Alicia that is awesome, I am done in for pull ups and the like if I have OHP'd

I have no strong preference really for either day. Today should have been A day and I had a whole ton of stuff planned for some accessory work as I had a late start in work. Then the dog got sick and I had to get her to the vets and lost pretty much my whole morning.

zany, the fractionals were 47 dollars Canadian. They will be more because we will have to send them back. Grrr! We should have just spent the 65 dollars to buy them at the place in town. sigh...live and learn.

random, my husband and I run one minute and walk one minute usually for about 5 or 6 K. We do it at a fairly easy pace and we seem to avoid a lot of injuries. If I did actual HITT I would be laid up all the time. There have been times I have tried to really go for it and I end up sore. What a bummer. It is really fun to really go fast!! I hope your knee is feeling better by today.

I definitely feel I have a stronger leg and stronger arm, but just balancing the bar keeps them in check.

B today (I think I like B better)
Squats 130lbs 5x5, I was feeling good so kept loading the bar up. Did one rep at 175lbs and the trainer said it didn't look like I was struggling so I think I could go heavier. It is fun to play with weights
Deadlift 130lbs 1x5
OHP 65lbs 5x5. Almost failed on my last rep last set.
Chin ups 2 sets of 3 WAHOOO.
Pull ups 2 sets of 2

Wow!! You are strong!!! 175lb squat!!!! You are my hero!!!

I have noticed a stronger side, too - especially on squats, as the reps add up. Oy.

Last night was w/o B. First, I had a cocktail party/reception thing - an alumni event for my law school - and despite the free booze/wine/beer, I stuck to non-alcoholic drinks so I could hit the gym after. I felt very virtuous.
I did:
Squats - went up to 105 lbs, 5x5 - was hard!
OHP - 60 lbs 1x5, then dropped back to 55 for 4x5. Definitely tweaked my lower back on these - have to remember to bend my knees and settle in a bit
DL - 110 lbs, 1x5 (and 95 lb. warm up set )

I have also been adding in hip thrusts, and recently switched from doing them with plates to doing them with a barbell - so hip thrusts 1x10 bodyweight, 2x10 with an empty 45 lb bar.

Wins at the gym:
1) Asked the guy who was doing the leg press right by me if he was waiting for the squat rack and he replied (you may need the southern urban accent to appreciate it): "No. Uh uh. I want no part of that." Lolz, keep working those calf presses, dude!
2) I just had to switch from my usual Y, where I had earned the respect of the weight room regulars, to this new Y (due to renovations at my Y). It's only been 4 workouts, but I've seen the same 2 guys every time, and I got a "hello" from them. I once again am the only woman in this weight room, and it's nice to feel like I'm one of the gang already.

Form video looks great, Lydia. I see you powering through the same part that's killing me these days too, and I was worried about being too good-morningy there too. But if Bumble says that looks good, then that's what I'm gonna shoot for too! (I think I have more of a hinge than you - shoulders rise a bit more swiftly than my hips).

I did my second B session at home - in my undies! Oh the joy of the home gym.

Squats were just the bar, but full 5x5 sets. And I discovered that putting the 5 kilo weights under my heels helps me get a bit lower. I really struggle getting to parallel and below. It's hard. Dodgy knees don't like it. But I will persevere and see if this new trick helps me get there. I'd post form video for suggestions, but I was only in my undies - nobody wants to see that!

OHP was awesome. I put my .25kg weights on either side, so increased the load a tiny bit. And managed to do 6 in each set, so that was 5x6 at 20.5kg. Maybe I'll try 22kg next time? I think I have 1kg fractionals. I just want to use them!

And deads were pretty good. 1x5 at 55kg.

That was yesterday evening. Today I've gone for a bike ride of nearly 30km and burnt 416 cals. I learnt not to ride on a tummy full of scrambled eggs - it nearly came up! And I'm just now enjoying a diet ginger beer spider. With not diet ice cream

Happy lifting and happy weekends ladies

Didn't want to workout today, but finally got motivated and got it done! Had to do something useful while the Hungarian Goulash was cooking:)

Squats 122.5
Bench 77.5
Rows 87.5

S l o w l y upping my weights, at this rate I might be ready for an intermediate program in about 5 years!

Hey Ladies...

Missed my Friday work out...(went out and had way tooooo much fun) but back at it today

Workout A today

Squats 5x5 @ 115 to ensure form wasn't suffering
Bench Press 5x5 @ 85 due to fail last time (easy peasy this time)
Rows 3x5 @ 95, 1x4 @ 95, 1x3 @ 95...guess I will be there on Friday too...

All in all a good workout...glad to be back at er today.

Checking in! Forgot to post a few workouts but did..

5,5,5,4,4 Squats at 125lbs (going to stay here another week)
5,5,5,5,5 Bench at 75lbs .. the weight seems light, but I feel kind of wobbly.. like if I increased it to a weight that was challenging (maybe 90lbs?) I might topple right off the bench. I'm going to increase to 85 next week and hope I find some balance.
5,5,5,5,5 P.Rows at 50lbs (going to increase for next week)

Also i just wanted to say you are all super inspriring! I am going to try and post a form-check video this week for rows because I'm not 100% those are right. Happy lifting

Amyrebeccah - are you on the shorter side? I'm a shorty (5'2") and have a hard time stabilizing myself on bench unless I put something under my feet. I put a Reebok aerobics-type step with one level of riser on either side of the bench to put my feet on, which gives the effect of the bench being a few inches lower to the ground. Then, I can really use my legs for stability. Otherwise, I can barely get my feet on the ground and feel very wobbly on the bench. Before I found the steps I was using 2 25 lb plates stacked under each foot - but the steps are easier to set up and get less odd looks. Might be worth a try!

I hit w/o A yesterday.
Squat - 105 lbs 5*5
Bench - 95 lbs. 1*5, then 90 lbs. 4*5
Rows - I started at 70 lbs., did 2 sets, then realized it felt easy-ish, so bumped it up to 75 for the last 3.
Hip thrusts - 50 lbs. 2*10

Good workout - but I'm a bit frustrated that my squats are progressing very slowly - less than 5 lbs a week. I'm guessing its some combination of deficit eating and only lifting 2ce a week? Neither of those is negotiable at the moment, so I'll be patient with the bod.

Today:

Squats: 5x5 @ 35kg, but not deep enough for my liking. Does this happen to any of you, where the first time you move up to a new weight you can't get deep enough? Do you just try anyway and do very few reps, or do you opt for non-optimum depth and complete more reps? I guess it's a mental thing, where I don't want to attempt an *kitten*-to-grass and not even be able to do one rep and quit there. I guess it's never good to do any reps that are not past parallel...

OHP: 4 3 3 3 ? @ 20kg

Deadlift: 1x2 @ 70kg

So...whine whine whine, but I am starting to get concerned that my "upper body" exercises (OHP/bench) not only seem not to be progressing, but actually regressing. Has this happened to anyone? Any likely causes for being able to do even less reps than one used to be able to do at a given weight?

Amyrebeccah - are you on the shorter side? I'm a shorty (5'2") and have a hard time stabilizing myself on bench unless I put something under my feet. I put a Reebok aerobics-type step with one level of riser on either side of the bench to put my feet on, which gives the effect of the bench being a few inches lower to the ground. Then, I can really use my legs for stability. Otherwise, I can barely get my feet on the ground and feel very wobbly on the bench. Before I found the steps I was using 2 25 lb plates stacked under each foot - but the steps are easier to set up and get less odd looks. Might be worth a try!

I am going to try this next time.. I always feel like I am going to fall off sideways! haha

Hey ladies everyone seems to be doing great.

Today for me was workout B

squats 5x5 @ 120 set 4 was interesting so I took 2 min rest and set 5 was great. Didn't need the spotter.
ohp 5x5 @ 65 lbs but last two reps on set 4 and 5 were a bit iffy...might stay there on next workout
DL 1x5 @ 140...easy peasy...maxed out on my metal plates tho gonna have to go t the york plastic sand filled ones as well...

Only 6 more workout B's and I have maxed my plates at home and not even sure I can get those in as there are lots of 2.5lbers...eek.

Might have to go shopping glad my hubby has done lots of OT lately...

Note on squats tho I don't go totally deep on mine now that the weight is up but I do get down low enough (hubby says so) I might start putting a little seat there for confirmation...

I gotta say I am loving this lifting. I feel so amazing and the changes I am noticing in my body are encouraging...my husband hugged me the other day and noticed that his hands were touching his elbows (on the opposite side) he commented he's never been able to do that and how tiny I was getting...he's so sweet.

Tonight was supposed to be a lifting night, but the hubs didn't get home until so late....too tired to go. So, I'll go tomorrow night after my kickball game. Frankly, I think the bod could use an extra day. But I'm running my last long training run this weekend - 11 or 12 miles - so I would be in better shape then had I lifted tonight... Oh well.

Wednesday is my kettlebells day, and I did a shorter workout - 4 rounds of a 5- minute circuit. I have got to figure out how to do kettlebell cleans and snatches without bruising up my forearm, or shredding my hand. So far, I'm sacrificing the forearm.