What does your husband think?

I got my first “what does your husband think?” question about me doing a StrongWoman competition. It’s not a comment I would have got if I decided to enter a 10K run. I am not sure how it makes me feel, confused I think mainly about the thinking behind such a question.

I have entered another StrongWoman competition. This one is in October and much nearer my current strength abilities

Whilst I think it is full if you do fancy having a go get in touch with @Megrstrong as there is a reserve list.

Last week I bought this t-shirt

I have to say I don’t usually buy caption t-shirts but this will be fantastic in the gym for only £4

I was hoping I bought it on the day I finally got a 45kg log press, but that was not to be. I currently can’t lock it out properly. I think I am putting extra pressure on myself to do it as in August the lighter weight is 45kg for reps in 60seconds. Whilst I don’t expect to excel my current baseline is to be able to at least start every event.

Apart from the abortive session I whinged about on the blog the gym was good to me last week. I got some more yoke walks done, I wasn’t using a belt so only got to 130kg but happy with that at the moment. I upped my PR for farmers walk to 62.5kg per hand with turn. I am making progress slowly (which actually seems to be my main problem in all the lifts,  if my coach isn’t saying HIPS! then he is saying FASTER!) I appear to be a grinder rather than an exploder….

The main reason I wanted to blog today wihthout really having anything to say is 2 posts that I wanted to recommend. Firstly Nia Shanks The commandments for losing fat, the sane and simple way  is currently free on Amazon. So why am I, who is suppose to be embracing what a body can do not what it looks like, recommending this? Because I think the title is misleading, yes you may lose fat but actual it’s just a pretty good blueprint on how to start living a healthy life.  Have a read and see what I mean.

The second recommendation is for a post by Fit and Feminist.  ”What we need to do is change the paradigm so that we value our bodies for all of the amazing things they let us do.” This post is just awesome. Please read.

It doesn’t always work…

I got to the gym tonight, a bit uncertain on what to do, a plan was made to concentrate on bench press and then do a small circuit of assisted tricep dip, bicep curls, tricep pushdown and reverse curl. 10 reps for each exercise, 5 circuits. This would mean I would be fine for the S&C class tomorrow. Good plan. However…

….the bench press just didn’t work tonight. I couldn’t get the position right, something felt off in my upper back, blah, blah, blah blah. I jacked the bench press in half way thru and just did the circuits. 

I got some advice from the coach which should help next time but I couldn’t help feeling a bit despondent about what I consider a wasted session. And I don’t get enough sessions to waste one.

However this was just one small part of my day. I had a LOVELY morning with my 2 year old and then came home and read this post The Hawkeye Initiative in Real Life. Man that post is just all kinds of awesome.

And tomorrow, tomorrow I am going to go and smash that S&C class….

Sometimes the public are fucking stupid

A bit of an inflammatory title to draw you in. I watched the Baftas last night. I don’t watch a lot of TV and what I do tends to be on E4. Anyway Game of Thrones won over the opening ceremony of the 2012 Olympic games in the category the public vote for. I can’t even remember what the category was for but can’t honestly believe Games of Throne was better. Hence the title. Anyway.

This morning was another lesson at how I suck at motherhood, firstly I discovered my 2 year old had been sick in bed last night and I hadn’t heard so she slept in sick all night. Then I discovered I hadn’t removed the nail polish from my 4 year old, he had to go to school and I couldn’t find any cotton wool. So I used a tampax. I bet Macgyver wouldn’t have thought of that.

This week is going to be a bit touch and go for the gym so when I had time to go today and it wasn’t too busy I suggested to the owner I had my pt session then. FUCKING HELL. Seriously, the thought “fuck this I could be watching TV and eating biscuits” did cross my mind at least once during the session*. But then I wouldn’t be watching TV and eating biscuits I would be looking after a 2 year old and trying to persuade her that what apparently was her favourite food yesterday wasn’t going to poison her today. Anyway.

One of the events is the car deadlift. Yes, I am going to try and deadlift a car. In training terms the nearest to this is the trap bar deadlift. We used chains on the bar, which I have never done before, it’s suppose to make it harder on the part of the lift that is usually easier once you have got the fucker (my pet name for the trap bar) off the floor. They worked.  I only managed to get up to 110 on the trap bar which isn’t brilliant as I have done that before. Once we had worked up to that I did AMRAP with 70kg which I mentally gave up on at 20. Kicking myself on that one. My mind is LAZY.

This is a trap bar. I stand in the middle and try and lift it.

No this isn’t a trap bar but it was an image that came up when I googled trap bar and it’s much better.

Then we did tyre flips with the 200kg tyre. I can not express how much I fricking love trying to flip a tyre. Why? Why is it so much fun? I have no idea.

It was finished up with some rows using pullum bands and some assisted chin-ups, I say chin ups but my chin didn’t actually reach the bar as I pulled myself up about 1/4 of the way and then gurgled softly to myself.

It was just an awesome session. Then I went home and ate a lot of bacon.

Posts I liked today:

• An open letter to bikini season 
• I sued to have a blog dedicated to lying about my eating disorder - this made me cry. THIS is why I fucking hate fitspo and thinspo and a womens worth being about what she fucking looks like. 

* this is a sign of a good session btw.

Being Badass.

So after getting all excited watching a SW competition and then finding a competition I can attend and then sending off the application form followed by a great S&C class where we did 120kg farmers walk and 120kg standing sled pull it all went a bit flat. I had a great bank holiday (legoland, beach, family etc) but 4 days no gym. Unfortunately leaving children outside the pub (or in my case gym) in the car with a coke and a packet of crisps is now frowned upon, unlike in the 70s (is this really the case or is it just a myth?).

Luckily the week has picked up, Tuesday I deadlifted, Wednesday I did a circuit for 30 minutes (hip thrusts, weighted step ups, lunges, assisted press ups, assisted chin ups & assisted tricep dips) mainly to get the blood pumping.  Today I had strongwomen event training with the owner of the gym. We did the yoke and I managed to move 150kg about 5m. Now come August I need to move it 20m and FAST, but today I moved it 5m for the first time and it made me feel like a badass which segues neatly into my small rant for today. I saw a poster the tagline being “Reason to lose weight no 1: So I can feel like a badass”. This was illustrated by a picture of a headless women and a defined set of abs. (Fucking hell, STOP with the headless bit, we need heads, heads should be COMPULSORY on all posters)

Can you hear my screams of frustration? Anyway I decided to list some things that make me feel badass, and because  I love lists.

• Moving a 150kg yoke for the first time
• Making my son & daughter giggle
• Finding bananas on the reduced shelf
• Running the Turbo X trail with 4 weeks notice and not dying in the middle
• Getting 2 sessions in the gym in one day (ok that’s less badass and more stupidity but you have to get your training done when you can)
• Winning against my husband when playing anything (maybe that should be filed under childish rather than badass)

Anyway the point being that there is nothing about how my body LOOKS that makes me badass it’s what my body can do that is the rockin part.

What I looked like after the 10mile Turbo X. I am on the far left.

What makes you feel like a badass?  

How to do a leg extension.

First choose your weight

Sit on unstable cafe chair and get chosen weight to climb onto lower leg.This will be your starting position.

Using your quadriceps, extend your legs to the maximum as you exhale.

Ensure that the rest of the body remains stationary on the seat.

Pause a second on the contracted position.

Slowly lower the weight back to the original position as you inhale, ensuring that you do not go past the 90-degree angle limit.

Swap legs and repeat

After workout carb backload with hot chocolate and doughnuts..

Stop it. Just STOP IT.

This poster and it’s variants are doing my head in. Would people just stop. Exercise, health, fitness it’s not a competition between Zumba or running or weights or swimming or the myriad of other ways you can make yourself feel healthy and alive. (Yes “Why Women Should Not Run” I’m looking at you).

We can all co-exist (even better would be to embrace) and if we have to prove the superiority of one over the other can we stop doing it in reference to LOOKS and start doing it in reference to how it makes us feel.

This poster is INSULTING to BOTH women.  Both of those bodies take time and effort and not just lifting weights. Both bodies require dedication to specific nutrition.  You won’t end up looking like either of them just because you pick up heavy weights. On top of this neither of the women probably look like that most of the time either. They have probably both dieted and water manipulated for a photo shoot or competition.

Lifting weights has a lots of health benefits for women. Looking like the women on the right is not one of them. Sorry.

What’s worse is this sort of poster can alienate people.  I say it again, fitspo is as bad as thinspo whilst the body used to illustrate fitspo 99.9% of the time looks like the woman on the right when .01% of us actually look like the woman on the right.

One last thing if you are going to have a photo of a woman using it as an example of what happens if you lift weights could you PLEASE FOR THE LOVE OF GOD put a heavy weight into her hand.

The Envelope….

So this morning I posted an envelope with an application and cheque in for Somersets Strongest Woman being held on August 10th.

This is the information from the website about the events I will be competing in.

“SOMERSETS STRONGEST WOMAN:-

we are making the womens comp 2 tier, meaning it will accomodate female lifters of all standards, where possible there will be a heavier and lighter alternative to each event, the heavier option will score more points, but the full comp will be acsesable to more women and newcomers to the sport…

A clear list of all scoring and rules will be published shortly..

1). log press- reps in 60 secs (clean every rep). 65kg 4pts or 40kg 1pt..

2). car deadlift.. weight to be confirmed but around 100kg heavier weight will be available for extra points.

3). super yolk 150kg 20mtr run or the same run with 190kg for extra points.. 190kg 20 mtr run trumps any 150 run.

4).tyre flip. reps in 60 seconds.. 200kg 1 pt 360kg 4pts.

5). 5x Atlas stones 40kg- 100kg. will offer heavier bonus stone for extra points (tba)

We have done the womens comp this way, to atarct newcomers to strongwoman, we believe a lot of women with no previous experience could start training now and be able to manage most of the events by the time the comp comes around…
good luck to you all .. it will be an awsome show..”

I think my exact thought process as the envelope left my hand and fell into the letterbox is “WTF am I doing?”.