April workout check in thread - aprilliant workouts here!
Replies
-
Early workout done today! Gym was empty, it was wonderful. The best part is when I workout alone I can keep it to an hour.
Bench day:
1X10 @45 lbs
1X5 @65 lbs
5X5 @70 lbs
Rows with barbell curls superset:
5X5 @85 lbs (rows)
5X5 @40 lbs (curls)
Ab (core) machine:
3X10 @50 lbs
2X10 @55 lbs
Lat Pull down machine:
1X8 @50 lbs
1X8 @90 lbs
3X8 @80 lbs
Finished with a 20 minute run, no zombies this time. :bigsmile:0 -
Workout A day:
Squat 60kg
Bench press 32.5kg
Row 45kg
1 fail on each so will have to repeat :sad:0 -
Awesome progress ladies!
I'm back after a week's vacation in lovely Vancouver B.C., where I packed up my friend and moved her back home to be my new roommate. I still managed to find a gym and do some squats and accessory stuff one morning, and I got a few runs in, as well as loading and unloading her stuff.
The guy I was loading the trailer with was pleasantly surprised at my ability to not drop furniture, so that was a plus :bigsmile:
Anyway, I had a migraine on Monday, so last night I lumped my OHP and deadlift workouts together for Round 5 of 5/3/1 (my 5 week).
OHP-Warmup Sets:
5 x 45 pounds
3 x 50 pounds
Working Sets:
5 x 50 pounds
5 x 60 pounds
5 x 70 pounds-I got 2 sets of 3, and then did a set of 10 with just the bar. I still can't quite seem to get past 3 reps on that guy.
Deadlifts-Warmup Sets:
5 x 95 pounds
5 x 115 pounds
3 x 135 pounds
Working Sets:
5 x 145 pounds
5 x 165 pounds
5 x 185 pounds-These were tough to get even 5 in, they felt really heavy.
Assistance Work:
Unassisted Dips-3 sets of 5, the first time I've attempted them unassisted and my form was shaky, but I managed to get some out!
Assisted Chinups-3 sets of 5 @ 35 pounds assisted. I did try unassisted but couldn't quite get up there.
Front Squat-3 sets of 10 @ 65 pounds
Decline Situp-3 sets of 10 with bodyweight
I'm almost at the point where I can do one unassisted chinup, hopefully it'll come soon!0 -
I was overestimating the weight of my bar when I started Stronglifts at the end of January. I recently tried weighing myself and then weighing myself holding the bar and it's coming up around 17 pounds. I know it's not completely accurate, so I've been guesstimating it at 20 pounds, if for no other reason than the math is easier. So these stats could be give or take 5 pounds.
I was lifting three days a week, but I also do boot camp three days a week and as the weights got heavier it got to be too much, so I've decreased my lifting to two days a week. My most recent weights for each are:
Squat: 5x5 @ 135lbs
Bench: 5x5 @ 75lbs
Row: 5x5 @ 75lbs
OHP: 5x5 @ 70lbs
Deadlifts: 5x5 @ 125lbs
I really need to invest in fractionals. I was stuck at 65 on OHP for a long time, simply because I was too afraid to move up. I finally went for it last night and am pretty proud of myself for getting that weight up every time. It wasn't easy!
Question about OHP: I find that I bend my knees a little (very slightly) before I lift, and then straighten up as I'm lifting. It may be all in my head, but I feel like it adds some momentum in getting the weight up. Is this okay/normal?
ETA: Typo0 -
Question about OHP: I find that I bend my knees a little (very slightly) before I lift, and then straighten up as I'm lifting. It may be all in my head, but I feel like it adds some momentum in getting the weight up. Is this okay/normal?
If you add momentum it's no longer a strict press and more along the lines of a push press. While it's also a valid lift and might actually help you through plateaus because you can lift a bit more weight that way, it's not really the same thing! My view on this is, if you prefer to do it that way, measure your progress accordingly (and if you're going to add a bit of momentum, might as well do a full push press to get the explosiveness it's supposed to bring along with it).0 -
Squats 5x5 130 lbs
Bench 2x5, 2x4 (failed), 1x5 85 lbs
Rows 5x5 65 lbs the right way thanks to stef sending me a video
0 -
Don't be afraid of deadlifting! The injuries that do happen are usually people being stupid (putting way too damn much weight on and grinding it out, for example). You're much more likely to hurt your back doing every day activities where you're not bracing or thinking about it than when lifting a bar. In fact, deadlifting will help you learn to brace and eventually you'll be doing it in every day life and actually protecting your back from stupid injuries!
If you keep everything tight and use correct form you really shouldn't have any issues. Just one piece of advice when using mixed grip though: it WILL be tempting to use your underhand arm to give the bar a slight pull (heck I think that,s actually just a reflex/motor skill of the body in general). Don't do that. Keep 'em elbows locked out. And if the bar won't move from the floor, try pulling it back instead of up, see if that changes it (your shins are in the way. The bar path will correct itself whether you like it or not)
I feel the need to claim "FULL REST DAY!" here again since I rarely actually do fully rest lol.
Haha - I totally nailed my shins on my 135 warm up, so I get what you're saying. Great tips/advice! 0 -
Same here. I am so sore as I was the very first week I started. I guess 2 weeks off was really a lot.Holy crap balls... DOMS from Monday's workout... in mah glutes... :sad:
Hopefully the gym isn't bro-crowded today and I can snag the power rack this afternoon! Mid-week usually isn't bad, so I have high hopes.0 -
Decided to up the squats to 155. I'm playing around with the high bar/low bar as when I started SL I did high bar squats. Then I transitioned to low bar and I feel that maybe my form broke down. So, I warmed up with high bar and did low bar on my work weight. I'm thinking I probably should have just stuck with the high bar on my work weight as well. I did all 3x5, but they wore me out. I was also hungry during my time at the gym. I'm usually not. Perhaps this affected my lifts. I was going to attempt 100 on bench again, but the 2.5 lb plates were all being used, so I upped it to 105 :smokin: I only got 1 rep up of all the sets, so I deloaded to 95 and did my sets there. Wasn't able to do my bent over rows due to the weight room being full and no room to do them :grumble: so I did 105 lbs rows on the cable machine and then a few at 120 lbs.0
-
If you add momentum it's no longer a strict press and more along the lines of a push press. While it's also a valid lift and might actually help you through plateaus because you can lift a bit more weight that way, it's not really the same thing! My view on this is, if you prefer to do it that way, measure your progress accordingly (and if you're going to add a bit of momentum, might as well do a full push press to get the explosiveness it's supposed to bring along with it).
Okay, thank you for the advice! I'm going to try my current weight without bending my knees and deload of I have to. I want to make sure I'm doing the lift properly. I've only been doing the knee bend thing in the last 5 or so pounds, so hopefully I will be able to rectify it without too much trouble. Like I said, I definitely need to invest in fractionals. Trying to limit my spending right now, though, because I've got a trip to Vegas planned in a couple of weeks. :happy:0 -
There was the sugar filled weekend and then a funny pain behind my knee and then mourning the fish so I had two days of doing nothing, really, I'm not exaggerating, two whole days of sitting on my butt on the couch. Not even a walk around the block! I worked out today though. It felt good. I still have the funny knee pain but I feel better and more energetic today.
Squats: 75 lb 5x5 up from 70
OHP: 62 lb 5x5 up from 61. I'm loving these fractionals!
DL: 115 lb 5x5 up from 1100 -
If you add momentum it's no longer a strict press and more along the lines of a push press. While it's also a valid lift and might actually help you through plateaus because you can lift a bit more weight that way, it's not really the same thing! My view on this is, if you prefer to do it that way, measure your progress accordingly (and if you're going to add a bit of momentum, might as well do a full push press to get the explosiveness it's supposed to bring along with it).
Okay, thank you for the advice! I'm going to try my current weight without bending my knees and deload of I have to. I want to make sure I'm doing the lift properly. I've only been doing the knee bend thing in the last 5 or so pounds, so hopefully I will be able to rectify it without too much trouble. Like I said, I definitely need to invest in fractionals. Trying to limit my spending right now, though, because I've got a trip to Vegas planned in a couple of weeks. :happy:
Kayla, I wrote my comment about fractionals before I read yours! Sorry! I didn't mean to flaunt the fractional! I know how it is to have to be frugal But it sounds like you are doing it for a good cause!!0 -
I need some fractionals, ohp is driving me crazy. I am also thinking about moving to 3x5 and adding some accessories; after I finish 5x5 squats I can hardly stand up to do ohp.
Any who here's todays:
Squat 5x5 125 lbs, just deloaded them so they felt really good.
Ohp 4x5 then 4 45 lbs
Deadlift 1x3 160 lbs, I'm quite happy my grip held up.
And the usual 20 minutes on the elliptical.0 -
:bigsmile: Happy Hump day all...:bigsmile:
@redhead I workout at home but where tight shorts/pants and a tank...but i would wear the same thing at the gym too...if they wanna look have at is what I say...I wear a 36-38 B/C depending on if it's a push up...but you can tell by my pic I have some boobies..and once I rip off my hoodie yah they are out on display..I will update this summer after I get my trial membership at our gym going (for the air conditioning of course)
Oh and haircut i will upload the one I look a couple weeks ago...inverted bob up in a tiny tail atm..usually behind my ears when working out...do miss my bun/pony tail tho..
*sorry for the size and to lazy to resize...and I hate hate taking selfies...seriously...
@Kaity yah for you...good job
On rows yes I always feel it in my back...suppose to..Jstout shows a great pic, I feel it most in my lats...gotta squeez shoulders in more
@dec yah no gloves..chalk or do grip work, My warm ups are 2x 90 then onto working weight which is anywhere between 170 and 200 for me atm...oh and go mixed grip for sure.
@ Kat yah my bum is usually feeling it after squats..not sore just firery if that makes sense...hehe
@ pad those are nice numbers tho regardless..
@Kaylajane yah same thing happened to me so I tried to work it out on my spreadsheet..what a pain tho right. I put it at 15 instead of frigging around with 16.5-17...so my lifts are mostly under by about 2lbs now. If you can find weighted collars that would work too..mine together are 3.5lbs (weighed them on my food scale) On my OHP I take a wide stance, tighten up everything and just push with no pauses at top or bottom.
so workout A for me today...
Squats @ 130 5x5 no issue...getting ATG for sure which is making a huge difference in my leg (groin) for the better.
Bench @ 115 my deload weight...crossing fingers (3:45 rests) 5x5 on those, easy with the good arch and tight....:drinker:
should be moving onto 118.5 next time...iffy...here I am psyching myself out again....:noway:
so these were okay form..eh...not tight enough on the first two so corrected that on 3rd and much better set.
Husband spotting me tonight before his night shift..I told him for mother's day I want my squat rack modified so I can bench in it...and I usually get what i want...well not true...I always get what I want...:bigsmile:
Rows @ 118.5 again tonight just for form (love the collars took BP bar down added weighted collars good to go) 5x5 on those.
Form on first set was awful but my husband was being grabby...jeeeesus....:grumble: no excuse for poor form on set 4...:bigsmile: he has left the building
Work out took (with warmup) from 4:09-5:35pm...only thing saving me is I am at home...I don't have to cook dinner and well I have nothing better to do but this summer I can see 3x5 being a great benefit during the week.
Oh and went for a walk yesterday about 30min moderate pace up hills with the hubby. Will do it again tomorrow night on my own as he is working nights for the next two...big bed all to myself...then weigh myself on Friday and see since I have been extra special good this week...crosses fingers.
Have a good downward swing to the Week everyone....0 -
Rugby I am totally impressed with your unassisted chin-up! Let us know when it is official! I can't imagine it and at this point i'm not even trying. Maybe after I lose a little on my body and increase a little on my lifts i'll try again. Even as a strong young person I was never able to do it.
Padz, no need to cry! Those are awesome weights!!
jstout you look awesome in your profile photo!!
Stef, you look fabulous too!0 -
Hi, everyone. I hope it's okay for me to jump in here. Last night was the start of my 11th week doing Stronglifts and I have been so inspired by all of you (I may have been lurking here for a little while :blushing: ). Last night was workout A for me and I started with 115 on the first two sets of squats but went ahead and went back down to 100 for the last three sets because I am having a hard time not having my butt come up first. It's frustrating that I am not progressing with them as well as I would like to be but I definitely want to make sure I have form down before going back up. I am working on doing sets of 8 for 75# bench press before moving up and I got 4 sets of those in but only 3 reps for the last set. Almost ready to try 80# again. I did rows for the first time at 90# and only got 3 sets of 3 and 2 sets of 2 in. I'm really hoping for a better workout tomorrow.0
-
Great job everyone!! :bigsmile:0
-
Workout B
Squats - 5x5 @ 135lbs (repeat of last time, but my glutes are still sore from Monday)
OHP - 5x5 @ 60lbs (another repeat weight from the last time)
DL's - 1x5 @ 135lbs, 1x5 @ 145lbs
Planks - 3x30sec w/ 10lb plate on my back
Side bends - 3x10 w/ 35lb plate
Upright rows - 3x5 @ 45lbs0 -
Hi all. I've MIA for the past little bit, crazy busy and deloaded all my weights for a while so I wasn't posting but I'm back ;-) I felt good and strong today so I just went for it! I'm so glad I did I had an awesome day!! Such good night!!
Squats 135lbs 5x5. a bit of a push but I got em all & felt awesome!
Over head press YAY I broke my stupid 60lb stall..today 65lbs 5x5!!
Dead-lifts 180lbs. my goodness :-) 5.
Pull-ups 3x5
Chin-ups 3x5
Hip thrust, these were so hard after dead lifts I barely got though it 50lbs3x8.
finally abs.
Just out of curiosity does anyone else get a crazy strong craving for beer after dead lifts or is it just me? :drinker:0 -
Just out of curiosity does anyone else get a crazy strong craving for beer after dead lifts or is it just me? :drinker:
I crave margaritas after lifting. :drinker:0 -
Immediately after lifting, I usually have no appetite and have to force myself to refuel. The DAY after, however, I want EVERYTHING!Just out of curiosity does anyone else get a crazy strong craving for beer after dead lifts or is it just me? :drinker:0 -
Today was snatch and T2B (which I regressed to knees to bows. And was heavily hampered by my poor grip strength or actually, endurance
)
E.M.O.T.M. (every minute on the minute) for 20 minutes
Odd: Snatch x3
Even: K2B AMRAP
Bar was at 65lbs. Grip started failing on the 3rd set. Yep, that,s how bad it was. I have huge blisters in my hands now
But I kpet pushin through.
Then decided to do pendlay rows 95x3x8 superset with dip station knee raises (to make up for the reps I couldn't do on K2B)
I have had crap sleep all week and I'm really starting to feel it. Guh.0 -
Squats: 3x5 145lbs
OHP: 1x10 45lbs, 2x5 50lbs, 2x5 55lbs
Deadlift: 1x5 175lbs
My gym "buddy" (aka, the middle aged bodybuilder who lives in the weight room) was shouting at me during my last rep of OHP at 55lbs. "PUSH, HONEY." While I appreciated it, I almost dropped the bar, lol.
I think I'm going to start adding in an extra day at the gym, starting tomorrow. Just going to do my accessory lifts!0 -
Krok - You will get the endurance back along with the grip strength if you keep up with the hanging leg raises.
Westend - I get hungry after deads, but I don't know that I can say I crave anything in particular.
Fisher - Thanks!
So I took yesterday day off of the gym to make it over to the chiro since I was feeling a bit tight and needed the rest due to work stress. Then at boxing class we did some slip and duck/roll drills and got to touch spar. It was a fun filled night of showing up the boys and laughing at a few of them.....well at least laughing in my head. So during the slip and roll work, you basically avoid a punch by twisting your upper body and then to roll you "sit down" into a squat type. So the guy I was working with is this college kid, good muscle definition, not lacking in mass by any means. We get going and he is bending at the waist. The instructor corrects him and tells him to sit into it. Less than a minute later he had to pause because his "legs were on fire"....I told him he needs to squat more. He indicated that he never squat except for the 30 seconds during warm-ups in class. :huh: :noway: In my head I was like "Bros don't let bros skip leg day" and "Do you even squat?" Apparently not. After those drills, we got to touch spar. This is like 50% power pillow fighting with your gloves. The point is more to get the feel for incorporating all the skills while facing an opponent. We went like 6 or 7 rounds of this. I know I can hold my own with the guys in my class, but I still struggled with the more advanced students. I figured out how to use my small size to my advantage and I can bury myself into the taller guy's chests and just attack the body then pop out and attack again, but then go for the head. I got knocked in face a few times and even had a contact lens fall out, but I had a great time. After class "Spastic Noodle" (he trows punches with wet noodle arms) and probably the best boxer in the level 2 class were hanging out and one of them showed off his arm/shoulder so of course I had to as well. Then one of them was like so can you do like pull ups? I was like of course I can....want to see? So I knocked 3 out on the rings. He tried and got 5. Needless to say....lifting for over a year has allowed me to show off and impress the boys. :laugh:0 -
Squats: 3x5 145lbs
OHP: 1x10 45lbs, 2x5 50lbs, 2x5 55lbs
Deadlift: 1x5 175lbs
My gym "buddy" (aka, the middle aged bodybuilder who lives in the weight room) was shouting at me during my last rep of OHP at 55lbs. "PUSH, HONEY." While I appreciated it, I almost dropped the bar, lol.
I think I'm going to start adding in an extra day at the gym, starting tomorrow. Just going to do my accessory lifts!
:laugh: Your "gym buddy" sounds hilarious. I made a bro friend yesterday at my gym, too. Gave me some awful form pointers, but he let me share the power rack with him since my squat weight was only 20lbs more than what he was OHP-ing.0 -
Workout B day. I'm thinking about moving my OHP from dumbbells to the bar for two reasons: better balance for my shoulders, and I can camp out on the squat rack.
Okay, maybe that's not such a good reason.
Squats: 2x5x45, 1x5x85, 1x3x115, 1x2x145, 5x5x175. I am definitely at my limit right now. I can't decide whether to deload some to work on form or just stay at this weight for a bit and then move up.
OHP: 2x5x15, 5x5x27.5
Deadlift: 2x5x45, 1x5x75, 1x3x95, 1x5x115
Chest dips (machine): 3x10x-72
Hanging leg raises: 3x12
HOW do people do such huge deadlifts? I feel like I've reached the peak I'm ever going to be able to do with this lift.0 -
HOW do people do such huge deadlifts? I feel like I've reached the peak I'm ever going to be able to do with this lift.
Even if they're hard, deadlifts are probably the "easiest" exercise to progress on because it doesn't take a lot of work to add 5lbs to the bar. They're always going to be tough. But they will also be doable. Your backside is one strong mofo, just trust in it 0 -
He really is. I always say good morning to him, and every so often he yells encouragement to me. Last month he told me that half the 45lb plates in the gym were mine; he was okay sharing them with me but not those "young boys." :blushing:
:laugh: Your "gym buddy" sounds hilarious. I made a bro friend yesterday at my gym, too. Gave me some awful form pointers, but he let me share the power rack with him since my squat weight was only 20lbs more than what he was OHP-ing.My gym "buddy" (aka, the middle aged bodybuilder who lives in the weight room) was shouting at me during my last rep of OHP at 55lbs. "PUSH, HONEY." While I appreciated it, I almost dropped the bar, lol.0 -
Got workout B in yesterday! Stupid OHP
Squats 85 lbs 5x5
OHP 45 5 sets 5,5,5,4,4
Deadlift 125 1x5
Felt good yesterday- I deloaded for OHP I was supposed to do 50 lbs last time it was awful- so deloaded
:flowerforyou:
Happy lifting y'all0 -
Holy crap balls... DOMS from Monday's workout... in mah glutes... :sad:
Hopefully the gym isn't bro-crowded today and I can snag the power rack this afternoon! Mid-week usually isn't bad, so I have high hopes.
Wed night is my fave night to go... less BRO's :laugh: Trolling0
