into practice. Now I will fight for the entire 120 minutes to prove without a doubt that I should be on a team. Yes it was shit and I was heartbroken, but it was the best thing for me.
In the gym my bench press has just not been progressing. It's the only lift I am genuinely struggling with and for the first time I was failing to hit my numbers. I should never fail to hit my numbers. First problem - I was training at a gym with substandard equipment and surrounded by people who don't have the same goals and don't push me to be better. Solution? I changed gyms and it's AMAZING. In the new gym I'm surrounded by people a lot stronger than me and it's pushing me. They also have more than one barbell so yeah. Because I'm now in a suitable environment I'm thinking all day about getting to the gym, I'm thinking about my lifts, the numbers I'm gonna do, picturing myself completing the lifts, and itching to get in there. This itself has made me feel like I'm not just working out anymore, I'm training. Everything I do up until that moment in the gym is prep for the lift. It's all training and I am focused and ready to progress!
Since making these changes (also adding in an extra bench press day and really nailing leg drive) I've already beat my current pb and I imagine in future I'll be doing a lot more of that.
I guess what I want to get across is that sometimes things are shit and you feel like you can do nothing right, but dig deep, push through, and fight to move forward. Maybe one day I'll not be able to pick myself up and dust myself off but today is not that day. I think I'll keep saying that forever. Today is not that day.
Monday, 22 September 2014
new cycle
It's new cycle time!
Week 1
Monday 22nd Deadlift – 87kg x5, 93kg x5, 99kg x5+
Tuesday 23rd Squat – 41kg x5, 44kg x5, 47kg x5+
Thursday 25th Overhead
press – 23kg x5, 24kg x5, 26kg x5+
Friday 26th Bench – 45kg x5, 48kg x5, 51kg x5+
Saturday, 20 September 2014
Review: Kinivo BTH220 bluetooth stereo headphones
I hate earphones. In the gym especially. They get caught, the wires snap, and the wires STICK TO ME and I hate that! They are just plain awful. I finally bit the bullet and bought some bluetooth headphones. After hearing good things about Kinivo I went for their BTH220 headphones.
Firstly, the price is incredible. I bought mine from Amazon for £14.99. At that price I really didn't expect too much from the quality, but I was pleasantly surprised. I am used to earphones that are good sound quality but I don't mind sacrificing some quality to have something that is practical for the environment I'm going to use it in. At the gym I'm gonna sweat, I'm gonna run about, and I'm potentially going to drop them, drop a barbell on them, or drop them in a puddle of my own moisture...it happens. But you really don't feel a dip in sound quality on these headphones. Of course, they're not Beats by Dre, but who gives a fuck?
Fitting wise, they fit great and I was able to do bench press and squats no problem at all. I was also able to do some hiit cardio and nothing moved. Basically everything I want from wireless headphones.
Price 10/10
Fitting and comfort 10/10
Sound quality 8/10
I give these 9 cat faces out of 10
Firstly, the price is incredible. I bought mine from Amazon for £14.99. At that price I really didn't expect too much from the quality, but I was pleasantly surprised. I am used to earphones that are good sound quality but I don't mind sacrificing some quality to have something that is practical for the environment I'm going to use it in. At the gym I'm gonna sweat, I'm gonna run about, and I'm potentially going to drop them, drop a barbell on them, or drop them in a puddle of my own moisture...it happens. But you really don't feel a dip in sound quality on these headphones. Of course, they're not Beats by Dre, but who gives a fuck?
Fitting wise, they fit great and I was able to do bench press and squats no problem at all. I was also able to do some hiit cardio and nothing moved. Basically everything I want from wireless headphones.
Price 10/10
Fitting and comfort 10/10
Sound quality 8/10
I give these 9 cat faces out of 10
Friday, 12 September 2014
DEADLIFT DAY
After recovering from the cold I had to squeeze a whole weeks worth of gym in a few days. After doing bench press and shoulder press (WHY) last night, today was deadlift day...otherwise known as THE BEST DAY.
I'm so happy where my deadlift is going. I'm doing 105kg for reps and i'm defo on track for being able to do 150kg in competition. I want to keep working on my lats and strength in my lats and bring in some work to help with the initial part of the lift. My lockout is fine, but my initial lift is lacking. I'll maybe throw some deficit deadlifts in to my programme to improve it. Just for banter!
My bench though. GAH. That's partly my fault for stuff always coming up on bench press day. But it's just not progressing how I want. I'm thinking about two bench press days a week and have already incorporated pause reps. Hopefully all will work out.
Finally, a wonderful thing happened today.
I'm so happy where my deadlift is going. I'm doing 105kg for reps and i'm defo on track for being able to do 150kg in competition. I want to keep working on my lats and strength in my lats and bring in some work to help with the initial part of the lift. My lockout is fine, but my initial lift is lacking. I'll maybe throw some deficit deadlifts in to my programme to improve it. Just for banter!
My bench though. GAH. That's partly my fault for stuff always coming up on bench press day. But it's just not progressing how I want. I'm thinking about two bench press days a week and have already incorporated pause reps. Hopefully all will work out.
Finally, a wonderful thing happened today.
URGENT! LEARNING!
lol.
Monday, 25 August 2014
The end of lazyness
Deload week is OVER so today I'm back in the gym and the start of another 4 week cycle. The first week looks like this:
Monday 25th Deadlift (123
1rm/111) – 83kg x5, 89kg x5, 94kg x5+
Tuesday 26th Squat (56
1rm/50) – 38kg x5, 40kg x5, 43kg x5+
Thursday 28th Overhead
press (31 1rm/28) – 21kg x5, 22kg x5, 24kg x5+
Friday 29th Bench (67 1rm/60)
– 45kg x5, 48kg x5, 51kg x5+
Wednesday, 20 August 2014
DELOAD
It's the final week of my 4 week lifting cycle which means DELOAD. YAY!
So this month i've been doing this:
So this month i've been doing this:
Week 1
Fri 18th Deadlift (118
1rm/106) – 79kg x5, 84kg x5, 90kg x5+
Monday 21st Squat (51 1rm/46)
– 34kg x5, 36kg x5, 39kg x5+
Tuesday 22nd Overhead press
(28 1rm/25) – 19kg x5, 20kg x5, 21kg x5+
Thursday 24th Bench (73 1rm/66)
– 50kg x5, 53kg x5, 56kg x5+
Friday, 15 August 2014
I have created a masterpiece!
After watching Matty Fusaro I really wanted to make Taco Salad. Enter ingredients!
500g packet of mince (got the non-lean stuff by mistake!)
1 red onion
1 packet of guacamole, salsa, and sour cream
1 iceberg lettuce
1 tin of taco beans in tomato sauce
1 packet of fajitas seasoning
Saturday, 9 August 2014
getting back in the game
I don't want to do many totes serious posts but I have THOUGHTS. I've been going to the gym hard 5-6 times a week for 2 years consistently and I think I finally hit burnout. The gym is MY place and I didn't want to be there. I can't even explain why I didn't want to go, I just knew I wanted to sit on my sofa, watch tv, and play on my laptop.
I saw the signs a few weeks back and decided to completely change my training focus. Although I've been doing strength training my main focus has been weight loss. I am SO BORED of weight loss. Since I started deadlifting I've become obsessed with strength and increasing my numbers. I love how strong I feel when I'm deadlifting 115kg. Love it! So I decided to work towards competing in power lifting meets and change my training to focus on the big three - deadlift, bench press, and squat. I now do my big compound lifts first using a 5-3-1 training programme and then accessory work. Before I was doing too many exercises, lots of them I didn't care for that seemed to be more for bodybuilding. Now, if the exercises I do don't contribute to increasing my deadlift, bench, and squat then I don't waste my time doing them.
This change defo helped and it feels right...but then the not wanting to go to the gym happened. I didn't really know what to do! I started watching Elliot Hulse on you tube and he helped me remember why I do any of this in the first place.
After I started strength training I realised that I seemed stronger than women I have known before. This grew and grew and my body changed, but so did my mind. My personal development is directly related to my physical strength. I truly believe this! The easiest way to become the best version of yourself is through exercise. This might not be barbells and dumbbells, but could be through anything that involves the body. Training for a 10k run, building up your squat pb, learning how to play an instrument, or learning how to fish, these are all ways for you to become the best version of yourself. It forces the mind to expand by using the body. It's an exciting process!
I believe 100% that I can lift any weight you put in front of me. ANY weight. I can't see a limit to my strength. I want the world (and more importantly my own consciousness) to see that I am as strong on the inside that I am physically. I cannot be strong in mind if I am not strong in body. I didn't realise this was the case when I broke my leg, but looking back now it makes sense. I was wheeled into A&E and left in a corridor whilst the nurses figured out where to put me. I was completely immobile, in great pain, left alone, and I felt weak. All I could do was cry. It wasn't just tears of being in pain or potentially ending my sporting career. It was because I was nothing in that moment. That feeling continued and only started to leave when I could be active in any way. The first time I felt relief was when they were teaching me to walk again. I could only manage a few steps and I almost fainted. But it was progress, it was exercise, it was evidence of strength, and as a result my mind was getting strong again along with my leg. In fact, at various stages in my life when I was weak in mind the only time things got better was when I started to exercise my body.
So how does this tie in with me lethargy to gym recently? It made me realise what I'm doing the gym for. I need this to make me stronger, in all aspects. If I'm not at the gym because I don't feel like it then I will get weaker physically and mentally, and it will spiral. The weaker I am mentally the less likely I will want to go back. Obviously a day off here and there won't kill me. And I am a believer in a deload week.
The gym is the place where I am most myself. There are no boundaries, there are no real judgements. There is me, a barbell, and a connection between my consciousness and my limbs. It's personal, it's intimate, it's self-expression, it's self development, and it's all mine.
The only thing I could do was to fucking force myself back there. So I went for a shoulders day. I told myself straight off that I was just going to do the things I enjoy for this one day. For one day I'm not going to do stupid exercises that I'm meant to do that I hate. I'm not doing to do boring shitty cardio. I am going to lift heavy fucking weights above my head and I am going to grunt and shout and slam shit down, because that is cathartic and how doesn't love to slam shit down!?
It felt great. I got new pb's and I walked out feeling like I'd achieved something and I was getting stronger again.
This stuff isn't easy, but sometimes you need to realise why you are doing what you're doing to get back in the zone.
I saw the signs a few weeks back and decided to completely change my training focus. Although I've been doing strength training my main focus has been weight loss. I am SO BORED of weight loss. Since I started deadlifting I've become obsessed with strength and increasing my numbers. I love how strong I feel when I'm deadlifting 115kg. Love it! So I decided to work towards competing in power lifting meets and change my training to focus on the big three - deadlift, bench press, and squat. I now do my big compound lifts first using a 5-3-1 training programme and then accessory work. Before I was doing too many exercises, lots of them I didn't care for that seemed to be more for bodybuilding. Now, if the exercises I do don't contribute to increasing my deadlift, bench, and squat then I don't waste my time doing them.
This change defo helped and it feels right...but then the not wanting to go to the gym happened. I didn't really know what to do! I started watching Elliot Hulse on you tube and he helped me remember why I do any of this in the first place.
After I started strength training I realised that I seemed stronger than women I have known before. This grew and grew and my body changed, but so did my mind. My personal development is directly related to my physical strength. I truly believe this! The easiest way to become the best version of yourself is through exercise. This might not be barbells and dumbbells, but could be through anything that involves the body. Training for a 10k run, building up your squat pb, learning how to play an instrument, or learning how to fish, these are all ways for you to become the best version of yourself. It forces the mind to expand by using the body. It's an exciting process!
I believe 100% that I can lift any weight you put in front of me. ANY weight. I can't see a limit to my strength. I want the world (and more importantly my own consciousness) to see that I am as strong on the inside that I am physically. I cannot be strong in mind if I am not strong in body. I didn't realise this was the case when I broke my leg, but looking back now it makes sense. I was wheeled into A&E and left in a corridor whilst the nurses figured out where to put me. I was completely immobile, in great pain, left alone, and I felt weak. All I could do was cry. It wasn't just tears of being in pain or potentially ending my sporting career. It was because I was nothing in that moment. That feeling continued and only started to leave when I could be active in any way. The first time I felt relief was when they were teaching me to walk again. I could only manage a few steps and I almost fainted. But it was progress, it was exercise, it was evidence of strength, and as a result my mind was getting strong again along with my leg. In fact, at various stages in my life when I was weak in mind the only time things got better was when I started to exercise my body.
So how does this tie in with me lethargy to gym recently? It made me realise what I'm doing the gym for. I need this to make me stronger, in all aspects. If I'm not at the gym because I don't feel like it then I will get weaker physically and mentally, and it will spiral. The weaker I am mentally the less likely I will want to go back. Obviously a day off here and there won't kill me. And I am a believer in a deload week.
The gym is the place where I am most myself. There are no boundaries, there are no real judgements. There is me, a barbell, and a connection between my consciousness and my limbs. It's personal, it's intimate, it's self-expression, it's self development, and it's all mine.
The only thing I could do was to fucking force myself back there. So I went for a shoulders day. I told myself straight off that I was just going to do the things I enjoy for this one day. For one day I'm not going to do stupid exercises that I'm meant to do that I hate. I'm not doing to do boring shitty cardio. I am going to lift heavy fucking weights above my head and I am going to grunt and shout and slam shit down, because that is cathartic and how doesn't love to slam shit down!?
It felt great. I got new pb's and I walked out feeling like I'd achieved something and I was getting stronger again.
This stuff isn't easy, but sometimes you need to realise why you are doing what you're doing to get back in the zone.
Tuesday, 5 August 2014
deadlift researching
I've been doing a lot of research on deadlifting to obvs max my deadlift. I've come across this guy Richard Hawthorne and he has some excellent tips for deadlifts.
I've always read that for deadlifts you set up by placing the midfoot under the bar and then bending your knees until the shins hit the bar, then you pull up.
Richard Hawthorne first teaches that the deadlift is a push, not a pull, which is obvious, and I totally agreed, but wasn't putting it into practice. It's easier to let a stronger body part take over when doing a big movement like a deadlift!
Secondly, he states the shins should be as close to vertical as possible, not the conventional position of angled towards the bar. Obviously this changes depending on the individuals proportions, but it's a really smart idea.
Thirdly, by putting the shins in this position the hips and butt will be a lot higher (it'll almost look like a straight leg deadlift) allowing you to push from the heels and not pull up using the back and shoulders.
Watch the videos and listen to the guy! I'm going to test out his theory on deadlift day this Friday and will report back!
I've always read that for deadlifts you set up by placing the midfoot under the bar and then bending your knees until the shins hit the bar, then you pull up.
Richard Hawthorne first teaches that the deadlift is a push, not a pull, which is obvious, and I totally agreed, but wasn't putting it into practice. It's easier to let a stronger body part take over when doing a big movement like a deadlift!
Secondly, he states the shins should be as close to vertical as possible, not the conventional position of angled towards the bar. Obviously this changes depending on the individuals proportions, but it's a really smart idea.
Thirdly, by putting the shins in this position the hips and butt will be a lot higher (it'll almost look like a straight leg deadlift) allowing you to push from the heels and not pull up using the back and shoulders.
Watch the videos and listen to the guy! I'm going to test out his theory on deadlift day this Friday and will report back!
Monday, 4 August 2014
post game feasting
The game was a lot of fun! And the carb loading helped loads. I always feel horrible the day of carb loading but realise how much benefit it has the next day. I didn't run out of energy during the game at all so that was a win!
Saturday, 2 August 2014
carbing
Today was carbing day! And it was HARD. My goal was 600g of carbs and I just came under that. Here's a quick run down of all the horrible things I put in my mouth today.
Breakfast:
50g Porridge with wheat bran
25g My Protein impact whey
1 tablespoon strawberry jam
Omelette of 4 egg whites and 1 whole egg
1 slice of wholemeal bread
52g carbs, 11g fat, 50g protein
Meal 2:
50g Museli
150ml Skimmed milk
Banana
75ml low fat natural yoghurt
1 tablespoon strawberry jam
87g carbs, 4g fat, 16g protein
Meal 3:
2 Croissants
6 slices of ham
1 slice of edam cheese
200g spinach and ricotta tortelloni
75ml tomato and mascarpone sauce
113g carbs, 52g fat, 46g protein
Meal 4:
2 New York Bagel Co mini bagels
4 slices ham
200g Italian sausage and ham tortelloni
75ml tomato and mascarpone sauce
83g carbs, 23g fat, 31g protein
Meal 5:
Homemade chocolate and raspberry tart
20g double cream
1L cranberry juice
106g melon
50g blackberries
50g raspberries
100g pineapple
100g grapes
173g carbs, 27g fat, 6g protein
TOTAL
3853 calories
508g carbs, 117g fat, 149g protein
Breakfast:
50g Porridge with wheat bran
25g My Protein impact whey
1 tablespoon strawberry jam
Omelette of 4 egg whites and 1 whole egg
1 slice of wholemeal bread
52g carbs, 11g fat, 50g protein
Meal 2:
50g Museli
150ml Skimmed milk
Banana
75ml low fat natural yoghurt
1 tablespoon strawberry jam
87g carbs, 4g fat, 16g protein
Meal 3:
2 Croissants
6 slices of ham
1 slice of edam cheese
200g spinach and ricotta tortelloni
75ml tomato and mascarpone sauce
113g carbs, 52g fat, 46g protein
Meal 4:
2 New York Bagel Co mini bagels
4 slices ham
200g Italian sausage and ham tortelloni
75ml tomato and mascarpone sauce
83g carbs, 23g fat, 31g protein
Meal 5:
Homemade chocolate and raspberry tart
20g double cream
1L cranberry juice
106g melon
50g blackberries
50g raspberries
100g pineapple
100g grapes
173g carbs, 27g fat, 6g protein
TOTAL
3853 calories
508g carbs, 117g fat, 149g protein
Wednesday, 30 July 2014
PREP WEEK
It's prep week for the Cannon Belles vs Dirty River Roller Grrrls game on Saturday. Facebook event can be found here! This means gym-ing hard the first half of the week, game day bedtime of 10pm (UGH), and controlled macros to shift some weight before my massive 600g carb fest on Friday.
Unfortunately, prep week can also be called sweat week:
Unfortunately, prep week can also be called sweat week:
Today we're off to the commonwealth to see some women's weightlifting in my weight category. I am expecting it to be awesome, exciting, and inspirational. And probably terrifying to realise the weight I should realistically be lifting.
FUN
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