Almost back to normal

Getting better every day, I couldn't sleep so got up and went to the early yoga class. If there is any truth to the release of toxins that they always mention I should be guzzling water right now. I did notice lots of wrist twinges which is a bummer since I did not do heavy pulls yesterday. Will get to that later. I'm less stiff then before the class at any rate.

Tomorrow session plan: warm up 1 mile 4.0 and 5.8 intervals, squats go for 3x3x 120 and up from there if it goes well. I'll play around with that and if more weight isn't working yet will go for sets of five at 115. Make up in volume what isn't there in intensity. Dumbbell bench press 3x5x 35, 3x5x 30 one-handed. Deadlift if the wrists let me 1x5x 135. Cool down mile 4.0, 5.8 intervals.

Back to the gym

Sunday night I caught that awful cold, now its at the ending part when I am impatient and ready to get back to my normal activities. The hope for tonight is treadmill warm up 4.0 and 5.7 intervals for one mile. Squats, 3x3x 130, 3x5x 120, but I am giving myself a break if this doesn't pan out due to illness. Overhead press 1x8x 45, 1x8x 55, 2x5x 60, Romanian deadlift, 2x5x 95. That will be enough. I'll update after the session.

Here is what happened: warmup 1 mile, 4.0 and 5.7 intervals, went like a dream. Squats, 1x10x air, 1x8x bar, 1x5x 65, 1x5x 85, 1x5x 105, 1x3x 115, 1x3x 125, 3x3x 115. Not great but not bad for being sick. Overhead press, 1x8x bar, 3x8x 55. Romanian deadlifts, 3x5x 95. Then I decided to add a mile run/walk cooldown to the session, 4.0 and 5.7 and, while not as enjoyable as the warmup mile, it was still good.

I could seriously do all cardio all the time but the flat butts of the serious cardio women in their 40s scares me off. I'd rather be a little fluffy with a good round high ass then have abs and pancake butt.

Wrist pain

My wrists have been sore since lifting Friday night. They are pretty delicate for such a robust woman and wrist issues run in the family. My sister had to stop doing gymnastics at the Elite level because hers were so bad. She also had a broken back that healed itself so she wasn't the type to complain about little things. After reflecting on that, I've decided to drop deadlifts back to 135 for reps when I do them and see how it goes. If I decide to go to straps I'll need to take a session at the other gym to learn how to use them properly. Good thing I found programming that focuses on squats.

So today, squats by threes up to 130, then 3x5x 120. Dumbbell bench 3x3x 35 (more reps if possible) One-handed up to 30 lbs. Power cleans 72.5 5x3. Warmup 1 mile, 4.0 and 5.6 intervals. Eh voila!

The warm-up went really well, was easy and my heart-rate went down when it was supposed to. I can see how people get into running. Squats were good, got 2x3x 130, then an annoying mirror cleaning gym employee got all up in my space so I had to replace the bar at one rep on my third and hardest set, to wait for him to get out of my way. He saw me giving him the evil eye and set the bar down, and said,

"That's probably too much weight for you."

Yeah, I was pissed. Did 1x2x 130 after that, then 3x5x 120, 1x5x 115. I am happy with my performance anyway.

Bench press, up to 35 lb dumbells, 1x3x 35, 1x4x 35, 1x5x 35, better then planned. Power cleans 5x3x 75, good cleans, only hit my neck twice.

Yay for funny T-shirts

Good workout tonight

Warmup, one mile 4.0/ 5.5 intervals, felt good and easy. Squats, 1x10x air, 1x8x bar, 1x3x 65, 1x3x 85, 1x3x 105, 1x3x 115, 3x3x 125, 1x2x 125, 3x5x 115. Next time I'll try 130 again, if that isn't a go will go to 3x3x 127.5, then 3x5x 120. The idea behind this is to keep adding weight to the bar while also keeping a good volume and success rate.

Overhead press was 1x5x bar, 1x3x 55, 3x3x 67.5. Deadlifts were 1x3x 135, 1x1x 145, 3x1x 155. Staying home tonight avoiding alcohol and secondhand smoke, tomorrow is yoga, Sunday lift again.

Plan for Sunday, squat by threes up to 130, see how it goes, finish w 3x5x 120. Dumbbell bench up to 3x3x 35, keep the one-handed at 30 lbs. Power cleans, 5x3x 72.5. The warmup intervals up to 5.6 mph.

Harder then expected

My friend's class was harder then I anticipated, and today my ass and hamstrings are yelling at me. No workouts planned, this is a rest day that hasn't been very restful so far. Waiting until you absolutely have to go to the grocery store to eat means a big trip that seems to take forever. Especially when the people with the loaded cart in front of you decide to start haggling! Sheesh. A few hours of work today, the charity event with my friend and then possibly more work. We'll see.

Tomorrow warm-up walk/ jog 4.0 and 5.4 Squats 3x5x 125, overhead press 62.5 3x5, may switch this to 3x3 if I start wiggling all over the place. Deadlift 5 reps and 155.

130 lb squat today

Why not go for it, right? I'm staying with sets of three across. Dumbbell bench press 3x8x 30, one-handed 3x8x 30. If this goes well I will try sets of three with the 35 lb weights next time. Power clean, 5x3x 70 (wishing self luck!) Romanian deadlifts 1x5x 95, 1x5x 105. This will be a long workout session, two hours I imagine. Must use self-discipline and not get into long conversations too!

Forgot about the warm-up, walk/ jog 4.0 and 5.3 mph intervals for one mile.

The warm-up run went well and my heart-rate went down at a normal time, no racing. Squats were 1x8x air, 1x8x bar, 1x3x 65, 1x3x 85, 1x3x 105, 1x3x 115, 1x3x 120, 1x3x 125, 1x1x 130. More at 130 weren't happening. 3x3x 115 and done. I did 3 sumo deadlifts of 135 because the guys next to me were doing them and I was curious. Dumbbell bench press 3x8x 30, one handed 1x8x 30, 1x6x 30, then I was over doing them so onto power cleans. Power cleans were 1x3x bar, 1x3x 55, 1x3x 65, 5x3x 70- these were good cleans for the most part. I think tightening up my setup helped a lot, the weight did not feel like too much to handle at any point and the only iffy part is that I'm still scraping the front of my neck sometimes.

Tomorrow I am taking a combo class a friend teaches, so going with that as a light weight day, and then lifting again on Friday.

Yes.

I made all the lifts today. Squats, 1x8x air, 1x8x bar, 1x3x 65, 1x3x 85, 1x3x 105, 1x3x 115, 1x3x 120, 3x3x 125 PR BABY! 1x3x 115, 1x3x 105 and squats were done. It was a great feeling to handle and do what I intended for today.

Overhead press 1x5x bar, 1x5x 55, 3x5x 60. Deadlifts 1x2x 135, 1x2x 145, then 5 singles at 150 concentrating on really tightening up my back for the pulls. I alternated grip on the fourth pull out of curiosity and went back to double overhand for the fifth. It is three and a half hours later now and I feel pretty beat up so aiming for yoga tomorrow morning. I am so proud of myself for making those lifts!

Made it to yoga finally

Where I discovered that not going to class all week makes the positions a lot harder when one does actually show up. That shoulder stand was damn uncomfortable. I made it through the class and feel better and more mobile then before. Tomorrow I am going for a new PR; 125 lb squats. I wrote out the workout in yesterday's blog entry, am taking two days off in a row first. I'm considering getting some shorter shorts to wear to the gym. Yoga pants all the time is boring and based on the clips i see of women squatting and deadlifting in shorts they don't look over-exposed. We'll see what I find when shopping next.

Slept thru yoga again!

Last night my heart rate stayed higher then usual for a long time, hours even, and the hormonal theory has yet to provide evidence of it being correct, so I don't know what is going on there. I alerted the Man to keep an eye on me.

New goal: get there for Yoga tomorrow, my wrists and shoulder can use it. I'm also flirting with the idea of doing 3x3x 125 squats on the next lifting session which will be Saturday or Sunday. That will be a new PR and if there are issues I can make it into doubles or singles (chop- chop- chop). I want to get past this 120 sticking point. Next lifting will include warming up with the one-mile walk run, 4.0 walk, 5.2 run intervals. This time I'm not going to wear my lifting t-shirt while running, that was a sweaty mess.

Then squats sets of three across to 125! I'm going for it and will report back. Overhead press, 3x5x 60. Then deadlifts 5 reps at 150. Short yet deadly workout there.

Today has involved a lot of laying around in between feedings, hopefully facilitating recovery so I can enter the gym as a BEAST next time. Tonight I'll be walking around a street fair for a couple of hours, the past few evenings have been on the verge of comfortable, so I'm hoping this will be too. If it's hot and sticky I won't be staying long.

Looking forward to tonight

This is new. I didn't make it to yoga because a disruptive cat kept me up all night and I couldn't drag myself out of bed by the time she gave up. Today I'll warm up with the one mile walk-run, walking intervals at 4.0 and running at 5.1. Squatting 5 rep sets across until work sets of 3x3x 120. Then dumbbell bench presses 3x6x 30, one handed 3x6x 30. Power clean reset 5x3x 65, Romanian deadlift 2x5x 95 and done. I had a bowl of pasta for lunch with the intention of all those carbs at the ready to fuel my workout and am also drinking water like crazy. Two hours to go!

The run did not go well, I ended up walking two minutes for the one minute running intervals, and it wasn't my imagination that today was more difficult then Tuesday. As i checked the heart-rate monitor, instead of getting back under 120 beats per minute in a minute like usual, it took three and even then was wavering between 128-129 beats per minute. My shirt was soaked with sweat too. I think this is hormonal as I've been craving chocolate and a bit weepy lately.

Lifts were better, squats were 1x8x air, 1x8x bar, 1x5x 65, 1x5x 85, 1x5x 105, 1x3x 115, 3x3x 120, but I wasn't sure I was getting my usual depth on the heavy sets as i was thinking about the 'up' on the way down. There wasn't anyone handy to ask either. Those were tough sets too. Before I go i get convinced that if I try like hell it will be easy and so far it does work sometimes. Not this time but I made the lifts. Then to do more with proper depth for sure I did 1x5x 105, and 1x5x 95.

Dumnnell presses went as planned with good attack on the weights. Power cleans 1x 5x bar, 1x3x 55, 5x3x 65 with one moment when a guy got a little too close and made me miss the lift in order not to brain him with the bar. I think my setup on the power cleans is getting better. Then I did 2x5x 95 Romanian deadlifts and I was wiped out. Tomorrow aiming for yoga in the morning and thats it!

Moving forward

Often after lifting I go to sleep easily but don't stay there, and that was the case last night and this morning. As I was up at 5am, I decided to take 6am Spin. It was cooler outside then in, for the first time in six months or so YAY! That was fine, I came home and was able to get a few hours of sleep as work was slow.

Tomorrow I will warm up with the one mile walk/ run. 4mph on the walking minutes and 5.1 for the running. It was strangely fun and more interesting then rowing or elliptical. If my shoulder starts to bug I will add five mins of rowing back, it helps.

With squats I'll warm up with sets of five to work sets of 3x3x 120. Dumbbell bench press with the 30 lb dumbbells, 3x6x 30, then one-handed 3x6x 30. Power cleans, 5x3x 65 and then possible 2x5x 95 Romanian deadlifts.

Recovery: Aiming for yoga tomorrow morning, home behaving myself tonight and tomorrow night, Rest day Friday.

Finally, a decent session

My programming is all over the place, forgive me if you are trying to follow along. After chatting with a girl in Spin yesterday who always runs a mile to start her workouts, I was intrigued. After all, I used to enjoy running outside when it was bearable (God Summer be over with already!!) I started the session with a mile walk.jog. After warming up for five minutes I alternated between 4mph and 5 until the mile was up.

Then jump squats weren't that appealing, so I decided to do sets of 5 across regular low-bar squats and work my way up to whatever. 1x 10x air, 1x5x bar, 1x5x 65, 1x5x 85, 1x5x 105. These were sort of hard, so i did 3x5x 105 thinking about a reset. After the three sets however, I could keep going so I loaded the bar to 115 and did 3x3x 115. Even then, I wasn't 'done' but stopped in order to end on a positive note. Yay me!

Continued with 3x5x 57.5 standing presses, and 1x3x 135 deadlifts, then 3x2x 145. I finished eating and feel pretty good, not overly wiped out.

okee-dokee

Tonight is squat jumps, 3x10xbar, maybe I'll start with a set of eight, then three of ten. Overhead press 3x5x 57.5 microplate time. Deadlifts 1x5x 145. I bought three new shirts to wear to the gym as the way those cap sleeve push up and look like some odd muscle shirt on me is disgusting. I don't know why women's t-shirts all have those dinky sleeves that make my arms look bigger and not feminine. So, I had to buy men's T-shirts to get a longer short sleeve that ultimately looks more graceful. I tried the wash and dried top on with yoga pants this morning and it looks a lot better then the former. This should help with having to lift in front of the mirror at least.

I just saw that the yoga instructor I prefer has a class at four today. Work has been dead, and I am tempted to take yoga, Spin and then lift. Crazy?

Sunday and Monday

Yesterday's squats were better, hit 2x5x 115, then 1x3x 115, failed on the fourth rep. 1x5x 105 to finish. Dumbbell bench press 3x5x 30, one handed 3x5x 30 (these were harder. I'm going to stay with the 30s next time too. Power cleans were a disaster, 1x3x 65, 1x1x 75, 1x1x 70 and gave up. It wasn't great. I'm going back to 65 lb power cleans next and micro-loading after that.

Tonight I'm going to a spin class. Tuesday lifts will be 3x 10x bar jump squats, 3x5x (I need to look back and fill this in/ microloading ) overhead press, 1x5x 145 deadlifts. If that turns into split sets to get the five or six reps that's okay too.

Wednesday possibilities; early Spin and yoga afterward, or skip the gym and push the truck around if I have a steerer. Thursday will be squats 3x5x 115, DB bench 3x6x 30, one handed 3x6x 30, power cleans 5x3x 65 OR romanian deadlifts, 2x5x 95. Friday rest.

Not sure what to do here.

Normally I know exactly what the plan is for the workout, but at this point I have no clue. I know one thing, rain or not, I am putting my shoes on (instead of flip-flops) before leaving the house so at least I'll have socks on. I'll warm up with sets of five across and aim for 3x5x 115. Today is bench press and power clean day too, so dumbbell bench with the 30 lb dumbells, 3x5, then one-handed 3x3. Power cleans 5x3x 75. Warm-up 10 mins arc-trainer, five minutes of rowing (god that is boring) and 20 back extensions.

Deadlift reset going okay.

Honestly, I considered naming this post "Crap Squats!" but decided to attempt to keep a positive perspective. Friday's workout included my omission of both socks and a small towel. Also, I did 6 minutes of the rower for a warm-up in order to get my shoulders and upper back feeling flexible before starting instead of the usual 10 minutes on the elliptical. I'm unsure if any of those factors had to do with the sessions poor performance but keeping track of details is what this log is for.

Squats, 1x10x air, 1x8x bar, 1x4x 65, 1x4x 105, planned work sets were 3x5x 120. Instead it was 1x2x 120, 1x3x 120 (failed third rep, 1x2x 120, failed second rep. Okay, this wasn't going well so I took five lbs off the bar. New plan, 3x5x 115. I did 1x2x 115- gave up, wrote a little pep talk in my log, 2x3x 115. I'm basically freaking out at this point. Took more weight off the bar and did 2x5x 105; then I was done.

Overhead press reset, 1x5x bar, 3x5x 55, went okay. Deadlifts, 1x2x 135, 2x3x 140. Deads felt okay, my video camera fell over on its side so can't see form to check. That squat session had me doubting why I even do this in the first place. I took a walk around the gym and looked at every other person in there blissfully going about their easy workouts and for a minute I considered going back there. Clearly, I just need to work harder.

Wednesday night session

I didn't go Tuesday because it was raining, bad excuse, I know. It was still rainy Wednesday and the gym wasn't crazy crowded so that was good. Squats were 1x4x 115, 3x3x 120, 1x2x 115, 1x3x 115, 3x5x 105. I did a lot of back up sets due to disappointment at the 120 lb work sets being rather lame. I am starting to feel more like myself and stronger then the shaky leaf of Sunday.

I used the 25 pound dumbbells again to do 3x6x 25 of both bench presses and one handed bench press. Power cleans 1x3x 75, 1x2x 75, very ugly, dropped down to 70 pounds for 5x3x 70, then several 1 rep pratices for form with Eric. The yoga class this morning was essential, there is a bit of the 'broken doll' feeling but I bet it would be alot worse if I didn't go.

Friday I need to lift early as a friend is celebrating her birthday at 7pm which is my normal lifting time. Looking for squats 3x5x 120, overhead press 3x5x 55, deadlift 1x5x 140.

Back home and at it again

The plan of eating lots of protein didn't work out in the land of pasta and pastries, which meant I either had sandwiches when they were available or skipped the meal completely. After a week of unfamiliar food, drinking, grief and family stress (there were some good times too) I am still feeling weak. That said, I had to get in the gym anyway today.

Squat work sets were 2x4x 115, 1x4x 120, 1x3x 120 with the third rep a bailout. Overhead press 1x8xbar, 2x5x 50, 1x6x 50. Deadlifts, 1x3x 135, 2x2x 135. There you have it, not great but not bad considering I feel less then normal today. I'm hoping for a good yoga class tomorrow, Tuesday is the instructor i don't care for, so lifting in the evening with squats again, 3x5x 120 (may as well go for it) dumbell bench and one-handed, 3x6x 25, and power cleans 5x3x 70. Wednesday yoga and spin class, Thursday squat, overhead press, deadlift, Friday some conditioning, maybe truck pushing.