Cortland Recap

So this weekend I went out to Cortland for the first annual SUNY Cortland Strength and Conditioning Symposium. It was a really cool event! There were 5 speakers on Saturday talking about a variety of topics. I learned a lot and I'm so glad I made the trip out there!

When I arrived Friday night, I had the opportunity to lift with John Gaglione, a powerlifting coach based out of Long Island. I went to his gym for the Caitlyn Trout seminar a few months ago, and have been in touch with him ever since. He helped me out sooooo much on Friday! He showed me a bunch of exercises for my core and breathing that will hopefully help with my back pain during deadlifts. The breathing exercises were hard! It's amazing how little I was focusing on my breath before. And when I did focus on it, it made such a big difference!

I really wanted to PR my squat, but going into the workout I was feeling pretty shitty. I woke up Friday at 4am, worked 5:30am-noon, then drove 5.5 hours out to Cortland. I was in rough shape by the time I got there. But I took a quick power nap and took my pre-workout and hit the gym. I told John about how lifting is mostly mental for me. We decided that we weren't going to talk about numbers at all. He just loaded the plates, and I squatted. Turns out I PR'd 3 times in a row! Its amazing how I can tell myself it's a light weight when I don't actually know the weight. I didn't even know what numbers I hit until after I was completely done squatting. I hit a 20 pound PR which is massive for me, and something I've been trying to do for MONTHS. I was so pumped, especially since I wasn't feeling well! John's advice about breathing helped so much and it's definitely something I'll continue to work on. Here is my squat workout from Friday night:

Squats
95x5, 125x2, 155x1, 165x1, 170x1 (PR), 180x1 (PR), 185x1 (PR)
Front Squats
95x5, 105x5, 95x5

Back Extension
3x15
Hip Circle
3x5, 10 sec holds
Dead Bug
3x6 each side

So my main assistance movement was front squat, followed by an exercise for my back, "side butt", and core. I can't even begin to describe how sore I was on Saturday! Everything was hurting. But it was definitely a good thing! I also met a bunch of other people who are on the lifting team, and everyone was super nice and supportive of each other. As much as I hate to admit it, I had a great time at Cortland, and I can't wait to get back up there for my meet in a few weeks (at least the meet is in Ithaca!). Also shout out to my good friend Joe for being an awesome host and letting me stay at his house! Squat videos below!

170:

180:

185: (depth was close here, but at least I stood up!)