Busy weekend (part 2: testing my strength goals)

Here’s part 2 of my busy weekend (part 1: the IFBB Grand Prix is here).

On the way back from the Grand Prix I picked up my figure coach/mentor and remote PT Kat who lives and works in London. We got home and pretty much headed straight to the gym – she was only staying for a day and we wanted to train twice.

Remember a couple of weeks ago I posted a few strength goals I wanted to try and meet (or exceed) before I start to cut for my show? We thought it was a good time to test those.

Here’s a recap of the goals:

Deadlift – 80kg for 8 reps
Squats – 85kgs for 10 reps
Pull-ups – 10 wide grip from dead hang
One-arm row – 25kg dumbbell for 8 reps
Dumbbell chest press – 25kg dumbbells for 8 reps
Single leg press – 115kgs for 12 reps both sides
Clean and press – 35kg for 8 reps

Here’s how I got on:
Deadlifts – busted my goal and did 3 sets of 85kgs

Squats – did the 85kgs and then Kat persuaded me to do a set at 90kg

Wide grip pull-ups – I didn’t manage anything like my goal – I can do sets of 10 but would be kidding myself if I said they were full pull-ups. I’ll get there!

One-arm row – I had to use the 26kg, as there are no 25kg dumbbells. Just about did one set of 10!

Dumbbell chest press – Nope – the 26s were just too much and there are no 25s, but I did do a set with the 24s which is more than I’ve ever done before. Great to have a spotter!

Single leg press – big fail on this one! I’d done legs a couple of days earlier (and the squats and deadlifts today) and just couldn’t push the plate

Clean and press – ha ha, no (Kat did say she thought my goal for this was a bit nuts!) I did do a set of military presses with 35kg.

After this, we went home, had a healthy dinner, a healthy pudding (I always have pudding) and watching posing routines on youtube all evening. [/geeks]

Next morning we were up and in the gym to do a big chest session. I never train with a partner or have a spotter so it was fantastic for me to be able to push myself with heavier weights knowing someone was there to catch them when I just couldn’t do any more (and it did happen!)

We both had a sample of pre-workout booster stuff I picked up at the expo the day before. It was powerful stuff, quite scary really, we were both jabbering like maniacs and ended up being in the gym for about 90 minutes without feeling fatigued. I crashed badly later on! Not sure I’ll be buying that particular pre-workout supplement!

I managed 22kg dumbbells for chest press, 20kgs for incline press and 18s for decline. Then we did a load of cable work and press ups (to failure, as demonstrated by me here!)

Kat’s form was better 😉

Phew. You’ll be glad to know that will be the end of photos of me in the gym for a while, since I’m normally there by myself!

I’m pleased I’ve already met some of my strength goals (and exceeded some), and now I’m going to work on meeting those last few – and improving my form on the others!

What are your fitness goals at the moment?

Busy weekend (part 2: testing my strength goals) is a post from The Fit Writer blog.