Aloha Everyone!👋🏼
Ugh, I apologize for the inconsistency of posts. However, let's live in this present moment instead of the past or the future; both things I or you cannot control. As you've seen in my previous posts, I'm currently in training for my next #powerlifting meet to be held the first weekend of April. Have you been wondering how my training has been going? Well, let's break it down and say that it hasn't been going according to planned. I am supposed to be squatting, benching, and deadlifting every week, but have only managed to complete 2/3 lifts. I squatted 225lbs 5x5 during Week 1 (50-60% of 1RM). I have on ongoing hip issue that hurts when I squat. It's been fine until Week 2 of training, it started to flare up again. I refrained from squatting since then, and started to squat again this week, Week 5. I haven't squat for 3 weeks. Today, I squatted 315lbs 3x3.
I'm a little disappointed in myself for not squatting Weeks 2-4, but I'm happy to say my hip is now pain free. I've been a little all over the place during this training cycle. I haven't been obsessed. I've been dreading going to the gym, and haven't been aggressive or hungry to get stronger. It was almost as if I didn't even want to compete in this upcoming meet. I've been a little easier on myself these past few days after accepting that it was okay with how things went because for one, it was the holidays so my gym schedule was thrown off, and two? Being too hard on myself isn't going to help me in any way.
So I changed.
I watched old powerlifting videos of myself to remember those feelings of accomplishments. I told myself I had to get obsessed again; get determined. I've come to the realization that I will not grow if I remained stagnant in my way. It came down to how I was utilizing my time at home, and how focused I was. At home, I was becoming lazy I kept putting off cooking, cleaning, I wasn't making our bed every morning. I was falling into bad habits.
I'm so proud of myself for pulling myself out of this rut.
There's work to be done, and I want to do it.
With all that being said and done, here's a current photo of my physique. Also, I have this urge to chop my hair to shoulder length and maybe add some layers? Let me know your feedback. I'm searching for ideas and inspiration :) I hope all of you are doing swell!!
Aloha,
🌺 Q 🌺
Hey Quyn,
your physique looks magnificent 👌
How you said you felt, maybe that is just a message from the depth of your body to you, maybe you need a change?
Considering your HIP hurts, have you ever thought about incorporating some Yoga in your lifestyle?
From my personal opinion, it is the best thing to treat your back. Not to mention your flexibility will increase and you will get much better in powerlifting, give if you can and feel like it 😇
Thanks so much for the advice ☺️
I think you’re right about change. I know once I compete in this next competition, I’ll be focusing more on yoga and maintaining a fit and healthy body instead of putting constant strain on it.
I definitely need to start incoperating yoga into my everyday lifestyle. I notice that from the times I’ve done yoga, I have a lot less pain.
Also, you’re sure right about that last part! In my last competition, I did yoga for my hips to increase flexibility which led me to setting world record for deadlift
Definitely, cause in the long term, you will love it that way much more, I guess. :)
That is crazy! WR, nice... I'm not really shocked, and the fact yoga helped you - nothing strange to me :P
Lol :P do you practice yoga daily? I’ve been trying to figure out how to make time and fit it into my schedule
Yoga is my favorite type of exercise but sadly I don't practice it daily! That would be awesome though :)
And please keep in mind, I was a powerlifter once myself :) Until I realized, it is not doing really good to some parts of my body, my physique and strength were crazy, but on the other side, my joints, hips etc were suffering
At one point of time I've decided I prefer these things more :)
So I found yoga as some sort of Utopia... :) Now I just mostly do bodyweight and yoga
Oh nice! :) I’ve been noticing that more and more powelifters are investing in yoga for the all around benefits. I’ll probably be putting down the heavy weights before my joints and tendons start to disagree with me.
Are you a really advance yogi who can do headstands and such?? If so, hopefully one day I can get to your level 😄
Hahaha, not yet, sadly! I'm clumsy asf, but getting better day by day 😎
you are probably miles better than me, as a female
Injuries are the worst. I bruised a rib against my belt when deadlifting last week and have knee niggles that also get in the way sometimes.
Ouch! That happened to me before when I tried wearing my belt higher, I always let it sit on my waist now. What are knee niggles?
Too many years of indoor soccer goal keeping (Lots of diving and landing on them) and other sports ... and probably a bit of aging too.
That’ll sure do it. Hopefully you’re taking good care of them now. Our bodies are the only ones we’ll ever get. It’d be a shame for us just to waste it away
happy health and good luck with Powerlifting Training
Thank you!
lookin good! these are some impressive squat weights!
Thanks! The most I’ve squatted in competition was 402 back in June. Hoping to get 450 in April 😁
Good Luck
Thank ya
hey you probably get this question a lot but do you think weights is more effective than cardio when losing fat?
Hey there. That’s a good question. Lifting weights and building muscle is definitely more effective than cardio. When you build muscle, your basal metabolic rate increases, so while not physically doing anything, your body burns calories at a higher rate. I believe some cardio included with lifting weights along with a healthy diet will lead to great results 😊
i think people meant that cardio is faster for the short term but weights is better for the long term
Not necessarily. It depends what one’s fitness goals are. Cardio will not only cause you to lose fat, but also muscle. So it all depends on how much fat someone has and wants to lose
i want to lose 25-30 pounds of fat
Well, in my opinion, there’s no way to measure pounds of fat or even pounds of muscle. So if it’s body fat you’d like to lose to obtain, your biggest aid with be your nutrition first and then exercising. People thing they can cheat themselves through fat loss when they can’t.
Instead of going of the number on the scale, you should be going off what you see in the mirror. That’ll be your best tool to track your progress.
i make sure i get plenty of protein and exercise to make sure im in a caloric deficit to lose fat. thats my way at the moment
I've been kind of having similar feelings with my training, but its not quite as extreme since I'm not actually training to compete. I definitely get where you're coming from though. Hopefully you're hips stay pain free that sounds rough! I'll be sending my good vibes for training up until the meet, and I'll be rooting for you!
Aw thank you so much for sending good vibes! I definitely need them. The pressure of competing for a meet sure gets overwhelming. I had an awesome deadlift session Friday night, which put me right on track for my training cycle. Will post soon!
Glad to hear that, I'll be looking forward to the post!
Settling is so easy! Keep pushing, April is not far away. Good job so far!
Thank you! I’ll be sure to post my progress
Hey @quynnetessential,
glad to see another post from you.
Very interesting to read about your thoughts of your current situation.
Even if you are not at that level you want to be at this moment, don't forget that you're still good and I know you will come back to your old strength and ambition.
I think you are extremely ambitious and you can make this meet!!
It doesn't have to be 120% always, sometimes 101% are enough ;-)
Be careful not to overtrain to avoid injuries, otherwise the hard work was for nothing my dear.
Keep it up!!!
Thank you Jason! :) I'm slowly starting to change my mindset of doing the best that I can in that moment, instead of fulfilling any expectations that I've previously made.
I had a fantastic training session last night! Things went smooth and I felt strong. I really try to avoid overtraining. I tend to take Wednesdays off, along with the weekends to allow my body to recover. It's also nice to have the extra time to do other things :)
Thank you for the support!!
Awesome, recovery is a big part of progress, you know that! :)
I hope that I can dive fully into training again, when I passed all my exams of January.
Miss it, but unfortunately I can't take much time for steady training.
Nevertheless I give my best to make as many sessions as possible.
Looking forward to your updates!
Thanks! Steady training is always hard to stick with when you have other priorities. There's been many times when I fall off the bandwagon. But nevertheless, it's nothing to beat myself over looking back at it.
Goodluck for Your Better Yourself
Thank you :)
Peaks and valleys, we all have them.
I was recently off my cycling training for a couple weeks due to sickness and life. But my body needed the rest. I had been pushing it pretty hard and my sleep had been suffering for far too long.
Kudos to you for getting back at it! Just be sure to ease back into it for your hips sake! I know it can feel like you have all this catching up to do but that will just make it worse in the long term!
Keep it up!
Thank you! I’ve been a lot more aware of what my body is physically communicating to me. The first sign of hip pain, or any pain for that matter, I ease off and work on something else. I’ve definitely learned my lesson a couple years ago from overdoing it and burning myself out. It’s so nice to just be able to take a step back and relax sometimes
I weight train but have never tried power lifting. .. one of my goals this year is to be stronger and power lifting seems right up my alley. What advice do you have for someone considering power lifting?
Hey there! Some advice I can give you is to look up some of the top powerlifters. Form is what’s most important. Try to see who your genetics are similar to. Are you considering competing as well? It’s important to follow a training program to increase your strength slowly. I like my training cycles to go from 8-10 weeks. Some people go 12 weeks but I get too impatient to test my maxes at the end lol
Good luck to you.
Thanks for the support!
Cooking, cleaning can't be an alternate to weight lifting but yes that can be a part of fitness to keep things rolling. After reading this i wish you Good luck and yes you should be proud of you!
Agreed, cooking and cleaning definitely are not an alternative. For me, it’s becoming consistent with other things that’ll drive my mentality for better habits. Thanks for the wishes and thank you for reading!
DAAAAAMN, YOU'RE THICK!!! KEEP IT UP :)
Haha THANK YOU! :D I appreciate the love
Hi Q, being a fellow vegan, I ask myself if you follow a special vegan diet for power lifting. CU!
Hey there! I don't really follow anything special. I aim to stick to whole foods plant based nutrition. I make sure a eat lots of healthy carbs to fuel my muscles and ease fatigue. Too add extra protein for muscle repair and building, I include pea protein shakes with my breakfast, after I work out, and another one right before bed.
Hi Quynne, thanks for your quick answer! I also aim to eat a plant-based whole-foods diet. Sometimes I also eat some processed vegan foods. I generally don't eat protein powder, because my body does not seem to tolerate it very much. Keep up the good work! :)
Thank you for the support! :)
When you say "protein powder" which are you referring to? Many people I know get an upset stomach from drinking WHEY protein, or even vegan protein powders that contains a lot of additives. My husband has a sensitive stomach, so I did some research. I ended up buying pure PEA protein powder; the only ingredient is "non-gmo pea protein isolate (from yellow peas)" I read many reviews on it first before I bought it. I wanted to make sure I was getting the best. It's also the cheapest protein per gram. If you're looking to add extra protein, I highly recommend it. I'll post a picture of it soon, but the brand is NOW SPORTS. I get the natural flavor so it doesn't come with anything I can't pronounce.
I tried Sunwarrior Protein Powder (vegan mix), but also other homogeneous protein powder types (hemp, rice, soy, pea). However, I always got bloaty, so I quit doing it. Which also corresponds to my wish to eat foods that are more whole (which protein powders are not). However, because of this reason I might not get a whole lot of protein , because I tend to eat rather carbo-high food.
Since I have been vegan for more than 7 years now, I have never tried Whey protein or anything of animal origin. I also avoid GMO foods.
I might try some pea protien powder from yellow peas.
Thanks for your help and your efforts!
Hi Quynne, maybe this is the one you are talking about:
https://www.amazon.de/Now-Foods-Pea-Protein-Pound/dp/B00JL6ZKFE/ref=sr_1_fkmr0_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1515814929&sr=8-2-fkmr0&keywords=NOW+SPORTS+pea+yellow
Yup! That's the one I got. Thanks for going out of your way to look it up. That's so awesome you've been vegan for over 7 years now! I'll be coming up on a year in a couple months.
Personally, I don't see any need to consume higher amounts of protein to maintain health. I've done some research and read that on average for maintenance, humans should consumer around 50 grams of protein. Once I discontinue powerlifting, I'll be cutting out the protein shakes. Like yourself, I feel much better when I eat whole foods.
What's your name btw? I didn't see it on your profile
Hey, I have to find a way to purchase the Now Foods Pea Protein Powder. Because I am in Europe, and the product is (I think) American, it is not easy to find it here. If I find it, the shipping fees are outrageous. Maybe I find an equivalent product here. :)
I'm Chris, thanks for asking! :)
Most definitely! 👍🏽
thats awesome. I don’t think I’ll be able to get into competing in weight lifting; too much movement for me 😂
That’s definitely what I’m trying to pursue. If your head isn’t right, best efforts won’t be put into the gym, as other things in life
I love it. I couldn’t agree more. Be the center of the ripple