The race was loads of fun! 7km of crazy steep climbs and slopes, lots of mud (some mudpits tried to eat my shoes!).

Sounds like a blast!

After continuing with the same weights last week to improve form I upped weights today:

Squats 70kg 5,5,5,5,5

OHP 25kg 5,4,5,4,5

Deadlift 80kg 4

Not going low enough on squats at this weight so despite success will stick to this weight this week.
OHP hurt (got a bit of a dodgy left shoulder) plus fails so will be repeating.
Happy with the deadlift achievement despite fail - it was more due to grip than anything else.

Got a funny left glute at the moment - keeps pulsing when I'm sitting down so must've worked it well!!!

I woke up around 8 with a wonky, "pinched" feeling around my knee (even though I was just fine when I first woke up at 4AM >_<) so I decided to go ahead with the bench press day plan! Figured I'd do a 5/3/1 setup with this since it's not programmed into my normal lifting schedule.

Bench press (w-u sets not included)
80x5
95x5
105x11
110x5 (joker set! Felt really strong today!)

I still had a 115x5 left in the tank, I think. But I wanted to keep some juice for the rest of the day

Pendlay Rows
75x5
85x5
100x7

Figured i'd use the 5/3/1 scheme on this one too since there aren't many horizontal rowing moves in the program either. I might do them once every 2 weeks but I'm sure I can progress some!

Then did 3 sets of
DB Incline Fly 15x12
DB Chest supported row 25x12

Glute Bridge 65x15
Cable crunches 120x15

finished up with
Triceps rope pushdown 45x20, 50x15, 55x13
Face pulls 45x15, 50x12, 55x11
Cable curls 45x12, 50x10, 55x6

some hanging knee raises and I walked by the hand gripper thing on my way out and knocked out a few sets. Figured grip work can't hurt! I got to foam roll my leg a bit too so the knee thing loosened up. A walk here in a bit should help solidify that and I'll be fine to squat tomorrow

I haven't posted in ages. Y'all are doing awesome!

I got a big tattoo last week and was honestly too sore to lift for a few days.

Yesterday:

squats 190 3x5 - my squats have really suffered strength-wise since I stopped doing 5x5. Still pain free though so maybe I will just slowly progress back to over 200. Whatever. I will take the pain-free part any day.

Bench: 135 5,4,4,3,2 Absurdly happy about this. Was supposed to do 130 yesterday and just decided to up it to 135. I'm glad I did. I imagine I'll be plugging away at 135 for a good month or two before I stop failing. Still, BIG GIRL WEIGHTS on the bench make me so happy.

Rows: 110 5x5. Yep.

Some leg lifts and a 4 mile run.

My calendar says I am supposed to start pre-training now for a half marathon in October. I think that means bump up my regular runs to 4-5 miles and add a longer long-run once a week. Right now I try to get one 4 mile run in a week and the rest are about 3 miles. Running in the heat is such a drag. My run yesterday was sooooooo slow but I got the miles in.... also slow running means that marathon training is a huge time commitment. A 5 mile run takes me more than an hour and lifting is always over an hour. Thats a lot of time devoted to working out every day!

From Saturday, day A:

Squats: 5x5 @ 65 (still down, working on form)
Bench: 1x5, 1x3 @ 60, 3x5 @ 55 (man, I just can't get up to 60!)
Rows: 5x5 @ 65

Nothing noteworthy but it felt good. Afterwards, I went down to wait for my one daughter, who was swimming, and I didn't want to get the other kids out of the Kid Zone quite yet so I decided to run/walk on the treadmill. I don't know why but when I started running after a 2 minute warm up, I decided to see if I could run til I hit a 1/2 mile. Then I decided to go for 3/4 and then for a full mile. I ran for 16 minutes straight, which is a really big thing for me. I couldn't tell you the last time I ran a mile -- it wasn't even in high school because when our gym class had to do the mile run, my lazy *kitten* walked the majority of it.

I know the treadmill is far different than running around my house where there are paths with hills, but now I'm excited to go run later today. We're also going to hit the gym after 10 p.m. Now that school's out, my 14 year old daughter says she's going to go along and wants to learn to lift. We'll see!

Looks like this weekend was food packed for more than just me . I was hoping my workout today would be awesome but blah I had a migraine this morning and still feeling ill from all the pain meds.
Sunday I managed to get my long run in (6.5 km)

Workout a today
Squat 160lbs 5/5/4
Bench 85 lbs 3x5
Row 75lbs 5/5/4

Front raises 3x8 30lbs
One arm rows 3x10 25 lbs
Flies 3x8 15lbs

Did a 5k walk/run this weekend with a cousin that's been struggling to lose a lot of weight for a long time. I hung back and stayed at her pace, it was her first 5k. I am super proud of her for finishing.

Had a realization while I was doing the 5k. I used to be a running fanatic, used only the weight machines at the gym for light weights, high reps, you get the idea... In the last few years, I've run a (painful) full marathon, half marathons, 10ks, and plenty of 5ks. I gave up most dedicated cardio workouts a month ago to focus on SL. I felt better during that 5k than I'd felt in a long time. We did walk/run intervals, and not once did I feel out of breath, sweaty, tired, sore, thirsty, or anything else that I would normally feel during a race. I don't think my heart rate was elevated at all either. That was kind of a cool feeling. I felt so strong.

Anyway, back to SL:

Workout B today:

Squat 65lb 1x5, 85lb 1x5, 105lb 1x3, 110lb 1x3, 120lb 5x5. Felt like I could have squatted the whole squat rack this morning. Some high school aged kid that's always at the gym the same time as me lately gets on one of the machines that's right behind the squat rack when I'm using it........... how awkward is that? He purposely does a bunch of sets too so he's there for like 20 minutes sitting right behind me while I squat. It's so weird. He gets up and starts using another machine as soon as I'm done with squats.

OHP: 45lb 1x5, 55lb 1x3, 65lb 5x5. I need to get some big washers or fractional plates because there's no way I can do 70lb next time. I've already tried it and had to de-load for a week after getting barely one wobbly rep at 70lbs and then failing at 65lbs.

Deadlift: 175lb 1x5. I may have audibly grunted when I lifted that weight. It was so heavy. I tried to focus on pressing into the ground with my feet and legs instead of thinking about using my arms to pull the weight.

I was waiting to hear the lunk alarm at the planet fitness I go to... only like a week until the new gym 5 mins from my house opens. I've already got a membership. I hear they have TWO squat racks, more free weight area, and no prohibited lifts. Bring it on. And it's cheaper than PF.

Decreased cals from 2300 to 2200 today. I haven't seen the scale move in a while. It's going up, in fact. Today was the first day of week 7 of SL. TDEE is still calculated at 2750 cals a day. I want the scale to go down at least a teeny bit before I leave for vacation on 6/27.

Yesterday's session:
Squat - 5x5 @ 60lbs
OHP - 5X5 @ 50lbs
DL - 1x5 @105lbs

Also spent 45 minutes on the elliptical.
I know it's not the best to do, but I lifted two days in a row this weekend. I have shared custody of my toddler so on weekends I don't have her I like to spend lots of time at the gym. It's hard taking her with me there because she's not a fan of the child care center.

Ugh today's workout was actually kind of crap. I had no energy and couldn't do the full 5x5 for bench and OHP. I'm upping my calories to 1600 to see how that works out for me.

A:
Squats: warm up, 2x5@95, 3x5@100
BP: warm up, 3x5@55
BR: warm up, 3x5@60

Squat 65lb 1x5, 85lb 1x5, 105lb 1x3, 110lb 1x3, 120lb 5x5. Felt like I could have squatted the whole squat rack this morning. Some high school aged kid that's always at the gym the same time as me lately gets on one of the machines that's right behind the squat rack when I'm using it........... how awkward is that? He purposely does a bunch of sets too so he's there for like 20 minutes sitting right behind me while I squat. It's so weird. He gets up and starts using another machine as soon as I'm done with squats.

@willrun4bagels: he's definitively checking you out while you squat!!!!! On a running note, it's great that you have seen such improvements. I am hoping it will do the same! I've been running for around 8 months now and yes now i can run non stop without walking but its still as hard as it always was so hopefully I will notice a difference soon

@mlanders22: I don't think its that bad that you lift 2 days in a row. Last week I had to do that as well. I was a bit more sore but I also had a 3 day break after so in the end it's all good! At least you are including it in your schedule and do what works best for you!

Have a good day ladies!

@Willrun, you are probably this boy's fantasies come true. Aren't you lucky?

Last night, day B:

Squats, 5x5 @ 75
OHP, 2x5, 1x4, 2x5 @ 40 (don't know why my arms got super tired there in the middle!)
Deadlift, 1x5 @ 130 -- This was REALLY hard for me. REALLY hard. I did it, but it was unpleasant.

I ran for a few minutes while I waited for my daughter to get out of the pool and that was a mistake. I was really looking forward to getting out this morning to run on the trails near my house, you know, the fresh air, etc., but I had a really hard time because my one shin hurts. I ended up walking a bunch which bothered me. I was never a runner until last year when I started the c25k program and found out I really enjoyed it and now running is my mental health thing. If I don't run for a couple of days, my family starts pushing me out the door. I hate when a run I looked forward to ends up being crap.

I'm on week 4. I haven't upped my squats or deadlifts since the middle of week 3 because my grip isn't strong enough and my hips/knee have been bothering me on squats.

Squats - 5x5@85
Overhead Press - 5x5@55
Deads - 1x5@135, 1x5@185

I went to an olympic weightlifting class at a cross-fit gym tonight. Got some coaching on power snatches. Also did overhead squats and regular squats. To his credit the coach didn't overload my weights on the snatch before I had the form down - that has been my experience every other time I've been to crossfit - but the culture is just so...... "doing it badly is better than not doing it".

I guess because I hang out here and with a couple other powerlifters that form just seems *essential* to me. I was really blown away by some of the scary bails I saw tonight.

I came home and did deadlifts, lol.
135 1x5
185 1x5
225 1x5
250 1x5

I went to an olympic weightlifting class at a cross-fit gym tonight. Got some coaching on power snatches. Also did overhead squats and regular squats.

Oooh, I'm jealous! Sounds like fun & huzzah for a smart instructor!

Krok - I don't think I could do that on 4 hours of sleep. If I don't get 7 I'm in trouble for the day.

Liza - Glad you had a good coach. I've always found bailing out on a snatch looks rough, but this one always makes me wince and then shake my head:



I know I haven't been posting my workouts, but I'm still chugging along with Strong Curves. Making some good progress. Got my bench up to 3x8 and 100 lbs. I did 130 lb squats yesterday and form is feeling a bit better. I'm also making the increase on my hip thrusts and will do 150 lbs Friday. My pull ups are coming along nicely and I was able to do all 3 sets of 5 yesterday so my reps are increasing which I like. I still miss deadlifts though and seeing all the DL numbers here makes me want to test them out again to see if I can break the 200 mark again.