The SMFPA Chapters 3 and 4

I'm way behind so hope to post a few days in a row. Almost 2 weeks until the meet. Prep chapters 3 and 4 were easier still but was starting to get a sense of the upcoming challenges.


Chapter 3

OHP

elliptical warm up for 10 minutes
band pulls 3x10 yellow band
OHP 2x8 @ 45, 1x6 @ 55, 3x5 @ 70
pull up 3x1.5 and chin up 1x2
tricep push down 3x10 @ 70 - one time with bar and 2 sets with the rope
pendlay with straps 3x5 @ 115 - meh. Can tell I haven't done these in a while. Need to work on form and tried straps just cause hand is acting up right now.
pallof press 3x10 @ 35
chair abs 3x9 BW

Squat

elliptical for 10 minutes warm up
band pulls for shoulders before warm up squat sets
Squats 2x10 @ 45, 1x8 @ 95, 1x6 @ 135, 4x4 @ 160 - okay but rather slow
Overload/Walkout 1x 15 count @ 230
Pause Squats 2x4 @ 110 for 8 count
good morning 3x10 @ 85
sumo deadlift 1x5 @ 135 and 3x5 @ 180


30+ minute jog outside at the park. Didn't quite do the full playlist, which was about 40 minutes. Some rain but at least not a downpour.

Bench

band pull warm ups 3x10

Bench 2x10 @ 45, 1x8 @ 75, 1x6 @ 85 and 4x4 @ 100 - went okay but tad slow at times. Maybe next weekend I will go before work and see if the staff person can do a hand off so I can practice that instead of getting the bar myself each set as the meet will involve that unless I request to not have anyone help.
pull ups 3x1 barely, struggled with them this time, and chin ups 1x2 both on the smith machine
db bench press 3x6 @ 35
db fly 3x10 @ 25
one db row 3x10 @ 40
face pull 3x10 @ 60
pallof press 3x10 @ 35

Deadlift

low bar squat 2x10 @ 45, 1x8 @ 95, 1x6 @ 115 and 3x5 @ 145 - feels heavy when doing low bar versus high bar
Deadlift 1x6 @ 135, 1x5 @ 165, 4x4 @ 190
leg press 3x10 @ 225
cable kick back 3x10 @ 40
hanging ab chair thing 2x10


Chapter 4

OHP

warm up was 10 minutes on elliptical and 3x10 band pull aparts
OHP 2x8 @ 45, 1x6 @ 60, 4x4 @ 75
pull ups 3x1 - still not yet at 2 reps at all, chin ups 1x3 - woot, one more rep!
tricep push down 4x10 @ 70
bicep curl 3x10 @ 25ish - ez curl bar plus 10
shoulder press 3x8 @ 50 - 25 per side, tried it just for fun
pendlay rows with straps 3x8 @ 95 - much better form this time with the lower weight though still a few eh reps.
30 minutes jog on treadmill

Squat
 (This one was off from the program cause silly me forgot the notebook at home so guessed numbers and while I did the right weight for squats, the overload and pause ones were lighter than on plan.)

warm up on elliptical for 10 minuts

Squats 2x10 @ 45, 1x8 @ 95, 1x6 @ 135, 155 1x5
working sets = 170 4x3
overload 230 for 15 count (was supposed to do 240)
pause squats 1x4 @ 110 and 1x4 @ 115 for 8 count each rep (was supposed to do 120 2x3)
good morning 3x10 @ 95
sumo deadlift 1x6 @ 135 and 3x5 @ 185


Bench

Bench - 2x10 @ 45, 1x8 @ 70, 1x6 @ 95 (heavy)
working sets - 4x3 @ 105
pull up attempts 3x1 almost at 2, chin ups 1x3
db bench press 4x5 @ 40
db fly 3x8 @ 25
one db row 3x8 @ 45
face pull 3x10 @ 60
pallof press 3x10 @ 35

Deadlift

band pulls 3x10
low bar squats 2x10 @ 45, 1x8 @ 95, 1x6 @ 115, 1x5 @ 150 and 2x5 @ 150 with belt
Deadlift 1x6 @ 135, 1x5 @ 185, 1x3 @ 200 and 3x3 @ 200 with belt
hip thrust 3x10 @ 115 using mat as padding, awkward but might increase next time
rack pulls 2x5 @ 205 - eh, hands ached 




Thus far not too bad. Near the end the posts will get easier because there are less accessories and such. Last couple weeks are mostly the main lifts and the final week is more the first attempt and light work, but nothing too heavy the few days leading up to the meet. Next 2 chapters coming soon.

The SMFPA Chapters 1 and 2

First 2 weeks of weightlifting in the Story of My First Peak Attempt.


Chapter 1

OHP

Band pulls for warm up, between 45 (bar) warm up in OHP for 2 sets and one set at 55, then just another warm up ohp at 55 but no band pulls
OHP 3x8 @ 65 - more reps than I'm used to, need to figure out the numbers for this lift for the next few weeks ahead of time.
Pull up attempts bodyweight 3x1 and by one I mean almost not a full one as I can't get my chin over the bar yet. chin ups 1x2 as I couldn't get in a third rep
Tricep extension 3x12 @ 70 - between pull up attempts
Seated row 3x10 @ 80

30 minute run on treadmill while watching Food Network.


Squat

warm up sets 2x8 @ 45, 1x8 @ 95 and 1x6 @ 115
squat 4x5 @ 140
overload @ 210 - first time trying this. One set at 15 seconds of standing at the ready position with safeties nice and high, just in case.
pause squats 2x6 @ 80 - holy pause squats batman, that was a challenge. Did counts to 8 per rep and it was hard figuring out the breathing during

good morning 4x12 @ 60 - used fixed weight so much lighter since had to clean is from the floor.
hanging abs 3x8 bodyweight between good morning sets
leg extension 3x10 @ 100 - was waiting for power cage
sumo deadlift 1x5 @ 135 and 3x5 @ 175


Bench

warm up on elliptical for 10 minutes

Bench 2x10 @ 45, 2x8 @ 75 and 4x5 @ 90 - decent working set.

pull up 3x1 almost and chin up 1x2
db bench 3x10 @ 30

one db row 3x10 @ 40
db fly 3x8 @ 25

face pull 3x10 @ 60
cable bicep curl 3x10 @ 50


Deadlift

band pull apart warm up 3x8
low bar squats 2x8 @ 45, 2x8 @ 95, 1x6 @ 115, 3x5 @ 35

Deadlift 1x5 @ 135 rdl, 1x5 160, 4x5 @ 170

hip thrust 3x10 @ 115 - oww, need a pad for that bar cause hit a spot on my hip that just hurt

leg press 3x8 @ 225

pallof press 2x8 @ 20 - tried to see what it was like



Chapter 2


OHP

band pulls for warm-up, 3x10

OHP 2x8 @ 45, 1x6 @ 55, 4x5 @ 65 - Figured out the numbers to work on so it's following more along what I have set for bench and such. Just doing similar weights but few more sets than the reverse grip that was recommended for auxillary bench day.

Pull-ups 3x1 where first one I got chin above bar, Chin-ups 1x2
Seated row 3x10 @ 80

tricep pushdown with rope 3x12 @ 70
ab chair thing bw 3x8
pallof press 30 3x10 on each side

30 minute run on treadmill after work while watching Food Network.


Squat

squat warm ups 2x10 @ 45, 1x8 @ 95, 1x6 @ 115
Squats 2x6 @ 140, 2x5 @ 150
Overload (walk out) 1x15 count @ 210 - weight goes up from now on for these
Pause Squats 1x6 @ 90 and 1x5 @ 100 - still counting roughly to 8 though trying to figure out breathing too

good morning 3x12 @ 85
cable rope crunch attempts 3x12 @ 50
Sumo deadlift 135 1x5 and 175 3x5


Bench

elliptical warm up for 10 minutes

Bench 2x10 @ 45, 1x8 @ 75, 2x6 @ 90 and 2x5 @ 95

pull up 2x1.5 and 1x1-ish, chin up 1x2.5 - slow progress
db bench press 3x10 @ 30

db fly 3x10 @ 25
one db row 3x9 @ 40

cable bicep curl 3x10 @ 55
face pull 3x9 @ 60
pallof press 3x10 @ 35


Deadlift

low bar squat 2x10 @ 45, 1x6 @ 95, 1x6 @ 115, 3x5 @ 140

Deadlift 1x5 @ 135, 1x5 @ 155, 2x6 @ 170 and 2x5 @ 180

leg press 3x8 @ 225
attempted to do calves a little after each set

cable kick back 3x 8 @ 40
pallof press 3x10 @ 30



First two chapters went well. Getting into things, figuring out the accessories and it's not too far off from the Upper/Lower split that I followed before signing up for the meet. I'm on week 5 now, so look for chapters 3&4 soon.

Update: Decided to Compete in Powerlifting

Yep. I am officially signed up to compete in a powerlifting meet on April 17th. And I have been for weeks, so no worries. I'm not doing this at random with less than 6 weeks until competition. I am in the middle of prep, working on a peak cycle on a small deficit in order to reach a very close to where I'm at now weight class. Just figured it would be good to make the official posts on the blog and that way I can share my lifting here too, along with the writing I'm doing. Yes, still writing. Will update on that too.

I looked for meets in the area and had two options. One was this meet in April and the next one wasn't until near the end of August. I might do the August one too but we'll have to wait and see how this first one goes. I just didn't want to wait all the way until then so I went with the less time available option. Which means I'm attempting my first peak cycle and getting all of the necessary equipment in less than 12 weeks but should be fun no matter how things turn out. I also have been lifting since very end of October 2014, so don't have high expectations. I'm going to see what it's like and for me, no other reason to compete.


The competition:  APA-WPA Elite Spring Challenge
                                 Full Power - Open Class

Weight class: hopefully 132, which means I have to weigh less than 132


My goals: Squat 210
                 Bench 125
                 Deadlift 240

Before prep maxes were: 200 squat
                                         115 bench (clean rep, 125 barely qualifying rep)
                                          225 deadlift

These are in lbs as I don't know the kg conversions. ;-)  Since I'm new to this all, I did find a template to use for the weight lifting, keeping to the upper/lower style split I'd done for the past several months with a focus on the specific lifts each day. In my journal on Bodybuilding.com and the groups on MyFitnessPal where I list my exercises, I gave this peak cycle a title and am showcasing each week as chapters (novella length since I didn't have 12 weeks for a peak or more). I am calling it:


The Story of My First Peak Attempt


Fun times right? lol I am on Chapter 4 now but will combine some chapters and post soon to get this blog caught up on all of the good times. Hopefully will catch up in a couple of days. Look for the first 2 chapters next. Plus other things too and of course, novel work.

Motivation from Pinterest

I have found Pinterest and its hold is strong, though I do forget about it for days or weeks at a time. However, I will say that when it comes to both writing and fitness, Pinterest does have some uses. Okay, for crafts, cleaning, cooking, art, decorating and many other areas too. In particular when looking at fitness and writing one can use the site to find motivation. I have two boards set up that I use in particular for this. I have one with words and sayings, many of which are for writing purposes, and the other one is fitness specific incorporating both motivation pins and some site links that caught my attention.

This helps in particular for people who appreciate visuals. Many of them incorporate both images and words to convey a message. Some are just text, in particular some writing ones, but most have imagery to a certain extent, even if it's just a very nice background.

Here are the links to my two boards and a couple samples of what I have pinned as part of the motivation for writing and fitness.


Writing Motivation

 https://www.pinterest.com/dawnembers/sayings-and-phrases/

Fitness Motivation

https://www.pinterest.com/dawnembers/fitness-and-such/

Do you use pinterest?
What is your favorite motivating pin?

The Reveal aka My In Progress Photo Update

A very long overdue post. It's not a final one, just a progress report, but I've wanted to share some of the success I've had in the last year+. I waited because of reasons involving family, who hadn't seen in in over a year and didn't know the changes I'd made. Now, however, I am posting online again. Just hadn't posted on the blog. This is also the first time I'm posting pictures of myself on here. May have more in the future but not very often. For other pics, check out my instagram account @fiction2fitness where there is me, other stuff and of course, cats.


Starting off with the picture that I took back in September 2014 to use for my updates like this one. I started on the little journey weighing in at 211 lbs (not my heighest), which was pretty heavy for being only 4'11.5" in height. The picture wasn't right away, so the weight had dropped a little to 209. I tended to fluctuate over the years between 205 and 220, so it wasn't unusual but I did make the decision to try and eat a bit better and add some exercise to my life around that time. And yes, there is a lot of laundry soap because of sale prices plus coupon. ;-)

I also put together a progress photo from two family events. The first image was taken back in 2011 at my older stepsister's wedding in DC. I weighed around 220 and the dress was a size 22, though was more of a size 20 and had issues with my capri pants being too big on that trip. We had a great time out there. What I remember most is dancing with my grandma (grandpa passed away a few years beforehand) both slow and fast songs, and hoping she didn't really know what some of the lyrics meant. It was fun. May not like some of the photos of me but the memories are better. Things were a little different in 2015 for younger stepsister's wedding, but not by much. We were in Colorado at a small place, in November with the ceremony outside (it was not that cold, at least). Being around family was the best and we had a good time. My dress was a size large from the junior's department and I still don't like pictures taken of me. Either way, time with family was great, I was just a little smaller.

And this is just me from the gym with my struggling posing attempt (might work on that in 2016, lol). Over a year later, from 211 to around 140 lbs. I've fluctuated between 136 and 140 since before the wedding to now, varying during the months. However, in those months I also managed to lose inches in waist, hips, and chest during as I measure once a month.

Summary: That is me. Still working hard and gyming in 2016. My stomach still sticks out some but I'm making slow progress. I'm working on getting into the 120's and will go from there once I make it as I'm taking the slow route. Have some plans for fun things, new adventures, maybe some filming and of course writing.

Stay tuned for more blog posts about both fiction and fitness.

End of NaNoWriMo 2015

The chaos has ended and we're now into December (okay, over a week now, pesky cold and work distracted me). How did writing go for you?

 This year was different for me. The result was similar to last year, in that I didn't make it to 50,000 words and I was okay with that because the overall writing was still a success for me. I also did something I hadn't done before during NaNoWriMo: I took a vacation. Actually, it was my longest vacation in years and the most time I had ever taken off from work. Between travel with long hours of driving, work and gym, that made for a busy November with less priority put on writing compared to other years.

Result = Just over 33,000 words on North West.

So, almost 17k below goal, but around the halfway point in the novel based on a general estimate of how many words the story might take. Not bad for one month, really. I tend to be slower with YA when it's not fantasy and this one is just a contemporary story with a bit of a boy/boy romance. It also hits on slightly tougher subjects than my usual so I'm okay with it taking more than a month to get the first draft done.

And that's also why I like NaNo. Even if you don't make 50,000 words and "win" that is okay. I am 33,000 words further in the story than I was at the end of October.

2015 is almost over, the year goes by so quick, so I will do an overview soon of the goals I made for the year before looking into 2016. Have lots of fitness and writing goals, along with plans for blogging more. Plus, maybe a little vlog action. Some decisions are being considered. We will have to see what happens. ;-)

Travel, Snacks and NaNoWriMo

We are in the middle of National Novel Writing Month. Just over 15 days have passed, many people should be at 25,000 words or more (I'm not) and there is still a couple of weeks left to get that writing done. However, coming up in the US is the Thanksgiving holiday, which can mean some challenges for certain writers. Me, I had those challenges but at the beginning of the month instead of the end and those are: travel, food and family. So, I'm going to talk about two of them.

This year I had to do something I had never done before during NaNoWriMo and it was at the beginning of the month, when I usually push and try to get to 50k then slow down to meander the rest of the novel however many words I end up writing. I had to travel as I took a vacation to see family and attend my stepsister's wedding. This meant, I was driving (most of it by myself) for over 20 hours each way. Then there were family get togethers and other stuff, which made writing not happen very much.

If you struggle to get 50k with a whole month of writing, I don't recommend a driving vacation unless you change the writing goal to something lower because it is going to affect your word count. I had travel then 6 days of work, some of which were longer than normal hours, so right now I'm almost to 10,000 words when I should have over 25,000. However, if I push on my days off, I can get caught up in just a few days because I have enough NaNoWriMo practice that I can produce a decent result even in that short time. No word count tricks or cheats here, just whatever the first draft of the story needs.

Aside from word count woes, travel can be a challenge when focusing on losing weight. In fact, it can be a challenge for maintaining as well, since there is fast food, sodium, and less control over certain options depending on the situation. Here are a few things that can help.

1. Prepare ahead of time and find healthier snack options

Since I was driving, I didn't want to stop too often on the long days and I was alone anyways, so I found having some food from grocery stores made it easier so I only had to stop for bathroom, gas or some more water/drinks. This was easier at the start of vacation, in particular. Convenient snacks turned out to be sugar snap peas and pre-sliced apples. I also found a bag of pre-sliced apples that included some grapes. Those were great in the morning and easy to consume while driving so I could remain safe and not distracted. I did have a little candy but kept it minimal and on the first days, I only ate out once because we don't have Taco Johns in Oregon so once I made it to Wyoming, I was having Taco Johns (mmm).

2. Decide on goals for travel

If you want to keep with a calorie deficit, you can do that while travel. Just make sure you track and remember that a little increase in weight can be from a number of things so don't panic too much over the numbers. For this trip, I needed a break after being on a deficit for around a year, so it was the perfect time to rest both from gym and lower calories. I ate mostly at maintenance, tracked some but not everything, and didn't stress at all during the wedding stuff because there were more important things besides how many calories I ate those two days. However, if I ever had to do a work travel or something during this time of year, I'd probably keep the deficit and just do what I could to be flexible, which is why I like the flexible dieting (or if it fits your macros) type more than being restrictive or "clean."

3. Relax and have fun

It's vacation, don't get too focused on the little issues like a day of eating over your calorie goal or how much sodium is in fast food tacos. If you don't travel all of the time, then it's okay to have a little time on occasion that is higher calorie or relaxed in fitness. Don't forget to enjoy life and have some fun.

As for NaNoWriMo writing: What to do when you get behind? Keep writing. You can make up for a lot of lost time if you have some days where you can focus on writing most of the day. However, even if you don't have that and you can't make it to 50k, that doesn't mean you should just give up and stop writing. Keep going and work on that novel. Whatever count you get by the end of the month will still be more than you had on October 31st. And you can write more in December or whenever you put the time in to work on the novel. While the challenge of getting 50k done in a month is fun, it isn't the end all be all. What matters is just that you write if you want to finish a novel first draft.

Keep writing.