SHEman?!! By the POWER of grayskull!

Thanks for the inspiration KK!  ;-)

What is your obsession?
your passion?
Where's your loyalty?
your commitment?

What's the freaking difference??

When is enough... enough?

I have had so many people tell me I'm crazy.  I've had people tell me I'm over the top.  I've had people tell me I'm extreme.  and... obsessed!  People laugh and make jokes about me flexin... (oh trust me.... when I CAN, and I WILL be able to.. impressively ... you can bet your BUTT that I will be!)
Anyway.... It's cool.
Maybe you DO think it's too much... maybe you DO think I'm gonna end up like the chick in that pic!!??
Maybe?
maybe you actually believe that!??

But you don't know.

You don't know that what I do is not an obsession... it IS however a PASSION.  It IS something you have to be committed to and LOYAL to!  It is something that requires giving up certain things.
And it is a game of being educated about what you do!!!

No one wakes up one morning and just walks into a gym and picks up 500 pound barbells off the ground. No one wakes up one morning and looks like the chick in that picture (or WANTS to!  :-p  ha ha)

what you DO wake up to is the DESIRE to be better.
The desire to win.
The desire to fight and not give up.
The desire to be stronger
The desire to be better today than you were yesterday.j
You wake up.... PASSIONATE!!!  (ok - maybe you don't actually WAKE UP that way...  well... I don't anyway - cause I don't wake up ANYTHING.... I barely wake up at all!)  ha ha
    but once I'm up for a bit.... LOOK OUT!
I'm all about some passion!  :))

When I started lifting, I had no idea what a "deadlift" even was....
And the only squatting I had ever done did not involve much weight - and if it did involve any weight, it sure wasn't sitting on my back trying to knock me over.  I threw my hands out in front of me to balance....
And you want me to hold WHAT... WHERE???
How am I supposed to hold a barbell on my back AND balance myself with my hands out in front??
And benching....... what a joke?  I had never been under a bench press EVER!!  I thought guys stood around in the gym comparing... ummmmm .... the size of their.... TRUCKS!!  or BENCH?!!  :)
So why would I.... a GIRL wanna bench press???

Oh how things change in a year....
And it's funny how passion grows where passion didn't exist before?
It's amazing the things that your body is capable of... and we sit around having NO IDEA!!!!

We were sitting at home (before gym time) last night watching Extreme Weight Loss.  I don't know how many of you have ever seen that or even care...... but it seriously blows my mind.
It blows my mind that we are literally capable of soooooo much more than we do!!
I watched a set of twins last night drop hundreds of pounds between the two of them.
I watched dedication and commitment and a DESIRE to better themselves!!
yes....... I used the word "better"
Maybe that is politically UNcorrect....
but facts are facts.  Let's face it.

At over 300 pounds... imagine what you are doing to your body every day.  You work every muscle so much harder.  Your organs have to work harder.  And your body will wear out.  Sooner than later.
So it's not so much about the vanity of it all.... but the passion to be a better YOU!!!
Why is that so hard for people to understand?

After watching this show, we headed off to the gym... fired up for bench night.
For those of you who have read anything I have written about working out - bench has been my nemesis.  I had tried and tried to break the 100 barrier forever it felt like.  Weeks ago I went to Berea to train with the infamous Brandon Lilly.  And I DID break that barrier.
But it was weeks ago..... months ago....
And I was kinda freaking out because I hadn't done it again since then.
Well last night - on rep night.... after set after set of reps - I shot for that 100 again.
AND I GOT IT!!!!!!
And you may be rolling your eyes right now... thinking who cares?  or you may be thinking 100 pounds... big whoop... that's nothing!!!
But you see.... I care and it IS a big deal to me.

It is living proof that I am better today than I was when I started in this sport.
It IS living proof that hard work and dedication DO pay off.
It IS living proof that I can keep getting better.
It is living proof that lifting heavy weights WON'T kill me or "break my back" or "make me old"...

It is PROOF that I TRAIN...... not just work out.

It is PROOF that I can ALWAYS be better!
So can you!!!!!

If you had told me at that meet I competed at less than 6 months ago that I could bench 105, that I could deadlift 230, or that I would ever EVER be able to squat a bar... much less 185 pounds, I most definitely would have thought you crazy!!!

So am I crazy?  Maybe, but that was there before powerlifting!
Am I obsessed?  Maybe... and maybe you should be too!
Am I committed?  YES - is that a crime?
Am I loyal?  YES.  You have to be

Am I EVER going to look like that SHEman in that picture??????
Thankfully no!
I can lift like a beast and still look like a lady!

Now what's YOUR excuse?

Here's my 100 bench....  I will do that and then some June 15th!

And just for fun... this is 95 pounds for 3.... watch that last one - I downshifted one time!  ha ha

Circle, Star, Rectangle.... THE CUBE!!!

Remember my blog just a few short days ago....
pre - Berea
pre - mock meet
pre - pushing myself to the EDGE!

Remember how weak I thought I felt!!

Then insert Sunday night.
April 28, 2013!!
And a big fat slap in the face and reminder of just how STRONG I'm getting!!
I am still NOwhere near the level of a lot of girls - But I'm better than I was and THAT is what counts!!  And considering that I have been lifting for less than a year - I could not BE any happier than where I am right now and the drive and motivation and potential I have to get even stronger!!!

I.  Feel.  GOOD!

And The Cube.... ahhhhhhhhh The Cube.
It is brutal!! 
As if I didn't already believe in the Cube Method to start with... the training and it's mixture of strength and body building exercises - but the part I believe FIRMLY in - is the mock meet in 10 weeks.

WHY?
It's just "practice" - It doesn't count because it's not on a platform right??
Well...
Here's my opinion!! (yes - I realize everyone has one...)
For 10 weeks we have beaten ourselves to death!!  Towards the end of the 3rd cycle, even though I knew I had to be stronger (because on Cube you have no choice BUT to get stronger!), I still felt beaten up and weak. 
I think I had some milestones in training along the way - but it was just small things in the gym.   Yes - it was progress... but spread out over 10 weeks its harder to correlate that into real gains.
(or maybe that is just the case in MY head!)

SO - in my opinion - the mock meet at the 10 week mark is the BEST part of this program!!!
It may not be a certified competition - but it sure as HECK should be treated like one.
WHY?  Because THIS is what we work for?  This is why we train.
We don't train for "ego" in the gym... we train to compete.  We train to get better.
We train to CRUSH FACES on the platform.
So by all means, even if you aren't doing a MEET at your 10 week mark, test yourself and TREAT it like a meet... with the same intensity and drive!!!
How else do you know where you stand?

Here is how mine went.

We had previously done a meet in February... my numbers at that meet were as follows:

Squat - 145 (which was already a good PR for me considering when I began lifting the squat was my biggest nemesis.  It took me some time to get comfortable with just squatting with a bar on my back, much less adding weight to it!)
Bench - 90 (this was a 5 pound PR for me... and more evidence that my bench just wasn't moving along like it should - it is/was my definite weak spot)
Deadlift - 225 (deadlift was my favorite lift at this point - I had worked really hard to get here... but I seem to have plateaued here at the 220/225 range)

So I totaled 460 at this meet.  I was shooting for 450 so I was very happy with what I walked away with.

Going into my mock meet after The Cube I was shooting for a 500 total!
But even MORE than that, I wanted to bench 100 so bad I could taste it!!  I have worked and worked and worked and tried and failed at 100 numerous times - so at this point - it was really just taunting me!!

Here are my numbers:

Squat - first attempt 150 (this is already a 5# PR), 2nd attempt 170 (gravy!), final attempt 185 (NAILED it and it was exactly where I was hoping my final lift would be!)

Bench - first attempt 85 (easy opener and I definitely needed the confidence builder here!), 2nd attempt 100 (I was told it 95)  **Also - add into my bench lifts, I happened to be sitting in front of Brandon Lilly. *smile*  He had me change up my stuff a bit and put some leg drive in... which clearly I had been lacking!**  With the changes in form and being PUSHED my Lilly and my guys.... I freaking CRUSHED 100!!!  I seriously thought I was going to cry  (HEY - I AM still a girl..... I'm sensitive!  LOL)   But I wasn't done yet.  They loaded the bar with 105...  I laid back, took in a big breath and Pete Rubished (aka grinded)  my way through 105 too!!!
THIS my friends is WHY I lift and WHAT I live for!!!
Crossing those barriers... doing things my body thought I couldn't do!!  Making gains and proving to myself that I can do just about anything I set my mind to and work towards!!!
((Again..... I could cry.  I have watched that 105 video so many times it's a wonder youtube hasn't crashed.  It amazes me and brings tears to my eyes EVERY dang time!!))

To you it may just be 105 pounds... but to me - it's EVERYTHING!!!!!

Deadlift - first attempt 210 (THIS gave me the 500 total that I was working for!! The rest is just GRAVY!)  Killed it!!!  2nd attempt 230 (this is a 5# PR and it still went up pretty good)  3rd attempt 245 (this has me REAL close to my goal for the YEAR on deadlift of 250!  That will need to be changed!  I failed at 245 but watching the video, I think I just gave up.... I was soooo dang close so I already KNOW I got that 245 next go around!!!

Overall - I went 8/9 on my mock meet AND I totaled 520 which puts me 20 pounds over what my goal was going into this "practice meet"...  AND 60 pounds over what I did just 2.5 months ago!

INSANE!!

Bring on June 15th - I'm going to crush FACES!!!!

I love The Cube (cause it's insane!)

I love Brandon Lilly (for writing, coaching, and for his ETHIC!)

I love my guys (for all their support and encouragement)

AND MY guy in particular (for getting me started and believing in me!)

I love lifting

I love watching and feeling my body get stronger!

I wouldn't trade my sport or this day of lifting for anything in the world right now!

What are you doing in YOUR spare time?!!

Here's my 105 grinded out bench - and my 245 deadlift that SOOOOOO should have come up!!!!
The rest of my videos are on youtube if you want to see them all.    Tammy Green channel.