April Check in & Chat - Spring into the Squat Rack
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Hm, as a n00b my goals are: proper form and progress.
And eat properly and log (ahem!)
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Hey y'all! I know some of you, I didn't wanna jump into March's thread, so I thought I'd join the conversation this month
Pleased to meet you other gals and feel free to add me
My goals this month are to keep up with SL 3x week. I started March 12th and due to being sick so much in March, I've only been at an average of twice/week. I started again Saturday after making myself rest, rested Sunday and then progressed in squats and rows.
Current weight:
Sq 75
Bench 55 - second time @55 ready to try 60 next time
Row 75
OHP 55
DL 115
I added some planks on Saturday, but had some soreness for two days, I think I'll go back to core on non lifting days. I don't wanna push myself too hard got fear of injury or falling ill. I hope every gets healthy soon and/or stays healthy this month. Hopefully it warming up, and getting some breezes through our homes this month will keep us all moving in the right direction. I wish I was at a desk during the day, but my job keeps me moving, so I catch up on reading the thread late nite usually. I also would like to get on a normal schedule, but my body rhythm always goes back to sleeping after 2-3am. Hopefully with my healthy lifestyle things will fall into place, but I don't wanna worry too much about it. I've pretty much kicked my diet coke addiction and then regular pop altogether. Occasionally, I like a pop (soda) with a burger or Mexican food, but I try to at least not get a refill. After my last Dr pepper, I noticed I craved junk afterwards. Maybe it's in my head, but I'm gonna continue to avoid. I usually do Zumba as my cardio 3x week and I look forward to it. It's a blast with the right teacher. I want to get a bike this spring. Cheers to you all and thanks for being so gracious and friendly. I love lifting now and get excited reading about all your routines and progress. Ciao, Jheri
Edited for wordiness lol sorry this turned out to be lengthy. Thanks for reading
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I don't have a specific goal in mind per se.. I make every work out... but I could definitely do with eating much better and thinking about things a bit more before I shove them in my mouth!
I'm starting some running next week too to try and get my cardio fitness up a bit and hopefully burn a couple lbs of fat in the proccess (**funny thing.. i just wrote burn a couple lbs of fart and nearly posted it!!) but I'm not going to get too hung up on it. I've always enjoyed running and I think now my legs are stronger I'll be better at it.. so i suppose try and run at least once a week.
Other than that, my goal is to have as much fun as I can with SL. I'd definitely like to not stall on squats for a while yet, and i think that is a realistic goal for me. Squats on last workout were 52.5kg and I'm not going to say they were a breeze because don't my hammys hurt.. but no sign of a failure yet 0 -
do quinoa first Soos, you will like it! tons of things you can do with it too -- also keep an eye on it as it cooks, most instructions lead to it being overcooked for my personal tastes -- when the little white piece completely curls out its softer than I like it (but I also like my rice and pasta a bit chewy rather than squishy soft).
Do a few versions, like a basic 'rice' style where you cook it in broth, and maybe add some sauteed onion and pepper, or a cold salad version where you do lime juice , black beans, corn, tomato, red onion, cumin, salt, and pepper (its like salsa flavored quinoa!) Or a mediterranean style salad with red onion, cucumber, feta, tomato, lemon juice, and olive oil.
I've also had it toasted and put on a salad but I haven't braved toasting it myself yet.
Thanks for the tips. Really leaning toward this one to try. I like my rice and pasta more firm than squishy. If it is squishy I just wont eat it blechhh. Liking the sound of the cold salad version minus the black beans. I will NEVER like black beans lol. May sub with kidneys or pintos. And anything Mediterranean I absolutely love.
My only tip: keep an eye on it while it's cooking. I've had mine boil over several times and it's a b-i-t-c-h to clean up. Those little grains get EVERYWHERE!
Welcome to the new people!0 -
Hi everyone,
Loving quinoa, VegasBaby's single-girl cardio goals, and all the new people joining in!
My April goals look like this:
1. Lose 7 pounds (This is aiming high. The truth is that in my long-term plan I only expect to lose 5) and measure at 44.5% body fat. That would mean weighing around 200 pounds and no loss of LBM. 201 will be very exciting for me since that would mark 1/3 of the way to my goal.
2. 14 SL workouts. This shouldn't be hard to do, I am very consistent with my exercise. I'll miss one when my folks are here visiting. I'm pretty active generally speaking so I don't feel like I need to do anything additional with my cardio. I do some cycling after each weight session, and I started doing intervals, which have always been very difficult for me, but I don't have any particular goal associated with them.
A. Squat 100 pounds Current 85
B. Bench 73 pounds Current 66
C. Row 94 pounds Current 80
D. OHP 50 pounds Current 47.5
E. DL 175 pounds Current 145
I have never set lift-so-much-within-a-certain-time-frame goals before, so this is new for me. I have no earthly idea if these are too easy or too hard or reasonable. So we'll just have an adventure with them this month!!
My focus is on stripping fat, so the first goal is probably nearest and dearest to my heart. I'm not really invested in the strength goals. I've been lifting for a long time, and I have lost a lot of oomph due to fibromyalgia and to age, so if I get one more rep in or go up 1/2 pound I know that I'm succeeding. As far as I'm concerned, I'm only competing with my last workout.
Today I get to go to the gym and do squats/OHP/Deads. I've been lucky lately and haven't had to wait for a squat rack in a while. I hope my streak continues!0 -
Hi all! And welcome to the new gals! : )
My goals for this month are to continue lifting heavy 3 times per week to maintain lean mass. Lose the last 6 lbs of flab/fat before re-assessing bodyfat percentage (hoping to visit the university gym in town where they have body composition measuring sessions, 12 over the year) to get to weight goal one (153 lbs). Then start endurance training end of the month and continue lifting heavy between. Looking forward to upping the calories considerably and seeing this new process take place.
New lifting/powerlifting goals (increasing strength further) are on hold until the end of the year/autumn time. Then the OHP and bench are defo gonna move up : )0 -
@Ges.....lol'ed at my cardio goals :laugh: Thanks for making me laugh first thing this morning!
Finally did level 2 of my Jillian Michaels Yoga Meltdown workout this morning. Definitely another good workout BUT I was so disappointed because at one point she made a comment about becoming bulky from using weights :sad: :sad: :sad: :explode: I know it's for marketing reasons and not that she actually means it but ugh it really pee'd me off! I'm such a big JM fan..... (I'm going to her tour on Sunday yay!)
Meh, I'll get over it. It's totally just the business!
Happy Tuesday all!0 -
Hey all, and welcome new folks!
I feel a little guilty even posting this week, as I'm takng the entire week off. I finished my first 12 weeks (well, ok, I did the last 6 workouts 3 x 5) and my body was screaming at me for rest. So I listened. I let myself eat anything I wanted for the Easter weekend, and now I'm being careful but not anal for the rest of the week, thus giving myself a physical and mental break. And then I'll start killing it again next week.
Goal for the month is to get to 130 in squats, 85 in bench, 65 ohp, 80 row, and 170 deadlift. I'd also love to drop 4 pounds, but that may be wishful thinking.0 -
Hi guys.
Back from Spring Break! Did very little exercise, unless you count tottering about in stilettos for 8 hours a day a good workout :drinker: . My feet/ankles/knees seem to think so. :sick: :sick: No cardio until I can walk without any hobbling. :sad:
But finally to the weights! Took off a flat 10 lbs from everything this morning and felt pretty happy that I didn't collapse.
Squat: 125
Rows: 70
BP: 65
Man, you ladies with your fancy goals are very impressive.
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nexangelus, I just have to say I love John Cleese's silly walks!0
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I had a fantastic long weekend....did it up right single girl style :laugh: :blushing:
...
My goals for April are kind of soft goals if you will.
-find a nice boy to date regularly. Maybe even regular circuit training. That would be the best :laugh:
LOVE LOVE LOVE. *giggle*0 -
This month I'm moving into third trimester! Eeep. SL-wise, it means I have to take it a bit easier. It's upsetting, because I really love feeling BAMF and upping the weights, but I get too tired too soon now, and it's more important to be careful blah blah blah.
Seriously. I walk up the stairs at the train station and have to take a break. It is the lamest. Ha.
I've still been doing squats on the power rack, just a bit lighter (115-125ish), or I practice squats on the half balance ball thing. I haven't done bench in a while, though I have done some killer push ups (just careful not to fall on my protruding belly). I did a bunch of cleans last night with my trainer (95lbs), and it felt amazing. Basically, trying to keep the weight training up while being cautious about not tweaking anything. I've been doing deadlifts at 125ish or so too, which is pretty light still.
I've gained a total of 3 lbs at 25 weeks, which is a little crazy considering baby now weighs 2 lbs. I feel awesome though.
Basically, my goals are to keep active while not hurting myself. I got the hubby onto SLs too, so now I have someone else to chat about squats with. 0 -
B session tonight, hit the x trainer first as racks busy, then stuck at 37.25 squat. Up to 25kg ohp and did 55454 so pleased! 37.25 for deadlift and ready for big girl plates next time!0
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My workout today seriously kicked my tail. I'm glad Tuesdays are my heavy days and that it's only going to get lighter! Did not expect 2x10 to be so hard! (cue world's smallest fiddle :sad:)
Today's barbell shenanigans:
Barbell Squat: 50 lb x 2x10 reps
Barbell Bench Press: 50 lb x 2x10 reps
Power Clean: 55 lb x 10 reps
OHP: 35 lb x 2x10 reps
Barbell Curl: 25 lb x 2x10 reps
Standing Barbell Calf Raise: 55 lb x 2x10 reps
Wondering now if I'm going to even make it to 2x12. Going to try though!
@freckled: Welcome, and you're lifting in your third trimester? That's amazing.0 -
I'm starting to find a trend in days I REALLY don't feel like going to the gym I should stay home and take an extra rest day. I went, but my hip flexors are pulling something horrible and I had difficulty with my warm up weight of 70 lbs. So I totally skipped the squats. I moved back down to 60 from 65 on OHP, but did nail 2x5 of deadlifts @ 145. Between the OHP sets I did try a oly bar only front squat and also an overhead squat with a broomstick just to see if the lack of torso lean would help with the pinching. I may look into deloading back to 80-90 on squat and do a front squat for the time being. Overall, it wasn't a great lifting day for me, but I'm really tired and I know that was 80% of my issues. I'll be back to A on Thursday so I will see how I feel. If I'm still feeling wiped out, I may take the day off and hit it on Saturday.0
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@Freckled: I think it's awesome that you're still lifting! Even if the weighs are "light".
Killed my workout today. Killed it.
Squats 140---These were so easy. Everything clicked and it was awesome. I'm high on the achievement.
OHP: 72.5 (5-4-4-4-4)--- Didn't hit all reps, but I wasn't expecting to get the weight up at all since I was struggling with the warmup sets. Discovered that my gym has magnetic weights that are 1.25lbs.
Deads: 160
I credit Vegasbaby for posting the hip hinge thread. I think it really really helped. Also, I took 4 days off and ate a crap-ton of food so I had lots of residual fuel.0 -
This month I'm moving into third trimester! Eeep. SL-wise, it means I have to take it a bit easier. It's upsetting, because I really love feeling BAMF and upping the weights, but I get too tired too soon now, and it's more important to be careful blah blah blah.
Seriously. I walk up the stairs at the train station and have to take a break. It is the lamest. Ha.
I've still been doing squats on the power rack, just a bit lighter (115-125ish), or I practice squats on the half balance ball thing. I haven't done bench in a while, though I have done some killer push ups (just careful not to fall on my protruding belly). I did a bunch of cleans last night with my trainer (95lbs), and it felt amazing. Basically, trying to keep the weight training up while being cautious about not tweaking anything. I've been doing deadlifts at 125ish or so too, which is pretty light still.
I've gained a total of 3 lbs at 25 weeks, which is a little crazy considering baby now weighs 2 lbs. I feel awesome though.
Basically, my goals are to keep active while not hurting myself. I got the hubby onto SLs too, so now I have someone else to chat about squats with.
That baby is going to be born to lift at this rate! It's so awesome that you have been able to lift the entire time.....I bet your recovery from the birth is going to be stellar because of it also! When you are on mat leave we will have to go for coffee and talk SL 0 -
@Freckled: I think it's awesome that you're still lifting! Even if the weighs are "light".
Killed my workout today. Killed it.
Squats 140---These were so easy. Everything clicked and it was awesome. I'm high on the achievement.
OHP: 72.5 (5-4-4-4-4)--- Didn't hit all reps, but I wasn't expecting to get the weight up at all since I was struggling with the warmup sets. Discovered that my gym has magnetic weights that are 1.25lbs.
Deads: 160
I credit Vegasbaby for posting the hip hinge thread. I think it really really helped. Also, I took 4 days off and ate a crap-ton of food so I had lots of residual fuel.
I'm so happy to hear it helped :happy:0 -
This month I'm moving into third trimester! Eeep. SL-wise, it means I have to take it a bit easier. It's upsetting, because I really love feeling BAMF and upping the weights, but I get too tired too soon now, and it's more important to be careful blah blah blah.
Seriously. I walk up the stairs at the train station and have to take a break. It is the lamest. Ha.
I've still been doing squats on the power rack, just a bit lighter (115-125ish), or I practice squats on the half balance ball thing. I haven't done bench in a while, though I have done some killer push ups (just careful not to fall on my protruding belly). I did a bunch of cleans last night with my trainer (95lbs), and it felt amazing. Basically, trying to keep the weight training up while being cautious about not tweaking anything. I've been doing deadlifts at 125ish or so too, which is pretty light still.
I've gained a total of 3 lbs at 25 weeks, which is a little crazy considering baby now weighs 2 lbs. I feel awesome though.
Basically, my goals are to keep active while not hurting myself. I got the hubby onto SLs too, so now I have someone else to chat about squats with.
That baby is going to be born to lift at this rate! It's so awesome that you have been able to lift the entire time.....I bet your recovery from the birth is going to be stellar because of it also! When you are on mat leave we will have to go for coffee and talk SL
I think this ^^ is right on the money! What a great way to move through your pregnancy!
I only have a second, but I got my washers today! I ordered them from McMaster something or other, and got 6 washers and a chain to hold them for 15 bucks including shipping. Score! I was able to complete my OHP at 55 on Monday, so I'm ready to move up. I'm not sure if I should just start off with some of the fractionals, or add on 5 pounds and then work my way backwards if need be. Thoughts?
I love reading about all these great workouts - I hope everyone stays healthy so they can keep lifting! Alright, crying toddler, gotta dash.0 -
Gonna get in before this thread takes off and I can no longer keep up.
Hmm Goals for April
Fit into my wedding dress again (and look good, not just struggle into it)
Finish a 5K at a jog
Keep getting at least 3 days in of Lifting each week0 -
That baby is going to be born to lift at this rate! It's so awesome that you have been able to lift the entire time.....I bet your recovery from the birth is going to be stellar because of it also! When you are on mat leave we will have to go for coffee and talk SL
Haha. Thanks. I think it has really affected how I've felt through this whole pregnancy (which has been pretty darn awesome, generally). Also, I feel pretty bad *kitten* to be doing squats with my baby bump between my knees. And hilarious. I think the dudes are both terrified and impressed.
I've heard recovery should be awesome as a result... here's hoping!0 -
Killed my workout today. Killed it.
Squats 140---These were so easy. Everything clicked and it was awesome. I'm high on the achievement.
OHP: 72.5 (5-4-4-4-4)--- Didn't hit all reps, but I wasn't expecting to get the weight up at all since I was struggling with the warmup sets. Discovered that my gym has magnetic weights that are 1.25lbs.
Deads: 160
I credit Vegasbaby for posting the hip hinge thread. I think it really really helped. Also, I took 4 days off and ate a crap-ton of food so I had lots of residual fuel.
YAY! I love that feeling so much; enjoy it!0 -
Wasn't feeling much like working out today but I did it! Today's stats (they might look a little funny since I'm converting from kg):
Squat - 5 x 88lbs
OHP - 5 x 45lbs (finally!)
Deadlift - 1 x 132lbs
Creeping up towards my bodyweight on the deadlift! It's starting to feel heavy. I'll feel awesome when I can squat my bodyweight. That's kind of my main goal for now, not sure what I'll do once I've reached it (about 170lbs). I have to keep an eye on my form with the squats, I have noticed them buckling a couple of times but I always try to correct it.0 -
I had a great workout today with Amanda the co-owner of the cool gym I sometimes frequent. We had tons of fun and chatted. It's nice to have a lifting day that's a break from the normal sl schedule every once in a while. She says I should think about competing in pl so I can be her female powerlifter. She does strongman along with a lot of the other gym members. That seems so hard to train for, but it sure is fun to watch.
Hiit: Cinder blocks are no joke! I'll call you should I ever choose to remodel.
Freckled Leann you are pretty much awesome. Here's hoping for a speedy recovery after your new baby friend arrives!
Kira- I would do 2lbs if failing makes you sad. If failing doesn't make you sad I'd go for broke and put 5 on there just to see if you can.
Fisher- It's nice to hear/read? someone say pop. I get teased here. =D Nice lifts too lady!
Ladyj- Nice lifts and welcome! Once I got into it I really stopped caring about scale weight and even measurements to an extent. It's fun to focus on getting stronger.
Macy- Welcome to you too! Good luck with your pressing.
Zumba- Welcome! It's great to see so many new people. You might want to cut out core work once you get heavier weights.
Chubby- boiled over quinoa has created tree tears on multiple occasions. SO TINY! It's great that you killed your workout. Hopefully it will revive before your next lifting day.
Vash- Stiletto tottering is totally a workout. Think of all those stabilizing muscles doing work! :laugh:
Jstout: embrace the pigeon pose. For 3 weeks. Pigeon pose solves everything. Trust.
Auddii friend- I hope your knee is okay.
Dani- I think those are fine goals! Ofc I'm not in management
There's probably more, but I'm tired! Keep up the great work!0 -
Hey y'all, I hope everyone is doing very well. My Zumba class tonight, she did a ton of toning work. I squatted at least a hundred times, who knows maybe 200, no weights luckily. My quads and inner thighs are really feeling it right now. I'm kinda thinking I shouldn't strength train tomorrow, hmmm... I'll play it by ear...
I mixed ground turkey and beef and made a bunch of patties, then froze them :bigsmile: feeling good about prepping and having those whenever I need some protein with a meal. They're about 170 kcal each with 22g protein :happy: I ate one too it was awesome. Then I prepped spaghetti sauce, added some Italian meatball meat into it and let it simmer a while. I love spaghetti sauce when the meat gets to be in the sauce a while. Then of course I had to boil some noodles and eat some lol.. It was yummy too! Last month, I felt like such a crabby beotch and I think it's cuz I wasn't eating nearly enough for all the work I was doing. I kept checking my heart rate throughout my SL last session and it calculated out to something like ~300 which is more than 100 over what mfp says I burn. During rows my heart rate was often 160s fluctuated between 129-164.
I think what I'll do is take a jacuzzi bath to loosen up and then lift late tomorrow, like 8p when it's cleared out. I don't wanna miss, I wanna do 3x week. Do you ladies think I should stick to a lower impact cardio workout on non lift days? Does anyone here do high intensity cardio on non lift days? Zumba is killer lol and sooo much fun, I'd hate to not do it.
Edited to add:
Fitree- what a compliment on her asking you to compete with her, that's very cool!
Freckled -How incredible you're lifting while pregnant, glad to know that's possible!0 -
Happy Wednesday, everyone! : ) Just poppin in to say hi.0
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Managed to somehow pull something in my thigh....way up high, by the "lady parts". Walking hurts now. I'll take it easy today and tomorrow is cardio only, so I can manage that and be ready to lift again by Friday.
Of course, it wasn't lifting that did it, but rather, walking. Someone left a dumbbell out on the floor and I stepped on it as I went around a bench. Didn't see it and pulled whatever while trying to avoid falling.
And I wouldn't have even over been there if some idiot hadn't left the spring thingies for the weight bar (that hold the weights on) WAY across the room by the dumbbells, instead of, oh, I don't know, where they belong by the barbells and such! (Can we tell this is my pet peeve with my kids too?)
But, I still finished my lifting, because I'm tough and I didn't realize it was anything until later.
So, still at 140 for squats. Just can't seem to move forward and it seemed super hard today. Still also working on correct foot position to keep knees happy, I need to turn my toes out a little, but not too much and I can't seem to find the sweet spot lately.
70 for OHP, but I didn't have trouble until set 4 today, so, soon I'll be moving that one up.
165 deadlift! I feel so strong when I do that.
Then, I talk to my friend who tells me never to deadlift because I could hurt myself. Today, I laughed because I hurt myself WALKING.
Oh, and people need to put stuff away when they're done, geez!0 -
ooh ooh please could I make a suggestion for a sticky - rough conversion table of weights lbs to kg?
Eg Bar only - 20kg / 44lb (if it is 44lb??)
55lb - 25kg
100lb - 45.5kg
60kg - 132lb
or are there some common 'milestone' weights that would be worth noting (or am I just crazy and it's all so personal it's irrelevant?)
or would that be tooo confusing? 0 -
fit tree - thanks for the tip! I'll be investigating the pigeon pose today!
My hip flexors are finally feeling a bit better. My glutes are a little sore from yesterday, probably the deadlifts.
zumbajheri - I do moderate cardio on non-lift days, usually a 2 mile run or 20-30 min on the spinning bike. With the lifts getting heavier I'm finding the intense cardio to be very difficult to sustain.0 -
1. Pigeon pose is awesome. Easily one of my favorite poses, even though it's not currently in my routine because I've been focusing on other things. Another great hip flexor stretch is the cow face pose. I do it leaning forward (variation).
2. Fit -- I think you should go for it. You'll probably kick yourself if you don't.
3. glwerth -- get better! I slid in some mud the other day and pulled probably the same spot you did trying to not fall on my bum. Thankfully it went away in a day or two. It happened on Sunday, and my lifting day is Tuesday, so no harm no foul. Take an anti-inflammatory and take it easy. Also if you keep stalling on squats, deload. If form suffers and you fail to progress, that means your body is struggling to adapt to the new challenge, so help it out a bit by taking some weight off. No sense letting form go to crap and/or risking injury. Try 10% (so like 130) and go from there.
4. Ms. Woodroff -- I just use the Google converter. Lets you convert from anything, to anything.
1 kg = (roughly) 2.2 lbs
1 lb = (roughly) 0.45 kg
Your numbers are looking solid!
5. Zumba -- what a great way to get some healthy protein into your system!
Happy Wednesday all! Rest day for me so I'm just interwebs nosing around olympic lifting and educating myself, more or less obsessively. 0
