May check in and chat - May all your weights go up
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HI FRIENDS!!!!!
I'm finally home! Whoop!!!! 6 nights away without my workout cave and restaurant food is too darn long!
Workout B this morning....no increase in weight as my last SL workout was last Friday....good to move up on Sunday though
Followed my lifting with my favorite barbell complex. Did 4x8 with about 45 seconds of rest between circuits. I feel so awesome! Now I can't wait to actually prepare my own meals!
Also can't believe that I'm already on week 11 of cycle 2 of SL :noway: I don't know where the time is going! I think I am going to buy Beautiful Badass today and finally decide if my next program will be Madcow or BB 0 -
Also can't believe that I'm already on week 11 of cycle 2 of SL :noway: I don't know where the time is going! I think I am going to buy Beautiful Badass today and finally decide if my next program will be Madcow or BB
Welcome back! Please keep us posted about Beautiful BadAss. I'm dying of curiousity about it. Do I understand correctly that it is only $34?0 -
I've been getting a poppy hip since doing this, always had clicky knees... Is this just par for the course with squatting or something I should be keeping an eye on/doing other supportive stuff for? Almost feels like it wants to pop out of alignment although I'm sure that isn't the case!
And welcome coquette!
I've noticed all of my joints are more clicky/cracky now. It's not painful and I usually don't even feel it, but a few people have made comments because it can be loud. My guess is that everything has become looser. There are a few things that never used to crack, like my feet, that I can crack quite easily now.
Vegas--- I'm seconding keeping us posted on BB. I haven't heard of it before, but I'm intrigued. 0 -
Ugh. Sometimes it's just a rough day. In our ongoing experiment, I"m gonna say that frozen custard < Ben& Jerry's.
I'm gonna be a little wordy here, but I think sometimes it's helpful to hear the reasoning behind the choices we make as we hit roadblocks/challenges. And maybe one of you will have a different perspective/insight that will help me see things more clearly.
I repeated squats, because 145 was really super hard on Wednesday. I had some aching in my front top left thigh, and thought it was just DOMS, but it is still bugging me after lifting today, and I couldn't get at it with the foam roller, so I'm going to do a little research and I may be looking at a major deload on squats. We'll see.
I had failed 3 times at OHP, so I pushed back to 60 today, and was happy I made that decision - 60 is still challenging, but I can do it, so I just really focused on form. I'll go up in 2.5 increments from here. One of my May goals was to not be afraid of failing, so I feel like I"m learning the purpose of the fail/deload cycle.
Deadlifts - I decided to treat last Monday's deadlift session as a fail (see my other thread) because if I can't maintain my breath control over the set, well, that is one aspect of lifting, and it doesn't seem right to ignore it. So I bumped back to 185 and really paid attention to my breath. I think I've not been fully exhaling, which means I'm not fully inhaling, which is a good thing to know. I also set up a timer on my iPod and put it where I could see it during the set - and made sure I never went over 10 seconds for each reset (we have octagonal plates, so I almost always have to take 10 seconds between each rep to reset). It seemed like a good way to monitor how long I was taking. So from here on out I'll go up in 5 lb increments, and stay at each new weight until I can pull it in one fairly continuous set.
I did some other assistance work, and then busted out a bunch of pushups. It was a pretty great ending to a not-stellar workout, because I didn't even think about it, got up on my toes, and pushed all the way to the floor and back with no problems. Amazing what lifting all this iron does!
I know I'm not caught up with all of you, but this is long enough already. I'll try to check in later.
Happy weekend all!0 -
I will totally keep you guys posted!
Yes, it's only $34! There is another workout of hers that I think sounds great as well....it's the (S)hero Workout and it's only $16! A friend on my FL is doing it and really likes it but 2 of the phases use dumbbells as well as barbells and I only have dumbbells up to 30lbs....and don't really want to put more money into DB's right now....that being said, it's only $16 so really even if I bought both it would be $50 for like 20 workouts lol
www.niashanks.com
She is a BAMF! If you don't follow her on FB you totally should 0 -
Kira, you sound like you know what you need to do. I am new to lifting, but not to exercise, and knowing when to take a step back is harder than just going for more all the time.
I finished session 7 today, **stop to do a little cheer for myself**!!
Squats 65
BP 55
Bb row 50
Spent a lot of time working on form for squats and BP and really felt good about it today. Felt the difference in pulling my shoulder blades back and felt MUCH better about these sets than I did on Monday when I did workout 'A' last. I don't post much, but am lurking and reading all the time. You are all inspirational, so thanks for that!
Happy Friday!0 -
Week 2 has come to an end for me. I finished work out B today.
Squat:60x5x5
OHP:50x1x5/2x4/1x3/1x2(repeat weight from Monday)
DL:115x1x5
Ill try OHP one more time before I deload. I have always had weak shoulders so I expected this to be my first true challenge.
The squats are changing for me. I am feeling them in my gluteus now and I have never felt that before. It is nice to feel it work more than my quads. DL's just meek me feel powerful and I live it!0 -
Wow! Everyone is doing awesome!
I did workout B last night:
Squats 5x5 65 lbs, but my form still doesn't feel quite right. I don't know if I'm going low enough or using my hamstrings etc. Also, there was a lot of pain on the front of my hip. Does anyone know what that is from or how I can fix it??
OHP 5x5 at 50 lbs. It was still really hard, but I didn't fail this time, so I'm not sure if should go up or not...
Deadlift 1x5 at 120 lbs... It was hard also, and I think I need to reread about form for deadlifts because all you ladies are talking about breathing and I'm so not aware of how I'm breathing when I'm doing the dead lifts.
Tomorrow morning is workout A again, so I'll see how that goes, but I think I'll keep my squats the same and really work on my form. BUT it'll be the first workout I do by myself because my mom is going on holiday for like ten days.... So, I'm pretty anxious
Also, really stupid question but what does PR stand for? And what does a cycle of stronglifts mean?
Thanks! Have an awesome weekend!0 -
Also, really stupid question but what does PR stand for? And what does a cycle of stronglifts mean?
Not a stupid question. PR means personal record (at least that's how I use it). And generally a "cycle" of SL is 12 weeks.0 -
just had a barbell FLIP off the barbell stand (I forgot to hold the end while taking the weight off, it was unalanced and flipped off the stand), bounce end over end like a slow motion nightmare, miss the weight plate rack and miss the old bathroom mirror my dad has propped up next to the weight plates rack. PHSHEW!!!!!
last workout was a huge fail due to my sciatic nerve pain I just did a few warm ups weights on things.
today I did everything:
Squats @55# (same as what they should have been Wednessday)
Bench Press @55#, should have been 655, but I coudn't get past 3 reps and the bar got stuck on my chest and I had to tip it sideways to wiggle out from under it.
OHP@ 60#. it was 65# last time, but I didn't actually touch my chest each one (only 50% of the time, though it got close) so I went back down to make sure I could get it spot-on each lift0 -
I repeated squats, because 145 was really super hard on Wednesday. I had some aching in my front top left thigh, and thought it was just DOMS, but it is still bugging me after lifting today, and I couldn't get at it with the foam roller, so I'm going to do a little research and I may be looking at a major deload on squats. We'll see
Is this top of thigh or closer to the hip joint? If hip joint it could be the hip flexor.Squats 5x5 65 lbs, but my form still doesn't feel quite right. I don't know if I'm going low enough or using my hamstrings etc. Also, there was a lot of pain on the front of my hip. Does anyone know what that is from or how I can fix it??
This sounds like a hip flexor issue. I have problems with this as well and have really had to focus on form to reduce it. Too much work and it flares up for me. As for form fixes, I find that when I start the movement up by pushing the lower back/hips ups to start and then drive up AND making sure I feel like I'm pushing the floor apart with my heels, I get the best relief from the pain.0 -
Thanks jstout! I'll really try to do that tomorrow morning. I'll see how it goes...0
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B session tonight, and one of those frustrating ones..
stuck at 50kg squats to see if it was just getting used to them and form would improve, also did a set of 20 with just the bar as part of my warmup to look at form (thanks fittreelol!) but (and I'm only counting decent form ones) only managed 43434 so am in a tizz..
then OHPs back up to 30kg yet again, this is my nemesis, this time I'm going to stick it until I've tried 3 times before deloading.. managed 45332 which is fairly horrific but at least I didn't just give up and go back to 37.5kg!
Deadlift did a set at 60k to check form, then went up to the scheduled 85k and managed 3 before the 4th I was obviously not doing it properly, certainly not with my back, and gave it up as a bad job. I think I should probably go back to 60 and work up slowly looking at form. I did prop my phone up on the squat catch bar to try and get some DL video but it's a bit off centre!! any thoughts other than it's not great??
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SBXH0QkuD7s
Also I am -really- feeling that hip joint now, right in the front almost at groin level so am going to try some stretching, and I did do a wee bit of core afterwards but it's something I find both dull and depressing as it's so weedy so am going to need to find some kind of structure to keep me going on this. I also need to pick up my pelvic floor exercises, was a bit worried a couple of times when tensing everything for OHPs (TMI sorry!!)..
so a bit of a blaaaaah day. Frustrating that lifting progress is totally not linear, rather unfamiliar after cardio where usually more effort = more progress.
ah well, sorry for the essay, I'm sure you are all doing brilliantly but I have sought solace in cheesecake (rather disappointing macadamia nut and salted caramel)..0 -
Are you timing your rests L? I find that I need to time mine or I will jump back in before I really should - i'm getting better about judging it myself but in general if I don't set a timer I'll not rest enough0
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no but I use my HRM and wait until it goes under 120bpm, maybe I need to wait longer but this is probably at least 3 minutes nowadays! It's an android not an iphone so the app doesn't come with a timer, maybe I just need to Sort.it.out!! 0
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no but I use my HRM and wait until it goes under 120bpm, maybe I need to wait longer but this is probably at least 3 minutes nowadays! It's an android not an iphone so the app doesn't come with a timer, maybe I just need to Sort.it.out!!
Hi, strangers! Lotsa family drama going on here, so I have been scarce...
Elwood, regarding using your HRM as a rest gauge? I was doing that, too, but the further I progress (and doing couch to 5k), I find my HR goes down much faster now, and like Tameko, I set a timer for three minute rests.
I also found that once i got back to my pre-injury weights, progress all but stopped, and while I felt like a total slacker for doing so, I switched to 3x5 and find that I am progressing again, and without the exhaustion for the entire following day.
ETA let me try and get caught up on everyone's total badassery...0 -
Have you checked for free timer apps to download? I know the Apple has them available, maybe the Android does, too.no but I use my HRM and wait until it goes under 120bpm, maybe I need to wait longer but this is probably at least 3 minutes nowadays! It's an android not an iphone so the app doesn't come with a timer, maybe I just need to Sort.it.out!!0 -
no but I use my HRM and wait until it goes under 120bpm, maybe I need to wait longer but this is probably at least 3 minutes nowadays! It's an android not an iphone so the app doesn't come with a timer, maybe I just need to Sort.it.out!!
Hi, strangers! Lotsa family drama going on here, so I have been scarce...
Elwood, regarding using your HRM as a rest gauge? I was doing that, too, but the further I progress (and doing couch to 5k), I find my HR goes down much faster now, and like Tameko, I set a timer for three minute rests.
I also found that once i got back to my pre-injury weights, progress all but stopped, and while I felt like a total slacker for doing so, I switched to 3x5 and find that I am progressing again, and without the exhaustion for the entire following day.
ETA let me try and get caught up on everyone's total badassery...
So this is long story short of what I was going to say! (Great minds think alike right mouse??!! lol)
Get rid of the HRM for your lifting....it really is pretty useless to be honest and basing your rest on your HR is not best case scenario at all. Definitely start timing your rests.
How long have you been doing the program for again?
How much weight are you increasing by and how often?
If you are having form issues there is a good possibility that you are increasing too much too fast. You might want to look at reducing weights and spending a little more time on each weight before progressing up and perhaps only increasing in 2lb increments rather than 5lbs. I even do that on my squats and deads now....2lbs on those and 1lb on my upper body lifts. I will even go for 6 reps before moving onto the next weight.
You can definitely try 3x5 as well....that is the next logical step in the program anyway
No worries we'll get it figured out!0 -
@Vegas, yup! Absolutely! GMTA, Babe!
and welcome home!
Welcome to all the new ladies and hugs around to everyone else!
The strength in this group is crazy-good and chock full of awesome!!!
So here is where I am, program-wise...
Set some PRs this week...
Squats at 100
Rows at 75
Bench at 65
I have also been doing some leg work, since the hubs got us a leg attachment for my bench/rack, as well as some bicep curls, so those PRs are as follows:
Leg curls at 60, leg extensions at 85
Bicep curls at 45, all 3x5.
OHP still at 60 (my nemesis)
Deadlifts at 115 (my pre injury PR)
Also doing C25K in prep for the Raleigh Color Vibe 5K next month. Been slack the last two days, though, given I haven't been eating or sleeping enough to fuel the machine. Thank you, family drama. I hate you! :explode: rest is good, too, though, I guess.
My middle son has been lifting with me and spotting.
Does anyone else find they have a callous on the area where the bar rests from doing squats? May have to invest in one of those foamy pad thingies.
So tomorrow I eat all the food and lift all the weights!0 -
@Julie-My son has been lifting with me and spotting.
Does anyone else find they have a callous on the area where the bar rests from doing squats? May have to invest in one of those foamy pad thingies.
So tomorrow I eat all the food and lift all the weights!
great lifts! I am a bit jealous of your squat weight! (and the others, too, but mostly the squats)
no problem where the squat bar rests. but I am only squatting 55#.. maybe later I will have a problem.
YAY- for your son working out with you!
and I like those "eat ALL the foods" dayss! enjoy!0
