Workout Check-in September
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xcalygrl
Posts: 1,897 Member
I couldn't think of a catchy play on words for the title. I tried to think of something about fall/falling, but those were corny and didn't make much sense. Anyways, in case you didn't know, September is Better Yourself month. Let's do this!
I stopped following 5x5 about 6 weeks ago. I took a couple of weeks off in August to figure out what I was doing, where I wanted to go workout wise, and get my home gym in order. I started back up in mid-August, just kind of doing what I wanted to do. Then I decided I needed some structure, so I hired a remote trainer to write me a program. I'll be working with him for the next 10 weeks. So far, his program is kicking my butt (literally, my glutes have some serious DOMs from the first day of the program).
Workout yesterday:
Bench press 4x10 at 65#.
Push-ups
DB Bench flyes 3x10
Dumbbell overhead press 3x8
Lateral and front dumbbell raises 3x8
I stopped following 5x5 about 6 weeks ago. I took a couple of weeks off in August to figure out what I was doing, where I wanted to go workout wise, and get my home gym in order. I started back up in mid-August, just kind of doing what I wanted to do. Then I decided I needed some structure, so I hired a remote trainer to write me a program. I'll be working with him for the next 10 weeks. So far, his program is kicking my butt (literally, my glutes have some serious DOMs from the first day of the program).
Workout yesterday:
Bench press 4x10 at 65#.
Push-ups
DB Bench flyes 3x10
Dumbbell overhead press 3x8
Lateral and front dumbbell raises 3x8
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Slowly, slowly-lowly, my shoulder gets more range of motion with less pain. Whew. I got 3 more running workouts left, so I'll run another 3 SL workouts after this one. Hey, if I don,t deload squats, means I'll get to 170! Zwee! I'm still sprucing up my rest times with shoulder (bo)rehab work
Also managed to get more double unders during my warm-up! They,re terrible form, but they still count!
Squats 155x5x5
I think if anything I was more upright than 150 2 days ago here. Wasn't easy, but it felt pretty okay. Still have yet to have sore legs from this. The leg press adventure built my endurance up, eh?
Bench 85x5x5
Starting to feel a bit more like it should here. No issues with either my elbow OR shoulder. Happy!
Medium parallel grip pulldowns 55x15, 70x12, 85x8, 100x3x5
Last 2 sets were a little uncomfortable on the shoulder but it's definitive improvement to the pinching I used to gt a week or two ago. Pendlay rows still a no-go. I did a set of 5 with just the bar and decided nope.
@xcalygrl I used to be the one starting these threads, and my titles were always cheesy or corny. No harm in that! (Although I gotta say, September doesn,t really pun well. It's also my most melancholic month of the year, usually. I even wrote a piano piece using it as a title.)0 -
I've been sticking to my deficit, Yay! My strength is showing it, boo!
Squat 145 5x5. Same as Tuesday and I feel ready for 150 next week.
OHP 65 almost 5x5. My last rep in the second set was really wonky so I didn't count it. I might need to look at those incremental weights.
DL 205 1x3 Not happy with this. I'm blaming my calorie deficit (1500 isn't THAT low). My grip was giving out and I felt unbalanced. I think I'll practice some lower weight ones before my next DL day.0 -
Hi all. I broke my IPHone so haven't had my app handy but I've been trying to make do with my workouts even though I took a few breaks in August.
Today's workout of 5x5:
Squats : 145 lbs. - I have to keep my back straighter and my hips are so tight that I can't get all the way down. How do I loosen those darn hips?
Overhead Press: 50 lbs. - Did well but will stay at this weight for a while
Deadlifts: 150 lbs. - bad form but managed to finish. I have to keep my back straighter and my hips are so tight.
On my own: 30 assisted dips (level 10), 2 planks at 45 seconds, no cardio except bike to and from work.0 -
Successfully resisted a lunch offer today to make sure I got my lifting in. Yay responsibility!
Squats 5x45,45,55, 65 then 5x5x75 lbs
OHP 5x45, 45, 50 then 5x5x57.5 lbs
Deadlift 5x45, 55, 75 then 5x5x90 lbs
Squats are still good. Deadlift felt good. HOLY FREAKING HARD overhead press. Why is it the hardest one when it's by far the lowest weight? I'm going to try to move up next time I see that lift again and hope I don't stall out.0 -
hehe I tried to think of something Septemberish the other day and couldn't so thought id wait for one of you ladies to do it lol
Lifted on Wednesday night
Squat 5x5x130lbs
Bench 5x5x95lbs
Row 5x5x105lbs
No accessories was too sore and tired lol0 -
Tonight was
Bench 10x50,10x70,8x75,6x80
Row 10x65,10x65,8x70,6x75
Ohp 12x45,12x45,10x45,8x45
Lat pull down 12,12,10,8
I do not like sets of 12 on OHP. I am trying to think of dreamy shoulders to get through it. Maybe someday I will add weights to those sets. The bar is enough for me right now though.0 -
How about "It's up timber(-me-shivers) time!"?
Whatever that means? Lol. It's pirate-y!
I see the struggle with OHP is still going on for you gals. Don't worry, if you keep at it, progress will happen (but in the mean time, adding a push press variation or kettlebell overhead work will do wonders, just an fyi
)
And since the stickies don't show new posts: I added videos to have my squat and bench form reviewed if anyone cares to weigh in? Please?
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How do I loosen those darn hips?
i have been taking out my lacrosse ball and just flat lying down on top of it. ball right behind the iliac crest of my hips - you know, on the bum side. then slowly roll up and down and make the ball follow the curve of the bone.
idek which muscles those are. but if you go from top to bottom along that crest, you'll probably find something. so it's a good diagnostic beginning for digging out what might be tight.
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4.5 mile jog this morning. No lifting right now as needed a slight break, weird schedule because of Saturday's 5k and trying to pick new program. I'm considering either push/pull/legs or PHUL. I looked at Wendler's but, like PHUL, the minor issue is them being geared more towards 4 days a week. Until I get a gym closer to where I now live, 3 days is the max. I like the three day aspect of push/pull/legs but there are a few things I can't quite do yet, like pull ups or weighted dips. PHUL has interesting aspects to it, though again 4 day. I could do a 4 day and just have an extra rest day in between, do three lifts a week still. Just not sure yet.0
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Squats : 145 lbs. - I have to keep my back straighter and my hips are so tight that I can't get all the way down. How do I loosen those darn hips?
I have found the perfect way to open up my hips with mobility WOD a bit more than a year ago. I have since tweaked it a bit and incorporated through my bodyweight warm-up sequence, but it works like a charm. Seriously, I go from barely hitting parallel to being able to sit in a deep squat without holding on to anything within about 10 minutes and that includes jumping rope! lol
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JBHzXF-mVjY
Give it a try
(I have tried to video my warm-up in the past so I could share, but the results weren't great. My phone doesn,t have a lot of space and won't stand just *anywhere* and my computer camera can only grab so much and I don't have a lot of space at home xD I could try again if people are interested, though.)
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Lifted last night
Squat 5x5x135lbs
Ohp 5x5x70lbs
Deadlift 1x5x220lbs
Upper body superset 3x8
Lat pull downs
Dumbbell row
Overhead thrust thing with dumbbell
Dumbbell bench press
Arnold press
Swiss ball pike push-up
Stiff today lol
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Hi everyone,
I abruptly fell off the wagon many months ago and didn't go to the gym for 4 (4!!!) months. Anyway, I'm back on track and I've been lifting again. I also have recruited a little entourage of friends and I now lift with 2 or 3 other people which is fun. I feel pretty badass teaching my friends. And last week my spouse joined the gym (!!!) and I taught him to lift too. So despite my bad behavior and time off, I've been spreading the gospel of lifting to the unwashed masses
Last night after a vacation deload,
Squats 5x5 70lbs
Bench 5x5 55lbs
Rows 5x5 60lbs
My previous squat record was 100, and I was back up to 85 before vacation a couple weeks ago, so I hope to be breaking my records soon. 0 -
Thursday's workout
Squat - 3x5 at 120 lbs. Staying here until my form feels perfect. I think one more session and I will be good to move up.
Pull ups - 3,2,2 - during squat rest times. I think I need to push these and try that next rep even if it will likely fail.
Bench - 3x5 at 75 lbs - Good. I took some advice from the video posted a couple weeks ago. I widened my grip a bit and concentrated on strong core, arched back, and foot drive. 75 felt not easy, but not hard either.
Row - 3x5 at 80 lbs - could have been better.
Barbell shrugs - 3x8 at 60 lbs. Fine, I will move up.
Hyperextensions - 3x10 with 25 lbs. Good
Skullcrushers - 3x12 at 35 lbs. Not bad. May try 3x8 at 40 next time.
Cable crunches - 3x12 at 50 lbs. Good-hard.
Barbell curls - 3x8 at 45 lbs. Hard but ok.0 -
Yesterday felt like a good day. I went for a 30 minute jog in the morning and last night I did:
Squat 4x8x85
Sumo deadlift 2x8x120
Hip thrust 3x10x120
Ab wheel 3x10
My form on squats looked good so yay on that. I found out that I seem to have a long torso but short arms so that may be why I struggle with conventional deadlift form so much. I tried out sumo and I really liked them so I'm going to finish out the cycle I'm on using sumo and see how that goes. Some deadlift days have me doing a deadlift variation so I am thinking I will do paused conventional deadlifts on those days so I'm not cutting them out completely.
Happy lifting, all!!0 -
Still plodding ahead and rehabing the shoulder! Still gets stiff and pinches when I do certain things, so the sprain is not 100% healed, but my strength is slowly coming back and the pain slowly fading, so I ain't gonna stop now.
every 20s x 3 mins (+1) - burpee tuck jump. Last 3 were 2 double jumps and the last one a triple jump.
Thinking of this as a pre-activation to get my legs moving without burning out. Those were done before my very last warm-up set (135x2)
Squats 160x5x5
Wasn't sure about these going in
Deadlift 155x5, 165x5, 175x5, 185x5
OHP 60x5x5
Deadlifts were kinda heavy. I am far from pulling 270 again but slowly working my way back up. Might be able to handle 200 next time!
6 min AMRAP
Push-ups x4
Recline Rows x6
Hollow rocks x8
Managed 5 and 4 push-ups. Not a very good outcome. I haven't done circuits like this in forever and I burned out on the push-ups. I think being at 205 this AM has something to do with it, too. I really let myself go
Face pulls 45x12/15/12
EZ bar Curls 20x15, 30x2x12
Overhead 1DB 2H triceps extension (that's a mouthful!) 25x20 - these felt great, like things were popping back into place in my shoulder after the face pulls which, let's face it, kinda hurt. But they'll be worth it in the end!
Aaand that was it for today! There should be a longish walk this afternoon, tho 0 -
group lifting last night. i'm still constantly forgetting what the rep progressions should be during warmups, so leaving this here for myself: it's 5, 5, 3, 2 and then three work sets of 5. plus on the last set you can just keep going and do as many reps as you've got the gas for. "but leave two in the tank" he keeps telling me. i'm not disciplined enough yet to do that.
bench: work sets at 65 pounds. i made all three sets of 5 but can't remember now if i got more than that on the last one. i think the starting weight was 35, so my warmups were 35, 45, 55. i think. mr trainer is completely right-brained and struggles a bit with the math. and i'm not used to his variety of special bars or his old-school iron plates yet. mr huge friendly 500-lb-back-squat is also a right-brainy type. so it takes a little committee with all four of us arguing sometimes before we figure out which plates go on next.
deadlift: 65, 80, 90, 100. i did 8 reps for amrap, but i didn't feel like the deadlifting went totally stellar this time. it was okay but not shiny. lots of talk from him about 'push' and then 'pull', which confuses me because i've never divided dl into two different movements that way, and i'm not FEELING the difference or the transition. also, i need to slow my deadlifts down. they're not pendlay rows, but the biofeedback cues are quite similar. so my body keeps thinking it's about ripping them up and being explosive, just like with rows. i need to train myself to be thinking 'UNFOLD' while i'm doing them. i'm probably going to sneak in a whole bunch of extra very-light reps while i'm at the regular gym, just to try and figure out how that feels.
accessory: rows in sets of 8. 1x8@35, 1x8@55, 3x8@60. no amrap, and in between sets of bench press he had me doing face-pulls as well for the upper back. i really like this guy's attention to upper-back and rear shoulder work, because i'm trying not to develop the rolled-over-shoulders and internal shoulder rotation that all the bros have. for some reason pec stretching is really hit and miss with me - i do try and do it consistently. but i struggle to find exactly the angle and method for it that does hit my pecs.0 -
Hero Up 5k was today. It took effort getting the costume and makeup done but it was well worth it. So much fun despite the cold morning. My sister had made the hero suggestion, so I created a costume based off Huntress from Birds of Prey. Not a well known one, which was okay. One person commented that it was kind of like from the Incredibles (though I think their outfits had red and not purple but still works fine). The white duct tape around my chest did restrict breathing a tiny bit even though I made sure not to put it tight. I talked to a lady before and after the race who walks the event each year. Also met one of the founders and talked to him for a moment. Most popular hero was Batman. I ended up with a time of 28:24, which I'm very pleased about. Never thought I'd be doing mile runs under 10 minutes but I averaged just over 9 minutes per mile. Ranking wise wasn't too bad either. 7th for my age group+gender, 15th for gender, and 39 overall for the 5k. So, yep, I am quite happy with it all.
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Yay for two workouts this week
Squat - 3x5 at 120 lbs. Think I am good to increase without losing form.
OHP - 3x5 at 57.5 lbs. Still grindy. I will be here for a while.
DL - 1x5 at 175 lbs. Booyah! 1.5xBW! Wasn't even that hard. I tried my liquid chalk, and it worked well.
Rows - 3x5 at 75 lbs - fine.
Pull ups - 3,2,2. Meh, ok.
Close grip BP - 3x8 at 65 lbs. Good. Challenging.
Barbell curls - 3x8 at 45 lbs - still hard, but getting better.
Cable curls - 3x12 at 50lbs. Might try 55 lbs next.0 -
