nasa nationals 2014, recap and review

-----Original Message-----

From: teeny-wahine

To: Lindsey Urbank

Sent: Fri, Jun 20, 2014 10:39 am

Subject: Meet deets

Okay, a million years later, here’s my recap…

Days leading up to weigh-in, I had absolutely no stress about making weight.  Even after I realized I’d botched the sodium load, I knew I’d still be fine.  Three gallons the day we had to drive out to Laughlin was rough, only for the potty breaks.  I can easily get down copious amounts of food and beverage.

The day of weigh-in, I slept in and logged in to work remotely for about four hours.  I weighed 105#, fresh out of bed.  Not sure if it was the sodium load + water flush doing work on my kidneys, but I did have a little blood in my pee this day.  Relaxed, napped, spent time with Colin, got all my shit together to have with me at the meet.  Unusual for me is that I had no pre-comp anxiety.  I usually get the jitters pretty early (sometimes I’ll find it hard to fall asleep at night as far out as a week before a competition or race).  Left hotel at about 5p for weigh-ins.

At weigh-in, EXACTLY what I expected to happen, happened.  They tried to put heat on me to pay for another year of membership, even though my annual wouldn’t come up for another few days.  I got a little annoyed.  Weighed in at 103.8#... nailed it!  Immediately I started to drink the Gatorade/water w/nacl + buffered sodium.

I should’ve started having some Gatorade on my training days the weeks leading up to showtime.  I’ve had issues with it before, and it kinda fucked up my stomach.  The food for the night was a PLEASURE!!!  For me, overeating is like getting high on drugs.  I had a vanilla whey protein shake w/milk (the dymatize pursuit rx vanilla that, when mixed with milk, tastes like the BEST vanilla ice cream you’ve ever had!), ham sandwich on g-free cinnamon raisin bread, vanilla merengues, rice crackers, g-free brownie… and some other shit I can’t even remember right now, but I was in hog heaven!

That night I slept great, but when I woke up, I did have an achey back.  I think my bloated stomach had been pulling on it.  I had breakfast with the family, in the hotel… eggs, bacon, and potatoes.  I went back up to the room, grabbed my shit, and we bounced!

This year, they had just women lifting on day one.

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First two lifts were clean and curls.  Squatters started warming up, but then after curl was done, they pretty much restarted the clock on squat warmups.  Colin was there to keep me straight.  Attempts; 182#, 193#, 204# (92.5kg).  193# didn’t come up fast or easy, but I wanted to go for 209# (for the p.r.), but then the chick who won “best lifter” last year missed her first AND second attempt, so I knew it was a better choice to hit 204#, then gamble on 209#.  Going three for three REALLY pumped me up!

Bench attempts; 116#, 121# (55kg), 127# (miss).  It’s amazing how different benching feels on a bench that fits you and a rack that’s straight!!!!!  121# felt so light, I thought I’d be hitting 130# on a fourth attempt!!!!  But when attempting 127#, you can see I bring the bar down and the last few inches to my chest, I let the bar just drop.  What the h!

Deadlift attempts; 254#, 270# (122.5kg), 281# (miss).  Everyone and their mom benches, so with two flights, I had a long time before I deadlifted.  Chilled, got my mind right, then warmed up.  All the weight felt heavy in warmup.  My ass was pretty smoked.  Immediately after 254#, my back felt tight.  For as beat up as I felt, I feel like hitting 270# was a gift and I’m proud.

I can say with absolute honesty, I followed the meet protocol to the letter (save the misunderstanding on sodium amt), from the five days out, all the way through the deadlifts.  I felt great and recovered THE BEST I ever have after any type of competition or race.  Here’s the link to my meet video:

http://youtu.be/LRtjnwmhzzc

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I am so PUMPED for the future of my training!  My diet is on-point.  Took your advice, metabolic rehab.  I did 1250 calories/day for a week,  at 1450 now, then will go 1600, and probably normalize at a little over 1800.  I kept my macros at 40/20/40 on my training days, and 50/10/40 on my rest/recovery days.  I’m pretty consistently 110#.  I cancelled my ‘l.a. fitness’ membership ‘cause that place is always so fucking busy.  I checked out a new gym in downtown and it’s so old school and weird, I HAD to join.

...

Aug 2 and Sept 27 are a couple powerlifting meets I’d like to do.  These people put on a few a year, I volunteer to judge at most of them.  They’re unsanctioned, no weight classes, and the format is six minutes to max (do each lift as a flight, multiple platforms going at a time).  So they’re pretty relaxed and would just be fun for me (I won’t have to be 105#!).  July-Sept will be crazy; Colin and I will be working three shows for Dymatize (CF Games in July, IDEA Fitness Convention in Aug, and Olympia in Sept), bachelor/bachelorette weekend in Vegas, wedding, Hawaiian honeymoon.  I’d still like to take you on for programming in that time… probably pick up with you the week of July 7.  Closer to, we’ll be in communiqué with what I’ve been up to and the best plan for the crazy time.

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Thanks again for EVERYTHING, Lindsey!

Whew!  Okay, I think that’s it!

Meg

To: teeny-wahine

Subject: Re: Meet deets

From: urbankstrengthteam

Date: Sat, 21 Jun 2014 15:21:48 -0400

We'll find a more cooperative rehydration beverage to work with your stomach next time. Sometimes all of the carbs can cause a little bit of a gi upset as well

You had a great performance at your meet, but i see a few areas where your form was less than optimal and it robbed you of some steam and a few lbs.

On your squat, your hips rose up too quickly, causing your butt to shoot back and causing you to lean over forward. This is indicative of weak or underactivated glutes and hamstrings. Your knees were also coming in a bit during the squat, when you watch the 203# squat, notice how easy the lift was to finish once you pushed your knees out. If you maintain that kind of glute activation and push out on your knees the entire time during the lift you will see a much better result and save energy by being at a mechanical advantage.

On the bench press, you had a bit of a skull crusher going on. This hit your triceps and delts very hard, and it removed a lot of the upper back, lats and chest from the lift. I'd also like you to keep working on your arch and getting up higher on your shoulders.

The first two attempts of deadlift looked very good. A little bit of a strain at lock out that may be fixed by starting the glute activation earlier and improving their strength. On the 3rd attempt it looked like you rushed your set up; your hips started very low but before the bar started to move at all your hips had risen a lot. This could be from exhaustion, weak or poor hamstring activation, or rushing the lift.

It was a great performance, and the weaknesses here will be easy to fix. I would be very optimistic for your next serious meet and encourage you to work on those form issues, put some weight back on and continue building your strength. Add some more carbs back into your diet slowly, if you do it conservatively (i.e. increase your daily intake by 5-10 grams per week for the next 6-8 weeks) it will help improve your metabolism and gain more muscle.

To: teeny-wahine

Subject: Re: Meet deets

From: urbankstrengthteam

Date: Sat, 21 Jun 2014 16:59:16 -0400

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I think the meets in August and September will be great if you treat them like heavy training days. Eat up real big, go in rested, test your maxes, and practice good form in a competition setting. The more often you practice perfect form under maximal weight, the better you will become at it and the less your form will degrade.

It looks like you've got an insanely busy and fun schedule coming up! I'll help you maintain your strength and navigate your training through it with as little stress as possible. I'm stoked for you!

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Here are some pictures of your form in key places during your lifts