training update

 a few years ago I got a bunch of yellow notepads from Maw Maw and I've been using those to record my workouts and training and every page is about a month's worth so I've started writing goals on the top of that page that I want to finish by the time I run out of lines. This month/page was really good and I'm feeling really optimistic about where my fitness is at. Here are the goals and how I felt about it

Finger Strength Goal- hang +75 lbs on a 20mm edge for 10s

Today was the last day of the page and I hung for 7 seconds which is a new best. I can tell that I'm very close to getting it and it's just about feeling good on the right day. I had a lot of good hangboard workouts and played around with repeaters and pulling with the tension block so that's been great. My big goal for the year has been to hang +50% bodyweight for 10 seconds which is about 75lbs and once I do that I can start climbing! I did a little bit of climbing on the moon board today as a treat! Technique and learning all the holds will have to improve but I felt really strong and good!

Squat Goal- 185lbs barbell back squat for 1

I crushed this goal! On February 12th I hit 185 for 1 and then exactly a week later I hit 195! I'm really happy with that. Also during that week I started taking creatine and I felt a pretty drastic effect. It was kind of like when I first started drinking coffee for the first time. It was probably a mix of placebo effect and you're supposed to drink a lot of water with it and I felt really hydrated for the first time in a long time so I bet that was the biggest difference maker. The day I hit 195 I was building up to hit and every weight felt about 20lbs lighter than it normally did so that was really exciting.

Bench- 190lbs for 1

Similar to squats! I had a great week last week where after a bunch of consistent workouts I felt great and everything was moving better than it ever had. 190 moved pretty smoothly so that was awesome. I think 195 will come soon and then it's just 5 more pounds to hit my big goal.

Pull-Ups. 

Pull-Ups are weird. Compared to every other lift I've progressed way farther in pull-ups. A lot of these I've only really started progressing in the last year or two but I've been doing pull-ups on and off basically since high school. All that to say the progress has not been as linear but I will say this! They feel better than they ever have. Like I'm activating more muscles and more in control of the movement than I've ever been. So, there's that. 

So for the next page we're just gonna add 5 pounds to every goal I met and it's looking like the weather might improve so I'll be outside a little more! I was able to sneak out and do some running between the snow a few times and those felt good. I do missing running but the strength and stability I feel now in my hips knees and ankles tell me this was time well spent. I'd like to get outside more and do some regular plyometrics--skips and jumps and all that and aim for about 2 workouts a week. 

Shoutout creatine. Shoutout breaking through plateaus. 

Do you breakthrough a plateau? Surpassing it? Moving on from plateaus? 

Blormp blermp. if you read this far you're a real one and I love you