u/allianceathleticsoly

It’s an interesting feeling when you reach a new strength plateau. It’s simultaneously very exciting and also scary. I can’t hide behind the idea of where my limits were before. It’s a new space that I get to work in and new things are always scary at first.

This is the culmination of eight weeks of hard work on top of 12 years of starts and stops. I’m really excited to hit a huge PR right before I turned 41. I’ve never thought that once I turned 40 the days of continuing to put weight on the bar we’re over. Putting a 30 pound PR on the bar proves that that’s true.

I’m excited to finish out the week with a regular training schedule and then decide where the silly goose lifting club is going next. I’ll be doing a deep dive on this block soon.

Thanks for watching!

I know I am, my lungs feel like I’m smoking again.

462.5 (I put a 5lbs on one side and a 2.5 on the other 😮‍💨)x2x3

It’s weird knowing I’m going to be injured. Essentially, my ulna bones are too long and they are going to need to come in and chop them down to size. That will fix the problem but because it’s essentially a broken bone, it’s gonna take some time to heal from.

This is the tool I’m going to rely on. The transformer bar is going to be mostly what I use, along with dumbbells for unilateral upper body work.

I plan on having a huge squat and an even bigger hinge with using the different settings on this bar. I don’t want to give up the progress I’ve been making but I don’t want to lift in so much pain anymore.

High bar back squats 415x2x5

It’s really funny because I’m not gay, I’m nonbinary. I don’t currently nor ever felt “like a man”. I’m just a ghost piloting a confusing mech suit, trying to be a good partner, raise a family and run a gym.

But I’ve finally given in, my t-Rex limb structure wins. I’ll be pulling sumo because this felt so much easier even though my grip gave out at the end (I got a blood blister from fixing some gym equipment).

495x1x2

Big squat today, 495x2. I’m heading in to the last week of my Silly Goose Lifting Club program ready to hit a big single.

We’re also gaining traction as a gym community, coming out of the summer slump. I try to make it easy to join and easy to quit, never charging fees, sliding scale, inexpensive training options… it’s tough being a business trapped in the capitalist hellscape but we’ve tried our best to be a good community member.

I’ll be honest, today made me nervous. It’s one thing to pull 5 plates, it’s another thing to have them on your back. I know that as a get stronger, the old self that finds these weights intimidating will only change in the sense that the weights themselves will change.

I hope I never lose the feeling of not being totally certain if I’m going to be able to lift something.

Go out there and do something scary this week. I did and it’s changed me a bit in the best of ways. Not a huge change, but a shift nonetheless.

The smoke has cleared (kinda? It’s still moderate outside and terrible in my lungs) but we’re back at it in the garage.

New squat PR-

455x2x4 for a pause squat

Gonna be a fun time in two weeks for testing.

I’m not saying that week 6/8 is going really well in the current squat block but I’m not NOT saying it either.

I love lifting in my garage, it brings me no end of joy to be able to be myself completely. No pressure or expectation of decorum. However, the trade off happens in the atmosphere of a community.

No one was watching what I was doing here, no one was talking about it or clapping. The very fact that there were other members there spurned me on to a much better lift than I most likely would’ve had at home.

I’ll notice this with videoing myself- the lift feels lighter, more manageable.

Maybe we’re all just a short glance away from doing our best.

475x1x3 top set of competition squat

I know it’s very subjective, but this set of pause squats puts me in 19th place in the TrainHeroic app for 4 rep max. And I did it twice.

440x2x4 for pause squats

I really think that at the end of the day, pushing the limits of what you can do in any endeavor is going to yield a sense of satisfaction. I don’t wanna overstate how difficult these high bar squats were, but I also don’t want to discount the fact that I felt so much better after I had completed them.

I think that’s what I like most about lifting weight and focusing, especially on lifting heavier weights. There’s so much more satisfaction in knowing that I can measurably see progress with how much is on the bar currently versus how much has been on the bar in the past. I totally respect, bodybuilding and that style of training. I just find it hard to quantify the progress that I’m making because it can be very subjective.

I didn’t have to make a small change in my shoes putting on the lifters because I really wanted to focus on quad development and quad strength. I have been doing a lot of posterior chain work, which has been paying off, but I am a quad dominant athlete because of my build. Especially during this squat progression block, It’s important to remember to build up all parts of my squat.

405x1x6

An absolute gem of a night. Despite how tired I felt, knowing that I already had a day filled, it was just time for all the pieces, all the little minutia of a program well met to come together.

Despite the fierce heat lingering in the evening sun, despite the time spent basking sidelines of the pitch at my daughter’s soccer game, despite the nagging doubts plaguing a mid-block stretch, I decided that enough was enough.

And today, that was enough.

I run a queer-centered business and sometimes, the comments and messages I receive drag me directly downwards. This time, this moment, I choose to focus those words, scribbled by angry child-like men who prey and move on, never really knowing the impact they have, and turn that power in to something positive.

This was a stiff bar PR for me, and despite the second rep costing greatly, I’ll mark it up.

495x1x2

I wonder if it’s like how pain fades from memory, but I can’t remember how my body feels when I’m done lifting. I can watch a video of myself, but I can’t put myself back into the moment. It’s not like a smell that brings your mind and body right back to a certain moment. It’s not like the feel of a blanket might transport you back to childhood. It’s like something is blocked.

Maybe that’s a good thing. Maybe we shouldn’t feel the pain that is inherent in lifting heavy weights. It’s most likely good to not remember the pain at all; going through life constantly reminded of past hurts like the smell of baking cookies rockets you back to a kitchen you’ll never see again would drive you crazy.

I’m already so disassociated from how my body feels day to day that watching back video gives me only a third party perspective of what I experienced. I think that’s why I enjoy coaching myself so much- it’s essentially just coaching a stranger.

Do you remember how your body felt during a lift?

Top set of 415x1x4

I think the thing I like best about lifting weights is the clearing of the head. The tension between having to have absolute control and concentration and having to let go of the body to let it do what it needs to do.

It’s a tension that never goes away, no matter how heavy you lift. Whatever weight this applies to you is the weight where the tension occurs. 50 pounds, 500 pounds, 5000 pounds… it’s all the same for each person as they lift. It’s only the capacity that changes, the feeling of that tension never changes.

Or maybe it’s not that deep.

405x2x5 for a paused squat.

… socialized medicine. I’m getting VA care and it’s been really nice. I even get referred out if there’s no specialist available in a timely manner.

The downside of training in a garage. Gotta lift the heavy circles though.

485x1x2 for a top set

By popular demand, the silly goose lifting club shirt is back in rotation. 480 for a tough double. Questionable depth on the first rep, buried in the second half.

I love posting here because it’s just the raw stuff for me. I’ll have PRs in the future, but I’m just looking at trying to put together some stronger movements in the interim.

480x1x2

One of the greatest joys is having my kiddos want to be in the garage with me and workout right along side me. They love the feeling they get from lifting weights, learning all the moves and knowing that they are strong.

They always cheer me on like that after every set and I do the same for them. This day was really grinding because of this damn URI but they made it worth it.

385x2x5 on pause squats

Day two of my program this week is deadlift focused. It’s an interesting dynamic when you’re in a different focus for the block (squat in this case) and your other movements keep creeping up at the same time.

Last week was at 485 but after a bit of travel, a viral illness and a great squat session yesterday, 455 was the RPE choice for today (for sure an 8, I had two more max)

Keep it moving forward, keep it silly and have a good time.

Wah ah ah ah ah. But seriously, caught a fun little bit of chest congestion this weekend and delayed my training by a few days. I’m glad I could bounce bean and hit this top set of 485x1x2.

Hopefully next week we’ll hit the double for a bit more without fighting a virus.