October check-in and chat thread
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ishtar13
Posts: 528 Member
I've been a bit sporadic about getting to the gym lately.
Posting in the hope that I can get properly motivated today.
Posting in the hope that I can get properly motivated today.
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Replies
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I've been trying to add more cardio in on lifting days, before lifting. Twice last week, I did the elliptical. While it made me feel tired, I still could lift.
Then Saturday, I skipped the cardio altogether and just lifted. My quads were hella sore, when I'm usually not sore at all. I'm wondering if it's b/c I didn't do any cardio warm up.0 -
Need some motivation myself! Glad to see this thread. Work has been so hectic lately, I get even more tired just THINKING about training, but I made myself train anyway last night and was so glad I did. Sore and heck today tho...0
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I took a week off, and then we did squats and I couldn't make it through my last set at all. And my form was so bad (leaning forward) a lady came over to offer me her belt. Which I didn't take because I've never used one and I know its different. Bad, bad day. bleh.
Q - did you do any cardio after, or go for a walk later that day? I get sore if I don't keep the blood flowing throughout the week - if I go for a walk the soreness fades.0 -
I started the program yesterday!! I'm not exactly a beginner - I've been using dumbbells and kettlebell workouts all year - but the barbell seemed new and scary for me. I had to make some adjustments. We have a fitness room at work, but the barbell isn't olympic, it weighs only 20 pounds, so I did have to add weight. Strange thing is, I couldn't start with the weight that the olympic bar alone would be. I could only manage the bar with 2-10 pound plates. Oh well, have to start somewhere!
It only took about 15 mins to complete, which seemed way too short, and I did hop on the elliptical after. I don't think you're supposed to do cardio and lifting on the same day?
Another problem I had was the bench press hurt my back. I think it's because I can't reach flat footed on the floor, so I arched a little. The bench isn't adjustable, so I need to find a way to fix that.
Anyway - I'm very excited to be starting, and looking forward to making quick progress. Any tips you'd like to share with a newbie will be appreciated!
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Doing lots 5x5 ish lifts right now in super sets with other stuff so I'm present, but kind of random as usual. Cheers to October! This is going to be a crazy month for me and just a couple more weeks till I go on vacation so I'm going to train like mad so I can enjoy myself!
Rock on girls! :drinker:0 -
I'm on week 2 and loving it. I made some adjustments to my form on overhead press and it feels much better. Yay! Had an awful squat day yesterday, but such is life.
Kiki: I think regarding cardio, the idea is that if you do cardio before lifting, your lifting performance will be diminished, and vice versa. Some suggest if you want to do both in the same day, do them quite far apart, like 8 hours or so, I think? Anyhoo, I don't really worry about it too much. I don't do a lot of cardio right before lifting, and sometimes after lifting I am way too wobbly-legged anyways. But if I still have the energy I sometimes do some cardio after lifting, and I'm not worried about my cardio performance, I'm essentially just trying to burn a few extra calories. Like last night, I rode on my stationary bike for a bit after lifting. No biggie.
Oh, and also, for the bench press, you can stick something under your feet to rest them on. Extra plates, or if they have any step-bench risers, that kind of thing.0 -
I have finally switched over to madcow and I am loving it. It is so much better for me eating in a big deficit like I do. I have added in some isolation moves once in a while (shoulders, bis, tris, lats....trying to get more of a v-taper) and I have even been able to kick up the cardio. I finally switched over to big girl plates on my squat (140) but I de-loaded on OHP (down to 60 from 70) and am staying at 85-90 on the bench for now. Deads are stuck at 185 and I am rowing 105. So far so good! I think that because of my caloric deficit, I am going to keep doing these same compound lifts but add weight way slower. I'm also concentrating way more on slow concentrated movement and adding more reps here in there over just adding weight. With madcow they say to add 5 pounds a week...I'm going to add 5 pounds every couple of weeks instead. I am also only lifting 2 days a week now.
Kiki-in the beginning SL is easy and when I started I was questioning how easy it was...believe me, this will get tough once you start lifting heavy. You will need every second of rest between sets and it will start taking closer to an hour to complete. You will be so worn out after lifting that you might want to crawl home instead of jumping on the elliptical...trust me! I also put plates under my feet when I bench...works great!0 -
Thanks for the feedback! Plates under the feet - not sure I would have thought of that! I am sore today, even after thinking it was too easy. I like this kind of sore!0
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I started week two yesterday. Happy that I've been able to increase by 5# each time, and 10# on the deadlift. I'm going to need more plates soon, though. Time to start checking Craigslist.
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I feel like I've improved a lot this month though I still have a bit of trouble with my lower back (issues from pregnancy- my "babies" are 1 and 3) so I haven't increased my squats as much.
Thanks for whoever gave the tip about doing deadlifts with a mixed grip- I tried it last night and it helped so much!
squats- 105
OHP- 55 (I think I'm finally ready to go up to 60 next time! It seems to have taken me forever to progress)
deadlift- 125 (more than my body weight- yeah!)
Bench- 70
Rows- 650 -
Hey there...I've sporadically done the 5x5 for several months, I'm restarting tonight but I'm thinking about doing 3x5 instead., I was Just_Dot up until a couple of weeks ago, so I'm just rejoining the fold here, lol.0
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Hi all! I've been doing new rules since May, but my life just doesn't allow for me to spend that kind of time in the gym right now. I work full time and am working on my Masters degree, so I'm in class two nights a week, and reading (sitting on my butt) for about 20 hours a week. Anyway, I'm not a lifting-only kind of girl. I adore gaining strength and looking and feeling powerful. But I also love running. Like, LOVE running. So new rules workouts (1.5 hour workouts) plus 45 minute runs just don't compute in my world right now. As a result, I started looking around and decided to give 5x5 a try.
I've done one of each workout. And although I started with just the bar (whereas I was squatting 3x15 at 120lb in stage 1 of nrol4w), focusing on form has been good...I watched his video of squatting and realized I've been slacking. So far, I'm liking the minimal time commitment and the focus on compound exercises. I guess time will tell if it yields results.
In terms of overall goals, I'm looking to gain strength but also slowly shed a few more pounds of body weight. I'm 5'7 and 148lb right now. For running purposes, I'd like to be closer to 140lb...easier on the joints. I did have success slowly losing while doing new rules (I used a 300 calorie deficit per day and did cardio and mostly, focused on ensuring I got 1g of protein per pound of body weight in per day), and hope to continue losing slowly while doing 5x5.
Anyway, I thought I'd say hello as I've been lurking in the community for a while.
Just curious - are there other former new rules followers that have happily made the switch?0 -
Hey there...I've sporadically done the 5x5 for several months, I'm restarting tonight but I'm thinking about doing 3x5 instead., I was Just_Dot up until a couple of weeks ago, so I'm just rejoining the fold here, lol.
Welcome back! :drinker:0 -
Just curious - are there other former new rules followers that have happily made the switch?
I did new rules for a couple of months last year.. but then I moved and focused on just doing strength training! I actually haven't lifted weights seriously since about January, so when I start SL5x5 next Monday it should be interesting. I'm excited, though! :bigsmile:0 -
That's my girl!Hey there...I've sporadically done the 5x5 for several months, I'm restarting tonight but I'm thinking about doing 3x5 instead., I was Just_Dot up until a couple of weeks ago, so I'm just rejoining the fold here, lol.
I switched to 3x5. Well, except Squats. The upper body exercises, I've switched to 3x5. I was starting to dread lifting, increasing AND doing 5x5. Now I've added more warm up reps and just do 3x5 at full weight.0 -
What is mad cow?
I ditched the baby plates this week on my squats! Up to 100lbs! The rest... not so hot. I am terrible at overhead press!
As for the calorie question I posted last week, I've been eating at maintenance for the past week instead of the 500 calorie a day deficit I've been on for a year. It doesn't feel any different- but I am a lot happier to wake up in the morning and see I have 1700 to eat instead of 1200!0 -
I think I might do 3x5 for some stuff...like the squats (my knee FEELS LIKE HELL) once I get to 100 and I'm trying to do 5 sets, but do 5x5 for bench and stuff. Call it a hybrid.
Since I haven't really lifted in months, I'm starting waaaaay over...working on form and stuff.
Squat: 55
Bench: 50
Row: 45
Gawd. I hate the rows.
I got into lifting by doing New Rules, but during stage 3, the funky lifts pissed me off, and I needed something that I didn't need an instruction manual or, and I fell in lurve with SL.0 -
I failed on bench today at 75 and I'm happy about it. I'm happy to know that I'm definitely pushing myself to failure.
I lift at home, and I don't have and can't find any 1.25 lb plates* but I might try just sticking my little D-shaped one pound weights on each end of the bar if going up by 5 lbs each time gets too hard.
*Seriously... those suckers are like $11 each after shipping! Those little one pound weights were a dollar. I don't care if it looks stupid. :laugh:0 -
I failed on bench today at 75 and I'm happy about it. I'm happy to know that I'm definitely pushing myself to failure.
I lift at home, and I don't have and can't find any 1.25 lb plates* but I might try just sticking my little D-shaped one pound weights on each end of the bar if going up by 5 lbs each time gets too hard.
*Seriously... those suckers are like $11 each after shipping! Those little one pound weights were a dollar. I don't care if it looks stupid. :laugh:
Check out a hardware store. My hubby has some plates that he got from...somewhere. (Sorry. There's a chance he took them off some old piece of farm machinery, I don't know.) Anyways, they're around a pound or a bit more each. He's actually re-painting them for me at the moment because I don't need them right now and they were getting a little banged up. You could even take a 2.5 lb plate with you to see if you can find something with the right diameter hole and everything. Do you know any heavy duty mechanics? They would also know, or maybe even be able to get you something.0 -
I failed on bench today at 75 and I'm happy about it. I'm happy to know that I'm definitely pushing myself to failure.
I lift at home, and I don't have and can't find any 1.25 lb plates* but I might try just sticking my little D-shaped one pound weights on each end of the bar if going up by 5 lbs each time gets too hard.
*Seriously... those suckers are like $11 each after shipping! Those little one pound weights were a dollar. I don't care if it looks stupid. :laugh:
I found them on Amazon.. $7 for a pair of them plus 10 shipping.. sooo $17 for two. 8.50 each is better than 11 each!
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