Good morrow every body!
Popping in to update y'all on where my training is standing at the moment. I recently stepped back on the platform in a push pull competition and walked away with two PB's that I'm very happy with - 160kg deadlift and a 60kg bench press. My next competition is pencilled in for April 2016 to qualify for the British Championship again in September 2016, which means it's my off season time and time to concentrate of building some unquestionable strength.
I have some pretty heavy goals for competition next year and would like to see a 160kg+ squat, 80kg+ bench press, and 190kg+ deadlift. With regards to diet I am doing a little cut to get down to about 99kg so I can spend as much of the year in a maintenance/surplus as possible. At the moment I've only dropped carbs by 10g and lost 2 pounds on average over a number of weeks. Our aim is to keep calories as high as possible while slowly losing about 1/2 a pound a week.
I have had to make a sad decision about roller derby. For the foreseeable future I will not be playing roller derby competitively or recreationally. This breaks my heart, but I needed to listen to myself about it. When I was told I broke my leg, and I was told I had damaged the ligaments quite badly, the only thing I thought about was power lifting, not if I was going to be able to skate again.
I struggle with the prospect of being seen as a quitter or someone who gives up. I pride myself on being someone who never gives up, so this was difficult. But I'm not quitting anything, I'm choosing me. I'm choosing to be happy, to follow *new* dreams, aspirations, chase new goals, fill my thoughts with new thoughts of barbells made of happiness and rainbows instead of roller skates.
Roller derby has made me who I am today and it has brought me up from a shy not confident young woman to someone who is confident, excited to live life, meet new people, and stand in front of them and say "This is me, and I am great". I'll never forget roller derby for what it has done for me, but it's time to move on to another chapter and take the skills it's taught me to help a whole new group of people. I can't say I won't be back, and I'm always ALWAYS going to be involved with ARRG, but for now I'm hanging up my skates.
Tuesday, 10 November 2015
Thursday, 8 October 2015
injury update and the next steps
Firstly, I AM ALIVE
Things have been a little cray cray and i'll explain why. A few months ago I broke my leg playing roller derby, for the second time. This stopped all roller derby and the majority of my power lifting training and meant I had to drop out of British Champs. This was a pretty miserable time. I went from being strong and athletic, to weak, broken, and lacking of identity.
Things have definitely improved and I've since got back to deadlifts, which make me feel like an actual human again! I still can't squat, but I've been working really hard on my bench press and deadlift over the last 6 weeks and this Sunday I'll be stepping on the platform for the second time for a push pull competition!
I am very very excited to get back on the horse and see what I can do! I would be very happy to walk away with a 62.5kg bench press (5kg pb) and 160kg deadlift (10kg pb) so i'll do everything on the day to get those numbers!
I don't know what the future holds for me with regards to roller derby, but I know I miss it desperately and also know I am terrified of hurting myself again. I don't know how that will play out in the future, but I know in the meantime I have power lifting and I have many supportive friends who will help me.
Things have definitely improved and I've since got back to deadlifts, which make me feel like an actual human again! I still can't squat, but I've been working really hard on my bench press and deadlift over the last 6 weeks and this Sunday I'll be stepping on the platform for the second time for a push pull competition!
I am very very excited to get back on the horse and see what I can do! I would be very happy to walk away with a 62.5kg bench press (5kg pb) and 160kg deadlift (10kg pb) so i'll do everything on the day to get those numbers!
I don't know what the future holds for me with regards to roller derby, but I know I miss it desperately and also know I am terrified of hurting myself again. I don't know how that will play out in the future, but I know in the meantime I have power lifting and I have many supportive friends who will help me.
Wednesday, 29 April 2015
I had meet!
This is a little bit of a late update but I had meet!
Me and Ashleigh got to Dundee a few days before the comp and had fun on HOLIDAY. I ate lots and rested lots and it was fun.
On the day I went to the complex to weigh in. I'm very far into my weight category (84+kg) so I wasn't worried about dropping weight or anything. I ate every time I was hungry!
I weighed in at just over 105kg, which I was surprised at. I was certain it was going to be nearer 110. Great! At the same time as weighing in I set my openers for all 3 lifts - 70kg squat, 57.5kg bench, 130kg deadlift. Top tip: decide these before. I didn't realise I had to have prepared that early in the day and one of the numbers I wasn't 100% certain about so had to YOLO a little.
Me and Ashleigh got to Dundee a few days before the comp and had fun on HOLIDAY. I ate lots and rested lots and it was fun.
On the day I went to the complex to weigh in. I'm very far into my weight category (84+kg) so I wasn't worried about dropping weight or anything. I ate every time I was hungry!
I weighed in at just over 105kg, which I was surprised at. I was certain it was going to be nearer 110. Great! At the same time as weighing in I set my openers for all 3 lifts - 70kg squat, 57.5kg bench, 130kg deadlift. Top tip: decide these before. I didn't realise I had to have prepared that early in the day and one of the numbers I wasn't 100% certain about so had to YOLO a little.
Labels:
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deadlift,
diet,
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powerlifting,
squat,
weightlifting,
weights
Monday, 23 March 2015
Review: Myprotein chocolate brownie & cinnamon danish
I'm not going to waste any time here. Go order cinnamon Danish. That's all the review I need to give it. If you like things (I love things) then you will like cinnamon Danish.
Chocolate brownie, is a little more complex. It is still *really* good, and if I hadn't of had it alongside the pleasure bringer that is cinnamon Danish, I probably would be raving. Shame for chocolate brownie! The one downside I would say that sometimes it doesn't mix so well and tastes a little watery. That might be because I'm using an isolate when normally I buy a standard whey protein, who knows! It's still a solid flavour and one I could easily buy 2.5kg of.
Chocolate brownie gets 7 cat faces
Cinnamon Danish gets 10 glorious cat faces
Labels:
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Tuesday, 17 March 2015
Squat squaaaat SQUUUUAAAAAAAAT
I have been working on my squats and they are going SO WELL. I've worked up to a 1rm of 85 kg and considering a month before that my 1rm was 50kg, and my competition goal is 90kg I am pretty happy. This is the most recent session where I had to do 5 sets of 3 reps of 70kg's and everything was going up easy.
I have added something to my training that has helped me stayed focused, encouraged me to push myself, and helps me load the bar...
Ashleigh has supported all of my athletic goals since I met her and now it's amazing to have her in the gym training alongside me! It makes every gym session fun and amazing and I've felt so proud to see her improve in strength in such a short time! We will PR together FOREVER. <3
Monday, 2 March 2015
End of cycle 2
It's the end of my second cycle of my current programme and things got EXCITING.
I ended up increasing my 1rm for all lifts:
Deadlift - 132.5kg
Bench - 60kg
Squat - 85kg
I tested each of these straight after the workout so I reckon if I had of been fresh I would have got more. I got the 135kg deadlift off the floor and couldn't lock out, but I defo have that one in me!
Since I've been training every day for the last 10 weeks, I'm taking a much deserved de-load week before starting cycle 3. My initial goals for the meet were 150kg+ deadlift, 90kg squat, and 70kg bench press and I feel like I've defo got the squat (going to aim for 95-100 actually). For bench press I think I overestimated forgetting how slowly my bench strength goes up so we'll see what happens on the day. Deadlift deadlift deadlift...that was a big goal. I'm without a doubt going to go all out for it and hope that on the day adrenaline will help me push my strength to it's limits so I walk away feeling proud of my numbers.
The competition was capped at 40 lifters initially and it meant that there wasn't anyone else in my weight category. This was shit. Now, it's reopened and I have some healthy competition and I cannot WAIT to push myself over the next 7 weeks.
Gonna get the deload over with then hammer weights, grow some mass, and make some gains!
I ended up increasing my 1rm for all lifts:
Deadlift - 132.5kg
Bench - 60kg
Squat - 85kg
I tested each of these straight after the workout so I reckon if I had of been fresh I would have got more. I got the 135kg deadlift off the floor and couldn't lock out, but I defo have that one in me!
Since I've been training every day for the last 10 weeks, I'm taking a much deserved de-load week before starting cycle 3. My initial goals for the meet were 150kg+ deadlift, 90kg squat, and 70kg bench press and I feel like I've defo got the squat (going to aim for 95-100 actually). For bench press I think I overestimated forgetting how slowly my bench strength goes up so we'll see what happens on the day. Deadlift deadlift deadlift...that was a big goal. I'm without a doubt going to go all out for it and hope that on the day adrenaline will help me push my strength to it's limits so I walk away feeling proud of my numbers.
The competition was capped at 40 lifters initially and it meant that there wasn't anyone else in my weight category. This was shit. Now, it's reopened and I have some healthy competition and I cannot WAIT to push myself over the next 7 weeks.
Gonna get the deload over with then hammer weights, grow some mass, and make some gains!
Friday, 20 February 2015
Moderation Not Deprivation
Before I start, I'd like to say that these are my opinions on diet. If something else works for you, bash on. But these are my thoughts.
Social media, and the internet as a whole, is littered with weight loss and dieting. What strikes me most is the overall theme of deprivation:
"I can't have ---"
"That's not allowed."
"That's dirty, I'm eating clean"
I have done diets involving deprivation. I remember being told when I was younger that you weren't doing a diet correctly unless you felt hungry. I'm sorry, but I hate feeling that hunger all the time. The thing about these diets is they make their participant unconsciously associate food with guilt. At no point ever should food equal guilt - either good or bad. Ever. What food you eat does not determine if you are a good or bad person. Every time I hear someone declare that they were "bad" because they ate a fucking cookie a little part of me dies.
What's wrong with "clean eating"? Many things. Firstly, unless you are dousing your sandwich in fairy liquid, this term means nothing. It simply cannot be defined because it means a different thing for different people. It can either refer to a low calorie meal, a non-deep fried meal, a gluten free and dairy free meal, no refined sugar meal, or unprocessed meal, for example. There is no universal definition. And if your dinner is clean because you eat a boiled chicken breast and brown rice does that mean that my steak and potatoes are dirty? What if I have a bagel and peanut butter, is that dirty? It's a bullshit term and the sooner people don't use it, the better.
The phrase I wish I could go around and tell everyone about is: Moderation Not Deprivation. I'll let you into a secret - you can eat anything. ANYTHING.
What.
Yep, anything. There is no such thing as a food "not being allowed", being "bad", and "dirty" etc. If you are involved in a sport then performance is important and as such you will benefit from eating nutrient dense foods (uhhhh why can't people just say "nutrient dense foods" instead of "clean"!?). This does mean eating high quality meats, vegetables, carbohydrates, and fruit. At the end of the day a protein is a protein, a carb is a carb, and a fat is a fat regardless of where you get it from, but you will notice an improvement in performance if you get the majority of these from nutrient dense foods.
MAJORITY!
Life is short and is to be enjoyed so there is absolutely nothing wrong with eating 80-90% nutrient dense foods and 10-20% YOLO foods. Like, couldn't give a flying fuck if this slice of cake was dipped in the tears of someone on herbalife and deep fried.
Moderation not deprivation.
Social media, and the internet as a whole, is littered with weight loss and dieting. What strikes me most is the overall theme of deprivation:
"I can't have ---"
"That's not allowed."
"That's dirty, I'm eating clean"
I have done diets involving deprivation. I remember being told when I was younger that you weren't doing a diet correctly unless you felt hungry. I'm sorry, but I hate feeling that hunger all the time. The thing about these diets is they make their participant unconsciously associate food with guilt. At no point ever should food equal guilt - either good or bad. Ever. What food you eat does not determine if you are a good or bad person. Every time I hear someone declare that they were "bad" because they ate a fucking cookie a little part of me dies.
What's wrong with "clean eating"? Many things. Firstly, unless you are dousing your sandwich in fairy liquid, this term means nothing. It simply cannot be defined because it means a different thing for different people. It can either refer to a low calorie meal, a non-deep fried meal, a gluten free and dairy free meal, no refined sugar meal, or unprocessed meal, for example. There is no universal definition. And if your dinner is clean because you eat a boiled chicken breast and brown rice does that mean that my steak and potatoes are dirty? What if I have a bagel and peanut butter, is that dirty? It's a bullshit term and the sooner people don't use it, the better.
The phrase I wish I could go around and tell everyone about is: Moderation Not Deprivation. I'll let you into a secret - you can eat anything. ANYTHING.
What.
Yep, anything. There is no such thing as a food "not being allowed", being "bad", and "dirty" etc. If you are involved in a sport then performance is important and as such you will benefit from eating nutrient dense foods (uhhhh why can't people just say "nutrient dense foods" instead of "clean"!?). This does mean eating high quality meats, vegetables, carbohydrates, and fruit. At the end of the day a protein is a protein, a carb is a carb, and a fat is a fat regardless of where you get it from, but you will notice an improvement in performance if you get the majority of these from nutrient dense foods.
MAJORITY!
Life is short and is to be enjoyed so there is absolutely nothing wrong with eating 80-90% nutrient dense foods and 10-20% YOLO foods. Like, couldn't give a flying fuck if this slice of cake was dipped in the tears of someone on herbalife and deep fried.
Moderation not deprivation.
Sunday, 8 February 2015
Three ways to improve your deadlift
I am not an expert, but I can pull a pretty decent deadlift. I have been working on my deadlift technique for the past year and although I can still improve, I feel I have some words of wisdom that could help others to improve the conventional deadlift.
1. Line up with the bar over the mid-point of your foot.
I wear the same shoes for deadlifting every time so I found this position once and then I know from that point where the bar should be. On the sole of your foot find the middle, see which lace that lines up, then put the foot under the bar using that lace as a reference.
A lot of people set up with the bar either too far away from their shins (resulting in it not being dragged up the body, which is the easiest path for the bath, and is best for the health of the back) or too close to their shins. By having the bar over the mid-point of your foot you then have room to bend your knees enough to have the shins touch the bar and no further.
1. Line up with the bar over the mid-point of your foot.
I wear the same shoes for deadlifting every time so I found this position once and then I know from that point where the bar should be. On the sole of your foot find the middle, see which lace that lines up, then put the foot under the bar using that lace as a reference.
A lot of people set up with the bar either too far away from their shins (resulting in it not being dragged up the body, which is the easiest path for the bath, and is best for the health of the back) or too close to their shins. By having the bar over the mid-point of your foot you then have room to bend your knees enough to have the shins touch the bar and no further.
2. Determine stance width.
There are two widths you can use in the conventional deadlift - narrow and shoulder width. Narrow will look like this:
and shoulder width will look like this:
I have been experimenting with these stances and I'll be honest and say I have found I feel stronger in the narrow stance. This will be different for different people, but give it a try.
3. Engage your lats before pulling.
Your lats are large broad muscle that runs from arm put across the trunk of your back.
It is the muscle that is used during pull ups, chin ups, rowing, swimming, and DEADLIFTS. By engaging and contracting this muscle before pulling the barbell off the floor you will tighten everything up, turn your upper body into a solid, strong mass, and then pull a solid, strong mass off the floor using...a solid, strong mass. Simple! So it's all well and good me saying to you "engage your lats" but how do you actually go about doing this? The easiest way I can explain it is once you get into position and grab the bar you then squeeze at your arm pits. You should feel this in your arm pit and on your back almost behind/beside the arm pit. Doing this will make your elbows rotate slightly outwards so don't be alarmed if this happens. It'll all help the tightness! Tight is GOOD.
Lifting things is good.
Labels:
competition,
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Thursday, 5 February 2015
Diet
This last week has been difficult. It was meant to be the second week of my bulk and I was hit with gastro flu and ended up eating less than 500 calories a day. I managed to lose 6 pounds in just a few days. DISASTER.
I definitely got upset. I could have dieted down for this meet while retaining strength, but that's not what I wanted. I wanted to bulk up and gain MORE strength. But I thought of something that is quite important that reminded me that I can get past a stumbling block and, more importantly, I have the knowledge needed to get past a stumbling block.
Two years ago I looked like this:
It was at this point that I changed my life, started researching about diet, and began taking fitness seriously. I would say this photo started the journey and took me to where I am today two years later, 5 stone lighter, a lot stronger, fitter, faster, and more importantly, happier.
I may not have a qualification yet, but when I talk about how I believe people should eat, believe me when I say I know what I'm talking about. This is how I know I'll come back from this. I know exactly what I need to do to regain the lost weight and get myself back to where I was, but I needed this photo to convince me of that.
I may not have a qualification yet, but when I talk about how I believe people should eat, believe me when I say I know what I'm talking about. This is how I know I'll come back from this. I know exactly what I need to do to regain the lost weight and get myself back to where I was, but I needed this photo to convince me of that.
Labels:
competition,
diet,
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food,
gainz,
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lifting,
macros,
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powerlifting,
weightlifting,
weights
Tuesday, 27 January 2015
Road to strength - Part 4: the bulk begins
It's day 2 of the bulk and even though I thought I would feel like this
I feel GREAT! Muscles feel full but actually quite lean. I normally find for me that when I eat more than 230g of carbs (on 250-ish atm) I just feel plumpy and crap. A higher fat, lower carb diet normally suits me quite well, but this feels great. It is very early days and I might not be saying this next week when I up the carbs by another 25g!
I've started a new cycle of my program and i'm happy to say that my 1rm for deadlifts has gone up by 7kg and 3kg for bench. I'd be happy if my deadlifts go up that amount each cycle, to be honest. It might not be a very massive amount, but it is creeping up and they are sensible and sustainable weight increases. The bench will always been my weakest lift. I can't get away from that! I feel like I have technique and my training plan down and now I just need to be patient. Really, as long as the weights are going up I can't complain.
I think i'm going to do a "top tips for deadlift" type blog post so look out for that and more meet progress updates SOON.
Wednesday, 21 January 2015
Road to Strength - part 3: Squat GAINS
I'm on the last week of the first cycle of my new programme and I've just tested my squat 1 rep max and GOOD LORD is it exciting.
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On my old programme (my own programme based off Wendler’s
5-3-1) had me squatting once a week and even though I’ve been squatting in
various forms ever since my leg break, I have never felt comfortable and have
always had weak squats.
I can look at other people’s form and tell them what’s wrong
with it, but I can’t look at myself in the mirror while squatting and tell
myself what’s wrong…so a couple of months ago I got my fiancée to video tape my
squats. It was fucking painful. But I found:
-
the bar path wasn’t straight up and down
-
the bar was too high on my back when I was attempting
low bar squats
-
I was leaning forward
-
My upper back wasn’t tight
-
I wasn’t achieving minimum depth
It was truly awful, but at least it was a starting point to
grow from.
My new programme has me squatting twice a week and that
extra frequency was really what I needed to nail the movement. Want to get better at something? Do it more!
The strategy I took was to concentrate on one “fix” every
week. The first week I really wanted to
focus on getting the bar sitting in the right position on my back. This led nicely into my second focus of upper
back tightness. I felt these two things
had a knock on effect and would improve the other faults I found.
SPOILER ALERT
It worked.
I went from a 1 rep max of 50kg to a 1 rep max of 75kg in 5
weeks and I am so happy! Considering my
goal for the meet is 90kg I feel a lot more confident about achieving that
number now!
Labels:
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Tuesday, 20 January 2015
Review: Adidas Powerlift squat shoes
I have wanted to
get some shoes specifically for squatting ever since I started making squats a
priority in my training, but I could never afford the pair I wanted.
I came across
these at the Adidas website on sale and went for it.
My first reaction
when I un-boxed them was the shoes look fucking good. It’s not like the other squat shoes that look
like they've been dipped in a massive bucked of bright lime green paint and
then been sick on. Looking good does not
positively correlate with a higher 1 rep max, but I’d prefer to not look like a
complete fanny all of the time. Maybe
just some of the time.
I strapped them
on and off I popped for some squatting.
I previously squatted bare foot or in chucks (no particular reason, I
was wearing them for deadlifts straight after so just wore them for squats
too!) so was really interested to see how the wedge heel would feel. They felt really really good! I normally feel like the mobility in my
ankles holds my squat back but by having the little wedge in these bad boys
things felt much more natural – like I wasn’t fighting my own limbs
anymore.
These shoes are
also really lightweight, but feel durable (for a cheaper weightlifting shoe),
and have good grip on the sole so you won’t slip about on the platform. I estimate eventually I will want to upgrade
to the Adidas Adipowers because they are the most beautiful things ever, but
for now I am more than happy with these guys!
Price (£65.99)
8/10
Appearance 10/10
Durability 7/10
Performance 8/10
8/10 cat faces
Wednesday, 7 January 2015
Review: L-Carnitine shot from Myprotein.com
I got this for free and tried it out.
Firstly, there were mixed instructions on how to take it. The website said use it pre-workout on an empty stomach and the bottle said "We recommend consuming 1 shot straight after workout or any other time of the day". As it has a little beta alanine (normally found in pre-workouts) I expect they actually mean it to be consumed before workout. If this is the case they really need to clarify this on the product and website. Yesterday was a small workout day for me so I didn't require a pre-workout so I decided to take it post workout.
It tastes vile. Absolutely vile. I don't know how they got that it "comes in two delicious flavours" because I'd honestly rather drink a lemsip than drink a shot of this again.
Lastly, L-Carnitine is found naturally in the body and the likelihood of this improving training to a degree where you'd notice it is, in my opinion, unlikely. In a study by Smith et al (2008) they found that L-Carnitine did not improve aerobic or anaerobic fitness. Try it if you want but I doubt you'll find it a great help. ALSO IT TASTES VILE.
Zero kitty faces/10
References
Smith, W. A., Fry, A.C., Tschume, L.C., and Bloomer, R.J. (2008)
‘Effect of Glycine Propionyl-L-Carnitine on aerobic and anaerobic exercise
performance’ International Journal of
Sport Nutrition and Exercise Metabolism, 18, pp. 19-36.
Monday, 5 January 2015
Road to strength: part 2 - Diet
I have just under 14 weeks to my first meet so I've had to start thinking seriously about diet and weight categories.
My meet is following IPF regulations so the weight classes are:
45kg
52kg
57kg
63kg
72kg
84kg
84kg+
I fit comfortably into the 84kg+ weight class and there's no way for my first meet I'm going to try to lose like 10kg. So the plan is I'm going to go on a mini cut for two weeks to get rid of water weight, a little of the Christmas excess, to see where i'm actually at and then I'm going to lean bulk until the meet. If I'm already comfortably in the biggest weight class, and not going to drop weight for the competition, then I'm going to fill myself with as much lean muscle as possible in the next 14 weeks.
I'll be on about 2000-2200 calories for the next two weeks and then reverse dieting until I see the scales go up. I got some pretty good advice about reverse dieting so I know I'll be upping my carbs and fats by 10% each week until I see the scales go up. My protein is already high so I'm leaving that alone for now. I am very aware that I will gain some fat, but with training being so intense and me doing cardio as usual (because everyone should!), I'm estimating it won't be a lot. I also know it's not possible to gain like 10 pounds in muscle in 14 weeks, but even a little bit more muscle will help!
There are plenty more things to plan for this competition - soon you will see me in a singlet. HOW EXCITING.
My meet is following IPF regulations so the weight classes are:
45kg
52kg
57kg
63kg
72kg
84kg
84kg+
I fit comfortably into the 84kg+ weight class and there's no way for my first meet I'm going to try to lose like 10kg. So the plan is I'm going to go on a mini cut for two weeks to get rid of water weight, a little of the Christmas excess, to see where i'm actually at and then I'm going to lean bulk until the meet. If I'm already comfortably in the biggest weight class, and not going to drop weight for the competition, then I'm going to fill myself with as much lean muscle as possible in the next 14 weeks.
I'll be on about 2000-2200 calories for the next two weeks and then reverse dieting until I see the scales go up. I got some pretty good advice about reverse dieting so I know I'll be upping my carbs and fats by 10% each week until I see the scales go up. My protein is already high so I'm leaving that alone for now. I am very aware that I will gain some fat, but with training being so intense and me doing cardio as usual (because everyone should!), I'm estimating it won't be a lot. I also know it's not possible to gain like 10 pounds in muscle in 14 weeks, but even a little bit more muscle will help!
There are plenty more things to plan for this competition - soon you will see me in a singlet. HOW EXCITING.
Labels:
bench press,
competition,
deadlift,
fitness,
food,
gainz,
gym,
lifting,
meet,
powerlifting,
weightlifting,
weights
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