Weights training progress: Broomstick to dead lifting 142% of my body weight!
On Thursday of Week 11 I did my first 1 RM test and surprised myself! It was a great indicator to me of my progress – given it is not that long ago I started with a broomstick!
The Week 11 1 RM session was not a planned session, another “PT Surprise,” and my iPhone went flat before we could video the lifts. So, Monday of Week 12 I lined up to do it again!
Not sure if it is the scientist in my but I never trust an experiment with an n of 1, i.e. an event or occurrence that has happened only once. Repetition gives validation – and in this situation an opportunity to also have my iPhone charged!
And I did. Yep, I did it again. Because I can!
100kg dead lift, which is 142% of my body weight (BW), 70kg squat (70% BW) and 50kg bench press (71% BW).
Rock solid. Validated. Videoed. Not a one off.
I almost managed a new PB for the dead lift. I lift 102.5kg but my form was poor. I did get it up but I didn’t quite straighten out fully at the top of the lift so I do not count that… but, I know that its just around the corner.
A stat that puts my transformation into perspective: at the start of Round 2, 2010 I weighed 110kg… so last week I dead lifted almost as much as I weighed when I started 12WBT. Funk-a-nooolo!
I am really stoked about the relatively short period of time it has taken to progress with my weights training. Day 1 I started out struggling with just the movement of a dead lift, squat and bench press due to my had extremely poor range of movement seemingly in all parts of my body, especially hips and shoulders. Slowly I graduated from using a broomstick to building up to going through reps of 8-10 at around 30 – 40kg for your deadlifts and squats. From there I built up my confidence on heavier lifts with 1 to 5 reps of 60kg dead lifts. Next I moved to smashed out a high volume of reps at that 60kg weight – the 50 x 60kg dead lifts in Spartan for example. I learnt how to string all the reps together and get some rhythm and bounce happening. The final step – the surprise 1 RM test – of absolutely pushing my boundaries to do my MAX lifts was so much a mental thing as well as a physical thing. Probably more so mental.
Looking forward to attempting this in another 5 or 6 weeks.
Oh yeah, and here is the video. My PT Mason turned amateur videographer captured the 100kg dead lift and 70kg squat. It was a bit tricky for him to spot me and video the 50kg bench press… next time we’ll have to get a third person!
Xx Ange
Pingback: Week 12, Rd 2 Wrap – MANTRA: Outshine, Outlast, Outrun, Outloud | From F**ked to Fab