STEPPING IN TO MY WHY

Ola!

After Ricky stole my monday spot last week for his blog
I AM BACK  with a vengeance to share some thangzz with you all about my powerlifting WHY. Why? you might think…. well lemme tell you.

A while back I was gifted the opportunity to talk to Maarten Gulickx about  my profession, goals and my life. One of the most important things he shared with me in this conversation was the finding and defining of my
‘WHY’, because at the time my WHY
had been turned in to a complete messy and disastrous  HOW :-(.
Maarten promised me that when I would get back in touch with my WHY, everything I wanted to do, accomplish and go for would sort itself out. It would take time he said, because he is no magician and neither am I , but it would turn out for the better if I just focussed on this essential thing.
And so I did.

Flashing forward; the focussing on my WHY  eventually gave me the space and peace of mind I was looking for.  As expected it took time, effort, moving on from people, places and jobs,  more than several rivers of good ol’  tears but it also blessed me with the love for the sport of powerlifting and the opportunity  to find space in my ‘ life WHY’   to implement  and define my own ‘powerlifting WHY’.

Key ingredients  of powerlifting that influence this last WHY are not only the fact that I strive to better myself everyday but also the fact that in doing so I like to give back to others #representationmatters.  Going the distance, getting my hands dirty and having long term goals also play a big role and of course one  should never forget,  the power of competing for everything you once thought or was told you’d never have or couldn’t do,  can have on a person.

I am really happy that finding my WHY has helped me in my powerlifting journey that  just only passed the two year mark and has already  brought me so much more than I figured it would  around the time my convo with Maarten took place. As we arrived in week 5 of this cycle, my WHY has steered me in all kinds of directions already and April is around the corner with a platform waiting to be directed towards next.   And while coach has been slaughtering me softly on Saturday’s (last saturday he had me do a back-off set of 10 on squats…..)  and I am still figuring out the WHY on these RDL’s that suck the life right out of me every time I look at them,  I will keep at it because in the end  it will be worth it. Because as coach always says; Powerlifting is a metaphor for life. 

Adios!

ILY

 

 

Adding some weights, so I’m getting ready for my final heavy light trainingsession for the Master Classic Powerlifting Nationals…..

This training felt better than the trainingsession from Wednesday. When I compete for the Master Classic Powerlifting Nationals, I’ll  have one heavy light trainingsession left…. Therefore I did the same as Wednesday only with ‘heavier’ weights and less reps…. Just to set myself up for that training …. tomorrow or the day after tomorrow..  Trainingsession took me 45 minutes.

Wobbly squats 2×2 150kg + each side 15kg dumbell
Chain deadlift 2×2 150kg + each side chain + stop after liftoff
Wobbly bench press 2×2 90kg + each side 5kg plates

Wobbly squats, bench press and chain deadlifts….

Just for fun! I wanted to challenge myself with a “light” weightlifting session. Focus on the stability and the performance of the exercises (technique and speed ofcourse)

Wobbly squats 3×3 90kg + each side 15kg dumbell
Chain deadlift 3×3 140kg + each side chain + stop after liftoff
Wobbly bench press 3×3 70kg + each side 10kg plates

Results MRI scan is good :-)

Yesterday evening the neurologist called me and informed me about the results of the MRI-scan. My brains and everything around it looks ok.
The part, where the operation has taken place, recovered very well. There is no damage nor are there any blood clots. This is very good news for me 🙂 Coming Mondayafternoon the results of the neuro psychology test will be discussed. Hopefully I’ll get some advice to recover my short memory 🙂 Sleeptest will be (hopefully) within 4 weeks….. After that I have an appointment with the neurologist and he will show me the MRI (and I will get it on CD). Then we will discuss the results of my sleeptest. Maybe they can explain what the reason is that my sleeping routine is so unbalanced. If not how it can be solved….

Tough physical training…..

Today’s training was tougher than the past few weeks are going…. My mental energy is much better and therefor I do more ‘normal’ things/work. I skipped the siëstas, so my body / muscles get less rest. So in my opinion it makes sence that the training is tougher than the previous weeks. I took a little bit more time,  completing this training in 65 rock solid minutes.

Squats 3×3 145kg
Deadlift 3×3 175kg
Bench press 3×3 102,5kg

I’m back…

ONE word TWO syllables……keep on reading…..
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Yesterday Wim took me for another equipped ride. After the first equipped session I was a little bit nervous to follow up to this second one, but all I can say is “I buckled my seatbelt”. This for sure is gonna be a bumpy ride!

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Pjotr van den Hoek  (Netherlands strongest pwrlftr in the -105KG weightclass) was so kind to send Wim the Titan suits needed for this training. Some already worn by him. So I thought I was in the clear.
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Well….big mistake. Because the fact that someone already worn the suit doesn’t mean you automatically gain Superpowers. Silly me 🙂
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How it all went down;
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The raw SQUAT training went well. I felt very strong and with each rep I looked forward to move on to the real deal. Getting in the squat-suit was a little hassle and hilarious at the same time. I had to hang on the rack to get in to it.  And after that Wim lifted me from the ground to make sure the suit was on. Getting my legs strapped was a little less painfull this time around. I still get the feeling as if my legs are getting numb.  And my head is screaming…..GET ME OUT OF HERE. Following Wim’s advice & trainingsschedule these last 4 weeks teached me that I should block these thoughts and stop*wining*.  Let me rephrase that in a positive way: just think happy thoughts 🙂
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I’m learning, slow that is, but I’m getting the hang of at least maintaining the mindset of approaching the bar with a positive attitude. Eventhough I am in pain. Unracking the bar needs more practice and patience. I’m used to taking big steps. With this kind of lifting that is not (yet) possible or practical. Every misstep gets me out of the flow and makes me feel the weights inmediately. With the risk of getting out of the groove.
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Benchpress *fried* my arms for sure. We tried different shirts but we are still figuring out what shirt works best for me. Let’s say I’m like an “IKEA closet”!! There is always something wrong, missing and the manual is never right.
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Deadlifts were a blast. I got several ques on my handplacement, stance and tips on how to use the momentum by speeding up the lift. The suit felt great and is for now the right size. 175KG feels like 100kg. My legs and arms were tired from all the other stuff we had done and tried out.
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The day after all I can say is: ONE word TWO syllables = MUSCLE-PAIN…!

Click here to see my performance on squat (3x155KG) & deadlifts (3x175KG):-) or scroll at the end of the blog 🙂
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Lucky for me the company Perfect Body is helping me out with that. They are so kind to sponsor my supplements and make sure my vitamine and mineral intake is ON POINT. I can’t express how happy I’m with such a generous act. Thank you Perfect Body for making this powerlifting ride (a little) easier.  I’ll keep my act together and make sure I wont let you down.

 

 

Untill we meet again…..

Lighter weights than planned and pleased with my trainingresults

Although I trained with lighter weights than planned. I’m very pleased with the results. Most of all the last week I had a big breakthrough with my mental energy. So I’m doing more things (work related) and

therefore I skipped my afternoon sleeping session 🙂 And I’m still feeling much better than the week before, with less physical rest. I also adjusted my foodprogram and wanted to become  under the 120kg. Combine this and the results, with less physical energy (real power) and that is ok. Mentally feeling much better gives me a lot of joy. The physical strength will come back in the coming weeks, when my body is used to it. Hopefully the sleeptest will make a next step in my personal health. My midnigth sleep pattern is really worse and feeling so much better is really awesome 🙂 During training I took a bit more time between the sets and thus this training took me 90 minutes. Today I worn my Titan Compression socks, fits really great, click here for more information.

Highest weights today:
Squats 3x175kg
Deadlift 3x210kg
Bench press 2x115kg

light training session and training/coaching Iris on training also equipped :-)

Just a light training session for myself today. So I had the perfect energy to train/coach Iris on her classic and equipped training 🙂 Tomorrow she will post her blog on cardiopowerlifting.com

Squats 3x150kg pause
Bench press 3x90kg
Deadlift 3x165kg

Tomorrow next round for me 🙂

This is 180kg 😉

NIKE oldskool / vintage weightliftingshoes low and/or hig

Still searching for these shoes low and/or high… size 9.5US / 43 EUR
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NIKE – THERE IS NO FINISH LINE

https://www.instagram.com/p/Bd29w1UnHq2/

Light session…. set up for up coming light ‘heavy’ session

This week I felt my energy to do this is much improved and this makes my happier 🙂 Therefor I tyred now… because I have to pay the price to do more… nevertheless this tiredness is much better than I had before…. 🙂 I had stiffnes during the warm-up and it is okay to do less…. Most important that I get ready for my next light ‘heavy’ session which I will do probably on Sunday. See how I feel tomorrow morning to do some light training 🙂 Most important Iris is coming over to train tomorrow.  An equipped training session is planned for here… and this will need all the attention. Curious what the next step will bring here in equipped lifting…. Will she be suprised tomorrow ? …… We keep you posted.

Training today:
Squats 3×3 120kg
Deadlift 3×3 150kg
Bench press 3×3 90kg