Squat-tober: October check in and chat
Options
Replies
-
Squats 3x5 45kg, think I will repeat to be sure about form.
Bench 3x5 40kg NEW PR! Nobody broke out the bubbly or rolled out the red carpet, very disappointed! That last rep j-u-s-t went up, so I don't know if I should stick for another week, microload, or go gung-ho..
Pendlays 3x5 47.5kg not happy with form on these think my back is popping up too much, so will stick once more..0 -
Congrats on the PR lwoodroff!
Today:
Squat 115lbs
Bench 75lbs
I am not doing pendlays, just doing inverted rows since you don't have to worry so much about form.
I am usually a friendly person, but for some reason I don't like talking at the gym. Today this guy was like "Do you squat every day?? Every time I see you, you are always squatting!" I should've said, "every time I see you, you are wandering around and drinking from the water fountain"0 -
Well hello there fail week been waiting to meet you....:laugh: :laugh: :laugh:
Workout B today...
Squats @ 115lb 3 sets were good...4th set fail on 5th rep just couldn't get that bum up...5th set fail on 3rd rep - hello roll of shame...I anticipated this and didn't collar the weights but just re-enforces I want my power rack. I have padding on my floor (hardwood) but still..
OHP @ 60lb was there on Monday but I had a fail on set 4 (mind you first set I had done 65lbs by mistake :blushing: ) but still...so 4 sets @ 60, 5th set 4 reps...fail on 5th.
DL @ 120 these were fine....
goals for October...I just don't know...I am still so new to lifting (3rd week completed) so not really sure...since it's our Thanksgiving next weekend...and a girls night out too maybe my goal should just be not too many calories over maintenance as I suspect I wont be staying at TDEE-20% :laugh:0 -
Congrats on the PR lwoodroff!
Today:
Squat 115lbs
Bench 75lbs
I am not doing pendlays, just doing inverted rows since you don't have to worry so much about form.
I am usually a friendly person, but for some reason I don't like talking at the gym. Today this guy was like "Do you squat every day?? Every time I see you, you are always squatting!" I should've said, "every time I see you, you are wandering around and drinking from the water fountain"
Thanks! And the correct response is "every day is squats day" I sometimes add "you don't want chicken legs, do you?" Lol..0 -
Congrats on the PR Lydia & congrats on pushing to failure Stef!
Alicia - sounds awkward. :S
Lifting-related NSV: at bootcamp we start and end each 4-week cycle with a PT test - 1 mile run for time, and 1 minute each of pushups, sit ups and dips. I've been struggling with pushups since starting SL. It has surprised me, b/c I feel so much stronger, but I think it's just b/c of needing recovery after, say, benching the day before. But, today was PT test, and I last benched on Monday so felt super rested and I KILLED my pushup PR. 40 chest-to-floor pushups (no snaking, straight line from toes to shoulders) in 1 minute. And not only did I beat my PR, but I beat another guy, who is the badass guy at this camp, who set himself a new PR of 39. I've been on cloud 9 all day!0 -
Been kinda blah, so have missed or skipped a couple days- back at it tomorrow.
But had one of those moments today. I went to pick up a bag of prescription dog food. The lady who brought it out had both arms wrapped around it and heaved it up onto the counter with a big groan. After I paid and was getting ready to leave a nice young man said "do you want help carrying that out?" I said no thank you and promptly grabbed it by one arm, lifted it over the higher counter on my side and slung it over my shoulder. I could feel the lady staring at me so I turned around and smiled.
It was only 30 pounds so not a big achievement on my part, but she thought so
Lift on ladies!0 -
It is so hot today lifting was hard! I did 155x3 squats and my training partner said they looked great- good depth and no leaning forward. Wooo. I also did 126x3 bench, and 90x3 rows. Then I did assisted dips 3x5 and push downs 3x8. Now I'm tired.
ETA: now that I'm doing madcow warmups are included and it's 5 sets. I usually do a set with the bar, or 135 for deadlifts before I jump in to the starting weight though. When I was doing SL I would do 3-4 warmup sets.0 -
Yay! I'm back... I now have a home gym and all the weights I could ever want and a bench and a squat bar (no cage, too big and expensive) and my over the door pull-up bar and I feel like a rockstar! I did 2 workouts today.workout 1 was bringing the weights in from the car - those 25kg one are HUGE!
And then I did my first session A in about a month. I couldn't work out how many squats I did, I just kept doing bodyweight ones, ones with the broom stick and finally a few sets of squats with the20kg bar. I'm really focusing on form and using a box to aim for to try to get me parallel or below. I'll post a video of it when I edit it (I got a bit carried away with videoing myself today!).
I did 5x5 bench at 30kg, and 5x5 rows at 32.5 kg. I love my little fractionals. I even have teeny tiny ones for OHP. Meanwhile, I don't know if I'll be able to get the bar up now, it's been a while since I worked up to it. What should I do for warm-up? At the gym I used the weighted bars, but at home now I've got the Oly bar and a broom stick... Any ideas? Would it be ok to just lift some weight above my head (they are all big ones, they're Crossfit rubber weights, so all the size of 20kg circles...
Oh, and I also did 5x5 pull-up negatives. I'm going to add either pull-ups or push-ups to my workouts so I get better at them too. I am so happy! Except that my dog isn't quite right. She's hurt somehow and I can't work out how. Hope she gets better without vet requirements as I'm flat broke after buying all the weights!0 -
Cardio day for me...
Tried a couple different apps, so far I think the jefit might be the best (lifting buddy wasn't available for iphone and the one app that looked perfect has apparently been abandoned by it's developer, but they still want $2.99 for it). Thanks to whoever told me to just change the preset workouts, now I can use it in real time and it has a timer!
Sorry about your dog, zany. I know how that feels. And I think I may qualify as a vet now with all the things I've learned and done in the last 2 months!
Off to work now.0 -
Chunkmunk you are awesome!! What a wonderful story!!0
-
I am waiting impatiently for my fractionals to arrive!!!
This week:
Squat:107 lb
Bench: 87
DL: 165
P. Row: 87
OHP: 62
I am quite pleased with myself because I worked out MWF. No excuses!! Now I just need to get it so I wake up early so I don't have to be doing it late in the day when I am all ready tired. I want the habit to be MWF get up at 7 then be ready to lift at 7:30 so I can be finished by the time I am supposed to be getting breakfast for my son and on with homeschooling. I have been so lazy. Staying in bed way too late and if I do workout our day doesn't start till late. Have you guys been having a hard time getting into the fall routine?0 -
Saturday was my last SL workout. Finally got the 5x5 on the OHP, but have hurt my back doing it, darn it.
Squats: 47.5kg
Overhead Press: 27.5kg
Deadlift: 65kg
So now I need to decide what I am going to do with the overhead press. Do I deload and focus on my technique, or do I keep increasing my weights, but drop the number of reps? I'm leaning towards deloading. I am also going to add some abs work in there as well to increase my abs strength to help out my back.
Does anyone have any tips on how to improve the OHP?0 -
Does anyone have any tips on how to improve the OHP?
There are a few threads on improving OHP around, have a look around and see if the tips help. Also, I the stickies at the top of this message board are lots of links to form videos etc. hopefully something you read will help.
Onto my story...
Today was my second workout from home. It is so nice! I can loll about on the spare bed when I rest, listen to my own music without headphones, sing loudly and badly, fart as I desire... Bliss!
I'm really focusing on my squat form, and just using the Oly bar and lowering myself to a milk crate to ensure I at least get down to parallel. Each set I lose my control as I lower, and plonk down on the seat, but this time only once a set. When I have it sorted that I can lower, with knees out, raise myself up without dropping my head, then I'll increase the load. Might be a while off yet!
OHP with just the bar - 5x5, went fine. Definitely able to add weight next time.
Deadlift with 50 kg went well - 1x5, went well also. I got up to 62.5 before I slacked off, so just thought I'd build up from here. I wanted to start with a positive experience since I laid out so much $$$ on setting myself up at home!
The end for today
0 -
Yes, working out at home is soooo much better! Sometimes there's an animal milling about the squat rack, but a bang of the plates usually makes them pick a new spot quick.
Today's workout:
Squat 120
Bench 77.5
Row 87.5
Went up on all weights, but think I'll stay there this week.0 -
aliciaje, I can't promise it will all disappear, I am shaped differently from before I started working out. I think I look more balanced now, but my shoulders are "permanently" broader than before. I got a free t-shirt for my running race, and none of the ladies' sizes fit me (but to be fair, they seemed TINY). I think pre-working out me, who was just scrawny + paunch could have fit into an L or even an M, but with my current build I was much more comfy in a men's S.SO just went shopping on my lunch break to get some cooler weather workout clothes. I am a pretty standard medium.. however... the mediums were really tight around my biceps and shoulders, so I had to buy a large. PLEASE someone tell me they will go down!!!!! I am eating at a deficit so there *should* be no reason I would be "bulking". I've been at it for 4 weeks now.0 -
Ooookay, so I meant to dive back into lifting last week, but I caught a tummy bug and felt like crap for days. Finally hit the gym this morning still feeling pretty week, esp. having been away from lifting for 5 weeks.
Squats: 5x5 @ 32.5kg Trying to work on my form, will probably stick with this for a few sessions
OHP: 4 4 4 1 2 @ 20 kg This is regressing from bad to worse. Will I ever be able to do this?? In terms of muscle memory, it just doesn't feel "right".
Deadlift: 3x1 @ 70kg I barely got this up for 1 rep, so I did 3 "sets" of1. It's 117% if my BW, so maybe it's not supposed to be easy...?0 -
Grandevampire and Norrishbex, I started at 12.5kg on the OHP and up to 20kg I could increase each time and it felt great, now it is _hard_ I am still only to 22.5kg. I would look at a deloading to nail form in the first instance.
Macy I have tried 30ds at home and that was enough for me. My springer feels the need to come and "mop" my brow (with her toungue) any time I am in reach!
Zana, sounds good and like a promising start
So I did A day
Squats 42.5kg
bench I did my 5*5 this time (just by the skin of my teeth) at 27.5kg I am going for 1 more session there before I increase weight again, I don't feel at all confident with it.
Rows - yeah should have checked my spreadsheet as I did 37.5kg - thought I had gone up from last time and it felt good and easy and great and I was at the same weight as the last time
however last time it did not feel any of those things so it's not all bad
Question. I have not had a lot of DOMS (mainly upper body when I get it), I do not feel any aches, pains, popping etc while I am lifting (good or bad soreness) and yet as I am doing my lifts towards the end I literally feel like I _cannot_ do any more than I am doing. If you offered me cake even I could not do another set, that bar would _not_ go up again (except maybe my rows) Now, 5 hours later could I do another set? Maybe, but definitely not 3 or 5. Is this normal? To really feel no after effects worth noting and yet have total weakness? Or am I just not pushing enough? Could I grind out a bit more weight or an extra set if I _really_ wanted to?0 -
Thanks for the suggestion. I can do 15kg fine, but the problem is that my bar [EDIT: where's my head at, lol, I mean my gym, not my bar] has nothing between a 15kg fixed bar and the 20kg Olympic bar, which is a pretty big jump. I guess I could use dumbbells, but the problem is that dumbbells at lighter than 20kg seem even harder, so i haven't really pursued that avenue yet. Lol. After so many failed attempts at 20kg though, I really should investigate and shake things up.Grandevampire and Norrishbex, I started at 12.5kg on the OHP and up to 20kg I could increase each time and it felt great, now it is _hard_ I am still only to 22.5kg. I would look at a deloading to nail form in the first instance.
As for the DOMS, that sounds normal, from what I have gathered, soreness, etc have nothing to do with whether it's "working" or not. If you are beat at the end of your workout, and you are managing to increase weight, you are working to your max and are improving. I guess that is what matters. As for not being able to have hypothetically offered cake, you could hypothetically take a really long break between your last set and the cake set (e.g. 5 minutes), and you would maybe in fact be able to do some more reps. But as there isn't cake on offer, there probably isn't much point in worry too much about a 6th set if your current program is bearing fruit. 0 -
Back to lifting after a 9 day vacation. A real vacation, with kids and husband.
We did Disney World, Sea World, and Discovery Cove (that's the dolphin swim place) and had a great time.
We also walked about ten miles a day.
Back to lifting today. Looking forward to being able to get back to my routine.0 -
Dumbbells are harder, with a bar you have the steadying and balancing nature of it being a bar. With bells you have to steady it all by yourself. I would try them but not be surprised if you do 2 7.5kgs then 2 8kg or something and make it a very gradual increase. Also the last gym I was at I alternated between a ladies bar and an oly bar, I used the ladies bar for set 1,2,4&5 and the oly bar for 3 then ladies 1,3,5 oly 2&4 etc - not sure this is the most effective way as I never actually got as far as the oly bar for all 5.
And hmmm, I was reading some blog post about DOMS.
I want to be sore and feel like I am working though 0
