post programing musings

First things first....a couple of "thank you's"


My family, for putting up with the extra long workouts!

BJ!!!!  thanks for coming up with this programming for this old lady.

Will & BJ for the constant encouragement and coaching on my form.

The entire Zia gym for putting up with the grunting coming from the corner and the running outside to puke behavior.

There were a lot of lifts in this program, but some were only in the programing once every two weeks...others were performed twice a week, every week...  so gains are clearly dictated by how often lifts were performed.  One of the biggest lessons I learned was that to have any gains, I just needed to no the number of lifts...the weight that was assumed was not as important as the reps.  Sometimes that was a blow to my ego.  Anyone who has been reading this blog knows my struggles with the shoulder press...ahhhh, but by the end of the program, I was doing the right number of lifts at a much lighter weight AND was happy about that.

Ok....where to start.

Pullups: Started on the second thickest band, moved down 2 bands.

Grip work: Started using S & T...I can now close the .5 grip thingy.

Back Extensions: Started the program unweighted, ended with a 45 pound plate.

Romanian Deads: (with dumbells) Started at 25lbs ended at 65lbs.

Good Mornings: Started at 45lbs ended at 75lbs.

Less frequent lifts:

Deadlifts: Started with working sets at 300lbs ended at 325.  These were only once every other week.

Cleans:  Started with 130 ended at 140, again, once every two weeks.  I had trouble with form half way through the programming and struggled with both this and the snatches in terrible terrible ways!  I know it will get fixed, I just sorta fell apart on the Olympic lifts.  Hip stuff....

Push Press:  Started at 120 ended at 137.5.  These were tough, but they were one of the only lifts that I ended using the prescribed weight in the programing.

More frequent lifts:

Snatch:  Started at 105 ended at 113.75.. such a form issue...geeeez....hips hips hips.

Shoulder Press:  Wait for it,  wait for it..... Started at 90 ended at 95...really?  But, in the middle, I did get one set at 110, and one set at 115, but they were 1 set of 2, which is why I scaled back to get the 3x5 I was supposed to be doing.

Bench Press:  Started at 110 ended at 152.5....I am super duper happy with this one...especially since this was a new lift for me.  When I hit 150, I did the 3x5...I was thrilled.  Will really helped me on this one.

Back Squat:  This lift was really the cornerstone of the program. Started at 200 ended at 285.

Those are the numbers....the effects are yet to be seen, but I do know the lifting is already benefiting my throwing...which was the point after all!

Looks like we are testing one rep maxes the next couple weeks.  My body is kinda tired and I have my last games the first weekend of November, so I don't know if I will even get new maxes...but I'd be ok with that.  I have learned a bunch about my body...some days...it just doesn't wanna lift as much as other days.

Did my first CrossFit class in a long time last night too!  Fun...in that "are you kidding me" CrossFit way.