Last workout for a while

Going out of town means I won't be back in the gym to lift until Sunday, so I tried to really kick it this time. I went to yoga in the morning and lifted in the afternoon. Squats were 1x10x air, 1x8x bar, 1x4x 65, 1x4x 85, 1x4x 105, 1x3x 115, then 5x3x 120, not too shabby, a knee pop on one and trying to get used to sitting back more, I really need to film this again. then 1x3x 115, 1x5x 95 and my ass literally was tired.
Overhead press was 1x8x 45, 3x8x 55 (god I hate these) but going lighter has made it better as far as my form goes, I hope it helps with strength. Then power cleans 1x3x bar, 1x3x 55, 1x3x 65, 5x3x 70. These weren't bad, but the gym started filling up at four. They probably would have been better if I didn't have to watch out for careless people crowding me and walking by.

Home, chocolate milk, protein and a nap. I plan to pound the protein while I can this week and pick up my niece and carry her around as much as possible. Sunday I will repeat the squat sequence, 5x3x 120, dumbbell presses with 25 lbs, 1x5x 135 deadlifts. If all goes well I will start progressing again from there.

Trained anyway.

Jon would have gone to the gym, so I did. Squats, 3x5x 115, 2x5x 105. Dumbbell bench and one-handed 25lb bells. Deadlifts, 1x5x 135. Came home, chocolate milk. Deciding whether to drive or fly up to the rest of the family.

2011

It has been the year of death. I have never gone to so many funerals in such a short time span and hope never to again.

It was a good one!

A good one for squats at least, and let's be real, squats are all that really matters. That, and very attractive men complimenting my form hubba hubba. Ahem, so I made the 3x5x 115. I just got home and guzzled a huge amount of chocolate milk and declined the chance to hang out with my man at a smoky bar. Hopefully my good behavior tonight will be rewarded with more strength. As my shoulder still doesn't feel right overhead presses were 3x8x 45- yes the bar. Then 5x3x 65 power cleans. I did 65 because the first set felt heavy and clumsy but once I was in the groove of them could have added weight. Next time. Then I finished with lat pulldowns, 1x10x70, 1x8x 80, 1x6x 90 and took a much needed shower. No idea what, if anything I will do tomorrow for conditioning, push the truck if I can get ahold of Heidi to steer.

Saturday squats 5x3x 120, Romanian deadlifts, 3x5x105, bench press I don't know about. Maybe I'll go back to the 30 lbs dumbbells for two and one-handed presses.

Persistence

I waited to post about Tuesday's lift session because, it sucked! Going to the gym was unappealing but I had just posted an inspirational quote about persistence on Facebook. Avoiding hypocrisy, I went in spite of not feeling like it. Squats at 115 (115! not 120) were heavy, again. I had to make 3x5 into 5x3, and those were tough. The squat racks were full when I went over there, so I did bench press first. That may have sapped me for squats. On bench O got two sets of three at 85, all the rest were lower. Then deadlifts, 1x1x 135, 2x1x 145, filmed myself deadlifting and my lower back does round so it's back to 135 for reps.

Yoga class was eh (not the most uplifting post so far is this?) the guy teaching counts loudly through the whole thing- the second class was better. So far I like Linn, Maria and Jeff as yoga teachers. Tonight I am going to do 3x5x 115 squats (War with the BAR!), 3x5x60 overhead press, 5x3x 75 power cleans.

7:30 was too early today.

I slept through yoga but did go to a tough Spin class tonight. Tomorrow I will make the yoga class, the difference in the way my body feels is too much to ignore and not to take advantage of. Then, a lifting night! I am looking for squats 3x5x 115 with the weight on my heels/ midfoot and knees shoved out, with good depth and chin tucked. Whew! I may also try the Rip warmup which should be 2x5x bar, 1x4x 52, 1x3x 75, 1x3x 100 (or so, I forget the formula offhand) then the work sets.

Bench press, going for 85 lbs, 3x5. Power cleans, 80 lbs 5x3.

Taking a couple of steps back to go forward

I put off posting this because I decided to drop the weight a bit. Saturday should have been a perfect lifting day, it was early afternoon and there were only serious lifting guys around. There was one staff member there, and he wasn't feeling well so was staying out of the way, it was great. Except, I just wasn't completely there. I decided to lighten up on squats and did 1x10x air, 1x8x bar, 1x4x 65, 1x3x 85, 1x2x 105, 5x3x 115 as the work sets. The first set was slow and heavy, the second was better. I did the chin tuck and it worked well until the last set when I was fatigued. Then 2x5x 100, the first set was hard and my upper back was loose, the second was all right.

Trying to think of all these cues at once is screwing me up, so the plan is to get it from the ground up. I'll think about keeping my weight back and knees out and when that is natural move up. Squats will be 3x5x 115 Tuesday.

Moved on the overhead press, 1x3x 60, 1x5x 60, 1x4x 60, 1x5x 60, so all over the place. It didn't help that a cheerful challenged guy came over to cheer me on. I decided to let him try it and lo and behold- he did three reps, thanked me and wandered off never to be seen again. As much as I detest shoulder work, a defined, slightly-wider shoulder looks so good on top of my body that I'm grudgingly glad they are in the program.

Finished off with Romanian deadlifts, 1x5x 95, 1x5x 105, and 1x5x 95. A session without much going for it other then getting in there and doing it in spite of myself. In other news, I talked my sister into steering my truck while I pushed it around an empty parking lot for a while Friday night. It was fun, she filed her nails while I was back there pushing. The prowler programming that I am using to model my plans for truck-pushing suggests twice a week for beginners.

To end on a shopping note, I am the proud owner of a brand-new yoga mat!

Why do I love thee? Let me blog the way.

The day after telling my man that on Friday I was going to a movie with a group of friends, I came home earlier then planned, lugging the big gym bag. Surprised, my man said:, "I thought you were going to a movie and then out after?"

I replied, "Well, I decided to see my sister and have her steer the truck while I pushed it around a parking lot for a while."

Man: "What's wrong with the truck?"

Me: "Nothing, I did it for exercise. (long pause) Do you think that's weird?"

Man: "Nope, (leaned over and kissed me) I'm proud of you."

That is marrying material ladies.

Sipping a delicious spinach juice and herding cats.

As one does before sitting down to log in yesterdays workout. The synopsis of tips received from my squat form check clip include, sit back more, widen your stance, keep weight on your heels rather then toes, and look down. Guess what? That is a lot to think about when one is struggling with a heavy weight on ones back but I gave it a go and discovered that actively looking down as I came up tends to make my upper back collapse at the top 1/3 of the lift.

Squats were, 1x10x air, 1x8x bar, 1x4x 65, 1x3x 85, 1x3x 105 (these felt heavy) 1x2x 115 (again, heavy) 2x3x 120, 1x2x 120 because my form completely disintegrated at the end there. 3x3x 115, also messy, 2x5x 95. I'm not sure whether to go for another 3x3x 120 tomorrow or not. Way back when I was stuck at 65 lbs it was due to trying to perfect my form before going up in weight. I'll try to film myself tomorrow and see how it goes.

Having gone down in standard bench weight recently these went well. Warmup 1x5x bar, 1x3x 65, 1x2x 75, 5x3x 80, challenging but not too much of a struggle.

Deadlifts need to be filmed again for a back check, were 1x2x 135, 1x1x 145, 3x1x 155. Then I was DONE. Switching to Tues, Thurs, Sat rather then lifting Mon, Weds, Fri is much better as far as avoiding fools in the gym. The crappy water pressure in the gym showers sucks, but taking one right after a session is conducive to getting things done on the way home. I didn't bring towels and clothes to change into, and instead of picking up a yoga mat I wanted to get home immediately to wash up. Moral of the story, when I have things to do after the gym, bring shower stuff.

Tomorrow's session will be, squats, 3x3x 120, 3x3x 115, raising the weight on my back-off sets to 100 lbs, so 2x5x 100. Then, the dreaded overhead press 3x5x 62.5, Romanian deadlifts 3x5x115.

Heavier

Back from the second yoga class in a row. It is almost like getting a massage except I have to do all the work, but the majority of my stiffness is gone. I stopped by the Walmart next to the gym to pick up a yoga mat (not realizing before how intimate one gets with it) but they don't carry sporting goods. What??

Tonight is increase the weight night on squats, and the squat form check I posted had so many different bits of advice that I'm confused. Lots to work on, sitting back even further to keep my knees from traveling forward and make sure to go low. The plan in 3x3x 120, then 3x3x 115 really focusing on form. I've been feeling like a pudge-o lately but want to get my squats up to an easy 135 before I start cutting fat.

Bench 3x5x 80 if I can get on a standard bench without waiting, otherwise will use the 30# dumbbells for reps. Deadlift at 155, need to film that too.

Squats, overhead press and power cleans

Squats were fine, 3x5x 117.5, I'll post the video. Wasn't sure I was getting the depth wanted, but on review the bar is really close to the safties, so I think its okay. After the work sets my partner showed up so i did two sets of five at 95 to keep her company and because i like those easy back-off sets. They remind me how far I've come since being stuck at 65 lbs for so long. Overhead press was next, as my form was atrocious last time I dropped back on weight to 60 lbs, and did 3x5x 60. It was still tough, I won't lie. Then power cleans, 1x3x bar, 1x3x 55, 1x3x 65, 5x3x 70. The last set got sloppy and I missed the third lift on the fourth set too. There is a vid of the last power clean set too I may post.

All in all a good night. Tomorrow probably Spin, yoga if its at a good time for me, and may go out to a breast cancer research benefit. Thursday session- going to go for squats at 120 lbs, bench press 75, 80 if possible, deadlifts 160.

Lift plan.

Today, squats 3x5x 117.5. Honestly, it scares me to think about doing these. Last time, although they were challenging the squats went up easily at the top so I don't know where this feeling is coming from. I need to psyche myself up more effectively. So, those, overhead press 3x5x60 lbs. I will see how dropping the weight by five lbs goes this week. Then power cleans 5x3x70. I'll also do two sets of back extensions and 3x8x cable lat pulls. I'm thinking 60, 80, 100lbs on those. Will update after the session.

Good squats and a little rant.

Squats, 1x10x air, 1x6x bar, 1x5x 64, 1x3x 85, 1x3x 105, 2x5x117,5, 1x4x 117.5, 1x5x 115. I'm giving myself credit for making all 3 sets because there was an annoying guy talking crap about how low I was going during the third set right behind me. So, in lieu of turning around and pointing out that not only is he weak but that his form always sucks, he lifts like a wet noodle and is all-around ridiculous, I racked the bar. The trainer with whom he was talking during that set told me that my form was great. Jack-off guy is apparently a chiropractor and sure that quarter-squats are the best way to protect the knees, not the dangerous deep squats I was doing. What kills me the most about that is that he (a complete idiot) probably makes three times as much $ as I do. The important thing is that I owned 117.5.

Bench presses were heavy at 85, 3x2x 85, then 2x5x75. Eddie, the good trainer, gave me some form tips, advising me to pull my shoulders down which activated my lats more then squeezing them together was. Basically I'm resetting my bench to 75 lbs.

Romanian deads were 1x5x 95, 1x5x 105, 1x4x 115, 1x3x 115 so good. Monday I'll take a cardio class, either Spin or body combat. Tuesday will be another round of 3x5x 117.5 squats just to make sure, overhead press 5x3x60 dropping weight on this one too, power cleans 5x3x70. I may add in some lat pulldowns.

Tomorrow and regrouping

For Sunday I am going for squats, 3x5x117.5, standard bench press 5x3x90, Romanian deadlifts, 1x5x95, 1x5x105, 1x5x 115 (or however many I can do with god form.) I'll try to get better form check videos too. I did notice that the videoed squats look better as far as form goes then they feel, so thats good. Also, I may add a cardio class back in on the off days, as not doing it didn't make any difference in my strength last week. Hell considering all the days off if not doing cardio was going to help then Friday's workout should have been twice as good as it was. In fact, I just talked myself into a spin class today :-)

Finally getting back in the gym

After Mondays session my right shoulder felt odd when rotated. Those 35 lb dumbbells may have been too much, but the thing with lifting is, if you don't ever lift more you never get better, so risks must be taken. My next session with dumbbells should be this coming Thursday, I'll figure out whether to lift the 35s again then.


I decided to err on the side of caution and chill on workouts until it felt better, which Thank GOD is today. Since it has been that long today will be squats, 3x5x 117.5, overhead press 3x5x 65, and deadlifts @ 155 lbs. Sunday I will do standard bench press, going for 90 lbs this time, 5x3. All this will happen later tonight, will update after.

Update: Well that sucked. Squats ended up 3x4x117.5, 1x3x117.5 Failed rep (with video, even the video is off). Then I did 2x5x95 just to accomplish something. Overhead presses were not better, 1x5xbar, 1x3x55, 2x3x 65 and I just basically punked out on the rest. Deadlifts however were not that bad, being totally pissed off seemed to help. 2x3x 135, 2x2x 155. Saw handsome Ben too and chatted about lifting so it wasn't a total waste. Finished off with 30 back extensions.

Did all right today

Made all planned lifts. Squats were 1x10x air, 1x6x bar, 1x4x 65, 1x4x 85, 1x4x 105, 4x4x 117.5 2x5x107.5. I moseyed on over to the benches and got up to shaky dumbbell bench presses with the 35 lb weights, as well as 2x4x35 one -handed. I dropped back to the 30 lb dumbbells and did 3x5s for both bench and one-handed. That is when something kinda weird happened. The whole time I was doing my sets there was an older guy 'coaching' two kids (they looked young to me but I'm in my 40s so who knows) Anyway, the two younger looking ones were very skinny. Older coach guy had them doing regular isolation stuff one sees in the gym all the time, using light weights. 20 lbs and less.

The weird thing was, when I got up to put the dumbbells I was using away and go to deadlift, he stopped and gave me an Evil Look of Doom. I kind of smiled at him, I try to be friendly and don't really give a shit either way, but that was oddly unwarranted.

Deadlifts, 3 reps at 155, it is still a challenge to really get that back set tightly. Lowering my hips seems to help. Tomorrow I will take a yoga class at 7:30, also need to call the Lion Heart gym owner about lifting there Weds. He is going to check out my form and make sure I am following the APA rules in case I enter the meet in October.

Ta-da!

Thanks to the good workout vibes sent by Siobhan yesterday's session went perfectly. I changed the squat warmup from 10 lb raises to 20, so it went 1x10x air, 1x5x bar, 1x3x 65, 1x3x 85, 1x3x 105, 5x3x 117.5 ! The first three work sets were pretty smooth, the fourth was tougher. Psyched myself up and made the fifth one easily, minimum of good morning. Then, as I was hoping my lifting partner would show up in time for some more squats, and also because I was pumped from the successful sets, 3x5x 105.

Overhead press was good too. 1x5x bar, 1x5x 55, 3x5x 65. Romanian deadlifts, 1x5x95, 2x5x 105. Finsihed off with power cleans 5x3x65 and 25 back extensions. It felt good to sit down after that! Really good workout session, now have the weekend off unless I can get in the gym Sunday which I doubt.

Monday will be squat, bench, deadlift day. Looking for 4x4x117.5, squats, 4x4x82.5 bench, 155 lb deadlifts.

Friiiday! Friiday! (to the tune of that girl's awesome song)

A better one for today's session is from Chumbawumba but I forgot the name of it. Be glad you are spared my singing. Trying it again, five sets, three reps at 117.5 lb squats. Then, overhead presses, 3x5x65. Romanian deadlifts, 1x5x95, 1x5x100 lbs. Top it off with power cleans, 5x3x65 for fun. This protein thing is interesting, sometimes I have had to make myself eat it but after five days of this I am not bloated or fat-feeling. I haven't specifically reduced or started counting carbs, being aware of the amount of protein I'm going for made me eat less of the yummy, I mean carby stuff.

Which reminds me, last week I watched the movie Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead. The main guy, Joe I believe, did have an astounding amount of weight loss and regained health, but even as I watched it was obvious the man had nothing in the way of muscle tone. Curious, I went to the website and found, in the Frequently asked questions an inquiry of survival without protein for extended periods of time. Te response was that we have protein already in our body tissue that can be released. Um, isn't that a big part what our tissue is made of? I think the site just advocated the destruction of lean body mass.

Voodoo science aside, it does seem like a good way to force ingest a ton of nutrients. A couple of my friends tried it and only lasted two days, the kale in the main juice was unpalatable. On that note, I have just talked myself into a delicious spinach, cold water, hot sauce blend!

Funny dilemma

I am dying for a massage. That said, after discovering that even eloping requires planning and money, I don't want to spend a lot on the massage. Amazingly (or so I thought) recently one of my sister's neighbors dropped a business card and flyer advertising intro rate massages for $15 a hour. The business card includes the therapists certification number on it. Well, that is perfect! However, I forgot to get the number. When I went back to her house and told her I was going to get the massage, my sister said that when she lays out in the sun she sees the neighbor hovering behind the trees in his front yard, apparently peeking over. She is sure he is a pervert.

So, do I get the cheap massage and risk being spied on by a pervert? Uh, no! That sucks though, hopes and dreams dashed... Guess I'll go to Walmart and buy a pool noodle to roll around on.

Rough squats

Here goes; 1x10xair, 1x6xbar, 1x3x55, 1x3x65, etc until 105, then 1x2x105, 1x2x115, Work sets, 2x3x117.5, heard a knee pop but no pain on the third rep of the second set. Then 2x3x117.5, 2x2x117.5, lots of struggling and good morning going on. Backed off to 115 and still only did 1x2x115. Finished (gave up) with 2x5x95. Felt crappy after that debacle.

Standard bench was 1x8xbar, 1x4x55, 1x3x65, 1x2x75, 3x2x82.5, 2x3x82.5, interestingly the last two sets were easier. I had spotter interference helping for the first three sets reps three to five during the first two sets so am only counting the first two reps.

Cleans for technique, 1x5xbar, 5x3x65, nice cleans but did scrape my neck on one of the reps.

All-righty then. Friday lifts will be squats, see how it goes with 117.5 again. Overhead press, 67.5 lbs. Romanian deadlifts, 1x5x95, 1x5x100.

The Protein Project

In spite of being nearly gagged by all the protein yesterday, I woke up hungry at 4am. Seemed like a good idea to get a head start on the 150 grams, so got up and had a can of light tuna (I shared the juice and leftover with the cat) three big radishes and two big glasses of water. Today will be an easy workout day, just a Spin class. Tomorrow will be squats, 5x3x117.5, bench press going for an increase in weight here too, 5x3x82.5 and power cleans starting back at 65lbs.

It's amazing

how little I want to post when I can't use the browser of my choice. Get in gear Blogspot/Google!!

Thanks to the back-to-school sales I picked up a big notebook to keep track of my protein intake. The goal is 150 grams of protein a day. Tonight's session will be squats, try for 115 again after that low set Friday (I had to back off to 105 for reps, all shaky and falling forward like a goof). Also on Friday I did 4x4x80 bench presses, and 2x5x95 Romanian Deads which were fine while I did them and a literal pain in the ass (lower ass) the next day. That is fine, I hope its strengthening what needs to be stronger.

Back to tonight, going for a good form 3x5x115 squats. Overhead press 3x5x65, deadlifts 2x3x160. Lofty goals considering the mush of lst week but what the heck?

Good squats, shitty deadlifts. Squats were; 1x10xair, 1x8xbar, 1x3x55, 1x3x65, 1x3x75, 1x3x85, 1x3x95, 1x3x105, H2O break, 3x5x115! Back off sets, 1x5x105, 1x5x95.

Overhead press 1x5xbar, 1x3x55, 1x5x65, 2x4x65. Deadlift, 1x3x135, 1x1x145, 1x1x155, three singles at 160- never got my form dialed in with these. As I was taking a shower after I recalled the cue to pull the bar back into me- completely forgot that earlier. Took 5 lbs off and pulled one at 155 and finished for the night.