The By Product

The 2012 USAPL Raw Challenge at the Arnold Sports Festival is a little over a week away. I am really looking forward to this meet and not just because its “The Arnold” but because we have been working hard to prep for this meet.

Diet Prep: At the first of the year Max put me on the “Slow Carb” diet, which is really a modified Anabolic Diet. I have been losing lean mass and gaining weight so it was time to make my body more efficient. The goal is to increase lean mass and decrease body fat while remaining within my weight class. Within 30 days I lost 4% body fat and gained 2 pounds of lean mass. I was feeling great and my spirits are high because I am looking leaner too.

Strength Prep: Training has been going great. I have been working hard on my form in the Squat and Bench. I’m really concentrating on training the pause at the bottom of the bench and that has been helping a lot. The diet has helped with my strength as well.

Meet Prep: In the past our strategy at meets have been to get big numbers on my individual lifts and try to break my current records. This time going into the Arnold our goal is to get the highest total. We have spent some time planning my warm ups and lifts for the meet in order to achieve the highest total. When you go for a high total you may sacrifice going for a new personal record because you are “playing it safe” by not risking any lifts. Getting a high total means taking lifts you most likely will get.

Now we are less than 2 weeks away and I am tapering my weights down. This week we work up to my opening lifts and practice the warmup I will do at the meet. Here is a sample of my workout last Saturday.

3, 2, 1 GO!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3gDOzdYQAXc&feature=g-upl&context=G2f74ed2AUAAAAAAAAAA

2011 is now over and I have to say it was a great year! But I am looking forward to 2012 and all the new challenges it will bring. I ended 2011 with the addition of a new boy in my life. He is amazing and I love him with all my heart!

Meet Axel Foley named after Eddie Murphy in Beverly Hills Cop. He is 4 months old now and a French Bulldog. It’s all his fault that I have neglected my blog in so long, he had required more attention than time that is available to me. Now that he is a little older and more independent I am getting my life back. He does love going to the gym and watching all the action.

So starting 2012 lets just take a quick look at the things that are on the agenda. I’m starting the year in March at the Arnold Raw Challenge to defend my title. I love this event! I met so many amazing women last year that I have kept in touch with on FB and I am looking forward to meeting more. Also there are some girls I met at Nationals that will be coming this year that I am excited to hang out with. The Arnold is so big and so much is going on in addition to the powerlifting….can’t wait! Somewhere in all that I would like to get in some gear this year and see how that goes. My goals for 2013 is to have the opportunity to go to a world event and I think if I go equipped I will have a better chance at that goal. Of course Raw Nationals at the end of summer is on the calendar and that will be in Texas. I have some PL friends in TX that I would like to see while I am there so I am excited about that event. I also have some numbers I would like to hit this year as well as working on balancing personal life with lifting life. There is always room for improvement.

I am going to try to blog every week this year. Not saying its a resolution but just a personal goal. With that I will leave you with some PL info. I am always checking www.powerliftingwatch.com and this week I found some info from www.rawpowerlifting.com they revised the lifter classifications recently and its very cool to see where you stand as a lifter. I also learned that the strict curl was originally part of powerlifting (who knew?). So check out where you fit in the classifications and use it as a goal to shoot for! Click here for the classification.

Happy New Year!!

Liffit!

I knew absolutely nothing about Powerlifting when I started competing. There are lots of competitions out there you can go to and many different Federations that govern those competitions. I am fortunate to have raced motorcycles for many years and know a little about the rules and regulations that are involved in Federations. There are however some special rules that apply that may not be well-known when you start competing. This year my goals were geared toward competing in the USAPL, so I quickly starting gathering all the info I could to make sure I was following all the rules. One thing I learned right away was that the IPF has a particular rules about competing in other federations against banned lifters. So needless to say with my goals in mind I am only competing USAPL right now. Today I read the minutes of the annual meeting for the USAPL and here clearly is proof the rule is inforced. You can find the minutes here.

IPF 14.9/14.10

During the past year, several notable referees and lifters from USA Powerlifting took part in several unsanctioned and non-drug-tested international championships taking place in the United States, which were in direct competition with USA Powerlifting. Several of these lifters and international and national referees knowingly participated in competitions where suspended lifters were taking part. As a result, several athletes and referees, after receiving a clear word of caution from USA Powerlifting were ruled ineligible for international competition with the NAPF and IPF, which also includes the Arnold Sports Festival. So once more, I am sending out another reminder to both the athletes and officials that by participating in non-drug tested and international competitions, with suspended lifters taking part, you‘re at risk of being ruled ineligible by USA Powerlifting and sanctioned by the International Powerlifting Federation [IPF Constitution - 14.9/14.10]. Please proceed with prudence and caution when venturing out USA Powerlifting.

Rules are rules!

Happy Lifting!

My work out log is full, so its time to start a new one. I am currently typing up my old log so I can take a good look at what worked and what didn’t. At this point it might take me another year to do that but we will see.

Another thing that comes with the year ending and a new beginning is goal setting, picking the meets I want to do next year and making a plan. I have some of that in my mind and it’s just a matter of getting it in my book. I qualified for the Arnold again and have already sent in my registration so that is part of the plan. I need to start saving money for that trip and training is starting this week. After Nationals I got a cold so I have been recovering from that and now I am ready to go. I have also been on the “See Food” diet so I just need to get back on my regular eating schedule.

So it’s a great time for new beginnings, let the journey continue!

Liffit!!!

Last week was the USAPL Raw Nationals. This was my first Nationals and my second “travel” meet after the Arnold. I did learn after the Arnold that I need to travel a day earlier to meets so I have a day to eat properly and rest properly. I arrived on Thurs for competition on Saturday. My travel day included 3 planes, from OC to TX, TX to NJ, NJ to PA, first stop I had to run to my plane, second stop I had to collect my gate checked bag at baggage claim and sit in security for 45mins. When I finally arrived in PA it was late and I was tired. I did meet 2 lifters from Texas who became great friends and hung out with me the whole weekend.

Friday I watched some of the light weights lift, got all my food and rested. Ben and Kat were there from Derby City CrossFit and they had some lifters so I hung with them a bit.

On Saturday I weighed in at 71kg which is a little light for 75kg class, but the IPF (international) weight class goes up to 72kg and I have been trying to stay around that since I think they are going to move to those classes next year and the Arnold uses those weights. I felt good and went into warm up. I had the opportunity to meet some of my fellow lifters. One that was 3 months pregnant (ya you heard me). Another who was a mother/daughter team (how cool is that?). One who was over 60. And so many more really really great women. I think that is my favorite part of going to these meets is to get to know these girls who enjoy the same thing I do and just hearing their stories.

My competition went really well, I was in second place coming out of the squat and battled to keep second from that point on but ending up third in my weight class and 18th overall out of 87 women. I was really happy with that for my first Nationals and very honored to be in the company of such great lifters. It was such an amazing experience and I learned a lot that I know will help me in the future.

This week I got back to training only to catch a cold, so I am resting and recovering so I can get back to training next week. Next on the schedule is State Regionals in November. I did qualify for the Arnold again so I will be going back in March to defend my title. This last year has been an amazing journey, I have met so many amazing people and I can’t wait to see where the next year takes me.

I want to thank all my friends and family for your support, and thank my coach for all that he has done, and especially want to thank USAPL CA for all the great support they have given me. I am very blessed to have this new Powerlifting Family.

Liffit!

It’s week 10 away from nationals. Team Maxfit has been hitting it hard in the gym. Big Mike and I are doing more things than we have ever done before. We have been lifting heavy this whole time and we are doing a ton of core work. After the Arnold Max wanted to really work on my core because my lifts are “wiggly”, my back is just not getting tight enough. We have also been working on conditioning. So there has been a lot of grunting going on between Big Mike and I. Mike TOTALLY hates abs!! I think it is really paying off tho. My back feels really different in all my lifts.

The diet is good. I finally feel comfortable with 1600 or so calories a day and I’m down 8lbs. I feel stronger than ever even with the weight loss and don’t really feel light-headed at all anymore. I’m keeping up with my supplements and eating really clean. I’ve added in some rice a couple of times a week and it seems to be fine with my stomach and doesn’t add any weight on me. I really try to eat little to no sugar, and when I do eat it I feel like total crap and it really messes with my sleep. If I eat sugar I can’t sleep for days, its weird.

So even tho we have been lifting heavy I haven’t actually done any heavy squats or deadlifts since the Arnold. We have been doing box squats and partial lifts with bands. Because of this I can’t help but to get all crazy in my head and think I’ve lost it. When you don’t max out its hard to know where you are at. Last week we did some full squats with bands and I had 245 on the bar with blue bands and it felt light. I thought at that point that maybe I had gotten stronger. Then Sunday with Max we were supposed to work up to 90% work sets. For me that would have been about 275lbs based on my 308lb PR. I put on 270, then 280, then 290 and I felt amazing so I asked if I could just do one at 300lbs to see how it felt.  It felt great. This was big for me, the 308 I did do back in Jan was a grinder and I have some numbers in my head for nationals so hitting this 300 made me so happy. I think I might have to raise those numbers I want to hit!

Happy Lifting!!

About a week before the Arnold I started to get some pain in my right wrist. We we came home and the pain didn’t get better I started to worry and saw a doc. It felt a lot like a broken bone and not really like a muscle tear. I have always been a bit of an adventurer and have a lot of experience with broken bones. I have broken my arms 5 times, my foot, many toes, and separated a shoulder. All on horses, motorcycles and bicycles. Yes I have a problem, adrenalin junkie. When it comes to the right wrist I have broken it 3 times. Here is the result:

When I was 13 (or so) I was riding my horse and fell off. Which is pretty common but in this case I landed on my arm in a way that completely broke both bones and dislocated the hand which needed to be reset. It healed great but as you can see on the little bone (ulna) that it was broken on the growth plate and stopped growing. As a result the ulna is 2mm shorter than it should be. The place where the ulna and the radius meet usually has a nice joint in between the bones but in my case due to years of wear and tear (12 years of motorcycle racing) the joint is completely destroyed and the cartilage on the bones is worn away causing advanced arthritis. This causes a bit of pain and loss of mobility.

So in my case the only solution is pain management. There is joint replacement for the wrist but it is not really that great and only used as a salvage surgery and I would not even be eligible for that for many many years. Cortisone has been my friend. The shots seem to be the only relief to the pain and they last about 6 weeks for me. Most people should not get lots of shots because it breaks down the joint but in my case the joint is completely destroyed so there are no negative consequences to getting the shots. In addition to the shots I have been icing every day sometimes 2 to 3 times a day. The ice keeps the inflamation down and helps me with the mobility loss. I have been really happy with the icing and see good results from it.

I will admit its been an emotional roller coaster since my diagnosis. I think a lot about powerlifting and if I should be doing it at the risk of more pain or even loss of some use of my hand. I have made it very clear to my doctors that it’s not worth the loss of using my hand and if they recommend I quit lifting I would. I can’t imagine not riding a bike again or a motorcycle or even being able to brush my hair. My doctors assure me that I will not damage the wrist any further at this point and that I can keep lifting. My doc said he will tell me when I need to stop.

So I will overcome, I will be the best I can be. I will still constantly monitor my health and be as realistic as possible. I have goals and dreams that are yet to be achieved and I’m gonna get em!

See you on the platform! Liffit, Liffit Good!

Happy Mothers Day!

I spent the day with my mom today for her special day. Made her bacon and eggs for breakfast, and handled the little items on her “honey do” list. Then asked her what she wanted to do today. She said maybe a little shopping at the outlets. I’m not a huge shopper but there are a couple of places I like to go there so it sounded like a good idea. First we headed to a small shopping center by her house and I of course checked out the Lulu and got a new red headband since red is my favorite color. Then met mom in Sur le Table. Now let me give you a little back story…….

So I eat strawberries every morning. Anti-oxidants ya know. And I spend about 20 mins twice a week cutting the dang things. That adds up to  34 hours a year of chopping strawberries!! So……….I have been on the hunt for a “Strawberry cutter upper” for a long time.

In the store I asked the lady if they had a thingy that cuts strawberries and sure enough they did! WOOOT!!!!

It is so amazing! It took minutes to cut up a whole box!

Can’t even tell you how happy I am with this $15 purchase!

Then off to the outlets. I went into the Converse store to find some new lifting shoes in the clearance rack. When I was a rocker back in the 80′s I wore high top Converse every day. When I moved to CA way later in life people would mention Chuck Taylors and I had no idea what they were talking about because we never called them “Chucks”. After being told they were Converse I looked on the shoe and sure enough there was the name. But really who knew I would be wearing them again now. In Powerlifting I use the shoes for the Deadlift so I needed a new pair just for that. And what do you know I found the perfect pair for just $20!

Not only did I have a great time with my Mom but I was very successful in my bargain shopping!!

Like!

I guess there are people out there that don’t have “things”. And even thinking about it for a few minutes I kinda like the idea. I have a great long time friend Kevin who used to live with not much more than a backpack of stuff and I always admired that. Just the thought of not having to worry about any of your “stuff”. You would never worry about someone breaking into your home.

I did a little research and this whole minimalist thing is popular. There are tons of websites telling you how to live with 50, 100, etc things. They have all kinds of challenges to get you into this. It sounds exciting, to start purging your unnecessary items. People also make up their own rules for the challenge. Some things can be counted as one thing, like underwear which makes sense. Common items within a family doesn’t count, like table, TV, etc. They have a time frame when they will accomplish this. Its mostly about counting your “personal” items.

As I write I am looking around and thinking if I could live with just 100 things??

Um……NOT! this is just a corner of my room. I think I could have 100 things of each activity I do. I have 5 bicycles, motorcycle and bins of camping, riding, and adventure gear. There is no way. BUT I will say that I am interested in thinking about this more and purging some items in the near future is a must.

In the end I think we should all try to live with less material things. Especially in this economy. We should only keep things we need and only buy things we need. We really should learn to stop satisfying our desires with material items and start filling our lives with amazing experiences, and being kind to one another, building relationships, and giving to others.  These things bring way more joy than a material item you just have to have. I am just as guilty as everyone else but I’m a work in progress too.

Can you live with just 100 personal items?