I got a certificate from the United States Powerlifting Association to certify that I hold the state record in bench press. Okay, this I knew.

I was pleasantly surprised to discover on the certificate that I am ALSO the state deadlift champion!! Isnt that awesome?! Turns out I lifted 341.7 pounds, thereby breaking the state record for my age/sex/weight. WOOP!!! Omigod pat myself on the back!

I’m happy….

I got my diploma in the mail!!!

my masters program is DONE and (allegedly) now i am a master of science (in exercise science)!!!

WOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

10 sets of :

5 rows w/20′s

5 reverse lunges each leg (bodyweight)

10 pushups

15 crunches

then 1/2 mile run in 4 min, 46 sec

then walk/jog up 9 flights of stairs five times

this was filmed the last (fifth) time up the stairs

sorry for the shitty sound!

xoxo

Of course I signed up for a week long gym membership, because despite the beauty outdoors, for me there is nothing like the gym. Cold hard iron, baby.

Besides my morning workout, just been chillin. Enjoying the loco moco and coconuts. Tryna work on my (non existent) tan.

Happy Holidays

Much love
Kristina

Friday afternoon Emily and I drove up to Modesto for weigh ins and to get our equipment approved. Even competing in the raw division, they have to check your singlet, shoes, shirt, etc.

That done, we carb loaded on some hamburgers n chili cheese fries and I ate tons of swedish fish, rice krispie treats, and other unmentionables.

We met up with our trainer Dan, his fiancee, Mike (competing too), and his wife. Em and I snacked on more bread, calamarie, bread pudding, and ice cream.

In the morning, we ate oatmeal, fruit, eggs, sausage, and coffee.

Here is Dan, eating cereal in the morning.

Apparently, Dan is really famous and everyone knows him but he acts super humble, I didn’t even know he was a world record breaker until a few weeks ago when someone else told me lol.

Anyhoo, Em and I went to Modesto Power in our singlets and put on our game faces. I was kind of nervous and had had nightmares the night before But I had prepared as well as i could, and it was just time to bring it.

When I hit my first squat, it was so frikkin easy. Second squat, still flippin easy. Third squat was a personal best at 248 pounds and it was still ridiculously easy. But, it was my first lift and didn’t know how I was gonna do, so we gave conservative numbers.

So I wasn’t as nervous for the second lift. First bench was super easy and I smashed the state record on my first attempt. Second lift was also easy and third lift was my personal best at 214 pounds and it was still doable. So stoked to be the state record holder in my division!

Last was deadlift. First lift was pretty easy. Second lift was harder, with a personal best of 325 pounds. Third lift was overambitious at 350 pounds, and I couldn’t lift it.

Somehow, there was a conspiracy whereby Emily was not able to capture ANY of my personal best lifts. So, the vids are of either my first or second attempts.

I ended up getting 1st in my division and setting the new state record for bench press, so I would say it was a pretty successful first meet!

I do have to say, though, that I feel fat as fuck! The weightlifting belt cinched painfully around my gummi bear stomach, and I am ashamed to say that I got out of breath going up the hotel stairs. I feel that powerlifting comes quite naturally to me, but I prefer a more dynamic, unstructured workout. I think i will aim for the Feb 9th meet and break the squat and deadlift records, and then maybe I’ll “retire” and move into physique

here is em in the back room for warm ups

here is me

love

kristina

…okay andddd I’m back! It stayed on much better than the other headbands I have, but it still needed to be adjusted now and then throughout my workout. It was a bit damp but not too soggy It’s made of a cotton-polyester blended micro-fiber that is designed to wick moisture, and I could definitely tell it was more wicking than a typical cotton bandana. I give it a thumbs up! Check out hoorag.com if you are interested in more information, or want to peruse their selection!

So today I planned to do “cardio” which means I will be messing around. I walked for 8 minutes on the treadmill before I was bored out of my mind, so I tried to lift as easily as possible, as to not jeopardize my powerlifting training. Since I’m benching tomorrow, and not squatting til Friday, I figured legs were the safest bet.

I did Leg press, upping the weights til I did 500 pounds!!!!! I did like 8 reps. That’s crazy! Yay, me. (So much for going easy, lol)

Then I did some lunges, leg extensions, and loaded the hack squat with 140 pounds for some reverse hack squats. I think that’s all I did. A dear girlfriend magically showed up at the gym, so we did some elliptical and caught up until I had to pull myself sadly away to go to work. I didn’t have time to shower for my clients but priorities, right?! bwahah…

XOXO

~K

1. The lift-off- The sumo has a trunk angle that is significantly closer to vertical that conventional lifters. Sumo lifters were also found to have much larger hip and knee angles at the start of the lift. This style shifts the bulk of the load on the hips and knees. While the conventional lifter with a more stooped-over trunk position at liftoff utilizes more low back muscles to get the weight moving off the floor.

2. The distance the bar must travel- As reported in other studies, this study also found that the average total distance the bar must travel to complete the lift was reduced by 19%. As we all know work is defined by taking the amount of force or weight and multiplying it by the distance the bar must travel. So by reducing the distance by 19%, the sumo lifter has automatically reduced the amount of work necessary to lift a given amount of weight.

3. Bar path- Grabiner and Garhammer (1989) noted that the most of the most important factors to be considered in lifting weights is to keep the weight as close to the body as possible. This reduces the lever arm distance, thus significantly reducing the resistive torque. Cholewicki et al. (1991) found that using the sumo stance not only kept the bar closer to the body than the conventional stance but it also reduced the lever arm distance by shortening the movement of the lumbar. McGuinan and Wilson (1996) similarily found that the sumo lift kept the bar path significantly closer to the body that of the conventional stance.

4. Lift time- Power is defined as total work divided by time. So the actual amount of power it takes to lift the weight is highly dependent on the amount of time it takes to lift the weight. However, McGuinan and Wilson (1996) determined that both the sumo and conventional stance required an average of 2.0 seconds to complete. Thus, there is no difference in the amount of power produced by either lift.

5. Sticking points- It was found half of the sumo lifters had a sticking point somewhere in the second half of the lift where only 15% of the conventional style lifters got stuck here. However, there seemed to be no exact point in common between the lifters. McLaughlin et al. (1977) claims that these sticking points are actually caused at the point where the most effective muscles in the deadlift are in a disadvantaged position. Because we are all built slightly different, this point could vary from lifter to lifter. This exact position can be determined with a Peak motion analysis. Horn (1988) determined that a kinetic analysis using an EMG study of the ankle, hip, and low back in conjunction with strength testing could also accurately determine which muscle group would limit performance during the deadlift. Then proper assistance work could be used to lessen these sticking points.

So, it appears from points 1-3 that sumo deadlifting has biomechanical advantages over conventional deadlifts.

My coach, Dan Green, deadlifts easily 800 pounds, sumo style. 800+ pounds. No big deal.

So why am I deadlifting conventional style? For now, my legs are weak compared to my back. The fact that conventional deadlifting uses the back more than sumo is actually to my benefit. At the beginning of my training however many weeks ago that was, I tried a few sumos and they felt very awkward. Ultimately, I will probably have to change to sumo style but with less than 2 weeks til my meet, there is no way I am switching now

Giggles n green beans

your sweaty betty

kristina

read this great article the other day, and wanted to pass it along:
http://strengthcoachblog.com/2012/01/09/there-is-a-reason-there-is-a-box/

Mike Boyle, prominent strength coach, writes how it is more important to be MASTER of the box before attempting to “think outside of the box.” Athletic excellence is not necessarily about any fancy tricks. Its mastery of the simple things. Rotation, single leg balance, deceleration, level change, properly pulling, pushing, etc etc…No fancy gadgets or elaborate set-rep schemes. Just knowing the basics. Deeply. Only from there can you move to *outside* the box. Hope that makes sense. If not, read his piece

At Evolution, we got an expensive new toy! A high end, manual treadmill called The Woodway Curve. All the trainers are STOKED about this bad boy. The Woodway website describes that “only Woodway’s rubberized slat running surface absorbs shock at the point of impact, this running surface with a type A shore hardness of 38-43 was found by the Deutsche Sporthochschule in Cologne, Germany to be the ideal “softness” to eliminate the harmful shock to joints and connective tissues, while not changing proper biomechanics.” A further benefit is that it helps the nervous system ingrain a new running pattern while running on the curve! The curve forces the person to drive the foot forward and plant and propel it around in an elliptical pattern, which is different that what most people do- their feet circling behind them like The Road Runner! (meep meep!)

Check this out, for example:

Lastly, just a quick update on my powerlifting. Yes, I’m competing in less than 2 weeks. Yes, I’m excited. Yes, I recently twisted my left ankle while breakdancing, and yes a girl landed her head on my toe while we were grappling yesterday and I wonder if my left pinky toe is broken.

Smiles, squats, and sparkles
~Your Krys

First of all, I want to share some random updates….
Last week I twisted my ankle showing off during dancing (karma bites me) so that, as well as other minor health issues, have impeded my powerlifting training. I will still compete, but I am feeling weak and stiff, so I know my performance will not be as strong as I want it to be. Therefore, I will have to consider this first meet as getting my feet wet, and then will have to do more meets until I feel I have smashed enough to my satisfaction

Also, I finally joined Instagram, so please follow me @freestylefitnesss

In the spirit of Thanksgiving and gratitude, I want to share some things I am grateful for….fun sparkly nails…my optimism and persistence….the fact I have about two more weeks until I get my masters in science!!!!….the fact that my first powerlifting meet is in three weeks is super exciting!!!….learning more about powerlifting has been so fun….i look forward to going to hawaii in four weeks!!!!…I’m grateful for my awesome friends….Im grateful for my awesome work family….Im grateful for hot guys…I’m grateful for cool family…I’m grateful for our house cat with her huge raccoon tail…I’m grateful for silly jokes that I laugh easily at cuz I am a crazy easily amused chica…and ummm I am thankful for all of YOU! Thank you for reading my blog

Okay, so now on to the strategies to battle the bulge. Thanksgiving and the subsequent holidays are rough for people who are watching their weight, but these are great opportunities to practice certain strategies and skills. Here are four tips that come to mind.
1) Work out before your feast. Example, here I am, Thanksgiving Day. Am I skipping the gym? Heck no!! This is an important day to get it in!!!
2) Try to limit calories before and/or after Thanksgiving. For instance, if today you overindulge, try tomorrow to really focus on tons of water, and eating lean protein and veggies! And that’s it. You can consider it carb cycling- one high carb day followed by a low carb day ;P
3) Focus on time with your loved ones. Thanksgiving is not about how much food you can stuff down your esophagus. It’s about spending time with people you care about.
4) Fill up on veggies and proteins. Try to fill up first on the turkey, brussel sprouts, green beans, and all those types of yummies.

I gotta hit the gym! With love and bootie smacks,
Kristina

P.S. I am writing this Thanksgiving AM but realize the RSS feed won’t appear in your inbox until tomorrow morning, so sorry about that! These strategies can be used for any occasion