Weekly Review: Thumb, Press PR, How Women Should Train, No Power Rack, Lift Preparation, Knee Pain Cure & Push-Ups for Women
So this week I somehow managed to injure myself on Monday by changing (actually, removing) a 45lbs plate off the Olympic bar.
Somehow the bar slipped out of my right hand, and the edge of the bar slammed down directly into the cuticle of my thumb, cutting it up and causing a bloody mess.
The thumb is fine, although I probably won't be able to use a "hook grip" during power cleans.
Finally A New PR!
I set a new PR (personal record) on the overhead press. Pressed 215lbs, which beats my old record of 214.5lbs. It's only a 0.5lb difference, but I'll take it.
Also, I'm at a body weight of around 189lbs, about 5lbs lighter than I was during my previous PR a few months ago. Not too shabby.
Anyways, a few things worth reading:
Stuff To Read
- Marianne from myomytv.com rants about how women should train. I agree!
- If don't have access to a power cage or squat rack, here's what you can do
- Lifting really heavy weights is hard, and that's why most people don't do it. 70's Big shows you how you can prepare before the lift, and how to aggressively attack the rep
- Knee pain? Try this: http://www.charlespoliquin.com/ArticlesMultimedia/Articles/Article/693/The_VMO_Solution.aspx
- Women can (and should!) do full push ups: http://saptstrength.com/2011/09/16/some-female-pushup-goodness/
Weekly Review: Whey Protein Isolate, TRAIN, Crossfit, 5/3/1, Starting With Power Cleans & The Yoke
I have been training seriously for about 9-10 months now, however I haven't taken any "bodybuilding" supplements for almost 9-10 years. I've made some pretty good progress, but lately I've been thinking about adding some whey protein to my diet.
So after weeks (maybe months?) of thinking & debating with myself, I finally ordered some whey protein.
I find that sometimes:
- my meals don't contain enough meat
- takes too long to prepare and cook meat
- the quality of the meat is pure crap (i.e. hot dogs)
- I'm just to lazy to cook up a high protein meal
So to remedy this, I picked up three 5lbs tubs of whey protein isolate from Whey-Factory.com (best deal I could find in Canada).
Personally I don't think you should be taking bodybuilding supplements unless you're already training, making progress, and have a fairly decent diet. But since I got these covered, increasing my protein intake & keeping it more consistent via supplementation seems like a good investment.
25% off & free shipping probably influenced my decision too LOL.
Anyways, here are some good reads I've come across this past week:
- ThePsychologyofFitness.com tells you why you should "TRAIN" and not "workout"
- Stevo from SAPT shares his opinion and raises some good points about Crossfit.
- My take on it: Some people love it, others hate it. Personally, although I don't do Crossfit myself, but I think it's probably better than most things out there available to the general public. I'm talking infomercial programs, fitness/muscle magazine's cookie cutter workouts, martial arts McDojo's, etc etc.
- Jim Wendler explains how to use "5/3/1" for beginners. He also shows you how you can increase your squat & deadlifts by adding power cleans at the beginning of your training session, and how awesome it is to develop a huge yoke.
Texas Method Workout Log: Sat Sept 3 [Volume]
Squat
- 337.5lbs: 5,5,5,5,5
Bench Press
- 237.5lbs: 5,5,5,5,5
Notes
- I haven't done bench presses in almost a month due to shoulder problems. A bit surprised I could do 5x5 with 237.5lbs so easily. Sweet.
Weekly Review: Military Press, Belly Buttons, 10 Commandments, Sit-Ups Won’t Get You Abs, Too Busy To Exercise
For what it's worth, I'm on AllTop.com! (http://strength-training.alltop.com)
In other news...
- John D. Fair from StartingStrength.com explains the history of the military press (one of my favorite exercises) in Olympic & World competitions:
- Discovery News explains how belly-button placement can give some athletes a competitive advantage over others (via http://nicktumminello.com)
- Ever wonder why you don't have a 6-pack from all those sit-ups you do? Here's why
- EliteFTS shows you "The 10 Commandments of Athletic Development"
- People who resort to the excuse that they "have no time" or "too busy" to exercise are probably bullshitting themselves. Check out this video below: (via http://rosstraining.com)
