..BEAST: SQUAT OR DIE SESSION 2 (805×2)..

Squat or die session 2-

What i mean by that is that i have pushed to the next step in my squat suit for the first time straps up for the second time in preparation for this upcoming meet. I have a month or so left for my qualifier meet and then a full cycle to the Olympia so i am definitely looking for a lot of progress and ground to be made in all lifts. My squat has been coming along very well in Raw and in the single ply. Today’s session was geared towards the heavy end with straps up. The funny thing is 805 went up better than i thought it was. When i got a great setup i know i had it locked it, but i didn’t tell the crew that i was going for 2 lol. I was in the zone and i wanted it badly for a double and all i could do is hurry up and tell them to leave it before the re racked me. It threw me off a bit but i still went for it and grinded it from the bottom.  The previous week we beat ourselves up pretty good and i went into this session pretty tired, but i knew that i have a deload week coming next week so i wanted to end this week on a good note and i feel good about this PR.  Mike told me be smart about it and make sure if i was too tired just to cut it and look at the big picture, but when 765 came up faster than last week we knew we could give 805 a ride. Here is the session break down:

Warm-ups Raw

Bar x 5

150 x 5

240 x 5

330 x 3

420 x 2

510x 2

Suit w/ Straps Down & Knee Wraps

605 x1

655 x1

Suit w/ Straps Up & Knee Wraps

705 x1

760 x1

805 x 2

On to the massage and deload week next week and then turn it back up and get ready for this meet. After that take some time off and get ready for Olympia. Maybe 900 in the air?? Hungry…

Comp Class 2.26.13

I missed comp class while I was away for 8 days (vacation in the tropics…pity I know). It felt great to be back yesterday. There is nothing like the smell of that underground gym. It smells like metal and rubber and sweat and I love it.

When you walk into the gym, there is a sign on the door. The quote goes as follows:

“We implore you to check your ego at the door, give 100 percent and get to know your fellow CrossFitters. Our goal for you is to thrive, not just survive, at all aspects in your life, from nutrition and fitness to everyday life. Our gym is our home, we treat it as our own and care for it as such. Our box is our family, and we treat the athletes, coaches and visitors likewise, creating an environment that breeds confidence, fun and dedication.”

Underground Gym Motto

This portrays exactly why I love crossfit so much. It is such a unique sport that pushes its athletes to be the BEST they can by while supporting them in that journey. It creates a family and that family and lifestyle extend beyond the walls of the gym.

For the workout yesterday we did the following:

Warmup: 4 sets of 2 Snatch Long Pulls + 2 Overhead Squats + 2 SOTS Presses
*Did 45lbs

A. 3 sets of Snatch Segmented Pulls (stopping at 1″ of the ground, at the knee, at the hip, and then finishing…holding each position for 2 seconds) x 2
*Did 115lbs

B. 4 sets of 2 Snatch Pulls + 1 Hang Snatch (from the knee)
*Did 75lbs

C. 3 sets of 1 Behind the Neck Press + 2 Overhead Squats
*Did 65 lbs

WOD for 2.26.13 was a crazy combo of Fran and Annie. Welcome back from vacation MO!

400m run
21 Thrusters 95/65
21 Kettlebell Swings 1.5/1 pood
21 Pullups
400m run
15 Thrusters
15 Kettlebell Swings
15 Pullups
400m run
9 Thrusters
9 Kettlebell Swings
9 Pullups

Time = 19:02

*The thrusters I was able to do without dropping the bar each time. The runs kill me. Kettlebell swings I did with 26 lbs, probably could have used 1 pood and Rxed the whole thing. I will do that next time. I did all the pullups unassisted. This is a HUGE accomplishment for me and really shows me how far I have come over the past year in increasing my strength and form. I am only able to do several at a time and broke down each round of pullups into mini sets of 3 until I knocked them all out. This is what made my WOD completion time a bit longer. The boys finished between 12 and 17 minutes. Once I can rep out kipping pullups I will cut minutes off my time. But all in all…super proud of my work in the box today.

Workout for 2.26.13

..Meet Ashleigh Hellen..

Meet Ashleigh Hellen from Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.

She was always overweight growing up, then one day in 2010 she jumped on the scales and saw that she had gained 39lbs in just one year and was almost 220lbs!

Since then since she changed her life by getting into the gym, being active and eating better.

Ashleigh lost 57lbs in the first 7 months and then went on to lose another 17lbs and tone up though ‘Unique Muscle Enhancement’s 12 week challenge. In total she lost 74lbs in just 10 months and now looks sensational!!!

Lets give it up for her LBA!!

**LIKE MY PAGE FOR DAILY MOTIVATION**
Ladies: LADY Beast Athletics (LBA)
Men: I AM Beast clothing
Owner: David “The Beast” Douglas
FB group chat(VERY HELPFUL): TEAM BEAST FITNESS
Twitter: @enterbeastmode #LADYBEAST
Motivational fitness blog, store, stories, & more:
www.I-AM-BEAST.com

..Meet Naomi Green..

Naomi Green lost 58kg (yes, 127lbs!) over a 14 month period through diet and exercise. She has found a love for the gym – particularly weight training. As you can see her body has gone through an amazing transformation. She now looks absolutely great!!!

After losing the initial body fat, her husband surprised her last year when he converted their downstairs room into a gym to help with her New Years resolution last year to tone up all of her wobblies after such a huge weight loss. She is now in there religiously every single day. Naomi is really proud of her achievements!

She said that she would like to inspire others. She has shown that even huge goals can be accomplished if you just believe in yourself!

LETS GIVE IT UP FOR HER LBA!!

**LIKE MY PAGE FOR DAILY MOTIVATION**
Ladies: LADY Beast Athletics (LBA)
Men: I AM Beast clothing
Owner: David “The Beast” Douglas
FB group chat: TEAM BEAST FITNESS
Twitter: @enterbeastmode #LADYBEAST
Motivational fitness blog, store, stories, & more:
www.I-AM-BEAST.com

..SQUAT OR DIE SESSION: 1st round of straps up..

Squat Day 4

This morning headed to OC strength club and got my squat on. Had a good solid meal and got my HMB in me which is a MUST before any big training session.  Alot of the guys looked strong today so the energy definitely helped. I also had alot of aggression from the outside world coming in so i had to channel that into my workout for a venting system. We wanted to push up each week because I have been adjusting to my new Inzer TRX squat suit, provided to me by my sponsor Dension Powerlifing, more and more with the weight never really being an issue. Last week a had a bit of a problem with my walk out that seemed to be corrected today as i took shorter steps to lock me in place very close to the rack inside of going too far out which would be wasting energy as i was coached. I did my warm up sets raw up to around 405, then put the suit on:

Work Sets: (Straps down): 615 x 3, 655 x 3, 705 x 1 (Straps up): 705 x 2, 760 x 2

The blood coming out my nose after alot of the sets was because of the fact that i JUST got over a cold the night before which i had blood coming out from constantly blowing my nose over and over again. The pressure under that bar definitely didn’t help the healing too much so please don’t worry about my blood pressure or anything lol even know i will be getting everything checked out next week for other reasons. I honestly felt really good and strong after the straps up session and every bit of me wanted to take it up for another set, but smartly i was told to save it for next week by Manny and Mike Tronske. I have alot more in the tank and i can feel the improvement with my squat each session which is drawing in alot of excitement. It seems to me that i might hit 800 on squats before i hit it on bench lol. I hope you enjoy the video and definitely stay tuned for next saturday as we go up to around the 770-780 range.

..BEAST: 2013 Motivation “DEAR PLATFORM”..

 

This video i made to strictly remind myself what path lies in front of me. It is a mental letter that i have wrote to the platform as if it has become my enemy working to stop me. 2013 i am molding into a big year. I aimed my goals high, but do i think i can reach out and touch them? Absolutely. I have come into this year with negativity stripped from me, a whole new outlook on things, and hungrier than i have ever been to blow each mission up. Missions that i have set for myself this year:

• Break a 2000+LB Raw total
• Break a 2300+LB Single Ply total
• Break a 600+LB Raw Bench Press
• Break a 800+LB Single Ply Bench Press

Like i said, these goals are far from easy, but with the right attitude and consistent training under the right program, i believe every one of those can be touched. It doesn’t matter who i go against, what so and so has to say about it, it all comes down to the effort that i put out on getting there. That’s it. 2013…. TIME TO KILL IT!!

..Angel Starr Saucier: My story..

 

I feel blessed to be able to say that I love my work and my life story. Not everyone wakes up in the morning excited to go to work. I can honestly say that I do. It wasn’t always the case. I wasn’t always happy nor was I even into fitness and healthy. As a matter of fact I was the complete opposite for years. My long road to fitness started around the age of 10 or 11 when I began with a severe eating disorder (Anorexia.) It went unnoticed until I was around 14 when I ended up in the emergency room with health complications. At the age of 15 years old I weighed about 85 pounds and was suffering several health issues directly related to malnourishment. As a result I went through a few years of counseling and eventually decided to regain a hold of my own eating battles.
I suffered relapses and struggled with self image problems for years after but held a healthy weight. My problem was then that I was never taught about healthy eating and I didn’t excercise at all so, my body was very weak and very “soft” which I wasn’t happy with. I began to read books about nutrition and became very interested in the topic. The biggest turning point for me in my battle with food was with the birth of my first born child, Mackenzie. I then realized I was going to be her role model and someone she would look up to and I didn’t want her to go through the eating disorder that I had so sadly had to deal with. I decided to change my life completely and this is where my real journey began.
After she was born, I began to learn more about excercise and even a little about “weight lifting” on the machines at the local gym. I had another baby within 18 months of the first and managed to keep the weight gain fairly low. after my second child I decided to get more serious about my workouts and try to achieve a more sculpted and toned body. I began to lift heavier weights and learned about eating for muscle building to enter what would be my first figure competition soon after my second child was born. I did 2 competitons that year placing in the top 5 in both! This was such an exciting thing for me to look and feel healthy for the first time in my life. I was so determined to keep getting better and wanted eventually to win my class. After that second competition I came to learn that I had competed almost 3 months pregnant with my third child! Shortly after finding out the exciting news I began to have complications with the pregnancy and went into pre term labor. I was put on bed rest and medications at an attempt to keep the pregnancy for as long as possible. during those last 5 months I was gaining a signifigant amount of weight due to being on bed rest and a complete change in my diet. After my son was born I had come to realize I weighed about 204 lbs! I was devistated and knew that I was going to do everything I had to do to get back to my healthy body and also back to the stage. It was a ton of hard work, strict dieting, and discipline but within 9 months, I was back up on that stage. I was determined!

I had competed a couple more times always placing in the top 5 but never got that first place I was after. I decided to take a break from competing to focus on what would be my next adventure in the fitness world; my Custom Posing Suit business! I decided since I was making my own suits I could surely make more and sell them, which I did. I made up a few samples and set up a vending booth at The Oregon State figure and bodybuilding competition in 2004. It was a success and that started my career as a custom suit designer. For the next several years after I stopped competing to focus on my company and eventually went through a divorce in 2008.
In 2007 I began to train competitors and teach posing for figure and fitness comps as well as design posing suits. I hadn’t been on a stage myself for 8 years and was beginning to get that “itch” again! With the start of the new NPC bikini division I figured this was a great opportunity to get my foot back in the door. In 2011 I stepped on stage as a bikini competitor and placed 2nd which I was thrilled about. I was so excited to be back to competing I began to make plans for my next season. I wanted more muscle and a tighter frame. I set my sights on the big one in the NW. I had planned to do the 2012 Emerald Cup with the help of Team DreamQuest. I completely changed my body in the next several months prior to the show. My muscle was much more full and I came in much leaner which was my goal. I took my best yet package to the stage and was dissapointed with a 9th place finish out of about 20. The judges feedback was that I came in too muscular and too “hard” for bikini and suggested I move on to figure. I took that advice and a month later took that same look to the stage for a 1st place figure trophy and a 2nd place bikini trophy. I was thrilled. This brought me back to my original passion all those years ago… I was once again a figure competitor! I found my place in the fitness industry as a figure competitor, a competition coach for Team DreamQuest, and I continue to run my original company as a Custom Posing Suit designer. As I continue on my journey this year I plan to grow in my suit company out of the NW, Represent Team DreamQuest and my sponsor, Team Beast at my very first National competition. I couldn’t be more proud when I look at where I’ve come from and the health problems I’ve overcome to do what I truely love, live the life of a mother, figure athlete, suit designer, and coach for Team Dreamquest. I am blessed!

Throwback video: San Diego Radio 2010

A friend made this for me back in 2010 after hearing it on the radio. Thanks big dog!

..Meet Martini Jane’t Walker Crawford..

 

Meet  Martini Jane’t Walker Crawford
“Weighing the heaviest I have ever been at (210lbs) being depressed and couldn’t recognize myself when I looked in the Mirror! March 2012 is when I decided to regain my life back! I had no clue what to do or how to do it I just knew that I had to make wiser food choices and be active! I started walking 3 miles a day, trying to push myself to beat my time from the previous day! In about 3 weeks after starting my journey I decided to join a gym! Started working out 5-6 days a week and eating clean food.. The weight started dropping right off and everyday that I worked my ass off (no pun intended) I started to regain my life back. Started gaining confidence and having more energy.. That only pushed me to stay on track!! I lost 75lbs in 8 months! I quit drinking alcohol!I did alot of research on what I needed to eat and best workouts to do. Results were stunning! Although I’m not at my goal body fat %.. I will get there!! I will continue to stay on track and hopefully inspire as many people I can! Thank you so much for joining me as I make this transition!!”

Martini recently started her own fitness page. Check it out for even more inspiration!
https://www.facebook.com/fitsquadNOLA?ref=hl

“HARD WORK BEATS TALENT WHEN TALENT FAILS TO WORK HARD”

 

“HARD WORK BEATS TALENT WHEN TALENT FAILS TO WORK HARD”

Listen to me.. The battle starts with your mindset.. It is about you and that gym.. you and that track.. you and whatever battlefield you compete on.. It has NOTHING to do with your opponents.. It’s about beating the odds.. As your stepping onto those battlegrounds.. remember all those who said you weren’t strong enough.. weren’t fast enough.. weren’t going to get to that size.. weren’t going to lift that weight..weren’t good enough.. weren’t talented enough..Well i got news for them.. IT’S NOT THEIR FIGHT TO FIGHT!! Its YOURS! Make the impossible possible… You can’t choose how and where you were born, but you can choose where you can be..Your dream, your challenge, your chance, your life, your strength, your passion, and your desire.. they all add up to make a potion that no words can change the results to..Its your world.. How do you want people to remember it..?? #BEASTVISION

David “The Beast” Douglas
www.I-AM-BEAST.com