I ran through workout A again this morning, this time using the bar. I stuck with a naked bar as it was my first time using it. Squats went well, confident I can get another 5kg on that on Wednesday - my gym's smallest weight is 2.5. Bench press was HARD! But that will get stronger with practise. The rows were not too bad put an extra 5kg on the bar for them. I do not think my form was great for them but I have checked out the youtube and I reckon I can improve on those next time.

Then with the 10 minutes I had left I did a bit of HIIt cardio on the bike.

Tomorrow I plan to either do a 30 day shred workout or some core work. Any suggestions?

Hi all, it's been a while. Today I pulled 280 for a single and 20 pounds more will put me at 2x bodyweight which is a goal of mine to reach this year.

Amazing work! A far off dream is to reach 2x bodyweight. Just now I'm around 10kg over 1x so it'll be a long journey.

Amazing - Gwyn!

Jw - well done you - its amazing how your brain forgets to add up those stupid plates (I am on baby weights compared to you but my brain could add to 22.5 - using 5, 2.5 & 1.25 weights for a bench press- doh)

The leaness thing is really interesting - I switched my scale (god darn your stupid scale) from stone & lbs to just showing lbs - totally a physiological thing - as I am not as bothered being 135lbs as I am being 9stone 8 (both the same).

I am also getting obsessed with dents/ muscles appearing and still fitting into my clothes comfortably despite gaining (again all physiological) - but a huge shift to make. I want to be strong & heathly , I want to squat heavy, I want to bench heavy - I want to impress myself which what I can achieve.

But for years I was obsessed with getting light - not healthy, not strong - skinny fat was where I was at for a long time.

So bring on the weights and bring on you amazing & inspiring ladies - so much has changed in my head over the last 6 weeks since beginning this journey and long may it continue.

xx Happy lifting ladies

Oh, Summer is so busy around here. I've got three boys and they're all doing stuff all the time.

As a result, my workout schedule has suffered, with most weeks only getting in two lifting sessions (but never less than that).

But, I deadlifted 190 today. It seems like it has taken forever to get this far, but it is progress, right?

I also had to lift today with no warmup because I had to hurry. (Warning: Little venting here....OK, long-ish)

Finished my warm up cardio, there was a guy in the squat rack. OK, fine, got my Kindle and read some.

20 minutes later, he was done with his quarter squats (very heavy bar, no clamps on the ends, up and down movement, maybe 3 inches, with much grunting and leaning all the way forward). I wanted to go and tell him to try lifting less with better form, but I held my tongue.

So, he moves on to dumbbells and I move to the squat rack.

He informs me he's still using it. I need to wait.

I wait another 10 minutes and figure maybe I can do my stuff on the cable machine. Nope. He's using that too. And all the dumbbells over 25 pounds. He informs me he has a 'progression' that he cannot interrupt and his training doesn't allow for him waiting.

Of course, his progression obviously allows for fiddling with his iPod constantly.

So, finally, I've hit 40 minutes of waiting and I go up and tell him I have kids at home and my husband has to leave for work (which he did) and I have got to finish my workout. He grudgingly tells me I can use the rack, but for no more than 30 minutes.

*kitten*.

I didn't have more than 30 minutes anyway, or I'd have gone slowly just to be a *****.

But, I got it in.

Squats: 5x5, 105 lb (all the way down, good form, working hard on this one)
OHP: 3x5 80 lb (failed on last rep of set 3, but that's better than last time)
DL: 1x5 190 lb. (my grip is causing me not to progress as fast as I might otherwise)

I'm still feeling pissy now and hoping he's not going to be there every morning at 4. I can't go much earlier or I'll never sleep.

Blargh. Garumph. Phooey.

I ate allll the foodz yesterday, and even got all the sleepz, and my OHP was still on the fritz this morning.

Squats 3x5 @165 felt good and solid
Ohp 553@75, 1x5@65
Deadlifts 2x5@185 (195 was rough last week, so I figured I'd drop down and build a little endurance

Then a dumbell complex with some pushups and inverted rows thrown in because the gym I am using doesn't have any way to do pulls or chins.

Gwyn - that's awesome. 'Nuff said.

glwerth - what a tool. Good on you for still getting the work done!

Jamblaze - There's no law that says you can't do something else instead of an A or B workout - sounds like you might need to spice things up a bit, either with different movements, or some more food, or just a change of scenery.

Gwyn - Awesome pull!!!!!!! :drinker:

Glwerth - What a complete meat head. Really. Unless he was the owner, he shouldn't have a monopoly on equipment no matter what his "progression" is. It is a facility used by others. At some point he has to realize that he has to share. He probably missed that lesson when he was 2.

Jam - I agree that it sounds like mixing things up a little would do you some good. I have mixed things up a bit and added different accessory lifts to keep things interesting. I still do squats, bench, deads, and OHP, but I mix up the rows (my least favorite and I was starting to despise doing them). I also only typically do 2 of the lifts a day, so like squats and bench, squats and deads, and then squats and OHP. That is if my training schedule stayed static, but I've been missing the 2nd lifting day a bit so I find I'm doing typical B days at the end of my training week. Doing that has given me the chance to do more accessory
work for variety.

Kira - OHP is the most inconsistent for me also.

daisy - Yep, the mental shift away from what the scale says is a hard transition. We are trained to think that the scale is the ultimate measurement of health and beauty. It is hard to leave it behind and appreciate our bodies for what they are: amazing machines that love to be worked to their fullest potential. I still have family and friends that don't understand that the scale only shows you one part of the equation and that your self worth shouldn't be tied to something that can be so volatile. I say Lift On and Lift Strong.

Nothing much for me, "cardio" day for me. So a quick 2 mile run and then lifting weights fast :bigsmile:

Speaking of weight, I was talking with my mom this weekend and was eating blue corn chips and cilantro lime hummus without regard. After a bit, I commented that I had eaten almost the full tub (about 3/4 cup) in the past 2 days. She was like "won't you gain weight????" I kind of laughed and was like, "Maybe, but I'm not really worried about one day of chips and hummus." I find that once you lose weight and find your maintenance point, other people sometimes have you stuck in diet mode and think that every little bite is "cheating" or going to blow your hard work. I just have to laugh and go on eating all the good things.

Just ask if a member of staff what premium you need to pay to ensure you can use all the equipment at one time as it may be worth it to you. When they look blank at you tell them about the dude that needed to use everything in one go and I bet they will fix it for you if it happens again (probably without you having to rat on him)

Sadly, this is a very small, 24/7 gym with no attendants ever there.

Now that it has changed ownership, I don't even know who the owners are. This normally works fine for me!

I just really, really hope he isn't using this as his new usual workout time. I hate it when my routine gets upset, plus, eventually, he's going to hurt himself and I don't want to be there to see it.

But, that is a totally awesome way to deal with it, if there were people there!

{sigh} After seeing everybody else's awesome numbers I feel like a weakling-lol. Sort of, anyhow. I think it's because a) I push myself harder than I should, b) my expectations are a wee bit grandiose considering my age (?), c) I'm going to have to figure out something with my eating - low carb keeps me from binge-eating, but I think it's screwing up my lifting...hmmm.

I'm also worn completely out the rest of the day, wondering if I should switch my lifting to after work and just go do energizing cardio in the mornings (nothing extreme, maybe 30-45 minutes of walking/running). When I was (just) running, I would do it in the morning and have boundless energy the rest of the day. Now it's all I can do to keep my eyes open at work. I sleep fine, according to my fitbit. Tweak, tweak, tweak 'til I find out what works I guess.

Here's my lifting today:

Squats - 95 lbs 5, 5 then added 1.5 lbs and did 3 more sets of 5
Bench - 80 lbs, 5, 5, 5, 3 (roll of shame - at least now I know I can do it-lol), 5, 5
Pendlay - 77 lbs, 5 x 5 but my form is starting to suck so I'm going to deload (not sure to what just yet) and work on form for a bit

I was totally surprised when I failed on the 4th rep of the 4th set - they had all been really great right up to that one - I got the bar lowered and my arms said "we're done - bye bye" so I rolled. A big old guy ran over to help, but I told him I had it, thanks. Gotta learn how to roll! Lately I've been in there completely alone towards the end of the week and there's nobody to help then...then 5th set was strong as well, so I went ahead and did another set of 5 which was also pretty darned good. No biggie. I guess I just wasn't thinking about bench pressing my ex into outer space quite strongly enough there for a bit. :-)

Going to go check out the Molly Galbraith post now.

Oooof!

Grandmoo - you could try adding carbs specifically around your lifting sessions, and having low carb on off days. What's your typical day look like (When you do you meals/snacks vs work out)?

I'd do something like add 30-40 grams of extra carbs to whatever your big meal is post or pre-workout and maybe 10-20 to the smaller meal/snack that is opposite that, then low carb on off days.

I guess I should mention my name is actually Susan, I go by 'Moo for short. ;-) Call me whatever you wish, I'm easy...

Also, I'm afraid this is going to look like "War and Peace". Sorry.

One of the trainers at my gym recommended I have at least a cup of "good" carbs (sweet potato, banana, oatmeal, etc) the night before I lift since I lift early in the morning. An example day (I'll use last night into today/tonight since it's a lift day):

Last night I had a cup of oatmeal (the kind you actually have to cook) with a small banana and a dollop (didn't really measure) of natural peanut butter before bed. I had eaten "low carb" up until then - and I don't really log much anymore, but I average around 50 total carbs/day. Some days more, some days less. The day before I lift I'm eating 75-100 grams of carb for the day.

This morning I had my 2 cups of coffee each with an ounce of heavy cream (I love low carb for that if for no other reason-lol) then headed to the gym. Immediately after lifting I have about 1/4 of my protein shake made with whatever protein I'm in the mood for - usually ChocoRite Cappuchino from Diet Direct - made with a cup of almond milk and ice to fill the shaker cup. After I shower I drink the rest of the shake on the way to work.

Early mid-morning I had a cup of cottage cheese with cinnamon and a bit of splenda, and around an hour later a container of Kroger Carbmaster yogurt. Lunch today was 126 gr of shredded steamed cabbage with 1-1/2 tbsp of butter and a pack of Starkist Tuna Creations Sweet and Spicy mixed in. Sometime between now and when I leave work I'll try to eat my 2 boiled eggs, if not, I'll have them as soon as I get home.

Supper/dinner (whatever you call it, the evening meal anyhow) is probably going to be a hamburger with some sharp cheddar cheese eaten on a low carb wrap and some kind of veggie to go with it - I'll decide when the time comes.

Maybe a half-hour or so before bed if I'm still hungry I'll have a smoothie made with a container of the low carb yogurt, a cup of almond milk, whatever protein I'm in the mood for, and flavoring if I didn't choose an already flavored protein (I've got lots of different containers of protein powder!).

So...the only real difference in my eating pattern is that I add the good carbs the night before I lift. I guess you might say that is my pre-workout meal? I'll have to do some figuring about what to actually add in order to not trigger my binge-eating, but I think that I can come up with something(s) that will work.

Thanks!