April Check in & Chat - Spring into the Squat Rack
Replies
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yeah I shouldn't be so lazy, I hear ya sister!
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I am going to post and then go back and read. I hope those of you who are well stay well, and those of you who are sick and/or injured rest up and heal fast!
I had a challenging workout with a lot of progress made in my form.
I had committed to not increasing my squats until I had played some more with my stance. So I warmed up with BW, 45, & 65 and then did 85 for 5X5. By the end I was feeling good about my form. I feel like I have so much strength to unleash, but my form, or lack of coordination, or the little helper muscles, or something like that, is holding me back!
For OHP I warmed up with 20 & 45, then did 47.5 48.5 48.5 48.5 and then 48.0 for four. I was focusing on my form here as well and I made significant progress. I re-read the SS section on OHP the night before and it was as if I had never read it before, that's how much extra I got out of it this time. By the end of the session, I again felt like I have lots of power to unleash but I just need my little assistance muscles to catch up.
Then I deadlifted my goal body weight of 150 ::chuckle:: That was the first time that deadlifts felt like maybe I was at/near my max. So we'll see next time what happens.
This morning I am feeling my shoulders so I must've done something Very Right on those OHP's.0 -
I again felt like I have lots of power to unleash but I just need my little assistance muscles to catch up.
And/or ligaments and so forth. It takes more than just major muscle groups to lift anything consistently, so just give your body some time to adapt and get stronger.
I do a lot better with my back stability now that I've incorporated sphinx and locust into my yoga practice. They work the spinal erectors that nobody talks about (who the heck ever heard of a multifidus muscle?) and that often get neglected, but are awesome when it comes to stabilizing the core (which is a big deal for squatting, obviously). They're deceptively easy and simple but very effective.
Congrats on the 150 lb deadlift! That's a great milestone!0 -
@Freckled: You go girl! I was into triathlons when I had my first (at age 30) and I swam a mile the day he was born. Being in shape helped my recovery a lot. And I know that for sure, because i had two kids after that (at 32 and 34) when my fitness level had dropped a bit, and the recovery was tougher. Thankfully, now that they are older mommy has more time to get fit again!0
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@Freckled: You go girl! I was into triathlons when I had my first (at age 30) and I swam a mile the day he was born. Being in shape helped my recovery a lot. And I know that for sure, because i had two kids after that (at 32 and 34) when my fitness level had dropped a bit, and the recovery was tougher. Thankfully, now that they are older mommy has more time to get fit again!
Love, love, love this @chunkmunk! I get some looks/questions for sure. I've been going to the gym very consistently 4-5 times a week for the last few years, and I'm not looking to quit just because I'm pregnant (especially when so much of what I've read seems to really encourage maintaining being active and its benefits on pregnancy/baby's growth). I love hearing about other fit moms who kept active -- a Zumba teacher at my gym who was teaching classes the week before she gave birth, another woman who did yoga right up to the end... whatever works to keep you moving. At a time when my body is doing all these crazy things, the Oly bar is a bit of a zen place for me... it makes me feel strong, confident, and takes all the stress of the day away.0 -
Jstout - I think I'm learning that in this program you can't go too strenuously on non lift days. I really feel it today, my body is tired lol. But not enough to keep me from weights today. I'm wondering if others have found that it's too much to go hard core on cardio when trying to stick to a 3x week SL schedule.
One of the reasons I want to get fit is to someday have healthy pregnancies. I've had friends with gestational diabetes, and since i have belly fat mostly, I wanna reduce my risk of that. I have seen full term mommies doing Zumba lol super cute! They have low impact Zumba, I think I will try that instead on off days. Thanks for the input ladies.
Dani- yes, I'm feeling quite proud of my protein intake now! :0D
Hope y'all are having a great day! It's sunny and 50° in MN, so no complaints here!
Body it's feeling ready for weights today, a good 8 hrs of sleep did my body well, no DOMs today!:bigsmile:0 -
I did my first 5/3/1 workout yesterday--I think I'm going to really like it!
Here's what I did...
Warm Up
Dumbbell overhead presses
30 lbs (15 each) 5 reps
35 lbs 5 reps
40 lbs 5 reps
45 lbs (bar) 3 reps
Work Set
OHP
45 lbs 5 reps
55 lbs 5 reps
60 lbs 7 reps
Assistance
Weight assisted dips
3x10 with 95 lbs assistance
Weight assisted chin ups
3x8 with 110 lbs assistance
Body Weight Dips...just 3
I was done in less than 30 minutes, so I tried to do some intervals on the treadmill, but I didn't have my inhaler and I couldn't breathe, so I quit 8 minutes in (I was going for 15.)
I really think I'm going to love the change and just focusing on 1 lift per session.0 -
I copied my goals here too. Thanks for adding the separate goals sticky because they can be hard to find at the end of the month.
I would like to lose a bit more on the scale and less inches if that's possible. I am losing my butt and boobs - not happy! I hit my goal weight of 125, but I would like to go down to 120 since I'm 5'1". I'm still doing cardio 4 times a week in addition to other weight machines. Doing S/L only was not enough for me, so I had to add more to it.
squat - 175 (currently 160)
deadlift - 150 (currently 135)
OHP - 65 (currently 55)
Row - 65 (currently 55)
Bench 50
Is there a point where I will max out on my deadlifts and squats?
I love that I am getting stronger and stronger, and I have had to change my grip with the extra weight. The guys at the gym are stopping in there tracks to watch me lift, and I have even had an offer for a spotter and to add a pad to my back for squats - so annoying. Such a shame that they act like teenagers when a lady is in the weightroom.0 -
I copied my goals here too. Thanks for adding the separate goals sticky because they can be hard to find at the end of the month.
I would like to lose a bit more on the scale and less inches if that's possible. I am losing my butt and boobs - not happy! I hit my goal weight of 125, but I would like to go down to 120 since I'm 5'1". I'm still doing cardio 4 times a week in addition to other weight machines. Doing S/L only was not enough for me, so I had to add more to it.
squat - 175 (currently 160)
deadlift - 150 (currently 135)
OHP - 65 (currently 55)
Row - 65 (currently 55)
Bench 50
Is there a point where I will max out on my deadlifts and squats?
I love that I am getting stronger and stronger, and I have had to change my grip with the extra weight. The guys at the gym are stopping in there tracks to watch me lift, and I have even had an offer for a spotter and to add a pad to my back for squats - so annoying. Such a shame that they act like teenagers when a lady is in the weightroom.
Dude, you look AMAZING. Awesome goals. I agree, it's a shame when guys act like teenagers when a lady is in the weight room. Flattering, but rather hilarious.0 -
Is there a point where I will max out on my deadlifts and squats?
Eventually. But you're years out from that.0 -
Ges congratulations on body weight!!
Mrsk you look awesome!
Very impressed that everyone is getting/staying strong for and through pregnancies! I did a lot of belly dancing which was helpful for the 4 days of back labour. I wish I had been lifting then!
Extra, let us know how 531 goes! Looks interesting!
I am taking a day, maybe the week off. I am tired of having a sore butt. It is clearly time to let it heal.0 -
Thanks Fisherlassie and FreckledLeann! I love your names BTW.
Tamkeko2 - As always, thanks for the insight. I've had a few guys saying I was going to hurt myself lifting too heavy of a weight. :noway: I'll ignore them and keep adding the iron. StrongLifts is flipping awesome!0 -
Got my workout in this morning and of course had issues with OHP
Here is what I did
110 squats
60 OHP -sorta
140 dead lift
Here is what happened on the OHP.
Last workout whereby did OHP I did 57.5 so naturally tried
To go up to 60. First set was really difficult but I got it done
2nd-4th set were gosh awful and I really think the spotter gave way
More help than he said he was giving. 5th set I could not even
get the weight up and went back down to 55 since in had left my 1.25 s
at home
I remember 57.5 being difficult but not this much!0 -
Workout went well today, increased my squats to 120 despite my notes to stay at 117.5. Stuck at 85 on bench, but I'm ok with that right now since I haven't been stuck forever (like my nemesis OHP!).
Got a little soreness tonight...which I actually like:)0 -
My workout tonight took a lot longer, I needed more rest between sets. I think switching to lower impact cardio will help.
Squats 80# 5x5
OHP 55# 5x5
DL 120# 1x5 only went up 5# on all lifts
I'm gonna stay at 55# on OHP until I get some fractionals this wknd. I also feel like I lost form and pulled a tendon in my neck shoulder area. I'm using a heat pack, hopefully it's nothing serious:smokin: a little herbal medicine and some vino is helping too!0 -
Workout A for me today....I will start with a 5 min jog on the treadmill and then stretching to include the pigeon pose as suggested. My plan for squats today will be to start out with my normal warm up progression and see how things feel as I work my way up. I'm not going to push it beyond 115 lbs right now. I want to keep up with squating, but I think it will be a pattern of adding weight, feeling the pain, backing down a little, working there for a little bit, then going back up again.
For the rest of the work I will have my first attempt at 100 for bench press today and then I'll go for 105 on row. My PR for 1RM on bench is 110 so I am getting excited about getting close to that for my working weight.
zumbajheri - I have neck/shoulder issues with OHP movements as well. It is no fun. Heat helps me a lot. I have to focus a lot on looking forward the whole lift or it can happen. I hope you feel better soon!
MrsK and Freckled - Way to go on both of your general bad @ssness.0 -
Good morning my fellow bad azzez.
I did my workout A 3x8 last night. Got a late start (730p) and really wasn't feeling the workout to begin with. My eating was off yesterday because I slept in and missed breakfast, ate a footlong sub which I never do, my son wanted Subway. I try to take him to lunch just me and him every few weeks or so, and was still 400 cals short on my high calorie day. So all messed up yesterday. Thankfully time passed quickly and it was over with before I knew it.
Squats- 65lbs went up 5 lbs today and it seemed incredibly easy so will raise again next workout. I think my daily ATG BW squats are helping. I find myself doing them randomly. Also seems to help me loosen up when my legs are feeling tight.
Bench- 55 lbs... still couldn't even get 60 off the bar so I decided just to stick with 55 for the moment since they were really hard last time anyways. will add on some fractionals next time.
Cleans- 65lbs 1x8. 2x5 I got stupid on these and really should have looked on my log to see my previous weight instead of thinking I knew. I went up 15 WHOLE POUNDS on these. No wonder they seemed so danged hard and I was struggling with every set and had to take several rest breaks between reps and probably accounted for the weird twinges I was having in my abs and obliques last night. Pretty sure this counted as cardio too because my heart was a-thumping.
Bicep curls- 35.5lbs will definitely up weight on these next time
Standing tricep extension- 10lb each arm with kettlebell. Decided not to do the skull crushers last night because hubby was at work and I really don't trust my 12 yo to spot while I am aiming a barbell at my head. And by the time I got to these I was wore out.
Almost time for progress pics and measurements. Going to do these on Saturday. I am hopeful to see some changes. I think that I look smaller, but I also notice that I have a new confidence and don't see my body as negatively as I did before I started lifting. So there may be only a small change . My weight is staying pretty consistent between 209-214, 5 lbs spread but I have some crazy water retention fluctuations.
@Tameko- Is it possible to get a sticky for our progress pics???? I think this would be some great motivation especially for new people.
Everyone is doing awesome here and putting up some super numbers. Y'all are definitely some BAMF's!!!0 -
Soos, what program are you following? Something homebaked?
I'm seriously thinking about going back to 3x5 here soon cause I notice the higher rep ranges are not a friend of good form, and plus I don't want to get swole :laugh: AllPro's is aimed towards hypertrophy ... of course cause it's from a bodybuilding forum ... and so I don't think that's going to help me aim for endurance unless I go further down in weights and go way up in reps. Not that I'm actually getting swole (matter of fact I seem to be shrinking slightly), but I realized I miss making those frequent strength gains. Then again my happy day is Saturday when the big deloads happen and I can just dinker around at my own leisure (and even do triceps work!) because it feels so ez (compared to Tuesday which generally just kicks my tail now). :laugh: at myself for thinking "ez" means a 45 lbs barbell rather than a 5 lb dumbbell.
Thinking about switching things over to a 3x5 program with an automatic deload put in so I can keep the extra stuff I'm doing that keeps me from becoming bored, and generally keep the same lifting rotation but go up in weight every week rather than reps. I.e. somehow merging principles from AllPro's and Rippetoe while aiming for a personal sweet spot of sorts that works for me.
I need to kick Rippetoe out of my head and his "just follow the damn program" harpings and be fine with tweaking things to avoid boredom while still making overall progress. I mean, crap, I've been lifting and doing yoga religiously 3 times weekly for 2 months now, and that's definitely unheard of in my corner of the universe. That part of it I love. Devil's in the details I guess as they say ...
I'm going to go pick stuff up and put it down again for a while. That always helps defuzz the brain. :drinker:0 -
ooh session A for me tonight, due for 40kg (88lb) squats eek.. I've always chickened out of this (with proper form!) so will steel myself. 30kg (66lb) for bench press. hm. not sure if this will happen, and 40kg pendlay rows. finally get to break out the big girl plates!!
must take some 'before' photos too, now this is happening regularly. not sure measurements are going to happen. I'm rather fond of the way my calves are looking already though I also think my eating bigger is with rather more gusto than the weights currently deserve but will stick with it for now! 0 -
Dani - why don't you just commit to 8-12 solid weeks of 3x5 progression to get a good base for your weights and then swap over to 5/3/1? I think you will like that - you can reprogram your assistance every cycle (although ideally you shouldn't reprogram more than every 2-3 cycles) and you get a good mixture of endurance work and strength work. You can also use power cleans as an assist for that program so its a way to put in some movements you like/want to do.
The thing with the whole 'do the program' bit that I really agree with is that in theory you've picked a program that is going to help you with whatever your goals are, and the person who wrote it (probably) knows a lot more than you about programming.
BUUUUUT!!! If your goal is "to go to the gym and not be a fat lazy *kitten* at least 3x a week" then its fine to make your program yourself. Will you gain as much strength/endurance/hypertrophy/balanced looking physique as you would if you followed a program for those things? Of course not. But you have to pick a goal and if its 'go to the gym' then those other things are LESS important.0
