JamBlaze Member

Hey All, Checking in after a 2 week hiatus due to burn out! Going to listen to my body more and eat more this time! Still REALLY struggling to get anywhere near my protein intake goals, but oh well :/ 28kg dumbbell squat 16kg dumbbell bench press 35kg deadlift

Any dumbbell lifters here use weight lifting hand straps? I only found out these existed today. Read a few articles about them, and - using them properly (when you absolutely need to/when fighting gravity) - they seem to be useful. I don't have a power rack or anything like that at my gym, so for my squats and bench…

Thanks all. I haven't asked the stronglift group specifically, as I wasn't sure whether it was the weight training specifically that was the cause. I think I'll try upping my calories to maintenance for a couple of weeks and toning down the exercise, see if that works. If not, I'll just take a complete workout break.…

Finding it hard to keep motivated at the moment. I think I'm just getting bored of the same two workouts in the same gym, with the same atmosphere :/ It's the same rubbish r 'n' b tunes. The same meat head men staring at me when I work out. The same scramble to use the correct weight dumb bells (my gym has only 1 set of…

Thanks! I've had a look at that - my gym also doesn't do kettlebells! (but it is £20 a month, which is RIDICULOUSLY CHEAP for London) At the moment I'm doing just a standard dumbbell squat (http://tinyurl.com/kf2q89x) - is there a reason why the goblet squat is better?

Actually decided to get off my bum and take the bull by the horns (as it were) - just emailed him! No idea whether he actually reads his emails or not. I was perfectly polite - just asked what he thought about his female followers. I hope I don't get blasted in his next email update, or simply ignored. Finger's crossed!

Hello! I'm Kate! I live in London (UK.) I'm 31. I work, eat, sleep and breathe videogames. I'm a hobby addict - running, sewing, writing, climbing, Spanish-speaking... I wish there were more hours in the day to do more hobbies! When I was young, I was very shy, but now I seem to have gone too far the other way. I…

First day back on workout A after a 2 week break due to my left groin area being sore. Oddly it's completely fine when I workout, but a while afterwards I get a weird ache. Hoping I haven't forgotten my form, and the weights room won't be full of the usual idiots. Reading up on dumbbell squats (no power rack/squat rack at…

Agreed. It's a shame. Know he wants to develop this elitist hardman vibe for his group to make it aspirational, but he'd probably get more members if he was a bit more inclusive.

Really hard to find the book in the UK, and 5x5 is easy as it's online!

Still got a groin injury, so sticking with OHP and bench press with barbells. Moved up to 18kg on the barbells, so I'm happy about that! Not too down about it as I'm very lower body strength heavy anyway. Might be good to give my upper body a chance to catch up!

London bound here. Maintaining and beginning lifting. Always looking for new web buddies!

Honestly, don't beat yourself up about it. You realise where you've gone wrong, you're on it - everyone has periods where they go off track, get fed up, complacent, distracted, whatever. The weight will come off again.

How much cardio are you currently doing? I wouldn't drop a weights session. Personally, I do 2 sessions purely weights, then 1 session there I do a 15 - 20 minute run afterwards, and then I do a workout DVD OR go for a run on the weekend (I lift Mon - Weds - Fri). Seems to be working fine for me. Sorry to hear about your…

Thank you! That's a great response and you're right. I started this program because I wanted to feel myself getting stronger - I have no time limit or deadline, I just want to do my best, so thanks. I'm going to up the frequency :)

Checking in! Workout A today. Initially didn't think I'd do that well, but pleased to say I improved weight on squats and row - woo hoo! It's also the first time I think I've actually enjoyed being in the weights room. I finally remembered to bring some music and earphones, which helped (my gym doesn't have a great…

Damnit, why didn't you tell me you had discovered zero calorie cake, or chips that are made of air!? *shakes fist*

How did you figure it out then? Spill! @lwoodroff - MFP is set to 1,800 calories a day, which gives me conservatively a 200 calorie deficit, but to be honest I go over 50% of the time anyway, so it balances out.

Since I started lifting I have been SO BLOODY HUNGRY. Already eaten two breakfasts and it's only 11am! Running didn't make me feel a fraction of this hunger. I get so hungry that after I eat, I feel this flood of RELIEF because all the stress of hunger has left my body. That's not normal. I know in theory I should eat…

The weights room in my gym is 95% male. It IS pretty intimidating, but I tell myself - maybe if more women like me begin to use it, other women will be more encouraged to use it too. Got to start changing the perception somewhere, y'know?

I understand that, but if you squat further down, it doesn't mean you can't keep your back straight, no?

Couldn't you just squat further down? Or am I doing it wrong - that's what I do! Ha.

Workout A today, and despite not being able to lift heavier on 2 out of 3, I saw a BIG improvement in my form, so I'm really pleased. Especially happy with my row - worked hard to stop curling my wrists at the top of the pull. Still shocked I can really see an improvement "just" doing five sets of five three times a week.

Thanks all. Will do as you suggest and pay less attention to my carbs. Had a big bowl of muesli for breakfast, so hoping that will keep me going!

I asked this question myself. After feedback from here and looking at the 5x5 site, this is what I went for: http://www.bodybuilding.com/exercises/detail/view/name/dumbbell-squat

Oh really? Hmm, for about a week and a half I've cut down my carbs from about 50% of my diet to 40%, nothing drastic. I can't imagine it's protein, as I'm eating a TON of it to try and hit my macros - maybe I just need to go over my carbs then. Almost scared to exercise at the moment, for fear of making the insane hunger…

Latest session: Dumbbell Squat 24kg, Dumbbell Bench 16kg, Row 20kg Still can't get over this crazy hunger I'm getting every day! It doesn't matter what I eat, I'm starving again 2 hours later.

I wonder why 5 x 5 doesn't list squatting with dumbells as a viable option? I've looked at that that Steinborn lift, I agree with bumblebums, it looks frightening! It could so easily go wrong. Surprised something like that would be recommended, and not dumbbell squatting. Also, a bit confused - I think 5 x 5 hints it…

Hey, thanks! The dumbbell squat looks good. I remember the first time I did tried the squat without the smith machine, I lifted the dumbbells so they were just above my shoulders - guess I thought if I put them as close to the position an actual barbell would be, that woud be best. But the dumbbell squat has them at the…

Aha! As if by magic, I found this! http://stronglifts.com/squat-no-power-rack-steinborn-lift/