One of the things we strive for at The Movement is to practice specificity. So, in the context of me, that would mean practicing the powerlifts with their cues as often as possible. I hadn't done so at all this year because I was worried about getting out of pain. Now, I am out of pain. So last Saturday I decided it was time to give it a go under contest conditions. I was nervous that the lack of deadlifting would have affected my total (before the mini meet, 1055) negatively--I have only pulled the way I would at a meet 26 times this year as of last night. However, I was nicely surprised.
I arrived at the Powerhouse at 9am ready to lift with a bunch of people I had never met, and a few I knew already. Among them, several badasses and overall great dudes: Tony Conyers, Layne Norton and Jon Bernor. The latter two I train around and with occasionally, and despite what the morons on forums say, Layne is a very approachable and knowledgeable guy. In addition to that, he gets psyched up for lifts, so that I don't have to.
I didn't warm up, it didn't test well and all my lifts were as follows:
Squat: 380, 410, 430.
Bench: 245, 260, and a miss at 270
Deadlift: 460, 480, 500.
Though it is not the best I could have done, I am extremely proud that I added 40lbs to my deadlift and 90lbs to my squat. And a paltry five pounds to my bench. That ups the total by 135lbs (1190 if you can't add) in just shy of ten months since the last competition. Bodyweight this time around was 177, no cutting involved. I think the majority of the bench problems are involving me not finding out what works, and me not enjoying the lift nearly as much as the other two. Incidentally, due to the injury I got to really enjoy squats because that was all I could do for a while. And once that cleared up, I got to do them with more weight.
Once I was able to deadlift again, shit got real.
One thing I will address now, is how I added 90lbs to the squat. I have talked about it before, but it still baffles some people. Since 29 September 2011 I have squatted 154 times. My max was kicking about 330 or so. Out of the 154 times, five sessions were box squats with a cambered bar, 34, were with the safety bar to a box below parallel, 68 were with a regular bar to the same box, 32 were competition squats with no box. The rest were with the safety bar and no box. How can a human withstand all that? By stopping when it gets difficult. No, that's not a joke.
My deadlift went up the way it did due to the technical issues of my own form and possibly due to doing so many box squats. Compare the above to the below:
Big difference. I wish I had gotten 500 on tape, but I was busy worrying about lifting and decided to not worry about it. Rest assured, by next competition (8 December) I will add more pounds to the total and meet at least 1220 with a 520lb deadlift.
Apparently, deadlifting is popular among the women of Scotland.
This is a picture of me about to squat 405lbs. This was the first time I had ever done so, and is 60lbs heavier than my best competition squat which was 340lbs on 10 December 2011. After being rendered virtually useless for the first half of the year, I think this is decent progress. And since the next competition is not til December, I think I will shatter this mild milestone then too.
I did this the same way I always do. I do a shitload of box squatting with a safety bar and with a straight bar. I do infrequent amounts of squats without the box. Why? The box tests well more often than it does not. On 27 August I managed to do two challenging singles with 375 on the box. A month later--25 September--on the box, I did the same weight for four sets of doubles. They were also much easier.
Actual squatting became more frequent in August. Absolute best on that was 365 for three doubles on 21 September. And now today. 405 for 3 singles.
Something that I tested that helped and could help you too is testing your squat stance and doing as many goddamn types you can do. Some days squats from the bottom of the rack tested best. Other days, it may have been the cambered bar, the safety bar or the straight bar. And box or no box. Something you can also test which may freak some of you out, is the amount of knee and hip flexion you use in your squat. Some days I would do a movement pattern which left me in a more upright position and with more knee flexion than normal, and other days I would flex the hips as much as I could for the movement. Once these variables came into play, the volume took off, and apparently so did my max.
Before I conclude, I will relay a funny story. Two nights ago, while I was in the middle of my sets of doubles with 375 on the squat, my ex girlfriend was doing squats next to me in the other rack. Yes, it is possible to remain good friends with an ex, if you aren't a retard and the ending wasn't murderous or otherwise terrible.
So we are doing our squats, and chatting and what not when up walks this short, fat, bald motherfucker wearing a Pantera shirt and most likely intoxicated. Apparently, he was once a big time body builder, though his physique reflected nothing of the kind. He proceeded to take his shirt off and flex. To attempt to diffuse the situation, I ask my friend for a spot. Now, her being 5'2, and lean does not mean she isn't strong. In four months of training starting as a novice, she can already deadlift 240lbs, and squat at least 185. So, for spotting heavier stuff, I definitely trust her. This guy did not trust her. He immediately pipes in and says, "I got you, bro." To which I said, "No, I would rather her do it."
At this point she walked away and this guy attempted to squat 375. He claimed it was racked too high. Bummer. He then took her 175 lbs, and gave it a quarter squat, though it looked like an eighth squat. On my next set, he then told me I needed knee wraps, which is where I lost it.
The last story was merely for humor, I hope the rest of this was useful.
Training was probably the most fun it has been in a while. I can finally deadlift with regularity again, now that my pain levels are at zero and are resolved. The form is different than before, and the other deadlift variants have helped me out a lot as well, possibly due to the inclusion of spinal rotation.
I had my friend Piers McCarney do a follow up to this, but I never posted it because I am a lazy son of a bitch. However, this lead to a resurgence in blog interest on both of our parts. A win for us all. Go here to read his follow up on the subject. Experience here is valuable, as he is a real life parent.
You will recall that I had some pain in my left leg due to some shit. You'll be happy to know that there is no pain now. I can even sit in the horrible chair at my job and not feel anything. I don't sit, however.
In this post, I will share with you some shit that helped me out a lot in addition to what I wrote about in the above link.
Something I had not given a lot of thought to but decided to try was acupuncture. If you live in the Tampa area and are generally fucked up and think it might help, go see Becky Rubright. It is relatively inexpensive, and she will listen to you and work on you accordingly. Since I had some ass and back pain, here is what I looked like during a session:
That is my ass, with several thin needles therein. She stuck them in, and I didn't feel a thing, and I in fact asked her if she had even done anything yet. The wires coming from the needles are even more awesome. It is what they call electro-stem, and they work like jumper cables to pulsate the muscle. It felt goddamn awesome, and the pain was immensely better after the first session.
Movement wise, there were quite a few things I did as well. I ordered and Ironmind Rolling Thunder deadlift handle, and a Plateau Buster Swing Handle for more variety.
For whatever reason, heavy partials with the form used here--left foot externally rotated about 45 degrees, right foot straight and my head to the right--tested extremely well compared to something more symmetrical, and they also resolved a fuckload of pain after each training session. This particular video filmed 11 July is a 100lb PR on the first go around with it, wherein I hit 504lbs, somewhere around the end of may.
In addition to that, using the Buster for one handed deadlifts resolved a fuckload of pain and tested well a lot too.
Form is not much different than described above, other than that when I lifted with my right hand, looking down tested better than looking to the right.
Same goes for the rolling thunder deadlift handle.
Same form. More pain resolution, and because of the emphasis on grip training during those months, my masturbation sessions are way better than they used to be.
One other aspect that lead me to resolve pain recently and hit better PRs in my bench and squat was taking the Smarter Strength course with Adam Glass. During the course work, the material we discussed gave me the ideas to question things, like my stance. Which is how I developed the fucked up, asymmetric stance you see in my first video of me lifting 604 on the buster. This stance, derived from the course work, led me to be able to squat pain free, hit 25lbs more than my competition max on a parallel box for some singles, and eventually resolve the pain to where I can squat with a symmetrical stance again.. Which I did today, and managed to hit 335 on the Safety Squat Bar to a parallel box. Last PR in that lift was 40lbs lighter on the Fourth of July for some singles. It might not sound like much, but for me, to be able to squat symmetrically, sit cross legged, sit on a floor with my legs fully straight and experience no back pain means a fuck of a lot to me. If you are fucked up and in pain, take the course if he offers it again. Good round table discussions, and a good way to get to know yourself and learn more about human movement.
In addition to that, bench pressing has been testing well near daily, due to the course material and the focus on contra specific movements. In short, the more contraspecificity you train, the better off you will be. And likewise, I hit a pullup PR with 110 lbs strapped on to me the other day, for a few singles.
And lastly, I started tracking my body fat percentage with an omron. Here are my latest measurements.
You can see the leaner me in the latest video (first one) compared to others on my youtube.
Lots of recent ups, a few downsides include not competing as often as I wanted to. But the SPF Outlaw meet is coming back around in December. I predict a fucking awesome showing.
Being a big fan of "bigger is better," I've been seriously lifting weights since 2008 and I have intentions to continue exploring the strength arena by training and competing in strongwoman shows. Existing as a woman in this world of testosterone is no easy task. I'm a tattooed Martha Stewart that loves the hell out of strength sports. You've got to have balls to hang and the brawn to back it up.
Using equipment for lifting and coping with insecurity in the gym environment are two big issues that most women deal with at one point or another.
Bench shirt or not, Kara is probably stronger than you.
I get asked a lot why I wear a weight belt in the gym. No, it's not because it looks cute or matches my shoes. It's because I lift heavy shit and it serves to allow to me to lift heavy shit safely. You should never be embarrassed to wear a belt and it doesn't make you more badass to go without one. It really depends on the lifter and as a woman it doesn't make me weaker because I choose to use this piece of equipment. You should start using your belt when you feel you need it. As a powerlifter, it's a good idea to wear the gear that you will be competing in. I wear a belt at meets, therefore I train with my belt. Sometimes I wear it while warming up and sometimes I put it on when I get to a heavy working weight. I wear a belt because it makes me feel good and strong. I wear it because it makes me feel safe under load and all I care about is moving weight effectively and efficiently. It's pretty simple. Not to mention that it IS cute and does, in fact, match my shoes. Boom!
As a lady lifter, I have had to overcome insecurity issues in the gym and in competition. While I may not lift as much as the mirror monkey standing next to me, I deserve to be there just as much as he does. I used to be nervous to approach the dumbbell rack or any equipment in the gym. I would even go to the gym during hours I knew were empty so that I could train anxiety free. I got over that shit pretty fast when I woke up and grew some! Fake it till ya make it, ladies! Act like you know the deal. Act like you belong there and if you have a question ask it. There is no harm in getting information. Man up and take charge of your training and don't be a shrinking violet in the gym. That makes you look WEAK. Yes, it can be intimidating. Use that Internet thing and do some research before you take on a workout routine. Know what the equipment you need looks like and watch instructional videos that show you how to use it (make sure it's coming from a reputable source). Even better is finding someone who has more experience and a good knowledge base in strength to show you the ropes. Choose wisely and do some research when seeking a coach/training partner. Confidence comes with time and being open to learning without fear. It's ok to feel stupid/silly, but realize that it's part of how you learn. Suck it up buttercup and DO WORK!
Talia is a competitive powerlifter living in Nashville, TN and a sponsored athlete with Chaos and Pain. She also lifts in the Southern Powerlifting Federation, and she could probably kick your ass.
