August is for lifters - Check in and Chat Thread
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Squats: 130lbs (can we say moving up to 45s on Friday?)
Bench: 80lbs
Rows: 55lbs
Rocked the squats.
Struggled through bench, but made it.
And I finally figure out rows. I finally identified the muscle group that's working across my back. It clicked on the 3rd set and I almost dropped the bar in joy. I'm going to give it one more session at 55lbs to really identify what the motion and then start increasing weights.0 -
God I am missing lifting! Shoulder seems to be coming along nicely though so rest is worth it
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Boo. Faced facts and de-loaded my squats today. Back down to 95. All part of the process, though, right?
I'm also going to have to annoy my husband and not let him spot me anymore. He's big on finishing your planned sets, using just as much help from a spotter as you need. He can really only spot me on the presses, and i think with the bench press it's okay, I know when he's lightening the load a bit, and keep that weight for the next workout. But there's so much of the balancing and fine muscle control that i could tell i was missing out on when he assisted with my overhead presses today.0 -
Boo. Faced facts and de-loaded my squats today. Back down to 95. All part of the process, though, right?
I'm also going to have to annoy my husband and not let him spot me anymore. He's big on finishing your planned sets, using just as much help from a spotter as you need. He can really only spot me on the presses, and i think with the bench press it's okay, I know when he's lightening the load a bit, and keep that weight for the next workout. But there's so much of the balancing and fine muscle control that i could tell i was missing out on when he assisted with my overhead presses today.
Can't you tell your husband he is not allowed to touch the bar until the moment the bar stops making upward progress? You should not even be aware of his presence until that moment. I'm so hesitant to ask someone to spot me because the guys always think the need to be cradling the bar. I've not used a spotter thus far because I want all my sets to count.0 -
Kazzari - oh, i will. I just haven't made that call before this point. Today was the first day with a new weight on the overhead presses, which i struggle with, so it was just very apparent how much he was helping.
With the bench presses, i can see that he just has his fingers under the bar as a fail safe.0 -
Wish me luck tonight! I was out of town this past weekend (missed lifting on Saturday) and then caught a cold, so I was too sick to lift on Tuesday. It's been a week.
I was at 110 lbs on squats. I think there's no harm in staying at 110 again. I failed OHP at 65 (barely...I was SO close!) so I'll stay at 65 again. And DL at 130 were no problem last time, but I'm thinking also no harm in staying there one more time, given I haven't lifted in a week and was a bit sick earlier this week.
But I cannot WAIT to get my *kitten* back in the gym!0 -
Good luck Qarol!
New PR 2days ago, did 190x3. Close enough.
Havent upped my weights on squats though, my knee still feels a bit weird at times. And I wore my friends squat suit today for fun (she's a powerlifter), yea you won't catch me dead wearing something like that ever. :laugh: 0 -
Boo. Faced facts and de-loaded my squats today. Back down to 95. All part of the process, though, right?
I'm also going to have to annoy my husband and not let him spot me anymore. He's big on finishing your planned sets, using just as much help from a spotter as you need. He can really only spot me on the presses, and i think with the bench press it's okay, I know when he's lightening the load a bit, and keep that weight for the next workout. But there's so much of the balancing and fine muscle control that i could tell i was missing out on when he assisted with my overhead presses today.
Can't you tell your husband he is not allowed to touch the bar until the moment the bar stops making upward progress? You should not even be aware of his presence until that moment. I'm so hesitant to ask someone to spot me because the guys always think the need to be cradling the bar. I've not used a spotter thus far because I want all my sets to count.
I tell mine not to touch it until I tell him - the bar isn't so heavy that its going to CRUSH me or that I'm going to lose control of it (when you see accidents like that its because people are loading the weight up over the edge of their 1rm, going for a personal record, whereas with the weight you are doing 5x5 with you might be getting tired and failing but you're not just going to lose control of the bar). Sometimes Ican tell that failure is likely os I'll tell him to watch but he knows not to touch it until I say help.
And you shouldn't need a spotter for OHP at all - if you need to drop the bar just drop it away from you and move your body out of the way. Generally your arms will just fall into the racked position and then you can shuffle over and re-rack it or drop it on the floor.
But yeah I mean - you're not going ot hurt yourself if he doesnt' spot you - a spotter just means you don't have to roll of shame (or dump the weights - which is dangerous or impossible in a small space) when you fail on the bench. His hands shouldn't be anywhere near the bar until you are actually stuck.0 -
Had my first failure yesterday, on 55lb OHP. I got 5-5-4, rested the full 5 minutes then got 5-3. I know I should probably rest more between sets but I get a little bored pacing back and forth. Hoping for all 5's next week.0
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Failed again on my bench at 80lbs. I almost made it but was a little too scared to try the last rep.0
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Question: I have a crush on running right now, while the weather is warm. I shelved SL5x5 because I couldn't see myself being ABLE to run after leaving it all in the weightroom. And I'm sore to the bone on the days between.
Do any of you lift AND run? How do you do it?
I miss my Stronglifts! But I really want to finally be able to run a 5k, even if it's only for myself. (I'm an ex-smoker. It would put the seal on that part of my life for good. Goofy, I know, but there it is.)0 -
Question: I have a crush on running right now, while the weather is warm. I shelved SL5x5 because I couldn't see myself being ABLE to run after leaving it all in the weightroom. And I'm sore to the bone on the days between.
Do any of you lift AND run? How do you do it?
I miss my Stronglifts! But I really want to finally be able to run a 5k, even if it's only for myself. (I'm an ex-smoker. It would put the seal on that part of my life for good. Goofy, I know, but there it is.)
People who were running regularly before should have no trouble maintaining a similar amount of mileage and adding stronglifts, but if you are a new runner you won't be able to do both on schedule.
I'd recommend you do SL 2x a week, but hold your weight steady rather than expecting gains (so just maintain your progress there) and focus on running until you have it nailed - if you get through week 9 I'd expect to put in maybe 4-8 more weeks of the same schedule (30 minutes or 3.1 miles of jogging, 3x a week) before you start adding a 3rd day and then loading again in strong lifts. By then your body should be pretty used to that amount - depending on you.
(you could still increase SL load by the way, but I'd do it slow - like add a couple pounds per week rather than 5lbs per session)
(also - soreness will fade as you get used to whatever you are doing, whether its running or lifting, as long as you're doing it the same way and consistently.)0 -
Week 7 completed for me!
This weeks numbers ended at -
Squats - 85 pounds 5x5
Bench - 85 pounds (5, 5, 4, 3, 3)
Rows - 85 pounds (5x5)
OHP - 65 pounds 5x5 - had to attempt 65 pounds 3 sessions in a row before I finally nailed all 5 sets!!
Deadlift - 120 pounds 1x5
I definitely feel like I'm getting stronger, it's exciting.
jarrettd - I run 2-3 times a week while doing SL. In fact I started SL while I was in the middle of C25K. I graduated C25K the end of July. Now I just run 5K 2 or 3x a week on my off days from lifting. I take 1 or 2 rest days. I have my first 5K race coming up next weekend. I feel like the strength training has helped my running a lot. When the weights start getting heavier I may ease up on the running some though as I imagine it will be hard to recover between lifting sessions while running. Lifting is my first priority so I am willing to put running on the back burner. It all depends on what is more important to you. If running is more important to you, then just lift 2x a week and run more. I do love the cardiovascular and endurance benefits running has given me though! I won't give it up entirely.0 -
Week 1: complete
Squat: 60lb
Bench press: 50lb PR!
Overhead press: 45lb PR!
Dead lift: 95lb
Barbell rows: 45lb
New goals for week 2:
Continue SL 5x5
Add in some cardio
Consistently hit under my calorie goals
I love this program!0 -
good morning ladies!
i'm new to stronglifts, and just finished my 2nd A workout yesterday.
squats - 55
bench - 50
rows - 70
and last week i ohp'd 45 and dl'd 95.
i'm really focused on form right now and am magnificently screwing up those rows. i'll probably go back to 45 this week because i almost failed at 70 and definitely dropped form.
i was doing nrolw before stronglifts and finished stage 5 but dreaded the last two that i decided not to bother with them.
i'm a little nervous about the overhead presses because i have a 3 year old a/c joint replacement i don't want to screw up, but i'll go until i can't anymore.
the trainers in my gym don't seem overly concerned about form, so if i can figure out a way to unobtrusively get a form video shot, i'll post it and ask for advice. there are a couple of nice guys there who like to offer me tips. yesterday i was told to pinch a pencil between my shoulderblades while benching. i liked the image and i think it helped.
looking forward to progressing with y'all!0 -
just reached first lifting goal of deadlifting my body weight (145lbs)!! woohooooo!! granted i was only able to do 2 reps, but we gotta start somewhere!!! oh...and this is after a 2 week break from lifting!!! this totally made my morning!! :happy: :happy: :happy:
now onto my 2nd goal...to squat my body weight. 30lbs to go!!!0 -
It's been forever since I posted here! But I'm back in the swing of things (mostly).
I moved back to college Friday and never got a chance to lift before the gym closed, so I should hopefully be lifting tomorrow morning!
Wednesday looked like this:
-Squats: 95lb
-OHP: 45lb
-Deadlift: 85lb
I did a big deload, especially on the ones I felt my form has been off on, because of my extended absence from following the program 3x a week. I'm feeling much better about my squats, really getting low on those, and I think I hurt my shoulder OHP'ing, so I'm taking it very, very slow on that. Deadlift also deloaded, because I felt like my form wasn't quite right.
I also got a pair of Vibrams that I'll be lifting in now! They're very cool, liked how they felt on Wednesday a lot. (:
So glad to be back of the swing of things!
PS - Julie, way to go!0 -
Question: I have a crush on running right now, while the weather is warm. I shelved SL5x5 because I couldn't see myself being ABLE to run after leaving it all in the weightroom. And I'm sore to the bone on the days between.
Do any of you lift AND run? How do you do it?
I miss my Stronglifts! But I really want to finally be able to run a 5k, even if it's only for myself. (I'm an ex-smoker. It would put the seal on that part of my life for good. Goofy, I know, but there it is.)
I do both- but I try to split them up during the day. I run early- before the rest of the house is up- and then lift around lunch time or on my way home from work in the late afternoon.
I don't have a problem running and lifting on the same day- but lifting and swimming kills me! My arms are dead tired even if I swim on the off days.0 -
New PR on Clean Grip Deadlifts (caught up to my mixed grip): 175. We're moving on from deads for a while from my class so curious about what will replace it. I'm definitely happy with my progress so far so staying with the class through fall.
Have a great week ladies!0 -
SL B
Squats - 100lbs
Deads - 135lbs <--- big plates!
Excited about the deads, that felt awesome. Can't do OHP right now, stupid shoulder. Going back down to 95 on the squats Wed too. Form isn't feeling right and I don't want to screw that up. Still doing well though.0
