Long day. This morning I went to Grit Strength and managed to do some of the push ups this time as I set up a step on a bunch of risers to do incline ones. Then went to lunch with coworker at buffet place, hence the morning cardio/strength class. She wants me to help her get on track with her nutrition and might be trying out NROLFW soon. Then after spending too much time on the computer I went to the gym to lift. Oh, and I did some house work and stuff too. Also dealing with that time of month so all bloated and crampy. Blech.

(Note: even after 10pm the gym was pretty busy. Too many guys in the dumbbell area which is all kinds of fun since I have to do romanian deadlifts on one leg and squats while holding one dumbbell above my head... yeah.)

Stage 3, A2

db one arm snatch 3x6 @ 27.5 - not bad but didn't quite have the courage to try 30 yet.

db one leg romandian deadlift 3x6 @ 27.5 - okay but still struggled a tad not to fall over.
bar bent over row 3x6 @ 70 - heavy but manageable.

db one arm overhead squat 3x6 @ 10&20 - Easier now that I put the heavy one in middle and not off to one side when doing the lift.
db incline bench 3x6 @ 22.5 - easy enough.

plank 3x 60 seconds - not gonna get 90 any time soon.
reverse wood chop 3x6 @ 12.5 - okay.

BWM ... Yeah, I did it one time and took lots of pauses but slowly made it through and just over 5 minutes by a few seconds. Last time I only had the timer set for 5 (it counts down and not up) so this time I put in 10 as the starting point).


Bench 3x8 @ 80 - struggled but made it through.
Bicep curl 3x10 @ 20 - easy. I was too lazy to get the 30 cause others were over there. And I was tired.

Lots of rows going on so my arms are feeling it. The Grit Strength class had lots of pushups and some rows, then the different rows each day in stage 3. Next week I won't do the class though because I don't have lunch plans and I have work that day cause my days off are changing again.

Question about deadlifts: Do you always start each reps on the floor like he says to or do only go down to mid shin? Deadlifts scare me. I'm always worried about my back.

Hi, everyone. I’m new here and jumping in. I am so impressed with how much you all are lifting. You're so motivating!

Last night I did workout A. I was really trying to focus on form.

Squats – 75 lbs. By my last set I really felt that the stars had aligned and my form was spot on. I’m going to stay here again next time.
Bench Press – De-loaded to 50 lbs. These still felt hard, but I was able to complete all reps. I’m not sure yet if I’ll try for 55 next time or stay here.
Barbell Row – 60lbs. These still feel awkward to me. I’m going to try lifting them up higher next time to see if it is just too low of a starting point. I use the smaller bar for these so I do have plates on them, but I may try 65 lbs next time with bumper plates.

Overall the workout felt good and my form is getting better, but breathing still feels awkward to me. I feel like I pause too long in between each rep to breathe and get re-situated.

The gym was extremely busy. “Count down dude” was there today and seems to be on the same gym schedule as me. He shouts his countdowns while doing his sets. I think he is just awkward and has no idea that he is even shouting it since he has his music on so loud. I kind of feel bad for him since he is this scrawny kid that is trying so hard but has absolutely deplorable form on everything. I know I’m learning and my form is bad, but wow…

MalineVD wrote: »

It's only week two of Stronglifts and for some bizarre reason, I already feel stronger.. It's probably just imagination, but I like the feeling

I've only just started too, but it feels good to know you can lift heavier things! We're stronger than we think!

"psych101 wrote: »

I see a lot of ladies struggling with having to deload, or needing to deload - its a mental game, but seriously your body will tell you when you need to take a break, listen to it - you do as much good by resting as you do by working! And when you fail a weight several times, use the experience of deloading and working back up as a chance to perfect your form, to do them better with better form, or faster, or more efficient, or with less time in between sets - all of these are still progressing, just a slightly different way of progressing. Don't ever see a deload as a failure - nothing is a failure, its a chance to rebuild and come back even stronger!!

xxx

XXXXX

Last Night's Workout - All 5x5

Squats – 70#
Bench Press - 60#
Barbell Row – 60#

Quick workout and then a rush to get to my ball game - played the entire game at 2nd base (1 hr warmup plus 1-3/4 hr game, HR monitor said 940 calories burned not that that's too accurate but I was moving as much as I could). We won 9-0 - great start to our new season!

For some reason today was really hard. Maybe because I ran last night? I usually do that in the morning.

Goblet squats - 5x5x12#
OHP - 5x5/5/5/4/5x45#
DL - 1x5x65#

I'll be repeating these next time.

if i were feeling 100% this would have been workout b day. but either i spent all of last night snoring my head off or i'm getting sick, so the little time i spent in the gym on my way home was more like a placeholder than a real workout and i'm not going to count it. i scrubbed off everything i had touched and i'll do my real workout b when my throat doesn't hurt.

squats: 3x5@45, 2x5@55, 7 or something x5@65. i'm concentrating extremely hard on form so this wasn't really about weight. in fact it was kind of about non-weight, so i can work out how to eliminate this scary little click sensation i've started to feel in my sacroiliac zone as i come out of the hole, and then ingrain those muscle patterns instead. i'm pretty sure it's because i'm getting lazy and not really driving up with my upper hamstrings/glutes and my lower abs anymore. groke knows what i'm using instead, but when i stop using it and go back to my hardline pre-xmas patterns the feeling of going up in a hydraulic chair began to come back and click went away. so that's something to work on for sure.

ohp: did three sets of this at 45, just because. and then i went and got much lighter bars and spent a chunk of time trying out the tommy suggs version of ohp with the double-shimmy form of hip-drive. hah. i have NO skillz at this one, can't even get a half-inch bounce out of a 20lb bar. on the other hand, the lockout did seem to happen somehow without me even noticing how the bar got up there. and it felt more like a real torso-through kind of lockout, so idk. can't do the tommy with 45lbs though, for sure.

didn't deadlift or do any accessories because like i said. probably sick. and also, clicking feelz from my bum.

Cardio day -- 92 minutes on the trail with Huck. It was still 90 degrees when I left my house at ~6:15 PM, but actually felt pretty good once I got out there. The trail actually has a nice amount of shade, so that helps too. But I did the last 30 minutes in the dark. It was well past dusk, but not quite pitch black. I'll need to be figuring out a happy medium for the coming months -- it's not exactly going to get cooler as the summer progresses, and I'm not a morning person.

Everyone is doing such an awesome job. Good to see all the new faces too :-)

Last night's lifts:

Squat 5x5 100
Bench 5x5 60
Row 5x5 65
Biceps curls 3x10 12
Goblet Squats 3x10 30

I am loving the goblet squats! I think they are helping with form and achieving depth on my regular squats too!

Lifts felt good. Thus ends my deload and I am going back up! The problems I was having with my shoulder seemed to have gotten better after the break. I'll need to remember about taking a rest week if I start to feel wonky again. I always want to push through.