DaniH826 Member

Well, the May goals didn't happen (about 5 lbs short of most of them, 10 lbs short of my DL goal, and I'm happy with that). I think I will spend the month of June entirely in complexes land (that'll make Vegas happy :bigsmile:). Getting a bit sick of all that heavy squatting, truth be told, so switching it up to give my…

Crap day today. Just ... blergh. Been struggling way too much lately. Tweaked my forearm/elbow during power cleans. I should have just taken the dang week off like I had been planning to do. *grumble grumble* I'm going to spend the rest of my week filling up on ice cream and figuring out where to go from here. I might…

Have you tried deloading some? I personally find that I have to let my body catch up, and that lifting progression isn't linear for me. I deload quite often, but continue to make stead progress overall. It's normal to progress at one lift and stall at another, at different times. I think your numbers are quite good,…

I love lifting! It's helped me focus on what my body can do, rather than on how it looks. It really has helped me get off the crazy train. I've changed my lifting program more times than you can shake a stick at (and am about to change it again), but I'm still lifting the same barbells in the same garage, getting stronger…

Lifting will help with back problems, as long as you make sure to never lift more than your core can support. My lower back and abs are/were super weak when I started lifting, so I've structured my yoga routine to support my lifting routine, and I'm very cautious about increasing weight. Proper stretching and warm-up are…

Focus on building core strength, and deload until your back is caught up and no longer hurts. I take my rows up by 2.5 lbs per week and that's it, because my core and upper body are so weak. They're highly effective though. But, they are an upper body row, and so you can realistically expect to increase them like you would…

Hey, welcome and congrats on those gains, nicely done so far!

This is for my barbell sisters:

Honestly, I think you should. Your numbers are amazing, and with good coaching I'm sure you could hold your own in competitions. I'll be rooting for ya! :flowerforyou:

I've been lifting but due to vacay and having people over and having a massive graduation party at our house, haven't been able to post. But I've been reading and trying to keep up. Y'all are doing great! Be posting more again soon now that things are getting back to normal!

I put front squats into my rotation to teach my brain that it's ok to be more upright when squatting without being worried about falling over. I was over-compensating on my back squats, and several months' worth of once-a-week front squats are helping alleviate that (even though front squats are so very awkward). Also,…

Start where you start. The recommended starting weights are not a firm rule, just the maximum. I had to work my way up to the 45-pound bar for overhead presses and started with dumbbells. Who cares? It's fine.

It's alright, I was playing with kettlebells/dumbbells this morning, so you're covered. :happy:

Adjustable resistance bands would be a great option for you, so you don't have to keep buying dumbbells every time you want to challenge yourself further. Wal-Mart carries them, and they're not expensive. You can stick them in a bag and take them anywhere with you. For example, this set gives you a weight range anywhere…

I do a walking version of Couch to 5K on in-between days 3x/week. Mehdi hates cardio, and so he knocks it a lot in his articles and whatever. That doesn't mean you can't do cardio while doing Stronglifts, nor does it mean that you shouldn't do cardio when doing Stronglifts. It's personal preference. Lots of people out…

Frozen yogurt? Mmmm. Mmmm. Good.

It's just the girls' version of whole milk that guys are supposed to chug when they do Starting Strength. It's not a mystery, it's science! :laugh:

Hey, welcome back! How was the vacay? I spent the day power-washing our back porch and organizing/cleaning our garage. I'm glad it wasn't a lifting day, BUT ... I made it trough everything without collapsing. Yay lifting! Good for more than just getting rid of jiggly bits. :laugh: Mid-week lift day tomorrow, having a…

Then that's a personal decision and a matter of preference, and you're going to have to deal with the consequences of achieving your desires, however those may end up working themselves out. You gotta be happy with it, in the end, because you have to live with it. I would caution you, though, that from where I sit, your…

That makes 2 of us. If I stay overweight for the rest of my years, why should that keep me from all the living I have to do in the meantime, and enjoying myself? I find it rather laughable, this push for some "ideal weight" in a world that's anything but ideal in every other area there is! Ridiculous and ludicrous, and…

Hey, thanks for the encouragement (not just yours but others' also). I went out and got a bunch of supplements and also a fan for my side of the bed. Slept much better last night. I'm going to just try everything and toss out whatever doesn't work. Lifting went okay today, going back to 3x5 rather than staggered 5x5 since…

^^ Truth right here !!!! I'm starting to think of myself as "fit person in training" rather than letting a scale number dictate how I feel about myself. It's really more about weight ranges than a goal number anyway. Focus on fitness and aim to get to a healthy weight range for you, and eat accordingly. I wasn't really…

I'm still following the program, but I speed walk it instead. We can still be buddies if you want. Just adjust. Who cares? I can't do high impact either (as I found out last week), but I can damn well get some cardiovascular fitness going and build endurance along with strength. :smile: Week 2 Day 1 today for me. Took one…

You're something like the unicorn, that mythical creature of legend that many doubt even exists. Keep it strong! :drinker:

I tried the mixed grip switching today and that worked pretty wonderfully, actually. I have to make sure to deadlift with my lower body, rather than pull and yank and risk back injury, so switched mixed grips work like a charm for that. Thanks for the tip!

You know, next time just do 3x5 in good form if you're pressed for time, rather than getting sloppy on 5x5. Life happens, and so you just have to adjust at times. Better than hurting yourself, which really isn't worth it.

I stack whatever plate I'm not using. So if I use 25 plates, then I have 35s and 45s underneath as a prop. If I only use 10s, I have 25s, 35s and 45s as a prop. If I use 35s, I only have the 45 as a prop. It's all approximation anyway, but close enough, really. It gets a bit wobbly with all those prop plates, though. Gotta…

Pretty sure Rippetoe said that if you want big guns, do some bicep curls, long as it doesn't interfere with progress on your main lifts. And he must have done a lot of curls when nobody was looking cause the man has some serious guns on him. :laugh: Keep the main focus the main focus, basically. Do other stuff as you want,…

Congrats on almost finishing SL round 1! I'm sure you'll figure out where to go from here. Your lifts are quite impressive. Some of y'all make me shake my head in astonishment, honestly. I always look at it as "that's 50 more pounds than I was lifting this time last year" (when I was lifting nothing). So there you go. Well…

If that's a fail, then everyone I saw deadlifting at the power lifting meet last weekend failed their lifts ... You're fine. Take a break if you need it. I take short break between all my dead lifts, and always have. That way I keep good form and reset the weights properly, as well as make sure my setup is good. I count…