20 Weeks of Strength Building - Team Finish_No_Matter_What
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Weekly check in! I only worked out once last week, but I am okay with that. There is a sickness going around, and I feel like Im fighting it, so very tired. My husband was home all week which makes it difficult to prioritize my own agenda. The goal was progress on my strength program and since my leg injury, I see any weightlifting each week as good progress!
Planning on lifting 2x this week.
Forgot to log my workout last week.
1/19 workout: SL 5x5
Squats1x5 45#/55#, 5x5 60#
OHP 5x5 50#
DL 1x5 95#
Start Weight: 204#
1/16/17 199.6
1/23/17: 199.0# total loss: 5#
End Date: 05/06/2017 179#
How did I do this week on my goals?
1. lose 25# of fat...only 20# to go! making great progress
2. stick to a low carb diet check!
3. Follow hunger cues, and only eat when hungry still some room for improvement
4. Improve mobility and be rid of the pain in my leg check!
5. Strengthen my back and hips (injury prevention) check!
Lets add #6.
6. Strong lifts 2x per week miss!2 -
Kirstie, congrats on your pain free. I can only imagine how exciting that must feel.
Thank you It is very exciting! I do feel a tightness in my hip after I do squats, so I have to be careful not to overdo it, and make sure to stretch and take soaking baths. Squats are my favorite, so this has been really frustrating for me...but getting much better!
Nice job everyone! Lets make this week a good one!1 -
Kristie- fantastic job! I glad that your hip is feeling better!
Mary1 -
Stronglift Rest Day
Kettlebell Swing
Goblet squat-6X5X 30
Russian kettle bell swing-44X7X 30
40lbs loss by May 27th Challenge
Fitness Test
Push-ups-4X 15
Sit ups-4X 15
Jumping jacks-4X 15
The scale is still being good to me!1 -
Thank you Mary! Nice workout 1
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Wow, that was a lot of great status to read.
Fanncy congrats on the loss. I can really relate to how challenging it is to lose the pounds because it's no fun having to restrict calories. Must be motivating though as long you are seeing results. I'm still waiting patiently for my results.
Kirstie, you are working those goals. I am always intrigued when someone says that squats are their favorite exercise. It's absolutely my least favorite. Deadlifts are my favorite but I like the result of OHP more than any of them. I can't even lift very much and yet they manage to give me the best feedback in the shortest amount of time.
Rachel way to stay true to your plan. The weekends can be definitely be challenging. You had some great workouts.
Keep up the great work everyone as I am looking for to official 4 week result sharing at the end this week. I don't know what mine will be but I am excited about it.2 -
Week: 4 Workout: #1
Monday, January 23, 2017 at 5:10 AM
Deadlifts 100 lb 4 × 6
Shoulder Press 39 lb 4 × 6
Bentover DB Rows 30 lbs 4 x 6 My neck has been hurting from the inverted rows. Makes it very difficult to sleep at night. Pretty sure I was doing them wrong. Might try them again once the hurt is gone. Substituting with this for now.
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Squats: 5x5 @ 120. Highest weight yet, and super dream ultimate weight goal. I loved how I looked last time I was at 125 but I could definitely still take off another 5 lb and look great at that point so that's my reach for the stars kinda goal.
OHP: 1x5 $ 45, 5x5@ 50. I think I'll be stuck at 50 for the rest of my life, lol.
Deadlift: 1x5 @ 120.
So far I haven't lost any more weight, although I'm back to where I was before Christmas. I weighed in on 1/1 at 181 lb, most recently weighed in between 175 and 176 so back to my last stall point but no further weight loss to date. I'm so-so about tracking my food but I'm also pretty sure I'm in a reasonable deficit so it's a little frustrating to see no further weight loss beyond holiday water weight. At least I'm back to 3 workouts a week now that the neverending sinus infection is just a bit of sniffling and some morning/nighttime coughing.2 -
DDHFree-you are doing fantastic with your workouts! I have difficulty with the barbell row. I really need to gain strength now so I might add reps instead of weight. I think the DB rows will work really well for you. I can't believe it is all ready week four! It will be exciting to see the results at the end of this week. I plan on taking another set of measurements then as well. I know that I have made progress in inches loss. Thanks for creating this thread it is a big part of what keeps me going!
Mary2 -
This group makes me happy
DD and Mary, rows are my least favorite lift, I lift at home and don't have plates big enough to raise the bar to the right level for me so I have to jerryrig it
I might like them more if I wasn't afraid the bar will roll off and squash my foot. I love squats because I have a really flat pancake butt, and I dream that one day my squats will transform it to a nice bubbly booty A girl can dream, right? 2 -
Bentover DB Rows 30 lbs 4 x 6 My neck has been hurting from the inverted rows. Makes it very difficult to sleep at night. Pretty sure I was doing them wrong. Might try them again once the hurt is gone. Substituting with this for now.
I don't do Pendlay rows for this reason. My trainer advised me to stay at more of a 45 degree back angle instead of the 90 degree that Medhi shows on his videos, and that made a big difference for neck/upper back pain. I still hate rows, but I would hate them more if my neck was sore for days afterward like it was the first couple times I did Pendlays.
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I want to mention something about squats. To get the best bang for your buck! You have to make sure that you are going parallel. I was all the way up to squatting 135 pounds until I noticed in the mirror that was placed in front of my squat rack when we were remodeling that I wasn't going parallel. I did a serious deload until I could actually squat to parallel that brought me all the way back down to 80 pounds! Even right now I know without a doubt I could put 125 or more pounds on my back and do a squat but not a real one! I will not ever remove that mirror from my workout spot. I have to say that since I have been squatting correctly that you cannot put a pencil underneath my rear end and have it stay there instead it would fall to the ground. I remember being astonished one day when I looked in the mirror and my rear end was halfway down to my knees! No joke or exaggeration! Not anymore!2
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WEEK 4
DAY 1 - CHEST
Bench Press
Set 1: 55 lb x 3
Set 2: 60 lb x 3
Set 3: 67.5 lb x 10
Accessory lifts:
Incline Dumbbell Press
50 lb x 10 x 3
Bench Push ups
10 x 3
Cardio:
Elliptical - HIIT1 -
@fanncy0626 Couldn't agree more! It's also amazing what correct form does for your knees. I've always had knee problems and used to have to squat/lunge with double knee braces. Once I learned to squat with proper form and break parallel, I was able to progress and lift with almost zero pain. It's been over a year, and I haven't needed braces, wraps, or anything else since.2
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cherrybomb333- fantastic accomplishment!2
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5x5 workout A today.
Squats 2x5 #45, 5x5 #65
BP 2x5 #45, 5x5 #55
Rows 5x5 #50
Planks 3x 30 seconds
Attempted to also do the Jillian Michaels Ripped in 30 video...Hah. Did about half and said no way! Soaking in Epsom salt bath and going to bed I took some progress pictures. Maybe I should hold off and do it every 6-8 weeks instead of every Monday. I look fatter than last week!
Mary, thanks for the reminder about squats. I always squat past parallel, sometimes almost so low my butt touches my heels. I've been trying not to go so deep! Makes it difficult not to pitch forward too much. Hope you all had a great day!2 -
Got my 5x5 done and some walking! Had to lower weight a little on squat and deadlift. Not sure yet if my legs were just tired from 10 miles yesterday or muscle loss. I guess time will tell.1
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Stronglift Workout B
Squats-1X5X 55/65/75, 5X5X 85
OHP- One X5X 45/50/60, 5X5X 55
DL- One X5X 95/105/115/125/130
Kettlebell Swing
Goblet squats-3X5X30
Russian kettle bell swing-20 3X7X 30
40lbs loss by May 27th Challenge
Fitness Test
Push-ups-4×15
Set up-4×15
Jumping jacks-4×151 -
Amy, I hear you on the OHP. My highest was only 46 lbs last time around and I felt like I'd never go any higher. But I didn't care as my shoulder were starting to look so sexy -- so truth be told, I'd be okay lifting just the naked bar as long as my shoulders eventually reflect the look I want. I did Pendlay rows last time around but I never felt the neck pain that I currently feel. I stopped the Pendlay rows because I just found them to be way too akward. But so glad you shared because it helps when trying to decide which exercises to do for my back.
Fanncy, thanks for input on the DB Rows. Perhaps I will stay with those. What a great reminder on the squats. I too do them such that I break parallel every time which may be the reason I hate them so much. I could lift more right now but I just dread them already that I am not going to rush it. LOL!
Kirstie, I also lift at home. I tried them several ways in the past. I tried putting them on safety rails since I can adjust the rails as low or high as I like. But the barbell would roll iron on iron and I did not like that for my expensive Rogue female barbell. I tried to buy something to cover the safety rails but nothing work. I believe you can create that bubble -- so keep squatting Kirstie.
I really hope I have great overall 4 weeks results. So excited for us all to share.3 -
Kristie- I am so over any type of cardio workout! Way too much exertion for me! I preferred the results I get from heavy lifting as well as the amount of effort put into it. In reality, 21 lifts today = 21x30sec work time is really only 10.5 minutes of actual work out of one hour. The workout that I do for the Kettlebell is very similar to strong lift workout. For the 26 swings equals 26×15 seconds work time is really only 6.5 minutes of actual work time. And you have to love the afterburn of heavy lifting on your muscles! I have to say though that my niece did lose a lot of weight after doing the 30 day shred. However, she did call me up because she wanted to get more muscle definition! Now she has my lighter Kettlebell.
Mary1
