September check-in and chat.. lift like septimus prime!
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Doing Su-T-R this week instead of M-W-F because I'm going away on Friday for the weekend.
On Sunday I repeated 125 on squats and will go for a third next workout. I was able to do 5x5 but wasn't happy with my form so counted only 4 on a few sets. My left shoulder was bothering me and it was distracting. Not sure what's going on with it so I might have to go easy (well, easier) on OHP Tuesday. My hip was also a little testy because I think I had too wide of a stance. So squatting was a bit of a mess.
Row and bench went really well, doing 70 lbs each. Going to repeat 70 on row next time to make sure I don't end up lifting unevenly again.
I added some additional lifts in such as high pulls, split squats, and triceps extensions. Going to try and make it to a yoga class tonight. I need to focus on stretching and flexibility because I've been feeling stiff lately.0 -
Hubby was on vacation last week, and we ate a lot of delicious food. My diet was crap, and I didn't exercise because I was so exhausted all the time. I feel better this week, and I'm going to get back on track or die trying! I decided to start the whole program back from the beginning in order to work on my form. I finally downloaded the 5x5 app for my phone, so hopefully I'll be better with timing my rests instead of just resting for random amounts of time.
Workout A.0 -
I had workout A today:
Squat: 115lbs 5x5 - I've decided to only increase 5 lb per week instead of per workout since my deload. The weights get too heavy and I end up stuffing my face and destroying my deficit.
Row: 75lb 5x5 - I freaking hate rows. I was supposed to be at 80 lb today, but didn't attempt it because (see below)
Bench: 85lb (5,5,5,4,5). See that fourth set? I failed on the last rep. How did I fail? Gloriously. I managed to trap myself under the bar (couldn't get to the lowest pin). Did I do something awesome like get trapped with the bar on my boobs? No, I managed to rest the bar on my face. Specifically, my left eye socket. I have a bit of swelling there now, but my Spiderman boo boo buddy helped with the majority of it. After 5 min of rest, which was mostly lying on the bench snorting, I managed the last set. Plus one extra revenge rep.
I'll be sticking at 85 next workout, and hopefully I can get one of the guys there to take off his headphones long enough to ask for a spot. I was very lucky that one of them was nearby and saw me fail and was able to help. I need to get over being nervous about asking for a spot.0 -
I had workout A today:
Squat: 115lbs 5x5 - I've decided to only increase 5 lb per week instead of per workout since my deload. The weights get too heavy and I end up stuffing my face and destroying my deficit.
Row: 75lb 5x5 - I freaking hate rows. I was supposed to be at 80 lb today, but didn't attempt it because (see below)
Bench: 85lb (5,5,5,4,5). See that fourth set? I failed on the last rep. How did I fail? Gloriously. I managed to trap myself under the bar (couldn't get to the lowest pin). Did I do something awesome like get trapped with the bar on my boobs? No, I managed to rest the bar on my face. Specifically, my left eye socket. I have a bit of swelling there now, but my Spiderman boo boo buddy helped with the majority of it. After 5 min of rest, which was mostly lying on the bench snorting, I managed the last set. Plus one extra revenge rep.
I'll be sticking at 85 next workout, and hopefully I can get one of the guys there to take off his headphones long enough to ask for a spot. I was very lucky that one of them was nearby and saw me fail and was able to help. I need to get over being nervous about asking for a spot.
Good idea on adding per week instead of per workout. I'm getting to the point where I'm making the 5x5 but struggling so adding weight is a no go. When I stay at the same weight for a few workouts, I'll try and add the next weight to the final set just to see how I do/prove to myself I can do it.
P.S. Way to rebound after your glorious bench failure!0 -
Whew, today was deadlift 5/3/1. Went a bit like this (yes, after the day where I sumo DLed 49 reps @ 135lbs. No excuses!)
162.5x5
182.5x3
205x5 - The last rep wasn,t pretty. I had one more in the tank, I knew I did, but with the form breakdown and the knowledge I still had more work to do afterwards, I decided to rack it in. It beat last week's, good enough
155x12 - lazy plate switch for the first set last again. But I like it.
Front squats @ 115 x 5/5/6
superset with assisted dips 5/4/8 (last set was with a heavier band)
Then, for time
Prowler w/ 25lbs plate x 100, 80, 60, 40m
assisted pull-ups 10, 15, 20, 25
Ended in 19 minutes. First 2 sets of pull-ups were with red and black, then I added the blue band in for the last 2. Obviously didn,t go unbroken. But I *think* I'm improving.
Then went grocery shopping, only picked up fruits and veggies and some trout (yay!), got back home, went a lil craycray and decided to do one of the tapout xt dvds (muay thai). Realized I had a few quests in progress on fitocracy and went to do some jump rope outside to finish 'em up. And am now just sitting with my first real meal of the day at 2PM lol
Tomorrow is an all-out REST day *nods*0 -
I had workout A today:
Squat: 115lbs 5x5 - I've decided to only increase 5 lb per week instead of per workout since my deload. The weights get too heavy and I end up stuffing my face and destroying my deficit.
Row: 75lb 5x5 - I freaking hate rows. I was supposed to be at 80 lb today, but didn't attempt it because (see below)
Bench: 85lb (5,5,5,4,5). See that fourth set? I failed on the last rep. How did I fail? Gloriously. I managed to trap myself under the bar (couldn't get to the lowest pin). Did I do something awesome like get trapped with the bar on my boobs? No, I managed to rest the bar on my face. Specifically, my left eye socket. I have a bit of swelling there now, but my Spiderman boo boo buddy helped with the majority of it. After 5 min of rest, which was mostly lying on the bench snorting, I managed the last set. Plus one extra revenge rep.
I'll be sticking at 85 next workout, and hopefully I can get one of the guys there to take off his headphones long enough to ask for a spot. I was very lucky that one of them was nearby and saw me fail and was able to help. I need to get over being nervous about asking for a spot.
Good idea on adding per week instead of per workout. I'm getting to the point where I'm making the 5x5 but struggling so adding weight is a no go. When I stay at the same weight for a few workouts, I'll try and add the next weight to the final set just to see how I do/prove to myself I can do it.
P.S. Way to rebound after your glorious bench failure!
Someone smart told me, and by someone smart I mean someone who didn't have a barbell on their face today, that if you decide to stay at the same weight, it can be beneficial to increase reps before moving up in weight. I think they said do 5x5, then 5x8, then 5x12, then increase weight. I haven't tried it yet but I may give it a shot this week, as my next weight progression on squats would take me up to 120 lb and that's where my form went to crap the last time.0 -
I had workout A today:
Squat: 115lbs 5x5 - I've decided to only increase 5 lb per week instead of per workout since my deload. The weights get too heavy and I end up stuffing my face and destroying my deficit.
Row: 75lb 5x5 - I freaking hate rows. I was supposed to be at 80 lb today, but didn't attempt it because (see below)
Bench: 85lb (5,5,5,4,5). See that fourth set? I failed on the last rep. How did I fail? Gloriously. I managed to trap myself under the bar (couldn't get to the lowest pin). Did I do something awesome like get trapped with the bar on my boobs? No, I managed to rest the bar on my face. Specifically, my left eye socket. I have a bit of swelling there now, but my Spiderman boo boo buddy helped with the majority of it. After 5 min of rest, which was mostly lying on the bench snorting, I managed the last set. Plus one extra revenge rep.
I'll be sticking at 85 next workout, and hopefully I can get one of the guys there to take off his headphones long enough to ask for a spot. I was very lucky that one of them was nearby and saw me fail and was able to help. I need to get over being nervous about asking for a spot.
Good idea on adding per week instead of per workout. I'm getting to the point where I'm making the 5x5 but struggling so adding weight is a no go. When I stay at the same weight for a few workouts, I'll try and add the next weight to the final set just to see how I do/prove to myself I can do it.
P.S. Way to rebound after your glorious bench failure!
Someone smart told me, and by someone smart I mean someone who didn't have a barbell on their face today, that if you decide to stay at the same weight, it can be beneficial to increase reps before moving up in weight. I think they said do 5x5, then 5x8, then 5x12, then increase weight. I haven't tried it yet but I may give it a shot this week, as my next weight progression on squats would take me up to 120 lb and that's where my form went to crap the last time.
I'll try and throw in some more reps tomorrow but I think 5X12 would drive me batty. My squat started to get a little sloppy at 120, too.0 -
This was from Saturday, but I did Workout B (Day 14)
Squats - Still at body weight holding a 10lb plate due to messed up knee :-( Completed 30
also added 30 per leg of lunges
OHP 5x5 @ 50lbs
DL 1x1 @ 155lbs FAILED! :-(
1x5 @ 135lbs = GOOD! Except then when I got home I realized I should have only gone back to 145lbs like the previous day so I was kinda bummed about that.0 -
Then I added in 40 pushups and a few planks.
OMG! 40 pushups?!!??
You're a beast (in the best way possible!)
I will add these are from my knees :blushing: I am not ready for "real" pushups yet. But THANK You!!!0 -
Form crappy at 120? I'm there, too. Squatted 130 this morning and I can tell I need to keep my chest up. I think I'm good with the knees out and weight on the heels.
I switched from 55# dumbbells to 45# bar for the OHP today. I'm still coming back from a shoulder injury and my chiro recommended I do dumbbells instead of the barbell. The dumbbells go up to 30# in 2.5# increments (22.5#, 25#, 27.5#...) and then after 30, just go up by 5's. Using the 27.5# dumbbells last week was rough, though, so I figured if I dropped down to 45 with the barbell, I have a better chance of getting past 60# when I get there.
Other than the deload on OHP, I still haven't stalled out since starting at the beginning of August. I feel it coming on every lift, though. This stuff is getting heavy. The struggle is REAL.0 -
Finally back to checking in... I decided last workout to go to 3x5, even though I'm not really in huge numbers yet. I figure though, that if other respectable programs like Starting Strength have you at 3x5 from the beginning it won't hurt. Plus I'm really struggling on moving up the weights... we'll see.
Squat 3x5 x85
Bench 3x5 x85
Row 5/4/4 x650 -
Then I added in 40 pushups and a few planks.
OMG! 40 pushups?!!??
You're a beast (in the best way possible!)
I will add these are from my knees :blushing: I am not ready for "real" pushups yet. But THANK You!!!
If you can do 40 push-ups on your knees, you can do a few regular ones! The way I got myself better at it was to do as many as i could of the regular ones then dropping to my knees for the rest. Just give it a try! You have a lot less to lose by thinking you can and trying than selling yourself short and not reaping the benefits
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Bench press day.
Warm up + 85x5, 95x3, 105x2
I want to repeat the 105 again next time; rep number 2 was pitiful!
Upright rows - 2x10x65lbs, 1x10x70lbs
Bent over rows - 2x10x65lbs, 1x10x70lbs
Resistance band chest flies 2x10xred band, 1x10xred+orange band0 -
Week 4 of Madcow
Squats: warm up + 5@55,70,80,95,110
Bench: 5@45,45,45,50,60
Row: 5@45,45,50,60,700 -
SL Day 12:
Squats: Warm-up + 65 lbs. Much, much better today than last time since I found some really good hip flexor stretches online and did those beforehand. Range of motion was great and able to get way past parallel.
OHP: Warm-up + Fail! 3, 3, 4, 3, 2 @ 60 lbs. Felt heavier than $#&%!! Will try again next time.
DL: Warm-up + 115 lbs.
Sore already!0 -
5 week and DL day!
Warm up and then 145 lbs x 5, 165 lbs x5 and finally 185 lbs x5
The last one was really really effing hard and I don't know if I have 200 lbs for 3 to avoid a fail next week
I kept all of my accessories the same, but I did add more weight to everything except front squats. So that circuit looks like:
Front squats 65 lbs, calf raises 115lbs, side bends 30 lbs. 10 reps for 5 sets.
I am now so hungry that I ate a yogurt with a pen at my desk because I forgot to grab a spoon...0 -
got some kind of pinch/twist in my midback that isn't the best news i've had, but i'll just kind of see how it goes for the next little while.
workout a:
squats: 3x5@45, 1x5@55, 5x5@75. no real problems at any point. i think the investment i made in going way back to 60 or so and starting again with parallel feet and a far fiercer focus on form has been paying off. 80lbs is where i messed up my knee a few months ago but i feel much stronger and more confident this time. my knees almost never cave in any more and i spend most of my time with my focus on other stuff like back angle and hip drive now. still, i'll add sets and reps on this for the rest of the week and only do the move when i feel good and solidly ready for it.
bench: 2x5@45 or something, 6x5@ 50. WIN. again, i think the set/rep progression has been paying off. this was only supposed to be 5x5 since it's my first day at this weight, but i threw in an extra just for gee-that-was-pretty-easy.
rows: still just a mess. that twist in my back is a) probably caused by the muscle imbalance AND b) making the imbalances worse, now the twist's there. the bent-over part is at least half my problem with this stupid exercise, so i changed it up. for the hamstrings/glutes/back part, i did a few sets of 5 roumanian deadlifts instead with i dunno, 50 pound dumbbells. and then for the rows, i went one arm at a time with a bench to lean on, and did i think 6x8 with a 25lb plate. after that i also did a few sets of 8 on one of the machines with some comparable weight. i have to find something that's going to work and i feel like i'm still flailing around looking for whatever it is, atm.
and in peripheral news, i weigh 130 right now, but i don't very much care.0 -
StrongLifts 5x5 / Workout B (Day 12)
Incline Leg Press: 5x5 @ 360 lbs.
Still replacing squats with incline leg press. (Darn shoulders!) Think I'd like to go back to doing bodyweight or goblet-ish squats since it's a fuller range of motion. Though I do like the look of EIGHT giant plates on the machine.
OHP: 5x5 @ 30 lbs.
Still hard and form isn't great. I'm arching all over the place. There is no 35 bar, so I'll be sticking with these until mastered -- which might be a while given my shoulder issues -- and then moving up to 40 lbs. Maybe do them with dumbbells every once in a while, but man, I hate OHP with DB.
DL: 1x5 @ 120 lbs.
Oh, Deadlift, how I love thee! Didn't feel these in my lower back at all, which means my form was finally correct. I was supposed to do 115 lbs. tonight, but someone's math skills are terrible, so I ended up doing 120 lbs.
Wednesday is BP @ 70, Take 2. Wish me luck!0 -
Wide awake since 3am-ish. Why is it that workplaces frown upon naps? Because by 11am, I will be needing one. Going to be a long day.
Preggo Lift B
OHP 50lbs, 3x10
DL 95lbs, 3x10--hands completely tore up. May look into gloves since my skin seems to be really sensitive atm.
Accessories-goblet squat 25lb, 3x10. Plank hold 30 seconds x2.
Happy Tuesday everyone!
ETA-stupid iPad spelling 0 -
I spent quite a bit of time last night re-reading the Stronglifts site and noticing things I'd been getting wrong. Tried to right them today:
Day 12
Squat 90lb 5x5
OHP 46lb 5, 4, 3, 4, 3
DLR 145lb x3
I went a little bit later than usual today and found people a bit more chatty. I normally keep myself to myself. In particular the PTs seem to be getting interested and wanting to talk (and talk) at me.0
