Wow 3 pages to catch up on....eek. If you weren't aware tropical storm Arthur hit us hard...most of the province was without power for over 30 hours...some still don't have it...so my Monday workout just didn't happen...lack of good food, proper sleep etc dealt a rough blow...but after a couple days of good food and I feel much better and I think my workout showed it.

To all the new ladies Welcome to the group.

It was workout B for me today...first one in a week.

Squats @ 150lbs 3x8 (was suppose to do 7 but eh) so moving up to 155 on Friday 3x5 and go up to 8 reps as my deload was at 160 for form...I think my endurance has been built up.

OHP @ 90lbs 3x5 today (almost back to deload weight) last rep was ugly but it went up.

DL @ 180 again today for form since I am back to SL DL...it felt amazing...it was heavy but I know my form was spot on...no curve of the back, pushed my feet down hard and have the chalk on my shins to prove it was close...

So all in all very please with my workout considering what happened over the weekend and I haven't been hitting my 2k calories this week...too hot again ...

Went for a walk yesterday with the hubby hence the slow speed...3mph...hehe...normally it's about 4.5.

Have a good rest of the week y'all...see you on Friday.

Before palm injury felt like I was ready to progress with ohp, now don't...maybe need some fractional plates.

Workout B (Wed)

squats 5 X 5 - 135

overhead press 5 x 5 - 55

barbell rows 5 X 5 - 75

reverse curls 5 x 5 - 60

underhand bicep curls 5 x 5 - 80

Dumbbell side bend - 5 x 10 - 40

dumbbell skier swings - 5 x 10 - 40

hot potato squat - 5 x 10 - 15

flys 5 x 5 - 40

incline ab crunches - 1 x 100

Workout B for me today. This week has been an unplanned deload week because a week and a half off of SL while I was on vacation just killed my numbers!

Squats: Warmup then 120 5x5. Focused on keeping my weight on my heels instead of on the front of my feet. I hadn't been feeling squats in my glutes and hammies that much lately, and this was so different! Practicing with goblet squats while on vacation helped me with regular low bar squats IMO.

OHP: Warmup then 60 3x5, 1x4, 1x5. Damn that fourth set!

Deadlift: 145 1x5. Left knee went inwards a bit on the first rep, but I was able to keep it out for the other 4 reps. Anyone have any tips from keeping your knees from buckling inwards during a DL?

Glad to hear everyone made it through Arthur without too much damage! Living on the Gulf coast I can totally sympathize, and it seems no matter how strong the storm is it totally disrupts things for at least a few days.

Workout A last night for me too:

squats - 3x5 at 135 pounds. Should have done 145 but I felt a little twinge in my knee the other day during running so I decided to back off on the weight just a little for now.
bench - 4,4,4 at 110 pounds. Dang it! Second attempt at this weight and I'm starting to hear the deload boogie man knocking on the door. At least no roll of shame an any of these sets!
row - 3x5 at 105 pounds.

My arms and shoulders are definitely feeling all the upper body today, that's for sure!

Last night, I finally got to the gym and did this:

Squats: 3x5 @ 75, 2x5 @ 65
OHP: 4x5 @45, 1x4 @ 45 (yes, I couldn't do the last ONE)
Bench: 5x5 @ 65

The TL; DR part:

You might notice that these are not day A or day B exercises but a mish-mash. I decided to do the things I like rather than strictly day a or b because I've been out of the gym for almost a week. Last Saturday, we went to hike Peaks of Otter. We took the bus up but then had to hike to the top and then hiked all the way down. It's a relatively short trail at only 1.5 miles, but there's an elevation change of a little under 1300 sq. feet. When I got up Sunday morning, I was so so so sore. My calves had knots in them and both knees were clicking because I'd slid a bit on some loose gravel (don't get old, kids!). I was kind of irritated that we'd done this hike and it messed up my "real" exercise stuff.

Sunday should have been my running day, but I didn't even try until Tuesday and couldn't do more than a mile. Yesterday I was able to run 1.75 miles so that was better.

The clicking knees kept me from lifting (although i did swim on Monday). I kept trying to do a squat a home just to have pain before I even got parallel. Last night, I expected not to be able to do squats at all. I did have to deload but I could squat with a little less weight with little pain. I couldn't bring myself to try deadlifts, thus the bench instead.

When I started, I couldn't bench a full 5 sets with just the 45 lb. bar. This Saturday will be 10 weeks of doing SL (albeit a bit loosely as I haven't been at the gym 3 times a week every week!). I was able to bench 5 x 5 at 65 lb., 20 lb. more than I started out NOT being able to do. I'm so damn excited about that!!

Sooo...I tweaked my back July 1st, did a workout on the 4th but an easy lifting day...no SL. Lifted on the 6th with decent numbers, 150 squats 5, 5, 4, 3, 4...95 bench and row 5x5.

But then came the 8th. A week after I tweaked my back. I woke up and didn't want to go to the gym, I wanted to sleep in, but I got up and went anyway. BUT SHOULDN'T HAVE...because my back just didn't end up being ready for heavy lifting. I should have known better. I should have given it more time, but I was too prideful.

Started squats at 150 and got 5. Next set I didn't even get one rep before failing on the safeties. I deloaded to 125 and got 5, 4, then couldn't do anymore. I mean, I guess I could have, but knew I shouldn't.

Then went to 80 on OHP, hit 4 reps, 3 reps, 2 reps, deloaded to 65 and did 2x5.

Didn't even try the dead lifts.

I shouldn't have gone, I almost cried in the gym because my lifts were so bad and my back hurt and I felt dumb for not sleeping in like I should have. I think when the weights were lighter, it was easier to teach swim and lift, but now that I am getting heavier in lifts I might just need some more recovery time. I already ordered a belt, and I am going to deload on a few lifts...but I am not going to try again until Sunday the earliest. My back is definitely not as stiff today and I am not having any pain unless I really give it a good stretch...so we'll see.

Not sure how keen you are on chiropractors, but when I tweaked my SI joint a few years back they did some amazing things for it. NOT the adjustments (that part is what made me run screaming from them); they did ultrasonic massage with Bio-Freeze gel and then did the electric stimulation (low level) with ice packs on top of the electrodes. It was fantastic! Then they went and f'd it up with that back cracking stuff, but that's another story. Bio-Freeze gel is fantastic if you can get some!

I planned on lifting yesterday, but didn't. I was so ridiculously tired that I took a nap as soon as I got home from work. Wasn't hungry either until about 8pm. I was planning on skipping dinner altogether and just going back to bed, but husband wanted to walk the dog together and that ended up making me ravenous so we hit up Potbelly Sandwiches. I am feeling much less exhausted today, so Workout B when I get home then replacing the kitchen faucet. Exciting Friday night plans!

Forced week off after injuring my toe (who drops a blender on their foot?!). I haven't been able to wear anything other than flip flops since last weekend. Hoping to try some real shoes and the gym tomorrow. Fingers crossed!

well, today kind of sucked.

squats: 5x5@70. again.
bench: 5x5@ 45.
barbell row: to be honest, by this point i could tell that the body just wasn't into it. i've avoided this lift all along. i've been deadlifting every workout instead. i know . . . not supposed to. but deadlifts are so cool! and i talked myself into the concept that a bit of deadlifting would make most of the barbell-rowing muscles nice and solid.

anyway. i know you're not supposed to dl every workout, and i can see why. so going in there today i meant to behave myself and do the rows like i should. but a day when i can't even get my body to do what the head knows perfectly well about form in a squat - i just don't feel like that's a good day to start trying to teach my nervous system to recognize anything new. i knew what i wanted to do but i couldn't 'find' most of the muscles i was trying to look for, if you guys get what i mean. i did a couple of light sets of 10 at 45lb (i think), just kind of a token beginning. then i went and did a bunch of those great core moves and some hard-core foam rolling/stretching down on the floor, and packed it in.

i never have made myself take a whole many-days-in-a-row worth of rest since i started all this three or four months ago, but i think it's time. it's only been 4 weeks of sl at the most, but this is the second sl workout in a row where everything just felt all wrong. and my bike riding has been suffering too . . .which i think is a sign of something since i've been riding this particular route 5 days a week for 9 months and i should have it knocked.

i'm gonna eat everything i can lay my hands on, probably spend half the evening in the bathtub with a book and a big protein shake, and sleep my face off. and tomorrow i'm going to act like i've never heard of this working-out thing. prolly spend the day knitting stuff or baking kittens or something. and watching this guy on youtube, because he seems to have great info and he makes me laugh http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EN0sYBsHpvo

i hope everyone's friday is good.

I feel like such a flake!

(but not really and you'll see why)

I did SL ONCE, and I am now abandoning it. I was waiting for almost two months to start SL (I had various interruptions). So Monday I finally began. My DH came along and he saw a small group with a trainer doing a special program called Strong IV Life. It's a new initiative at my gym. It's very small groups that do very similar stuff to SL, although somewhat more varied. So my DH talked to the trainer who manages the program and last night he gave us an intro class. He is very well educated and based on all the research I've been doing for the last 6 months, I can tell he knows what he's doing. Additionally, having someone professional watch over us and correct us is very valuable.
After the class ended came that awkward moment of 'so how much is this gonna cost'. We had a number in mind that was like, if it costs this much we will have a serious dilemma. What it actually cost is not even half of what we feared, so very very affordable. We still have to make changes to our budget, but it's a good change. I committed to cooking lunch so we don't buy lunch out every day. That should help us break even, and have additional control over our diets.
Lastly, I really wanted to do a program together with my DH since he's also my best friend, and I decided it was the right thing even if I feel a bit like a flake.

I will keep posting my progress here. but it will probably be a little different.

Glad you aren't leaving us for good. Good luck on the Strong IV Life program!