Summer 08 Contest Prep

Well, I’ve been saying all year that I want to squat 225 by the end of the year…I put up 3 nice reps yesterday morning at the Gold’s in Bethlehem!  Hooray!  I blew last week’s squat performance out of the water.  My weight is still high, but I still look decent (although I will NOT post pictures).  The plan is to continue this lifting split for the rest of the year and in January I am going to do Crossfit…Not sure exactly what I’m going to do with my lifting but it should help me build up the explosiveness and endurance I need to do Tri-Fitness next summer.

OK so my weight is an alltime high of 157 (well, in recent history, I’ve broken 160 in the past) but today I squatted 2 reps of 200 and 2 reps of 205!  I would have done more but I felt like I didn’t have the bar squared away on my shoulders right and I thought it was slipping.  I feel amazing!  I’m going to try to not drink a drop of Miller Lite till Thursday (Steelers game night…redemption for Sunday’s loss) and eat clean (except for Thursday’s beers and Christmas stromboli at my dad’s on Saturday!)

The goal is to actually LOSE weight over the holidays.

My Christmas gift to myself will be a 225 pound squat - I’ve been working on that one all year and I think I got it.

I’m keeping up with the 4 days lifting and trying to not eat lots of crap or drink too much, it’s going alright.  I’m down to 150.6 pounds this AM!  My strength is coming back quickly, I’m pushing myself pretty hard in the gym and sometimes embarrassing myself just a little, but overall I’m feeling good.  I took yoga on Saturday and it really kicked my ass.  It may be the push I need to start building functional strength in my shoulders for fitness competition. 

I feel like it’s hard to eat healthy when I’m not actually dieting.  I am going to a wedding in January so I may do a 2-week cut for that.  I am, as always, all-or-nothing girl.  Always a work in progress…

Last week I did get back to the gym.  I weighed in at 153.6 on Thursday.  YIKES.  All the eating, drinking, and skipping workouts had caught up to me.  Instead of worrying about my diet, the new goal is just to get to the gym 4X a week for the rest of the year.  I am trying to eat clean, but not measuring or counting cals.  I’m also cutting the drinking down to 1X per week…so far its working, I’m down to 151.  For the rest of the year I’m going back to a split that I really loved and saw a lot of growth from this summer.  Not a ton of exercises, no isolation, just heavy heavy compound lifts.  I’m weak as hell right now….  Just lifting, 4 mornings a week, and lots of stretching.  Screw cardio.  It’s the offseason.

Mon:  Vertical Push/Pull [military press/pullups]

Tues: Squats

Thurs: Horizontal Push/Pull [bench/heavy rows]

Fri:  Deadlift

Will update next Monday, although nobody is reading!