Squat-tober: October check in and chat

1235789

Replies

  • 6550mom
    6550mom Posts: 206 Member
    Thank you all so much for the support yesterday. I hit an emotional wall and just needed to get it out.

    And, in return, I got some awesome suggestions from women I've never met, but already admire and respect.

    I am still going to weigh myself (just because I am mad at myself for going in the wrong direction when I didn't)
    But, I am also going to keep plugging along.

    I will continue to lift, but am going to change up the routines from straight 5X5. I like the suggestion of changing up the cardio and have added some running into my usual walks and will keep adding to that OR I will do an Insanity workout here and there to combine strength and cardio.

    I'm going to try to keep at 1450 calories for now (and weigh and measure carefully as suggested by the nice Eat, Train, Progress thread) and hope the extra activity moves the scale down. However, I will focus on eating better- especially hydrating and getting my protein.


    ...and for my bright spot which I needed today...

    I squatted 150 pounds for 3X5 today! 150 was my squatting goal when I started lifting many months ago. For all the weight gain and down time, I got back up to, and surpassed, my previous record. (we'll forget about those overhead presses for now)

    YAY! So, I'm going to focus on that for today.


    THANK YOU ALL for taking the time to give me that little boost. I hope things turn around from here. If not, at least I'll be able to beat the crap out of anyone who gives me a hard time about not eating 1000 calories a day or doing the iced tea diet. ;)
  • Fittreelol
    Fittreelol Posts: 2,535 Member
    Lydia you are an OHP beast. ROAR.

    6550mom you are a squat beast. ROAR.

    Jaylio you are a wonder woman and hear your Roar? Not really sure on that one!
  • YoBecca
    YoBecca Posts: 167
    Yes, roars all around!

    I *finally* got some bumps tonight:
    Squat - still 5x5 @ 100lbs - still fighting for that form, and don't want to move up until I have it nailed.
    BUT
    Rows - 70 lbs., 5x5 and it felt easy-peasy! Excited to move up next time to 75 lbs, which is my current PR
    Bench - 90 lbs 5x5 - finally! after weeks of doing 1-3 sets at 90 then having to drop weight.

    None of these are PRs, but they are the closest I've gotten since deloading to deal with my back and form issues

    This is a while back, but re: DOMS - I don't really get them from lifting. I do, however, get stiff/tight and my hip flexors get sore - I feel it when running the day after lifting, or doing air squats.
  • lwoodroff
    lwoodroff Posts: 1,431 Member
    6550Mom - 150lb squat is AMAZING! I'm green with envy, I'm still hoping to hit 60kg (132lbs)...
  • You ladies are all totally beast. In the words of Chris Traeger, "You are LITrally the best."

    No workout today because I am dying a slow DOMS death today (serves me right for not doing the wise thing and deloading upon my return from a long break). When I walk, my lower half burns like wonderful pants of fire.
  • roxylola
    roxylola Posts: 540 Member
    6550mom, 150lb is outstanding!

    YoBecca, that is like a whole small person you are benching there.

    Day B

    Squats at 45kg (99lb) That felt hard, last rep on every set was a struggle and the very last 2 only just happened!

    OHP still at 22.5kg (50lb) The bar still only barely makes it up and down again for 5 reps. I contemplated trying to do an extra set but it's still out of the question. Just keep plugging away at it.

    Deads at 55kg (120lb) It's bodyweight or there abouts so not unhappy with it. I warmed up at 40 then 50 stuck my extra 5 on and was going to do a 60 set but it was just a bit too much. Reckon if I don't overdo my warm ups on Monday 60 should be ok.
  • emjaycazz
    emjaycazz Posts: 330 Member
    Haven't checked in in a while--I got a squat rack for our home gym and have been: a.) taking some time to re-adjust from my company gym equipment (for reference--they have a Max Rack, no squat racks, and 3 Smith machines), and b.) working on A2G whereas before I had gone just to parallel. Between that and having some back pain earlier this month, my weights have not really been anything to crow about.

    I decided to replace one of my morning cardio/circuits workouts with an SL day, and that was this morning:
    a.) Squat 5x5 @ 80lbs
    b.) OHP 2 x 5 @ 47lbs, 3 x 5 @ 50lbs
    c.) DL 1x5@90lbs; 2@ 95 lbs (will have to see how my back feels)

    Happy lifting, ladies!
  • Standard day today.

    Squat 130lbs
    Bench 80lbs
    I can do 10 inverse rows with good form now, although sets 2 and 3 drop off exponentially.

    I had to skip HIIT last night due to my stomach feeling awful.. grr I hate missing workouts :(

    Back to back workout tomorrow since I am busy Friday.

    Keep at it ladies!
  • kirabob
    kirabob Posts: 481 Member
    Serious beast mode, going on up in here!

    Today for me:
    Deadlifts
    1x5@150
    1x5@170
    1x9@195

    Then 5x10 @115 sumo deadlifts. Holy crap, that was a workout. I was dripping sweat by the time I finished.

    Followed by:
    Woodchoppers
    3x10 @25 pounds, both sides
    3x10 @10 back extensions
    100 steps, each arm Waiters carry @22.5
    100 steps, each arm, Farmers walk @35

    And then I came home and ate ALLLLL the foods, an activity I imagine I will also engage in tomorrow. And just when I thought I was totally wiped out for the day, I surprised a raccoon in the act of trying to get in to my chicken run. He was a big sucker - hello, adrenaline rush!
  • hananah89
    hananah89 Posts: 692 Member
    So many happy lifters here!

    I'll check in again, today was A for me.

    I learned when I took my bf to the gym with me last Friday so he could help me on OHP that I am a low-bar squatter thus the reason I don't go below parallel. who knew?
    Squats: 130lbs for 3x5
    (time constraints and such mean I'm doing 3x5 now)
    I'm also sticking with weights for 2 sessions (3 for squats-one week) now.

    Bench: did 3x5 but failed on the very last rep at 70lbs. I struggled to get it up so just racked it instead of pushing it up and locked.

    rows: still struggling so only on 65lbs right now. man my left wrist just hates me. I may switch to dumbbells in the near future if I can't find a better way to make my wrist/grip stronger.

    Also lwoodroff that website is kinda cool! I like seeing visuals like that.
  • macybean
    macybean Posts: 258 Member
    Migraine...ugh...back to bed.
  • Fittreelol
    Fittreelol Posts: 2,535 Member
    Wow Kira so many deadlifts! I'm also about to eat all the foods! :drinker:

    3x5 is where it's at. Well except for 1x5 I'm liking that quite a bit now. :wink: 5x5 started really kicking my butt recovery wise after a few months. 3x5 and switching to front squats on deadlift day made my body so happy!

    Inverted rows are freaking hard.

    Today is the best day. AKA deadlift and ohp day! I did front squats 110 2x5, ohp 89x5, dl 273x5, Then I did assisted pull ups 3x5 as I went up 10 lbs, and I did stupid curls 3x6 with 15#. I'm pretty sure the curls were harder than the deadlifts. :laugh: After all that I went to the Y and did 45 minutes on the arc trainer. Thankfully someone brought in candy corn to work today and I had max glycogen!
  • randomtai
    randomtai Posts: 9,003 Member
    Worked out today... Hurt my knee during squats.. not sure why. Made my whole workout suck.. :sad:
  • fisherlassie
    fisherlassie Posts: 542 Member
    Random so sorry about your knee!

    I had a great workout tonight!

    My fractionals arrived but they wouldn't go on my bar so I was quite annoyed because I had done a really thorough warmup in anticipation of increasing my weights by half a pound! When I found out that it wasn't going to happen the way I had envisioned I increased the weights anyway!!!

    Squats: 110 lbs 5 x 5 from 107
    OHP: 65 lb 5x5 from 62
    DL: 175 lb 1x5 from 165 and this is body weight because I was 174.6lb this morning!!

    I am thrilled!

    We also got some very fancy clippy things to hold the weights on to replace the very annoying rings with the screw that gets stuck when it is time to change weights! Better than Christmas!!
  • zanyzana
    zanyzana Posts: 248 Member
    I did my 3rd SL session at home last night. I love that I can do it whenever it fits into my day, now. And a friend dropped in half way through, and we just had a quick chat and then I got on with it again, after making him check out my squat video of myself, compare it with the Ripptoe DVD is got in the mail and pull my form to pieces! Yay, wins all round!

    So, another A session, with Oly bay squats -5x5. My form is getting a bit better. I took away the milk crate that I was squatting to as I seem to bend severely forward when aiming for it. I'm really consciously trying not to good morning! It's so hard!! Anyways, I know I'll get there

    Bench went really well with 5x5 at 32.5 kg (71.5lb- wow, that sounds much better!)

    And rows at 35kg (77lb). It felt challenging, but I had no struggles. Awesome!

    AND, I had my regular chiro appointment today, and he mentioned how good my back was. How cool is that. The focus on good form is helping my back too :) YAY!
  • zanyzana
    zanyzana Posts: 248 Member
    Random so sorry about your knee!

    I had a great workout tonight!

    My fractionals arrived but they wouldn't go on my bar so I was quite annoyed because I had done a really thorough warmup in anticipation of increasing my weights by half a pound! When I found out that it wasn't going to happen the way I had envisioned I increased the weights anyway!!!

    Squats: 110 lbs 5 x 5 from 107
    OHP: 65 lb 5x5 from 62
    DL: 175 lb 1x5 from 165 and this is body weight because I was 174.6lb this morning!!

    I am thrilled!

    We also got some very fancy clippy things to hold the weights on to replace the very annoying rings with the screw that gets stuck when it is time to change weights! Better than Christmas!!

    Meanwhile, how annoying that your fractionals don't fit. We're they expensive? But great work on the weight increases and on the screw clip thingo. I don't have them yet, I suppose I should get them soon?
  • randomtai
    randomtai Posts: 9,003 Member
    Random so sorry about your knee!

    Thanks... I guess a deload is in order.
    I am wondering if it is because I am doing HIIT on off lift days... I knew cardio was the devil. :devil:
  • SezxyStef
    SezxyStef Posts: 15,267 Member
    Got busy after my workout yesterday...supper, nephew was there etc...

    Yesterday was Workout B (2nd one with the hubby....his bum was sore from the squats...hehe)

    Squats 5x5 @ 115 - Stayed at 115 to ensure form doesn't suffer and will again on Friday...didn't fail and form stayed good but just to be sure...

    OHP 5x5 @60lbs - Stayed at 60 due to fail on Monday..no fail kept my form in check but might stay here for another workout ...

    DL 1x5 @ 130 no issues at all....

    interesting note tho...hubby says I always lead with my left side...mind you I am left handed...so I am trying to correct that but what is funny is that my left thigh has less fat on it.....:laugh: :laugh: :laugh:

    ETA: it's the inside of my thigh

    I can seriously notice...not sure if I am pushing more with my left leg too...anyone else in this situation????
  • lwoodroff
    lwoodroff Posts: 1,431 Member
    I'm a lefty too and a little imbalanced in favour of that side.
  • hananah89
    hananah89 Posts: 692 Member

    I can seriously notice...not sure if I am pushing more with my left leg too...anyone else in this situation????

    Its funny you say that because I'm right handed and lead with my right, but have noticed when I sit down the left side of my stomach is tighter than my right. Our bodies are weird.
  • roxylola
    roxylola Posts: 540 Member
    I have a twist in my pelvis which I am going to see a chiro about - I have one hip much higher than the other. So I know I am not even all the way up, I correct as best I can though.

    Random, I find a lot of cycling breaks my knees so must be the cadio :p

    Did I read something about a low bar squatter? Confused - I thought low bar was what we were supposed to use, I do and I still squat a2g (albeit twisted)
  • kirabob
    kirabob Posts: 481 Member
    I have one leg shorter than the other by a little bit, and my hips are not level. I've seen a chiro regularly to help mitigate the stresses of my former job (a decade running clay and sculpture studios) - He told me that my hips are actually significantly improved from before I started lifting. I think it has more to do with the flexibility work than anything else. . .but in general, if you are twisting due to one side being more powerful , it's a good idea to work at a weight you can push evenly until BOTH sides are ready to go up (basically, train your weakest muscle). I have to be careful with this in bench - I have a tendency to think I can increase because my right side can push, but my left side always disagrees. :smile:

    Bench day
    1x5@80
    1x5@95
    1x6@110 - I really felt yesterday's deadlifts here, and just didn't have anything left for more. Next time.
    5x10@65 - I played with pausing, grip spacing, negatives, etc. Just to keep from getting bored.

    One arm bent over rows, 3x15@25
    Lat pulldowns, 3x10@70
    Assisted chins, 3x10 with 75 pounds of my bodyweight.

    Happy lifting, all!
  • hananah89
    hananah89 Posts: 692 Member
    Did I read something about a low bar squatter? Confused - I thought low bar was what we were supposed to use, I do and I still squat a2g (albeit twisted)

    Yeah that was me. It makes sense to me only because if I try to go a2g then I feel like I'd fall over with the low bar since its basically on my back instead of behind my neck.
  • roxylola
    roxylola Posts: 540 Member
    Keep you curve in your back, and even keeping the bar straight you sort of fold forward and take your bottom back as you go down. If you try to do it like a sit down I can see how that would not work.
  • jstout365
    jstout365 Posts: 1,686 Member
    Man I've missed a lot of the goings on in here.

    hwillmott - Low bar doesn't mean you can't get to parallel or below. It all comes down to flexibility. I low bar and do ATG, but it has taken a long time (about 4-6 months) to get the form, flexibility, and balance down for that. Just keep working on it and you can start to go lower.

    SexyStef - I've been told I have a "lazy" left leg that doesn't work as much during my squats. I'm right handed as well, but have had issues with my left hip so ???????? as to the real cause. I've been working on the balance of the work since my last deload.

    So I switched to a MWF lifting schedule for at least the next few weeks to free up my weekend a little bit more. I hurt my tailbone region last week so only got one session in, but I didn't let it stop me from getting back in on Monday. Did B Monday and A yesterday:

    B -
    Squat 5x5 @ 115
    OHP 5x5@ 55
    Deadlift 1x5 @ 135, 155, 175, 185, 195 - went a little goofy on these. Hadn't done them in a few weeks and just kept wanting to push it. I think 205 is my current PR so I should be back there soon enough.

    A -
    squat - 5x5 @ 120
    Bench 5x5 @ 95
    row 5x5 @ 85

    Yesterday I watched this guy doing Squats and OHP and just wanted to tap on his shoulder and tell him he was going to hurt himself with poor form. I didn't, but some days I worry about people. His squats were not dangerous, but he had some common form issues. His OHP was crazy painful to watch and I was sure the bar was going to come down and crack open his head or break his nose. He had to push press the first rep and never locked out at the top. He maintained the back bend during the whole lift and only brought the bar down to mouth level (mind you his head was pointed up the whole time because of the arch in his back). Have you ever said something to someone who seriously had such poor form that they were about to hurt themselves? I didn't say anything and I see this guy all the time. This was the first time, however, I saw him doing the standing OHP.
  • roxylola
    roxylola Posts: 540 Member
    Ooh tricky, maybe ask him to video you so you can check your form then offer to do the same for him
  • hananah89
    hananah89 Posts: 692 Member

    hwillmott - Low bar doesn't mean you can't get to parallel or below. It all comes down to flexibility. I low bar and do ATG, but it has taken a long time (about 4-6 months) to get the form, flexibility, and balance down for that. Just keep working on it and you can start to go lower.

    yeah I tried doing it bodyweight Friday and had to hold on to the rack for support. I'm not really flexible in that regard it seems. I'm even still working on setting up to DL because of that. I don't really want to deload and relearn form at this point since its working for me but if I do end up stalling out (which could honestly be anytime now) maybe I'll switch to relearning atg form. I was told the bar currently goes in an exact straight line though so that's something.


    And I like roxylola's suggestion. You don't really want to be rude about it but offering to video might work. Some men think they have all the answers (haha) so he may not like you being right. You have to lead him to the answer :)
  • jstout365
    jstout365 Posts: 1,686 Member


    yeah I tried doing it bodyweight Friday and had to hold on to the rack for support. I'm not really flexible in that regard it seems. I'm even still working on setting up to DL because of that. I don't really want to deload and relearn form at this point since its working for me but if I do end up stalling out (which could honestly be anytime now) maybe I'll switch to relearning atg form. I was told the bar currently goes in an exact straight line though so that's something.

    I just happened to be on a deload after an extended break. It sounds like form isn't the issue. It shouldn't be a matter of relearning, just working on flexibility to bring things lower. Not everyone can do it and I don't think it is a "must" in squat form.
  • I definitely feel I have a stronger leg and stronger arm, but just balancing the bar keeps them in check.

    B today (I think I like B better)
    Squats 130lbs 5x5, I was feeling good so kept loading the bar up. Did one rep at 175lbs and the trainer said it didn't look like I was struggling so I think I could go heavier. It is fun to play with weights :)
    Deadlift 130lbs 1x5
    OHP 65lbs 5x5. Almost failed on my last rep last set.
    Chin ups 2 sets of 3 WAHOOO.
    Pull ups 2 sets of 2
  • emjaycazz
    emjaycazz Posts: 330 Member
    I definitely like B better because of the DLs. I get through the OHPs thinking "these make my shoulders look hot!"

    Does anyone have experience with sissy squats? I was thinking of adding them as an accessory and wanted to see if anyone has benefited from them.