Have your Bio Signature report done by Krista Schaus!

OMG! I am so excited, I have to keep pinching myself to see if I am really awake. Krista has offered to come to Brisbane! She plans to be here for one week during the QLD State Powerlifting Titles to assist Rod and I on our final preparation.

The brilliant news is that she is offering the Bio Signature service while she is here. Anyone who has been following my journey over the past few months know the massive impact Krista had has on my athletic performance and body composition goals, and if not you can read my post from 2 days ago below.

While the details are not finalised yet the services will be as follows.

Service 1. Bio Signature report – basic

Bio Sig report from Stronger Online plus a document of recommendations for supplement strategies, lifestyle modifications, exercise recommendations for BioSig type and nutrition recommendations (not a nutrient timing plan per se but like "you would do well on a diet that is high in protein, fat and vegetables and keep carbs to fruit and whole grains post workout and twice a week at breakfast).

Service 2.Bio signature – extended
As above, but with a one (or 2) month follow up working with client’s PT to do skin folds and modifications.

Service 3.Bio Signature introduction and training for fitness professionals workshop.
Intro to process and including training on proper site measurement techniques and data correlation.

If you want to have this done for yourself and/or you are a fitness professional and are interested in offering this to your clients leave me a comment or send me an e-mail to lisa@bodyworx.net.au

The more people I get the lower the cost will be.

Lisa

"You just expect more of yourself than you expect of anyone else. And you expect it all the time. You don’t try for it, you don’t hope for it. You become it. Winning at that point takes care of itself."

-Anon

Some things I have learnt.

This could be a long post, so grab a green tea or a black coffee to stay awake. I have been competing in events that require a weight management/reduction strategy for 6 years now. I always managed to hit my goal or got pretty close by being super disciplined, fighting hard and never giving in. I managed a pretty decent off season bf % and my commitment was the envy of my family and friends; sound familiar? Well, today I am going to admit the embarrassing fact that for the most part, the things I “knew” about what my body was intolerant or sensitive to, were wrong. Let me give you my list of previously held beliefs;

· I am incredibly carb sensitive, and I need to cut them out to lose weight,
· I am sensitive to dairy, and it bloats me and stops me losing weight,
· I have a very clean system and I don’t need to detox,
· I have a slow metabolism and need to cut calories very low to drop weight,
· When I drop bf I lose strength,
· Creatine bloats me,
· Supplements like BCAA’s are a waste of money.

Yesterday at the leanest I have been in a couple of years, I totally ripped up my training session and I consumed the following food as part of my weight loss program.
· 2/3 cup raw oats, 30gm WPI, 50gm berries, 20gms yoghurt, black coffee
· 125gm yoghurt, 15gm pea protein, 10gm nuts
· 130gm raw chicken, lettuce, 10gm fat
· 125gm goat yoghurt, 15gm WPI, 5gms almond paste
· 35gms WPI, 2 cups berries, 2 cups iced tea
· 120gms raw chicken, 3 cups veggies, 10gms fat

I also had the following supps
· 12 fish oil tabs
· 8 digestives
· 30gms BCAA’s
· 30gms Glutamine
· 30 gms Glycine
· 2 creatine tabs
· 4 green tea tabs, 2 tsp l-carnitine
· 1 tabs vital greens

This is pretty much what I eat every day, and have done so over the past 6 weeks to lose 3kgs. I also have to say that I don’t feel like I am “dieting” in any way, I am not hungry and I there is definitely NO STRUGGLE.

How did I get here? I would like to take the credit, but I am the culprit of the incorrect beliefs. There is no way I would have ever measured out 2/3 cup of raw oats cooked them up and then added berries and yoghurt while I was dieting! OMG! Fat chance!

Firstly thanks to Liz I had the Gene Elite profiling done, which came back with excellent fat metabolism and insulin management results. Then Krista’s data concurred with this, however she turned up organ detox, yeast and parasite issues. Of course I was shocked given that I had such a “clean” system. So after a 4 week clean and green detox, she added carbs and organic yoghurt back into the diet. I then did a 10 day Blackmore’s detox program to get the organs to operate as they should. I am also avoiding all sugar, fermented foods, alcohol and processed grains to tackle the yeast issue. In the meantime I can’t live without my supps to maintain my lean muscle mass.

The moral of the story is, no matter how well you think you know your body unless you have scientific data you could be wrong. You could be letting your beliefs rule your life.

If it is a struggle, my guess is you could be wrong.

Lisa

Weight management update time

16th March, 59.8kgs - 29th March 58.5kgs



4 weeks to comp

Today's Scale weight 58.5kgs
Body fat 13%

So here we are in the cruel light again. I refer pics taken in harsh lighting as there is no hiding from the truth. I started new protocols 12 days ago with Krista, and I have seen a very good result. I have had a 1.3kg scale loss, and 1.5% bodyfat loss. These protocols are designed with very specific supplement and nutrient timing with my lifting sessions, and some additional high intensity interval training (HIIT), to facilitate fat loss while maintaining lean muscle and allow performance and recovery.


Lisa

What a week!

It has been a huge week for me, and I have reached a couple of very important milestones. Probably the one with the most impact is that I left my full time IT career yesterday. I woke today feeling very calm, and I am not sure it has hit home that on Monday I don't go into work. I can't even imagine what 4 weeks of being a full time athlete will be like. Of course I have my rowers to coach and a couple of other PL clients to train, but that is not work. Ahh........

This week my website went live, which is very exciting for my future plans, and now I have heaps of time I will be adding to it and blogging a lot more about the final 4 weeks of my preparation. On the subject of my preparation I have had a sensational weeks training, and I am seeing strength increases and great recovery. Rod has done a fantastic job of pacing my training and I will peak at exactly the right time...I can just feel it.

Krista is continuing to support and inspire me. Her win last weekend at her first ever BB competition was awesome, and despite her competiton she has been fully available to me and my journey. I have been working with her for about 10 weeks now, and I have never been so strong at such a lean bf%. She really know her stuff, and I can see that I will hit 56kgs in 4 weeks time strong and ready to fire. I have dropped more weight this week and I am about to get my measurements done, so I will post up a pic and details later this morning.

On the subject of inspiring women, I had the great pleasure of having coffee with Cat last Saturday. I can tell you that for someone who has had to deal with massive health issues, she is positive, vibrant and a really great chick. Now that I have heaps of time during the day I think Cat and I will be having coffees more often.

Right now it is time for coffee and oats. I will be back with updated pics in a few hours so in the meantime have a great Saturday!

Lisa

Official Website

I am now officially online with my new website. At this stage it is a basic information site about me, my achievements and sponsors, however it will grow as my Powerlifting career becomes more established.

I am very excited as my plans for the future are coming together slowly but surely.

Have a great night.

Lisa

As I turned my laptop in this morning windows vista chose this photo to display on the screen. I thought it really depicted my mood today. Bright and hopeful.

Have a great day.

Lisa

Have you all been to Lindy's new website to check it out? I think it is pretty essential reading for all you figure and sports model types.

Check out the Athlete Spotlight on the home page - what a spunk!!

Lisa

Krista Won!!

Krista just sent me this e-mail.

I won 1st in my weight class (middleweight) and 1st overall (winners from each weight class compete against each other). This was the Northern Kentucky Championships hosted by Beverly International. It is the biggest single day bodybuilding and fitness event in the nation. I was the 1st International competitor they have had at the event.

It was a blast, a rush and I think I am hooked (who knew!)

I want to be Krista.

Have a great day.

Lisa

Winning the battles

I am 5 weeks from QLD State Titles, and while the past couple of weeks have been tough I am definitely in the winning position. I feel justified in saying I have really earned this position too.

Looking at my lifting, after months of corrective squat technique work and recently recurring knee and shoulder injuries that have impacted my training I feel like I am in a strong position today. This week I squatted 105-1o7.5kgs for 2 reps which is 20kgs more than I have done in the past month. Rod wanted to test were each lift was at, so the squat looks strong I just need to do more work under heavy load to solidify the new technique. I did conventional deadlifts for the first time in a while well and pulled 2 good lifts at 125kgs under less than perfect conditions. Both of these lifts looks fresh and strong and 5 weeks of heavy load will have me peaking at the right time. I didn't bench this week due to my shoulder but I have been happy with my bench progress and to be honest a week off is not such a bad thing.

The physiotherapist I have been referred to has in very short time, sorted out the root cause of my recurrent issues and short of saying he is a GOD I have nothing else to say! In the past 2 weeks he has corrected my foot alignment, left patella/tibia alignment, posterior tilted pelvis, left scapula alignment and repositioned 2 ribs. I was in severe pain and without treating the injuries at all, I was pain free 2 days later each time. I guess it goes to show that the body heals well when in alignment. I will move ahead this year injury free and stronger than before as my body is much more efficient now.

My body decided that it didn't want to move from 15% bodyfat or around 60kgs, and I had plateaued for 3 weeks. However with Krista on the case and after she gave me a serve about really believing it can happen, she sent me some new protocols and today I am 1kg lighter than last week. This puts me back on track and I am only 1.5kgs, and 2% bf, above my goal weight which I intend to stay at this year to enable smoother comp preparations. I have to admit to occasionally slipping back into the self pity moments of "my body just won't drop weight", but it is my goal in the next week to totally banish these thoughts. It can, it has and this past week has just proved it. Krista has also increased my carbs this week, so the old "carb intolerant" rubbish doesn't stand a chance with her on the job. My daily diet this week looks like this.

Wake - supps and HIIT

Meal 1: 45gms carbs, 30 gms protein

Meal 2: 20gms protein, 5gm smart fats, 1 serve veggies

Meal 3: 30gms protein, 10gms smart fats, serve veggies

Supps - work out

P/W : 45gms carbs, 30 gms protein, supps

Meal 4: 20gms protein, 5gm smart fats, 1 serve veggies
Meal 5: 30gms protein, 10gms smart fats, serve veggies

Supps - bed

I am about to start the last 4 days of my corporate job, and this time next week I will be stress free!! - well that kind of stress anyway. I am starting to realise the incredible impact stress has had on my life both physically and emotionally and I will never get myself so wound up again. This is a promise to myself. However my company is so keen to keep me they have offered a 2 day per week flexible, no strings attached offer to keep my knowledge and skills, even if only in the short term. I never thought this was possible and although I am still taking all of April off, I will go back 2 days from May to supplement my income - afterall a powerlifter does eat a lot (even a little one!)

Stay Strong.

Lisa

OMG!!!

I have had such a huge week of contrasts. From worrying injuries and resolving injuries, stalled training and great training, scale weight plateaus and drops, job developments and some yummy dark chocolate today. So I am really tired tonight.

I promise a detailed update tomorrow, however enjoy this picture of me bungy jumping after the Commonwealth Titles last year in NZ. I have felt out of control, excited and scared all at different times this week - just like in this pic.

Lisa

2 x 125kg deadlift

I have had a very mixed week of training, and due to a shoulder injury earlier in the week I was not able to deadlift. Rod is taking Easter off, so hubby and I went to the gym and I trained myself and was determined to get a few good deadlift sets out. I haven't been deadlifting heavy since Comm Titles as we have been taking a different approach. I felt fresh and the weight came off the ground very fast, however my grip strength has dropped and I have trouble holding on the the bar. I needed to use wrist straps, but nevertheless I am very pleased at 125kgs 5 weeks out.

Lisa

Krista!

The amazing Krista Schaus decided to turn her hand to bodybuilding for a while. I met Krista in NZ at the Commonwealth Powerlifitng Titles where she won a Silver in the open 67.5kgs class representing Canada. Krista is a member of John Beradi's PN team, and a Poliquin certified professional (amongst many other impressive accreditation's), and I have been fortunate to get a place as distance client. Krista has gone from 12% bf to 6% in 3 months and has gained muscle in the process. She currently eats between 1600-2100 cals a day and yes, heaps of carbs. But I guess with about 58kgs of lean muscle at 5ft 4" she has a pretty big metabolic furnace. I just smile at these stats as I can see myself edging closer everyday to this type of metabolism.

Krista is competing this weekend for the first time (novice??), as a practice to the Beverly International on April 28th.

Go Vitamin K!!!

Lisa

Are you going to eat the bunny?

I just received an e-mail from my mentor Krista Schaus, asking this question. The content of the e-mail was so relevant, I had to share part of it with you.

Can YOU eat the bunny?

The answer:Depends on ...

Your GOAL
Your progress thus far with the goal
Your dedication and determination to accomplish the goal
Your time frames involved in achieving the goal
Your current body fat / weight
Your will power (comes back to your determination about the goal)
Your body type or Biosignature profile...Wow! Who knew that eating chocolate at easter was such a complex decision making process.

So to wrap it all up...HAVE YOU EARNED YOUR BUNNY!

?Seriously... really... truly EARNED the bunny. (PS - 75% of you will not have earned the bunny just yet :-( ;-) )

If you are NEW at this game of eating well, exercises and making long lasting positive life changes, I would say NO to the bunny.

If you are highly carb intolerant and have been doing really well cleaning sugar out and processed non-foods out of your diet, also NO bunny.

If it's just not worth it - competing soon, don't really care about chocolate either way or have other things you would rather reward yourself with such as homemade pie or scalloped potatoes - NO bunny.

If you are on a bulking phase or strength building program going up a weight class or are a hard gainer trying to gain weight and lean mass - YES to the bunny (YES to 2 bunnies or a weekend of bunnies).

If you have recently accomplished a serious goal or competition and have fully EARNED it - Enjoy every bite of a moderate sized bunny with ZERO guilt. You earned it.

If you DO decide to eat the bunny, regardless of whether you should or not:

Krista's Rules of Easter Chocolate:

-Go for the darkest best quality chocolate (Lindt dark for example)

- Avoid commercial crappy Easter Cream Eggs or anything you can get from a Dollar Store- Quality over quantity

- Decide ahead of time how much you will have and when

- Make all your other meals good ones

- Stick to the plan

- Stay active-

ZERO guilt!

Happy Easter! Remember, it comes just once a year, so enjoy something but do not sabotage your entire progress thus far.

Purple is my favourite colour. While there is no reason for telling you this, I thought I would post up my favourite colour as I am in a sensational mood. I am feeling incredible and my mind is clear and sharp.

I have lots of positive energy, and am sharing it with you all.

Lisa

Who's a happy girl? Me!

My squat session was fantastic this morning. Today was all about seeing where my squat was at, so the plan was to attempt 3's at 85% of my planned squat of 125kgs. So that is 3 reps @ 112.5kgs. I have spent all of Jan and Feb relearning a new technique and didn't squat anymore than 60kgs. Over the past 3 weeks I did 5's at 80kgs, then 85kgs but nothing last week with the injury so it was a big jump in weight and would really test my new technique.

The warm up and up to 100kgs looked very fast and heaps of power. We then went to 107.5kgs, and I was nervous like a comp lift. I hit the first one but dropped my chest on the second so Rod stopped it there. We went back to 100kgs which was great, then 105kgs which again was strong although there was a slight dip in the chest but my line stayed up.

So in summary I am probably a little behind due to the changes and injuries, and I do need to watch my chest under heavy load. However I have 5 more weeks to sort that out and make up any ground.

I am very pleased with today, and feel extremely lucky to be in such a strong position considering the lead up.

Lisa

Squat Day

I am feeling kind of excited this morning as it will be the first time in months that I will be squatting without worrying about my knee. I have had some rapid recovery in the past 5 days since having my pelvis and knee re aligned, which I am sure has been helped along by the fact that I now know there in nothing structurally wrong with my knee. I am walking so much more smoothly and I can feel proper glute activation in my left glute.

I have 6 more heavy squat sessions before my comp, and today will give me a good indication of where I am at after having missed some time with injuries. I know I will have some ground to make up, but I am so excited as there is nothing as sweet as hitting your groove on the perfect squat!

Lisa

6 weeks to comp

Today's Scale weight 59.8kgs

Body fat 14.5%

I will post a pic and stats every 14 days to show my progress.

A bit of a powerlifting chat

I have another new squat suit, and this is it. When I first started lifting I bought a basic suit that I was able to both squat and deadlift in, and as I progressed I then moved into suits made specifically for each lift. As I was preparing for the Commonwealth Titles I was advised by the resident squatting legend that I should be wearing a smaller suit - so I ordered the next size down. It arrived this week, and I was once again shocked at how small it is and Rod laughed at the size and reckons it wouldn't go over my calves (which it did). In fact I put it on one leg and got it over my knee - just! While I may be in a bit of pain after it goes on Rod has to actually get me into it, although we will get another lifter to give us a hand the first few times. As it is "competition fit" I won't wear it until the last few weeks once my bf is lower, in the meantime I will wear my previous competition suit.

The basic suit I bought 2 years ago is now my light training suit that I wear as the weight starts to get heavy. It is funny that 2 years ago, and at the same scale weight, I really struggled to get in on, and in fact it took about 4 goes to get it up. Today I can slip it on in about 1 minute; amazing body composition changes.

Today is weigh and measure day, and I will post up some pics for you all to see where I am at the 6 week mark.

Have a strong Sunday

Lisa

Change of competition

I have been working toward the Australian Juniors and Masters on April 19th in Melbourne, however due to a number of circumstances I have decided not to compete at this competition. I will however be lifting at the QLD State Titles the following weekend n Brisbane. So this make my comp dates 6 weeks away today. This doesn't really change my preparation but allows a much less stressful situation which will allow for a better result for me.

Lisa

I started to write a post on Momentum early this week. For some reason I didn't finish it and post it up. However this morning as I weighed in just 100gms over my Sat target weight, my post is almost prophetic. I am not sure if it is the power of positive thought, but it worked!

Here is my unfinished post from Monday.....

I really think that often the difference between mediocrity and brilliance is the ability to maintain momentum. Momentum is a balancing act of walking the fine line between obsession and burn out, and focus and pacing yourself.

One week ago I changed my weekly calorie and carb fluctuations to kick start my weight drop. Today I can see another ab peaking thru my mid- section and I am a couple hundred grams down, however I have set myself a scale weight target of 59.5kgs at the 5 week mark from competition – this sat. Do I up the cardio and drop just 100 calories per day to make my target? What effect would this have? Yes I am more likely to make my target, but I will be tired when I do my Powerlifting training, performing less than optimal and walking a fine line of fatigue. I need to keep the momentum up, but minimise the obsessive behaviour that can be damaging to my long term goal. This can get really tough when all I want is to get to weight ASAP, so I don’t need to worry about it and I can focus on being strong and well recovered. However I need to be patient and keep the balance in my week so I can achieve all my goals, not just one.

I wish you all a positive day!

Lisa

I wish I could explain the experience I have just been through, however I am afraid it all pretty much went over my head. However the good news is that there is really nothing wrong with my knee - it is a combination of very poor activation of stabilisation muscles, posterior pelvic tilt, and something else about patella and tibia misalignment. After some manipulation and lessons on how to active the correct muscles and release the knee cap I walked out in significantly better shape than I hobbled in. I am to continue the exercises for 4 days, then I move on to more advanced ones. The good news is that while this sounds complicated it can be fixed quickly and easily - yeah!!!!

I should be squatting by the end of the week - and hopefully much more easily than in the past. One step back to go 2 steps forward.

Ahh........

The other great news is that I have dropped 500gms in the past week.



Lisa

Squat training didn't go well today - in fact I didn't squat at all. I was in great spirits, and just as I finished my warm up my knee started to feel wrong. Cutting a long story short, I wasn't able to squat at all.

I have an appointment with a specialist tomorrow and I will finally find out what is going on. While I am being positive, I am prepared to face the fact that I may need to sit out the April comp to rehab the knee properly. In any case not being able to squat for a few weeks so close to comp will effect my results. Fortunately Australian Nationals are on in July, where I can also qualify for World Titles, so I do get second chance this year. Fingers crossed.

Lisa

A friend has just sent me a link to a site that specialises in WW gear, and has offered to buy me a t-shirt. Isn't that sweet? I have decided on the one at the back above. I love it!

Lisa

Where does the light go?

Why is it that we can be on our path to success and happiness and then totally inexplicably we wake up one day and have lost the light? A feeling of predictable failure sits in the pit of your stomach and all the things you have been working towards either seem trivial or unachievable. I guess these are called our emotions cued by hormones, but wouldn’t it be great if you knew the secret of where the light goes, and all you have to do is open the right window to let it shine in?

What happens to you when the light disappears? Do you give in and binge eat, exercise excessively, cry on the sofa and hate yourself? Do you mourn for a moment and then go in search of the light? Or are you enlightened enough to know which window to open? Years ago I definitely did one or a combination of the first group. I recall when the scales used to say I hadn’t lost weight for a couple of weeks I would tell myself “I have done everything right, and I still can’t lose weight so I might as well eat this cake”. Of course I then dished out a good serve of self loathing for seconds. I am very happy to say that I have evolved from this victim mentality, as the truth is I am a fighter.

However being a fighter then moved me into the second category of mourning and searching. So after feeling sorry for myself for a short period I would then search and plan, and all else in my life stopped until I could find the right window. In a way I think all this energy that I burned up probably extinguished the light anyway. I have to admit to you all at times I still fall into this category and often end up so exhausted that I do think about why I am chasing my dreams?

Imagine that in that moment when the darkness closes in all you have to do is open a window or flick a switch to have your belief flood back in? Today rather than expends tons of energy searching I am going to sit on the couch, close my eyes and remember the feeling of lightness in my body and when I open them I am going to hold onto it!

Lisa

Happy Days! No, I am not referring to the TV show, but my training session yesterday. I put my skins on for added support, and after 25 minutes of warm up and activation I did my deadlift sets @ 105kgs, and there was no sign of knee injury. I squatted the bar during the warm up and it was fine too. I was tentative going into the squat and am not sure I broke evenly at the knees but I was able to get good depth.

The knee

It has been 5 days since I injured my knee in Monday's squat session. I have been compliant with the treatment and exercises required to heal and prevent further injury. I had 2 days off training this week - lucky timing with my trip to Sydney - although the flights didn't do me any favours. I have done a couple of upper body training sessions, and a small amount of bike, rower and cross trainer. Today it feels better than it has all week, so it is healing. However today I test how it is at with heavy deadlifts and light squats.

I will take more time in my pre work out warm up to make sure I have done all the correct activation exercises as I want all the surrounding muscles and joints doing the work they are suppose to to ease the load. I have downed a huge bowl of oats for breaky so I am well feed to heal and work out.

Fingers crossed

Lisa

Perspective

I left Brisbane yesterday morning with a headache, a throbbing knee and in a terrible mood. My cab was late, there was traffic on the way to the airport and I was seriously considering asking the driver to turn around so I could go home and hide in bed for the rest of the day. I am in Sydney for work then off to the rowing the next day, but as you know I am carrying a minor knee injury and am detoxing at the same time. I didn't want to go to the Sydney office, and I had no idea how I was going to get from the city to Penrith to watch the rowing so was stressing about the logistics. I made my flight in comfortable time and while I was sitting on the plane I realised I was either being a big baby or a martyr (yuk!), about this whole trip to Sydney.

After giving myself a talking to I chose to be in a better mood. I ended up having a great day at work, then came back the hotel and had a very quite, and yummy, room service dinner. This morning I woke up, had a sensational steam and sauna then my favourite "healthy start" breakfast that the hotel offers.

I googled how to get to Penrith, and had an easy trip on the train. I spent the day at the Regatta Centre - wow what an amazing facility. The girls did really well and I am so proud of them (pics coming), they still have another 2 days of racing and are very positive and holding up well.

Tomorrow I will steam and have another yummy breakfast before I head out to the airport mid morning. To think I could have missed this whole great experience if I had let my cranky pants mood turn that cab around 2 days ago!

Lisa

I am going to be away for a few days as I am off to Sydney to watch my rowers compete at National Titles. I will see if I can drop in to post from time to time.

Lisa

The good news.

There are 2 issues to be dealt with, and the first seems to be pretty much well under control this morning. The sharp pain at the side of the knee radiating down is a minor peroneal nerve impingement. After some intensive physio and acupuncture last night, the pain has subsided dramatically and I as long as I keep up a "nerve de sensitising" exercise I should be all good to squat next week. That is a relief!

The not so good (but not bad news)

At this stage it looks as though the pain in the back of the knee is a potential hamstring tendonitis. This morning the back of my knee and lower hamstring is swollen and stiff. I iced this last night and this morning and will move to heat therapy today.

So the wrap up it is not the knee cap, nor a structural issue. It may be sore for a while but I can train to my level of comfort. Powerlifitng is a multi disciplined sport, and today is bench day so my training goes ahead as usual.

As an athlete it is not a case of if you get injured, but managing the injuries you will get. Early intervention, cold therapy and rest has probably saved me from a greater injury. I would much prefer to take this week easy, than struggle with sever tendinitis 2 weeks out from comp.

Happy days!

Lisa

Injury

I am sitting on my couch icing my knee. I squatted well this morning, 85kgs, 5 reps, 3 sets. After I finished my knee cap (which moves around a bit from an old injury) was a bit out of place and then I had a sharp pain in the back of my knee. It was able to bench and do some bicep work, but had to cut the session short. I have full range of movement, but have a nerve type pain in the back of my knee that radiates down about 10cm. I am desparately hoping that the knee wraps pinched a nerve this morning, but have to admit to being a little concerned. I am having it looked at in 2 hours, so fingers crossed. 6 1/2 weeks to comp, still gives me time to rehab a slight injury.........fingers crossed.

Lisa

My relationship with my scales

I am about to contradict a heap of things that I believe and have said about what the scales mean. I know that Liz, and other very smart people, will tell you that the scales are simply a tool that make up part of a system to track progress in your weight loss/gain/maintenance programs. They don't provide any indication of body composition, which is afterall what we really need to measure.

However my scales and I are very close, so close in fact that I travel with them and I am sure they loved our recent trip to NZ! My scales are a very key partner in my competiton preparations, and will be used as often as 4 times a day and up to 10 times in the last few days before a comp.

I am a weight class athlete, and this means that I need to be under a certain scale weight 2 hours before each competition. What I weigh 1 hour before or 1 hour after is totally irrelevant. My scales are callibrated to within 50gms of accuracy so I know they are correct. I can tell you how much weight I can drop over night, how much weight a meal will increase the scale, how long before that weight drops again, and how drinking or not drinking water over a 24 hour period will increase/decrease scale weight. I know the foods that increase my scale weight, how DOMS and menstrual cycles effect my scale weight. I can put on or drop 2 kgs in 24 hours, but I haven't put on or lost 2kgs of fat. So you see the scale is a measure of weight at that time and that is all it is. It is an inanimate tool.

Right now I am 7 weeks out from comp and I have stalled at 60kgs. I am loosing bf, but not scale weight. I don't hate myself for not "loosing weight", I just report back to Krista saying I am frustrated at this plateau and she looks for potential causes and comes up with a new plan. Right now I am frustrated as I am 100% compliant on my diet, however it is not me that needs a kick it is the diet, or the supplementation.

In the off season I rarely weigh myself as there is no use for this tool, I do however track body fat measurements as my body composition is important to me. So when people as me what I weight I usually tell them my body fat % - what is the point of me saying that I am 60kgs when I have 8kgs more muscle than that average 60kg female of my height?

If you live by your scales as a measure of self worth, and if you have emotional reactions to the number that comes up it may be time to reconsider yor relationship with them. If you knew that last nights Asian food that had MSG in it added 800gms to your weight this morning, would you have a better day than if you thought you had put on 800gms (when all you had for dinner was asian vegetables and soup)?

Lisa

Catch up

It is early Sunday morning and the world seems very quiet right now, so I feel it is a good time for reflection on the past week.

Last week was deload training week after a 6 week strength phase, so this week it was back into some heavy work in preparation for the 8 week run into the comp. I am using light equipment from this week to increase the weight lifted and prepare myself for competition conditions. As you know I have been working on my squat technique for the past 2 months, and on Tuesday we tested it to see how it would hold up under heavy load. The result was good, and while I need to see how it goes over the next 2 weeks I am very confident so far. I also lifted some heavy bench sets from 60kgs to 65kgs in a new style bench shirt. I was happy with the results and while I still have a few control issues to sort out, I am confident of a new PB in April. At this point I am not doing heavy deadlifting, as 8 weeks of this really effects my fatigue levels. I am doing lighter technique work, and heavy rack deads to compensate for this. This cycle is 3 weeks, and then I move into the final 4 week power phase. I feel strong, and my technique is definitely improved in this past cycle. Rod has designed my program to achieve the following lifts the week before the comp.

Squat 125kgs

Bench 75kgs

Deadlift 140kgs

These are the magic numbers for my Elite II qualification - 340kgs!

My nutrition and supplementation has been superb and fully supporting my lifting requirements. My scale weight has plateaued at 3kgs above my goal weight for the past 2 weeks, so I am "due" for one of those "whooshes" Liz talks about. It is a little frustrating when I am 100% compliant and I "get stuck" on a weight for a while, however Krista is on the case and next week is going to involve a gentle liver detox to assist my organs to flush properly. Apparently I am not detoxing properly which is casing a holdup of my weight loss. I still have 7 weeks, so all is good on that front.

I have about 4 weeks of my corporate job left and I am swinging from excitement to fear on a regular basis. I am still not 100% sure on how I will be making a living, but I really need to time to focus on my ideas and dreams so that I can full fill them.

As Sunday is rest day so I am considering breakfast at a cafe before my massage and sauna.

Stay strong.

Lisa