Will be going to the gym to lift after work but just wanted to report that my uphill post work walk to my car yesterday took just over 3 mins less than ever before (18 mins dead instead of 21 mins plus) .....my glutes must have been propelling me up that hill like they've never been able to before!

I'll happily take that!. Will report back on lifting stuff later!

**runs around like a loon with delight **

I increased my squat weight.....

ICF set B worked up to each of the following :

SQ 5X5 @62.5 KG woohoo!
OHP 5X5 @25KG stuck here...need to push through
DL 1X5@70 KG back to where I was pre-back issues.

5X5 row @35kg
3x8 close hand bench press 22.5kg
8/8/6 @20kg Bicep curls (barbell)
3x8 hanging crunches

Plus some lat pull downs while I waited for the squat rack.

Needed to dig deep at times but so pleased to be back on the up!! Will stick at 62.5kg SQ for a while to perfect form as I felt a bit of knee wobble at the end but yeeee haaaa!!!

BethAnnieT - glad you tried the over under grip! That is what worked for me. I use my dominant left hand for over and my weaker right hand for under. I also like the idea of using the squeeze ball to increase grip strength. Supposedly grip strength has a lot to do with increased longevity. The better your grip strength the longer life expectancy you have.

I did Upper Body Power PHUL today.
@canadianlbs has gotten me interested in BCAAs so I picked some up today. I workout fasted so I'm concerned about muscles loss. I've lost 9+lbs steadily since Oct 1. & ive lost some muscle along with a lot of fat. My lifts are not where I want them. I'm also considering doing a Leangains recomp cycle: more calories on lifting days and less on rest days. Ends up being right at TDEE so hopefully I won't gain. Scared

Picked up new training programme from pt and we're still on hypertrophy work now sets of 15. And I'm meant to do hip thrusts with barbell, which themselves aren't a problem just doing them in front of guys is. And just when I was starting to get hang of PHUL so.... I'll run his programme next few weeks then talk to him about PHUL. I suppose I could always add a couple of power set at the end of the hypertrophy reps. But will definitely stay with 4 day split.

Sumiblue wrote: »

@canadianlbs has gotten me interested in BCAAs so I picked some up today.

i'm thinking about the recomp potential here, too. so for the sake of record-keeping, i'll mention that i weighed 136.4 in the gym yesterday. and using deadlifts as my corresponding data point for my strength: 130 for 1x7 or so. the packaging on mine is full of excitable claims about 'stimulating muscle growth' and all that as well . . . and it's full of b vitamins, which can't be a bad thing either.

it does seems to have helped unbelievably with next-day doms. i think that was why @krokador suggested that i should try it, and so far she was right on the money with it. i have just no business feeling this fine after all that i did yesterday.

so i'll see. it feels kind of extreme and hardcore, compared with mild measures like protein and creatine, so i'm a little bit frightened of it. have mental images of myself being unable to lift a toothpick without my bcaa's to help me - and if i'm honest the effect it had yesterday really did have me thinking of words like 'steroid'. but on the other hand, maybe my problem is just that i'm 50 and my body's in 'okay you can start to ditch muscle now' mode.

@kimiuzzell - Nice work on the squat. Woot!

@Ariadnula - ooo new gym clothes. The no locker thing is a pain though. My gym doesn't have that big of a problem though I did noticed a little puddle forming near the cable set-up so they might want to fix their roof at some point cause it rains often here.

@BethAnnieT - I like under over. Lately, I've been doing some sets with the left under and at least one set with the right under so not to get too off balanced. Feels really awkward at first having the dominant hand as under but getting used to it. Anything 185 or above I need the under over grip, unless using straps. I do those both overhand so far.

I actually have been taking BCAAs for a few weeks now. Got some on a cyber monday deal from Myprotein. I mix it with about half of a packet of crystal light and use one of my bigger water bottles cause the watermelon flavor was too sweet for me, so the lemonade helps. I'm not the best at even hitting 80 grams of protein some days, so figured it couldn't hurt to use some.

Very long day today but I managed to accomplish a few things off my list. I went to a running store up in Portland and ended up getting two pairs of shoes to go between as I get training for the half marathon. One pair was 50% off, which is why I went with both. Two brands but they are similar in style with one being a lesser known brand. Got the Altra pair on clearance cause a new model came out. The other running shoe I got was a brand called Topo. Both have a bit of a wider toe box but are still on the minimal side as far as cushion is concerned. Shoe guy was pretty nice and gave me some stretch tips to work on my hip issue cause I need to do some mobility and foam rolling one of these days... Then I went to the Nike Factory store and found a pair of cross bionic on sale, so now I have shoes for lifting too. Yay shoes!

Gym was packed too cause I went after 6 pm but after the drive and 5pm Portland traffic X.X there wasn't a desire to drive home then turn around later to get to the gym. Very long session with the cardio after lifting but glad I got it all done.

56 - Upper Hypertrophy

incline bench 4x10 @ 75 - decent and might try 80 next time.
seated row 4x8 @ 90 - decided to try increase as I've done 80 for long time, challenging but managed to do it.
lat raise 4x10 @ 12.5 - still a challenge by the end
db fly 4x9 @ 22.5 - a little harder now but still not too bad
one db row 4x9 @ 35 - still feels heavy but make it through
cable bicep curl 4x8 @ 60 - finally tried to increase
tricep ext 4x10 @ 80 - tough but not bad
face pull 4x 10 @ 50 - although got them all, really feel them during the reps.

Then 5 minute warm up, 60 minute jog though paused part way to reset treadmill cause 60 was all it was going to allow total and about 10 minute walk cool down.

half dose of bcaas and also creatine, compared with yesterday. still pretty good workout, although not bulletproof. i lifted in my rain/hiking boots, partly perversity partly curiosity, and i don't think i'll do that again. they were fine but don't feel like my regular shoes so i felt a little bit hampered in them.

squats: 75. i'm re-engineering my form yet again. did warmup sets at 45, 50, 55, 60, 65, and then 4x5@70 before i decided why not, and went up to 75 and did 5x5 there. so volume if nothing else. and 100 air squats before leaving home, with webcam. it's a middling weight but i'm content because it's 20lbs up from monday when i was just hunting for form.

rows: 70. didn't mean to; actually already did 3x5@60 for rows, but then little old man offered me his used women's bar with the big trainer plates and 10's on it. long story. i had been going to do 65 anyway, so i just went with this instead. glad i did. it was challenging and i haven't challenged rows much since ribageddon.

bench: 45, 50, 55, 60. i was just messing around. to be honest, i don't care if i never bench press again; of all the lifts it's the one i see as the most expendable. but i did this much so i didn't do nothing, and the whole thing is a form/grip adjustment as well so i'm okay with the lower demand.

ohp: 45. again, just accessorizing. today was technically bench and rows day, and i didn't need to press at all. i just like it, so i did 5 sets or so. will be officially pressing on friday at trainer day, and i want my 65lb overhead press back pretty soon.

added some pulldowns at 35, a few negligible deadlifts, some fooling around with the clean . . . and i may have attempted tgu's but if i did i'm not confessing it here. also tried some pullup negatives but whoa. that's not going well since the rib issue showed up.

rib still okay. seems to be anyway. so sleepy now.

Lifted after a short cashier shift. Rather boring night at work and slow. My knees got a bit more achy than usual during lifting and wonder if it's because the short shift wasn't one where I moved around more other than out of boredom when didn't have customers. Hard to say. I also didn't eat a whole lot before gym since I didn't take a lunch break, but did get some gummy bears on the way after work. mmm


57 - Lower Hypertrophy

front squat 3x10 @ 90 and 1x10 @ 110 - not bad, wrists bit achy and balance gets a slight challenge by the end on the crossed arm set.
curtsy lunge 4x10 @ 85 - same weight and knees were a bit cranky tonight
good morning 4x12 @ 85
leg extension 4x9 @ 95
seat calf 4x12 @ 120
rdl 3x8 @ 140 - hands struggled a little on the last reps
sumo 3x5 @ 170 - first set was a bit off, got a little better on the other ones

Tomorrow is rest and freight, but if I can get myself up early enough (as in not 11 am) then I might go check out the gym by work. It's the one I've considered that has a location near my home as well but they are having a short, new year deal so if that price was accurate, might really be something to consider. We'll see.