Max Test Week

So this week I max tested all my lifts (except deadlift kinda). I was supposed to test last week but I was sick, so I pushed it to this week, which meant I wasn't really peaked right for it. I did another deload week last week. I didn't exactly hit the numbers I wanted, but with everything going on right now, that's ok. Plus I PRed my bench 2 weeks ago by accident....oops

Deadlift:

I touched on this a little bit in a previous post, but my back started hurting again about a month ago, so I switched from sumo to conventional for a couple weeks. This is a 175 convo pull, which is the most I've ever pulled conventional. After this I went for 195, missed it, dropped down to 185, and pulled it about a foot off the ground but couldn't stand all the way up. That NEVER happens to me when I deadlift-usually if I break the floor it flies up. But, convo is different than sumo so it's looking like I'm going to have to work on my convo lockout. I'm much stronger pulling sumo, but I need to heal my back before I can get back into it. So frustrating!

Squat:

5 lb PR on my squat! 190 lbs. This was my second attempt at it, I missed it the first time. Obviously it's super slow and ugly, but a PR is a PR! I know I have more in me when I'm peaked correctly, I want that 200 raw squat soooooo bad! Before I hit this, 180 went up super fast. Way easier than I expected it to. I haven't hit anything heavier than 175 since my meet, so I was happy with that. It took awhile for me to get over the 165 hump, and now I'm hitting 170-175 consistently. So I'm definitely proud of myself for that. Can't wait to get back into regular training and see how much stronger my squat gets!

Bench:

Ok, so obviously not a PR, but I wanted to throw this in here anyways. I went for 105 after 100 flew off my chest, but I couldn't do it. According to my coach, a 5 lb jump on bench is a lot for someone my size, and I probably could have had 102.5 if I had plates for it. Again, I'm off a week so I wasn't peaked right, but I know I have this and more in me. I'm consistently hitting 95 and 100, after not being able to get over 95 for almost a year. And I count that as a win. I've never hit anything heavier than 85 in a competition, and I'm never letting that happen again.

So what's next for me? This coming week I'm going to do mostly dumbbell work and recover a little bit before starting my next program with John Gaglione. I was planning on competing in October in Ithaca like I always do, however after talking with him we decided it might be a good idea to wait until December to compete again. This is a really hard decision for me, because I LOVE competing in Ithaca. It's my absolute favorite meet. And I know my team will be competing. But, I'm moving 2 weeks from today (YIKES), and with all the changes that will be going on, it's going to be really hard for me to prepare for a meet. At least if I compete in December that gives me time to settle in and get used to everything without the added pressure of meet prep. I will probably still go to the Ithaca meet to support my team though!

Last thought here-I know I say this all. the. time. But, I need to acknowledge a couple people who have helped me these past few months. First, my coach John Gaglione for not only being my coach, but also my friend. He's so supportive of me and always there when I need to talk and I can't thank him enough for that. He's made me a much more confident lifter. And not to mention a much stronger lifter too! Second, thank you Zsquad and especially my good friend Joe for the support and motivation from a distance. I wish I could train with you all the time, but knowing I can come to you for help or advice whenever I need to means a lot to me. Lastly, everyone who's helped me in the gym with spotting or videoing or whatever-Mike, for pushing me this week and helping me test my lifts, and the crew at Anytime Fitness for all the help and support. I'll miss you guys when I move!!

Now it's time for me to spend the rest of my day packing aka figuring out what to do with all my crap. So fun!

The #gymselfie Epidemic

I recently read this article about the whole gym selfies thing. This is a topic I have debated writing about probably 20 times. I really liked that article, so I took it as a sign that it was time to put throw in my two cents.

So, what's my opinion on gym selfies? This will probably upset almost everyone, but I think they're just a cry for attention. I can hear you now..."but CHRISSY! You post videos and pictures of you lifting, how is that not a cry for attention?!" Well, you've got a point. But, I can honestly tell you I do not do it for attention. I do it because my coach and teammates live far away from me. It's a great way for us to see how everyone's doing, and my coach NEEDS videos in order to see how I'm progressing (and so he can do his job of programming for me). I do it for the feedback I can get from other lifters. I train alone, for the most part, so its important to me to be critiqued by other lifters. You'd be surprised how much you can learn from an instagram comment....that's how I found my current coach! And I also do it because, lifting heavy is freakin awesome.

I'm not the kind of person to post a #gymselfie of myself half naked, posing with the lights dimmed so that my muscles look better than they actually are. There are a few reasons for this:
1) I have never been confident enough in my body to do that
2) I know for a fact my followers don't want to see that
3) I get enough unwanted attention just for being a female powerlifter-I don't want more by posting pictures like that.

Now, just because I don't post any pictures like that, doesn't mean I don't take them. My phone is actually full of pics of me in a bikini in front of a mirror. I do this for MYSELF. I like to see progress I'm making. I have no plans to ever post these pictures anywhere. So, I guess what I'm saying is, I understand why people do them. I understand the whole progress pic thing. I understand that some outlets of fitness (especially people who compete in physique competitions) need to do this to show how far they've come. And I think that's great-in moderation. I don't think it's necessary to post something like that every week/day/whatever. I don't need to be scrolling through instagram seeing a half-naked chick posing every other picture. Show me REAL progress-lifting pics/videos.

Which brings me to my next point. I strongly believe that spending time looking at these #gymselfies can be detrimental to physical and mental health. The article above referenced 2 "studies" done about this topic. Here is my personal story:

I used to follow a TON of "fitspo" accounts on IG. I also have a lot of friends who compete in things like bikini, figure, bodybuilding, etc. So, I would always see a ton of those pics every time I would open my IG and scroll through. This started having a negative effect on my body image. I would stare at myself in the mirror and wonder why I didn't look like that. I was lifting heavy, I was doing (some) cardio, I was eating healthy. It got to a point where I increased my cardio so much that the back pain had been been working on getting rid of so diligently for 8 weeks came back. I completely undid all the back rehab with just 3 cardio-centered workouts. Talk about stupid. When my coach asked me why I was increasing cardio without talking to him first, my response was, "I'm getting fat". To which he replied, "Shut up. No you're not. You look great and you're so much stronger than you've ever been. Where is this coming from?" We went on to discuss what I was feeling and after talking to him, I felt a lot better. I unfollowed most of those accounts, because I don't need to be looking at that every day if this is what it will do to me. Was it a momentary lapse in judgement? Did I just freak-out for a hot second? Maybe. But I don't want it to happen again.

I've come to terms with the fact that I am NOT a fitness model or physique competitor. I am a powerlifter. I may never have visible abs and that's ok. I will never have a thigh gap, because I really, really, love to squat. But I WILL always be strong. I don't go to the gym to get a "pump" or to work on one specific muscle-I go to get stronger. I don't want other women (or men) to look up to me because of how I look-I want them to look up to me because of what I've accomplished. If you can't be impressed by my lifting alone, you're not someone I want in my life anyways.

1st Phorm Package!

Came home to my official #LegionOfBoom package waiting for me!

Don't forget to follow my journey on Instagram! @cahrissay
My youtube video will be coming soon....eek

1st Phorm Athlete Search

I have some exciting news! I'm officially entered in the 1st Phorm Athlete Search contest! Received my confirmation email this morning. Here is a brief desription of the contest:

"On the 1st Phorm Athlete Search website, we mentioned this isn't just about a pretty pic or a buff bod and that's because our mission is to redefine what the fitness and supplement industry is all about.  We see a lot of selfish, "it's all about me" attitudes in this industry … and that’s not our style. 1st Phorm is a high quality, premier, supplement brand. We are all about being the best we can be at everything we do … and having the best athletes represent the best products!  We’re about HELPING OTHERS be the best they can be - motivating them, encouraging them, educating them and inspiring them!"

I was on the fence about entering this. I don't have a "fitness model" body. I lift, but I'm not super strong. After reading the website and learning about the company, I decided to give it a go. What the hell, right? They are picking 5 winners between now and December. While this contest is happening, I will be adding some hashtags to my instagram photos so that they're seen by the company, but other than that nothing will change!

Here is the story I submitted to them:
"I was a ballet dancer for 16 years. Growing up, I was very shy, quiet, and reserved. I often tell people that I spent most of my high school years trying to be as invisible as possible. I loved dancing, but the dance world can be very catty and unforgiving at times. I was often skipped over for roles in shows because of my size. I didn't have the right "dancer's body"-I was short, and curvier than most of the other girls. I also suffered a number of injuries over the years, including ankle sprains, a back injury, and a partially torn meniscus in my knee. I knew I couldn't pursue dance as a career, but continued dancing recreationally in college. My senior year, I found powerlifting. My focus shifted entirely. I started training in powerlifting about halfway through that year, and never looked back. I was becoming so much stronger than I had ever been. I had never touched a barbell before, so I really started from the bottom. I started noticing not only my body changing, but also my attitude. Lifting gave me confidence that I never had before. I'm an entirely different person now than I was even 2 years ago. I love going to the gym and lifting heavy. I love competing, which I have done 5 times. I compete in the 114 weight class, and my best lifts currently are 185 (squat), 100 (bench), and 235 (deadlift). Although I've been training for just over 2 years now, I still consider myself very new to the sport. I can't wait to see what my future in powerlifting holds. I hope to inspire other women to get into lifting and not be scared of the weight room like I was!"

If you would like to follow my journey throughout this contest, head over to my instagram and twitter and follow me there!
@cahrissay (both IG and twitter)

12-Week Program Recap

Last week I ended my first 12-week Gaglione Strength program. Making the decision to work with a coach was a big step for me, and I didn't really know what to expect. I thought that maybe I wouldn't get great results because I was doing online coaching, rather than in-person coaching, but I was wrong. Not only did every workout push me to new levels, but I already hit some PRs! (I haven't even max tested yet!). Having a coach was not only great programming-wise, but also for keeping me accountable. Before, if I was tired, or not feeling great, or going away for the weekend, I would skip my workout. I'm proud to say that in the entire 12 weeks, I never missed a workout. And I know that now I'll keep it up, and I won't make excuses to miss workouts anymore. I've seen how important it is to stay on a program. I went to my competition in April after half-assing my training, and was upset when I didn't do as well as I wanted to. I'm never going to let that happen again.

The last week of the program was more of a deload week in preparation for testing my maxes. Since I've been having issues with my back, I'm going to test my conventional deadlift instead of sumo for now. And of course I'll test my squat and bench as well. I'm so excited to see my results. And after that, I'm excited to start on meet prep! I'm planning on competing in the fall, hopefully October or November.

This week I did dynamic-effort deadlift and bench, and speed squats. Everything stayed pretty light. My bench was feeling pretty good, so I decided to go for 90x3 (video below), which would have been a 3RM PR. Not only did I hit that, but it was WAY easier than I was expecting! I had at least 3 more reps in me! I'm so happy my bench is finally improving, and I'm actually learning how to train it correctly. I've always HATED benching, but now I can at least tolerate it....I'm actually the most excited to test out my bench 1RM. I'm hoping for great results!

So max  testing will be happening over the next 2 weeks. This week I picked up some extra shifts at my old job, so I have NO free time. I am going to try to get to the gym in the mornings before work and do some light work and accessory work-almost treat this week like another deload week-so that I can go into next week ready to hit some big numbers.

I want to thank my coach, John Gaglione, for all his help and guidance. I can't wait to continue working with him! Not only is he my coach, but he's also a friend. He's been there for me through a lot these past few months, and I know I can count on him. It's really important to find a coach who shares the same values as you, practices what they preach, and actually cares about you. Gags definitely has all these qualities and I'm so happy I decided to work with him! Can't wait to see what my future with him holds.....