ifebruary workout was wonderful . . .
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@canadianlbs your shelf explanation does make sense. I am not sure if I've done that way or not, the next time I lift I will see if I get that feeling around the lats, etc. No, my back doesn't arch as I do OHPs. I tighten the heck out of everything - abs, all over back, glutes, hamstrings, quads (for some oddball reason tightening my quads helps). I still feel a bit of tightness at the base of my back and around my neck, but I am not outright arching. My back would start to arch if I didn't have everything else tightened.1
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amyinthetardis1231 wrote: »I loathe noisy people at the gym....well, in most places really. I give the evil eye to people who shout across the gym.
i really really like captain squat. but this night had five of us instead of just four, and somehow it made a difference. plus, normally he goes through quiet periods, at least while he lifts. this time he was doing deload, so i think he might even have talked through his sets
idk, i just . . . there's like a cut-out point, where suddenly i can't do anything because i just need it to stop.
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^I'm not that nice, lol. I'm very sensitive to sensory stimulus, and I absolutely hate going to the gym when it's loud and busy. It gets jarring and overwhelming really quickly. That's one of many reasons I love being able to go in the mid-morning hours during the week, when there's hardly anyone else there. Bliss!
Today was pretty annoying, TBH. Bros curling in the squat rack and hogging both benches--I couldn't finish my benchpress bc people were being really rude and thoughtless. One guy was sitting on the bench for a solid 20 min yakking with his buddy--same guy I had to chivvy out of the squat rack where he was curling, via many pointed stares--and another guy refused to let me work in even though he was obviously resting between sets and I only had 4 to do. I was so steamed when I left!
So for what I did get to do:
Squats 4x5 @ 130. Mostly with good form, a couple got kind of good morning-y so I stopped at 4.
Benchpress 1x5 @ empty bar, 1x5 at 55 while I was waiting for the squat rack.
Wretched rows: 3x10 @ 70. I'm not at all bitter at having to do extra rows to make up for not being able to do something I like, no not at all.....blargh. Don't mind me, I'm moody today.2 -
Stronglift Rest Day
Kettlebell Swing
GobletSquats -3X5X30
Russian Kettlebell Swing- 25X7X30
Keto 3 Week Challenge February 5th-25th
Day 7- still in ketosis and making meal plans ahead which helps me to be successful. I have heard of several people in our group that are having success in losing weight! Congratulations!1 -
amyinthetardis1231 wrote: »I'm not at all bitter at having to do extra rows to make up for not being able to do something I like, no not at all.....blargh. Don't mind me, I'm moody today.
lol. i try so hard to suppress the whole my-workout's-more-valid-than-yours thing when it's crowded, partly because i've been on the receiving end of it so many times when i was struggling to work something out (stinking squats). but, yeah. there are times when you really do feel like 'if you're not going to use that, could you *kitten* off and let someone who is going to in?'
i lallygagged all day, not regrettably since i justified it by declaring it Lacrosse Ball Work day. but then at the worst rush time i went anyway. crazy crowded; i hope this is just the last gasp of tryign to get buff in time to score during valentine's day. like, so crowded the hardest thing to find was enough space to do warmups and active stretching.
so i skipped most of it that. did 5x10 deadlifts with 100 pounds, and during the lighter phases i did rows as well because i'm in a phase of being conscientious about them again. rows were 3x8 at 50, and then 3x6 at 70 because 8 at that weight were too much for me. i'm trying to keep my form clean.
deadlifts though . . . the deadlifts just rocked \o/ i did the first two sets with my knee-band on, because after all, why not. kept my hips up, made sure i had myself pulled properly IN to the bar, and concentrated on the hips-forward idea. no troubling little crunchy clunk from my right s.i. joint at all. it doesn't 'hurt', that sensation, but it sure lets you know it's somethign very real and mechanical that you don't want happening. it's a lot like that little clunk you get in some cars when the transmission catches.
inspired in all this by enrolling myself in a new course at the same building, i guess. i kind of know what i think about organized yoga. but this is 'massage ball' yoga . . . and how could that ever go wrong?2 -
@amyinthetardis1231 what a sucky day, I am getting steamed at those f---wits just reading about them. And don't tell me - I take it those were bro curls, where the guy throws his whole body into the curl because the weight is too heavy for him to curl properly. Jerks.
@canadianlbs great job on the deadlifts! what a feeling that must have been! I know what you mean on si joint problems during deadlifts, my massage therapist noted I had trouble there. He also recommended I do yoga for flexibility. I just got two Rodney Yee videos - Yoga for Beginners and Yoga for the Back. Yee is highly recommended.2 -
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Stronglift Workout A
Squat-1X5X 55/65/75, 5X5X 85
BP-1X5X 45/55/65, 5X5X 75
BR-1X5X 75
Kettlebell Swing
Goblet squat-3X5X 30
Russian kettle bell swing-25X 10 X 30
40lbs loss by May 27th Challenge
Exercise daily and stay at or under calorie goal. Check and check!
Keto 3 Week Challenge February 5th-25th
This is day one of week two. Love the food and the recipes! No need to go without dessert! There are plenty of sugarfree low-carb options!
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can't get a squat rack for love or money on a sunday afternoon, sigh. but do i fix this by finding some other time to go in? i do not.
well, actually . . . i got the rack just fine but it had a bench in it already. so i did 55/65/75 bench press with it, although i think that was a lot heavier than i'm supposed to be lifting this week. then i gave the rack away to somebody else and never did get it back.
i did goblet squats instead with just a 25lb bar. am i the only person who finds goblet squats exhausting even at such a low weight? i know that i could squat with twice that even when i'm not having a confident day. but 3 or four sets of 8 with that dumbbell was just about all that i felt equipped for.1 -
d'oh. dumbbell, not bar. you can't goblet squat with a dumbbell, dummy.1
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hehe... it would look interesting at the very least to goblet squat the bar.
push press - 2x10 @ 45, 1x8 @ 65, 3x5 @ 75
front squat - 2x10 @ 45, 1x8 @ 65, 3x8 @ 95
deadlift - 1x8 @ 135, 1x5 @ 175, 3x5 @ 195
cleans - 1x8 @ 45, 2x6 @ 653 -
Stronglift Rest Day
Kettlebell Swing
Goblet squat-3X5X 30
Russian kettle bell swing-30 X 10 X 30
We have now increased the number of swings to 10 per set.
40lbs loss by May 27th Challenge
Exercise daily and stay under calorie goal!
Keto 3 Week Challenge February 5th-25th
I lost .8 pounds and am in ketosis. I love eating this way very filling never hungry and always expect to see a loss! The great thing is that I know it is Fat that is actually being burned especially from liver and belly fat!
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I go to my university gym, which is a new thing for me. I'm still working out what time is best to go. The gym is free for undergrads so the weight room is always SO crowded with guys. It smells bad lol but they have 4 squat racks (maybe getting a 5th) and it's convenient! I'm a graduate student/instructor so I'm always afraid I'll see my students. Anyway... today I discovered that 8am is a nice time to go. Still lots of people, but I didn't have to wait for any equipment.
Squat 1x5 @ 45, 5x5 @ 65
OHP 1x5 @ 20, 5x5 @ 40
DL 1x5 @ 65.
Meant to do 70 on the DL but got flustered while adding the weight. The bar had two 45# on it when I got to it, so I struggled to take them off and a nice guy helped me with that. Then I totally forgot to add 2.5# to either side to make it 70. So, next time I'll just do 75. DL has never felt heavy thus far so I was kinda hoping to move it up quicker--oh well.4 -
Squats: 5x5 @ 130
Benchpress (making up for Sat): 1x5 @ 50, 1x5 @ 55, 1x5 @ 60
Seated OHP: 5x5 @ 50
Deadlifts: 1x5 @ 140. Can I just say how silly it looks to have 2.5 lb fractionals on next to the big 45s? Pretty silly.5 -
@amyinthetardis1231 hey whatever works! nothing silly about it. I wish I had your numbers! My fractionals are saved for OHP.
My get up and go got up and went during today's workout. It's like my stomach didn't digest my lunch or else didn't send the nutrients to my bloodstream. I felt weak and without adrenaline.
I wanted to start with bench press but all benches were taken - including one guy doing supersets with dumbbell bicep curls and then curling with the Oly bar (!!)
The squat rack was empty so I grabbed it.
Squats: 1 x 10 @ 55lb, 1 x 10 @ 60 lb, 2 x 5 @ 60 lb, 2 x 5 @ 65 lb.
Barbell rows: 5 x 5 @ 65 lb and felt somewhat better
Then 2 more sets of 5 reps of squats at 65 lb, then felt a lack of adrenaline so I said f--- this for a game of soldiers
Bench press: two warmup sets of 65 lb.
Then 4 x 5 @ 75 lb - then attempted the 5th and couldn't, and the bar didn't catch the left side peg and reached my chest. I yelled Dammit! and someone caught the bar and then offered a spot. I accepted. Managed 4 more reps at 75 lb but that was it. Hey, last time I did 4 x 5 @ 70 lb and then 1 x 5 @ 75 lb so there is an improvement. But for some reason I was losing concentration, not visualizing the bar going up to the right point.
The guy using the bench press before me was nice and offered to let me work in (he had only one set left anyway). He was wearing a Robotics Team shirt from a local high school - told me he'd been on the engineering track but his math skills weren't enough. I told him about a group I belong to, the National Space Society, and suggested he check us out. He'd heard of us. Always nice to meet a fellow geek.
Came out feeling rather deflated. Maybe I'm just starting to get ill - my husband was home ill yesterday and today.3 -
Came out feeling rather deflated. Maybe I'm just starting to get ill - my husband was home ill yesterday and today.
i'm so impressed that you kept going after missing the pin on your bench press. so many people would have just quit for the day but getting four reps after a scare like that is amazing. i've done it myself - went yeahyeahyeah and didn't listen when mr t warned me about overshooting on his adjustable rack, adn then went right ahead and overshot on one side. it scared the living sand out of everyone, so don't underestimate how much a slip like that takes out of you. i think it's way more costly than just a regular rep, so getting four on a set AFTER that is just great.
next time you bench, you might want to try doing at least one warmup with just the bar, and then taking an increment and doing a 55 set before 65. and if 65 is a warmup weight too, then just do three reps instead of five. i'm preaching what i don't practice myself - i always try to sneak the heaviest warmup up to five reps myself for silly ego reasons but warming up progressively can make a big difference for upper-body lifts in particular. those little muscles that women don't use as much seem to benefit from being given lots of time to boot up and come online. plus, i kind of believe in mark bell's dictum that you can do all the warmup sets that you need without tiring yourself, if you keep the reps low.
for myself, we had a stat holiday today. i got on a hamstrings mission early in the day and spent pretty much all of it sitting on my pvc pipe searching out various tiny-feeling and super-stringy tissue threads and working on them. like a monkey hunting for fleas, in a way. by dinner time i had them in such an altered state i felt like i sort of had to take them to the gym and squat with them, for fear they'd seize up again overnight if i didn't show them the full range of motion i'll be expecting from them for from now on. walked to the gym and did 3x5 goblets with a 25 dumbbell, then a rack came free so i did 5x10 front/back sets. i think i just like keeping my squats nice and light, but idk how a mere 45 pounds can get me as sweaty and breathless as that. it's got a lot to do with the breathing, i think. i'm being completely obsessive about pulling in the deep diaphragm breath and then locking it there with my whole torso before i unhinge and descend.
other thing i did was lat pulldowns as accessory. i stuck with just 20 pounds instead of trying to be macho. 20 was so easy to work with i wasn't really doing lat work so much as shoulderblade retraction-and-[whatever that other word is]. i think i did 3x15 and i started to throw in some static holding as well on the last couple of reps in each set. it was actually really nice and seemed to do a lot for getting my shoulders open enough to make back squats viable right afterwards.5 -
Great job on the squats! Glad you went to work on the hamstrings. I definitely need to do what you did. My hamstrings are tight. Thanks for the kind words - I had just felt weak in general during most of the workout, for example on the squats. I'm not even sore today, which tells you I couldn't work hard enough.2
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Happy Valentine's Day
Stronglift Workout B
Squats-1X5X 55/65/75, 5X5X 85
OHP-1X5X 45/50, 5X5X 55
DL-1X5X 95/105/115
Kettlebell Swing
Goblet squat-3X5X 30
Russian kettle bell swing-10 X 10 X 30
40lbs loss by May 27th Challenge
Exercise daily and meet calorie goals!
Keto 3 Week Challenge February 5th-25th
Dark chocolate at least 70% cacao and making some of the delicious keto recipes like the chocolate cake in a cup!
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band pulls - 3x12
bench - 2x10 @ 45,1x8 @ 65, 3x5 @ 95
pause bench - 2x6 @ 65 at a 5 count
decline bench - 1x8 @ 45, 1x8 @ 65
tricep pushdown - 4x10 @ 60
overhead tricep ext - 3x8 @ 30
Treadmill at a 2 incline, 3.2 speed for 30 minutes
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oh my. those hamstrings . . .
i got into - not a fight really but a showdown on the bus with one of those jesus-freak haters who was picking on this really young moslem woman until i couldn't take it anymore and got between them. stuff like this is never movie-dramatic when you're actually stuck in the cross-hairs of it. it's just . . . lame. you don't turn into stallone. you just look lame and you sound lame and you feel pompous and squeaky and lame, and just ugh. nobody's ever written a true-to-reality movie script about things like this. there aren't any heroes really. just people exposing their dorkishness.
he was super angry but he shut up. still don't know why, but i was sooo glad when he threw himself off the bus a few stops later. i don't think i dramatize, but i'm not a bunny rabbit either. he really was someone i would have headed straight to a bright place with witnesses and demanded somebody call for the cops if he'd followed me off at my own stop. so i was relieved because damn it. i had plans to go lift. didn't want to spend my evening hanging around in a gas station with him outside it like a rabid dog.
anyway, thanks for the outlet. i did go and lift, 10x5 overhead press with no rack. it was good, but i guess it just kind of postponed the jangles instead of killing them off.3
only thing is . . . my bum still isn't sore.
