Squat sesh - 1/15/2014, metal, and expand yo' mind and pass it on, fool!

Decent squat sesh today - randomly distracted and a little fractured, but alles gut.

Wednesday is one of the team lifting days, and though I did manage to get in a bit early and get started warming up, they seemed to arrive in droves just as I was getting ready for my working sets. The power racks soon filled up with beefy man bits, and soon I was sharing a rack with three other dudes- three of them benching on the outside of the rack with myself doing the DE squat deal on the inside.

While it took a little more time to get the sets in, it actually ended up being a pretty good thing, at least from my perspective, as I had some good coaching and queuing from some of the fellers.

Thankfully, Elite power racks are nice and roomy.

Really, I should take a second to pour praise on EliteFTS- really thankful my gym is supplied with a large supply of their equipment. Hell, they are, in fact, how I discovered the ol' NBS. It was through on of their chief exports - information - an interview with the owner, David, on their site.

In short, Elite makes and supplies some of the best powerlifting equipment in the world, supplies TONS of good information on lifting, nutrition, etc. FOR FREE EVERY FREAKING DAY on their site, and does good work in the community- they are great ambassadors of the sport.

And did I mention their equipment is flipping awesome?

Oh yeah.

But I digress.

Metal.

Squatting. Dynamic effort style.

Here is what occurred - 

• DE squat - 9x2x195lbs + two chains
• Reverse hyper - 5x10x90lbs
• Leg press - 5x10x405lbs

I did, however, neglect to get video, which is kind of a shame, because I got some excellent pointers from my buddy and trainer, Christian, on keeping my back and chest upright and bar placement on my shoulders. I seem to be having issues trusting the bar to stay on my back, which is making me want to lean forward to provide more of a ledge for it. This is silly, of course, but something I have to work on.

Even more metal? Trick question- nothing is more metal than Crowbar.

At any rate, everything felt a little better synched up from the other day. I've been trying to concentrate on breaking the hips first as opposed to the knees, and with help from Christian, keeping my back tighter. More work to do, more weights to move. 

Like I said to one of the droogies at the gym, I have been injured and out for a while, but I am thankful that I have the chance and the ability to get better. Some folks aren't that lucky.

Going to get some band work in before bed to round out the night, so until we meet again, some reading material for you:

David's most recent article for EliteFTS, which discusses society's overkill and rampant short-sightedness towards fairness.

Let's Go For a Drive - in which our heroes, Elephant and Piggie, prepare for an adventure. 

What does this have to with the price of tea in China? Well, not much, BUT it was the book I had the privilege of reading to my daughter's pre-K class this afternoon immediately before the ol' squat sesh as part of her "Star of the Week" status. The kids were hilarious, all cackling by the third or fourth page of the book. There was a little Q&A session after the reading for the little lady and myself, allowing the kids to ask what they wanted about our family, our likes, habits etc. As the kids went down the rabbit hole of questions, I got to eventually tell them a little about powerlifting. We (yes, we) got to demonstrate a basic squat and talk about the importance of exercise and good nutrition. 

Win.