Military Press|Cycle One|Day One|Week One|Powerlifting Journey

Road to powerlifting 

 

I started the day off with the military press. I used 90 percent of my 1RM to decide the rest of the percentages with the 3 sets. The last set was for max reps at that weight. I included some accessory work and abs, then ended the workout with some cardio. 

 
 
  • Military press: 3 x 5
  1. 65%1RM: 50 lb
  2. 75% 1RM: 60 lb
  3. 85% 1RM: 65 lb, did 8 max reps
  • Dips: 5 x 15
  • Cable upright row: 5 x 15, 40 lb
  • Seated DB reverse flye: 5 x 15, 20 lb
  • Front to side raises: 5 x 15, 10 lb

Abs:

Superset:

  • Seated Russian Twist: 4 x 20, 45 lb weight plate
  • Plank: 4 x 30 seconds

Cardio:

  • Stair stepper: 20 minutes, level 7
 

Major Lifts – 1RM

Lifting my max

Today’s workout was a VERY focused and extensive. 4 hours long and very calculated. I started the first of the year off with my 1RM’s for each of my major lifts so that I could start my powerlifting journey to competing. Keep in mind, I am very proud of my results and they have grown since the beginning of 2017 so I knew all my workouts played a part in how far I’ve come. Hopefully within the next 6 or so months, I will continue to see more strength increases with my new program I will be officially starting tomorrow. 

 

For those of you who do not know what 1RM means – it means my 1 rep max, the most amount of weight I can lift for 1 rep. 

 

Bench press: 130 lb ( 135 lb fail)

Barbell shoulder press: 85 lb (90 lb fail)

Barbell back squat: 200 lb (205 lb fail)

Barbell Romanian deadlift: 280 lb (285 lb fail)

Barbell sumo deadlift: 225 lb 

 
 

2017 Blog Recap: My Pitfalls and Success!

thought I would take this time to reflect on my blogging career since first starting Dec. 2016. 

 

Once upon a time I was a beginner just like some of you new bloggers, I was searching for answers, perfection and followers. I owe my blogging to a professor whom gave me the idea and I took off with it – if it wasn’t for his guidance; I would have never found this passion & would have missed out on such amazing opportunities with my writing. 

 

He gave me the idea, but I had to come up with the answers, come up with the solutions, had to put forth the effort to see any success. In the beginning, I was restless, I was anxious, I was nervous and I was alone on this journey- while I had his continued support, I didn’t have the support of many others until my blog started taking off on its own (even then, the support was minimal). I struggled trying to find my voice within my writing, coming up with topics, making a routine, creating an actual blog and deciding which platforms to use. Google was both my friend and nemesis because while it was helpful; it wasn’t enough. Soon, I had to put forth all my efforts with contacting veteran bloggers with questions, concerns, and had to read blog after blog after blog in order to find my own wings. 2016 was tough to say the least and 2017 had its patches as well. 

 

In year 2017, I had great days where my stats were glowing and showering with new views and followers – I was hitting top success, BUT towards the middle & end of 2017 my blog was coming to a slow end ( I was writing less entries, views were low, my following was slow and my online presence was dwindling) getting lost in all the saturated fitness and health blogs— I struggled to stand out. My blog helped to get me sponsored as an athlete, it helped me be able to have a chance in writing for editors of very popular magazines (Muscle and Fitness magazine) and it gave me opportunities to write for online sources both paid and unpaid opportunities all the while it was tumbling down a downward slope.. 

 

I love my blog, and even though it isn’t at its BIGGEST success as of yet, I hope that 2018 will be the year it shines its brightest. In fact, I plan on putting in more work on this blog (and my other blog) than I have in the past couple of years of writing because I have HUGE dreams to fulfill and HUGE ideas that are possible and with the right amount of time and dedication, I know I can turn my blog into a HUGE success. A blog that will blow the minds of those who doubted me. In the meantime I plan on taking this blog to new heights, but still keeping it simple & still keeping it true to myself – always. 

 

I have seen my pitfalls and my triumphs within my writing – and 2018 will still have pitfalls and triumphs, it will just be a new year of showing continued growth. Many people consider me a successful blogger/writer in the fitness industry, but I don’t consider myself as such because the most successful of them are the ones who you remember the most, you read the most, you follow, you feel inspired by and have learned something from that has significantly played a part in your life, you subbed to their blog because you never want to miss a moment or story; you didn’t leave their side during bad months of writing and you weren’t just a follower of their’s- but somebody they knew and had grown to connect with. I want that. I want all of those things when people visit my blog. 

 

I appreciate all of you for being here to read this, It means a lot to me that I am ending 2017 on a positive note. Have a wonderful NEW YEARS 2018 🙂

 

Shay-lon Moss

Everyone Wants to lose weight/be fit; but how do you do it?

I am willing to assume that many of you have a New Year’s resolution and out of the many of you, most of you will have one that deals with “losing weight, gaining muscle, being fit” , etc. All of which fall into the category of “wanting to change your appearance” in some way or fashion. About this time, this means more and more articles are hitting the social media platforms/websites about ways to lose weight, gain muscle, be lean, etc — which translates to many of you will be hopping on board with the ideas and come to realize: 

1) they don’t work (not for everyone)

2) you can’t sustain it for the long term 

3) it gives short term results

4) you give up because you lack the motivation

5) you financially cannot afford it

6) You make up excuses for why you can’t start “now”

7) you have been relying on your friends and family to take part in it with you and when they quit, you quit. 

8) you didn’t do enough research on the matter, so you end up hurting yourself.

9) You didn’t have a backup plan in place for when you fail

10) most the shit you see is the same shit you have seen before — just a new name attached. 

&& if that isn’t enough, you are becoming DESPERATE – which means you try anything and everything and when nothing works or when you hit a plateau or when things become hard, you GIVE UP. 

 

Sadly, we get so worked up for the New Year, that we forget we have been through this same cycle over and over and over again. So.. Quit the cycle. Quit being desperate. Quit being a follower of a new fad/trend and do something different this year. This year: Work for it. Be patient. Be informative. Be determined. Be motivated. Be disciplined. Be mentally prepared. Be good to yourself. Be Strong. Be Unstoppable. 

 

This year:

Stop giving up. Stop making excuses. Stop complaining. Stop blaming. Stop relying on others. Stop being weak minded. Stop allowing others to mold you. Stop being a follower. Stop putting yourself down. 

 

There is no secret to this fitness thing, because everyone has a different formula. I found my own that worked for me, I constantly struggle but I manage to still have enough in me to keep going. If you want something bad enough for yourself, you will find a way, a way that works perfectly for you & when it gets harder — you won’t give up but instead be strong and continue on. 

 

Fitness WonderWoman,

Shay-lon 

Week 8|Day Two|Workout

Workout:

Superset:

 
  • Barbell back squat: 3 x 8, 145 lb
  • Goodmorning: 3 x 8-10, 40 lb

Superset:

  • Barbell Romanian deadlift: 3 x 8, 195 lb
  • Stand calf raise: 3 x 8, 125 lb

Tri-set

  • DB lunge: 3 x 8, 60 lb
  • Barbell curl: 3 x 8, 60 lb
  • overhead triceps extension: 3 x 8, 30 lb
 
  • Seated Russian twist: 3 x 20, 45 lb

Cardio: 5X

  1. Body bar squats: 20/30/45 seconds, 3 lb
  2. one handed kettlebell swings: 20/30/45 seconds, 10 kg