January Check in and Chat - HAPPY NEW YEAR!!
Replies
-
Speaking of coffee (y'all were, about a dozen pages ago
)... I just spent two days in agony thinking I had the flu, when in reality I think I was having withdrawal symptoms because I skipped coffee, in order to prevent my cold from getting worse. Gah! Coffee, I will never desert you again.
So hopefully I will be ready to lift again on Friday. First tomorrow is all about catching up at work.
Welcome to the new ladies and keep up that fantastic progress!0 -
Did anyone see the thread on the main forums about the guy that took his 4 year old daughter into the mens change room at the gym? It was getting pretty heated....just wondering the ladies thoughts....I didn't post on it because it was one of those threads that was just going in circles lol
I didnt see the thread but my gym was recently renovated ( Jan 1st opened 2 huge new pools) and the problem with ladies bringing their son into the women's shower and changing room is REALLY bad... they have a new "family" changing area that no one seems to want to use, as well as the old & brand new locker rooms.... these arent 2 or 3 year olds.... Im talking about 6, 7 and 8 year old boys that are obviously embarassed as much as we are to be sitting their half wrapped in a towel, dripping wet waiting for mom to hurry and get them out so we can finish getting dressed...Mom's oblivious or just ignorant0 -
Yeah I don't understand why people wouldn't use the family change rooms if they are an opposite sex family and 6-8 is getting a bit old....especially 8....that would certainly be a little awkward! But a little girl....what else is he supposed to do with her! Or a mom with a young son? Gosh people get so worked up about things!0
-
while doing body weight squats in front of the mirror, I had a sort of epiphany in relation to form....
I practiced Ballet for 25 years of my life... the form needed for that conflicts with that of a squat... in Ballet, sticking your butt out would earn you a swat from Ms Marie ( my first Ballet teacher)... the goal was always to get the tailbone to point down ( in my head, I can hear Ms Marie saying to point your tailbone to the back of your heels)
at the gym I attend, the mirrors are in front on the free weights, not the rack.... so I have to be extra conscious and remember to do differently than Im used to in order to achieve a better form while squatting0 -
HIIT, I have a similar issue with yoga...I'm a former gymnast and I'm forever pointing my toes, but in yoga it's all, "flex your feet, spread your toes!"
So, I did some Just Dance with the kids last night (and after they went to bed) and skipped the gym. I'm going today after school.0 -
Watched "So You Think You Can Squat" for the first time last night. Some of the stuff directly conflicts with Rippetoe's videos, so I am still stumped.
However, while reading Wendler's e-book, he mentions something about the *kitten* shooting straight up and thats not good. Which confuses me b/c Ripp stays to pretend your butt is on a string and someone is pulling that string up (in Starting Strength). I am so sick of ****ing around with squat form. I did some BW squats before bed last night and when I did those, I started buttwinking before I even got to parallel. I hate my long legs; I am sure they don't help me squat any.
ETA: Apparently you can't say the word that rhymes with sick and starts with a "d".:laugh:0 -
Watched "So You Think You Can Squat" for the first time last night. Some of the stuff directly conflicts with Rippetoe's videos, so I am still stumped.
However, while reading Wendler's e-book, he mentions something about the *kitten* shooting straight up and thats not good. Which confuses me b/c Ripp stays to pretend your butt is on a string and someone is pulling that string up (in Starting Strength). I am so sick of ****ing around with squat form. I did some BW squats before bed last night and when I did those, I started buttwinking before I even got to parallel. I hate my long legs; I am sure they don't help me squat any.
ETA: Apparently you can't say the word that rhymes with sick and starts with a "d".:laugh:
Does Wendler maybe mean "shooting straight up" so that your back is more parallel with the floor? So you are bending too much which would put the load too far over? The impression I've gotten from the Rippetoe videos is that you lead with your low back and butt....that's what pulls you up....but not so that it compromises upper body positioning IDK!0 -
Next time I squat - I am going to make the hubz video it so I can watch what I am doing...and submit it for some form checks with you guys.
When the load gets really heavy (like that stupid 100lb mark), my *kitten* come ups first, then the rest of my upper body comes up to the full standing position. Its really weird - not a fluid motion like I see other people do, but more two seperate moves. Legs and *kitten* push up, then rest of the body comes up.0 -
Speaking of coffee (y'all were, about a dozen pages ago )... I just spent two days in agony thinking I had the flu, when in reality I think I was having withdrawal symptoms because I skipped coffee, in order to prevent my cold from getting worse. Gah! Coffee, I will never desert you again.
So hopefully I will be ready to lift again on Friday. First tomorrow is all about catching up at work.
Welcome to the new ladies and keep up that fantastic progress!
I can't go without coffee - I refuse to have the nasty side effects from it. Plus I love it with my creamer in the morning. I found clearanced (something wrong yet so right about clearanced creamer...) pumpkin spice creamer, which is seriously awesome. I get headaches if I go a day without - can we say totally addicted????
As for the changing rooms - We have a bunch at my gym. We have a women's general, which is family friendly, a women's adult which is where the ladies can walk around naked (though this seriously grosses me out and traumatizes me) and the same for men's. Plus in addition to that they have a family locker room, too.
For the squat's I'll try to find a video that I found on youtube about squat form, it's what I've been using for my form and I haven't had any back pain at all. It's in a series.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ME8gEN54Ao
Wait....I think that's the one you were just talking about wasn't it Vette?????0 -
So OK. I don't know HOW or where....cause I honestly don't see it.....but I measured myself today and it says my waist is down 3 inches from Jan 11....BLOAT??? Who knows??? So I took a picture and since you ladies are honest.....I will actually say that I feel my arms are definitely getting better!!! Oh and the picture from today (blue shirt) has the addition of a bra
0 -
Watched "So You Think You Can Squat" for the first time last night. Some of the stuff directly conflicts with Rippetoe's videos, so I am still stumped.
However, while reading Wendler's e-book, he mentions something about the *kitten* shooting straight up and thats not good. Which confuses me b/c Ripp stays to pretend your butt is on a string and someone is pulling that string up (in Starting Strength). I am so sick of ****ing around with squat form. I did some BW squats before bed last night and when I did those, I started buttwinking before I even got to parallel. I hate my long legs; I am sure they don't help me squat any.
ETA: Apparently you can't say the word that rhymes with sick and starts with a "d".:laugh:
Does Wendler maybe mean "shooting straight up" so that your back is more parallel with the floor? So you are bending too much which would put the load too far over? The impression I've gotten from the Rippetoe videos is that you lead with your low back and butt....that's what pulls you up....but not so that it compromises upper body positioning IDK!
yeah - the idea is that you shouldn't shoot your hips up without your torso going with it- they are talking about two different issues so they end up sounding contradictory.
one is that people tend to let their upper bodies fall forward too far on the way up, the other is that people don't know how to drive with the hips. So in the first, you've kind of got the hip drive down but you've lost torso stability, in the second you don't know how to push with your hips.
Vette - try to just focus on NOT doing what your'e describing. We all go through a phase like that - you can push through it. Nick had flexibility issues with it too - maybe its a long legged person thing to have poor hip flexibility? (Because you don't move them as much going up steps and things? I dunno.)
Also - I *think* i can take the profanity filter off, just for the group. Anyone got an issue with that? We're all grownups here but some people just don't like to see it I think.
Also I didn't see that changing room thread but, eh, I dunno. In public I'd think generally you need to be conscious of OTHER people's comfort,and I agree that 5-6-7 is too old, but 4 is borderlined for me and might depend on the family and child. In general, I am NOT a body-shy person, wasn't raised in a body shy family, and I don't really feel like there is a strong tie between nudity and sexuality. On the OTHER hand, lots of other people DO think naked = sex (took my husband a while when we first started dating to learn that me walking around in underwear wasn't meant to be sexually enticing. Now he's used to it, and also, not 23 anymore, which probably helps.).
And given that when in public, you have to consider other people's feelings as well, its really rude to bring an older child into the dressing room with you. Also, bewildering, why dont' they take them to child care FIRST?
Speaking of coffee, I think I will go have some. Except its espresso for me, when I'm at home.0 -
I think that when I'm at the bottom of my squat I start to drive up with my hips (the whole *kitten* on a string thing) but then my upper body just follows suit....I don't leave it behind if that makes sense? Although I don't have any problems with pain (except DOMS :laugh: ) so I don't know why I'm talking about my squat!
As for the profanity....I have no problems....I typically use eff about 4 times per minute :drinker:
Darwin....I definitely see a difference! Great work! I see it in your midsection as well as in your arms....and the girls look great in a bra :laugh:0 -
I see the arm improvement - and for the record, waist bloat is TOTALLY a thing, I have gone up a full inch from bloat. (and I assume when you're still bigger it can be more like 2 inches).0
-
Darwin - You stomach looks a lot flatter/smoother in the current shot! Your arms are rocking too!
Tameko - I think I fall more into the first, "So in the first, you've kind of got the hip drive down but you've lost torso stability". I feel like I need to focus more on keeping my chest up to prevent folding over too much and coming foward. It will be much easier when I get a video up, but my next squat workout is like 4 workouts away.
Even though I said I was gonna go 3x5 while hubs did 5x5 for a month - I really want to move to 5/3/1, especially when I am eating at a surplus with the goal of creating more mass...I just think its better for my needs all around. Soo...tonight is SL5x5 B for Hubz and 5/3/1 W1D1 for me. :bigsmile:0 -
Darwin in addition to what everyone else was saying. Your butt is looking rounder and higher. Sir Mix a lot may want to steal you.
Mmmmmm coffee.
Speaking of bloat- I haven't lifted for a week, and my weight is going down by amazing increments. I know it's just from losing the water, and weight doesn't matter blah blah, but man its funny to watch the scale drop so much.0 -
Take the effing filter off!! (Only if everyone else is okay with it, obvs.)0
-
I'm fine with the removal of the filter, although I'm new to the group.
I had another A day today. Still squatting just the bar to focus on form. I'm going to do it at least until my knee stops hurting. What's strange is my knee doesn't hurt at all when squatting or between sets, but it'll hurt when I first wake up and pretty much the rest of the day after I leave the gym. Odd that it goes away when squatting, but I also do cardio to warm up, so maybe it's just the movement eases the pain? Although maybe not because it hurts on my mile walk back to my car in the afternoon. I don't know.
I actually had a fairly crappy day today. Due to killing my knees, I've decided to slow down my progressing. I'm fairly out of shape, and it's not a race to the heavy weights. So, I didn't add at all to any of my exercises. I did 60lbs for both bench and rows. I struggled with the last rep of the last set on my last A day, but today I was kind of wobbly for most of them. I think I did better when I added weight. I don't know, maybe it's mental or maybe just an off day. Rows weren't too bad, but several people were benching, so I was short weights to stack up to use to prop up the bar. Man I wish we had barbell stands...0 -
Im a Jesus freak but still dont care about folks' language... I use the words often enough myself... so Im fine with filter being off...
that said...
my HAMs are achy, not to the point of pain but letting me know they are awake... minor DOMS I guess? didnt really notice til I went to bathroom and attempted to squat over the communal bathroom here at the office...trying to balance while trying to minimize the pain gave me a chuckle....
Last Friday ( or was it Thursday) I took a Body Pump class... my knees and left hip had been achy ever since but since I also got sick over the weekend I attributed the aches to that... Oddly, after my modified "A" day last night, my knees dont hurt anymore....
tonight is my "rest" day... I do have a dance class tonight.... low cardio, mostly stretching..... should do me some good...0 -
I am totally all over this distinction between "two movements" and "one movement" in the squat. All of Ripp's videos show two movements as proper. *kitten* leading up, then at the top, the torso lifts perpendicular. But when you see people squat generally, that's not how they look. I was chalking it up to the difference between low bar and high bar squats.0
-
Well....interesting day for my workout today....
Then there was a girl getting ready to do deadlift and she couldn't figure out how to load up the bar so I had to show her how to load it. She totally disregarded me though.
then I did well on squats. Did 4x5 at 95 for squats and then 1x5 at 120 just to see - and I did that well.
Then I made a total fool of myself and didn't mind.
I did my BP at 75 - did well for the first 4 and then on the 5th, total fail, couldn't even lift it off of me and I didn't have a spotter....so some guy had to come to my rescue as I lay there under the bar.....
Who's feeling foolish now??? This girl!!
So yeah. Fun times.....fun times.....Who wants to move here to spot me???0 -
I am totally all over this distinction between "two movements" and "one movement" in the squat. All of Ripp's videos show two movements as proper. *kitten* leading up, then at the top, the torso lifts perpendicular. But when you see people squat generally, that's not how they look. I was chalking it up to the difference between low bar and high bar squats.
I actually don't always find rip's videos helpful. I usually need a LOT of different instruction, to address a LOT of different things.
I watched his OHP video a MIIIIILLLLION times and obviously I got SOMETHING out of it but I struggled with the movement until I watched Wendler just knock out like 11 reps i na row, and for some reason watching this HUGE barrel chested dude triggered a lot more for me than watching. And everyone looks different doing some of the movements - ESPECIALLY squats.
My husband and I look TOTALLY different squatting but neither of us is doing it 'wrong' -- he puts his feet a bit closer together than mine are (despite him being 8 inches taller than me - I squat REALLY wide compared to most people, not sumo but wider than average), he holds the bar higher than I do, and he butt-winks at the bottom a little (not enough to curve his back but his butt does dip). All fine. Ripptoe videos often have skinny people in baggy clothes doing the movements and I find that less than helpful when I'm built like a bulldog. His descriptions are useful but I try to watch a lot of different bodies/men/women.
Also look at still photos- those are more useful than video for movement learning, in a lot of cases, because you can see what the bottom vs the top vs the middle should look like. OR freeze frame the videos as you watch ,at least. Actually, watching medhi's squat video was pretty helpful for me too - too long and blabby (When isn't he!?) but watching him actually do it was helpful.0 -
I did my BP at 75 - did well for the first 4 and then on the 5th, total fail, couldn't even lift it off of me and I didn't have a spotter....so some guy had to come to my rescue as I lay there under the bar.....
Poor Darwin! I haven't needed rescue but I have had to do the roll of shame. Same as the convention thing...promise me Aaron Rodgers and I will move there tomorrow. :drinker:0 -
Sorry about the BP issues, Darwin! I know that's going to be me some day.
B today
Goblet:3x8 35lbs
OHP:5x5 53 lbs
Deads: 1x5 125 lbs
My original goal for OHP was 70... But I jus don't know if that's gonna happen. While my lower half is sticky, I'm small-famed up top and while I was locking out my 53 pounds today I kept thinking, there's no way 70 won't kill me!0 -
psst - there are lots of ways it won't kill you. but, it does take a while to break through on the OHP. Its kind of the worst because there's no half-rep. Either the bar goes up, or the bar goes no where. So you can't erally tell if yuou're making progress on it until you do.0
-
Holy auto-correct, batman! "stocky" not "sticky"
"framed" not "famed"
Tameko, I know you're right...damn it.0 -
First night of 5/3/1...Work out with like this:
Warm Up: 30x5, 40x5
Work Weight: 50x5, 55x5, 60x6
5x10x35
Supposed to be 5x10 chinups, but I had to do 5x3 partner assisted chinups.
When you are used to sets of 5....sets of 10 REALLY SUCK.
Extra: You will get there...it just takes time.0 -
First night of 5/3/1...Work out with like this:
Warm Up: 30x5, 40x5
Work Weight: 50x5, 55x5, 60x6
5x10x35
Supposed to be 5x10 chinups, but I had to do 5x3 partner assisted chinups.
When you are used to sets of 5....sets of 10 REALLY SUCK.
Extra: You will get there...it just takes time.
What lift did you do?0 -
*Another* two pages to read through?! Dang you guys! Lol. I love cooking and recipes and would be happy to exhange with you. I make apricot chicken so will have to add the bourbon next time.
I finished workouts A and B with 50 pounds and felt good. Up to 55 next time.
I've lost 8 pounds since Christmas! I'm so happy! Now I only have 10 pounds left to go to my goal weight of 140 pounds. After that I'm going to see if I can change my body shape and continue losing bodyfat. I'd really like to tighten up my thighs.0 -
First night of 5/3/1...Work out with like this:
Warm Up: 30x5, 40x5
Work Weight: 50x5, 55x5, 60x6
5x10x35
Supposed to be 5x10 chinups, but I had to do 5x3 partner assisted chinups.
When you are used to sets of 5....sets of 10 REALLY SUCK.
Extra: You will get there...it just takes time.
(psst if you're still doing SL you can kind of disregard all the below because its specifically relevant to the assistance work in Wendler)
Yeah no freaking kidding - plus it took us a few weeks to really get a grip on the fact that when you're doing FIFTY reps of something, you have to dial the weight WAY. WAY. WAY. down.
Because remember, the assistance isn't just high rep, its supposed to be overall less strenuous than your main lifting or at least no MORE strenuous. So I was like "I can bench press 90 lbs! So I should do at least 25lb dumbbells" but 10 reps is a LOT, yanno? Ended up depressingly starting with like, 17.5 and feeling stupid. And now I'm up to 27.5, and sometimes if I 'm tired I drop it down to 25 because 27.5 is borderlined ultra strenuous. *smacks the dumbbell bench press around*
What did you pick for assistance vette? Are you doing a triumvirate template? we were doing sort of a mix but Nick threw a tantrum about the squat assistance because we were doing BBB squats and it was like .... so exhausting. Also, we kind of agreed after the second week that we both hate core work (well, ab centric stuff anyway) and we just aren't going to worry about it unless we feel like its impacting our main lifts. Actually *I* hate it, nick just finds it embarrassing to do in public and then he gets too lazy once we get home from the gym. Dips and chins and most of the main lifts hit that area so I feel like its fine right now. And did I mention I loathe it? because yeah. I loathe it. Every time someone tells me they do hundreds of crunches I seriously want to have them committed to an institution. We do low-back assistance too. Ugh. Kind of. I'm really bad about it lately because I *loathe* good mornings so I tend to mix and match my assistance for that. I tend to sneak off and finish with RDLs (which are inferior for low back but hit my hams better). I used to sneak off and do back extensions with hip rotation, but 25lbs got easy and 35+ is kind of a big plate to clutch to your chest. Also they're not really as effective for me, which is probably why I hate them the least.
I think the only assistance we both actually like is dips.0 -
Did my second SL workout today. Still feeling awkward. Still worrying about form. On a good note I took charge and felt more confident in the Gym full of men. No women in sight again. First time doing dead lifts. The app fooled me and I don't input until after so did one set of 4 at 95 failed the fifth and then went down to 80. I still don't know how much the bar in the rack weighs. Luckily I get 5 sessions with a trainer as part of my membership so I'm going to get help with form while the weights are still low. First appt Saturday. I'm so pumped about SL. Excited to work up the numbers.0
