Hi everyone,

Thought I'd pop in here to say hello. I did a quick intro in the Introductions thread. Since I'm in stage 1, I thought this would be a good place to start.

I officially started stage 1 on Monday, and will hopefully be doing 1B1 tonight. I can't believe how sore I was after A1A, especially my quads. My form seemed iffy on the squat - using the empty bar was way harder than I expected (i could squat at home with 20# DBs no problem, but i know balancing the bar is part of the challenge). I'm convinced the bar must have weighed more than 45 pounds . I've practiced at home, and I think my form looks OK, so we shall see how the squat feels Friday when I do 1A2. For the previous two weeks, I did practice runs of the workouts twice, plus I'm doing the 8 week version, so I am really anxious to be done with the 2 set 15 rep portion. However, I thought this would be a good time to make sure I've nailed down my form on my squats and dead lifts with the Olympic bar.

Looking forward to getting to know you all!

Tonight was my 2nd night working weights, and it was way harder than the first...probably because I am still sore from last time.

Anyway... I made it through the reps except for the crunches. I prefer to do them at home. But in doing the lunges in the 2nd set, I just couldn't push through to 15. I made it to 10 and thought I would surely die right then and there. I was only using 7.5 weights, so the weight wasn't too heavy - I'm pretty sure it would have been almost as hard with just body weight. Hopefully I can improve on that.... There is certainly room to improve!

Question on the weights for the seated row and the lateral pull down- at our gym there is just a number on every other weight: 2, 4, 6, etc. I assume this is typical, but I don't know how much weight it is. Can someone explain??

I did my first lifting today!! And I really liked it. Workout A took me about 30 minutes to complete.

Question 1: Do you all warm up before you lift? I did about 6 minutes on an elliptical. Good/bad?

Question 2: I was unsure about the weights I should be using. I am reasonably strong, but no superwoman, that's for sure. To give you an idea, my best (did these a few months ago) for push-ups is about 40 (have done over 50, but not lately), modified sit-ups is 95 in under 2 minutes, mile run in about 6:40 (6:50 on average). I am an 18-year-old girl, 5'6" and weigh a little over 150.
I used a 20 lb dumbbell for squats, did 45 lb seated rows, and 10 lbs in each hand for step-ups.
I only felt 'pushed' on the seated rows with that weight. These weights were suggested to me by the trainer at my gym, I think I should up the weights for squats and step-ups by a fair amount.

I want to make sure my technique is good, especially for squats and step-ups, because I had knee problems a few years ago from uneven muscles. I tend to let my knee bend in (step-ups) so I am watching int he mirror for that.

Any suggestions for weights to use for Workout B?
Deadlifts, shoulder presses, lat pull down, and lunges.


Also, I saw somebody write a weight down next to the pron jackknife, am I missing something there? Are we supposed to use weigths and, if so, how?

Uggggg. I pulled a groin muscle doing squats today with just the barbell. It was A4, but this is only the second time I tried them to parallel. I'd been doing them way too shallow before. I did my first set with body weight, and felt I was ready to try the empty barbell. I made it to three...and yeeeoooowwwch!

I'm going to meet with a personal trainer at a huge athlete training facility that I recently foind out was nearby. I'm taking my book with me, and they will do an assessment and give me alternative exercises to do based on any past injuries (I see a chiro regularly, so I think there are some exercises I should stay away from). I feel silly that I'll have a fresh injury to start with! I just want to make sure I'm doing enough. A exercises make me sore, but B exercises seem to have no impact.

Oh, and I tried "real" step-ups today according to the forums on JPFitness... Whew!! Could only do them with body weight.

BTW what's the 'real' step ups. Can you post a link for it. Just wondering if I am doing it right.

It's explained in the book. Basically it's stepping up with all your weight focused on the leg that has your foot on the platform/step, the other leg is just there for the ride, not for any help so it shouldn't be helping you push off and it does not step up on the platform/step. Step down and repeat, all on 1 leg 1st then switch to the other side. Hope that made sense.

Not sure why this looks like I quoted a quote. I seem to be having issues today lol.

BTW what's the 'real' step ups. Can you post a link for it. Just wondering if I am doing it right.

Here's the thread I mentioned: http://www.jpfitness.com/showthread.php?t=53707

And the direct link to the step-up description and video: http://nicktumminello.com/2013/01/step-ups-a-better-way-that-eliminates-cheating/

As for the squats, I've been using the empty barbell all along, but only recently realized that I wasn't going low enough. I had a mental block -- I didn't want to go back to body weight, ya know? But until I get my form right, I know that's what I need to do. Same with the step-ups. I was up to 30lbs (total) with those.