What an amazing PrettyStrong weekend!!! Big thanks to everyone that came out to support! Dave handled a huge PrettyStrong team this weekend. Big kudos to him. Mikhail and Leslie competed in their first meet with Leslie taking 5th place in her division and both lifters going nine for nine. Newcomer, Lisa Francavilla, went 7 for 9 getting red lights on two squats (stood the weight up but made a couple of technical errors…clearly nerves) ending up in 4th place. Stephanie decided to back way down due to a lingering injury settling for a 150# deadlift but setting the Georgia State Record in bench press ending up in 5th place in female juniors. Vanessa pulled 300+ off the floor for the first time since a major back injury and took 3rd in her division. Amanda Carroll (the new MONDAY night coach!) went 8 for 8 (opting out of a third bench attempt to save her back for deadlifts) absolutely crushing old meet PRs and hyping up the crowd with a very loud performance! She took 2nd in her division. And finally, Becci Holcomb hulk smashed everyone in her division easily taking the 1st place medal and setting AMERICAN RECORDS in all three lifts including the most exciting lift of the day: a 508 deadlift. PrettyStrong Powerlifting took fifth for 2014 Georgia Team of the Year losing out only to teams with more lifters (however, winning the popular vote by a landslide!) Congratulations to the entire Team!!
Friday, October 31st, Halloween: Costume contest. Do it! Don’t take yourself too seriously and come have some fun setting PRs in crazy garb. And hey, you might even win some swag including a Quest Athletics Weightlifting Belt. 6pm & 7pm CrossFit & Strength classes are cancelled to maximize nighttime shenanigans.
The Gymnastic Skill Focus training cycle has come to an end. I’ve seen a dramatic improvement throughout the gym in the performance of these core exercises. This week we are testing these newly honed skills with several challenging bodyweight workouts. The warmups will be low intensity, with lots of mobility work and time for foam rolling.
We kick the week off with “Barbara”–one of the overlooked Girls workouts that is comprised of basic calisthenics. A high volume workout like this with no external load often means cheating the range if motion or skipping reps. Please be diligent in your training. You can’t compare your performance from session to session if you aren’t meeting movement standards every single rep, as if a judge were scoring you.
Later this week on Thursday and Friday, we will test the Deadlift 1RM. If you want to hit a new max, plan your training this week accordingly.
Warmup
Dynamic Athletic Movement
2x
Hip Mobility Series
10 Down Dog Push-ups
Conditioning
“Barbara”
40 Minute Limit
Levels 2-4
5 Rounds (level 2 – 4 Rounds)
20 Pull-ups (level 2 – jumping or band assisted pull-ups)
30 Push-ups
40 Sit-ups
50 Air Squats
Rest exactly 3:00 between rounds.
Your score is your slowest round time.
Levels 0/1
4 Rounds
20 Ring Rows
20 Push-ups
30 Sit-ups
40 Squats
Rest and score as above.
ALL LEVELS – you may not split up the reps; each exercise must be completed before moving to the next.