I couldn't pull myself together enough yesterday to do a "Motivational Monday"
Cuz I've not been very "motivated" myself.

THEN.......{{Insert last night.....}}

so..... I'm passing along..... my well wishes for a TERRIFIC TUESDAY!  ha

I will admit, I have been in a funk about lifting.
As if you didn't know that by "THIS"........

But last night - I did something new.  Something fun.  Something out of my comfort zone.


And then - I squatted in it.

I've seen the boys in their briefs and squat suits and bench shirts etc., but I have never had any desire to get in one of them!
**Sidenote:  If not used properly, they can be really dangerous.

ALAS - as if fate had a hand in it and knew I have been really down on my lifts lately, Travis (one of the guys I work out with) found an old squat suit of his that he can no longer wear.

Please allow me to share some HUMOR and some KICK ASSNESS!  LoL

Here is what a squat suit looks like.

Thanks for the inspiration KK!  ;-)

What is your obsession?
your passion?
Where's your loyalty?
your commitment?

What's the freaking difference??

When is enough... enough?

I have had so many people tell me I'm crazy.  I've had people tell me I'm over the top.  I've had people tell me I'm extreme.  and... obsessed!  People laugh and make jokes about me flexin... (oh trust me.... when I CAN, and I WILL be able to.. impressively ... you can bet your BUTT that I will be!)
Anyway.... It's cool.
Maybe you DO think it's too much... maybe you DO think I'm gonna end up like the chick in that pic!!??
Maybe?
maybe you actually believe that!??

But you don't know.

You don't know that what I do is not an obsession... it IS however a PASSION.  It IS something you have to be committed to and LOYAL to!  It is something that requires giving up certain things.
And it is a game of being educated about what you do!!!

No one wakes up one morning and just walks into a gym and picks up 500 pound barbells off the ground. No one wakes up one morning and looks like the chick in that picture (or WANTS to!  :-p  ha ha)

what you DO wake up to is the DESIRE to be better.
The desire to win.
The desire to fight and not give up.
The desire to be stronger
The desire to be better today than you were yesterday.j
You wake up.... PASSIONATE!!!  (ok - maybe you don't actually WAKE UP that way...  well... I don't anyway - cause I don't wake up ANYTHING.... I barely wake up at all!)  ha ha
    but once I'm up for a bit.... LOOK OUT!
I'm all about some passion!  :))

When I started lifting, I had no idea what a "deadlift" even was....
And the only squatting I had ever done did not involve much weight - and if it did involve any weight, it sure wasn't sitting on my back trying to knock me over.  I threw my hands out in front of me to balance....
And you want me to hold WHAT... WHERE???
How am I supposed to hold a barbell on my back AND balance myself with my hands out in front??
And benching....... what a joke?  I had never been under a bench press EVER!!  I thought guys stood around in the gym comparing... ummmmm .... the size of their.... TRUCKS!!  or BENCH?!!  :)
So why would I.... a GIRL wanna bench press???

Oh how things change in a year....
And it's funny how passion grows where passion didn't exist before?
It's amazing the things that your body is capable of... and we sit around having NO IDEA!!!!

We were sitting at home (before gym time) last night watching Extreme Weight Loss.  I don't know how many of you have ever seen that or even care...... but it seriously blows my mind.
It blows my mind that we are literally capable of soooooo much more than we do!!
I watched a set of twins last night drop hundreds of pounds between the two of them.
I watched dedication and commitment and a DESIRE to better themselves!!
yes....... I used the word "better"
Maybe that is politically UNcorrect....
but facts are facts.  Let's face it.

At over 300 pounds... imagine what you are doing to your body every day.  You work every muscle so much harder.  Your organs have to work harder.  And your body will wear out.  Sooner than later.
So it's not so much about the vanity of it all.... but the passion to be a better YOU!!!
Why is that so hard for people to understand?

After watching this show, we headed off to the gym... fired up for bench night.
For those of you who have read anything I have written about working out - bench has been my nemesis.  I had tried and tried to break the 100 barrier forever it felt like.  Weeks ago I went to Berea to train with the infamous Brandon Lilly.  And I DID break that barrier.
But it was weeks ago..... months ago....
And I was kinda freaking out because I hadn't done it again since then.
Well last night - on rep night.... after set after set of reps - I shot for that 100 again.
AND I GOT IT!!!!!!
And you may be rolling your eyes right now... thinking who cares?  or you may be thinking 100 pounds... big whoop... that's nothing!!!
But you see.... I care and it IS a big deal to me.

It is living proof that I am better today than I was when I started in this sport.
It IS living proof that hard work and dedication DO pay off.
It IS living proof that I can keep getting better.
It is living proof that lifting heavy weights WON'T kill me or "break my back" or "make me old"...

It is PROOF that I TRAIN...... not just work out.

It is PROOF that I can ALWAYS be better!
So can you!!!!!

If you had told me at that meet I competed at less than 6 months ago that I could bench 105, that I could deadlift 230, or that I would ever EVER be able to squat a bar... much less 185 pounds, I most definitely would have thought you crazy!!!

So am I crazy?  Maybe, but that was there before powerlifting!
Am I obsessed?  Maybe... and maybe you should be too!
Am I committed?  YES - is that a crime?
Am I loyal?  YES.  You have to be

Am I EVER going to look like that SHEman in that picture??????
Thankfully no!
I can lift like a beast and still look like a lady!

Now what's YOUR excuse?

Here's my 100 bench....  I will do that and then some June 15th!

And just for fun... this is 95 pounds for 3.... watch that last one - I downshifted one time!  ha ha

Every day you have a choice to either

~ be thankful for what you have and where you are and believe that you are there for a reason
~ you can be bitter and mad that you don't have this or didn't get that (..or didn't win a contest to work out with Dana Linn Bailey!)

It's a choice.

I've said it a million times.

So I choose.

Granted, at times I have to remind myself more than others - but for the most part, I CHOOSE to be happy about where I am and respect how I got here and the plan that God has laid out for me.

No one has even ASKED me what the big exciting news is that I referred to a week ago.
No one.
Not.  One.  Single.  Person.

That's ok
You don't have to be excited
Because I'm excited enough for me AND you AND for anyone AND everyone else who might stumble upon this blog....

Weeks ago, I applied to win a workout session with Dana Linn Bailey.  (yes - you ALL know that.)   Over 600 people entered and obviously I did not win.  I wasn't upset, that's quite a few people vying for her time.  And not to mention there are LOTS of people out there in much better shape than me and stronger than me.
But it's ok
I didn't let it get me down.
I am, afterall, new to the sport - and REALLY new at being serious about this being what I want to do with any and ALL of my free time!
I'm especially new to the commitment it takes to lift and be good at it.  Not just going through the motions.  Because trust me - I have done plenty of "going through the motions"... not just in weight lifting - but in LIFE in general!
So I'm new to the sport AND the magnitude of the commitment that it takes to be GOOD at this sport!!


It's funny to me to look back at myself.... when I started working out again with B-rad.   We hadn't even talked in some time... and just picked right up where we left off.... the best of friends ;-)  And he coached me right back into the gym.  Where I showed up when I had to... mostly for fear of letting him down or the guilty feeling I would be filled with when I didn't go.  And upon arrival - I would go through the motions... doing what I "had to do" to get through the work out.  Then I would go home and not think a thing about it again.

Then there was his birthday in December.
Where he convinced me that it would be a nice gesture (and FUN??) for me to compete with them at a meet.  HA!   But for fear of letting him down I conceded to go.

And then I got bit

By the iron bug....

And it's been chewing ever since!!!!

And also - my "I'm one of the boys and I can do what they do" competitive INSIDE took over!!!

Now - I read.  I watch videos.  I DESIRE (on my own, mind you) to be better and lift more and look better and LIFT MORE and be healthier.... and, well.... LIFT MORE....
I have new goals... and new people I look up to.

One of which IS Dana Linn - but recently - another girl has come along beside her.
Caitlyn Trout.
Another tiny but ripped little girl that lifts MASSIVE weights!!!
And it is just proof again - that anything is possible.
It just takes the discipline and training and commitment.

So - AGAIN - I have gotten sidetracked....

The big news......

Remember that contest I DIDN'T win???
Well - since I didn't win - I was able to watch and focus on the power lifting meet at the Arnold.  And I met (as I have already told you) Brandon Lilly AND Caitlyn Trout.
Brandon Lilly is the author of "The Cube Method" which is the training program we are currently running.
After the Arnold, I spoke several times via Facebook and twitter, to Brandon Lilly. He is SUCH a super nice guy and has been very helpful with any questions we have had about our workout. And through our chatting I told him we would love to work out with him and his crew. So he invited us in!!!!
There it is!!
We are going to work out with Brandon Lilly. 
And hopefully Caitlyn will be there too. 
I won't know how to act with another female in the building!!!!

So I don't get to work out with Dana, but I instead get to work out with one of the strongest men out there!!! AND the author of our current training program. And when we go, we are doing a "mock meet" for them so they can coach and advise on all aspects of our training

I feel so lucky
I feel like things worked out just as they should

I am once again thankful for where I am and the opportunities that present themselves and ALL of the people who have come into my life in one way or another.  Rather than being disappointed at one missed opportunity - I will look at this as the path to a doorway opened into a WHOLE NEW WORLD!!!

I  Can't  Wait!!!

A special thank you to Brandon Lilly for inviting us to his realm.   It means the world to me.  And I KNOW it means sooooo much to all the guys I work out with.

Can't wait.
It amazes me every day how things work out!

And I am THANKFUL!