Watch Transgender Athlete Janae Kroc Hit 415 for 10 Reverse Band Bench Press

You may be familiar with Janae Kroc, a trans/genderfluid/nonbinary bodybuilder, and powerlifter who has received a lot of attention and criticism for her decision to transition and compete in men’s divisions. Back in July, Kroc revealed that she’d be competing in bodybuilding again in an effort to earn an IFBB pro card after being ‘outted’ in 2015. 

Well, Janae Kroc has been training diligently to improve upon her physique and strength progress, and she recently posted a training update on Instagram detailing the deload week she frequently does to avoid overtraining. 

Here’s what Kroc wrote to accompany the video…

“I haven’t posted much training in a while so here’s a little bench work from today. Today is my deload weak/high volume day where I do 5 sets of 10 on bench then some assistance work afterwards.

I performed 3 warm up sets then did reverse band bench 415×10 for 5 sets followed by 3 sets of inclines, 3 sets of dumbbell bench, and one set to failure of body weight stretch pushups. I deload once every four weeks to prevent overtraining, give my joints a break, and to include some hypertrophy work.”

“Since I know people will ask why I use the reverse band setup….. Right now the biggest reason I am using them is because it takes pressure off the shoulders and pec tendons at the bottom of the lift and helps prevent injury.

Bands are also very useful for strengthening your lockout, teaching you to push explosively off the chest, and pushing past mental barriers by allowing you to use heavier weights than normal. They have been one of my favorite assistance exercises for increasing my bench press for a long time.”

View this post on Instagram

I haven't posted much training in a while so here's a little bench work from today. Today is my deload weak/high volume day where I do 5 sets of 10 on bench then some assistance work afterwards. I performed 3 warm up sets then did reverse band bench 415×10 for 5 sets followed by 3 sets of inclines, 3 sets of dumbbell bench, and one set to failure of body weight stretch pushups. I deload once every four weeks to prevent overtraining, give my joints a break, and to include some hypertrophy work. Since I know people will ask why I use the reverse band setup….. Right now the biggest reason I am using them is because it takes pressure off the shoulders and pec tendons at the bottom of the lift and helps prevent injury. Bands are also very useful for strengthening your lockout, teaching you to push explosively off the chest, and pushing past mental barriers by allowing you to use heavier weights than normal. They have been one of my favorite assistance exercises for increasing my bench press for a long time. #powerlifting #benchpress

A post shared by Janae Marie (@janaemariekroc) on Dec 15, 2019 at 9:44am PST

In November, 7x Mr. Olympia Phil Heath and fitness personality Mike Rashid stepped into to defend Janae Kroc who was being bullied on the internet. And it’s really unfortunate to see but at 47, Kroc isn’t letting the negativity interfere with her goals and ambitions. 

View this post on Instagram

This is #transgenderawarenessweek and I feel it's important to bring attention to the fact that so much of our community is invisible. I don't blame a single trans person for wanting to just be accepted as who they are and not wanting to have to deal with discrimination, harassment, and possible violence. But the unfortunate side affect of that is society not only has no idea how many of us there actually are but also how many of us are healthy, happy, and productive members of our world. They have no idea that some of their coworkers, neighbors, and even friends are actually transgender. So they continue to believe the myths and lies about our community and the only time they hear anything about us is when a story hits news headlines and unfortunately the vast majority of the time those are very negative. Typically it's either about one of us getting murdered or something that is mocking and reinforces negative stereotypes. Fortunately more and more of us are choosing to be visible and helping to change the attitudes toward our community. But until society can see us as the doctors, lawyers, CEO's, athletes, military personnel, and productive members of society that we are it is going to be extremely difficult to reduce the amount of discrimination and hate that we face. I look forward to the day when no trans person ever feels the need to hide their true identity out of fear for their family, career, or safety. #transgender #genderfluid #nonbinary #gendernonconforming #girlslikeus #transisbeautiful #genderqueer #transandproud

A post shared by Janae Marie (@janaemariekroc) on Nov 16, 2019 at 2:18pm PST