Lean Bodies - Noel Clark

I haven’t been that excited in a long time :)  Wasn’t feeling that way going into this workout, but felt that way leaving.  Numbers or reps all went up.  I am noticing big gains in my triceps which is great because that has definitely been one of my weaknesses.  But the big movement of the day was rack pulls.  My lower back has been pretty beat up lately so I wasn’t sure what I would be able to do today but got into it when I got there.  I think that it was the atmosphere that helped.  Usually the gym is dead on a friday early evening, but there were a few guys lifting.  I warmed up and ended up putting on 275.  I only needed to get 4, but ended up pulling 8.  I was so happy because I only did 245 for 6 last time.  Then I had to back off for a set of 10 reps and did that with 225.  My back was shot!  I sat down for a few minutes and had noticed that a few of the guys had been trying to add the plates on my my set of 8 LOL.  Not many girls lift in my gym at all so I am sure this was rather interesting for them LOL.  As I was sitting there resting I started thinking about Erik telling me that I had to be able to pull 315 from the rack before doing full deads that way.  I started wondering how hard or how heavy 315 really was.  So I thought…hmm I will just put it on and see how heavy it is lol.  Now when I put three plates on, the guy that was watching me took off his iPod and came over and said “Seriously?”  I laughe because I didn’t think I was going to be able to pull it and told him I just wanted to see how heavy it was.  Then another guy came over and we were all just talking about competing and stuff.  Then two more guys came over and said are you really going to try that.  Now I started to feel pressure and told them that I had already finished my workout and was just going to see….. Well, you know how you feel pressure when you have an audience-I had like 6 guys standing around the cage.  So I strapped in and just PULLED.  I got it.  I was so excited.  I know this may seem silly to a lot of people, but I had no idea that I could do that and was so so so excited.  When I did it, the guys started clapping and were really psyched too.  It was so much fun hahahaha.  They were like “that was so AWESOME”  I felt really great  

Today was good-but hard.  All numbers went up   This definitely isn’t my favorite day of lifting–I look forward to Friday though.  BUT  since I started 2 weeks ago I have been doing Box Squats and they have gone from 140- 205.  Granted at 140 I knew it was light but I was trying to get the movement down because it felt awkward to me.  Then I went up to 185 then 195 and today–205.  Here is the funny thing…As I am doing them today-I am on the last rep that I am doing and I am thinking-How in the world am I going to get this 205 off my back when I squat down on this box and can not stand back    Calories went up today and yum it was good.  LOLOL

Not much training related, just jumped on the bike today…try to loosen up a bit.  I am really sore and it feels good.  Tomorrow is another heavy day (well, they are all heavy at this point LOL)  But my numbers on other lifts for tomorrow are going up!!!   My calories are progressively increasing another 200 tomorrow.  Erik and I talked a bit more about keeping a good outlook on this process.  He understand that this is hard but I am really trying to just think about how much stronger I am getting. 

I did my CPR certification and AED certification today.  Glad I went because I was certified years ago and everything has changed.  Always good to be up to date on that stuff.  The funniest part though was the other people in my class.  They were killing me.  One of the questions that was asked was “if they respond do we stop?”  I was like    I wanted to tell her “no, keep doing the chest compression…pin him down if you have to put keep going.”  Oh, please don’t let me have a heart attack around her.  The other girl that was in there - was not all there.    If you know what I mean.  I could smell her from a mile away.  Again, please don’t let me have a heart attack….

Will post numbers again tomorrow!!!! 

so I had some numbers I had to hit today that Erik and I focused on and was able to get them all and actually do more than we had planned

Incline bench press up by 20lbs

My push press went up by 15lbs

My tricep lifts - I was able to up it by 8 reps

Lat work went up 5lbs and 1 rep

Deadlift went up 10lbs ( i should have gone heavier)

Then we added abs this week….

So I was dead after this workout. Calories are increasing throughout the week… next up Wednesday’s workout

So I just finished the first two weeks of really heavy, push yourself to your limits, training.  I have really enjoyed it.  I think that now I have a handle on how much weight I should be lifting.  I had to kind of feel things out the first week, but I think I got it now.  So tomorrow I go into the gym with some goal numbers that I need to hit.  I think that I will be good on all of them but it is going to be tough.  Especially my push press.  Should be fun though.  My calories are going up up up this week.  As I spoke with Erik about it and we nailed down some of the specifics —he told me how many carbs he wanted me having on my training days and after he told me he said “I heard that!”  lolol I had gasped.  hahahahaha.  I am going to be HUGE lolololol.  I have to admit, as silly as it may sound to a lot of people, this is very very hard for me.  I just don’t feel comfortable with extra weight on me.  BUT with that being said, I do not want to look the same next year as I do now…I just think–what a waste.  So I will eat away.  But remember, when you see me and I am all pudgy and smooth…it is NOT going to be like that for long

I did have a chance to go and see an ART/chiro on Friday.  He was really nice and I talked to him a lot about what I was doing.  All the corrections he made were definitely on my left side like we thought.  He was explaining to me what he was going to do and I realized that I had already had this done before, but at the time, no one called it ART to me.  I have had acupuncture and acupressure done and loved it.  I am going to get all the details from him on Friday, when I go back, and will be able to update more on what exactly is going on.  I am not allowed to cross my legs this week….it has been a hard habit to break.  

Then do hamstring leg press.  Heals high and wide on the leg press.  Now, going really heavy and add that to the fact that I don’t think that I have been on a ’leg’ machine in ooooh-a year or more….leads to the worst DOMS I have felt in a long, long time.  Now see, I did these on Monday and am praying that by Friday I can move around better. :) 

So these past couple of weeks have been not only fun but eye opening. I have definitely found my weeknesses.  Man, my chest and my triceps -  P-A-T-H-E-T-I-C.  I am definetly pushing myself though….I WILL GET THOSE NUMBERS UP.  I have no choice.  When I send in my numbers for my workouts to Erik…he is always confused by my chest numbers when compared to my shoulder numbers.  I find it all really funny. 

 Is the scale going up?  um yes :(  I am trying to stay positive.  I notice the most in my legs and abs.  I am still doing some cardio–I laugh as I type this because I don’t even think what I am doing is really considered cardio.  I can’t even imagine what kind of cardiovascular shape i will be in by the time I have to start dieting….i know I will be that person on the TM that everyone watches to make sure they are ok and not dying. :) 

After my workout on Friday I think that I came to the realization that I needed to go to see someone for Active Release Techniques. Erik had asked me a bit before my last show about a picture that I had sent him. It was a back shot and he said it looked like I was flaring my lats on one side more than the other. Of course me being someone that doesn’t need to go see the doctor or dentist for any reason at all so I blew it of and said nah…it was just my posing in that pic. Erik brought it up again while we were in Cleveland–( Know it all ) Again, I just blew it off. So I was in the gym on Friday doing some shoulder presses–really heavy and when I started to get tired, I could tell that I was pushing harder with my left and doing something funky with my right. I shared this with Erik and I am sure he was saying  So I am going to bite the bullet and make an apointment this week and see what they say. UGH!!!!

Two workouts down and another tomorrow.  Ok, so don’t get me wrong, these are VERY VERY hard.  BUT it is very different than what I have been doing for basically the past nine months.  It was funny because I had to ask Erik===how much rest did you want me to get between these two lifts.  He was like, “ok noel, you have to change your thinking”  I am like ??????   He was telling me that I am lifting heavy…rest —this isn’t metabolic stuff—make sure you are ‘ready’ and then go to the next exercise.  I was like…oh yeah, right.  It is amazing how you get yourself in one frame of mind and have a hard time switching gears. 

So after yesterday’s workout….I again am sore–WOW.  Of course a whole different set of muscles are not working today    I feel recovered from Monday, which is good because tomorrow we will be hitting it again.  I am trying to figure out how much I can lift.  That has been hard since I haven’t lifted this way before.  When I start getting a better idea of how much I am lifting I will start keeping track of numbers and posting new PRs in here and I might even post weight changes.  That is a big maybe.  I hate the scale and would rather just stay off of it all together (and that is dieting or not)  So the goal….EAT LIFT GROW REST!!!

Wish me luck tomorrow.

So I began my new workouts yesterday and um….yes, I am already sore      This new program is very exciting.  It is like a competition with myself.  And like I said many times, I love a challenge.  I have decided that my favorite lift is push press and I WILL get a plate -a side- soon…..you watch        Another goal this off season will be my Deadlifting.  The max that I have done and this was right before North Americans, was 245 for 5.   I would love to pull 3 plates this off season.  I am not sure if it is possible, but that would be so cool.

My diet is changing of course.  The workouts for me are fun and exciting and I feel very sure and driven in the gym.  My diet is where I mentally fight myself.  And it isn’t with dietting down.  Yes, that is hard, but for me going UP is harder.  I think after spending months trying to get all the numbers to go down….it is hard to purposefully make them all go up.  BUT-I am really trying to look at this for what it is suppose to be…GAINING MUSCLE.   I am going to try to take Jen Hamilton as the role model for this.  Last year she bulked like a champ.  Keep telling myself that I have to eat to gain and that next year when I start to diet ….the fat WILL come off.  So bring on the sweat pants and watch me get my PRs, but be aware of the the occasional 3 year old fit (don’t act surprised    )

So I am about to start my off season training.  I have had the week off away from the gym and i am definitely ready to get back to it.  I am excited about the changes that I want to make and the changes in my training.  I am going to try to keep a positive attitude when it comes to the weight gain….that should be interesting. 

I got an email from someone today that I haven’t seen or spoken to in many years.  This person found my blog and has been reading and following my competition prep.  I can’t begin to tell you how awesome this email was.  He basically contacted me to encourage me to keep at it.  To push past the disappointment that comes with not placing well–which regardless of if you compete to just bring your best package—if you are competitive at all…you can’t help but hate to lose or place poorly!  And anyone that knows me, knows that I can make anything into a competition LOL.  In this email, he talked about the changes that he had made for himself, but also talked about how watching and reading about my changes helped him actually get more motivated to train thus start to think about competing himself.  This is so exciting to me.  What he doesn’t realize is that his email to me, along with all the changes that he has made, while overcoming health issues is super motivating!!!  So i just wanted to say thank you!!!!  The email timing was really perfect.  I am ready to dive back in and during my training-I will definitely be thinking about this email…Hopefully I can return the favor!