Workout check-in: You all deserve a (p)real good hand of applause! :)

krokador

For keeping up with it, and persevering, and just overall showing up! Don't be a fool and think what you're doing isn't worth it. It all adds up. Keep going!

(Runner ups for the pun of the month were: A(p)really silly workout thread, or April-ling foray into working out (thrilling, prilling, yeah, that,s why it's a runner up xD)

Today... Today ladies (and gentlemen, if you're lurking around), I back squatted for the first time in, well, months. I had this lower back issue which had been dragging for a while, and it was really bad. To the point that the last time I tried squatting with just the bar, my lower back spasmed up for over a day. So, yeah.

I was actually wary and had written FRONT squats on my log. Cuz, uh, I know I can handle these, been doing them with KBs all throughout without too many issues. So I started with a set of front squats at 35lbs.

Then I kept working on my hips like I always do, and stared at the bar a bit, and something took over me and I just put my hands in their spot, braced and dove into it. I was a little off-center to be fair, but it all still felt pretty natural, and i squatted, and it felt GREAT!

So I kept going with back squats, with the motto that there would be no grinding and no pain. Stopping the minute it hurt.

45x5
65x5
85x3
95x5 first work set
95x5
105x5
115x...4
It was heartbreaking to stop there, but I was beginning to fold over, and I really want to reimprint the movement pattern with as good form as I can get.

So I moved on to deadlifts. Did not push my luck with those, tho. Went with the trap bar. Easier on the lower back!
80x5
100x5
130x5
170x5
180x5
190x4
somethign went crickle crackle sparkle in my left hip during that last rep at 190. So that was it

Then moved on to leg press, 90x15, 135x15, 180x12, 180x13
lying leg curls 20x10, 30x10, 40x7, 40x8
standing calf raises 180x10, 200x10, 220x10, 240x10 (it's impressive how much weight calves can handle O_o I just hope I don't walk with bricks tomorrow xD)

and since I hadn't had a chance to do my bicep curlz and tricep skullcrusherz yezterdayz... geez, stop me someone! lol, I went and did that, as a superset. 25x10, 30x10, 35x10, 40x8 + 12 close grip bench press to finish it all off.

Tomorrow I'm taking mostly off, and I'm gonna do my re-test of 35x3 on Monday I gots plan!

fanncy0626

@krokador thanks for setting up this thread! Great choice with pun!

Stronglift Rest Day

Kettlebell Swing
Goblet squat-6X5X 35
Russian kettle bell swing-32X7X 35

40lbs loss by May 27th Challenge
Rainy day but I will get 2 - 2 mile walks in today. I just have to wear my raincoat.

chichidachimp

So I've been a real food junkie this week. Definitely not my proudest week in terms of clean eating. However, I stepped on the scale this morning and I seem to have lost 1lb despite my abysmal eating. Makes me think what I could have lost had I been eating clean. Plus I worry about the long-term consequences of clogged arteries. Joined the Hogwarts challenge. My first goal is to try to eat salad 5x a week. Because somehow I associate salads with clean eating. Plus I've been doing a horrible job of eating my vegetables.

Stronglifts day off: Ran 11.5mi.

canadianlbs

best title and op ever such a great start to your month as well.

i'm resting. took my neck to massage, made yogurt, made bread, lay around stretching and massage-balling all day and then took a four-hour nap. must be a post-deadlift day or something

jen_092

I turned my conference trip to San Diego into an extended break, heh. Flying back Monday night. I will try to fight the jetlag on Wednesday and lift - I will do major deloads on all. I also start my soccer league that night so I might adjust Stronglifts for less volume considering that plus my new friend, bursitis.

Glad to see everyone doing so well! Happy April!

jowaring

Today's workout after warm up
Squats 5x5@108lbs
Bench 55545@67lbs.think I'll be stuck here for a while.
Rows 5x5@77lbs.
Bulgarian split squats 30 each leg.

fanncy0626

Stronglift Workout B
Squats-1X5X 55/65/75/85, 5X5X 90
OHP- 1X5X 45/50, 5X5X 55
DL- 15X 95/105/115/120

Kettlebell Swing
GobletSquats- 3X5X35
Russian Kettlebell Swing- 16 X7X35

40lbs loss by May 27 Challenge
Beautiful day today! I am taking at least 2 walks today. I will walk at least 5 miles.

lkpducky

I read a(p)real as emphasizing the PR.

krokador

"rest" day for me, so I went for a walk, did a 10 min KB routine (1 arm strict press x3, front rack squat x5 alternating every minute @35lbs), and the hip mobility standing routine with 2x7 of each strengthening exercises. Plus tried to put up a blind on my bedroom window and failed terribly because the wall is crumbling down around the frame of the window

@lkpducky that may or may not have been part of the pun!

chichidachimp

SL day off: Took a 1hr spin class.

canadianlbs

thought about krok today. because i woke up stupid early, did an errand and went to the gym in spite of my stupid neck thing which is still settling down.

where i did an endless warmup/activation regime, and then did squats. CAREFULLY, and stopping at the weight where i felt like i was right at the limit. even though that was just 65 pounds. and in my heart of hearts i know the extra five pounds was pushing it.

either way, i'm really happy with the way my shoulders performed, considering that i think i pulled a scalene or a strand of my upper trap and it's still bothering me. i always do the regular dislocations but this time i also did the round-and-round ones too. where you . . . oh, i don't even know what you do so can't describe it. but when i went into the rack after that i got my hands closer than they've ever been and i could seriously feel the muscle that was protecting me from the bar. been a long time since a squat bar felt that light when i did the unrack.

so, overall good. and it's deload week so 3x5 at 65 is okay. and under the neck circs i don't feel bad about not even making a token effort to bench.

plus, my reconditioned bike with the bitey new tires is spectacular \o/

DawnEmbers

Made it to the gym for deadlifts after work. It wasn't very busy being a Sunday and I didn't even have to wait. However, could not find the micro plates at all. They don't have very many to begin with so have rarely found them but this time, looked around and saw none. Asked when I was leaving and one of the guys couldn't find any either so they are going to order more. Didn't help today but will be nice in the future to have that option as can't always increase by 10. Was supposed to do 112 for 8 reps but was going to do 110 since can't get to that number. Since couldn't find the 2.5s, I had to do 115 instead. Last rep was a challenge.

deadlift - 1x10 @ 115, 1x8 @ 135, belt 1x8 @ 185 and 1x8 @ 215
sdl from 35 plate 1x8 @ 145
yates row from 35 plate 2x8 @ 85
clean 1x8 @ 45, 1x8 @ 65 and 1x5 @ 75
one arm db row 2x10 @ 35

fanncy0626

Stronglift Rest Day

Kettlebell Swing
Goblet squat-6X5X 35
Russian kettle bell swing-23X7X 35

40lbs loss by May 27th Challenge
Beachbody Challenge
Burpees- 5x10
Kick down crunches 5x10

April Move your @$$ Challenge
Today I will take at least 2-2 mile walks.

Katiebear_81

Morning! After two weeks off for mental stress and hip stress, I managed to hit the gym yesterday. It was kind of discouraging to deload after taking so long off... but I know that I needed it.

I made sure to do more warm ups than I usually do, gradually increasing weight to 45 lbs for squats (physio's orders!). I was hoping that they'd have a lighter barbell so I wouldn't have to use the mini ones... but no dice. 45 lbs was a bit of a challenge by the time I got to the end of my 5th set, so I'm really glad I didn't push it beyond that. I think I might do a 3x5 when I go back on Tuesday (at 50 lbs).

OHP was deloaded too... 45 lbs. Realistically I was only getting up to a strong 50 lbs, so this one wasn't as much of a kick in the nuts to deload. 45 lbs was tricky though.

Deadlift was deloaded to 95 lbs. I took longer to gradually warm up to this one too, which I think helped avoid any hip pain. I'm looking forward to adding weight to this one too.

So for the past 3 or so weeks, we've been going rock climbing 1-2x per week, in addition to the SL at the gym. I'm really enjoying the change in pace. It's still a massive work out, and so much of a mental challenge. But I am surprised at how much it's changed my chin-up capacity. I went from struggling to get 1 set of 5 (band-assisted), and can easily crank out 3 sets of 5... I could probably have done more, but we're climbing tonight and didn't want to exhaust my upper body. It's also helping with pull ups, but those are a *kitten* no matter what. LOL.

No SL for me today... but we will be climbing!

krokador

Re-test day came in a bit later than originally planned, and was performed on 5 hours of sleep!

3 sets max recline rows: 12/12/11 for a total of 35 (from 31 about 2 months ago)
3 sets max push-up: 12/10/10 for a total of 32 (from 26, so not too shabby)

30 double KB squat clean & press @20lbs : 3:56 (from 4:22)

So progress all over!

Then I did a short KB burner to round it out: 3 min AMRAP
- 3 KB power snatch Left (30lbs KB)
- 3 burpees
- 3 KB power snatch right
- 3 burpees

2 min rest, then redo circuit for 5 more minutes.

Got 2 rounds and 3 snatches (r), then 4 rounds, 3 snatches left and 1 burpee. For a total of 40 burpees and 24 snatches per side (since I evened it out on the right side xD) Original setup called for 6 burpees rather than 3, but I suck so much at them I figured I'd get a better workout going lower on the reps

Oh, and some hip-specific core work, because I want to keep my back pain free.

And I'm about to go enjoy the elusive sunlight for a luncbreak walksies! =D

chichidachimp

@Katiebear_81 Also loved climbing when I tried it 7 mo ago. My gym opens its rock wall in April on Tues/Thur so I may start hitting it up!! It really helped my grip strength, upper body strength, and core stability but it goes away so quickly. The only thing is it's hard to fit climbing and weightlifting simultaneously in a week without just feeling sore all the time.

@krokador Awesome job on the retest!

SL Week 7 - Lots of DOMS so kept most of the weights steady

Ran 0.6mi as a warmup and cooldown.
5x5 Squats 130 - worked on depth, grip, core stability
5x5 BP 70 - first time at this weight, didn't feel too comfortable. Will stay here for a few workouts.
5x5 BR 85 - stayed at this weight to work on form, not moving my legs

Then stayed an extra 10min to stretch and foam roll my legs. Have a lot of soreness around my IT band and calves. Going to start incorporating more glute/calf stretches in my usual quick stretches. I also bought a foam roller for home to help with recovery.

amyinthetardis1231

Squats 3x3@ 160. 2 increases away from body weight!
Bench: 5x5 @ 87
Wretched rows: 97

Ran into my trainer today and asked him to have a look at my deadlifts on Weds to check form.

lkpducky

@amyinthetardis1231 good thinking to have your dl form checked.

@chichidachimp same story here with tight IT band and calves. Got to do my rolling too.

@krokador that's one helluva job!

@Katiebear_81 great progress on the upper body!

I wish my gym had microplates. I suspect if they do, they're all hidden in the personal trainer area. I'll have to bring my own.

Right now my nose is running faster than my legs. Not sure when I'll be well enough to train again. Hopefully in a couple of days this bug will be gone.

canadianlbs

awed by the climbers. i find it scary to look down as i change a lightbulb.

my become-a-left-footed-cyclist project is progressing.

first week of tryign to do it i literally could not work out how to make it happen. fell over(ish) a few times telling myself to put the OTHER foot down when i came to a stop, and my brain just going 'right foot? wait, what, do we have a right foot? i can't find it.' literally. so that's getting better. i finally taxonomized the movement itself, so now if i start going all neurofail, i remind myself it's just standing, and then you just drop the one foot. so that gets my right foot down with my weight on it, and the left foot free to step off. but my groke.

pushing off with the left has been . . . wows. another thing turns out my brain doesn't know how it does that, so just finding the right pedal height has been a dissertation thesis. and then i was being so awkward just at committing my weight onto that leg, that i spent the weekend going 'what the hell have i done to my left teres complex? turns out, i was yarding back on the handlebar on that side just to try and get leverage. but today i started doing little practice/activation drills while en route, but cranking back to about 9 o'clock on the left and then pushing forward through that. and i think my brain/body is starting to lay the groundwork.

second last thing: mount and dismount. this one's just crazy, but if in the heat of some moment i honestly can't hold things up while i walk round the bike and get my left leg to do it, then the first chance i get, i MAKE myself do make-up reps with this one. left leg over, touch ground, left leg back.

aaaand finally, walking the bike. actually, this one might be the single greatest cause of my twisted pelvis. so, this too i am being absolutely draconian on. i MAY NOT walk my bike from the left. it has to be done from the right. fortunately, this one is easy to do because doing it feels physically good.

fingers crossed for an uncrossed s.i.

aside from that, i stopped off and did my deload deadlifts and overhead presses today after work. and some rows, but only with 65 pounds. because deload week \o/ \o/

Katiebear_81

I am also terrified at lightbulb height. So it's not just stretching my physical abilities.

Strange how patterns (bike riding for instance) is such an ingrained activity. Best luck to you as you continue retraining your brain!

Katiebear_81

Also: if I hear my significant other tell me how climbing is "real world strength" and weight lifting will make me bulky, or how I should do high reps at low weights to tone my body, I will smother him with a pillow. Full stop. He won't even see it coming.