August is for lifters - Check in and Chat Thread
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thanks!! i deloaded a few weeks ago and started focusing on form a lot more, too. i knew i was DLing wrong b/c my back would be a little sore. now that i've progressed w/ proper form, not even a twinge in my back....even at 145! i'm thrilled.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 -
Todays workout:
Squats - 90 pounds 5x5
Bench press - 85 pounds 5x5 (really excited as this was my 3rd attempt at 85 pounds!! kept failing last 2 times)
Rows - 85 pounds 5x5 (stayed same as last time because I felt like my form wasn't that great)
Great job ladies. Keep it up!
Lexagon - congrats on the 100 pound squats! Hopefully I should be there soon also :bigsmile:0 -
I had tweaked my shoulder and didn't lift for 20 days. Went back today.
Lost some strength, but hopefully can get back to where I was quickly.
Squat: 100 lbs (was at 115)
Bench: 70 lbs for 5 sets of 3 reps (was at 5x5 at 70 lbs)
Rows: 70 lbs for 5 sets of 4 reps (was at 5x5 at 72.5)0 -
Congratulations ladies on your successes!! I'm so excited for school to start for the sole puprose of having a place for all my kidlets while I start this back up.
In fact, I was so pumped that I attempted to restart on Friday, but my 10 month old raised hell in childwatch ($10wasted!).
I managed to get through one set of squats with the bar. I'm pretty bummed at how hard it is. Also, should I be aiming for parallel or below? I'm about 90lbs overweight and I feel like my stomach is in the way. Parallel is feaking hard! I always thought I was pretty decent with my strength, but apparently not. I'm eating at a deficit of about 500 right now with reduced carbs.
Can't wait to report my successes as well!
ETA: typos sorry!0 -
Great job this month everyone (sorry, I do read posts but I haven't responded lately.)
Wheezy - go for parallel at least, a bit below is fine but not required, and if your stomach gets in the way you might find it easier to widen your stance.0 -
Yesterday was my first ever time doing free weights at my university's gym. It was crowded. It was also all male. I felt badass.
Squats: 100lb
Bench: 70lb (!!)
Barbell Rows: 55lb
As I said before, slowly building my way back up, and everything feels so much easier than last time. Maybe it was the thrill of being the only girl in the weight section (lol), but Squats were much easier than when I first reached 100lb last month, and bench was breezed by - which is funny, because 70lb was where I stalled out last time. I don't think I ever finished my sets for that weight before, so that was nice!
Tomorrow I'm going to try a BodyPump class, which uses movements that make up SL (squats, deadlifts, presses, etc), so I'll report on how that compares. I might just start doing the BP class if I like it enough, but we shall see! Hopefully I can wake up in time to make it tomorrow, since I failed yesterday. Oops.0 -
Wheezy, I'm a lot overweight too. I have my feet turned out during the squat and also push my knees out. That seems to allow space for my tummy to fall forward between my thighs. It's not very elegant!0
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Hello, Im new to group
Looking around, I see some HUGELY impressive numbers. I hope I can get mine up that high soon enough. Currently, my numbers are:
90lbs Oly flat bench 4x6 reps
105lbs Squats 4x6 reps
115lbs DL 4x6
Supplemental exercises:
50lbs BB overhead press 4x6-8 reps
410lbs incline leg press 4x6-8reps
70lbs T-bar rows 4x6-8 reps
Next week, I will doing an 8 week power cycle:
http://www.exrx.net/WeightTraining/PowerliftingPrograms.html
Then, I will be joining you ladies for the 5x5 closer to the holidays...gotta put those extra calories to good use, eh? (yes, I am Canadian..we say "eh"...)
Happy Lifting 0 -
I was beginning to wonder if I was going to have another August workout to post. I had taken two weeks off to allow full recovery because my quads were always a little sore whenever I stood up. It has been unusually hot and muggy and I managed to talk myself out of going to the gym for nearly another week. So, forced myself today...I had no excuse. I felt good, the weather is a little drier, and I ate well. I did deload a bit on squats, did three sets instead of five, repeated my last weight on bench, and dropped 2 lbs. on dl's.
Squats 125 from 132
BP 85
DL 165
My goal was to reach 135 on squats by the end of August. I guess I didn't want it bad enough. Setting a new goal...my birthday is the end of October, so I'd like to be able to squat my BW (currently 141 lbs) by my birthday. Seems like a modest enough goal, as long as I keep plugging away.0 -
I took alot of time off as well due to gym access/vacations!
I plan to get back to gym next week, and will probably need to restart all over since it will be like a almost 3 week hiatus. My goal is to really focus on form!!!
You are all doing great!!0 -
End of week 2:
Squats: 75
Bench: 55 (PR)
OHP: 45 (been stuck on this one)
Row: 50
Deadlift: 115
Some random guy walked over to me during my squats today and coached me on my form. Twas a good week. =]0 -
First time posting my numbers. I am having mixed results at getting 3 work outs in each week - and this is at HOME! Maybe it is because I am at home, and easily inturruptable? New homeschool schedule coming up next month should help. Anyway:
Squat: 70
Bench: 57 (love bench pr. but have to go carefully)
OHP: 50 (feel weak)
Deadlift: 85
Row: 55
Really love feeling stronger again, especially after losing so much strength upon hitting menopause! :happy:0 -
Okay, made it again this week. I've been very active everyday either hiking, lifting and last night back on my bike. I have a friend needs encouragement so whatever she's up for I'm happy to do with her. Good for me, too. I'd be much lazier otherwise.
Tonight:
Squats 130 (heaviest weight completed before taking time off was 132 lbs.)
OHP 62 (repeated pre-break weight)
BOR 95
Also threw in some RDL's with my BOR setup.0 -
Really love feeling stronger again, especially after losing so much strength upon hitting menopause! :happy:
Curious about this. I am peri-menopausal and wondering if this will influence my strength gains. Did you find this simply because your symptoms interfered with your level of activity or was it directly related to hormonal changes?0 -
Really love feeling stronger again, especially after losing so much strength upon hitting menopause! :happy:
Curious about this. I am peri-menopausal and wondering if this will influence my strength gains. Did you find this simply because your symptoms interfered with your level of activity or was it directly related to hormonal changes?
Personally, I think it was a combination - I tend to put myself last and at that time I was, even more so. I have done a bit of reading, and hormonal drops have been tied to strength losses, but if you are lifting, I can't think you will notice. The real changes come after menopause is complete and later. I felt like my old self soon after I started weight-bearing exercises again, but I definitely knew this was not because of being sedentary alone. I just FELT off.
Words of warning: calcium with D really is important and helpful. If I don't get mine, my legs hurt, which is sort of alarming.
Also, Drops in estrogen can lead to loss of muscle FLEXIBILITY. I spent one summer with a torn calf muscle, and have also been through plantar fasciitis (pain in bottoms of heals) because my calf muscles were really tightening up. So in a word, s-t-r-e-t-c-h.
That old couple you see walking briskly around the block together every night can do so because they kept moving, and I intend to be able to do that and more!:flowerforyou:0 -
Really love feeling stronger again, especially after losing so much strength upon hitting menopause! :happy:
Curious about this. I am peri-menopausal and wondering if this will influence my strength gains. Did you find this simply because your symptoms interfered with your level of activity or was it directly related to hormonal changes?
Personally, I think it was a combination - I tend to put myself last and at that time I was, even more so. I have done a bit of reading, and hormonal drops have been tied to strength losses, but if you are lifting, I can't think you will notice. The real changes come after menopause is complete and later. I felt like my old self soon after I started weight-bearing exercises again, but I definitely knew this was not because of being sedentary alone. I just FELT off.
Words of warning: calcium with D really is important and helpful. If I don't get mine, my legs hurt, which is sort of alarming.
Also, Drops in estrogen can lead to loss of muscle FLEXIBILITY. I spent one summer with a torn calf muscle, and have also been through plantar fasciitis (pain in bottoms of heals) because my calf muscles were really tightening up. So in a word, s-t-r-e-t-c-h.
That old couple you see walking briskly around the block together every night can do so because they kept moving, and I intend to be able to do that and more!:flowerforyou:
Thank you for your detailed response! I don't know any women who have gone through it. Well, women with whom I am close enough to have these discussions anyway. I know I have a ways to go. I have just been frustrated that the squatting is keeping my quads sore all the time. Not regular DOMS but just that it hurts annoyingly to get out of my chair at work every time. I took two weeks off and this still didn't go away completely. I've been lifting pretty steadily for the past six years, including weighted squats, and never experienced this, so I wonder if it could be related. I guess I won't know for sure. I'll try the calcium with D and see if that helps.
I am all about keeping moving. One of my main reasons for staying active and lifting is so I will be mobile and self-sufficient when I'm very old. I love to see the old timers in the neighborhood taking walks daily....they just keep plugging away. I knew this awesome 80 year old woman who used to join us in local 5K run/walk events and spin classes even after knee surgery at her age. Sadly, as strong and able as she was, cancer took her a few years later. But she was an inspiration for sure.0 -
I am wowed by how much everyone can lift and can't wait to get there! I'm two weeks in and currently at 45lbs on all. Next session I will up it. I stalled on my overhead presses last time, so I ordered some 1.5 pound plates to use so I don't need to go up a whole 5. I know I can deadlift more, so I'm going to keep pushing myself.0
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Been doing push, pull, legs, so today was a leg day. Moved gyms and kept to the legs for comfort sake really! lol
So today I squated on proper free weights for the first time.
Squat
30kg / 66lbs 1x5
35kg / 77lbs 2x5
40kg / 88lbs 2x5
50kg / 110lbs 1x5
55kg / 121lbs 1x3
Leg Press (proper machine with free weights)
50kg / 110lbs 1x5
90kg / 198lbs 1x5
110kg / 242lb 3x5 (PB)
Box Squats (sat and relaxed on a bench)
40kg / 88lbs 2x5
50kg / 110lbs 3x5
55kg / 121lbs 1x3
Also did other leg stuff (curls, extensions and cross trainer),
tomorrow is a more gentle day so will do OHP and Press to go with this. I can't train on Monday so want to squeeze one in.
Legs aching nicely!0 -
Yesterday's session felt AWESOME:
-Squats: 105lb
-OHP: 40lb
-Deadlift: 95lb
After that deload I did a few sessions back, I've been focusing on getting form down more than anything, and I think it did me a world of good - everything feels awesome. I'm taking OHP slow - I might get some washers for that lift alone, since 5lb seems like such a huge jump.
Truckin' right along... keep it up ladies!0 -
I've mostly dropped to 3 sets instead of 5. I had stopped doing anything for almost 3 weeks, so I had to deload.
Wed:
Squats 100 lbs, 3x5
Overhead: 60 lbs, 1 set at 4 reps, dropped to 57.5 lbs for 4/5
Deadlift: 105 lbs, 1x5
Saturday:
Squats: 105 lbs, 4x4 (I couldn't do a fifth rep on any set, but didn't feel "done" after 3 sets)
Bench: 70 lbs, 3x5
Rows: 70 lbs, 3x50
