Daily Chat Thread
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Hello! I recently joined this group as I am almost finished reading the NROWL4W and am really excited about starting! I have been working with a personal trainer for the past 8 weeks, and have been "getting to know" the weight area of the gym a little better with her. I'm looking forward to having like-minded friends who are getting that rock-solid body!0
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Welcome aboard @chunky_pinup!!0
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Hubby's birthday, today; we took all our kids to see star wars. No workout. BOOM!0
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100kg (220lb) deadlift PR. That is all.
MY HERO!! Way to go, Jo! Are you doing standard DLs? And HAPPY BIRTHDAY!
So I completely blew the last week. My food was completely out of control. I did get to the gym at the beginning of last week, but was away from Thursday through yesterday and of course, I didn't really do much of anything except a lot of eating, some walking on some of the days.
This morning, I got up with renewed commitment - I've been saying that so much lately, only to give up by the end of the week. I'm determined to make it a full week of eating to macros and calorie goals. I went to the gym - shoulders/chest and back and killed it! My chest press is about the worst of all of my big lifts - today I did 65# at least once each set, that's the best I've ever pressed so I'm feeling pretty good. Food has been good today too.
I have not started Strong. My lifting buddy's program is still ok - lower reps, heavy weights, and some balance work too which I really need. So I'm sticking with this one for the moment.
How was everyone's holiday? I hope you all had fun, spent time with family and got the gifts that you were hoping to get.
I will be more active. It's busy at work but I will at least check in and let you know how I'm doing!
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I'm back at work today so a little bit of "normality" returns. Like many, I've not logged food over the last few days, and although there is still a fair bit of festive stuff around, I think I can probably keep things more or less under control....we're going skiing in 10 days so if I can keep things reasonable until then, I will be happy. Then I have no control over what is cooked while we are away, as it is a group holiday with central catering. But regardless of the food, the exercise should be built in (provided the snow finally arrives in Switzerland!) so one will more or less cancel out the other!
I've also set myself a challenge of doing a 100 mile cycle in May. I did the 50 mile circuit a couple of years ago, but have never done anything close to the 100, so that gives me something else to focus on and enjoy working towards.
I have no adverse affects from my workout yesterday. I can feel the work I did in my legs, but no additional pain in my back, so that's good. Very glad I was sensible with the weights. I'm off work on Thursday, so will be taking today and tomorrow as rest days and back again Thurs for a good session. These will be my last 2 sessions from stage 2...I may well do another week of stage 2 workouts to take me up to the ski holiday, then hit stage 3 when I get back.0 -
Sue - yes standard DLs.
Beeps - my birthday and we also went to see Star Wars
Kimi - great goal
Chunky_pinup - welcome
I weighed myself today (don't do this often!) - weight is down. Hurrah, another slice of birthday cake it is0 -
Happy birthday! Enjoy that cake!!0
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Jo-HAPPY BIRTHDAY!! Enjoy your cake!
Welcome chunky_pinup!
Dawn-woohoo on the repeat DL PR! Impressive!
Beeps-glad y had a fun day!
Kim-great job! Nice goal to look forward to! I like to bike, but no one else will go with me, so I sold my road bike and we will occasionally trail ride a a family, but not like I wanted to do
. Kutgw!
Pudding-good job!!
Sue-that's what the holidays are for! Get back to a routine and that'll help too. My bench is weak, I failed Saturday. but I'll keep with it and hope to eventually get stronger.
My back is feeling a bit better. We went up north and played in the snow yesterday. I didn't overdo it and feel better. I'm gonna lift today, but changing my routine to do a split and starting with upper today
. I'll be careful, I just don't want to get out of th routine. Takes me a while to get back in the zone. Scale up, but I'm back to more normal controlled eating, still over 2000 cals, but not all junk 
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Have a great day and happy New Year if I don't catch you til January! Let's talk goals!!0 -
Lifted today....nothing to write home about.0
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I am down 10.6 lbs in seven weeks time....including getting through the holidays! That is about 7% of my bodyweight!
I am really, really proud of myself.....i still have about 7- or 8- lbs to lose to be at my happiest/muscle-iest, and I expect I will actually GET there in 2016!
2015 was not a good year....my fitness was off the charts - i overtrained everywhere! Alas, that just meant too much eating and the bodyfat piled on. Soooooo, as soon as i returned to less working out (reduced back to three days lifting and one day cardio) and seriously reduced my calories, I was able to peel off that fat and again show my muscles. 2013 and 2014 were good years....i did not mess with that formula (3 days lifting/1 day cardio) and i stayed steady. 2015, i upped my training to 6- or 7- days a week and that just does NOT work, for me.
2016 is "back to balance"....nutrition/fitness go hand-in-hand, for me....I must pay attention to both, to keep my optimum sleep patterns and best-looking Venus shape.
BOOM!0 -
Happy birthday Jo! And awesomeness on the deadlift!
Back at home. Wandered into the gym for a light weights session yesterday morning and I went and bought another yoga mat so I can do some stretches and light yoga upstairs when I feel like it. Did that this morning - gorgeous way to spend the morning with the sun coming in through the glass doors over the balcony
I'll start back into my lifting program on Monday - this week is about recovering from the 'holiday'
Welcome chunky_pinup
I'm supposed to start back at work properly on Monday, I still have a heap of planning and scheduling to do though, so now that I've done the mountain of washing and relatively cleaned my house, I guess I'll feed the minions and hide away with my work calendar.0 -
Beeps-impressive losses. Finding what works for you and working it is always a good plan!
DNA-work beckons...sigh. Enjoy the last vistages of your vacation.
Lifted today. Back did fine, not much back involvement. Upper body higher reps today, went well. Enjoyed the variety and looking forward to changing it up in the new year. 0 -
All this talk of starting a plan, getting back to it..... I kinda have an idea of what I want to do but achievable? Not too sure.
Currently I do 3 lifts, 2-3 cardio per week. If I want to build muscle, my next plan is to lift 4 times a week and cardio twice. Which is a big ask with my current workload/ family life. However, planning to drop my work hours come Feb, so this may be more achievable then. So I don't have a 'New Year' goal, I have a rolling plan which will take some time0 -
@jo_marnes I think a "rolling plan" is much better. A new year goal sounds like it is more a resolution, and I strongly believe we set ourselves up to fail with those - this whole lifting/wellbeing/fitness/strength/etc/etc/etc stuff is not just about New Year, it has to be ongoing for it to be successful. We have to constantly make adjustments, for our lifestyles, for the occasional bout of flu, or a tweaked muscle, for the kids being sick, for the holidays, for just a day of feeling "meh" or to avoid boredom, or just for a change - sometimes it goes better than we expected, and we find ourselves suddenly taking a leap forward that we have been wanting for a long time, but not managing, and all of a sudden it comes together. Sometimes we have to work at the little bits, such as grip, or keeping shoulders down, or breathing at the right times, and it seems as though we are wading through treacle!
But that's what a long term rolling plan is all about - we can set ourselves our goals along the way, we can have things to aim for, and challenges. We're all competitive - even if only with ourselves, after all!
Of course, New Year always gives us a good opportunity to reflect, and to think ahead, so nothing wrong with using it to make plans.....I'm certainly going to partake in that too, and will enjoy the steps that I take throughout the coming year.....with the aim of looking back in 12 months' time and saying "flippin heck woman, you've come a long way"
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Beeps - Sounds good. You did so much and burnout is no fun, so get back to what you can do and still enjoy. Looking forward to more boom posts, as even not 6 days a week is still fabulous and awesome.
I like the rolling plan idea. I've got a few in the works too. Sort of goals for the year but not resolutions as I've never been a fan of those either. Some things are small, some new and some big that involve possible changes, but we'll see how it goes once I get to figuring them all out (soon). For now, I went to the gym late even though I didn't have work today in order to not have a crowd and to spend a long time on the treadmill after lifting. I haven't done a long run in a while and needed to get at least one in before the month ended, plus hadn't tried much more than 30 on the treadmill before. Lifting went pretty well too.
48 - Upper Hypertrophy
10 minute warm up on elliptical for fun and some hanging from the assisted pull up machine
incline bench 4x10@ 70 - 65 felt heavy but managed the reps easy enough at 70, so need to just try 75 next time, at long last.
db fly 4x10 @ 17.5 - not bad, can increase next time
1 db row 4x10 @ 30 - decent though might wait to increase or have to find the 32.5 set
seat row 4x10 @ 80 - challenging, i almost feel like it's going to pull me forward for some reason, same with the heavier tricep extension
lat raise 4x10 @ 12.5 - barely managed the 10, going to forever to increase on these
cable bicep curl 4x10 @ 50 - doing okay here, distracting on occasion where the cable hits on my chest at the top of the movement...
face pulls 4x12 @ 30 - kind of like these
tricep extension 4x8 @ 80 - tried an increase but it was a bit heavy.
Then 5 minute warm up, 50 minute jog and 5 minute cool down on treadmill. Not bad considering I didn't even have my running shoes with, just some really old sneakers that need replaced. Hard to believe like a year ago I was trying to just jog for 5 to 10 whole minutes and now, I can just go for 50 and could have gone even longer but tired at 1 am. Soon comes sleep.0 -
dnamouse - good luck with holiday-recovery!!
Julie....where did your photo go?!?!? You are showing up as a "shadow" on my computer!
A 2016 plan is great, jo_m!!
Alright, kimi....what is YOUR 2016 'rolling plan'?!?!?
Dawn, not ALL shoulder work (like lat raises....) should be using a HEAVY weight!! Sometimes, forever and ever more, a 10 lb weight is perfect! Avoid injury by going TOO heavy on parts of the body that really do have smaller muscles and ligaments/joints everywhere...0 -
No lifting for me, today....it is minus eighteen out, but hubby and I went walking for 30 minutes and it felt good to be outside in the sunshine. ZOOM!
I will lift tomorrow. Cardio Friday (new year's day they run a "masters" cardio class for regulars....we aren't drinkers or new year's eve partiers, so I can go!) and then "regular" cardio on Saturday, too.0 -
Good point. I tried with 15 once but went "nope" and got the smaller weights instead cause that wasn't happening and I wasn't going to force it either. Kind of like those YTWL or cuban snatch things from NROLFW. Never got above 15, if I remember correctly, but that was okay.
I see Julie's photo. However, in some posts where people post their photos in the forum of things, the pictures are huge and take over the screen on my end. But people comment on them and never mention that aspect so wonder what affects that. I should check on my netbook and see how the one post looks after it's done charging.
Today will be lower hypertrophy after short cashier shift. Might also try a set of sumo deadlifts with wrist straps cause I won a pair and want to try them just for fun.0 -
Last workout of 2015 for me. Went to the gym after my short work shift, which ended up not being all cashiering as we called one of the newer members in to help due to being short staffed today. After the lifts, I did a little sumo deadlift for fun in order to try out the lifting straps I won on bodybuilding.com. It was... different. I had a hard time getting them tight enough because of the build as my hands/wrists are on the small side. Had to work the material in the more padded spot so it could also go through the loop in order to be a little tighter in general. They were a couple of awkward sets but sumo is still awkward for me. Not sure I quite get it, so need to do some more research. Plus, I did heavier than I've done before on it, just to see how it would go (still lighter than my regular deadlifts).
49 - Lower Hypertrophy
front squat 3x10 @ 85 and 1x10 @ 105 - same as last time and still a slight challenge. Some wrist ache but not bad
curtsy lunge 4x10 @ 80 - more challenging since I increased on this
good morning 4x12 @ 80 - also a little more challenging
leg extension 4x10 @ 80 - nothing special
leg curl 4x8 @ 80 - difficult to do and felt more in hamstrings this time
seated calf 4x12 @ 110 - eh, calves
sumo deadlift with straps 1x5 and 1x3 @ 185 - bit awkward and struggled second set with right strap
That is all. I work from now until Monday, but next two days off are rest days. More lifting on the weekend including maybe lifting Sunday with coworker for lower power day. We'll see how it goes.0 -
I am considering straps Dawn - also not sure how it'll go. What type to get? Will it help or just be another 'thing' to get right..... hmmmmm0
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Wow on the curtsy lunges, Dawn! BOOM!
I better go lift....not excited about it, but will go do it and get it overwith.0 -
Thoroughly enjoyed my last workout of the year today. My back is healing and I am going to work out some aims and directions for 2016.
Happy new year everyone!!0 -
Beeps-hmm. Changed my pic to me snorkeling in Maui back in June...wishing I was there. Wonder why it doesn't show for you? I can't see most photos posted either .
Dawn-great lifitng! And running! What great progress you've made this year!
Jo-good plan! Hope 2016 goes fabulously!
Kim-you've already come a long way! Enjoy planning for 2016!
I did lower body yesterday and my back felt fine!! Yay! I did higher reps (15, which is a lot coming off SL!) and 3-4 sets and felt good. Did front squats, first time in a year, with just the bar! Felt odd at first, then I got the hang of it again. I think it's good to mix it up and really enjoyed my new routine
This past year has had struggles (moved my mom to assisted living and still trying to sell her house while paying for a lot of it out of pocket, treated my back and neck and am making progress there...) and victories (amazing trip to Maui, good school year homeschooling, cocnistent at the gym). I am richly blessed and thankful for all God has done for me.
Looking ahead I want to continue to cultivate my "attitude of gratitude" and counting my blessings. I want to keep lifting regularly. It is definitely beginning to feel like a normal part of my life, not some special limited effort, but a consistent lifestyle. Still working on my eating and balancing control and living life...I'm in a good place and hope to just keep going.
I hope each of you has much for which to be thankful as we look ahead to 2016!!! I'm thankful for each of you, inspiring, challenging and encouraging each other as we all seek to navigate life's challenges and successes. Wishing you much joy and happiness in the New
Year! Happy New Year!!0 -
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Hey! Happy New Years everyone!
I am finally feeling well today. I have had a stomach bug/fever for about a week now, but I think it's gone. Even yesterday my tummy wasn't feeling great.
I lifted 1x this week - Monday, and felt so awful the rest of the week, I didn't do much of anything. Unfortunately I had to go to work - there was only 2 of us in for the week as support staff - our firm has a use it or lose policy for vacations. So I will start fresh next week.
Hope you all had a great holiday!0 -
I am considering straps Dawn - also not sure how it'll go. What type to get? Will it help or just be another 'thing' to get right..... hmmmmm
I have versagripps.com They are great! Other than that I use UA unpadded gloves.0 -
Regularly-scheduled cardio, today. ZOOM!
And my Venus-group gave me my 2016 mantra: "success is not owned; it is leased. And rent is every day." BOOM!0 -
happy new year everyone!! I just had a quick read over the last few pages of posts and it seems everyone has been doing really well over the christmas period. I have not!! My back has been hurting so I stopped lifting the week before christmas. I was planning on going back to it tomorrow but my back is a little achy today so I will see how I feel in the morning.
In positive news I weighed in this morning and over the last week and a half of non-stop eating I managed to only put on 0.6lbs! I'm not sure how that happened but I am not complaining! I also got Strong for xmas so I am really looking forward to starting to read that. Unfortunately I don't have much time for reading because I am back to work on Monday for a very stressful and busy month that will require lots of working outside of normal work hours 
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Thanks Sue - the versa gripps look great - I will look for these here in Oz. Hope you are better now - what a horrid time of year to be sick
Dou - bummer! Hope your back feels better soon. Seems like your body is making the most of the rest though - isn't it odd how sometimes reducing activity/ eating more helps us reach goals and other times puts us back a few steps?? Hope you get time to read the book soon.
I had a reasonable bench session yesterday - this is the workout I least like and most struggle with. I know it is completely dependent on how soon I do it after combat as if they are close together, my bench will be crap as my upper body is fatigued. That said, not willing to sacrifice combat or my other workouts so it just has to be that way. I am combatting today, so after my bench session should work. Of course, now my upper body is tired from lifting..... so the class is going to be hard work. Especially the track with all the lower half push ups
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