CONGRATS ARE IN ORDER!!!!!!!!!

TUESDAY JUNE 19, 2007

Hey Everyone!

Just wanted to drop in and say HELLO! Hope you are all enjoying the spring! (Though I have to say it feels much more like SUMMER in NJ this week!)

I have been training with my buddy ELENA SEIPLE (http://www.elenaseiple.com/) the last 2 weeks almost every night~though I have to admit we have been working out our mouths as much as any of our muscles, LOL!!! That's okay, no pressing issues lately to be hammering ourselves in the gym, haha!

This past weekend members of my STRONGMAN training crew competed at the Central Jersey Strongman, run by the Linden Yard Crew! They always run the best shows! Smooth, effecient, and lots of great people!!! You can always count on that! Anyway, the show had a great turnout and even had a record set in the axle press. If you have never been to a Strongman Competition you have no idea what you are missing. I would take watching one of those over the best BB'ing show ANYDAY! They are just so energizing and inspiring to see....the feats of strength that go on at these shows are worth the trip....check out http://www.nastrongmaninc.com/ for shows near you and contest results!

So I wanted to say A HUGE CONGRATS TO ALL WHO COMPETED....AND I WILL GO DOWN THE LIST.........but first the events........

Max Axle Press:

Athlete will have 3 attempts to clean and press their max weight. Continental cleans allowed. Wessels rule in effect. 60 seconds each attempt.

Women: LW: 90 HW: 120 10# increments
Teen: LW: 180 HWLWMA: 200 20# increments
Men: LW/HWMA: 220 HW: 240 20# increments


Deadlift:
Athlete will have 60 seconds to complete as many full reps as possible. Standard barbell, will be given and up and down command. Straps and chalk allowed, NO SUITS!!

Women: LW: 225 HW: 315
Teen: LW: 365 HW/LWMA: 455
Men: LW/HWMA: 500 HW: 600


Keg Press :
Athletes will clean the keg once and complete as many reps in 60 sec. HW Women andTeens will use a log; clean once and press away.

Women: LW: 60 keg HW: 130 log
Teen: LW: 160 log HW/LWMA: 180 log
Men: LW/HWMA: 160 keg HW: 200 keg


Yoke/Keg Carry:
Athletes will have 75 sec. to yoke walk 50', then carry implement 50'.

Women: LW: 300/120 HW: 400/160
Teen: LW: 400/200 HW/LWMA: 500/200
Men: LW/HWMA: 650/230 HW: 750/270


Atlas Stones:
TOP TEN EACH DIVISION WILL COMPETE IN STONES

8 Stones, 1st four to 52”, 2nd four to 48”. Women will use cylinders and light stones. 75 second time limit.

Women: LW: 80 sandbag(7), 160 stone HW: 120 sandbag(6), 160, 210
Teen: LW: 120(4), 160, 210, 230, 260 HW: 120(4), 210, 230, 260, 280
Men: LW/MA: 250(2), 280(2), 310(2), 330(2) HW: 280(2), 310(2), 330(2), 360(2)

And one more note........the women who competed were AMAZING! In particular LW competitor MARGARET BOYLE! The woman has 5 children, and I first met her at my first comp, Stronger Then All in 2005...she was pregnant and waiting to compete again! Well, she is cleaning house now and was inspirational to watch Saturday!! AWESOME JOB!

Now, onto our crew........

In the lightweight teen class, Patrick and Jimmy rocked the class! It was Jimmy's first show and he took 4th~due to his dedication and hard training consistantly in the gym, he showed up and secured a nice placing! Patrick, fresh off winning the teen l.w. class 3 weeks ago at Battle of the Badasses in NY state showed up and gave lots of heart and walked away with a second place trophy!!! AWESOME JOB to you both!

Alex competed in the teen heavyweight class, and it was also his first show....
he has an amazing ability to run with the yolk and finished the yolk/keg medley easily! He gave the rest of his events his all and took home a 6th place trophy at his first show!!! YOU ROCK ALEX!

Not onto the mens lightweight class....2 of the crew, Damien & Larry were competing for the first time and after only a few months of training decided to step into competition....they took home 10th and 9th respectively! Jon gave the day an awesome run, hitting 2 of his 3 attempts at the axle, a nice number on his pull, and reps on the event that gave everyone fits...the keg press! He took home 6th. Robbie nailed all 3 of his attempts on the axle, did nicely on his pull, but the keg killed his placing....he and Jon both did good on the yolk/keg medley but Rob's problems with the log placed him in 12th...

Finally in the men's heavyweight, former holder of the WORLDS STRONGEST TEEN title Kyle, only 22 years old, was rocking his class, winning his first event with a 340 pound axle press and taking second in the deadlift. He pulled a bad cramp in his hamstrong on the incredibly difficult keg press and was forced to pull out of the rest of the competition....despite only competing in 2 of 5 events he still managed a 4th place finish! How do you like that???? :)

Well all, I have to run! Hope you enjoyed the pics of the competitors~some training inspiration for you! And I leave you with a few more! ENJOY!

Till next time,
Keep pumpin' hard!!!
XXOO
Heather Lee

REMINISCING ON STRONGMAN!

Hey All!

HAPPY WEEKEND!!!!!!!! Yay!!! Finally! I just woke up....lazy bum! It's my one guilty pleasure...sleeping late on Saturdays! haha!

Anyway, so if you read my last blog, you know I have been digging thru all my old archives looking some good old stuff...I love reminiscing on the past! Well, I dug this one up for you from my first STRONGMAN competition a few years back. It was actually reposted on GENEX magazine on FTVIDEO.com....Enjoy the read.........
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Heather Lee's Painful Strongman experience

March 2005 - Heather Lee is a National ranked bodybuilder who most recently competed at the 2004 NPC Nationals and is preparing for the 2005 Nationals where she says she plans "to avenge that crappy placing last year!" Although said in jest, you know that Lee will 'bring it!' and judging from her experiences in both powerlifting and strongman, it's obvious that the talented athlete is hard core.

Heather gave us a little look at her experience that we've excerpted here. To read the full details and to see more of Heather, check out her website: www.heatherleenj.com

We think you'll enjoy her commentary and we have a new level of respect for this amazing woman!

In her own words...
March 22 Diary entry: "I have not been able to get out of bed or off of the couch since Saturday when I got home. Can you say...PAIN?!?! If I could make that word PAIN larger or more bold to emphasize the amount of pain I am in, I would. Does that explain how I feel???

"Let me start off by saying I have the highest level of respect for the women who compete in Strongman. I have found both Powerlifting and Bodybuilding to be painful in ways...whether it be in the dieting and water depletion in getting ready for a bodybuilding show...or the extreme internal pressure you feel "in the hole" while squatting in a canvas suit...or the grueling workouts you put yourself through for both. However, I can say with not one ounce of doubt...none of that even remotely compares to the pain I felt while competing in strongman.

"I arrived on Saturday morning around 8 am and got breakfast. Then I headed over to the arena. The show was set to start at noon. I weighed in at 156 pounds, and then had time to play around with the equipment before the meeting and rules. Now mind you, I never trained for this, nor have I ever used any of the equipment that I would be using during the competition. I was able to have a friend show me how to get under the tire (which was 500 pounds) and throw my body into it to flip it...that is all technique (and of course some strength). The way I originally tried to do it rendered the tire motionless. Once I was shown how to do it, it moved, not necessarily with ease, but nonetheless, it flipped. Ok, some confidence there. I played with the rest of the equipment but didn't really get the full force of it because no weight was on the apparatus. The only exception there was the kegs...I had to lift 150 pound kegs, which I tried and was able to do.



...

"I ended up taking 4th place in the event. I am proud I gave it a shot, and though I had a really hard time and I am paying for it now, I am happy I did it. I have nothing but respect for those women I competed against. They were all amazing, and all so very nice. I didn't expect the level of camraderie that was there....when it is your event everyone rallies around you and supports you, cheers for you, and tries to egg you on to finish the event no matter how painful. I was introduced to a world in a sport I knew nothing about, and they welcomed me with open arms!!!

"I also have to thank my support crew....My husband and family,and all of my friends for coming to support me...Marta, Bianca, Claudia...and Elena who was there in spirit since her brother was getting married that day. She would have been right along side me cheering me on, if not competing herself! And a special thanks to Bianca who worked 'till 4 am the night before and still got her butt up and drove all the way there for me!!! :) (Even though I caught her napping in the competitors warmup area, LOL!!!!!!!) HAHA!!!! BUSTED!!!!

...

'Till next time,
Keep pumpin' hard!!!
XOXO
Heather Lee

"BLAST FROM THE PAST"


HEY ALL!

JUST READING THRU ALL OF MY OLD BLOG'S~HERE IS A BLAST FROM THE PAST FOR YOU...I WROTE THIS 9 DAYS OUT FROM THE USA'S IN 2003....FUNNY WHAT GOES THRU YOUR HEAD WHEN YOU ARE GETTING READY FOR A SHOW. ANYWAY, I TOOK 2ND AT MY FIRST SHOT AT THE USA'S~HERE IS WHAT I WAS THINKING A WEEK AND 2 DAYS BEFORE IT........AND FUNNY, TO READ I WAS 24, TURNING 25 AT THE TIME I WROTE THIS....I WILL BE 29 NEXT MONTH...GRRR....LOL!

ANYWAY, ENJOY THE READ, AND TAKE A LOOK AT THE PICS ABOVE AND BELOW...THAT WAS WHAT I LOOKED LIKE ONSTAGE IN JULY OF 2003.... AND SCROLL DOWN AND READ THE OLD BLOG I JUST DUG UP! WISH I HAD KNOWN HOW GREAT I WOULD LOOK WHEN I WAS WRITING THIS!

XXXOOO
HEATHER LEE

Hey Everyone~
9 days and counting! I cannot wait until this is over...I am so excited and at the same time anxious to get it over with! I wish I had a time machine so I could fast forward to next Saturday and see how I do. The worst is the time in between pre-judging and the night show...hours of sitting and waiting to get onstage again...unsure of how you placed...ugghh...

Once I get onstage I love being there~it's like flicking a lightswitch on! It goes so quick though...12 weeks worth of pre-contest prep and a whole 5 minutes of glory. How funny!

I am down to 138.4 as of this morning...I was holding at 140 for the last few days but it just dropped this morning. Hopefully I can keep it down. I am sick of eating chicken, rice, oatmeal....I just want bread and butter~actually a toasted poppy seed bagel is more like it! Chicken parm, pasta, dessert...this resturant by me that my friend owns has the best dessert~it's a Reese's pie~sort of like a mousse cake but more solid~it is hands down my favorite dessert EVER!!! He is going out to Vegas with us and he is bringing me a whole pie to eat after my show...mmmm...yummy! I cannot wait! It's amazing how I spend so much time now thinking about food. I go into the grocery store and I plan out what I want to eat after my show...it's crazy.

I have about 20 of my friends going out to see me in Vegas~it's really nice to have such a big support group~Hope I don't let them down! :)

I feel pretty confident in myself~I have come down really nicely the last few weeks~I maintained a lot of my size and am still pretty shapely~I have work to do this coming year, mostly on my upperbody, but all in all I am happy with the package I am bringing to the USA's.

My birthday is on Saturday~I can't believe I will be 25 years old! WOW!!! It kind of stinks~I can't even have birthday cake...oh well, guess I will celebrate that in Vegas! (with that Reeses pie! LOL)!

I have been going for massages every week on Thursday~It's really been helping me a lot~I feel like all the tension I had built up in my back is gone. Plus it's time for me to help me relax, take my mind off of everything....just clear my head!

Well, that's all for now~I have a photoshoot in an hour~time to get ready.

Till next time...
Keep pumpin' hard!
XOXO
Heather Lee

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