Babyeater Lifts: Powerlifting Adventures

[babyeater]

Thanks, Adrian! It looks like your training is going well too. About to do another log-bombing in a minute...

[babyeater]

3/5 training

volume bench
bar x 5 x 3
75 x 3
85 x 2
90 x 7
90 x 7
90 x 6
90 x 6
90 x 7

DB press, cumulative weight
70 x 12
70 x 10

Overhead cable tricep extensions
60 x 15 x 3

Lat pulldowns
85 x 12
85 x 12
85 x 11

chest-supported elevated DB rows
40 x 10 x 3

vid:


3/6 training

deadlift
95 x 3
135 x 2
185 x 2
225 x 2
245 x 1
265 x 1
280 x 1
280 x 1
280 x 1
280 x 3 tried for a fourth but missed it. Still pretty damn happy with this number.

pull-ups
13, 10, 6, 5, 5 getting stronger at this again, yay

Bulgarian split squats
30 x 11 ea
30 x 11 ea
30 x 11 ea
ughhhh pathetic. I felt pretty drained after the pulling so this is what I was able to manage

facepulls
100 x 16
100 x 15
100 x 13

Vid:

[babyeater]

volume squat

130 x 7
130 x 7
130 x 7
130 x 8

Volume? On squat? What is that? I'm now switching one of my squat days over to more of a volume-based day. It was an easy day as far as intensity goes for me, but not so much in terms of rep number. Things got better and better as I moved through sets, but frankly, this is admittedly new territory for me. Or, uh, revisited territory since I was probably working in this rep range before I got into powerlifting training.

So now my numbers on one of my squatting days are going to be as embarrassing as they are on one of my bench days. I am hoping this pays off. I think it has with benching.

barbell hip thrusts
155 x 9
155 x 9
155 x 9
155 x 8
155 x 8

…it is freaking weird to have more weight on the bar for these than for my squatting work.

back extensions
25 x 13
25 x 12
25 x 12

hip abductor machine
130 x 15 x 3

hip adductor machine
135 x 17
135 x 17
135 x 15

And then I went and had my MFA show reception and Kyle helped me through that and this whole time period so much because he's kind of incredibly awesome. I know the reduction in school-based stress I can now enjoy will really help keep my training progressing. I'm really not too far away from the next meet (April 20…).

3/10 training

paused bench
bar x 5 x 3
75 x 3
85 x 2
95 x 2
103 x 3
103 x 3
106 x 3
106 x 3
108 x 4

widegrip work
85 x 6
86 x 6
86 x 6
I'm treating this widegrip work as very slowly conditioning my body for taking a wider competition grip. I want to make sure my shoulders are stable enough to handle it, so I try to do a lot of pulling work. We'll see how this works out.

weighted chin-ups
25 x 5 pull-ups because I forgot I was supposed to be doing chinups. I'm an idiot.
25 x 5 chin-ups
25 x 5
25 x 4

Seated Iso Unilateral rows
55 x 10 ea
57.5 x 9 ea
57.5 x 8 ea

Then I had to run in order to make it to our team meeting. Will be doing a lot of makeup accessory work today.

Also, I've moved my lifting schedule around slightly, and it now works MUCH better with my school week. Basically, everything is being done a day later than it was before and I'm losing a recovery day for bench this week.

vid:

[babyeater]

squat
95 x 3
125 x 2
135 x 1
155 x 1
175 x 1
192 x fail

paused squats
135 x 4
135 x 4
135 x 4

GHRs
bw x 15
bw x 13
bw x 12

Hamstring machine curls
65 x 15
65 x 12
60 x 14

band abductors
20, 18, 17
I straight up have nothing good to say about this session.

[babyeater]

deadlift

95 x 3
135 x 2
185 x 2
225 x 2
245 x 1
260 x 3
260 x 3
260 x 3
260 x 6

pull-ups
12, 7, 6, 6, 6

bulgarians
30 x 10 ea
30 x 10 ea
30 x 10 ea
my glutes felt really fried after pulling, so the numbers on this one are entirely pathetic.

facepulls
100 x 17
105 x 15
105 x 13

adductor machine
135 x 17
135 x 17
135 x 17

abductor machine
135 x 18
135 x 15
135 x 15

Vid:

[babyeater]

3/16

Volume squat day

bar x 8
bar x 7
95 x 3
120 x 2
130 x 1
140 x 5
140 x 5
140 x 5
140 x 5
140 x 5

Hip thrusts
155 x 6
155 x 8
155 x 7
155 x 8
155 x 8

Back extensions
25 x 15
25 x 14
25 x 13
Felt strangely much stronger at these. Odd.

Band adductors, I think x bunch. I don't remember exactly what I did for this last accessory work on this day. This is why I need to log the day I actually do a session.

vid:

[babyeater]

3/17 St Patrick's Day Benchfest (My form of partying)

paused bench
105 x 2
105 x 2
108 x 2
110 x 2
110 x 4 rep PR yaaaaaay

widegrip work
90 x 4
90 x 4
90 x 4
Tried to really draw out the pauses on these sets

weighted chin-ups
25 x 6
25 x 6
25 x 5
25 x 4

seated iso unilateral rows
57.5 x 9 ea
57.5 x 9 ea
57.5 x 8 ea
left side is very obviously weaker than the right so I have to limit these by that side. Hopefully I'll continue to bring them up.

band pushdowns
15, 15, 15

cable abs
60 x bunch x 3 sets

vid:

[larsen540]

Nice job on the PR. 110lbs for 4 is great.. Keep it up

[babyeater]

3/19 training

squat

bar x 8
bar x 7
95 x 3
125 x 2
140 x 1
165 x 1
176 x 2
176 x 4 rep PR yaaaay
stripped sets
140 x 5
140 x 5

paused squats
100 x 6
100 x 6
100 x 6

GHR's
bw x 12
bw x 12
bw x 12

Hamstring curls
65 x 14
65 x 12
60 x 15

band abductors
lots

vid:

3/20 training

widegrip testing day, then volume work

[widegrip for all of these--not my normal grip, which is a good few inches narrower]
bar x 5
bar x 5
bar x 5
75 x 3
85 x 2
95 x 1
105 x 1
110 x 1
115 x 1
120 x 1
126 x Fail

Sigh. Oh well, I don't really train wide grip at all and 120 moved EASY so I'm really hoping I'll be able to do more work with this and bring it up.
Normal grip
90 x 5
90 x 5
90 x 5
90 x 5
90 x 5

Strictass pauses for these.

Lat pulldowns
90 x 10
90 x 10
90 x 10

overhead tricep pushdowns
60 x 15
60 x 12
60 x 12

I think I did something else and i'm blanking on it right now. MAN do I need to be better about logging daily.

[babyeater]

Seriously appreciate this coming from you. I'm embarrassed at my benching, but it's always nice to have a vote of confidence from someone who ROCKS the lift.

Nice job on the PR. 110lbs for 4 is great.. Keep it up

[babyeater]

3/21

Deadlift
95 x 3
135 x 3
185 x 2
225 x 2
250 x 1
270 x 2
270 x 2
270 x 2
270 x 6 f yeah tons of reps at what's supposed to be 90% of my max (300…for now)

This is really the only lift that I'm feeling excited about for my met. My other two are reallly on the fence, and I admit to feeling not sure how to think about them as I head towards April 20th. I think I'll be writing a blog post discussing this further.

pull-ups
12, 7, 6, 5, 5
These are so pathetic after I've deadlifted

bulgarian split squats
30 x 12
30 x 12
30 x 12
technically this is improvement, uh, yay.

Facepulls
105 x 15
105 x 13
105 x 12

lying leg curls
200-300, did not keep count well as I was halfway paying attention to some of our team member's lifts at the same time

vid of the AMRAP:

[babyeater]

3/23
Squat

bar x 8
bar x 7
95 x 3
120 x 2
140 x 1
150 x 3
150 x 3
150 x 3
150 x 3
150 x 3
150 x 3

Barbell Hip thrusts
160 x 7
160 x 7
160 x 7
160 x 7
160 x 7
moved feet apart a few inches, I"m not actually sure I noticed much of a difference in this lift. I'm probably going to reset the weight soon and start pausing these at the top.

Back extensions
25 x 15
25 x 14
25 x 14

Decline sit-ups alternated with below band adductors
10 x 15
10 x 12
10 x 9

band abductors
bunch

3/24

Paused Bench
bar x 5
bar x 5
bar x 5
75 x 3
85 x 2
95 x 1
105 x 1
113 x 1
113 x 1
116 x 2 Rep PR
115. x 1
115 x 1
115 x 1

widegrip, strict pause work
90 x 6
90 x 6
90 x 7

neutral grip pullups
13, 8, 7, 6

DB tricep rollbacks single DB weight
15 x 12
15 x 10
15 x 9

Iso seated rowing machine
60 x 8 ea
60 x 9 ea
60 x 8 ea
dat left side…

band facepulls
15, 17, 16

3/25 was a rest day upon which I did the following:

kneeling squats
140 x 10
140 x 10
140 x 10
140 x 10

band pushdowns
15, 15, 13, 12

3/26

squat
bar x 8
bar x 6
95 x 3
120 x 2
140 x 1
150 x 6
150 x 10
150 x 6
150 x 6
so…I basically got light-headed during the 150 x 10 and then started to see stars around the fourth rep of the third set. I've had a kind of rough time emotionally in the last day or so, and I basically had a mini-breakdown yesterday for various reasons. This resulted in me feeling so physically shitty that I woke up multiple times during the night with a headache that was still there when I got up early this morning to go teach. I just felt not my best coming into this session but I wanted to get 150 for at least 10 so yay for me, I guess.

did do a hell of a lot after the work sets
GHRs
bw x 15
bw x 14
bw x 12

Hamstring curls
65 x 15
65 x 14
65 x 12

Considering that I walked around for most of this session light-headed, I guess I'm going to celebrate the fact that at least I didn't pass out at some point. Otherwise, meh.

3/27

volume bench day
paused bench
bar x 5
bar x 5
bar x 5
75 x 3
85 x 3
95 x 1
100 x 3
100 x 3
100 x 3
100 x 3
100 x 3
100 x 3

cable overhead tricep pulldowns
65 x 14
65 x 13
65 x 12

DB incline press
60 x 11
60 x 10
60 x 9

Close grip pulldown
90 x 11
100 x 7
92.5 x 9

tricep pushdowns with a band
15, 14, 13, 10

[babyeater]

Deadlift

95 x 3
135 x 2
185 x 2
225 x 2
245 x 2
265 x 2
285 x 3 rep PR
225 x 8
225 x 8

pull-ups
13, 8, 7, 6, 6

Bulgarian split squats
40 x 10 ea
40 x 10 ea
40 x 10 ea

facepulls
105 x 16
110 x 11
105 x 13

Apparently I'm peaking with facepulls

adductor machine
140 x 16
140 x 15
140 x 20

abductor machine
140 x 13
got a migraine, went home. Ughhh. Still a good session overall.

[babyeater]

2/30

volume squat day
bar x 7
bar x 7
95 x 3
120 x 2
135 x 6
135 x 6
135 x 6
135 x 6
135 x 6

barbell hip thrusts
165 x 5
165 x 6
165 x 6
165 x 6
165 x 6

back extensions
25 x 12
25 x 12
25 x 13

bunch of band abductor work

2/31

paused bench
bar x 5
bar x 5
bar x 5
70 x 3
80 x 2
90 x 2
100 x 2
108 x 1
112 x 3
107 x 3
107 x 1, Kyle kind of accidentally thought I was doing a single when I was planning on tripling this, so he took it from me and then I just set up and did
107 x 2
107 x 3

widegrip stuff
90 x 5
90 x 6
90 x 7
lots of long pauses on this for the most part

neutral-grip pull-ups
13, 9, 8, 7. 6

Seated unilateral iso rows
60 x 8 ea
60 x 7 ea
60 x 7 ea

band pushdowns
17, 14, 13, 12


3/2 training

squat
bar x 6
bar x 6
95 x 3
125 x 2
145 x 2
160 x 5
160 x 9
160 x 5
160 x 5

paused beltless squats
100 x 6
100 x 5
100 x 5
Sometimes I picture a frog sitting and then suddenly jumping away when I do these. And then I remember I'm no longer 12 years old. And then I picture it again anyway.

GHRs
bw x 16
bw x 14
bw x 12

hamstring curl
65 x 16
70 x 12
65 x 15

abductor band work

video:


3/3 training

volume bench day
strict freaking pauses
85 x 8
85 x 8
85 x 8
85 x 8
85 x 8

DB incline press
60 x 12
70 x 8
60 x 10

neutral-grip pulldowns
90 x 10
100 x 10
100 x 10

rear delt flyes
bunch for three sets

pushdowns w/ band
18, 16, 12, 10, 9

[babyeater]

So let's catch up on some logging here, shall we?

3/5

Deadlift

95 x 3
135 x 3
185 x 2
225 x 2
240 x 5
240 x 5
240 x 5
240 x 5

Took it easy as hell with these because of the migraine issue, which I seem to have headed off by using a new mouth guard. Note to self--do NOT use a mouth guard you've basically chewed all the way through. It's not going to serve its purpose.

Weighted pull-ups
20 x 5
25 x 5
25 x 4
25 x 4

Bulgarian split squats
40 x 11 ea
40 x 11 ea
40 x 11 ea

Facepulls
110 x 12
110 x 12
110 x 12

3/6

Volume Squat Day

95 x 3
120 x 2
135 x 1
145 x 4
145 x 4
145 x 4
145 x 4
145 x 4
145 x 4

Barbell hip thrusts
170 x 6
170 x 6
170 x 6
170 x 6
170 x 6

in all honesty, I'm not quite sure what I did for assistance work on this day. Yeah, I screwed that up.

3/7

Paused Bench

75 x 3
85 x 3
95 x 1
105 x 1
110 x 2
110 x 2
110 x 2
113 x 2
113 x 2

All the work sets (the doubles) were strictly paused and Kyle gave me commands. Basically, this was command practice for the meet. Yay!

Widegrip work
90 x 6
90 x 7
90 x 7

neutral-grip pull-ups (weighted)
25 x 7
25 x 6
25 x 5
25 x 5

Overhead cable tricep pushdowns
60 x 12
60 x 12
60 x 12

Seated Iso Rowing machine
60 x 9 ea
60 x 8 ea
60 x 8 ea

band facepulls
4 sets of 15

Today's stuff

LAST HEAVY SQUAT SESSION BEFORE THE MEET I AM TEH SAD

95 x 3
120 x 2
140 x 2
160 x 1
170 x 2
170 x 7 rep PR f yeah I deserve one of these, damnit
170 x 2

paused squatting
105 x 5
105 x 5
105 x 5

Backing off on overall volume for this day was a strategic move prior to the meet. I really feel like I'm peaking right now, and I am going to do whatever I feel is necessary to preserve that. Today was good on the squatting front overall, and i'm happy about it.

GHRs
bw x 16
bw x 16
bw x 13

Hamstring curls on an evil lying hamstring curl machine
70 x 15
70 x 12
70 x 10

band abductors
20, 20, 20

[babyeater]

Meet results from this past saturday: I rank at #5 (tied with another lifter) in the country in my weight class. My squat ranks at #10 in the 105 lb class, my bench #8, and my deadlift #4. I totaled 611 at this meet and won best female lifter.


After the meet, I did some light work over the week. I'll start logging again with regularity soon, I'm kind of being lazy about it right now. Extra/accesorry day on monday, squat session on Tuesday, light benching wednesday, speed deadlifts Friday with a LOT of accessory work on Wednesday and Thursday. Here's a video with a recap of Wednesday and Thursday:

[larsen540]

Nice work soon enough you will be ranked #1 at 105 keep up the hard work it is really paying off. Great job.

[KevinStarke]

Just checked through you workouts and vids for the first time and color me impressed. You have some serious strength lil-lady.

[babyeater]

Nice work soon enough you will be ranked #1 at 105 keep up the hard work it is really paying off. Great job.

Many thanks! It was a good meet. My squat is seriously going to have to come up for me to get anywhere near the top three in the 105 class, I think. Rrrrrgh, stupid squatting, I'm terrible at it.

Just checked through you workouts and vids for the first time and color me impressed. You have some serious strength lil-lady.

Really appreciate this, Kevin! Thank you. I'm hoping this year will be a big year for me. The weight cutting is new to me and it definitely has an affect on competition. I'm still honestly pretty new to competing (this was my third meet) and I kind of have a lot of experience to gain. Thanks for the support!

[babyeater]

Tues 4/30 squat

warmup
140 x 4
140 x 4
150 x 4
150 x 4
150 x 4
150 x 4


Box Squat
110 x 6
110 x 6
110 x 7

weighted back extensions
15 x 24
15 x 20
15 x 20

band abductors
20, 20, 20


Wed 5/1 Volume bench

75 x 10
75 x 9 was supposed to do 10, I can't count, so I made up for it in the following two sets (okay, I did an extra rep by doing both sets at 11 reps. I only intended to do this for the third set and ended up doing so on the fourth because I can't count FML).
75 x 11
75 x 11


Barbell row (strict)
85 x 7
85 x 7
85 x 8

push-ups (bw)
22, 13, 12

tricep DB rollbacks (single DB weight)
15 x 10
15 x 10
15 x 9

feet-up crunches, weighted
40 x 30
40 x 25
40 x 25

close-grip pulldowns
90 x 11
90 x 10
90 x 9

[babyeater]

5/2
Deadlift

135 x 3
185 x 3
225 x 2

Work sets
235 x 6
235 x 6
235 x 6

Speed pulls all with red miniband for top end resistance
160 x 2
160 x 2
160 x 2
160 x 2
160 x 2
160 x 2
160 x 2

pull-throughs
65 x 15
65 x 15
65 x 16

neutral-grip pull-ups
four sets, lots

quad extensions
65 x 13
65 x 12
65 x 10

band facepulls
3 sets of 20

http://<a href="http://www.youtube.c...r2Cc5oGu4Y</a>

Sat 5/4
volume squat

95 x 4
115 x 3
120 x 10
120 x 10
120 x 10
120 x 10

all beltless

barbell good mornings
this was really about focusing on technique, so I progressed from light weight to still light weight
65 x 10
85 x 10
95 x 8
95 x 8

band abductors
3 sets of 20
standing abs

Sets of ten beltless suck.

Sun 5/5
heavy paused bench day

bar x 5 x 3
75 x 4
85 x 2
95 x 4
95 x 4
100 x 4
100 x 4
100 x 4
100 x 4

DB flat press (cumulative DB weight)
70 x 10
70 x 10
70 x 10

lat PD
90 x 11
90 x 10
90 x 9

cable rope tri ext
60 x 8
55 x 10
55 x 10
my triceps were completely fried for this.

ab wheel rollouts with a bar
15, 12, 10

band facepulls

seated unilateral rows
55 x 10 ea
55 x 10 ea
55 x 10 ea

Mon 5/6
extra day/glute work

barbell hip thrusts
160 x 7
160 x 8
160 x 8
160 x 7
160 x 8
160 x 7

Weighted pull-ups
30 x 3
30 x 3
30 x 3
bw pull-ups
11
6
5

Fist push-ups
24, 12, 10, 9

band abductors
15 with long pauses for three sets

would have done more glute and hamstring work but the hamstrings were so damned sore from Saturday's good mornings that I just took it easy because I have a pretty rough squat day tomorrow. Could have toughed it out, decided it wasn't worth it today.

[babyeater]

alright, haven't been logging, have been training, that's how it goes sometimes. Let's just start with Friday's work:

5/10

deadlift
135 x 2
185 x 2
215 x 2
235 x 1
255 x 4
255 x 4
255 x 4
255 x 4

speed pulls w/ 45 sec rest
160 x 2
160 x 2
160 x 2
160 x 2
160 x 2
160 x 2
160 x 2
160 x 2

may have done another 160 x 2, need to check the video

pull-throughs
60 x 17
65 x 15
70 x 14
70 x 12

neutral-grip pull-ups
12, 9, 7, 7

quad extensions
65 x 14
65 x 12
60 x 12

band facepulls
20, 17, 15, 15



5/11

Volume squat day

bar x 6
bar x 6
95 x 4
120 x 3
130 x 8
130 x 8
130 x 8
130 x 8
130 x 8

BB good mornings

65 x 5
85 x 10
85 x 11
85 x 11

DB bulgarian split squats
40 x 8 ea
40 x 9 ea
40 x 8 ea

band abductors
17, 15, 15, 15

lots of rolling immediately post-workout--this seems to really be helping with recovery. Pretty much not feeling hamstrings from the GM's at all today.

[babyeater]

heavy paused bench

bar x 5
bar x 5
bar x 5
75 x 3
85 x 2
95 x 1
100 x 3
100 x 3
105 x 3
105 x 3
105 x 3
105 x 3

DB flat press (cumulative weight)
70 x 11
70 x 11
70 x 11

Not sure what to do with elbow tucking during this. I feel like I'm all over the place with it each set.

neutral-grip pulldowns
100 x 11
105 x 9
105 x 9

tricep cable pushdowns (overhead)
65 x 9
60 x 14
60 x 12

ab rollouts w/ a bar
15, 14, 10

seated iso rows
55 x 10 ea
57.5 x 9 ea
57.5 x 9 ea

Ugh, not a great week. Psychologically just kind of forcing myself through stuff. Feel disconnected from myself, not happy with myself, etc. It's encouraging that I'm able to pull off relative solid lifting performances with this crap. Finding a rock to hide under for the evening.

[babyeater]

5/15
Volume Bench

bar x 5 x 3
75 x 3
85 x 3
95 x 6
95 x 6
95 x 6
95 x 6
95 x 6

pull-ups
12, 9, 7, 6,

tricep rollbacks (single DB weight)
15 x 14
15 x 10
15 x 9

lat pulldowns
100 x 8
90 x 10
90 x 10

push-ups
24, 17, 12, 10

feet-elevated weighted crunches
40 x 32
40 x 27
40 x 26

5/16
Deadlift

135 x 3
185 x 2
225 x 1
235 x 4
255 x 2
275 x 2
275 x 2

speed pulling work, 45 sec rest between (yay for the stopwatch on my phone, this is the only thing I use it for)
150 x 2
150 x 2
150 x 2
150 x 2
150 x 2
150 x 2
150 x 2
150 x 2

neutral-grip pull-ups, weighted
25 x 5
25 x 5
25 x 5
25 x 5

pull-throughs
60 x 17
65 x 15
70 x 15
70 x 15

facepulls supersetted with band abductors:

17, 18, 17 and
18, 18, 18

As I've discussed online--although not here specifically--I'm moving into a period in which I'm going to put on some mass and see how my strength and body composition play out. I have a rough approach to the diet fleshed out, and I'm going to be tailoring some of my choices regarding accessory work in training to hypertrophy. Frankly, the way I've been approaching it, I already kind of have been. This means I'm choosing the longer road to being ranked in anything at any point--and yes, I somewhat regret this. Mentally and physically, however, I think this is the best choice for me, so I'm going to have to keep that in mind as I work on eating my pride after doing well at 105. I think I have some room to put on muscle, so I'm going to give it a shot. Honestly, I feel like I've yet again learned a lot about myself through this process. I have to define what I really want in lifting or eventually I may drift in a direction that isn't really a fit for me. I'm working on defining what I want right now, and that's difficult because I tend to have a defeatist attitude that says I'm not capable of great things. It's an awful mindset to work with, but it's sort of my default. I really want to set goals that are huge and I end up feeling like an egomaniac when I try to do so. So, lots of mental conflict. That said, if you work for something hard enough and do attain, you deserve it. If I set goals and work for them and make them and am proud of them, I shouldn't be ashamed to express that pride. I'm not sure what it is in my mindset that makes it so hard for me to give myself credit for anything I do or could do. I want to try to break free of that mentality because it severely hampers training outlook.