Happy to report I'm no longer in the "overweight" category according to the BMI. I'm at the highest value of the "normal weight" but I'll take it. It means I'm making progress which is great. I've come to realize that losing weight has less to do with your training and more with your nutrition so I really focused on nutrition this week and lost over 1 lb. Hoping I can keep it up this week.

So I redid week 5 of the program this week using the same weights I used 2 weeks ago. Still enjoying the program. The only thing I miss are regular deadlifts. I think when I'm done with the program I'm going to do another round and substitute some exercises for others. Anyway, hope you all are still sticking with it.

Thanks ladies! And welcome to all the new ladies!

@gigi & mpeery - I miss bulking. Not sure I did it right tho. I'm sure I ate more junk than good food and so I put on more fat than I should have. Plus I was already fat when I started so maybe it wasn't a good idea. I hope you guys do better with it than I did. I *might* try it again when I get down to a reasonable body fat %.

@Citrus - Happy you've found a way to challenge yourself. The single-leg hip thrusts are no joke and I'm using bodyweight, can't imagine using a 25 lb ball.

@Phoenix - I agree. Sometimes after I finish working out I feel like I didn't do much. But I always feel it the next day, and not just my glutes, even in my back.

@dandelion - Regarding the box squat, I put a bench or the exercise steps behind the rack so that I start by taking the barbell off the rack and putting it on my back, stepping back a little and then squatting down. I went really light with the weight as I always do when I'm doing something for the first time. For example, my highest back squat was 130lbsx5, but for the box squat I started with just the bar and ended at 85 lbs. Feel free to ask all the questions you have, one or more of these lovely ladies will be sure to answer.

AFM, just finished week 6 and still enjoying it, still look forward to going to the gym. Glad everyone seems to be on the same page.

I only get to workout 3 times a week so it's A-B-C for me. I also don't do much of any cardio. Two of the three days I may do 10 minutes on the treadmill, but that's it and perhaps a 5 minute metabolic finisher.

My goal is purely aesthetic right now. I'd like to have a flat tummy and a nice size booty (not too big but not flat either). Sometimes I don't think the tummy goal is reachable, my tummy is kinda stretched from having a baby. But I'm working towards it and keeping my fingers crossed that it is possible. In terms of the booty, I've already started getting good comments about my "shape" since doing this program. I love it. I wish my tummy would just go already. Like dandelion, I'm about 10 lbs overweight, but mine is all in my stomach.

@Countrygirl, I actually enjoyed the Turkish get up. It's fun to do and everyone will be staring at you (not sure if that's a good or bad thing)

So ladies, I'm experiencing something that I thought I should talk to you about. About 4 weeks ago I started experiencing pain in both knees. I was worried that maybe it was the squats so I went seriously low with the weights (from 130lbs back down to 80 lbs). But then I started thinking maybe that wasn't it. Then I blamed it on the lunges but still had doubts about that too. Then one night it hit me that the pain started when I started phase 2 (week 5). So I started to wonder if maybe hip thrusts could cause knee problems, but kinda doubted that. Anyway, I decided to google it anyway, and lo and behold, Bret himself said on his blog that a few of his clients experienced this and he did also especially when he did Isohold hip thrusts. Apparently hip thrusts put more pressure on the knees than even squats and lunges (!).

He made a few suggestions about how to alleviate the pain, so I'm going to try them and see because I really don't want to give up hip thrusts, they're so great for my butt. So just in case anyone experiences anything like this, blame it on the hip thrusts.