Current total: 830.5 at 132 lb BW - Florida State and National Record Holder in Junior and Open Women's Raw division
Qualified National Strongman competitor and will be competing in Nationals this coming October to qualify for The Arnold in 2016
I am here to live, learn, and pass on.
Friday I was off work and took the opportunity to visit my home gym, Idolmaker. I've mentioned this before but will never get tired of saying it, this is where I started and gained most of my knowledge about the sport. What attracted me to come to Idolmaker was not only my brother's recommendation to go there but heard that only the discipline and strong minded survive there. You were pushed, you were screamed at and you took it because you wanted better for yourself. It has opened so many avenues for me and I'm not sure where or what I would be doing today if it wasn't for that experience.
It has been a while since I've seen trainer/owner Randy Scoates, so we had a lot of catching up to do, most of which we laughed about. He reminded me about the first day I came into the gym not knowing exactly what I wanted. I was so self-conscious about my image -- dieting like a bodybuilder, and well, not really enjoying the simple things in life. When I started to gain muscle, psychologically I didn't know how to deal with it and it was around the time when "if you had muscle, you looked like a man" was a big thing. My upper body develops pretty fast and I noticed how people looked at me differently. There were even moments I cried to him saying "my traps were too big" (pretty embarrassing to admit) -- I think looking back to this point it was probably about perspective. When you're self conscious about something, you will reflect on things in a negative way. But when you are sure and confident, you view things in a different way; more like either they like what they see and respect the hard work or there's not really much to it. I've learned that over the years.
But then I actually went on and competed and met some pretty amazing people who wanted to help and watch me succeed. I realized then and there that I wanted to break the mold. Swim against the current. I started to appreciate all the lessons learned, I started to embrace how my body changed, and I can honestly say that I found something I am deeply passionate about and enjoy so much. When you find something you are passionate about and it has become so much bigger than yourself, I would advise you to never let that thing go.
We laughed about it and I basically described my continued experiences as "surreal."
Idolmaker is like a mini-westside gym. When you go there you want to play with all the toys. I took advantage and did some different supplemental/accessory movements for back. Then I threw in a few movements for biceps and triceps.
Back:
Lat pulldowns with the parallel grip pull down bar. I started with my grip outward for 6, then conventional grip for 6 behind the neck 5 x 6/6
Good-mornings with the harness on the pitshark (with band tension) - 5 x 10 (see video)
Good-morning SSB variation with bands pulling forward - it's important for you to keep your back and lats tight throughout the whole movement as if you were going to squat - 5 x 8 (see video)
Triceps:
Tricep pushdowns (weight drop) - 60lbs/40lbs/20lbs 10 reps each x 4
DB Tricep extensions - 3 x 15
Biceps:
DB curls for the girls - 4 x 15
KB bicep curls (with pause): this movement you don't necessarily curl in front of you. Just imagine the KB going up along your side and your elbows are slightly back, then hold at the top for a 2-3 second count - 3 x 10
[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3JeQTmnRx0A&feature=youtu.be]