Posture is equally MENTAL as it is physical.

Training is going well -- my pistols have gotten much stronger in the 4 weeks since I started focusing my training. Very pleased with this... in fact, I dreamed last night about performing flawless, effortless pistols on both legs. So it's in my noggin' to do it flawlessly on both legs! Therefore, I can and will do it. And I will have the 24kg pistol quite soon at this rate.

Since I'm off to work in a bit, I'll make this brief. I was just thinking about posture though.

I've noticed that I tend to slouch much more than I find acceptable: rounded shoulders, tight pecs, stretched rhomboids and traps, among other muscles. It's so important to maintain healthy, proper posture! And not just for the obvious healthful, physical side-effects; it's equally important for our mental health. What are you conveying to yourself and others when you're walking around shrunken in on yourself, as though you have something to be ashamed of or something to hide?

Especially women. We learn early on that if you walk with your chest out, you're probably weighing in too heavily on the hussy scale. And so we walk around with our shoulders rounded over, our chests sunk in, like we have something we ought to be ashamed of. Well ladies -- that's WRONG. We aren't meant to walk around with our thoracic spine in constant flexion, topped off with a chicken neck, or any variation of it. If that were the case, we'd have been born as chickens instead.

Also, for those who tend to sit for long hours at a computer, or anywhere else for that matter: take a look at the posterior tilt of your pelvis that is most likely rockin'. If you've got lower back pain, this is probably why. Get up from your chair every so often, do some fast-and-loose drills, do the hip flexor stretch, move around!

Life's too short to be all bound up, all of the time.

Please: make the commitment to sit up a little straighter, to walk a little taller. Just try it for a week. Who knows? Maybe if you move around and carry yourself with greater confidence, you may feel a direct effect on your mental health as well.

Stop, Start, Continue.

I know I've been quiet for quite some time. Regardless of whether anyone reads this or not, I think there's a lot of benefit in getting your thoughts written down on paper -- or typed upon a screen.

My life has been filled with many of the grown-up worries that have plagued most everyone to some degree. I'm also at a bit of a crossroads in regards to what I want to be doing with my life. Isn't that such a ridiculously daunting decision when thought of as a life-time commitment? It's the only life that I know that I've certainly got! I wish I had all of my own answers.

As a result, my training suffered for awhile there. Needless to say, I haven't been getting to the gym every day to do deadlifts, and, for the time being, 400 lbs is going to have to be shelved. Not permanently; just for now.

I made a pact with a couple other RKCs, two extremely strong women, that the next time we were all together at a certification, we would attempt and crush the Iron Maiden Challenge. For those of you who aren't aware, the challenge consists of 1 military press, 1 pistol (one-legged squat), and 1 pull up, all with the 24kg kettlebell.

My two cohorts can do two of these things; me? Currently, I can do none.

And that won't stop me.

This lit the fire under my ass; ever since the RKC in San Diego at the end of August, I've been training 5 days a week, and have been doing a lot of pistols and pull ups, though not as many presses as I should be doing.

When I started training, I was having trouble getting the technique for the pistol down; now, I can do them with a 12kg counter weight. I will definitely have the 24kg before long.

I am able to press the 20kg now, and largely attribute my inability to press it for multiple reps to lack of confidence. I believe it's largely mental. I know it's in me to press the 24kg -- it will be more of a mental battle than anything.

The 24kg pull up will be, by far, the most difficult challenge to overcome. I will need the better part of the year that I think I have before we're all at a certification together again to make this happen.

I'm going to be better about chronicling my progress here. I must be held accountable. Considering Pavel was told about our pact, there's even more reason to give nothing less than my best.

In a lot of ways, I feel I've paused for too long, stagnated too much, in several areas of my life. I feel somewhat defeated, nothing at all like the powerful, inspiring woman that I want to be. I will make it my mission to extend this journey of strength into one of spiritual and mental prowess, as well.

Still training

So I haven't fallen off the bandwagon in regards to training -- just with the updates. :)

I have increased the weight each workout by 5 lbs. as planned, and just deadlifted 225 lbs. x 5 on Friday (which felt easy). I've taken the weekend off, and will be deadlifting again tomorrow. There's going to be a deadlifting competition at the gym Doug and I train at this Saturday, so I think I might do it just for the heck of it, and for the experience.

That's pretty much all there is to say right now. Lata!

I think I found my quads...

But I didn't know I'd lost them.

Day 4

DL: 1x5, 190 lbs.
1x5, 170 lbs.

MP: 3x1, 20kg

Pull ups: 3x1


Day 5 (My lifts felt weak today; I took the weekend off after this to recover)

DL: 1x5, 195 lbs.
1x5, 175 lbs.

MP: 2x1, 10kg
Swings: 3x15 32kg

Day 6 (Here is where I made an interesting connection)

DL: 1x5, 200 lbs.
1x5, 185 lbs.

MP: 3x1, 20kg
Swings: 3x15 40kg


So it occurred to me while I was walking up to the bar to dead lift it that, sometimes, one rep will feel significantly easier to me than, say, the one immediately prior to it. I know that my deadlift form is good, but there was obviously something that was changing ever so slightly between reps.

I found the following:
- I learned to deadlift with my gaze down and in front of me, with a neutral spine. If I raise my gaze up a few degrees, so that my neck is in slight extension, my lift is stronger.
- My focus is in my heels so much, that I forget about my toes. They never leave the ground, but I don't root my entire foot with my intentions. When I grip the ground with my entire foot, my lift is stronger. Perhaps an obvious one, but I've found that my intention alone has made a huge difference -- like when I grip the ground with my toes, my quads fire much, much more. Strange as it may sound, I've never really thought about my quads when deadlifting; I've always lifted from my glutes. I'm curious to see what happens now...

Here we go

Life has been amazingly, immensely, endlessly FULL. It has, for the most part, been filled with one incredible thing after another (RKC in Italy, HKC in San Diego, pouring wine at the wine festival in Paso Robles for my aunt and uncle's winery, motorcycle modifications and rides); and of course, things not quite so fun, like finals. I also recently started working part time as a receptionist at a medical office, so that will be filling time, as well.


Something very cool happened last week. For whatever reason, I have had a mental block against pressing anything heavier than the 16kg. I was fairly certain it wasn't a matter of lack of strength, because I can do a Get Up with a 32kg, and I can snatch the 24kg relatively easily; I have even snatched the 32kg once. So, I didn't feel it was a matter of not being strong enough. I certainly didn't trust myself to press it, though.



A couple of days after the La Jolla HKC, where I talked about this issue with Franz and Yoana Snideman, and also with a couple of the participants, Doug and I went to the gym. I did a couple of sets of 5 reps of cleans with the 32kg, and a couple of sets of a couple of reps with the 40kg, and looked over at the 20kg. I decided it was small. Upon deciding that, I cleaned it, and pressed it on both my left and right side. I've gotten it consistently since. :)

So, now that I'm home for awhile, my training will be back on track. I still have every intention of deadlifting 400 lbs., and here's how it's going to happen:

-My current 1 rep max is 305 lbs.
- I am going to follow Pavel's "Power to the People" regimen. For those of you who are familiar with the different cycles, I will be following the Flexible Wave Cycle. This means I started with weight that I can easily do 10 reps with. I will then perform 5 reps with this weight for 1 set, go down to 90% of that weight, and do 5 more reps. And that's it, for deadlifts, for the day. Each day, I will increase by 5 pounds.
- To complement the pulls, I am doing presses, as well. I am also GTG with pull ups.
-I will also be doing heavy swings (meaning swings with a kettlebell that is ≥32kg).

So far:

Day 1
DLs: 1x5, 135lbs.
1x5, 120lbs.
MP: 5x1, 20kg
Pull ups:
3x1

Day 2 (missed a day, so I added 10 lbs)
DLs: 1x5, 145 lbs.
1x5, 130 lbs.
MP: 5x1, 20kg
Pull ups:
3x1

Day 3

DLs: 1x5, 185 lbs. (at this point, I figured this was a better starting point for me)
1x5, 165 lbs.

MP: 5x1, 20kg (I attempted the 24kg with my right side after the 3rd set; it went up halfway. I'll have to try it again fresh...)

Pull ups:
3x1


I am very, very excited to see where this takes me. :)

I've decided

I want to deadlift 400 lbs.

Training shniz

It's been an eon or two since I've posted anything on here. I have no excuse really other than I haven't had much I wanted to say, and I haven't really thought about my lack of blogging. I am remedying this now, though.

My workouts have had no real theme to them. I've just been doing what I feel like doing when it comes time to lift some weight. A couple of weeks ago I worked out with a friend and did a standard, bodybuilding-type of gym workout -- it was his "back" day, so I did the same. I have to admit, it was a lot of fun, and it was nice to throw something different in the routine; I was laughing at myself the whole time though. It just felt bad. My joints just did not like the constrictive movements that a barbell, or any other linear device, forces them to follow.

Wednesday I decided to do some deadlifts, since I hadn't in a little while:
185 x 5
225 x 5 x 2
285 x 1 x 2

285 felt heavy, but my form felt very solid, with very few leaks in tension.

Yesterday, Doug and I took advantage of what an incredibly beautiful day it was and went for a hike (Seven Falls). We explored off trail a bit, ended up wandering around for about 2 1/2 hours, and I found out that my hiking boots, after 5 years, have very little traction anymore -- as a result, I ended up quite wet from mid-thigh, down. :) We had a great time though, and we'll definitely be doing more of that.

Today's kettlebell class consisted of:

Warm up (24kg swings, 12kg halos, 16kg around-the-worlds)
-Single bell overheard walk (16kg) ~200 feet, switch sides and go back
-20kg goblet squats, 5 x 2
-Complex (5 reps of each, 16kg for all):
1) Snatch (both sides)
2) Goblet squat
3) Military press
4) Goblet squat

= 1 set; completed 3 sets.

-Complex (10 reps of each, 16kg for all):
1) Two-handed swings
2) Reverse lunge with kb in the goblet position
3) Up-chucks

= 1 set; completed 3 sets.

-16kg:
50 feet: overhead walk
50 feet: rack walk
50 feet: overhead walk
50 feet: rack walk

= 1 set; completed 2 sets.

-24kg one-bell bear crawls x 2
-Farmer's walks: ~100 feet, 20kg and 24kg, switching sides at ~100 feet and returning.
1) First set (200 feet) standard Farmer's walk
2) Second and third sets goose-neck Farmer's walks

-2 sets of 5 windmills

Done.