lizafava2

I'm pushing 700. I haven't max tested my DL in a long time and have actually never tested my squat. But just adding 20 pounds to my current squat 5×5 I'm: 160 bench, 265 DL and 230 squat. There aren't a lot.of competitions around here but I would really like to compete some time.

What does it actually take to be a PT? These experiences people have are really disheartening. Any Women here doing PT training? I have always fantasized about being a size-positive, evidence based PT....

I've been doing cartweels, handstands and other tumbling moves with my kids lately.... they have joined the circus (well, they are taking classes at the circus) and I am helping them out. Turns out I remember how to do all that **** and hauling my heavy self around, surprisingly, isn't all that hard now. :) But I have been…

I walk and bike for about half my transportation needs. My cargo bike was just stolen, so I do less now. BUT, I am of the opinion that a daily active lifestyle does not count as "cardio". You are simply using your body the way it has evolved to be used - actively -, and so weightlifting on top if that your first extra. I…

I have very big legs. I had very big legs before lifting and I won't lie, they aren't much smaller now. But they're tighter, more awesome looking, and, holy crap, help me haul around amazing amounts of weight. Lifting has helped me appreciate the very real upsides of my particular shape.

Ypur upper body lifts seem great/heavy for how long you've been doing this. Fractional plates might help you progress on those lifts. And spacing cardio out and avoiding HIIT will probably help with the squats and DL.

SUPER EXCITED I FINALLY did my OHP @ 95 pounds 5x5. Triple digit OHP here I come! I have a competition in November that includes presses for time. Really wanting to work up to 105 5x5 by then :D Squats 205 5x5. I stayed the same weight because I ran an hour before lifting. I usually space that out a little bit better. In…

I don't talk about it much, especially with strangers. I *am* bulky - genetically - and I see people flash in their minds to "see, thats what happens when women lift", so I don't get into it. People who I know, I will talk about why I love it, and most people agree with me that its great I have found something to do that I…

I often lift with my partner. Together, it takes us about 1 and a half hours. We do take full 3 minute rests - sometimes more when we have to argue about the music or discipline the kids for swinging on the squat rack :D

The great thing about SL 5x5 is that you gets LOTS of practice with squats, lol. I bet after a couple weeks of squatting to a sit that you'll be fine. At first I watched a ton of youtube videos and that helped me the most. Watching people do it wrong at the gym was good too - mentally correcting their form helped me…

I haven't posted workout updates in awhile, and all these new people here! Yay! I am going to try to post a little more. I have been making pretty great strength gains, which I'm pretty sure means I have been eating too much. Who knows. Not a lot of logging or weighing myself. I continue to eat well, run and lift. I go…

I weigh a little over 200 pounds and lost a size while staying the same weight. I am very muscular *and* hypothyroid, both issues I think contribute to that. eta: I mean that I have big muscles, not that I am lean, by any stretch.

I love these stories. Being strong is so wonderful. Since I started serious lifting 9 months ago, I have been in an emergency situation at my work twice where I needed to move a person who was unable to walk on her own. While moving someone might have been possible before lifting weights, I'm sure I would have injured…

OT, sorry! I want to join facebook again just so I can like this woman's page! Amazing!

@purringmyrhh I'm no expert but.... arching your back reduces the distance you have to bench and allows you to use your legs more and pin your shoulders back more easily. I imagine pushing myself back into the wall with my legs and that gets me some extra oomph. eta: also, I think its a way for people to sort themselves in…

I have been much happier with a wider grip lately, and a good arch in my back with feet flat on the floor. My bar comes to my mythical nipple line, in reality a little higher.

[/quote] This! My gym just hired a whole bunch of new trainers and they were just swarming around all the people working out yesterday. This one super obnoxious guy cornered me in the rack and spent my entire workout bombarding me with questions about SL5x5, pestering me about why I did it, and telling me it only did half…

What do y'all think about black coffee? I try to take mine the second I wake up and then wait a good 20-40 minutes before I eat anything. I cook my kids food right away, though, and really more often than I care to admit, I sneak a bite before my 30 minutes is up. My levels are fine. Maybe they would be better if I was…

the bar is too far forward and totally how I injured my back when I first started lifting heavy. The bar should have contact with your legs the whole lift or at least stay very close to your body and have contact with your shins. my set-up is: bar over my midfoot bend knees until my shins hit the bar "engage" the bar - Ive…

This is an old thread but I was so surprised to see someone mention Feminist Perspectives on Eating Disorders I wanted to comment. That book totally changed my life. Also, the Beauty Myth. It pissed me off, politicized me and got me to eat and empowered me to stop (most) of my ED behavior. It also ****ed up my credit, lol,…

Takes me an hour, sometimes and hour and a half. I really take my rests now. I did try doing some 3x5 but wasnt seeing the strength gains I wanted to see so I went back to 5x5 for a bit. I started bringing my laptop into my gym space and doing some mindless work doing the restimes which makes me feel less stressed about…

Favorite: OHP, hands down. Least Favorite: Rows. HATE ROWS I like squats but sometimes it feels like a slog with all the warming up. Deadlifts are OK now that my back is healed. Deadlifs and Rows are my weakest lifts and that I probably why they aren't my fave.

Where I live (city of St. Louis), it isn't safe to run outside in the dark. Men don't even do it. Because of my little kids and my partners work schedule, until recently, the treadmill was the only way I could run after daylight savings time ended. For me, its a way to NEVER have an excuse not to run. Sometimes, like…

We buy half a cow every year so..... beef. Eggs. Also fava beans, garbanzo beans and lentils.

Eggs and kale or some other kind of hearty green with avocado.

People give up running, IME, especially heavy runners, because they start too fast. My partner is 20 pounds lighter than you but your height and he does the program at 4.5mph or so. When you go outside you may find that you have to go back a bit and run/walk again. But, once you build up muscular and bone endurance…

I was never athletic - super clumsy when it came to team sports. Overweight, slow. But always very muscular and strong. It makes me mad that no one ever thought to encourage me in sports where my strength would have been an advantage. Alas, at 35 I am finally figuring it out. I did start running (slowly) and biking for…

I travel a lot and just try to maintain. It is so hard in America. There is tasty food EVERYWHERE tempting the weary traveler. Do you run and hike? Maybe up the exercise and get to know this country by way of her running paths and trails. I just spent a few days in seattle running up and down the hills. Made up for some of…

Deadlifts took a long time for me to get because we just do so many fewer of them. The instructions that were posted I ended up putting on my phone and looking at before practically every lift for awhile. Now I have the following mantra in my head "Engage, dig in with your heels then push with your hips." A powerlifting…

Congrats on getting started! You're hilarious and I wish you worked out at my gym. :) I think having a physical job is the best motivation for weightlifting. I bet you start noticing a difference in a couple weeks, at most! I'm a midwife and the lifting and long hours was really, really hard on me. I remember after a…