Becca Swanson

Getting Started Advice

Becca — Sat, 06 Aug 2011 17:20:05 +0000

Dear Becca,

I’m 23 years old. 6′ tall and I weigh 320lbs. I’m pretty much a couch potato. I use to lift in high school. But, that was a few years ago. What is your best advice to lose weight and get back my strength? Everyone looks at me as a powerhouse! to the average joe, i’m physically strong. But, i know i’m weak. I’m way too heavy and my cardio sucks. I’m planning to start at my local YMCA. I need some advice on what to eat thats affordable but will help me lose the weight and get stronger. Any advice would be wonderful. I look forward to hearing from you.

Lisa, my friend!

Hopefully you can afford some time. Because you will need to spend it in low heartrate cardio, lifting and food preparation.

Before breakfast in the morning do some low heartrate cardio. Get a heartrate monitor and stay in a zone around 130 bpm. Try to work up to an hour about 5 days a week.

Cook all of the food you need for the day in advance. If you are prepared, you will be successful. I used to cook a bunch on Sundays and it would last me through Thursday. Eat 5 or 6 meals a day. The first three are carbs and protein, but no more than 40 carbs per meal. The last three meals are only protein and fat, some green veggies are allowed. You can keep track of your food intake on www.fitday.com. Make sure you are eating around 1800 calories per day.

Lift HEAVY 4 days a week. Chest/shoulders, back/abs, bis/tris, legs/calves

You can do this girl!! I am pulling for you!!

New Trainer

Becca — Fri, 05 Aug 2011 05:23:18 +0000

I am so excited! I have a new trainer, Matt Major, and he is amazing! He is teaching me some Olympic style lifting, the “snatch” and the “clean and jerk”. We are going to take video every time I train with him, so come back to see me learn some new moves.

Check out Matt’s website here: http://www.mattrmajor.com/

Crossfit Games

Becca — Sat, 30 Jul 2011 20:20:22 +0000

Check out the events at the CrossFit Games this weekend. Brutal!! See how fit these people are?!

http://games.crossfit.com/finals/workouts

Training in the Park 3

Becca — Sat, 23 Jul 2011 07:07:35 +0000

Third one… my MMA friend Chris Bell is starting a “Training in the Park” class. There are a bunch of locals from Thousand Oaks, California who come together and do crazy stuff! Check out these pictures! More to come.

Training in the Park 2

Becca — Tue, 19 Jul 2011 07:03:51 +0000

Again, my MMA friend Chris Bell is starting a “Training in the Park” class. There are a bunch of locals from Thousand Oaks, California who come together and do crazy stuff! Check out these pictures! More to come.

Training In the Park

Becca — Fri, 15 Jul 2011 06:38:30 +0000

My MMA friend Chris Bell is starting a “Training in the Park” class. There are a bunch of locals from Thousand Oaks, California who come together and do crazy stuff! Check out these pictures! More to come.

The Old is OUT

Becca — Thu, 14 Jul 2011 00:33:19 +0000

In the process of revamping my life over the last few years, one of the things I have taken time to do is change my account names and passwords. It helps me feel current. I am reinventing myself, so new user ID’s and passwords are in order. I no longer want to be bigbecca00 at whatever dot com. I made that ID ten years ago or so… boring! Not any more!

Check me out on Linked In!!

Learning How to RUN!

Becca — Fri, 24 Jun 2011 22:21:42 +0000

I have always hated running… well, let’s be fair and call it jogging. I would always make the excuse, “I am so big, I shouldn’t run that far.” Truth be told, it felt like torture. It felt like a lot of pain with a lot of effort… UNTIL NOW!!

I learned how to run! It is called Pose Technique. I went from trying to force this huge body off the ground, to falling forward and moving my legs correctly. My hamstrings were sore after the first workout. I feel so GOOD about this!! Eventually, when I get the form down right, it will be “effortless” running… or ah… jogging.

Here is an introductory video via www.crossfit.com. Click here. Then click on Intro to Pose Technique Pt 2.

The 5 Biggest Exercise Myths

Becca — Wed, 08 Jun 2011 05:16:55 +0000

Fun article about weightlifting. It states that our weightlifting mentality is from studies done years ago. Time to upgrade!

The 5 Biggest Exercise Myths.

Tricep Recovery Advice

Becca — Mon, 23 May 2011 01:44:44 +0000

Here is a comment for Mark:

Hello:

I am a 46 (soon to be 47 year old!) powerlifter. In my two most recent competitions I benched 500 lbs. (equipped). I had several cortisone shots over the past two years and the pain continued…on March 30th I tore the tricep tendon. On April 13th I had reattachment surgery. I have a couple questions…I was told 6-8 months before I can even think about light lifting- is this true? I was also told that I would never be able to compete again and never be able to lift as heavy or the same way that I did in the past. Do you have any thoughts on these statements? Any suggestions? Thanks so much for your help!

Let me tell you first of all, longevity is at the top of my list when it comes to decisions I am making in the gym (so is sexiness, but that does not apply to this topic). So, consider what you need for life functioning and adjust accordingly.

Both Jill Mills and I were benching 185 after ten weeks. I didn’t do much of anything for 6 weeks. Generally, it takes a tendon 6 weeks to heal into the bone. But, I think tricep is so vulnerable being on the outside of a pointy joint.

Here is how it will go. You will get doctors advise, but you will go by how well you know your body anyway. It will come naturally when you choose limits and risks. I was doing isometric contractions early on, light in the beginning.

Good luck, fellow powerlifter. May the force be with you!!

(PS use the topics to the right and search for “tricep” blogs. I wrote a two day blog on my injuries and recovery decisions)