Boo, to sore arms, Jo! Hope you're better.

Makin, the whole process can be frustrating. I will go weeks without losing at times. I always go back to what works for me and I start losing again. Keep trying to find what works for you.

Only 1 more workout in Hypertrophy III. I will do some BT workouts until Thanksgiving and then up my cals and start Strength. Hoping to maintain my weight through the Holidays but see some major strength gains.

Sunshine - Wow....205???? How many reps can you do at that weight? I am stuck around 125 if I do more than a couple reps. I am in awe! :flowerforyou:

Hi ladies,

Well I'm back after almost 4 months away from lifting over the summer since Stage 7 of NROL4W. I've been working on the house full time, got all the windows sanded back to the wood and varnished but not finished sanding all of the floors though. Now the summer is over I've started Supercharged.and completed 1 workout each of the example A and B workouts on BTI. Ugh it has seriously kicked my butt after so long away from the weights I can tell you - DOMS with a vengeance!!!

Great to see so many names I recognise on this thread, especially MyOwnSunshine and Cowgirl - you are my heroes! :flowerforyou:

Welcome back! The more superchargers, the better!

Did my first B workout of Hypertrophy III today and I just want to say that step-ups with a barbell are super crazy hard! I did 3x10s with a 50 pound pre-loaded barbell (not even the long Olympic barbell) and they were killer. You have to be more upright and your center of gravity is shifted back a bit, so your shoulders, glutes and quads are seriously engaged. The "cheat factor" is definitely reduced and they are much harder than using more weight with dumbbells.

I think I'm going to be slow and sore when I run tomorrow. :-)

I've done step ups with a barbell and they are much harder!!!

How'd the sideways step ups go?

I've lost motivation tho sweet....did 2 last week even though I was on track for 3 and didn't do it. And it's Wednesday and have yet to workout at all. I need to do one tonight. I only have two more of BTII left. I just need to eat it done.

Did my last workout of BT I today.

The bad news is that I'm struggling with an ongoing right hip flexor issue which has been irritating me on and off since I picked up a glute injury in Stage 2 of NROL4W. It did calm down for a while but never really went away completely, so will need to see if I can treat with ice, ibuprofen and stretching, without sacrificing my workouts too much.

One thing I did learn was how the swiss ball supine hip extensions really seem to work my hammies and glutes. They were screaming which suggests to me that they really are pretty weak, so will concentrate on doing lots of those to address the imbalance between my hammies and my quads.

Have to say I'm loving the RAMP exercises, they're really very good at warming up and stretching the legs. I really need to work my (in)flexibility!

Myownsunshine - hope the soreness wasn't too bad on your run, you really were born to lift! BB step ups I'll bet keep your concentration levels up! Has to be one of THE ultimate total body exercises IMHO. I know I'm nowhere near advance enough to even try them.

Makinitcount - sorry you've lost your workout mojo. Hope you've made it to the gym, thing is you know you'll feel better after a workout, I know I do.

Cowgirl - well done with the negative chin ups! I haven't tried them since I abandoned Stage 6 of NROL4W as they hurt my elbows and gave me numb hands!

Jo - speaking of elbow's how's yours? BTW I'm glad I'm not the only one with co-ordination issues, my reverse lunges with twist during the RAMP phase are comical! All I can say is I'm glad I work out at home!

I've decided I'll keep repeating the BT I workouts until my body feels ready to move on. I think in the past I must've been favouring my quads on the lower body exercises and not using proper form. I have started squatting with raised heels as I know I have short hamstrings/achilles tendons. This has dramatically improved my squat position and I can get full range of motion which I couldn't before and push up from my heels properly. I'm sure I sweat more with all the hard work my poor brain has to do, than through physical work LOL.

Oh and Happy Halloween all

JS, I hear you about weaknesses in certain muscle groups. One of the things that has helped me in Supercharged is choosing different variations of the lifts every time instead of sticking with my favorites. Sumo deadlifts really hit the hamstrings and glutes and disengage your quads. I also do heels on plates squats sometimes to change things up.

One of the weird things that I notice about myself is that my right side is a lot stronger than my left side. It's really evident when I do overhead presses and sometimes very heavy squats.

I'm with you Cowgirl. I'm over the high rep sets in Hypertrophy and looking forward to Strength.

Hahaha, makinitcount - my first thought was 'don't get too excited'.... did my second BTIIIa today and it wasn't fun! LOL

That's because I'm having issues though.... dodgy tight muscle in shoulder/ neck is really affecting my lifts. Had to modify today and find going backwards so frustrating!! And only managed 2 lifting sessions last week too :-( I'm used to doing 3-4 when following NROL. Still, I've been busy with other workouts and limited by epic volume of work and other random stuff going on.... life getting in the way as always ;-)

Sorry, being negative. Glad you are motivated for BTIII.... I'm jealous! Good luck with it :-)

I think I did it with the 3 pt dumbbell rows last week..... woke up the next day with very stiff painful neck, v limited movement. It has almost got back to normal now but certain moves make me realise it is still tight. Really I need a massage, but hey, who the hell has time for that?! Life is seriously crazy right now. Every day this week is booked up - I'm busy from 6.30am - 9pm every day. Don't think a massage booked either side of those times is going to be legit LOL. That'd be some totally different kinda massage hahahaha :laugh: