Daily check-in: Something catchy that rhymes with January!
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So much workout yesterday!! You go girls!
Yesterday was a true rest day for me, so I did that, I rested. It was kind of weird, and I did random body squat while cooking dinner because I wanted to show to my husband what he will have to check on my form when he will come to spot me saturday morning. Apart that, it was a real rest day.
Today was workout A! I still don't feel the rows very much, I'm pretty sure I'm doing something wrong, so I'll read the thread about this lift and watch some videos. This will be my homework this weekend.
Warm up: 12 minutes elliptical.
Squats: 1x5 @ 45 lbs, 1x5 @ 65 lbs, 1x5 @ 80lbs and 5x5 @ 85 lbs. Warmups felt ridiculously light, but 85 was a good working set. I was not struggling to pop up (well, not that much) and I should probably increase at 90 pounds saturday.
Pendlay Rows 1x 5 @ 45lbs, 1 x 5 @ 50lbs, 5 x 5 @ 55lbs. I could probably do 60 pounds, but the whole lift seems weird to me, so I'm staying at 55lbs until I do my homework.
Bench press 1x5 @ 45lbs, 1x5 50lbs, 5x5 @ 55lbs. It was iffy at some point, but that could because of some deadlifts I did just for fun after my pendlay rows. I will try 60 next time.
Just for fun:
Deadlifts 1x5 @ 55lbs, 1x5 @ 105 lbs. Yay! Deadlifts are fun! I may have made some sumo-rep at some point, but it still felt pretty good.
Alternate plank on the bosu: 45 seconds. I was alternating planking on the hands and planking on the forearms every 15 seconds, and I almost fall on my face the second time I switched from forearms to hands, but I made a super push up and I managed to preserve my self-esteem. I love this exercise, seriously, it's fun!
Foamrolling quads, shoulders and lower back.
That's it for today.0 -
AbsoluteTara79 wrote: »I am so incredibly impressed by the #'s I see from you girls on squats. Curious if it was a pretty linear path with the 5 lbs per week and consistency?
not for me. i've been basically learning to lift the same way that i learned to drive: by constantly-retaking the test with new fail points every time until i'd run out of things to do wrong. i've done multiple cycles of small progress/backtrack/form check/restart in the past 6 months, but every cycle seems to start at a slightly higher point than the previous one.
i've hurt so many small body areas along the way by pushing too hard, i'm now in a mode of 'so what if my 'progress' isn't in the form of more weight?' sucky form caused by more weight than i can manage has always turned out (in retrospect) not to be worth it.
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DaivaSimone wrote: »Today was workout A! I still don't feel the rows very much, I'm pretty sure I'm doing something wrong, so I'll read the thread about this lift and watch some videos. This will be my homework this weekend.
Honestly, I don't really feel the rows either. I even do an accessory set of rows with dumbbells to take the stomach/chest getting in the way out of the equation and don't feel much of anything from the move. However, when the grit strength instructor worked with me some on form because rows are part of the current routine, she even put her hand on my back when I did the move and she said the muscles are doing what they should. Some just don't quite "feel" them with rows or so it seems.
Today, I rest.
And get caught up with online stuff, I'm so behind. I have barely worked on novels at all this month. Must get to work. 0 -
I went right after work today, so like 4:15. It was super busy. I went to the women's only gym, so the rack was free, but tons of people around. I have to bench in the rack there, and a woman was using the only rolling bench as a table for her water and plan.
![:\](https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/resources/emoji/confused.png ":\")
I was hoping she would be done before I needed it, but nope, so I had to ask if she would let me take that one and I pulled a regular bench closer to her. Super fun. Then I got to navigate it through everyone to put it back.
Anyhow -
Squat - 2x5 at 45, 5x5 at 95 lbs. I was actually supposed to do 85 today, but this gym only has 4 10 lb plates that I could find, and someone was using 2 on the smith's machine, and the 5 lb ones were racked at the back of the machine and I couldn't get to them when she was using it. So it was either use four 2.5 lb plates on each side to make up the extra 10 lbs or try with a 25lb plate on each side. So I went for the bigger plate. It was ok. Challenging but manageable.
Bench Press - 5x5 at 65 lbs. Holy crap, this was hard. I managed to get them all done, but I was shaky and I am sure they were ugly. I will be repeating this weight next time.
Rows - 5x5 at 65 lbs. This seemed ok. My elbows don't seem to know where to go (out instead of back), and I want to check my grip width on this one. I will be working on it, but I will still be going up to 70 next time though.
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Hi! I'm new to the group! I started this on January 1st (with 2 days off for illness last week). I did Workout B this morning:
Squats - 5x5 at 75lbs
Overhead Press - 5x5 (barely) at 60lbs
Deadlift - 1x5 at 125lbs0 -
Welcome @lhapple82 !! Great numbers so far!!0
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Cardio...40 minutes on the ellip. And feeling a touch of soreness from yesterday.0
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my workout today has been mainly composed of stretching. did another chiropractic session yesterday, so pretty much every hour on the hour all through the day, i've been in the bathroom hanging from the top of a cubicle wall. or out on the street with my hands wrapped round a signpost, doing that pullback stretch that gets to the spaces between your shoulderblades, and to the shoulders themselves. trying to keep everything from seizing back up.0
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So glad it is friday!!
Squat 5x7 75 (going to stay at 75 and increase reps till form feels good)
Barbell Military Press 3x5 50
Barbell Military Press 2x4 50
Deadlift, Straight Leg 1x5 115 (WOOHOO!)
Standing Calf Raises 5x5 50
Convict Conditioning Step 2 Horizontal Pulls 5x8
Tired today but everything felt good. I'm going to try and get a run in this weekend-maybe outside if it's not too cold :-)
@canadianlbs I have been trying to incorporate more stretching into my routine. Try to do it during my rests. I think I might try to do some yoga workout on a regular bases. Just need to find one. Maybe from fitness blender...
@lhapple82 - they are awesome weights for a beginner!!! Welcome to the group!
Have a great weekend everyone!!
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work out B today after nightshift.
squats 5x5 @ 37.5kg (83lbs) These are starting to get tough and I really need to keep thinking of my form now the weight is going up.
OHP- first time at 22.5kg. (50lbs) First set managed 2!, next 3 sets took long breaks and managed 5. Last set managed 4- I had nothing left in the tank to raise the bar for the 5th one of the set. I am so weak on these it is unbelievable.
DL- 1x5 at 55kg.(121.25lb) This is again is getting heavy but I managed it.
Have a great weekend folks.0 -
Welcome @lhapple82 great numbers.
I'm another who likes stretching, and I try to do Yoga on my rest days.
Squats 5x5 @ 68lb
Bench 5,5,5,6,6 @ 68lb
Rows 5x5 @ 61lb (or something like that).
I am really enjoying playing around with the squats - foot position, ATG every time and a super-deloaded weight has made my favourite lift even better.
My bench is suddenly coming along nicely, it's had a growth spurt. Next time I'm going to do 5x7 at the same weight.
Rows - meh, I didn't like my form with this weight (again). So, I'm going back down next time and doing sets of 7.
No time for anything, but I did come home and pain roll. Also, my lacrosse ball type massage things have turned up in the post!0 -
Squat-5x5@120 not very deep and I am sore. I think my form suffered and will have to redo this wt.
OHP-5x5@50 I de-loaded due to feeling weak today
Deadlift-5x5@145 dang, this felt heavy! But it is 10lbs over BW0 -
Yesssss...Friday. Workout done at lunch to free up the evening and two days of rest. Although, I have a work party tomorrow night with a bunch of food so I might run tomorrow.
Squats - 5x5 at 70lbs. Watched a bunch of stuff on "hip drive" this morning where Mark Rippetoe smacks guys butts and makes them uncomfortable. I think pushing out my knees is key. Focusing on that helped a ton.
OHP - 1 set at 50, decided it was too hard, 4 sets back at 45lbs.
Deadlift - 1x5 at 95lbs.
20 minutes ellip.0 -
@AbsoluteTara - If you have the link, will you please post it? I'd love to see that video, and not just for the *kitten* smacking.
Workout B
Squats - Working sets @ 135 lbs.
- I actually probably could have gone up to 140 lbs as scheduled, but decided to hang at 135. Felt really good, and my wrists weren't nearly as sore this time.
OHP is an effing effer.
- I took all your advice and just decided to try to go up, knowing I might fail. Here's what happened:
1x5 @ 45
1x2 @ 50, 1x3 @ 45
1x5 @ 47.5
1x3 @ 47.5
1x1 @ 47.5
- The app is telling me to deload back down to 40 lbs. I don't know if I should or not.... Ughh.
- I also did some shoulder press machine work as part of my accessories, and will keep that in the rotation. Hopefully that will help. See below for deets.
(MFP ate the rest of my post!
Let's try again.)
Deadlifts!!! - Warmups: 1x3 @ 135, 1x3 @ 165; Working set: 1x3 @ 180 (failed here); Just for fun: 3x5 @ 150!
- I'm thinking I should probably skip the warmup @ 165 next time, and see if that helps me get the full five reps @ 180.
- The three sets afterwards were so much fun! Played with my grip, switched my underhand/overhand, and just enjoyed these.
Accessories:
Bicep Curls: 3x10 @ 15 lbs. dumbbells / Seated Dips (machine): 3x10 @ 100 (alternating sets)
Shoulder Press (machine): 1x5 @ 20 (too light), 1x6 @ 30 (too heavy), 2x10 @ 25 (just right!)
Plank: 35 seconds (oof!)
Hip stretches: ~17 minutes
So in love with the gym right now, it's a little bit silly. I'm just so glad I have a schedule that will allow me to do what I need to do, play, try things, and just enjoy the experience. I know I'm lucky and I intend to take full advantage this semester. 0 -
Workout A tonight
Squats - 1x5 @ 80 lbs, 1x5 @ 90 lbs and then 5x5 @ 100 lbs. Woohoo I hit 100 lbs and it felt good!!!
Bench - 1x5 @ 65 lbs, 5x5 @ 75 lbs. That got a little shakey towards the end but I managed.
Row - 5x5 @ 85 lbs. This felt good.
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@crabada - Sure thing. Below were the ones most helpful.
They're nowhere near as entertaining as Alan Thrall's - but it's kind of nice to see him coach people doing things wrong:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yha2XAc2qu8
This is the one where the guys seemed a tad uncomfortable. lol.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4FHb9pq36_4 0 -
I know I'm lucky and I intend to take full advantage this semester.
you do it! it's exactly the right way to go. and yay that your first week seems to have been so much happier than you were thinking it would be.
on ohp, i'd ignore mehdi personally. from the looks of it, you really did push your body's boundaries there, because it's clear you were tiring progressively through those three sets at 47.5 and were much more tired by the end of them than you were when you started out. so you wouldn't have been getting tired if you'd been lifting within your limits, right?
although what do i know; it's just the way that i'm looking at it. i'm also thinking about the fact that i sometimes get much more impressive results for the upper-body lifts if something makes it so that i slot them in AFTER the deads. so you could consider that too.
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Thursday cardio--no go due to a very wet and rainy day. It was also the day to celebrate my victory over surviving 21 straight days of strict clean eating. So I snacked--plenty!
Work again kept me so busy that I nearly missed fueling today's workout. I was choking down lunch between conference calls and didn't get my afternoon snack in. So I could definitely feel drained by the time I got home and started my workout late.
Stretches for 10 minutes.
Warmup squats: 2x10@65#.
At this point my man got home...here I was thinking that he could spot me while I did my workouts. However, he works 12 hour days and ended up hiding in the bathroom while I did my routine.
SQ: 5x5@115#. My form was craptastic, barely parallel, and I was definitely wobbly. My 60/90 sec breaks stretched to 2 mins in-between at times. Forget breathing, my concentration was hurting. I MISS doing ATG squats, so I might have to deload for awhile and work on breathing and form again.
OP: 5x5@60#. I did 1x3@65# and promptly realized I just couldn't do it, no matter how much hip thrust i put into it. Oddly 60# felt pretty easy in comparison. So there might be some imbalance somewhere that I need to target.
DL: 1x5@155#, 1x4@155#. At this point my man makes an appearance and I harrass him to watch my form, watch my back, am I rounding/arching/straight...while I'm dropping these on my wood floors. SMACK! I don't care, coz this is my new PR, so I try for another round and got to 4. Last year I was doing 5x5@145# (which is essentially my bw); this year I'm determined to push the envelope on my deads.
For my DLs I finally broke out the shiny new red 45# bumpers that've been sitting in boxes over a year...and promptly smashed my finger under one. OW! These plates are going to be a b!tch to load/unload.
Happy weekend, everybody!0
booooohooooo
