September-time we work our butts off!

krokador

(S'about time? Yeaaah, far-fetched a wittle. Sorry, best I could come up with today )

Home stretch of the first phase of UBB! One more workout (and one of the finishers I'd skipped because of my shin) left!

- Snatch balance x2 + OH squat x2, 90lbs, 92.5, 95, 97.5 allll good =D

Front Squats 117.5x5, 132x5x3, 135x3, 137.5x3
+ 12' depth jump to broad jump x4 after each set. Happy to say I got more distance than last week!

18 min cap to complete:
- 1000m row (4:14)
- 40 recline rows (mixed with push-ups in set of 5, otherwise I would've never finished because I suck at BW stuff, still)
- 40 push-ups (13:00)
- 10 clean & jerks @ 75lbs (16:00)
- 20 DB snatch/arm @ 35lbs

---

Hit cap at 13 on R, 12 on L, finished 13th on L
- 500 single jumps... didn't get there

That's an extra 5 DB snatches per side, so nothing to be sad over. I still had the energy to keep going I think, probably could've finished within 22-23 mins... It's okay, next phase has NO time caps anyway xD

I'm looking forward to a proper deload week after this. Gonna test my bench a little (not 1rm, just maybe go for an AMRAP or something), work on clean & snatch skillwork, try to incorporate a bit more BW skill and strength stuff, and slack the pedal on the conditioning part just a bit. Then on to phase 2: CONQUER!

krokador

Was my thread title that bad? Where is everyone?

Happy to report the last day of this phase went really well!
Power cleans 100x2 EMOTM x3 (3 minutes of doubles)
EMOTM x5 singles: 105, 110, 112.5x3

Push Jerk 95x5, 105x3, 115x2, 120x2
superset bent over DB rows 35x10, 40x8, 45x6, 50x4

3 rounds for time (19:15 - 10s MORE than last go round, but more weight on sled & KB))
- 60m sled push "sprints" (moved very slowly today, ugh. Had to rest between back and forths, too) 60lbs 1st round, 50 for last 2
- 10 burpees
- 30 KB swings @ 24kg (52.8 lbs)
- 180 rope jump singles

Sweaty mess at the end, booked almost 800 cals in 1h35 minutes (my warm-up takes 25-35 minutes on its own, + warm-up sets not included here).

I still have one of the grinders to hit, not too sure how I'll schedule my deload week yet. I have til Monday to figure it out.

Big bowl of oats naw, was sooo hungry O_o

canadianlbs

krokador wrote: »

Was my thread title that bad? Where is everyone?

awww. it was lovely. it's just the word 'butt' is a bit sensitive for me right now mine's in no shape for being worked off, which is a shame.

i hate to be so petty but when i got to t-day yesterday and saw who had dropped in my heart kind of sank. it was this woman who used to be, like, the constant continuous poster-child name that people brought up and brought up and brought up and brought up all the time. she has qualities. it's just one of those factual things that left in a room with her for a week neither of us would probably find a thing to say to one another. and she's a motor-mouth too.

just not the kind of person i would have preferred to have around while i'm feeling so feeble and can't figure out how to do een the simplest thing because all my biofeedback sensors are off. i in fact didn't do anything. i couldn't stand it. i just wasn't feeling impervious enough to work in with her squatting well over her own body-weight and crowing about how she hasn't been in the gym for ten days and she's WEAK.

sorry to start the thread off with such a mean-spirited rant. as the month progresses i'm probably going to be ashamed of myself for having stuck it up here. b ut anyway krok, just be sure it's not you

canadianlbs

welp . . . took a muscle relaxant and went to the gym

very no-no, i know. but it's not like i'm sorry (so far anyway). i woke up with a neck thing that just wouldn't quit, so i took the pill to calm my upper traps and just went and did totally rehabby stuff. no plans to 'work out', just using the equipment to do things that felt good in the context of what felt so wrong. never even laid hands on a plate, just cables and resistance bands and that stuff.

see how i do tomorrow.

krokador

@canadianlbs Looks like it's just the 2 of us for now. Must be the labor day weekend lull? I do hope you'll figure out all this pain stuff. It sound quite frustrating

Bit all over the place today. Warmed up. Worked on snatch skill work in 2 movements. First muscle snatch doubles x5 @ 75lbs - the biggest challenge was not letting my feet leave the ground, really. Then 4-point paused pulls with 85lbs, 3/4/5/5 reps (that's a snatch deadlift up to the knee, then to the crease of the hips, back down to the knee, up into a snatch pull, then back down in a controlled fashion).

It was fun to work on quality instead of speed and quantity here

then I worked up to a heavy set of squats in a fashion looking a bit like 95x5, 115x5, 135x3, 155x2, 165x1, 175x1. that last rep was SUPER heavy, but it was to be expected after spending an hour working on getting to depth and dropping down into a squat.

Then bench press, 95x3, 105x3, 115x2, 125x2, 135x1, 135x1 on the bench where my lockout is exactly right between the 2 hooks, so I basically have to choose between unracking in hyperextension, or doing half a rep before I even get set. So those singles at 135 really were like 1 and a half rep both ways.

I had the chance to provide an improvised spot to a guy working on the bench behind me with twice my number of plates (225) for reps. I didn,t have to touch the bar, but he was REALLY glad I jumped in just in case because he wasn,t sure he had that one either. and then I casually told him i'd seen his starting position was lopsided and he thanked me for the heads up!

Finished off the session with pendlay rows. I think I did 85x5/6/8/10 and a set of pronated grip bent over rows with the empty bar + curls to exhaustion. Because why not?

hanlonsk

I've been on vacation with intentions to workout much more... tried a drop in at a gym and it was weird, and awkward, and their benches were all wacky, and didn't have an actual cage... and so I didn't do any good real lifting, just bobbled about a bit and left.

So, mostly helping brother with a remodel and hiking waterfalls was the workouts.


Today was trainer day... and it was a disaster. Like ya know those days where you just aren't feeling it? Where maybe you have been on vacation for a week and a half? Or maybe ya slept funny.... and ya don't want to go, and ya do anyways, and then all is right with the world??? .... yeah... that was NOT today.

Well the first part, the not feeling it was. But we started with goblet squats... and then moved to warm up on barbell squats... but I was tight enough on the goblets we were also doing more mobility work between each warmup set... we tried to work on more form issues... like apparently I roll the bar up and down my back with each rep. But the most we ever had on the bar was 65lbs (we did 105 last time I worked with him)... and it was tough, like super tough, and he could tell.

we then, based on how barbell squats went, we went off plan and worked on some split squats, this was new for me. And based on physical therapy for ankle, I knew it wasn't going to be pretty.... but we didn't know how ugly. He took the 10 lb plate away after like 4 reps. By the time we got thru 2 sets of 8 I was dizzy, light headed, and couldn't get my breath back.... I ended up bee lining for the facilities- he apparently just assumed I had to pee.... I was more sure I was going to meet breakfast again... after that break got the last set of split squats... and went to leg press where I sucked it up bad enough he just kept chucking weights off.... it was just like I couldn't make my legs work .....

we then tried some an stuff, which is the point where i repeated dizzy light headed stuff... and apparently turned pale enough this time he asked if I was ok- to which my only response was a feeble head shake.....so we get me sat down- and cut workout short... and we had a bit of chastising over me using words next time, and he needs to know exactly what's going on... he said he could tell my demeanor had changed around the time of the first issue... but I apparently had a good enough poker face that it wasn't till I went white this time that he was sure we had an actual issue and not just a "I've been on vacation and I'm tired" sort of issue.

So yeah... it was a "let's make half our last working weight seem terrible" followed by "lets nearly pass out while balancing on one foot" followed by "leg press didn't work" followed by "lets nearly pass out again" level of disaster.

And so now I'm sitting still home sulking over the terrible workout. And trying to figure out what went wrong. Like I've heard of people going light headed after BIG lifts... but I was literally doing body weight exercises. And not high intensity level either. And I e been on vacation level calories, so I was a tally expecting awesome workout from having calorie surplus for a week.... ugh

And now you two are wishing you had the thread back to yourselves lol.

krokador

hanlonsk wrote: »

Today was trainer day... and it was a disaster. Like ya know those days where you just aren't feeling it? Where maybe you have been on vacation for a week and a half? Or maybe ya slept funny.... and ya don't want to go, and ya do anyways, and then all is right with the world??? .... yeah... that was NOT today.

[...]

And now you two are wishing you had the thread back to yourselves lol.

Hey, we all have bad days. Sounds to me like you might've done better just easing back in with something a bit milder! Taking a week off won't make you lose all your gains, but it does mess with your body and mind to a certain degree! I'm sure your next session will be better!

Day 2 of my "deload" week. Today I focused on tall (squat) cleans - More work on dropping under the bar here. It's nice to get a groove for those, since I'd been doing power variations for the most part. 65x5, 75x5, 85x3, 90x2 (last one was ugly), 90x1 and 95x1

Then I worked into alternating between OHP and deadlifts
OHP: 55x5, 65x3, 75x3, 85x2, 92.5x1, 95x1, 100x1 + slow negative! This is basically my 1RM! And it didn't feel *that* grindy!

Deads: 95x5, 115x5, 135x3, 165x3, 185x3, 205x3, 215x3. All double overhand grip! Last set was slippy, but I held on!

And that was it. Took about 1h10m with warmups. I was running late. Good times though!

amyinthetardis1231

Is it awful to say I'm glad I'm not the only one having a rough go in the gym lately? Hanlonsk, I'm sorry for your crappy day, it's worse than mine. And nagging, won't-go-away injuries are the pits, Canadianlbs. I've just been kind of miserable lately for reasons partially known, partially unknown. It's affecting me at the gym and it's been hard to shake off.

Yesterday I failed bench press and had to do the roll of shame for the first time. In case anyone wondered, rolling 80 lbs of metal down the front of you, over a CS scar, is exactly as fun as it sounds. Apparently that will be sensitive forever. So frustrating bc I've lifted more than that before with no problem, but having the skinny bar makes an absurd amount of difference for my upper body lifts--so much so that I'm at a loss whether it's actually a hindrance. I don't plan to compete, but if I ever did I'd be screwed if I didn't have my particular bar. Besides the bar, I think I just did too much volume trying to make up for missing an upper body day last week. Dumb.

Today went better. Squats were 10/10/10 @ 112 with good form and not too much effort. High reps suck, but these went pretty well. I feel like I'm getting my form tweaked into a good spot and getting better upper back tightness lately.

Deadlifts: 115/130/145 for 5/5/5+ (12). Reps PR for 145 and an estimated 1RM of 208. I'm hoping to hit 200 by the end of the year, whenever I get around to testing my 1RM again. I've been pushing the volume with deadlifts in hopes of building up that strength a bit faster, since 5/3/1 isn't a super fast progressing program.

Finished with hanging leg raises, walking lunges (ugh), and a plank hold. I was at least proud of myself for the squats and deadlifts, and for getting through the accessories when I was pretty beat from deadlifts and general nonstop mindfuckery lately. Hopefully everyone feels better soon.

hanlonsk

Physical therapy Tuesday was about as terrible as mondays workout. Don't know what they did, but 30 minutes of PT took me from thinking ankle was getting better, not as sore, not as swollen, not popping.... to I have been flat out gimpy, and it's popping again, and just in general bleh. We will see what other PT dude says about that result tomorrow. Ugh

Today's trainer day went better... we still weren't anywhere near my maxes, and some things still went badly,
but did 70lb 4x8 bench no problem then close grip bench 1x12@60 and 3x8 @65 (those were a bit questionable at the end)
OHP is where I would say something is still off... we loaded 65 lbs... which I have done 5x5 before.... and the second I unracked it was one of those "uhhh don't think this is going to work" he asked if I could even get one rep.... answer was, apparently, no. Boo. So went back to just the bar. Grrr

Then between sets on ab work, he saw me checking out the gym's record board. So, he brought up powerlifting again. This time, his reasoning/argument is he thinks I can beat the current leader on bench "pretty quick" and wants me to have the tweaks to the form for that mode of lifting. He seems a bit more optimistic than me that 140+ lb bench is in the foreseeable future. Although I have to agree with him on his choice of lift- 140lb bench seems much more obtainable for me than the 300 lb squat or whatever it is they had on there.

canadianlbs

really feeling the people it's just-not-working for, right now. it's really demoralizing to keep getting punished for genuinely trying to work something out and correct it, so i'm not even trying to lift this week. though i'll go to t-day tomorrow anyway. i did go to the chiro last thursday, who found my s.i. was 'locked' again - on both sides this time. so i feel justified in declaring myself about 4 out of 10 on the 'real crap state' scale.

reloaded my massage card and got started with a fresh student, so i'll do that for a while and see if it helps with anything. at least this kid didn't give me clamshell homework; he's got me doing something different that more pulls my hip joint together rather than just rotating it. feels more integrative and useful, and it also gets at the same muscles that might have started this entire thing. so ima stick with those drills and keep up with the massage for a while too.

i did ride to work today for the first time since last thursday, and i THINK i've gotten away with it. really careful controlled hip-flexor stretch (i.e. not just overstretching the capsule of the actual joint) seems to have helped to keep any side-effects under control at least to this point. this whole thing sucks, and i'm sad most of all about how not lifting seems to have caused more improvement than everything else that i've tried. let's hope the end of the month looks better for all of us than the beginning's looking.

krokador

Woah, you guys... Is this the fall blues that's all been hitting you? It's starting to get to me too I actually have a lightbox in my amazon cart and am debating pulling the trigger on that purchase (along with a crapton of other gizmos that would cost me upwards of 200$... but it's all stuff I really want to have! xD)

But at least I'm not doing too badly lifting-wise. Although I got off to a late start today and was not able to do much. Started with bar hollow swings and I really need to work on my calluses xD And vertical + kneeling jumps. Then I did the grinder I'd never finished due to the shin (wow, that was over a month ago. Shin is still tender, btw...)

30 of each for time
- american kb swing (45lbs)
- 1 arm overhead kb lunge (35lbs - I went to 16/leg before remembering this was TOTAL, not each xD)
- knees to bows (after the swings, grip is not happy xD)
- goblet squat (45lbs)
- burpees (UUGGHH, hit the 15 min cap at 24 reps)
- 450 rope jumps (finished in 20:18. Some guy spoke to me in the middle and slowed me down, though)

Aaand I had planned on doing much more, but... ran out of time. So here I am. Work! Tomorrow will be arest & recovery day and I'll be back at it with testing week starting sunday =D

amyinthetardis1231

krokador wrote: »

Woah, you guys... Is this the fall blues that's all been hitting you? It's starting to get to me too I actually have a lightbox in my amazon cart and am debating pulling the trigger on that purchase (along with a crapton of other gizmos that would cost me upwards of 200$... but it's all stuff I really want to have! xD)

I normally love fall, but this fall is bringing in a lot of family stuff that weighs on me. Last night I finally had the breakdown that's been a good two weeks in the making, and I actually feel a little better today. Probably looked a bit pitiful since it hit when I was cleaning up the kitchen--unloading the dishwasher, blubbering my way around the room. I needed the release though, and I'm not upset that it happened.

Fail week at the gym continues, although I'm going to blame it partly on being sore from Monday's overdo of the upper body, and partly on being on the downhill toward shark week. I keep reading about how the luteal phase is the rough time for lifting, so I'm just going to call that it and accept it.

OHP: 5/5/5+ (OHP/OHP/OHP/Push press/push press/push press/fail) @ 62/67/77
Bench press: 12/12/12 @ 62
Dumbbell rows: 20 lbs, 15 reps per arm x3 sets
Assisted pullups: was supposed to be 5/5/5 @ 60 lb counterweight but it ended up being 5/2-fail/2 @ 65 CW fail. Just wasn't happening.

On the bright side, I guess I do make an impression at the gym. I went in and looked around for my favorite bar but it was in use at the squat rack so I went over to use a regular one. While I was pulling up my playlist and getting ready to start, I glance up and a guy I've seen but never talked to before (jacked as heck) looks up at me, gestures to my favorite bar which he's been using in the rack, and asks if I want it. I nod, head over, and he asks if I want him to leave the 45s on, since presumably he's seen me squat before. Of course, I can't get that much weight above my head....If I can ever OHP 135 I'll eat the bar, lol!

DawnEmbers

Oops, I keep forgetting to post in here. Almost done with this month's cycle, sheiko 30. One more day then I can start 31. Last night's session:


bench 1x8 @ 45, 1x5 @ 65, 1x4 @ 75, 2x3 @ 88, 2x3 @ 99, 3x2 @ 106
deadlift 1x4 @ 135, 1x4 @ 159, 2x3 @ 186, belt 2x3 @ 215, 3x2 @ 225
bench 1x5 @ 69, 1x5 @ 79, 4x4 @ 95
db fly 5x10 @ 17.5
curtsy lunge with db 5x5 @ 30

canadianlbs

t-day and plans afoot to do a different programme with me. as/if i start to recover, of course. mr t said it was doug hepburn's and he felt that i like 'practicing' so it would be good for me. it's a wave-ish thing like wendler, and it's based on 8 reps instead of 5.

i'm all about it. just not in the frame of mind to lift heavy anymore, so lighter and longer is just right for me. we tested my 8-rep max for deadlift today and it's pitiful set it at 105, and that was me being a liiiiitle too ambitious, at that.

hanlonsk

Because week was weird, 2 trainer days in a row.

Sheet with orignal plan said 4x8@95, and I was sad, because I wanted more, this week has all been light, and still sucked. Well... after 1 set of 8 trainer goes "so, umm... do you want to stick with the sheet? Or do you want to have fun?" ,... I now know those words should scare me.... 3@135, 2@155, 1@165... and we TRIED 175... and I just didn't have it ... I don't know if this week didn't have it, if I mentally didn't have it, or I just didn't have it... but, it didn't work. And that made me possibly more sad than the original light plan. 175 would have been a milestone, as it would have been my first body weight lift. But it was still a 20lb pr

Had me do cable rows. Hit the bottom of their stack (150lbs) and did a set with full stack with band resistance as well.

We also dropped down in band strength for assisted pull-ups which was a cool milestone. Had been 4x12 with big purple band. Today was set of 10, 8, and 6 with a black band... I wish I knew more what that meant... first set may have had more than 10... but a guy elsewhere in the gym had a band get away from him and caused himself a delicate enough injury, with enough force and entertainment, that I was laughing too hard to keep going.

Did curls with an actual barbell which I think is a pr also.....

And then he put 10lb bumper plates on a bar bell and made an ab roller system out of it...

Yeah, today went far better... had some disappointments still... but soooo much better... will hurt soooo good tomorrow

hanlonsk

Also although it is no fun that so many of us are having struggles - they say misery loves company. I think "pouting party" was mentioned last month. It is kind of cool to see that although we are all struggling, we all continue to wok on being the badass women that we are. Keep pushing ladies!!!!

krokador

The past week has been a rollercoaster. I have been so sleep deprived and my entire schedule is out of whack. I wasn't sure I'd make it to the gym today. But I am glad I did.

Conquer phase. W1D1

1. 10 max effort broad jumps. Gais... I basically made the floor plank every. single. jump. After spending weeks falling half a foot short! And I even got past it on a few jumps (estimating about 6ft 2in in length). Okay, so original workout said max effort BOX jumps. But as a reminder: I'm not doing these again. Yup

2. 12 minutes to work up to a 1rm (full/squat) snatch. I've gotten the motor pattern of power snatches down. A little too well. Worked up to 90 without too much trouble. first rep at 95 I had to drop over my head and back behind me. Def have the strength to pull it up. Second attempt ended up being basically a power snatch. Third one (would,ve been my last one if I'd failed) was a bit shallow but I did manage to drop underneath it so I went for 97.5, and power snatched it too... lol. Oops. So 95 is my working max for this phase.

If I'd actually done power snatches today, I might have had 105 in me, which would have been a huge PR. That's how well I was pulling the weight up! So now I need to drill the drop a bit more.

3. 12 min to 2RM back squat. Did NOT know what to expect. Full snatches tend to beat up my adductors a good bit (also something I need to work on), so it makes squats a little trickier. And I struggled with a single at 175 last week, even though I'd gotten 170 for a triple a month ago. Well, lo and behold, I made it to 180x2! Not a PR (I've done sets of 5 at that weight prior to the lower back/SI injury, whatever that was). But with the pre-exhaustion, lack of sleep AND slippery supermant- shirt I was wearing, not shabby at all! AND, I think I keep saying this but, I used to rely on my lower back to fight through the reps when I would fold forward. Probably how I got hurt in the first place, really. It requires more brute strength to a degree to stay upright through the reps, but I think I'm doing a really good job of it. So perhaps this time around I'll manage to pass that 200lbs and BW mark and keep on moving forward! EXCITE!

4. Metcon: 3 rounds for time of
- 10 DB front squat (2x25lbs) - all unbroken
- 5 barbell deadlifts at 185lbs (had to reset a few times, but all double overhand )
- 25 push-ups... broken down in sets of 5, then 3s. I SUUUCK at push-ups, still

TIME: 11:50 (and hey, I get to re-test this one again in 2 weeks. Oh boy!)

I'm gonna feel this in my groin tomorrow. My hip flexors are already super mad at me, lol.

hanlonsk

Well... weird week continues.

I have a friend Who, before trainer, was my only reliable form check. We don't live in the same town anymore, but we still tried to get together once a month or so to trade ideas, check form, try a new weight with a spotter, etc, as we both always lifted alone. Well, our schedules worked out to get together Saturday, so despite having lifted both thurs and fri, and knowing I was lifting today, I lifted with him. I told him we could do anything but legs, as trainer and I work legs on sundays. We worked chest and tris, and taught each other some new ab stuff as well. (My abs were not happy following ab rollerish thing day before.). I would give more info but I don't have names for a lot of the accessory work... But friend is amazed enough with my progress since our last get together, he wants to come up and play with trainer. So that was kinda cool.

So, then comes today.... walk in, expecting squats... as I'm warming up, he goes "warm up your shoulders too." Brain goes " ooooo shooot... this is gong to hurt". Brain was right....
Trainer apparently decided we were going to work 3 big lifts all together, each time we meet this week. This means Sarah has done chest/benched 3/4 days in a row. Ugh

He points to sheet and points out that he has my bench and squat planned for the same weights with a "really???" type look....yeah... I'm aware, it's strange, especially for a girl, but it's been that way for a while, and really despite his best efforts, I don't see it changing any time soon. To make him even more confused, we actually stopped at 70 on squats because we were working hard enough to fix my brain and my form, that we had done a crazy amount of sets and reps already.

Moving on to bench, we tried 10@45 with power lifter form... and that is still very goofy to me and feels much less stable instead of more stable. So we went back to my usual set up. 10@45, 10@65 10@70, 8@80, 6@90, 5@95, and 1x5 & 1x3@ 105.... and well the 105 really was just first rep of each set without help.... but it is also a 10lb pr, with my ridiculous dumb schedule for the week. So I will take 1 rep tyvm.

Then deadlift. For lots of reps... 1x10 @65, 75, 85, 95, 1x8@115, 3x5@125

Then cable oblique crunches 4x15 each side... one each at 80 and 100, then 2@120... which even with chalk is apparently the limit/passed the limit of what I can hold on to for 15. Oops.

But day was overall very impressive, and made up for last week's craptastic performance. Now to eat ALL the food and protein, and figure out if I can move my arms enough to wash my hair.

amyinthetardis1231

Sigh, fail week part 2. I guess I shouldn't be too upset since it's my first time actually failing lifts other than OHP, but it's still annoying. I'm a bit at a loss as to why I'm failing them now, since I've done more reps at these weights before.

Squats 3/3/3+ @ 130/145/160. Failed 4th rep @ 160 and sat down in the rack. At least now i know how failing a squat in the rack works :-/

Deadlifts 6/6/6 @ 125. Easy peasy. I think I found a second skinny bar that will work better for OHP/bench, too! One of the new ones that came with the half rack they added a couple months ago. I must have not used it before today because I noticed the slimmer feel when I picked it up for DL.

Back extensions with 25 lb weight 10/10/10

KB swings w/ 30 lb bell 12/12/12

krokador

amyinthetardis1231 wrote: »

Deadlifts 6/6/6 @ 125. Easy peasy. I think I found a second skinny bar that will work better for OHP/bench, too! One of the new ones that came with the half rack they added a couple months ago. I must have not used it before today because I noticed the slimmer feel when I picked it up for DL.

Careful here! Slimmer bars also tend to be lighter. Did you account for that? Might be why your deadlifts were so easy!

As for the reasons why you might be failing more than you used to, is it possible you may have been either eating or sleeping less? Or working extra hours? Something stressful going on? When's the last time you had a deload? If fall's really been beating you down, perhaps after your next week you should consider switching things up a little so you can enjoy yourself a bit more. Not going for AMRAPs or pushing reps while still lifting somewhat heavy weights and maybe trying some exercises you don't typically have time to play with. The mental reset will def. be worth it, and it's quite possible your body will also be thanking you.

And then maybe it will also hate you when you get back to regular scheduling. Oh my DOMS!

amyinthetardis1231

krokador wrote: »

amyinthetardis1231 wrote: »

Deadlifts 6/6/6 @ 125. Easy peasy. I think I found a second skinny bar that will work better for OHP/bench, too! One of the new ones that came with the half rack they added a couple months ago. I must have not used it before today because I noticed the slimmer feel when I picked it up for DL.

Careful here! Slimmer bars also tend to be lighter. Did you account for that? Might be why your deadlifts were so easy!

As for the reasons why you might be failing more than you used to, is it possible you may have been either eating or sleeping less? Or working extra hours? Something stressful going on? When's the last time you had a deload? If fall's really been beating you down, perhaps after your next week you should consider switching things up a little so you can enjoy yourself a bit more. Not going for AMRAPs or pushing reps while still lifting somewhat heavy weights and maybe trying some exercises you don't typically have time to play with. The mental reset will def. be worth it, and it's quite possible your body will also be thanking you.

And then maybe it will also hate you when you get back to regular scheduling. Oh my DOMS!

Re: the bar being lighter, my gym doesn't stock "women's bars," and this one felt like 45 lbs when I picked it up. I know for sure the other skinny bar is 55 lb so I don't think this one is lighter than 45, but can always double check. 125 for deadlifts isn't too heavy for me anyway but it was nice that it felt light after sitting down during squats.

I've been trying to figure out what is getting to me so much lately and I have a few possible thoughts. My thyroid levels are normal so my doctor doesn't want to change meds, but I don't feel awesome. I could be a little under medicated but not enough for my doc to be willing to change anything. I've also been dieting for over a year and while I've lost a respectable 35 lbs, it's been a real struggle the last 10. I've been stuck at my current weight for months even with diet breaks, lowering calories, and upping exercise. I'm still overweight but I'm wondering if I need to just stop trying for a few months, frustrating as that is.

I am due for a deload in two weeks (last one about a month ago), but this cycle of Sidesteel's Wendler variant has me lifting almost my maxes and it may be just wearing me down more than I anticipated. Maybe I need to scale back or move my deload up? I am also kind of wondering if I'm hitting a wall as far as how much I can lift while in a deficit. Maybe there's a point of diminishing returns where you just hit a wall until you're in maintenance?

Outside of that, I definitely have a ton of stress. I have an alcoholic parent who is doing their best to drink themselves to death, and our relationship is very strained. So trying to help someone who doesn't want help and with whom you have difficulty on a good day is challenging (to say the least). That's been going on for years but flared up pretty badly over the last few weeks. It's very likely that my stress from that is affecting my lifting. I'm just not sure whether that means I need a gym break altogether, a week or two off my current rotation, or something else entirely. Blearghhghghg.