Today with DH. Had to bench first, while waiting for the squat rack. Then someone zipped in front of me on my way over, so lost it to a gal doing deadlifts. Did two sets of rows, then grabbed the rack after she was done.

Squats 140 lbs 5x5

Bench 100 lbs 5/5/5/5/4 Dang it! Can't believe that I couldn't raise the weight one last time! I would have stayed here, anyway. Those last reps per set were sloooow.

Rows 110 5x5 in two sessions.

DH and I have been on the same squat weight for a while, but today he's heavier after my twinge-y knee de-load. On the second or third set, I lifted it off the pegs and was like "ooooomphhh, this feels heavier than the last set." Did two reps and was starting to wonder why I was having trouble getting out of the hole! Turns out, we forgot to change the weight for me and I was squatting 150, LOL! I was at that weight at the beginning of summer, so it wasn't crazy or anything. DEFINITELY heavy so I changed the weight back to 140.

I put in a word for getting a power rack with one of the friendly trainers, who thought it was a genius idea. Most of the time, the rack is open or there are just a couple of people wanting it. But there are peak times where you're jostling for a position. It would be nice to have another piece of equipment to take some of the traffic.

Also, I think I may have tendonitis in my left elbow. It's been aching at night and felt really tender off and on for a couple of weeks. It was bugging me today, so now it's a problem.

Damn it.

Ugh. The women's gym I usually go to had a broken water main, so I had to go to a different one and it was PACKED! I had to do everything out of order and mixed up, just grabbing whatever I could. Still going to post in order though, so I don't miss anything.

Squat - 3x5 at 125 lbs. Hard, but good. Form felt good.
Bench - 3x5 at 75 lbs. Almost felt easy! Crazy.
Rows - 3x5 at 85 lbs. Was supposed to do 80, but couldn't find any 2.5 lbs plates. First set felt great, but by the 4th rep of set 2 I wasn't sure I could finish! But I did

Shrugs - 3x8 at 70 lbs. Good
Skullcrushers - 3x8 at 40 lbs
Barbell curl - 3x10 at 40 lbs
Hyperextensions - 3x10 with 25 lbs
Cable crunches - 3x10 at 55ish lbs (110 on dual pulley cable machine)
Pull ups - 3,3,2 - ugh. Had to do them at the end instead of beginning of my workout, so they were disappointing.

Had session with trainer tonight I may not be able to walk tomorrow.
She was teaching me some new lifts. I can do half a snatch but it's complicated, don't think I'll get my head (or coordination) around it.
And cable fly was a mess. Again to much coordination.
Can now do proper bent over row too.

But on a good note she showed me how to deadlift from the rack bcos the 10kg plates to small top lift straight off floor.
And squat looks good.
Too tired to think straight now. But do have enough cals left today for a small bowl of ice cream so that's a win!

StephieWillcox wrote: »

Feeling a bit head-coldy today, but nevermind, I persevered.

Squat warm up 1x5 20kg, 30kg 1x3 40kg
Squat: 5x5 50kg
Bench warm up 1x5 20kg (nice and slow to check technique, heigh of safeties etc)
Bench: 5x5 35kg
Row warm up 1x5 20kg (again, very slow, pausing at the top, just checking everything was ok)
Row: 5x5 40kg (I was supposed to be on 42.5kg but I'm still having form issues)

Squat - no knee cave today so that was good, but wrist pain. I tried a thumbless grip and that definitely helped, but by the 5th rep of each set my wrists were under the bar, definitely something to work on.

Bench & rows were both fine and I'm definitely putting the weight up next time. I keep confusing myself on the rows as to where I'm pulling to. Sometimes I pull to boobs, some times to belly button. I have decided to stick to belly button as that seems to be where most pull to - any input here from you ladies?

Also on bench, I bench on boobs which makes a considerable difference to the height I'm benching too - espcially with an arch - is that right?

I pull and bench to my lower chest, right below my boobs, where my bra band is. The bar doesn't make it all the way up there on rows, but on bench it's nearly/just touching. Between the arch and lifting from the top of the shoulders, right below boobs keeps the bar path straight. Yes, it's a considerable difference in height for me, as well!

From what I've read, rows are pulled in a straight line from the mid-point of the foot when your torso is horizontal to the floor. I've seen variations, but stick with the basic lift that's in SL.

mirrim52 wrote: »

Are you doing Pendlay rows or bent over rows?
Pendlay rows you should pull to your bra-band. Bent over rows to your belly. The difference in back angle affects where you pull to. Pendlay rows are the SL standard. I do bent over rows because I don't have bumper plates and got sick of stacking.

Bench, I pretty much do to boobs, but I don't have an issue with height there

Cool - I think this is where I'm getting confused!!

I'm doing Pendlay rows - I can't pull it to my bra band so I thought I wasn't doing it right

ar9179 wrote: »

I pull and bench to my lower chest, right below my boobs, where my bra band is. The bar doesn't make it all the way up there on rows, but on bench it's nearly/just touching. Between the arch and lifting from the top of the shoulders, right below boobs keeps the bar path straight. Yes, it's a considerable difference in height for me, as well!

I am definitely going to get someone to film my bench then to see where the straight path is. I *think* lower boobs makes the bar path straight, but I definitely need to confirm that. I like the difference in height to be honest as it means I can put the safeties at a nice level and know I'm not going to get crushed if I bail out

Oh and thanks for adding that your rows don't make it to your bra band, I was under the impression that I had to touch each rep (and nearly died trying a couple of times). Will make more effort to just pull as far as I can without worrying about touching.

StephieWillcox wrote: »

Bench & rows were both fine and I'm definitely putting the weight up next time. I keep confusing myself on the rows as to where I'm pulling to. Sometimes I pull to boobs, some times to belly button. I have decided to stick to belly button as that seems to be where most pull to - any input here from you ladies?

Also on bench, I bench on boobs which makes a considerable difference to the height I'm benching too - espcially with an arch - is that right?

For both bench and pendlay rows I pull/lower down to about bra strap level, really (or somewhere between the nip-line and the strap line). My arch on bench is laughable at best, but I find it easier to tuck my elbows if I aim a little lower on my chest. Bent-over row since your back is not completely horizontal you sort of have your pick depending on what feels "right". The lats will be more involved the "higher" you pull, I think?

@StephieWillcox Here's a video of Pendlay explaining the correct form. I think I need to de-load on this a bit because I don't stay parallel to the floor during the explosive upward motion. I angle up a bit trying to heft it! The big difference with Pendlay's row is that it starts and ends on the ground (or on a stack/safeties for height) and you are bent over 90 degrees.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZlRrIsoDpKg

awkwardsoul wrote: »

For bench I start at the bra line, then press the bar up to shoulder. The bar path is an angle and not straight up and down line.

Are you bracing at the top of your shoulders? I think set-up plays a part in bar path. I can see a very slight angle, though, depending on arch. The torso is elevated a bit. Elbows are held close to the body. I definitely don't go back towards my shoulders. That would be pushing backwards by a LOT. The path is chest centric, for me.
I'd be afraid of shoulder impingement. It sounds painful.

For bra sizing, I have an 8 inch difference between band and cup...less with gravity I'm sure Still, I feel like I need to bring the bar to the band area. It feels like it's the range of movement I want to achieve. There's some room to play within the mid chest area.

ar9179 wrote: »

awkwardsoul wrote: »

For bench I start at the bra line, then press the bar up to shoulder. The bar path is an angle and not straight up and down line.

Are you bracing at the top of your shoulders? I think set-up plays a part in bar path. I can see a very slight angle, though, depending on arch. The torso is elevated a bit. Elbows are held close to the body. I definitely don't go back towards my shoulders. That would be pushing backwards by a LOT. The path is chest centric, for me.
I'd be afraid of shoulder impingement. It sounds painful.

For bra sizing, I have an 8 inch difference between band and cup...less with gravity I'm sure Still, I feel like I need to bring the bar to the band area. It feels like it's the range of movement I want to achieve. There's some room to play within the mid chest area.

I have tiny boobies so it's a bit of a non-factor for me xD Ahem, but I do bench with my bar path going into a bit of an arch of sort. Your strongest position at the top is not exactly the same as it is at the bottom when your arms are braced against your side. Pretty sure Jason Blaha had a video about this like 2 years back, but the lowdown is: while you want to press in a straight-ish line as far as stability goes, there's a particular groove where your body is stronger at throughout the movement and it's sort of a straight up until your elbows move past your chest and then a little back to accommodate the lever arm. Unless you have a crazy arch, anyway.

Here's an old video where I'm doing a slow grind of a rep and it's fairly visible.
https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B2AhVtSv97LORnFlQ2trRmdUVFU

Thanks ladies - absolutely everything you've shown me and said leaves a lot for me to think about (and apologies about the hi-jack!)

I'm going to watch all of this tonight (about a million times) and then I will have lots to work on next week

ar9179 wrote: »

awkwardsoul wrote: »

For bench I start at the bra line, then press the bar up to shoulder. The bar path is an angle and not straight up and down line.

Are you bracing at the top of your shoulders? I think set-up plays a part in bar path. I can see a very slight angle, though, depending on arch. The torso is elevated a bit. Elbows are held close to the body. I definitely don't go back towards my shoulders. That would be pushing backwards by a LOT. The path is chest centric, for me.
I'd be afraid of shoulder impingement. It sounds painful.

For bra sizing, I have an 8 inch difference between band and cup...less with gravity I'm sure Still, I feel like I need to bring the bar to the band area. It feels like it's the range of movement I want to achieve. There's some room to play within the mid chest area.

This is what I mean/ use for bench form. The top is directly over the shoulders. My starting is at my bra band, but that could look different from back arch, grip, and arm length. Straight up and down won't give you as much power and probably wreck your shoulder.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wKhI-O4HI8M

not really supposed to work out as tomorrow = trainer day, but my last workout was half-completed, so eh.

squats 95. form shaky at 100, so backed off. if next time isn't solid i'll drop to 90.

bench 75.

rows 75. yay added 5lb to my rows \o/