RECAP PRECAP

Tot & Ti Take USPA Nationals

To be continued...

IN 'LIVIN COLOR

Don't know what to do with your wide-open Saturday? Looking for an alternative to hours of candy crush (are people still playing that??)? Dying to watch some heavy steel jacking?

Well you're in luck! Catch Tot&Ti take the platform live from beautiful Las Vegas!

Lifts start this morning at 9am PST.

The Guns & Buns Show: http://m.ustream.tv/channel/uspa-nationals-july-18th-20th

Both are on the blue platform - Tot in flight B and Ti in flight A.

NAPPY HAIR AND HEAVY WEIGHT

Cheers to The Deload!

Monday we got in our final workout before Saturday's competition. 1/3 of the volume and weight we've been doing during this training cycle – meaning the 'girl's bar' and weenie plates. 

Also focus on form and repetition to make up for the lack of steel. 

So now, we rest and let the gains GAIN.

Aside from rest and gaining and drinking an un-godly amount of water (I have a pee tally going on my desk right now), these few days are also dedicated for game day preparation!

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Now, you're probably saying to yourself, "Self,  I bet the training is the most important part of getting prepped for the competition." Well, we're here to tell you that you're WRONG! It's all about the HAIR! Yes, I said it, the hair. Sure we've got to make sure our outfit and nails look good (which we will address in the days to come), but if your hair doesn't look good people will never make it down to the outfit and nails. 
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OR the booty.

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Now, i'm sure you're thinking "Oh yeah, that should be super easy to do." WRONG again! It just so happens that it's one of the hardest things for us to figure out. Why? Because we are mixed chicks with (for lack of a better word and since Tiana used it in the title) nappy hair (I think I like the word curly better). This means our hair has to be in a great mood the day of the comp and want to curl just the right way. And that's IF we wear it curly; we can also wear it straight. 
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Since going bald, I've had to completely re-strategize my performance hairstyling. It's an extremely thin line between 12 year old girl and edgy-athletic. 

Still perfecting the balance.
Haha, no but as mentioned - it's something I have to think about a week or so in advance. Wearing it straight feels easiest and I can put it up and back down without an arsenal of product and tools. BUT, there's the sweat possibility to consider and the 2-3 day workback schedule. When I straighten, it looks best and is most manageable after it's settled in a few days. A very basic diagram for your curly pleasure:

So once you find that balance (bald like Tiana or not) you've gotta top it off with none other than a sparkly headband. It's a must! It's your statement piece and is guaranteed to make the hair style pop off. Mine happens to be sparkly purple and you better believe it's packed and ready to go.

As you can see, I went for the "straight hair, dont care" look at this comp. Of course accompanied by the purple headband to make that thang pop!

But on a serious note, Powerlifting is known and perceived as a very masculine sport, so for us it's extremely important to bring in elements that truly define who "WE" are. Its actually been awesome watching the Powerlifting scene transform little by little. Women are proving that we can look good and lift heavy weight.

So remember, when prepping for a competition or a big lifting day, make sure to have your hair on point and your headband shinin'. 

Then, and only then, are you ready to jack some serious steel.

THE MEAT OF THE MATTER

People always ask us "Why do you compete?" or "Is your end goal to compete?"  Both are fair questions because I'm sure from the outside looking in we seem crazy.
Truth is, I started competing because I saw it as a great checkpoint; a way to keep myself motivated and working toward something.  My end goal isn't to compete, it's to live a fit and healthy life. Powerlifting and focusing on my nutrition is what is enabling me to do that and competing is simply a by-product.
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I'd say my reasoning is much of the same, that coupled with the fact I like Yogurtland.

Like, a lot.

I've learned through powerlifting that sometimes you just need to jump in, as you are – no someday's. When Tatiana & Joe invited me into the gym I wanted to get myself 'ready' first (whatever that meant in my head at the time is probably a hilarious version of 'ready' now that I'm a lifter for realsies). 

I wanted to be strong enough before coming in. I wanted to be able to not just complete the workout but crush it and prove who knows what. 

I think we all do this from time to time in so many areas aside from fitness.

Things get put off until the perfect storm arrives, when we're finally at the pinnacle moment of readiness.

Welp. That place doesn't exist and the storm ain't comin. 

Where you are is exactly where you are supposed to be.

Even after I did get inside gym walls and got consistent, I was just lifting to lift and sensing the somewhat open ended question I had posed for myself. 

Finally my coach verbalized this for me – if I was doing all of this work, why not just compete?

Uhh, duh because I want to compete and WIN not just compete for fun [read: fun that's really not fun unless you win].

I was waiting for the storm that didn't exist.

Thank goodness for peer pressure!

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Competing is a great checkpoint because of all the things you have to do to get prepared to be at your absolute best. The main thing is your nutrition.

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I know food prepping is all the rage right now so I like to just refer to mine as 'cooking' - remember the good 'ol days?

This is a novel all on it's own so I'll skip to this week's synopsis for ya. This weekend I cooked the worlds most boring menu...for a football team. Don't ask me why, nothing was even on sale (except Chia seeds - go get those at Sprouts right now because it was kind of incredible) I just got really excited to be super strict for the week while maintaining my gainz (always with a z) during this de-load week. 

 I've got 18 chicken breasts (marinated in shwarma spices), 20 pounds of coconut milk sautéed kale, 72 baked sweet potatoes and a small barrel of balsamic broccoli.

And I don't even like broccoli. 

Like really? who's eating all of this??

Haha okay exaggerating, kind of. 

Along with lunches and dinners for the whole week I usually cook (in FitFam terms that's 'prep') some breakfast rosemary sweet potatoes to heat at work after lifting days. I pair that with eggs and a piece of protein (peppered turkey bacon usually). This is after my post-workout shake and fruit. And coffee, lots of it. 

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The week leading up to the comp is extremely important if you are trying to make weight. Your weight is what determines which class you are in and ultimately who you are competing against.
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I will be competing in the 148lb weight class but live at the low end of that class (the next one down being 132lb). I won't have a problem making weight but kept this week's menu super basic to see if I can drop any pounds without all-out fasting. Variety, flavor and actual enjoyment is possible through prepping meals - it doesn't have to be as depressing as my menu above and my usual weeks are full of experiments and food I actually look forward to eating.

Tatiana touched on it earlier but powerlifting has taught me the most about health, nutrition and a healthy view on both. Sure I can deplete myself and count macros and on and on and to see how low or lean I can get but at this moment, I'm aiming for something sustainable and realistic. 

It'll probably change, my goals will shift and I'll want something different but for now, living at this weight affords me strength and it affords me a life balance that I can't get from stressing over food. I want the things I'm putting in my body and food has become fuel as opposed to a gift from Satan himself. 

A gift much like the ones Tatiana and I faced this afternoon at our dear friend's bridal shower. 

And we won't even discuss the mimosa situation.

Fact is, it's there day in and day out and we choose our battles instead of feeling awful about every single one. We tables of those Satan gifts in front of us all day, but our goals and priorities made it a battle easy to win. 

TB food prepping...for after weigh-ins Friday!

I WOKE UP LIKE THIS

And apparently Tot did too - whoops.

Everyone's favorite jab is that we can't do anything apart and moments like this just adds fuel to the fire. We found each other in the same ensemble before we ever said good morning. 
Fun Fact, I had on green 1's until a last minute footwear swap. It's that weird guys.

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Of course I went the route of Sporty Spice while Tiana always finds a way to "SPICE" up the outfit completely. Dare I ask who wore it best? NO!
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Yesterday was Bench Day. Which is always kind of the whack day of the week. It's Wednesday (whack), it's 6am (whack), you know you're not moving your most impressive numbers (whack), and it's not Friday (whack). Bench Day is just underwhelming as a whole and you don't need nearly as much chalk...whack. Lately I've given Bench Day more of a shot as I missed two of them at my last competition and needed to get my life together. 

Also, because of the Slingshot. 

Have you ever benched in one of those bad boys? THE JOY. 

The pure JOY of pressing 2 pounds less than your max 10 times. 

So, I'm sorry Dear Bench Press...I quit on you and you quit on me 
(twice actually. In front of a lot of people). 
Let's make this right!
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TB setting up for her wild ride with The Slingshot - so cute, right? Poppin' off 10 reps of 135 lbs.

TK Pressing 112.5 10 times and enjoying that silky Slingshot pop off the chest.

TB just gettin it.

I'd like to thank the academy and Tiana for climbing up a very dangerous path to get these shots.

BUT I DON'T WANNA DO FRONT SQUATS

T-minus 12 days to The Dance. The gear-up has been well underway but it's time to put pen to paper (fingers to keys for those living in 2014) and record the next adventure of Tot & Ti. 

So where should we begin...

Oh! I know, how about at 5:30 this morning when I finally stopped hitting snooze to get squat day started?

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Yes, that’s the perfect place to start since I snoozed past 5:30am, but ultimately made it through those gym doors.

If you haven’t caught on by our picture or gym talk, we are powerlifters; among many other random things, prepping to compete at the USPA Powerlifting National Championships in Las Vegas.
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'Many other random things' may include choreographed musical performances, speed dating or your casual triathlon (the middle one being the rare occasion we don't take on an endeavor together – Tot is a happily married woman and while she supports me in most everything, she does in fact cherish her husband). Another favorite pastime of ours is Money On Tha 'Flo Mondays. It's new, but it'll catch on. We kicked off this week's edition of Money on Tha 'Flo Mondays (which just so happened to be the first edition as well) with our absolute [un]favorite – front squats! And not just a handful of these bad boys but 84 of them. SO fun! I'm actually wishing I could be doing all 84 of them right this moment instead of laying in my bed with no bra on. 

Also, that's a lie.
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Anyways, back to the good part... we hope that you enjoy taking this journey with us as we live life above the barbell.
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Or in this case a bit under the barbell, real close to tha 'flo.