Daily check-in: December why you started!
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Squats: 5@65,75,90,90
OHP: 5@45,45,50,50,55
DL: 5@95,115,125,145 (PR)
Alternating shoulder raise: 4x20@8lbs
Russian twists: 3x30@8bs0 -
Squat 115 2x5, 120 3x5 and I think I yelled "America!" after one set. I also practiced failing onto the pins on the last set. It was, thankfully, unexciting.
Row 60 5x5 I kind of hate these.
Bench 80 5x5. They were ugly but I did them!!! Plus I got my husband to arch his back and push through his feet and he PR'd. What what!0 -
Nice lifting ladies!
Workout A tonight
Squat 160 lbs 5x5
Bench 85lbs 5/5/5/5/4
Row 70 lbs 5x5
The squats are hurting me big time, I was still sore from the last work out (again) and I think I need more rest between days that I squat heavy. I think my B workouts are going to be at a much reduced weight just because this is insane.
On a good note though, I started taking magnesium and my feet have stopped cramping
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@ Krok -- I second the thank you for the EMOTM explanation, if for no other reason that I will now understand what the hell you're doing in your workouts
But seriously, also fun to have as an option for down the line.
@ JulieBoolieaz -- First, your user name totally reminds me of "Julia Gulia" from The Wedding Singer. And second, welcome! Best group around -- you're going to love it here!
@ Katro -- I'm also hitting close to 2 weeks without lifting and am freaking out a little bit. Between insane school deadlines and being sick, it just happened. Am hoping to get to the gym tomorrow and Saturday, and already have a gym scoped out in Hawaii that has the equipment I'll need and offers visitor passes.
You all continue to impress and inspire. Massive
to each and every one of you BAMFs
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well, i went back today. last gym visit was monday, i think . . . so so much for 'i think i need to give this neck thing three or four days to calm down' after the chiropractor. a 24-hour dose of anti-inflammatories and candied ginger all day in between pills seemed like ithelped a lot. i've still sort of got one foot in the chiro's idea of cutting the whole thing in half and then working back up with new de-twisted-spine form, so i did a sort of survey of all the lifts, instead of just a or b.
squats: 2x5@45, 2x5@70, 2x5@95, 1x5@100, 1x5@95. squats weren't all that strong and i'm not superbly happy with them. but it feels like a positive prognosis for the rest of the month, all the same. had some real trouble getting my left shoulder under the bar, but it got a bit better as i went on. i need to get more core back into my squats pdq.
bench: i just did 3 sets of 5@45, just to practice/find a good form and keep my pecs mobile/engaged. not hard, but i'm being super-careful.
ohp: i actually did a full 5x5 of these at 45lbs. progress measurement is that my shoulder and scalenes seem to be taking that better than they did when i did much lighter work the last couple workouts. still don't know what the right ohp form is.
rows: BLEH. i think i did 3x8 with the 30lb bar to start with, just checking my shoulder and back to see what they thought about it. but when i checked sideways i had a really nice level back and most aspects of it seemed to be going okay, so i added 20lbs and did 2x5 at that weight. started a third set and realised i'm winging my elbows up in an asymmetrical way, so i ashcanned the rows once again.
deadlift: hee. bunch of warmup/form finders at 50lbs with big bumper plates, bunch more at 100lbs, then i went up to 110 and did four to ten reps, and finally 120 for 5. seems to me like deadlift is another one that could really mess with your scalene muscles if they're already irritated, so i was being very cautious. but it seemed to go okay . . . and my daily "shoutout for normal sane pleasant people in your neighbourhood gym" comes in here. there were these two slavic guys deadlifting too just behind me, only of course with the big bar and at least a plate on each side, plus extra. so when they were done and putting everything back, i caught them exactly right when the bar just had one plate on each side and asked if i could try a rep quickly before they finished cleaning up. they were super-friendly and nice about it . . . . and i did it. without any real trouble either.
what was nice was that they were not just nice about letting me 'try' 135. they were more than nice about me pulling it. when they were standing out of my way and i was setting my stance, one of them said 'you're better than me'. not being smarmy OR pissy or anything else with some snark edge to it, just sayin'. so the whole thing was just . . . nice.0 -
Hurrah for nice people!0
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I went easy on myself, but I made it 50 minutes so I'm happy with that. I suppose I could have done more, but I started to get a little dizzy after squats and my throat/lungs feel as dry as the Sahara so I made an executive decision and stopped. Hopefully by Friday or Saturday I'll feel even better and can go full steam!
nice going. a cold can feel like nothing, but it can also knock you down just as hard as any 'bigger' illness. it sounds like you found the perfect balance between not working out at all, and pushing too hard while your body's still getting itself back on track.
here's to all us little collection of comeback queens for the rest of this month. it's nice having the company.
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Two days away with work (including one huge Christmas meal which left me feeling sick) and then an 11 hour sleep last night, this morning's lift went great.
Squats. I warmed up slowly, adding the 5kg plates and checking my form on each one, figuring out when it starts to get shallow.
5,5,6,5,5 @123lb and then, just to see if I could, 3@ 134lb which is more than body weight.
Bench 5,5,5,5,5 @ 51lb
Rows 5,5,5,5,5 @ 68lb
I am thinking of splitting my squat work out and doing three sets with good form and light weight and three sets with my best weight and hope that they start to meet up. I'll play around with it a bit perhaps.
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Workout B today. I thought I would have had better lifts based on how many calories I ate at dinner last night! lol. Actually squats and deads went well, but stupid OHP was not great.
Squats 100 (!) lbs, 5x5. These felt good. I took a form video with my phone since I moved up and thought it looked correct. I wish I could get a little lower, but I did seem to hit parallel. I had to take the video at an angle to get a view of myself without someone holding it so it's kind of hard to tell. Still, I was quite happy with these and may try 105 next time.
OHP 55 lbs, 3x5, 2x4. Ugh, I hit 55 lbs last time but had a heck of a time with that weight today. I will repeat (again). Grrr, I just can't seem to get past 55 lbs!
Deadlift 125 lbs 1x5. This was tough, but doable. I probably can move up next time. Grip strength is starting to be an issue. I might need to switch to chalk and possibly mixed grip.
Accessories: calf raises, lunges, both BW, and also good mornings, 55 lbs, 3x10
Cardio: 35 minutes on the elliptical and 2.1 miles (22 minutes) on the treadmill.0 -
@crabada - Definitely take the time off if you're sick. There have been times in the past that I decided to "power through" a cold or the flu and still workout and I paid for it by being sicker longer! Rest is totally worth it.
@canadianlbs - You're absolutely right! This simple cold kicked my butt. I think this is one of the few times that I really gave myself adequate rest from work and working out. I'm not going to touch the barbell until Saturday, too, just to make sure I'm ok and over today's DOMS from those paused squats. WOW.
@psych101 - Your abs are looking ahhhhhhhmazing in your avatar!0 -
Today was my first workout at home with my new (to me) power cage. It was nice to not feel rushed or self conscious. I had a more prolonged rest between workouts because I was getting the cage and trying to put it together. Went 5 days between workouts and I felt weak today. At the gym I never could check my form because the mirror was straight ahead of me. Today I made some videos and saw that my squats are not low enough.
Squat-5@45 (warm up), 5x5@125 (kind of sloppy and hard to get very low, felt heavy), 10@65 (went low with those)
OHP-3x5@45, 2x5@50
Deadlift-150 (was supposed to do 160 but it felt waaaay too heavy. 150 felt heavy, too and my form suffered.
Abs on the bench
Kettlebell triceps-10@12lbs
I'm thinking of redoing the whole dang program now to concentrate on form. Working in the cage seems more difficult. Or perhaps it's because I realize I wasn't doing the lifts correctly before.0 -
I think many of us have had to do this - don't get discouraged! You may not need to start COMPLETELY over, but maybe deload 20 or 30 pounds (or more if you want to) and work on form from there. Are you hitting parallel on your squats? I'm of the school of thought that you don't NEED to go *kitten*-to-grass every time on squats. There was an article floating around here months ago about anatomy and how depending on the shape of your hip sockets and the position/shape of the femur head you may not even be able to go that low... Moral of the story: don't beat yourself up about it.
I'm thinking of redoing the whole dang program now to concentrate on form. Working in the cage seems more difficult. Or perhaps it's because I realize I wasn't doing the lifts correctly before.
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Thanks, Katro111. I think I was getting to parallel before I got to 100+ lbs. Today I was doing what looked like quarter squats. I did some reading on them and saw that people can generally lift more weight doing quarter squats. I thought I was progressing through squats rather quickly. I have not failed any and only have repeated a weight a couple of times. I do not feel it in the glutes, really. I think you are right. I don't need to go back to the beginning but I will start over at a lower weight. Looking at one's form with video is really helpful if you don't have a spotter/trainer!0
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i was supposed to lift today but my shoulder has been acting up, so another rest day for me, hopefully ill be able to lift tomorrow0
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Workout B today:
I think I discovered the consequences of doing my whole run (4.8 miles today) before lifting. Strangely enough, the squats felt ok, but that's probably because I had to deload.
Squats 5x5@95 lbs, had to deload after having trouble getting past 105 :-(
OHP: I was supposed to go up to 60 lbs today, but I thought I would try 55 again since even though I completed all 5x5 last time, it was a struggle. Today I couldn't even get close to 5x5 @55. So frustrating!. so I did 3/2/3@55lbs and then 8/8@45 and even that was hard toward the end!
DL: 5@135 1@165, epic fail. Oh well.
This was one of those workouts that I was just happy to be done with by the end of it.0 -
Workout A - done
Went to coworkers small gym so even at noon, barely anyone there. 2 guys came in the lifting area during the hour we were there, that is all. It's crazy how small and how few people are there but far less equipment and such. I feel weird taking the bar from the cage and using the floor space in front for deadlifts but do it anyways when there.
Squat - 5x5 @ 115
OHP - 1x4 @ 60, 4x5 @ 55
Deadlift - 1x5 @ 135
OHP blah again but almost increased, I can do the 55 okay at least it's just going to be tough getting it up to 60. I meant to do 110 on the squats but my brain had a math issue and wanted to put the 35's on the bar so I did 115 instead. One or two slightly rough but all manageable. Might do the same next time though. And finally, got to use the 45's for the deadlift. My hands hurt a little from trying to pull the bar up but I got the set done. No more struggling to get plates down on the floor to get the bar up higher. Woot!
Now to rest before I go to my gym for the body fat workshop thing they have that I decided to sign up for. Not sure on the accuracy but it'll be a good start, ballpark figure. Just hoping it's not in the 50's since I've lost almost 30 lbs since end of August. My own weight is going slow this month but I'm okay with that as people still keep noticing that I'm less fluffy. Maybe some day I'll post a picture on my profile of me, but no promises yet.
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DawnEmbers wrote: »OHP bleu again but almost increased, I can do the 55 okay at least it's just going to be tough getting it up to 60.
Maybe some day I'll post a picture on my profile of me, but no promises yet.
I love my set of 1.25 lb. plates for exactly this reason!
And yes for pics!
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Yeah, I looked for 1.25 plates at a store and they didn't have anything below 5. The only thing that light was tiny, pink 1 lb dumbbells that looked like they were for a little kid. I hope to find the 1.25 ones some day.0
