April Progress
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tameko2
Posts: 31,634 Member
Hi Ladies, I was thinking maybe:
Post your schedule (what days you are working out) and how you are doing, where you're at, questions, comments etc?
Post your schedule (what days you are working out) and how you are doing, where you're at, questions, comments etc?
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Replies
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Great idea! I'm starting tomorrow and plan on doing Wednesdays, Fridays, and Sundays. I've been doing NROL4W so I'm not going in completely new. I'll come back tomorrow and post my starting stats.0
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Totally new at this and did the first workout tonight. I am going to plan on doing Tuesday/Thursday/Saturday and adjust as needed.0
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I started the program a little over a week ago. My schedule is Tue/Thu/Sun.0
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No schedule yet, was meant to go today but hungover. So tomorrow... so perhaps a wed/fri/sun? we shall see.
So what are everybodies goals for April?
I downloaded all the stuff from the website but I haven't read any of it yet, so I don't know if it is possible, but I'd like to see if I can make it through April without stalling.0 -
No schedule yet, was meant to go today but hungover. So tomorrow... so perhaps a wed/fri/sun? we shall see.
So what are everybodies goals for April?
I downloaded all the stuff from the website but I haven't read any of it yet, so I don't know if it is possible, but I'd like to see if I can make it through April without stalling.
I recommend you just set a schedule that will work for you long term and stick to it. It makes it easier on the days when you REALLY don't want to go - you just think "I really don't want to go but its XX and that is a lifting day so off to the gym"
That way you have no excuses - you don't plan to do stuff those days (unless you can fit in lifting before or after) etc etc. You just go because its your lifting day.
I'm on a Monday - Thurs - Sat schedule. I suggest you avoid monday's if you go to a gym, they're so busy. My goals for april are to ..... bah, I dunno. Bust through the 130 squat for sure. Everything else I don't know where I'm gonna end up.
by the way - unless you're too injured or too sick, never skip a workout.0 -
No schedule yet, was meant to go today but hungover. So tomorrow... so perhaps a wed/fri/sun? we shall see.
So what are everybodies goals for April?
I downloaded all the stuff from the website but I haven't read any of it yet, so I don't know if it is possible, but I'd like to see if I can make it through April without stalling.
I recommend you just set a schedule that will work for you long term and stick to it. It makes it easier on the days when you REALLY don't want to go - you just think "I really don't want to go but its XX and that is a lifting day so off to the gym"
That way you have no excuses - you don't plan to do stuff those days (unless you can fit in lifting before or after) etc etc. You just go because its your lifting day.
I'm on a Monday - Thurs - Sat schedule. I suggest you avoid monday's if you go to a gym, they're so busy. My goals for april are to ..... bah, I dunno. Bust through the 130 squat for sure. Everything else I don't know where I'm gonna end up.
by the way - unless you're too injured or too sick, never skip a workout.
It is rarely an issue of not wanting to go. I love lifting - and I get all depressed when I miss a gym day anyways, need the endorphins!
, more of a things have come up so I haven't set the schedule yet (and I would have lost my lunch if I tried to do anything today, lol!) ... Plus, I'll also probably cheat and just do every other day and not the two days off unless work comes up, so that'll interfere with a set/day schedule.
Anywho, I'm a rambler. Deadlifts and shoulderpress tomorrow!
Are you stuck at 130 now? What are you doing to try and work through it? I just had a glance through the pdf... too many big words for the night, 3x5 looks like the next step?
Good luck!0 -
I just started tonight! Enjoyed it very much. Hoping to do Tues/Thurs/Sun since I am also starting C25K and planning on doing that Mon/Wed/Fri. That leaves Saturday as my only rest day, but I think as long as I'm eating enough, I should do fine.
Pendlay rows seem pretty difficult unless you have a lot of weight on the bar to lift it off the ground a little more, but I guess I could have put a plate under each side this time to give it more lift. Just seemed awkward tonight. But my squat form is much better now that I've been practicing and reading Starting Strength. I have a feeling my bench press is going to increase more quickly than my squat though, which seems strange.0 -
I just started tonight! Enjoyed it very much. Hoping to do Tues/Thurs/Sun since I am also starting C25K and planning on doing that Mon/Wed/Fri. That leaves Saturday as my only rest day, but I think as long as I'm eating enough, I should do fine.
Pendlay rows seem pretty difficult unless you have a lot of weight on the bar to lift it off the ground a little more, but I guess I could have put a plate under each side this time to give it more lift. Just seemed awkward tonight. But my squat form is much better now that I've been practicing and reading Starting Strength. I have a feeling my bench press is going to increase more quickly than my squat though, which seems strange.
Kicking *kitten* and taking names! You'll be doing push ups like a mad lady soon
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Are you stuck at 130 now? What are you doing to try and work through it? I just had a glance through the pdf... too many big words for the night, 3x5 looks like the next step?
Nope, that was only my first de-load. The way the program works (I couldn't get through the damn pdf the first time either, its like having someone rub their gigantic sweaty bicep all over your face) for deloads is:
If you fail on a weight (can't complete all 5 sets with full ROM) then you do that SAMe weight the next workout instead of adding weight.
If you fail the next time, you do the same weight again.
If you fail the THIRD time, you deload 10% and start the next workout from that number.
So I failed at 130, then deloaded to 115. So it should go Thurs - 120, Sat - 125, Mon - 130 and then if I do it monday, I'll do 135 on Thursday. If I *don't* get it monday, I follow the above again.
After 2 deloads its time to change the program, ALTHOUGH there is some leverage for fractional plates there that I haven't tried out yet. I probably need to get some -- he does very little advice for women because 99.99% of SL people are guys, but there is a blog post mentioning fractional plates for smaller guys and ladies particularly on stuff like Bench press and overhead press.
Actually I probably need to get them NOW, I'm getting to the point where all my weights are heavy on that stuff. I barely pushed through the 65lb overhead press and the 75lb bench.
hmm - oh and my other tip is, don't assume you're going to fail. Don't stop a set because you "know" you're going to fail. Just squeeze out that last rep as best you can - sometimes you have one more rep left in you even when you don't know you do.
PS: Glados, yeah, **** pendlay rows.
They are awesome as an exercise but you have you put SO many freaking plates under them to put them at a reasonable level (IMO).
PPS: Take a ton of videos of the pendlay rows because I am incapable of telling how well I am doing on those, luckly I have a workout buddy telling me my butt's too high/too low/back isnt' arched enough, whatever. (I can't arch it any more dammit, my belly hits my thighs, its not MY fault I'm fat ..no wait, it is)0 -
Ha! Glad someone else thinks pendlay rows are weird.
So another thing - I feel like I'm not laying on the bench correctly. Either my feet are dangling (do they HAVE to be completely flat and on the ground?) or my lower back seems really arched. Or both! My glutes are stuck to it, so that is good, just seems strange. Like my bench is meant for really tall people even though I'm 5'10"! Maybe it's just something to get used to but I want to make sure I'm not going to hurt myself as I go heavier.0 -
Ha! Glad someone else thinks pendlay rows are weird.
So another thing - I feel like I'm not laying on the bench correctly. Either my feet are dangling (do they HAVE to be completely flat and on the ground?) or my lower back seems really arched. Or both! My glutes are stuck to it, so that is good, just seems strange. Like my bench is meant for really tall people even though I'm 5'10"! Maybe it's just something to get used to but I want to make sure I'm not going to hurt myself as I go heavier.
Proper bench form is actually for your back to be arched. Yup. also feet should be fairly widely set, not at the END of the bench but on either side of the bench. and shoulders are down, squeezed together and nailed to the bench.
The reason your back arches is you are basically pushing your chest as close to the bar as possible, thus shortening the distance between the bar and your chest. These illustrations are awesome.
http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/training/bench-press-technique.html (scroll down)0 -
I will confess now that I did regular barbell rows for a few weeks. Because I tried the pendlay's once and was like "WTF is this ****, this is WEIRD" -- but Ive switched now. and I had to deload to switch.
We're still messing around with them honestly. Just remember to pull EXPLOSIVELY up, and then put the weight all the way down. Its actually NOTHING like a barbell row.0 -
This is my 5th week of SL. I'm on a MWF schedule. I do think I'm going to deload and work on form for a couple of lifts. I've already started by deloading on the ohp. I hate that I have so little upper body strength.0
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Hi all,
I'm starting next week since my gym is being renovated and is closed this week. I'll be doing Tuesday/Thursday/Sunday.0 -
I'm starting on Monday and will do Mon/Wed/Friday. I'm going to post my starting stats on Monday as well...maybe I'll do that in a separate thread just in case anyone wants to post as well so we can keep track together. I'd say we should do a challenge, but I have no idea what the goal would be since I'm new to the program and I'm sure everyone will be different. Just going to try to stick to it!0
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Ha! Glad someone else thinks pendlay rows are weird.
So another thing - I feel like I'm not laying on the bench correctly. Either my feet are dangling (do they HAVE to be completely flat and on the ground?) or my lower back seems really arched. Or both! My glutes are stuck to it, so that is good, just seems strange. Like my bench is meant for really tall people even though I'm 5'10"! Maybe it's just something to get used to but I want to make sure I'm not going to hurt myself as I go heavier.
Proper bench form is actually for your back to be arched. Yup. also feet should be fairly widely set, not at the END of the bench but on either side of the bench. and shoulders are down, squeezed together and nailed to the bench.
The reason your back arches is you are basically pushing your chest as close to the bar as possible, thus shortening the distance between the bar and your chest. These illustrations are awesome.
http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/training/bench-press-technique.html (scroll down)
Oooh these are some good pictures and video. Thanks! I was doing it totally wrong. No wonder I wasn't feeling it in my pecs.0 -
Ha! Glad someone else thinks pendlay rows are weird.
So another thing - I feel like I'm not laying on the bench correctly. Either my feet are dangling (do they HAVE to be completely flat and on the ground?) or my lower back seems really arched. Or both! My glutes are stuck to it, so that is good, just seems strange. Like my bench is meant for really tall people even though I'm 5'10"! Maybe it's just something to get used to but I want to make sure I'm not going to hurt myself as I go heavier.
Proper bench form is actually for your back to be arched. Yup. also feet should be fairly widely set, not at the END of the bench but on either side of the bench. and shoulders are down, squeezed together and nailed to the bench.
The reason your back arches is you are basically pushing your chest as close to the bar as possible, thus shortening the distance between the bar and your chest. These illustrations are awesome.
http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/training/bench-press-technique.html (scroll down)
Oooh these are some good pictures and video. Thanks! I was doing it totally wrong. No wonder I wasn't feeling it in my pecs.
:ohwell: I was, too. AND I was doing stiff leg deadlifts... facepalm. I'm going to deload and work on getting them right. :sigh:0 -
@tameko - best description of the PDF!
. Thanks for the easy to read recap of it as well! 0 -
ahh it does my heart good to be in the company of funny women who are lifting Love it!
So my plan is to give myself two days or three between workouts for recovery. I've got some side medical issues blah blah blah- I need the time.
I'm currently working on building up strength in my hams to be able to squat my bodyweight. So not squatting well yet. Working on getting my CNS up to speed to handle the complex moves. Building muscle memory I suppose?
Today I'm going to do the chest presses and rows- I was going to do them a few days ago but my body put a stop to that pretty quick. Hoping to be up to ten pounds today! In a few days I'll work on my hams and deadlifts.
Oh an yeah- on the bench- anyone else have trouble with their rear not letting them lie down right? I've thought about getting a shorter bench and just letting my *kitten* hang off the end. Is that nuts? I have no idea. I feel like my back is TOO arched. Can we do an incline press or is that inferior in some way to the flat press?0 -
:ohwell: I was, too. AND I was doing stiff leg deadlifts... facepalm. I'm going to deload and work on getting them right. :sigh:
I did stiff leg deadlifts before SL - they're a nice foundation but the movement is quite different. watch a lot of videos and grab a light amount to work on the form.Oh an yeah- on the bench- anyone else have trouble with their rear not letting them lie down right? I've thought about getting a shorter bench and just letting my *kitten* hang off the end. Is that nuts? I have no idea. I feel like my back is TOO arched. Can we do an incline press or is that inferior in some way to the flat press?
Its totally different gemi. Not inferior, just a different movement. Did you look at the pictures on the site I linked? take a picture of yourself if you can and compare the form0
