Breaking Plateaus !

Alright, everyone eventually gets STUCK, and needs a little extra PUSH to break a plateau--be it weight loss, strength, muscle gain, etc. It takes different influences and different motivations to power people through their plateau, but a little competition never hurt, right? When I saw my mom shoulder press 30 lb dbells with ease, I thought....hm...I've been pushing these 25s for a few weeks, lemme try. 


Guess what? I can push 30s for 5 reps! I was so excited to plan my next shoulder workout to incorporate the heavier weights.


Another exercise I'm really trying to up weights on is... DEADLIFTS. I'm a big fan of volume training when it comes to deadlifting and squatting, doing the exercises with just the bar, and adding a 10lb plate to each side until i hit my max, and usually drop setting until I'm back with just the bar. (And I wonder why my legs are RAW for days after..)


Needless to say , I decided to jump into this week HEAVY. 
SUNDAY was my shoulder workout. (with chest also)
--for my first circuit, I incorporated standing dumbbell presses with 30s. I did 3 sets of 5 reps. Later in my workout, I did standing military presses with the 45 pound bar, and upped my lat raise weights to 12.5lb dbells, and did bent arm lat raises with 15lb dbells.
--more plateau pushing: when i did my favorite cable reverse flies, I did 20 reps for 4 sets, rather than upping the cable stack. I was really feeling the BURN! 

TODAY , I broke through a major deadlift plateau. I started with the 45lb bar, moved up 20lb increments at a time until I was deadlifting 125lbs. I deadlifted 125lbs 6 times, for 2 sets. Then, I unloaded the bar, and put on the 25lb plates instead. I put 2 of those on each side. So, with the bar loaded up for a total of 145 lbs, I was ready to make it happen. I did 1 rep, but didnt like the overhand grip, as it felt a bit weak after doing LOTS of sets. I used an over/under grip, did 2 reps, then switched the over/under, and did 3 reps. My hams and glutes were TORCHED! But hey...thats a total of 5 reps with 145 lbs, a new strength buster!! I was SO HYPE!!! I unloaded the bar, and did 15 reps of SLDLs with the bar, and 15 (already had done 4 sets of 10) extra GOOD MORNINGS.

WOOOO!!!!! I could barely walk, but I felt like superwoman! Don't eff with me and my deadlifts. Finally deadlifting almost 20lbs more than my bodyweight! By the end of the summer, I'm shooting for sets of 165. It might not seem huge, but seeing that I'm doing 2reps at 145, doing SETS with 165 is a pretty good ...AND realistic goal. 


Oh god, I could write for hours now about how I'm changing my workout schedule and "leg day"...but that will come soon! I'll just let you know that Tuesdays are now reserved for hams and glutes, and my quads aren't sacrificed to the squat rack on Tuesdays anymore.


BRING ON THE BARBELLS.


Kill it, lift more weight next workout.


SUMMER IS HERE !!!