Yay May! I think this is the first exercise program in a while I've stuck with for at least a month. I'm loving it, and I'm excited to see where I am at the end and what other kinds of lifting exercised I can try.

tameko - If it were me I would start using the fractional plates and see how far you can get there. If you're still failing then maybe deload more?

Q - You definitely can still be here! You're doing awesome with all of those other lifts! I will say though that there is really no perfect form really. As long as the basics of the exercise are down, add weight and see how it feels. Also record it and see if your form is still there with the weight. I think there is often some variation people because of height, weight, length of your legs and torso, and overall flexibility. At least, that is what I'm learning with deadlifts.

I am starting May at:

Squats: 90 lbs last time, so hopefully 95 lbs this time. Eeek... almost 100 lbs! Insane. These are getting super tough.
OHP: I am going to try 50 lbs again and see how far I get. Where I go from there depends on how terrible I fail this time.
Bench: 65 lbs last time, so up to 70 lbs today.
Row: Eff these! Haha I'm still going to try 55 lbs and fix my form. Hopefully.
Deadlift: I think I may repeat my 130 lbs this week with better form before I increase again.

I still qualify, right? Even though I can't do squats? I've been practicing goblet squats. I can get much better form with these. Of course, I'm still not doing any kind of squat with any kind of weight b/c my form sucks *kitten*. I have a love/hate relationship with squats...I love to hate them. I don't know how perfect my form has to be before I can finally add some weight.

Bench and Rows are moving up to 70 lbs. I did both of these at 65 last time. That was due to an error on my part. The previous workout, I was supposed to bench 65 and row 60...I did the opposite. d'oh! I failed rows at 65 that time, obviously. The rows feel awkward to me, but I feel sore in between my shoulders for days after. So I kind of like that.

Overhead Press...tonight is attempt #3 at 55 lbs. I may have to deload. I forget...is it deload 10%? I've never truly deloaded before. I mean, my squats are completely unloaded, really. But I haven't had to deload another exercise yet.

Deadlifts...95 last time. Moving up to 105 tonight.

Psh, of course you qualify! Hope those squats move into a more love-love relationship for ya.

Who is on a calorie deficit? I'm currently doing SL on maintenance. I would like to lowering my BF a bit more and I don't know how I'll progress strength wise if I cut calories.

I'm on a deficit. I'm trying for 500 cals daily, but I think MFP numbers are too low. So I'm technically 450 cals deficit compared to MFP numbers. I was increasing cals by 50 each week, slowly building up, embracing the eat more mentality. But I think I'll leave it unchanged this week. My weight is still bouncing around between 5 and 10 lbs higher than before I started lifting. I haven't lost anything yet. Nor have I really lost inches yet.

This week is going to be shot. We have our County Fair shows at the end of the week. I was supposed to do my sl workout yesterday but that's when my kids' mentor showed up. So, I'm not sure how I'm going to get it all in this week. I needed a small break last week so I threw sl into a circuit training-like system and added farmers walk, inverted rows, modified push ups, planks, and single leg romanian deadlifts. It made for a nice twist but I'm going back to sl and upping my cardio or adding circuit training on off days this month.

I eat at a deficit (20% below tdee) I haven't noticed a problem (yet). Most of my problems have been with form, due to being new to lifting and not having anyone to help me or upper body weakness ~~> OHP

I'm starting May off with....

squats - 85
bench press - 75
barbell rows - 95
dead lift - 135
overhead press - 65

And a bodyfat % that is 6% less than it was when I started almost a month ago!! :drinker:

Hard to believe it's May already!

Got my power rack all set up on Saturday and boy, does that Olympic bar feel alot heavy than the lighter bar I was using with extra weights. But here's what I'm doing:

Squats: 70
Bench Press: 65
Row: 70
OP: 60
Deadlift: 120

The overhead press is the absolute hardest for me. I think I may have to deload a bit since I really struggled last time and lost form completely by the end. Making progress though, as are all of you.

yay, i was waiting for may to get in on this since the april thread was already so long (yeah, i was too shy)

i started april 1 and took the week off last week, but here's where i'm at :

squat : 110
bench : 75
row : 70
OHP : 60
DL : 125

i can tell i will hit my max on that OHP soon, maybe i'll pull the 65 but i think i'll be repeating that one.
everything else is good so far. hard, but good. i look forward to the month, i think i will see some more gains and then hopefully some new challenges to overcome. is it odd that i'm kinda looking forward to 'failing' so that i can then work past it?


Q : of course you qualify ♥

and for all the other ladies : you kick *kitten* and i'm proud to be in your company.

Who is on a calorie deficit? I'm currently doing SL on maintenance. I would like to lowering my BF a bit more and I don't know how I'll progress strength wise if I cut calories.

I'm on a 200-400 calorie deficit. I am seeing if I can lose 5ish lbs without sacrificing strength. If yes, then I can lift in the 123.5 weight class...If not, then I'm actually fine being in the 132 class. I'm hovering around 129 right now. I'll see how things go by early to mid-June and bump up to maintenance (or above) before my late-July meet.

I'm also eating at a deficit, about 20% below maintenance or so. I have felt fine with strength and increasing weight on my lifts.

I didn't participate in this thread last month because I started about half-way through.

Notes: I started deadlifts with just the bar because I wanted to perfect form. Ditto only going up 5lbs instead of the recommended 10. I'm more nervous about hurting my back on this than I am the squat, because I did it wrong a few years ago and wrenched my back.
Stalled on bench first day. *sigh*
Started overhead and row with a 30lb bar

Squat: 80 lbs (stalled last time; today did 5/5/5/5/4.5 (went down, broke form getting back up)
Overhead: 45
Dead: 70
Bench: 50
Row 45

I'm in calorie deficit, working with doctor and nutritionist. I am currently 187 lbs. Doc would like me to get to 120 or so, but if I'm muscular, I'll be happy at 145.

I'm really tempted to do regular bent over rows instead of pendlay rows. I freaking hate these things. I can't go too heavy or I know I'm not doing them right, but I can't seem to get the bar far enough off the ground when I'm at a lower weight to do them right. I don't have any risers at home so I stack plates up but they move around too much.

And I failed at 70 on the bench tonight! And my bench doesn't fit in the rack and I have no spotter. AND, I tried to do the roll of shame, but turns out, my tv stand/table is in the way when I roll it down. Holy ****. It scared the crap out of me. Really had to work to get out from under it. So, I need to arrange the bench in my room better next time... yikes.

But 95 lbs on my squat!

First May workout!

Squats - 80lbs +5 next time, yay!
Bench - 65, failed on rep 3 of set 5 with no spotter!! Did the roll of shame, opps :blushing:
Pendlay rows - rocked em @ 75lbs, +5 next time, woot!

I can't wait to start using 25lb plates for the rows, I hate stacking the weights under the bar. I feel like I make a scene at the gym every time I do these.

Q - what is it about the squat you can't get - is it flexibility or are you feeling pain? There are a lot of mobility video's you can access to help you work out both and I find the right stretching prior to squatting really opens up your hips and gets you that range of motion.
here are a few mobility videos you can work through before you squat:

http://www.mobilitywod.com/2012/01/episode-363365-pre-squat-hip-opener-mob-rx.html
This one I really like and do EVERY warm up

http://www.mobilitywod.com/2012/02/episode-365365-project-completed-10-min-squat-test.html

http://www.mobilitywod.com/2011/10/episode-336365-improving-the-bottom-position-of-the-squatcleansnatch.html

http://www.catalystathletics.com/media/video/video.php?videoID=135

Hope these vids help - I know I love the mobilitywods and refer back to them for all my joint tweaks/aches and pains.

I'll be honest with you all, I have a really hard time wrapping my head around the "eat your exercise calories back", it's my own demon and I hope y'all don't judge. I try to keep my calories between 1200-1500/day even on my big crossfit or running days. I have tried to eat more - I did for 3 months and packed on 13 pounds. At 1500, I'm at maintenance. If I get down to 1200, I see a very slow weight loss (perhaps .4 to .6 every 8-10 days). I am metabolically challenged :grumble: , have insulin resistance and on 2 types of medications to regulate it. My endo feels this is genetic and not a result of my "environment" (my dad was fit, a tennis instructor and he passed away from heart disease and diabetes).
I'm currently hovering at 180, my goal is 160.

Ask if you qualify for Byetta. If your insurance will cover it, it will jumpstart your weightloss and lower the amt of insulin you take. I'm off insulin completely at this point and have moved to Metformin. I had to quit Byetta due to cost, but I lost 20 lbs right off the bat w/out changing exercise, in about 2 months, I had a much higher BF % than you do at this point but I would imagine that it would help you. Also dropping starches altogether is recommended by some people along with keeping carbs at 100g/day. I found that too difficult to maintain, personally. So I try to reach for protien or water instead of carbs when I'm hungry. I found some chia bulk to try, but its too soon to say if it's helping curb my cravings enough to impact weight.

From what I've read I'm guessing xfit is essentially HIIT so that should help as well.

For the other lady (names escape me atm) since you are so close to correct BF you will likely not be able to gain much muscle on a deficiet if any. You may need to eat at maintainance or surplus to gain weight and utilize bulk/cut cycles. I have no idea how to do this as I'm pretty far away from that currently, but hoping to move to somewhat of a cut cycle by the end of May. You pretty much have to be obese in order to lose fat and gain muscle at the same time.

Session 4/ WK2D1

Got a wild hair to stick in a session this morning before getting on the road again. Didn't eat first which in hind sight was a mistake but really wasn't hungry. Won't make that mistake again as I felt pretty wack after the session.

Squats #60
OH Pres #50 5-5-3-3-1 Fail
Deadlift #85

I am banking on the whole "failure is success" stuff. Have a fab day people!

My May #'s:

Squat - 75
Bench - 60
Pendlay rows - 70
Overhead press - 50
Deadlift - 115 (my bodyweight, yay!)

I definitely haven't added 5 pounds every week--can't do it without my form suffering. I am ok with that.