spazofthedead Member

The princess treatment makes me distinctly uncomfortable. Mud is a lot more fun. :B Thankfully I have a boyfriend that sees things the way I do.

I used to weigh weekly to monthly, but recently I've started weighing in daily. I started a new birth control this week and I want to keep very close tabs on my weight, as one of the more common side effects of the method I'm using is serious weight gain.

This is a good idea. I used to get crazy bored with the same route every day. Now that I've cut my biking back significantly and started varying my routes and mileages it's much more fun.

I was a rower in college. Div 1 varsity. I spent most of my free time either on one of those things or actually on the water. And yes, they do give you an insane workout. Just make sure your form is down properly; it's very easy to use it incorrectly (the first week of novice crew practice was entirely getting to know the…

She mentioned that she'd already read Starting Strength, and this program you laid out is a bit overkill compared to Rippetoe's, IMO.

Pretty much this. I had the same thought as the OP until my deadlifts started getting heavy. And then when I could barely keep upright afterward, I understood.

Your resignation makes sense. Do a proper parallel back squat and your hamstrings should be engaged just as much as your quads. If you want an assistance exercise to help them along, look into barbell good mornings. Those are killer on the hamstrings.…

Finish a 5k adventure race (I'm thinking Warrior Dash) Deadlift 2x my bodyweight Squat 1.5x my bodyweight Bench press 1x my bodyweight Bump my usual cycling route from 15 miles to 20-25 miles

Squats and deadlifts, but mostly squats. Heavy, heavy squats. I play rec softball a few months out of the year and I noticed a HUGE difference in my sprinting power when I started doing barbell squats and deadlifts. I went from barely making it to first base to being one of the fastest on the team in one season. I've also…

California Family Fitness. Pretty sure it's a local chain. $45/mo.

I haven't gone to the gym properly in a couple of weeks due to crazy schedule things, but here's me after a recent dodgeball game.

160 actually, but thanks :D

mtaylor1980- 140?

1. I use a program called Stronglifts 5x5. It's based on a book called Starting Strength that uses compound lifts in a format designed for beginners. 2. The weight depends on the exercise. I can squat about 150lbs, deadlift 200lbs, bench press 85lbs, row 85lbs and overhead press 65lbs. This is all with a barbell, btw, not…

Ate my way through a weekend in Carmel, but ran with the dogs on the beach several times a day and walked everywhere. I maintained my weight within 0.2lbs.

I've lost 10lbs in four months by eating well (mostly good food and at a smallish deficit) and lifting heavy things. Very little cardio and only when I felt like it (which was like... four times). A lot of it has been belly fat that I've lost. Probably doesn't seem like much weight for that amount of time, but I'm eating…

Those are good reasons, and I use dumbbells for accessory exercises some days because of that. The main problem you can get into with them is that they get heavy FAST and I stalled out way before I should have. With barbells you can just keep piling the weight on...

Overall, you'll need to at maintenance or less to lose BF%. I've heard of calorie cycling (eating over maintenence on lifting days and at a defecit on rest days, like you mentioned) working fairly well but have no experience with it personally. I imagine it takes more willpower than I currently have to pull that off. I'd…

It looks pretty solid, with minimal overlap. Just one question - why choose dumbbells over barbells?

25 female 161 lbs 5'6" Size 10/12

Starting Strength is a barbell based program. Some of the lifts can be substituted with dumbbells, but it wasn't written with them in mind.

Even though I consider myself more of a cyclist than a runner, I really prefer hill sprints on foot. Even on my road bike hills are just painful, and if I have to stop I'll often tip off the side of the road before I can get my feet unclipped. Sprinting up a hill just feels natural and I love it.

At least in my experience, this is easily explained by women's lack of comfort in the weight room in the first place. We know we're not a common sight in there, and if a woman is at all serious about going in there she's going to research her **** and know what she's doing before she gets a chance to make a fool of…

I started it in January. I've lost 8lbs and two dress sizes since then. I've had to remove squats from my routine due to an injury, though, so my progress has slowed a bit.

Based on your TDEE and BMR, 1700 is right in the middle so you should be fine. You have wiggle room either way if something isn't going right. I'd definitely recommend eating your exercise calories back, though. As far as the weight gain, since you're so new to lifting it's most likely water retention. Your muscles have to…

5lb dumbbells won't get you very far in terms of resistance training. If you don't have access to a gym or anything heavier, look into programs like You Are Your Own Gym or Convict Conditioning. Both use your own bodyweight as resistance.

Thissss so much this. And usually some variation of "Oh God I'm gonna die".

Every time I get told to look up doing squats, this is what comes to mind: Thanks, Mr. Rippetoe.

I was under the impression that they only continued to get worse. That could just be my busted hip talking though. :P

Starting Strength or Stronglifts 5x5. They're similar, but Starting Strength comes with a book with tremendous detail on how to do the lifts and *why* they're important. Both are geared toward utter beginners. Both have you doing basic compound lifts (squat, deadlift, bench press, overhead press, etc) 3x a week, an hour a…