Daily check-in: December why you started!

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  • Hi! Just joined the group and thought I would post instead of just lurking. It's great to have a group with women lifters! I have been lifting for some time but thought I would mix it up and started StrongLifts last week. Did workout A yesterday:

    Squats 5x5 @ 140
    Bench Press 5x5 140
    Row 5x5 100 ( I do these lying on my stomach on a tall bench, too much for my back doing the regular bent over rows, must have worked because I'm feeling it today!)

    I use the Stronglifts App and love it because I think I would forget what set I was on otherwise.
  • Welcome @kserres. Awesome lifting stats!
  • arrrrjt
    arrrrjt Posts: 245 Member
    A modified workout A today. I have tendonitis in my shoulder so occasionally I'll use dumbbells instead to stop my left shoulder from overcompensating for my right.

    Squats: 1x10 @ 45; 1x5@95; 1x5 @ 135; 5x5 @ 180 - These felt pretty good
    Dumbbell bench (3 sec down, 2 sec hold, 1 sec up): 1x5 @ 50 (total); 1x5 @ 70; 4x5 @ 80 - I look like a complete idiot getting out of these but regardless, they still felt ok
    Dumbbell row: 5x5 @ 80 - Could have gone heavier, but my excuse is i was focussing on form. I'm pretty indifferent to these guys.

    Nice bench, @kserres!





  • DawnEmbers
    DawnEmbers Posts: 2,451 Member
    ooo more posting. This is great and I can't wait to post after tomorrow's workout already. Great to see everyone here, lifting away.

    @missholiday It's a big gym and wasn't really crowded, just more than I expected in the lifting section. Saturday night was less busy but last night there were a few college age groups working out. The cardio section was pretty empty though. And I still didn't have to wait too long, unlike last time I did deadlifts at my gym and had to wait over 15 minutes for the guys to get done with whatever they were doing. Just had to change up and do squats second instead of first but I find I like them so not worried I'll skip out. Though next time I hope for the cage instead. We'll see if I can give the 100 a try tomorrow or not.
  • canadianlbs
    canadianlbs Posts: 5,199 Member
    I notice significantly less wobbling so it might just get stronger as you continue to squat, too

    yup . . . that's kind of what i thought i said ;). actually, i think bringing my feet in to near-parallel has had a lot to do with it too. i suck at physio/kinetic stuff, but i think having my toes out was short-changing those muscles since (i assume) the geometry of rotated femurs shortens them even before you start in on the lift. since i brought my toes in i've definitely been using them more and getting stronger that way.
    Went yesterday - it was a big day! 45's on my squats. Completed 5x5 @135,

    wow!
  • haley183
    haley183 Posts: 24 Member
    So I kept my promise to myself that I would workout tonight since I missed this morning. Completed workout B:

    Squat 5x5 @ 60 lb
    OH press 5x5 @ 40 lb
    Deadlift 1x5 @ 85 lb

    Then I finished up with 15 min on the elliptical.
  • I notice significantly less wobbling so it might just get stronger as you continue to squat, too

    yup . . . that's kind of what i thought i said ;). actually, i think bringing my feet in to near-parallel has had a lot to do with it too.

    Sorry I never mastered reading :smiley: ! Youre definitely good to go then. It takes a while to experiment with the stance. I think I was over widening too trying to match SS perfectly. It's best not to overthink.
  • psych101
    psych101 Posts: 1,842 Member
    Hey all!

    Wow been busy in here! I took some time off as I got a cold and have been going through some personal stuff. Too about eight days off and Mehdi suggests a 10% deload for a rest period longer than a week so:

    Squat 5x5 @ 145lbs
    OHP 5x5 @ 55lbs
    Deadlift 1x5 @ 177lbs

    Then some front squats and Bulgarian split squats - far out feeling those today

    Welcome to all the newbies xx
  • Llamapants86
    Llamapants86 Posts: 1,221 Member
    I have not been doing so well lately, really lazy, full of excuses just blah.

    My eating has been awful, my tracking starts off well and then I binge in the evening and am too embarrassed to record it. I know it is just me using food to deal with some work stuff and I want to get back into my groove but I seem to want the comfort more than that. So I am just going to eat reasonably during the day and allow myself my comfort at the end of the day. I start going back to my therapist next week and I need that support before I can work on my food issues. I did however, promise myself I would get back to lifting. My deload week last week turned into a rest week. I found that deload week was really hard to want to do.

    Anyway with all that blabber done, I have decided to go back to 5x5 for the first time in about 7 months and I was quite happy when I was all done
    Squat 145 lbs 5x5
    Bench 75 lbs 5x5
    Row 65 lbs 5x5

    I deloaded quite a bit because that is a lot more volume than I am used to. All in all it felt really good.
  • logg1e
    logg1e Posts: 1,208 Member
    Welcome new members! Really appreciate everyone who takes the time to log their lifts - so inspiring and educational. Hope to be getting to the gym this morning...
  • logg1e
    logg1e Posts: 1,208 Member
    Well, I got my lift in.
    Squat 5,5,5,5,5 @ 112lb
    OHP 6,6,5,5,5 @ 46lb - slowly taming this bugger.
    DL 5 @ 150.5lb

    Fairly pleased with that, form is getting sloppy at the moment. Reckon I'll just push the weights a bit higher until I need a week off and then de-load some of them to work on form.
  • coltsgirl311
    coltsgirl311 Posts: 226 Member
    I was on Workout A this morning:
    Squats 95 lbs 5x5. Form was a bit sloppy on the 5th set, so I am repeating this weight next time.
    Bench 60 lbs 5x5. I had planned to move up to 65 today but I am having returned issues with my right arm. Back to the doc I guess. Grr!
    Rows 60 lbs 5x5. Same as above; had planned to move to 65 but want to be careful of the arm.

    I tried a couple Romanian deadlifts, but I think I prefer good mornings. I like holding the bar and weight on my shoulders rather than letting it hang using my arms.
  • Slowly, finally starting to make some progress.

    Squat 5 x 5 @45 lbs
    Bench 2 x 10 @35, 1 x 5 @40, 2 x 10 @35
    Row 5 x 5 @55

    I tried to do my second rep @40 on the bench but couldn't lift it so had to go back down to 35 (which is quite easy for me now).
  • krokador
    krokador Posts: 1,794 Member
    krokador wrote: »
    I need to center myself and unearth my willpower and drive. Not sure where they went :(

    i think they'll surface all by themselves if you give them a bit of a break. and give yourself a small chance to celebrate too :D you just got married, which sounded like a pretty big deal, to me. and hit a milestone by completing your programme, so where's the celebration and the wow-ain't-i-great-ness that those things need?

    /will stop scolding now. but honestly, people who never have nuthin' but 'drive' all the time seem sort of sorrowful creatures to me. it's more like they're driven, and where's the big happy in that?

    I am incredibly hard on myself. I always feel like I could've given it a bit more. Hence the crappy mood these days. That and I realized nobody/nothing is challenging me anymore. It's a bit harder to get in the right mindset when there isn't a flagpost in sight.

    Anyways, went in this morning (almost didn't, as there was a small fire at the gym last night but they sorted it out in time ^^

    Barbell Snatch -- trying to get back into the groove I wanted to work up to a heavy set but forbid myself from attempting to break a PR lol

    35x5
    55x4
    65x3
    75x2
    85x1
    90x1

    EMOTM x4 of 1 rep @ 77.5
    I misgrooved on the 2nd rep and ended up making up for it on the 5th minute at the end because it really was a stupid failure. My callouses are apparently not as strong as they once were, too o.o

    Front squats (trying to focus on speed and power)
    75x3
    95x3
    105x3
    105x3
    95x3
    95x3
    75x3 - with pause

    superset with DB Bench press
    30x12
    35x12
    35x12
    35x10

    And I finished off with some wide grip lat pulldowns. Here too, was focusing on speed and power
    70x6
    85x3
    100x5x5

    then finishes with an all-out set of assisted dips and parallel grip chin-ups on the gravitron thingy, 70lbs assist for 7/4

    and 10 push-ups.

    I feel gewd ^^
  • tiffanylacourse
    tiffanylacourse Posts: 2,985 Member
    Thanks Ladies! I [unfortunately] didn't get started yesterday. My husband woke up with excruciating ankle pain and I ended up tending to him all night [he couldn't even walk]. Therefore, I will be starting next Tuesday and using the next few days to practice the moves and get my form right before I officially start.
    @Tiffany - I know the program says to start rows at 65 but don't get discouraged if it's too heavy. I started at 45 and worked up to 70 before I stalled out. I then tweaked my shoulder so took a few weeks off of rows. I started again at 30 to be careful which was very easy but I feel much better about my progress taking it low and slow.

    @MissHolidayGolightly, Thank you - I was thinking that too. I first wrote 65, then wrote 45, then back to 65. This week while I'm getting some practice runs in, I will determine what feels right for me. Thanks for the information! :wink:
    You will get addicted fast! Welcome to the group, there are some amazing ladies here! :smiley:

    @coltsgirl311, thanks for the kind and encouraging words! I can't wait to get started! :smiley:
  • Sumiblue
    Sumiblue Posts: 1,597 Member
    I usually don't eat before my morning workouts and have felt fine, generally. But,my OHP & bench have been weak and not progressing much. Today I had a kefir/fruit smoothie with protein powder and I felt stronger on the OHP. I ate about an hour before lifting.

    Workout A today
    10 min walk warmup on treadmill
    Squat-warmup @45, 5@65, 5x5@115 (felt heavy but I completed them all)
    Bench press-5@45, 5@50, 5x5@60 (tough for the last couple of sets but I did it!)
    Rows-5x5@65
    DB triceps 2x10@15
    Romanian DL (because I love DL) 2x10@30
    Sumo DL 2x10@40
    Lunges 10@40
    2x10 ab machine press
  • coltsgirl311
    coltsgirl311 Posts: 226 Member
    Sumiblue wrote: »
    I usually don't eat before my morning workouts and have felt fine, generally. But,my OHP & bench have been weak and not progressing much. Today I had a kefir/fruit smoothie with protein powder and I felt stronger on the OHP. I ate about an hour before lifting.

    I always wonder if I should eat before lifting myself, but I go first thing in the morning and I am unwilling to get up at 3 am to eat. :smile:

  • DawnEmbers
    DawnEmbers Posts: 2,451 Member
    The gym wasn't too bad for middle of day today. Cardio was a busy section and had to do different order for lifts because squat area was busy at times, but overall, managed to get things done despite there being more people than 11 pm. Felt good except bench. Not sure if going before work is any better as I don't eat a lot of food in morning but I haven't spent 6-8 hours on my feet either. hmm We'll see, as I'll have to try out different times and *kitten*, plus it's almost january and the busy gym may get busier.

    Bench - 1x5 @ 80, such a fail, then 4x5 @ 75 and barely made the last couple of reps.
    dumbbell accessory bench - 3x8 @ 20, pretty easy but still tiring since right after struggle with bench
    Squat - 5x5 @ 100 - so heavy, I'm going to repeat it next time
    Row - 5x5 @ 75 - felt easy enough till the very last set, did over in deadlift area this time up off ground.


    Despite fail at bench, it felt pretty good. Rows though, I'm still not sure I get enough range of motion. I don't feel anything and try to pull back but it's like my chest gets in the way. But I'll keep trying on them. Hope to get up to those 45's some day. No ground touch this time but maybe if I get to the 35's and some plates on the floor I'll get closer.

    Now to eat food and get ready for my extra shift I am covering today.
  • katro111
    katro111 Posts: 632 Member
    Lifting for reps!
    Bench - 10 @ 45, 10 @ 55, 5 @ 65, then 10, 12, 15 @ 70.
    OHP - 10 @ 45, 10 @ 50, 5 @ 55, then 8, 9, 10 @ 60.
    Superset: Pushups, bench dips & overhead tri extension @ 15lbs. 3 sets of 7 pushups, 10 dips, 8 extensions.
  • katro111
    katro111 Posts: 632 Member
    I have not been doing so well lately, really lazy, full of excuses just blah.

    My eating has been awful, my tracking starts off well and then I binge in the evening and am too embarrassed to record it. I know it is just me using food to deal with some work stuff and I want to get back into my groove but I seem to want the comfort more than that. So I am just going to eat reasonably during the day and allow myself my comfort at the end of the day. I start going back to my therapist next week and I need that support before I can work on my food issues. I did however, promise myself I would get back to lifting. My deload week last week turned into a rest week. I found that deload week was really hard to want to do.
    I know how you feel; I went through a few weeks of evening binges without logging because I felt guilty. I felt even worse because I was half-assing my lifts, too. Stay strong llamapants! We can get through the bullsh*t and come out better for it!