April Check in & Chat - Spring into the Squat Rack

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  • PetulantOne
    PetulantOne Posts: 2,131 Member
    @klrabob- That's awesome progress!
  • Imadarkswan
    Imadarkswan Posts: 113 Member
    Dani, thanks for the reply several pages back. I also have mine set to the fat2fit radio calculation. Or at least I thought I had it set correctly until I looked at Heybales spreadsheet and realized how how active I really am! I had myself in the lightly active category when I am at the back end of the moderately active category so I have been eating a couple hundred calories less than I need to.

    Tameko, Thanks for your reply as well! I do not know anything about the BMF either. But I imagine it is about the same as the fitbit. I really have not paid that much attention to the thing when I am at home. I usually forget about it until late in the afternoon and then check to see what all I have done or not done for the day. Again, I was surprised at how active I really am, and that is why I thought the thing might be completely overestimating what I was burning.

    I am not going to argue about upping my calories if you think increasing it 200 will make a difference.
    I realize the whole fitness and nutrition takes a bit of tweaking and patience, I guess I just needed some confirmation that I need to up my calories when I thought I was eating pretty darn good as it was! I eat a lot more than my husband does and he just gives me strange looks when he sees that I am still getting smaller when I eat as much as I do.
    The scale has also not moved nearly as much as it has in the past since I started lifting heavy but I have seen a decrease in inches so I am still happy.

    I have a question.
    What is classified as lifting heavy? What may be heavy to some may not be heavy to others. So I was just wondering how it is decided if you are lifting heavy or not?

    I also completed workout 16 today
    Did 15 minutes fast walk for warm up cardio
    then squat warms ups were 2 sets of 5 at 45, then 2 sets at 80 then 1 set at 100
    Work Weight for Squats was 120 - that was just WOW!
    OHP - warm up with 2 sets of empty bar at 45 then 1 set at 50 and then work weight of 55
    Deadlift - 150 - good gracious that was heavy!

    Then did 3 circuits of push-ups(10), lunges w/ 25 lb plate overhead (10 each leg) and planks (1min 10 sec)

    Then went to the kitchen and ate everything in my lunchbox! I was starved!
  • Judas_Queen
    Judas_Queen Posts: 251 Member
    I was pointed this way by some lovely lady the other day so that I can join in with sharing awesomeness!

    Just got home from a great session and I squatted 62.5kg all 5x5 (with awarmup of 20kg 1x5 and 40kg 1x5)

    The boyf said he was impressed at my depth :) Also.. he thinks I've got ages to go before failure :D whoo!!

    OHP on the other hand.... my worst nightmare! MY NEMESIS!!!! 27.5kg will not shift! I''m going to try it one more time on saturday morning and then probably deload. I always do better on Saturday, it's the start of my workout week and there's almost a whole extra rest day in between than the other workout days :)

    But I'm super happy with my squats :) and my deads of 70kg today :D yay!
  • nexangelus
    nexangelus Posts: 2,080 Member
    Dudes, dudes, dudes...I mean ladieeeeeeees!

    I am so gonna beat my OHP stall...Have split up my routine, am working a Wendler split for 6 days a week (yeah I know I know)...tried 39 kg (85.8 lbs) today with my lat, back, shoulder, bicep, rotator cuff split day and hoo ha! it was pretty sweet and easy (took advice about resting longer between sets) This month is gonna see an up in my upper body lifts I just know it, watch this space...42.5 kg (93.5 lbs) is my PR that I stalled at previously.

    Yeah am doing advanced lifting routines now and have upped my calories so the deficit is not killing me at the end of the week. Doing 3 heavy full body workouts was wearing me out. It is only Monday and workout one done and dusted, but I feel this is going to be the way forward for me now. Also going running on Thurs with the Mudder trainees in the new gym, a short and sweet 5 km. Glad I decided to up the cals. : )
  • tameko2
    tameko2 Posts: 31,634 Member
    Heavy Lifting - Lifting as heavy as you can (within reasonable ranges) for relatively lower reps. It isn't a particular number.

    Basically it means that you get fatigued from the WEIGHT and not from the repetitions.

    So, if I can lift something 20 times before I get tired, that's not heavy lifting for me, because the stop point there was endurance related and not strength related. If someone else can only lift the same weight 8 times before they are exhausted, it IS heavy for them even though it isn't heavy for me.

    Its about lifting relative to your own strength.

    Nexus - woah, 6 days? Do you only do 4 big lifts or do you do more? Wendler is the routine that helped me break through my OHP stall - I made great gains there.

    Glwerth -- you don't need to squat that low. Unless you plan to be an olympic lifter, then its more important as its an assistance for that. Otherwise to get the full benefit of the exercise, anywhere at or below parallel is ok. I used to do my warmups all the way down and then my work weight at a higher angle. That way you get the best of both worlds.
  • glwerth
    glwerth Posts: 335 Member

    Glwerth -- you don't need to squat that low. Unless you plan to be an olympic lifter, then its more important as its an assistance for that. Otherwise to get the full benefit of the exercise, anywhere at or below parallel is ok. I used to do my warmups all the way down and then my work weight at a higher angle. That way you get the best of both worlds.

    Thanks.

    I've been having terrible knee pain and this is my next step toward trying to manage/eliminate it. So, maybe I'll follow your example and do warmups all the way down and work at the higher angle!

    I find it terribly funny that I've never had a knee problem until I started exercising regularly.
  • freckledLeanne
    freckledLeanne Posts: 111 Member
    <---- Bicep as of today! I think it is so awesome to see at the amazing arms!

    jstout, your arms are AWESOME. So great to see your hard work paying off. :)
  • freckledLeanne
    freckledLeanne Posts: 111 Member
    Speaking of successful, I finally broke past a 185 deadlift, 192.5. I almost just went for 200 but I chickened the hell out. I think I could have done it but I thought it would be really discouraging if I didn't, and I *knew* I could do 192.5. Sometimes its about the small wins, yanno. I'll do it next month.

    Tameko, this is very impressive! Sounds like your mental block would be the only thing holding you back from 200. Like you said, start fresh on a new day and just go into it being all, "eff yeah, I got this."
  • BikerGirlElaine
    BikerGirlElaine Posts: 1,631 Member
    So, I am really excited. I just squatted 100 pounds for 5X5 and it wasn't even hard!

    I originally thought that 100 might be my max when I was looking at Stronglifts, since I have a bad knee and since FM makes me a lot more of a weenie in the gym than I used to be. My hesitation was that I didn't think I could gain much strength, not compared to what others could do, and that I would max out pretty fast.

    Well fast forward two months and my knee is so much better I can hardy believe it, and I OWN 150 pound deadlifts and 100 pound squats.

    I don't feel great, don't get me wrong. I haven't taken two days off in a while and I am feeling my lack of recovery, but mentally I am doing the happy dance!
  • kirabob
    kirabob Posts: 481 Member
    Ges - 100 lbs - that's awesome! You DO own that!
  • dafoots0911
    dafoots0911 Posts: 347 Member
    Just started SL's today. Sooo, here are my stats.

    54 years old
    152 pounds
    5'4"

    Worrkout A
    Squats 45lbs 5x5
    Benchpress 45lbs 5x5
    Barbell Row 45lbs 5x5

    Looking forward to posting. Any advice is welcome.
  • fisherlassie
    fisherlassie Posts: 542 Member
    Well I took a photo of my strong lifts app workout tonight. I wanted to put it on here but I couldn't figure it out so I will have to tell you instead. Not as exciting from my end but that's the way it goes.

    You do need to know that I turned 51 today and by coincidence the workout session number was 51 as well! Spooky music!!!

    Squats: 135 lb stayed
    Bench: 90lb 55442 Went up from 87
    Row: 90lb Went up from 87

    Welcome new people and congratulations on the awesome lifts Ges and Tomeko!

    I know I'm not getting everyone just checking a few.
  • Soosannah
    Soosannah Posts: 270 Member
    Well I took a photo of my strong lifts app workout tonight. I wanted to put it on here but I couldn't figure it out so I will have to tell you instead. Not as exciting from my end but that's the way it goes.

    You do need to know that I turned 51 today and by coincidence the workout session number was 51 as well! Spooky music!!!

    Squats: 135 lb stayed
    Bench: 90lb 55442 Went up from 87
    Row: 90lb Went up from 87

    Welcome new people and congratulations on the awesome lifts Ges and Tomeko!

    I know I'm not getting everyone just checking a few.

    Happy Birthday Lassie!!
  • Soosannah
    Soosannah Posts: 270 Member
    Just popping by to say HI! I have nothing beneficial to add to the convo lol.

    Hope everyone had a great Monday!
  • Fittreelol
    Fittreelol Posts: 2,535 Member
    Happy birthday Fisher!!!

    I worked out then came home to watch UofM lose. :sad: I made an awesome dinner during timeouts and half time then a giant spider appeared and interrupted my fun. I went to get a shoe as it was really giant (not just my inner arachnaphobe exaggerating,) and when I came back it was gone. Hopefully my cat ate it! Had to move my whole operation upstairs to my bf's computer (with smartphone game coverage during the move:laugh: )

    Did some squats at 115 3x5 to get back into the groove of back squats. 105 bench 3x5, and 85 rows 3x5. I also did 14 toe pushups today post rows. \o/ And I had time for 30 minutes of cardio since I'm not doing 5x5 anymore. \o/

    So overall a good day. =D
  • DaniH826
    DaniH826 Posts: 1,335 Member
    I'm back to low weight on my squats. Why? You ask....OK, you didn't ask, but I'm going to tell you anyway.

    I had my husband read up on squats in Starting Strength. He informed me that I'm doing it all wrong. I have been only going to parallel and he's encouraging me to go all the way down. According to the book, it will help with my knee pain. So, I'm back to about 65 pounds but going all the way down. It seems pretty light, but I'm really concentrating on form.

    It happens. I'm having to do the same thing because I filmed myself last week doing squats and my butt tuck was off the charts. I had to ask my husband to coach me. Amazing how a couple small off things can throw off an entire movement. That's what you get when you work out in your garage without feedback except what you "think" or "sense" you're doing. I "thought" my bar path was vertical. Oh no, it was actually swooping cause I was leaning way too much forward. Awesome. I will be filming myself more often now for sure! Should have done it a lot sooner! Jeez! I'm also incorporating front squats into my new routine to teach myself to squat more upright and keep my spine better aligned because I have this mental fear of leaning too far back and falling backwards that I have to overcome.

    Hoping to correct this crap within the week as I'm resetting weights and going back to 3x5 with a slow and steady progression. I'm pretty sure upping those reps somehow messed with my form, which used to be pretty decent. Oh well. Them's the breaks.

    On the upside, hubs was of the opinion that I could probably squat twice the amount I was squatting, and he told me to quit being afraid of my own strength (that's what you get when you marry a former Marine ... zero babying and brutal honesty :laugh: ).

    I guess it's one thing to know what form is supposed to look like, and another thing to watch yourself doing it and wondering "well, well, well, what do we have here, and how did that happen?" :blushing:

    On a more positive note, my OHP is looking really good. Maybe I'll just stick to those and forget about squats. Hahaha. Not. :smile:

    @Fisherlassie -- happy birthday !! You're rocking it !!
    @dafoots -- I'm excited that you started! Just ... make sure you get form checks, somehow, by somebody, especially at the beginning.

    Awesome numbers, ladies!
  • lwoodroff
    lwoodroff Posts: 1,431 Member
    Happy birthday Robin!
  • lwoodroff
    lwoodroff Posts: 1,431 Member
    Happy birthday Robin!
  • zumbajheri
    zumbajheri Posts: 200 Member
    Happy birthday fisherlassie!

    Everyone is doing so well!!! Bravo, bravo!! :bigsmile:

    I'm just over here spinning wheels and Zumbaing with one arm! :laugh:

    I'm gonna do some squats with weight tomorrow :happy:
  • glwerth
    glwerth Posts: 335 Member
    I'm back to low weight on my squats. Why? You ask....OK, you didn't ask, but I'm going to tell you anyway.

    I had my husband read up on squats in Starting Strength. He informed me that I'm doing it all wrong. I have been only going to parallel and he's encouraging me to go all the way down. According to the book, it will help with my knee pain. So, I'm back to about 65 pounds but going all the way down. It seems pretty light, but I'm really concentrating on form.

    It happens. I'm having to do the same thing because I filmed myself last week doing squats and my butt tuck was off the charts. I had to ask my husband to coach me. Amazing how a couple small off things can throw off an entire movement. That's what you get when you work out in your garage without feedback except what you "think" or "sense" you're doing. I "thought" my bar path was vertical. Oh no, it was actually swooping cause I was leaning way too much forward. Awesome. I will be filming myself more often now for sure! Should have done it a lot sooner! Jeez! I'm also incorporating front squats into my new routine to teach myself to squat more upright and keep my spine better aligned because I have this mental fear of leaning too far back and falling backwards that I have to overcome.

    Hoping to correct this crap within the week as I'm resetting weights and going back to 3x5 with a slow and steady progression. I'm pretty sure upping those reps somehow messed with my form, which used to be pretty decent. Oh well. Them's the breaks.

    On the upside, hubs was of the opinion that I could probably squat twice the amount I was squatting, and he told me to quit being afraid of my own strength (that's what you get when you marry a former Marine ... zero babying and brutal honesty :laugh: ).

    I guess it's one thing to know what form is supposed to look like, and another thing to watch yourself doing it and wondering "well, well, well, what do we have here, and how did that happen?" :blushing:

    On a more positive note, my OHP is looking really good. Maybe I'll just stick to those and forget about squats. Hahaha. Not. :smile:

    @Fisherlassie -- happy birthday !! You're rocking it !!
    @dafoots -- I'm excited that you started! Just ... make sure you get form checks, somehow, by somebody, especially at the beginning.

    Awesome numbers, ladies!

    Thanks!

    Good to know I'm not alone in my um...regression, I guess? But getting form right is a good thing.

    So, did your husband suggest you squat all the way or a bit less than full?

    I fear front squats, not sure why. But, I totally hear you on the fear of falling over backward!

    I work out at a gym, but it's one with no staff present most of the time, so I also have no feedback unless I ask husband to watch.
  • nexangelus
    nexangelus Posts: 2,080 Member

    Nexus - woah, 6 days? Do you only do 4 big lifts or do you do more? Wendler is the routine that helped me break through my OHP stall - I made great gains there.

    I have done two or three full cycles of the normal 5/3/1 last year (broke through bench and OHP stalls) and wanted to try the 24 workouts in a month programme, so 6 days per week for me, spread out, so I can up my calories somewhat, as the last few weeks at a larger deficit have been tiring. It is the main four split over the 6 days with accessory lifts to fill the time. (ab, back, arm and rotator cuff work, no barbell rows of course) I still want to lose fat and gain strength. I was doing three full body workouts (all five lifts, not far off my previous max weights) per week and feeling drained Sunday just gone...we shall see how I feel on a few weeks of this. Early days yet, but my energy is up for now... : )
  • DaniH826
    DaniH826 Posts: 1,335 Member
    So, did your husband suggest you squat all the way or a bit less than full?

    My depth is fine. I've been so focused on going lower, that I didn't let my abs/lower back catch up. Our bodies work as a system, and if something is weak or loose then the rest will try to compensate. So I need to just be happy with my depth as-is and focus on tightening things up before I go down, and maintain the same form all the way. For some strange reason I was doing some bounce on the bottom instead of keeping things tight. Also I wasn't engaging my hips soon enough on the way up. Silliness.

    Squats are very technical, and it's amazing how your form can go to crap from just a couple little things. They're usually pretty easily corrected once you know what to focus on though.

    And after watching some girls do olympic lifts, I think I'm just going to put that on the back burner and focus on strengthening myself, along with not hurting myself (anymore, hopefully :laugh: ... mama is not in her 20s anymore ... which I keep forgetting until my body reminds me).
  • lwoodroff
    lwoodroff Posts: 1,431 Member
    A workout tonight, squats increased to 42.5kg (93.5lb) not bad but will stick at this next time as one hip seemed a bit wobbly. Had a chat after to one of the girls on reception and asked her to video me some time. Benched 30kg (66lb) again felt pretty solid although was a bit weedy by the end!
    Pendlay rows are rapidly becoming my least favourite lift, 30kg again, used the smaller bar so I could put 15kg on each side but that is still slightly low, counting it as 55544 as didn't get right to my chest by the end.
    Walked out feeling pretty awesome though! :-)
  • chubby_checkers
    chubby_checkers Posts: 2,352 Member
    Workout A

    Squats: 150lbs
    Bench: 92.5lbs
    Rows: 100lbs---I made sure this was correct.

    lwoodroff: Rows are, by far, my least favorite, and I don't really know why. Maybe it's the set-up. Stacking plates to prop up the barbell gets annoying (I'm horribly lazy about stuff like this), so maybe that's it. I don't know.
  • DaniH826
    DaniH826 Posts: 1,335 Member
    I find rows my most awkward lift, really. I'd much prefer being able to sit upright and, you know, row for real. I'm not a fan doing a whole bunch of them, for sure, just because of that awkward stance. But you can't deny their effectiveness, so there ya go.

    Back to my 3x5 today and loved it!! So much !!! Was going to do a full reset, but as it turned out my squats form is way better with some weight on the bar (filmed all my sets just to be sure), so went up to 70 lbs today, which felt pretty great, and am going to increment from that, moving forward. Scooched my DL back up to 90 lbs and bench press at 60. So not a full reset, and am definitely looking forward to weight progression again! Looks like upping my reps for a few weeks didn't turn me into a wet noodle after all. Whew. :drinker:

    Great numbers Chubby and Mrs. Woodroff!! :flowerforyou:
  • tameko2
    tameko2 Posts: 31,634 Member
    I find rows my most awkward lift, really. I'd much prefer being able to sit upright and, you know, row for real. I'm not a fan doing a whole bunch of them, for sure, just because of that awkward stance. But you can't deny their effectiveness, so there ya go.


    All of this. I hate them. My husband hates them. But its a great movement. Seriously. So much more effective on the mid back than a regular barbell row.
  • lwoodroff
    lwoodroff Posts: 1,431 Member
    Chubby awesome numbers, making me feel puny again! Slow and steady though I'd rather go carefully and with decent form :-) I know I've got more in me on the squats, the bar alone on the first warm-up sets felt like nothing. Yay!
  • Judas_Queen
    Judas_Queen Posts: 251 Member

    Pendlay rows are rapidly becoming my least favourite lift, 30kg again, used the smaller bar so I could put 15kg on each side but that is still slightly low, counting it as 55544 as didn't get right to my chest by the end.

    Sorry... what bar are you using if you're putting 15kg on each side? because mens oly bar is 20kg and womens oly bar is 15kg, so if you're putting 15kg on each side you're adding 30kg to the bar weight and therefore not doing your lifts at 30kg but possible 45 or even 50?

    I don't know if you're gym is different or it was a typo? But i've never come across a bar that weight 0kg :)
  • chubby_checkers
    chubby_checkers Posts: 2,352 Member
    I find rows my most awkward lift, really. I'd much prefer being able to sit upright and, you know, row for real. I'm not a fan doing a whole bunch of them, for sure, just because of that awkward stance. But you can't deny their effectiveness, so there ya go.

    Definitely agree. I still have the back fat rolls, but everything is a lot firmer back there. My fiance made a comment about how my back felt harder. I'll take it! :drinker:
  • Gwyn1969
    Gwyn1969 Posts: 181 Member
    Hi everyone, I've been lurking and wanted to just say hey. I have been lifting since 2008 with a couple of layoffs here and there, but my main focus is martial arts, specifically, Danzan Ryu Jujutsu, Aikido and Japanese sword (Toyama Ryu Battodo). I got on MFP in January of this year because I injured myself while warming up my deadlifts and decided that while I was rehabbing I'd lose a little weight. I am not back to my old squat and deadlift PRs, but have been able to keep adding weight to my upper body lifts. I currently train a four-day split, done over a nine day period instead of a seven day period. I started with Starting Strength and after my novice progression ended, moved to the Texas Method.

    TM worked for a while, but it was just too much volume with the added training stress of MA, plus me being over 40 :-)
    So right now I do one main lift each time I train, and I train three days a week.

    For April (and May) my goal is to lose some more fat without killing my training. I'm down 12 pounds (was 170, now 158, at 5' 9") and want about 8 more lost, but have made a pact with myself that I will stop cutting at the end of May, wherever I am.

    Today I did Squats (low bar) @ 165x3x5 and DL @ 230x5. Sunday I was very pleased to put 135 on the bar and bench it for singles, my first time ever benching the big plates :-). Next time I train I have to wrestle with OHP - last month I put up three singles at 98 pounds but this month I failed to do 100 even once, so I've got some thinking/planning to do there.

    Cheers everyone!