The august ladies' August check in and chat
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Oh, and I dead lifted more than my body weight today for the first time ever.0
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Kitkat, you BAMF!0
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I'm gonna take a week off, and then move on to Wendler. I want to thank everyone here for all of the amazing advice and support you have given me over the last 6 months. You all are fantastic people who do great things every day! I may still pop in from time to time to see how you all are doing, but otherwise I'll be off in to new adventures. Thanks again, and keep lifting!
Wait, wot?? :noway:
You're not going anywhere Missy! You're going to keep posting your Wendler badassery right here and we're gonna cheer you along. Heck, I've never even done a complete cycle of SL and have posted here from the very beginning. Who cares? We'll still like you no matter what program you're doing. Or no program at all. Whatever. If you're cheating on us with another group, at least give me a link so I can follow you around. :bigsmile:but I'd certainly be open to the concept of lifting 2x/week (in whatever guise) and doing something else the third time. Don't say yoga though, please! I probably need to do a little more cardio (you're right, my stamina has taken a beating..) - again, without a structure or goal it's very hard to be bothered!
You don't have to do Yoga. I happen to love Yoga, but if you don't, no sweat. Find another mobility program that works for you. Just make sure you stretch regularly and thoroughly (unless you're hyperjointed/hyperflexible or whatever, in which case not so much). There's lots of mobility stuff on Youtube, so find something you love and go for it.
I personally to love Yoga because it combines so many things and leads to the type of body awareness that few other routines give you. Plus I'm a natural sloucher, so Yoga has taught me to sit up straight and have a decent posture. Plus balance from all those 1-legged poses, plus stretching, plus breathing properly and etc. But I know it's not everyone's cup of tea, so don't feel pressured or anything.0 -
Today was the final workout of week 4! I've made it a month without missing a workout. That is UNHEARD of for me, so obviously something is clicking.
Squats: 85 lbs 5x5 - I spent a couple days here working on form, will bump up to 90 next workout. I seem to squat better with higher weights. Body weight squats just kill me - I can't get deep and everything feels wonky. But throw some plates on the bar and I can get it deep. Yay for gravity?
Bench press: 75 lbs 5x5 - Holy crap! 75 lbs!
Row: 85 lbs 5x5 - I was an idiot for some reason and DROPPED five pounds this time. i meant to stay the same instead of increasing but apparently math failed me. *facepalm* Guess that explains why it felt kind of light. ;-)
On a very exciting note, my friend's husband is building my power cage this weekend!!!!!!! *happy dance*
On a possibly weird note, I'm starting to get calluses and I'm pretty excited about it. I've earned them. Is that weird? *kitten* - that doesn't make me bulky and manly does it?!?0 -
I'm switching to Wendler soon also, I'm going to keep hanging around here with you amazing ladies though! I am looking forward to concentrating on one lift at a time and add weight slowly, it's just too exhausting to me to do squats 3x a week with the other lifts. I've been doing 3x5 for quite awhile, even that is too much lately.
I second Dani's recommendations! Great advice! I have been lifting way less on my squats the past month or 2 and working more on my core strength- I can tell a huge difference in my form. Now if I could stop pigging out i might see some of those abs under the fat...:sad:0 -
kitkat & Liz, you are making amazing progress!!! Woo hoo!
Daisy, you absolutely ROCK with your squats!!! Oh my!0 -
You ladies rock... I am impressed with everyone's progress... I hope to get back to the gym myself in a week. Hopefully the break will have me coming back stronger than before.
I'm gonna take a week off, and then move on to Wendler. I want to thank everyone here for all of the amazing advice and support you have given me over the last 6 months. You all are fantastic people who do great things every day! I may still pop in from time to time to see how you all are doing, but otherwise I'll be off in to new adventures. Thanks again, and keep lifting!Wait, wot?? noway
You're not going anywhere Missy! You're going to keep posting your Wendler badassery right here and we're gonna cheer you along. Heck, I've never even done a complete cycle of SL and have posted here from the very beginning. Who cares? We'll still like you no matter what program you're doing. Or no program at all. Whatever. If you're cheating on us with another group, at least give me a link so I can follow you around. bigsmile
Ditto to the above.... no need to go anywhere :laugh:0 -
Just have to share my excitement/pride. So I have been lifting for four full weeks now. Here's my progress:
Squats: 45lbs to 85lbs
Bench press: 45 lbs to 75 lbs
Overhead press: 45 lbs (struggling mightily) to 60 lbs
Row: 65 lbs to 90 lbs
Deadlift: 65 lbs to 125 lbs
I never, NEVER would have thought I could actually lift weights. Thanks ladies for being so encouraging and patient!0 -
Began again yesterday. Gone back to the start, I am trying to build in a minimum of 10 minutes cardio with every workout as it's too easy not to do it at all because I don't enjoy it!
So having taken just under a month off I did 10 minutes on the elliptical to warm up and then worked through workout A at bar weight for all the exercises.
Felt good to be back and feeling it just a little today. I really relish the good soreness you get from working out.
Also, my new gym has these funny little bars at all different weights up to 20kg so I have something I can use other than dumbells to build up my OHP!0 -
Began again yesterday. Gone back to the start, I am trying to build in a minimum of 10 minutes cardio with every workout as it's too easy not to do it at all because I don't enjoy it!
So having taken just under a month off I did 10 minutes on the elliptical to warm up and then worked through workout A at bar weight for all the exercises.
It isn't good to do cardio before lifting as you wear out your muscles. If you really want to do cardio, you should do it after lifting or on a rest day.0 -
For now, it's only a 10 minute warm up and I would rather do that while I am fresh especially while I am on pretty low weights. I will reassess as I progress though. Thanks for the heads up
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For now, it's only a 10 minute warm up and I would rather do that while I am fresh especially while I am on pretty low weights. I will reassess as I progress though. Thanks for the heads up
I highly doubt 10 minutes of warm-up on the elliptical is going to hurt your lifting, especially not with such a huge deload back to the bar. I do 20 minutes actually, and some days I add yoga and end up progressing through my lifting session without issues. However, that's an individual thing of course, and as your cardio becomes more demanding and/or your lifts become heavier and your lifting sessions longer, you might consider lifting first and doing cardio after, or on non-lifting days. I wouldn't worry about it right at the moment though.I never, NEVER would have thought I could actually lift weights. Thanks ladies for being so encouraging and patient!
Of course you can lift heavy! Women have been able to lifting heavy for millenia, and perform hard physical work all over the globe in all sorts of cultures! We just have to know we can! 0
