halfway

I am officially halfway through my new 12 week program. I followed my own program for the last training cycle--this time I wanted to try something a little bit different. As an early birthday present, someone dear paid for me to have Meg of megsquats design a program for me--a service offered for a decent, doable price. Some pros and elite lifters offer this type of thing--designing strength and/or nutrition program for anyone willing to pay. Truth is a lot of these services are pricey(and, for the most part, rightly so).

I'm extremely happy with the results from this program thus far. Workouts are exciting and much more challenging. I do like accountability when it comes to hard work, and following a program written for me offers that perfectly. This time if I try to cut a corner, I feel like I'm letting down more than just myself. Creating it took time and effort, as well as money. I will not be attempting any 1 rep maxes until the very end, but I'm already seeing an increase in rep max and strength. Every week of the cycles steadily increases the effort.


my gorgeously ripped hands
So far my biggest improvement is on deadlift. I've learned better cues for the initial lift off the floor in sumo position, which has made such a difference in execution. The best cues: start the pull by pulling all tension out of the bar(listen for the clank noise of barbell hitting the top in the plate holes), and initiate with the legs. Firing in the legs first instead of putting it all on the back helps with patience in the pull, and I'm much more likely to get the weight successfully off the floor by pulling legs first. Game changer. This, and finally understanding the movement of pulling hips forward into lockout position. I can tell the difference between pulling forward and not--when I don't, it's much harder to complete the movement. Sometimes lifting is hilarious when you consider all the cues one should remember for a seemingly simple movement. Tension out of bar, fire lats, big breath expanding on all sides, fire first with legs, snap hips forward. I cannot wait to see where my final numbers are for a 1 rep max.

The other great thing about this program is that my weekly split is vastly different, allowing me to be much less beat up at the end of it. I train the program 4 times a week instead of 6, which allows for heavier effort/more rest. 4 days instead of 6 means I no longer have that sense of overbearing obligation or having to drag myself to the gym. Four is enough room to look forward to it every single time. I'm no longer dedicating one day to legs, one to chest, one to back, etc. This program mixes things up so everything is getting some work. Every training day involves doing bro stuff aka accessory work at the end, and every action goes to support the three main lifts. Every session also involves a giant set near the end(generally performing 3 or more exercises for one muscle group in succession). This is a special kind of brutal every time, and I love it. I sweat more with this program than I ever did with my own.

My overall muscle size, strength, and endurance has increased. Most of my shorts now protest against my leg size, which is its own brand of hilarious and frustration. I'm so excited to see what gains will be made in the next six weeks. Having a program written for me by a professional was money well spent.

Sidenote: I hope to update this space more. The longer I lift, the more things I notice, the more things I want to say. Things about common gym etiquette, sexual harassment, making friends, training with purpose. More soon.