If you think you know how to do something it’s likely a good time to start anew =) That doesn’t go for everything of course, but it does go for my benching. So far I only compete with myself in my own mind as a powerlifter. Maybe someday I’ll compete for real or maybe I’ll just keep besting myself. I already have a good strength base, but my foray into powerlifting, aside from squats, has thus far been with bad form. My deadlift form needs a lot of work and I flat bench. Stumble over to YouTube and you can quickly find that Powerlifters generally bench with an arch. There’s a great article here explaining the merits and tactics of benching with an arch. That's not where I got my crash course in arching though. Sarah M. is a powerlifter I'm lucky to know who has been benching since she her early teens, is incredibly strong, and has the most solid of form. I'd seen arching last fall at our annual university meet, but have never been able to figure it out. Sarah gave me a quickie crash course in getting into proper arch form last week and that has made all the difference in the world. It all makes sense now!
I need solid form before I can build real strength so today I abandoned what I knew for something new.
I’m getting smarter about my training. I’m super lucky to have my fiancé as my spotter so I’m coordinating my bench day and squat day around his schedule. I lose my edge and my opportunity to eek out new strength if I do either alone. Deadlifts are my weakest lift. I can DL 250 lbs, but with sketchy form. Going back to the beginning, lifting very light and nitpicking my DL form until it is solid will be a task for another day sometime soon =)
When time allows I’m hoping to do a detailed post on dieting to build muscle, shrink in size, and rev up your metabolism in tandem with a workout routine. The pitfalls of unsuccessful dieting aren’t what you’d think. Eating too little and not eating often enough or some common unexpected diet killers. I’ve had a few mom friends ask me recently about diet and/or exercise tips and I’m hoping to answer that in detail in a post soon.
