Hey ladies and gentlemen.

I'm a 22 year old female and have been lifting for almost a year now and training MMA for about two months. My focus is mainly Brazilian jiu jitsu, but I also box, wrestle and do some judo occasionally.

Weight: 125-130lbs
Height: 5'7"

I'm on a strength routine that consists of squatting, deadlifting, benching and overhead pressing. Here are my current maxes:

Deadlift: 205lbs
Squat: 150lbs
Bench: 105lbs
Push press: 80lbs

My concentration right now is doing all of these lifts with good form while also increasing weight. I have a plethora of injuries (sciatica, back pain, shoulder pain, etc.) and am currently in the process of correcting them.

I am excited to hear advice from other strong women (and men) that can help me become better, stronger and more powerful!

I am not sure if it was an omission, but, if not, you need to add a vertical and horizontal pull to balance out the pushing. A good rule of thumb is two reps pulling for every one rep pushing. If you are pushing only, that would explain sciatica, back and shoulder pain.

Holy cow it's my twin.

Twins are awesome. Especially when they are both into fighting!! Awesome to have you here, Disco. What got you interested in MMA?

Jack, You are right. There should be both vertical and horizontal pull.

Welcome to PW Dani

Definetely practice good form on those DLs. They rehabbed my back better than therapy ever has or can do, but the form is of course, essential.
Sure I got a lot of shit for working through back pain, but it was definetely worth it since my back got much stronger and I am pain-free right now.

Thanks for the welcome everybody. I've had a virus on my computer at home so I don't get too keep up on my logging.

@Beast, I started with Brazilian Jiu Jitsu through friends and quickly became obsessed. Eventually my interest just evolved into MMA because the classes were offered at my school and were part of my monthly membership to attend. Now, I can't imagine not going!

An update on my training:

Friday - BJJ (1.5 hours)
Saturday - BJJ (2 hours)
Sunday - BJJ (1.5 hours)

I really want to lift twice a week but I am absolutely BEAT from the jiu jitsu. I can't seem to fit gym time into into my schedule because I'm either too busy with school or just flat out tired. Really going to need to make some adjustments.

One tough schedule you have there. I sort of know what you say.

My training is:
Mo: jujutsu
Tu: BJJ
We: lifting (squat and bench press + assistance lifts)
Thu: jujutsu
Fr: rest
Sat: rest or lifting (DL and OHP + assistance lifts)
Su: lifting (if not done Saturday) and BJJ

All I can say, eat plenty and healthy, sleep well and loose all the not so necessary assistance lifts or volume. Take deload weeks in lifting. And you probably don't need to do extra cardio either. Luckily your young, so your recovery is good.

Good luck with your training.

Monday night

Skipped boxing, but made it to BJJ for 1.5 hours.

I revamped my diet a bit and I already have more energy. Added more protein, veggies and fruit and I'm eating more frequently.

Might lift today. Will update later if I do.

FINALLY got the energy and time to get to the gym yesterday.

Had a bad start though. My stopwatch ran out of battteries, bitch at the front desk refused to let me in because I didn't have my I.D., walked all the way home to find out I was locked out of my house, jump rope broke, failed my PR goal for pressing. Surprisingly I still made it, pfew!

Warm-up - walking back and forth my house, obviously had to skip jump roping
Did some hip-opening exercises

Front Squats
Bar x 10 (back squat)
65 x 5
75 x 3
85 x 3
85 x 3
85 x 3
85 x 3
85 x 3
Bar x 5 (back squat)

5 lb. shoulder complexes
Push press
Bar x 10
55 x 5
65 x 5
70 x 5 (hard!)
70 x 5
70 x 5
65 x 5

DB Press
15 x 12
15 x 12

Donkey kicks

Chins
BW x 3
BW x 3

Planks
BW x 0:45sec
BW x 0:45 sec

Static Stretching

BJJ tonight afterwards 1.5 hours, hard session.

That is good stuff on the presses. Are you standing or seated for the presses?

Sounds like a rough day! Good to see you still managed to make it to the gym after all that!

life will always give you signs that you shouldn't be there. the only one you should listen to is if you kick your ass and get to the gym, throw the weight around and still feel like going home. that and being sick. I don't beleive in working out through a cold.

welcome
N

More food and gym time..

Life is Good!

Happy Halloween!

Might have torn something in my knee a few days ago. Gonna wait it out for the next few days and see if its serious enough to get an MRI. They're probably getting annoyed with me at the Imaging office. Until then, time to be a bench monkey again!

Shoulder complex warm-up

Bar x 10
55 x 5
65 x 5
75 x 5
80 x 5
85 x 5 **volume PR**
95 x 1
95 x 1
95 x 0
95 x 1
95 x 0
90 x 0
65 x 10

Chins
BW x 2, 2, 2, 2, 2

Reverse hypers on plyo boxes
BW x 10
BW x 10

Supported leg raises
BW x 12
BW x 12

Body weight = 133 This the most I've ever weighed but I have very little body fat.

Bummer! Hope its not a big deal so you can keep at it!

Sorry to hear about the knee - hope it's not too serious!

Thanks for the encouragement. I've still been going to jiu jitsu classes and watching the technique. It's been hard not to jump in but for once, I am actually taking care of myself and avoiding making it worse. Normally, I just ignore it.

Might do some BW stuff before going to tonights class.

Went to the doctor today and found out that I tore my MCL. Getting an MRI soon to find out the severity and hopefully getting in some therapy asap.

I plan on just doing a lot of corework and pressing/pulling until I can get back to jiu jitsu and other lifting.

Merde - injuries and rehab are part of this forum too.
Take care and heal smartly.

Thanks nlmain.

Update:

I got an MRI on Tuesday. The results were "normal" but I am still in pain and can't squat/kneel/move my leg in any weird ways. Went to get a second opinion from an orthopedic and he agreed that there doesn't seem to be a tear but just a sprain to my MCL and patella ligament. A few more weeks and I should be ready to go. Physical therapy starts this Wednesday.

That's awesome that you don't have a tear, avoiding surgery is huge.

Wooooohh weeee...it's been a long time since I have posted here. I figured I should update my current condition (to excuse my absence and to also ask for input). It's been almost exactly three months since I sprained my MCL and I am no where near being better, might even be worse. Both of my knees began to ache and ROM was horrible so I got more x-rays. I don't know how they missed this the first time, but this time they diagnosed me as having "patella femoral syndrome." In words that I can understand, my patella tendons are 2 inches longer than my actual kneecap making them very insecure and prone to popping out.

I have stopped doing jiu jitsu permanently and will probably never be able to dedicate myself to it ever again but I'd like to get back into heavy lifting, making that my first priority. I cannot squat/deadlift as of right now, but I can press! So that's what I've been doing.

I've also been on the stationary bike quite a lot and doing TKEs (Terminal Knee extensions)

If anyone has a similar situation or any input, that would be greatly appreciated. =)