leveling up the badassery

I’m contributing to the Let’s Talk Training Thursday linkup that’s being co-hosted by Pretty Lil Mudder, Powered by Bling, Half Marathon Mama and Girl on the Move! Every 2nd and 4th Tuesday of the month, we’ll all be discussing our training in whatever it is we’re working on! This week’s theme is on our goals!

I’m not sure how wise of a decision this was, but I’ve entered a powerlifting competition that will take place at the end of my FM rotation!

My logic is that this is arguably the chillest rotation I’ll have this year, so if not now, then when? (My ambition to compete in the national one while boards-studying was a hilariously laughable thought and never ended up happening.)

The one I’m signed up for now is a Sanction III event, which means lifters are eligible to establish state/provincial, national or world records.

While I’d love to set national/world records someday, I’m concentrating on just personal PRs at this point (which will coincidentally probably get me state records. :D). Somewhere between my rotations, studying, cooking the world, blogging, and all that good stuff in between, I will find a way to fit in the training.

My main concern is whether or not I’ll be able to cut to the weight class I want to be in. I’ve historically been pretty terrible at cutting weight because…long story short, I love food. I did step on a scale a couple days ago and apparently, I have about 5-ish weeks to lose 3-4 pounds, so as long as I don’t suddenly decide to binge on everything in the world, I should theoretically be fine.

However, I also presently suck at lifting. (Deconditioning is a real pain, but maybe this is the kick in the butt I need to get back to where I used to be!)

This is my current state (+ my super adorable foster kitty)!

I have 2 sets of goals for the competition (the second is in case my body decides to surprise me in a good way).

1. Semi-conservative
   >180 for squats
   > 120 for bench press
   > 275 for deadlift
2. Reach
   > 200 for squats
   > 135 for bench press
   > 285 for deadlift

As per usual, I’m being my own trainer/coach/etc., so I’m fairly certain that the other things I’m doing/want to do will take a toll on my being able to PR at the competition, but…I hate passing up opportunities, so I’m gonna see if I can do it all. (This is a general trend in my life. We’re just gonna have to deal with it.)

This is mostly because Mike found a fight gym here about a month ago. I had him drag me there the other evening and it was awesome. Everyone there is incredibly supportive and friendly, and the owner is super nice and really makes an effort to make everyone feel welcome. (The guys have actually been warned that if they hit on any of the girls, they’re getting booted. hahaha.) I liked my trial classes so much that I’m going to be doing back-to-back Tae Kwon Do + Brazilian Jiu Jitsu classes twice a week. My body is probably gonna hate (but also love!) me.

My proposed workout schedule is presently as follows:

• Sunday
  Rest Day
• Monday
  Lifting in evening followed by ~30 min. light cardio or some kind of kickboxing drill
• Tuesday
  TKD (1 hr), BJJ (2-ish hrs)
  (+ 1 hr Zumba if I’m feeling really ambitious)
• Wednesday
  Liifting in afternoon/evening followed by ~30 min. light cardio
• Thursday
  TKD (1 hr), BJJ (2-ish hrs)
  (+1 hr Zumba if I’m feeling really ambitious)
• Friday
  Lifting in evening followed by ~30 min. light cardio or some kind of kickboxing drill
• Saturday
  Fasted cardio(?) + aquatics bootcamp

Not gonna lie. I’m pretty sure I’m gonna die. But maybe I’m in for a good surprise! I log my workouts on fitocracy if  you happen to have an account there! If not, I’m actually going to start talking about my workouts here (no way!!!) semi-regularly, so keep me accountable! :P

My competition-unrelated but fitness-related goals are as follows!

1. Cut my body fat percentage to 20%! (I have no idea what I’m at right now though (~23%, give or take 1-2%…? Kindasorta?)

2. Whenever possible, take full advantage of all the free classes my hospital gym has to offer. (Zumba with weights, aquatics bootcamp, regular bootcamp, yoga, pilates, Insanity-esque workouts…)

3. Go to as many TKD/BJJ classes as my schedule will allow! He’s talking about expanding + adding more classes, which would be awesome, because at present, there are only classes on Tuesdays or Thursdays.

4. Be able to do 15 pullups in one set. I’m actually really, really horrible at this right now. Last November, I did 10, but I presently cannot even do 5. :'( Granted, it’s not the first exercise I start out with, so I’m usually tired by the time I get to the pullups. I may work on this one after the competition (because priorities).

5. Find some way to keep practicing pole. I miss it so much! :[