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You Never Know Until You Try

It's my last week on the "Uncaged" training program that I've been on for the last 4 months. This week was 1 rep max week for push press, bench, squat and deadlift.

Monday I got 130lbs on push press and 135lbs on close grip bench. My goal was to get 135 on push presses, and I was so sure I'd get it.... but....I didn't. I failed. I was a little disappointed, but I dropped down and got 130, which is still a PR, so I'll take it! We all fail sometimes! Can't let it get you down!

And then today was leg day...Of course, I wanted to set a squat PR, but I told myself I'd be happy to just get 210, which was my current PR from probably a year ago. I worked up in the weight each set and was feeling pretty good when I got to 205, so I went for a PR of 215 lbs-and got it!! I was super excited because I really wasn't sure I'd get a PR.

I was satisfied to stop there, but Matt pushed me to go for 225. I wanted to end on a good note, and I just wasn't convinced I could get 225! That weight had always seemed so far off for me! Well, after some convincing, I decided to go for it.

I have to admit that when I saw those four 45lb plates on the bar, I was a little intimidated! I wasn't 100% confident that I would be able to lift it. But I knew that when I stepped up to that bar, there had to be no doubt in my mind. I knew that I had to ignore the fear and believe I could lift that weight. And guess what? I did! I can't tell you how exciting it was! I really never thought I'd get a 225lb squat! If it weren't for Matt's encouragement, I would've settled for 215. But you never know what you can really do unless you try!

I decided not to go for a true 1 RM on deadlifts, so I just went as heavy as I could before I felt my back round too much, which ended up being 235. My goal is to get 250 by the end of the year, so I'm not far off!

Well, I've really enjoyed this program and have definitely seen my strength increase more so than other programs I've followed. I will definitely do this program again in the future. Next week I'm taking a week off from training because I've been going hard for the last 4 months. Then I'm going to switch things up a bit to a more hypertrophy specific plan and take a couple months off of the low rep stuff.

Comments

  1. Wow girl! Just wow! Awesome job :)

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  2. You are so strong and AWESOME! I can't wait for the day I hit a 225lb squat.

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    Replies
    1. Thanks, Tara! I never thought these chicken legs would get 225! I can retire from lifting now. ;)

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  3. Delurking to say that you are amazing - your squat video is such a great motivation to keep pushing myself.

    ReplyDelete

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