Adena

Oh jeez, I better hurry and order already!

It depends on what you want to work on. Squats to parallel are typically used for powerlifting, and ass to grass are olympic style squats. Both are acceptable. Personally, I work on both because I like both!

I never have anyone around to spot me either. Since I'm not exactly pressing serious weight, if I fail on the last rep, I just kind of do this weird butt-scoot maneuver and launch the bar forward so it doesn't land on me, and I'm also sitting up and scooting back to get out of the way. It's kind of odd I can manage to do that, yet can't quite bench press that weight yet. And I mean, I'm not throwing a bar and plates across the room, it just ends up on the bench in front of me by a hair. Probably still a bit dangerous, though.

So do we need to enter a special discount code? I haven't tried to order yet, but I was just wondering. Do we just mention in the PM that we're part of VBBF?

I just got that cookbook for Christmas and tried the chocolate chip chai spice shortbread cookies. They were a hit!

I was definitely the same way, but I wondered if it was because I went vegan around the same time I moved out of my parents' house and had no choice but to start cooking for myself. Oh well, it's a handy skill to have, and I'm glad I have so much fun with it!

Awesome, sounds exhausting, though. I looked into the meets coming up around here, and most of them seem to offer a whole bunch of different divisions besides weight classes and equipped/raw. There's a different category for a lifetime of being anabolic steroid free, and minimum three years anabolic steroid free. Weird! Probably a good thing though. There's a meet here in my hometown in April or March I think that's put on by NASA. I don't know if I want to compete yet or not.

Holy rusted buckets, batman! I never even thought to check dollar stores for groceries. We have a chain store here called TJ Maxx (I think it's in a lot of states) that has random organic and all natural products like the shampoo and conditioner I usually buy, but for way cheaper. They don't have much for food, though. Thanks for the tip!

So for your first competition, are you going to just compete in one lift, or do you do several? I'm excited for you!

How is life in California? It's freezing in Iowa...

Deadlift Day, Friday, January 21, 2011 Deadlift: 1x3x135 1x3x170 1x3x195 1x3x220 Rack Pulls: 3x1x255 Assisted Wide Grip Pull-Ups: 3x3 Farmer's Walks: 3 sets to failure with a 45 lb plate in each hand Plate Pinches: 3 sets to failure with two 5 lb plates pinched between my thumb and fingers of each hand My bodyweight jumped up to 140 this week. Whoopsy daisy! This bakery business could be dangerous for me. Squat Day, January 24, 2011 This is the beginning of the week where I do a set of five, then three, then one. It's the heaviest week of the month. After stretching and loosening up my hips, I did... Parallel Squat: 1x5x45 1x5x145 1x3x165 1x3x185 Oly Squats: 3x10x135 Lunges with a 35 lb plate held overhead: 3 sets

It's pretty amazing, it doesn't look like much, but it worked like a charm. I heard they hurt to use, but it wasn't really bad at all. So I have a lot of things going on, I'm going to open a vegan bakery and offer some gluten free items as well. So far I have a temporary place with a commercial kitchen to use, but I'm not ready to sell items yet. It's hard to find time for a side business when you already have a full-time job! I'll make it work, though. My husband is behind me 100%, which is really encouraging. Des Moines, IA will soon have vegan gluten free desserts at local coffee shops and health food stores, if all goes as planned! I'll be updating my log with my deadlift day as soon as possible...

Ouch! I get a blister in the same place from deadlifting pretty often, and then it sort of turns into callous, so I feel your pain. I've torn off callouses while doing deadlifts and heavy rack pulls, too. I really need to file them down more often. It helps.

You might try www.veganhealth.org for some info on vegan nutrient needs and plant food sources for whatever you need.

You might find a program that works for you by browsing around the Training Logs subforum on this site.

Ok, thanks for clarifying. I'm kinda surprised it matters, but good to know. You should compete, I'm planning to do that at some point! Go, Chewy!

My husband bought me your book for Christmas. I'm enjoying it so far! I'm also happy to hear you have started doing my favorite lift again, squats. Nice!

Jeez, thanks, guys! I still feel like a wee little mouse most of the time, but getting mightier every day!

+1

Are you saying your feet have to be completely planted while doing squats, or bench? I like to know what they allow in powerlifting meets. It sounds weird that your feet are tipping inward while doing squats, but it sounds equally as weird that your feet would have to be planted while benching....Sorry if that's a silly question, I just couldn't quite tell from what you wrote.

Lobster, I have to tell you, I feel your pain. I broke my butt lunging around the gym today! Foam rollers do the trick, though. I had never used one before today, and it totally helped.

Forgot to update my log all last week, so that's the rest of it, above. This week I'm doing triples. Squat Day Parallel Squat: 1x3x135 1x3x155 1x5x175 Oly Squats: 3x8x145 Lunges with 35 lb plate held overhead: 4 sets At some point during the fourth set of lunges, I broke my butt! Luckily, my powerlifter friend was there to show me how to use a foam roller. It's pretty much what it looks like. It worked really well, too.

Bench Day Bench: 1x5x45 1x5x75 1x5x85 1x5x95 1x5x90 1x6x85 1x8x80 1x10x75 1x12x70 BOR: 2x8x95 1x6x95 These felt a lot more difficult than last week. It might have been because I was picking the weight off the floor instead of from a low racked position. Push-Ups: 1x16 1x10 1x8 Deadlift Day Deadlift: 1x5x135 1x5x160 1x5x185 1x5x210 Rack Pulls: 3x3x245 Farmer's Walks with two 45s: 3 sets Plate Pinches with two 5s pinched between thumb and fingers of each hand: 3 sets

I haven't tried Vega yet, but normally bananas seem to be the number one ingredient to cover up nasty protein shake flavors.

My favorite is 5/3/1 because I've seen the biggest gains from it, and it's also enjoyable.