volume squats, heavy overhead press and deadlift

Ate a ton of carbs today, hope this session absorbs them. Squats 1x 12x air, 1x 10x bar, 1x 5x 65, 1x 5x 85, 1x 5x 105, 5x 5x 115, not bad, getting better at keeping tight through the lift. Overhead press 1x 8x bar, 1x 5x 55, 2x 4x 62.5, 1x 3x 62.5, need to repeat this weight. Deadlift 1x3x 135, 1x3x 145, was tough to keep my back tight by now, do this weight again too. Finished with some active recovery, 2x 8x bar bicep curl, 2x 8x bar overhead press. And done.

Tomorrow is a long slow distance running day, 5.2 intervals, .75 mile, at least three of these. I hope my back feels good tomorrow, its a bit awkward now.

Weds (or thursday depending on the back situation) squats up to 3x3x 130. This is a lot for me, may end up as doubles, not planning to go to failure on these this day. Bench press 3x5x 85, still working on this, the spotters have not been great so far, too much helping. Power clean 5 x 3x 70.

Next day, speed day, 6.0 intervals of .25 miles, 1% incline. Working on getting this with the 4.0 interval break instead of half a lap at 3.0 to catch my breath and half at 4.0

Friday or Saturday, heavy squats, going for 135 lb doubles. Overhead press, repeat attempt of 3x 5x 62.5, Deadlifts 1x3x 135, 1x3x 145 unless the heavy squats wipe me out, will play this one by ear, may be light Romanian deadlift 3x5x 95.

Catching up on posts.

Tuesday lifts; squats 1x 12x air, 1x 10x bar, 1x5x 65, 1x5x 85, 1x5x 105, 1x3x 115, 3x3x 125, not sure about depth, will repeat these next time and go deeeep, 3x3x 115, also really working on that tight torso through the whole move. Overhead press, 1x8x bar, 1x5x 55, 3x5x 60. Deadlift 2x3x 135, felt good. 20 back extensions and done.

Long slow distance running Weds, .75 mile intervals at 5.2, went well. 20 back extensions, 2 sets 10 reps overhead press with the bar (45 lbs) for active recovery.

Friday afternoon lifts; squats 1x 12x air, 1x 10 x bar, 1x5x 65, 1x5x 85, 1x5x 105, 1x3x 115, 3x3x 125- deep and good. I did three deep singles with 125 to finish it off. Bench press 1x 8x bar, 1x 5x 65, 1x 5x 75, 4x 3x 85, still working on five reps with 85 lbs. I set up for power cleans but had a client call and had to abandon the session.

Saturday fast interval run, 6.0 run .25 mile intervals at 1 degree incline. Better then last week, no nausea probably because I didn't eat a thing before, just drank water and iced tea. 12 back extensions and 12 reps of overhead press with the bar for active recovery.

It is a beautiful December day.

The sun is calling me to get out in it. Saturday's run was awful, hard and I stopped at three miles. I planned to do back extensions and overhead press the bar for reps, but I seriously thought I was going to throw up. I waited around for a while to see if it would pass but it didn't, so I went home. Coffee upsets my stomach sometimes so no more guzzling it before a session.
Today's lifts will be squats, overhead press, and deadllifts. Going for squats 3x3x 125, concentrating on keeping my whole body tight and strong. Overhead press 3x5x 60. Deadlifts 1x5x 135. So far my form has always broken down when I do a linear progression on deadliest, I don't know what to do other then keep resetting the lift.


Okay, here is how it went. Squats, 1x12x air, 1x10x bar (did a couple extra reps to warm-up as it was cold this morning), 1x5x 65, 1x5x 85, 1x5x 105, 1x3x 115, 3x3x 125- not sure if I wasn't cheating depth on the last one of each set, am going to repeat this next session and make sure they are deep and strong. Really setting my chest and torso hard helps the weight go up a LOT. Finished with 3x3x 115.

Overhead press 1x8x bar, 1x5x 55, 3x5x 60- made it! Next overhead press day, 62.5.

Deadlifts, I decided to do two sets of three instead of one set of five and completed them with ease. Next time, 1x3x 135, 1x3x 145.

Today is a running day, going for two .75 mile 5.2 mph intervals, total treadmill distance 4 miles.

Wednesday running, Friday lifts

Wednesday run was long slow distance day, 4 intervals at 5.2 mph, of one-half mile each. Total including warm-up and cool down of four miles. Next LSD day going to two intervals of .75 mile each.
Friday lifts were squats, 1x10x air, 1x8x bar, 1x5x 65, 1x5x 85, 1x5x 105, 1x5x 115, 2x3x 125, 1x1x 125, failed to the rails. Must remember to concentrate on keeping my back and abs super tight through the movement. This is where a coach would help, someone shouting important shit at me. I asked a nearby guy to lift the bar back up to the pins for me took 10 lbs off and kept going. 3x3x 115.
Bench press, 1x8x bar, 1x5x 55, 1x5x 65, 1x5x 75, 2x3x 85, asked a different guy to spot me for my third set, he basically carried the bar so I let him assist me for 6 reps, then when he was busy did my third set of three by myself.

Power cleans were sloppy today, guy walking around dangerously close to the barbell I was throwing around. It was idiot night at the gym except for the guy who helped move my loaded squat bar, that was cool. 1x5x bar, 1x3x 55, 1x3x 65, 3x3x 70 sloppy, 1x3x 65. My right shoulder feels wonky and messed up today.

Today is a fast interval run, 4.0 and 6.0, going to add in a one degree incline on this. End with 20 back extensions and 10 overhead press (bar).

off lifting day dammit

Monday I ran, fast intervals, 4.0/ 6.0 and it went well. Tomorrow's run will be LSD, with the goal of two mile total, in .5 mile increments of 5.2.

On to today. Sheesh, am I premenstrual or something? Squats, 1x10x air, 1x8x bar, 1x5x 65, 1x5x 85, 1x5x 105, 2x3x 115 (this was going to be one set but it was tough so I added another one) 1x3x 120, 1x3x 125 HARD 2x1x 125- UGH weak shit, and 1x1x 115. I was beaten. I had shitty sleep this week, and got a bunch a gifts in the mail, including a new Macbook Pro. Which is awesome, but maybe that got me too excited to sleep or something.

Overhead press, reset to 60 lbs, 1x8x bar, 1x5x 55, 2x5x 60, 1x4x 60. Deadlift, also a reset due to form breakdown 1x5x 135. And out.

Run session

My run went suprisingly well considering the week off of running. Intervals 4.0 and 5.2, the 5.2 jogging intervals were .5 mile and I felt comfortable and avoided the burning lungs feeling. Next treadmill session will be faster intervals, 4.0 and 6.0 at .25 miles for a total for four miles including warm-up and cool-down .25 miles.

My wrists and forearms are very beat-up feeling today, not sure if that is from benching which I probably do wrong, or the power cleans. Today will be a rest day, Monday lifts squats going for 3x3x 130, overhead press reseting down to 3x5x 60. Deadlifts pulling back again to 1x5x 135. So squatting heavy and going temporarily backwards on overhead press and deadlifts. Tuesday is fast interval running.

Lost a day

I was interrupted while posting Wednesday's workout (work call that was worth it, big Xmas tip) and it appears I threw away the paper it was on. I have not run this week at all due to the dehydration, the race isn't until April so for now maintaining strength is my focus. I plan to resume treadmill training Saturday, it will be lsd training, 4.0 and 5.2 intervals.
Today I am going for 3x3x 125 squats, 3x5x 85 bench press and am adding power cleans back in so will see where I am with those, I expect to be at 65lbs. Also 3x10x bar overhead press active recovery.

Also, in a blow to healthy equalling sexy, I notice that after the 4 days of nausea that resulted in minimal eating and minimal training that my body looks better then it has in a long time. My waist is narrower and I have a more streamlined look altogether. I think that all the reading I've done about eating (actually, eating influenced by the reading makes more sense) to support strength in addition to inflammation caused by exercise blew me up. I'm not going to make myself eat anymore unless I really want to at the time, including post workout.

Friday afternoon session: warmup of 20 back extensions, squats 1x10x air, 1x8x bar, 1x5x 65, 1x5x 85, 1x5x 105, 1x5x 115 kind of a grind but ok, 3x3x 125 tough but doable, 1x2x 125, 1x1x 125, 1x3x 115.

Bench press 1x8x bar, 1x5x 65, 1x3x 75, 1x1x 85 UGH, 1x2x 85, 2x2x 85, 1x4x 85, 1x3x 85, 1x5x 75. Very tough bench press session.
I brought power cleans back in, 1x5x bar, 1x5x 55, 1x3x 60, 5x3x 65, nice cleans. Learning how to do a tight set-up was the most important thing to do these, now I need to not hit myself in the face with the bar Doh.

food poisoning isn't good for lifting

But I felt better towards the end of the day and decided to go. Squats were 1x10x air, 1x8x bar, 1x5x 65, 1x5x 85, 1x5x 105, 2x2x 125 (not 3x5x as planned) 3x5x 115, really had to fight for these, 1x3x 115 and done.
Bench press 1x 10x bar, 1x5x 65, 1x3x 75, 3x3x 85 (not 3x5x 85 as planned) 3x5x 75. Deadlifts 1x2x 135, 1x1x 150, 1x1x 155, form breakdown, back catted up, 1x1x 150, also bad.

Overhead press active recovery 3x10x bar. 20 back extensions. Tuesday treadmill training lsd. 4.0 at .25 mile, 5.2 at .50. Tummy problems are still happening as of Tuesday morning dammit. I haven't had anything except tea at 12:30 don't know whether to eat something or go into the session fasted.

Interval treadmill day

4.0/ 6.0 intervals, went well. In the second mile I needed time to catch my breath so that slow interval I dropped from 4.0 to 3.0. That rejuvenated me for the rest of the session. After that I had to go by Walmart for cleaning supplies and cash, so I used the blood pressure machine in the pharmacy there. My blood pressure according to that was 117/72, not bad for after workout. Tomorrow is volume day for squats, going for 3x5x 125. Bench press 3x5x 85, deadlifts 1x5x 155.

Friday lifts

Good thing I decided to go early, as the person who told me they had regular hours on Friday was wrong. No cardio warm-up, Squats, 1x10x air, 1x8x bar, 1x5x 65, 1x5x 85, 1x5x 105, 1x3x 115, 1x3x 125, 1x2x 135 (yeah baby) 1x1x 135, 1 fail at 135, 2x3x 125, 1x3x 115. Next session do 3x3x 125.
Overhead press 1x8x bar, 1x5x 55, 2x4x 65, 1x3x 65. Hard. Romanian deadlift 1x5x 95, 3x5x 105, 20 back extensions and closed the gym down. So not a bad heavy night for squats and overhead press, still working on it. Treadmill training Sunday and lifting Monday.

What I've been up to

Wednesday, I couldn't sleep so did 6am Spin, planned for an evening lift session but it didn't happen. Thursday was Thanksgiving, so bearing the burden of guilt for missing the night's session, I went OUTSIDE in the am and ran/walked 3 miles. Which means Friday is definitely a heavy weight day. Squats, looking for doubles at 130, overhead press still trying for 3x5x 65, Romanian deadlifts, 3x5x 105.

Run run run away

Went to the gym earlier in the day then usual, 11am. Treadmill work 4.0 .25, 5.2 .25, 4.0 .25, 5.2 .50, 4.0 .25, 5.2 .50, 3.0 .25, 5.2 .50, 4.0 .25, heartrate still high so 3.0 .25, then 5.2 .25, 4.0 .25, 3.0 cooldown. Its tougher in the beginning, the middle is good, and then when I was cooled down I couldn't resist throwing another quarter-mile at 5.2 in there. That is where my cardio-bunny past creeps up. It's amazing how sport-specific exercise is. One could be the Spinning queen but running will break you, and vice-versa. I get where Crossfit is coming from by throwing all of the above at you, but also understand how fit people end up with rhabdo. It's easy to assume that because you are great at A and B exercise that you can also do C and D okay, but the truth is if you are genetically average you have to train for what it is you want to do.
Which brings me to skiing, which is what I really love. I am starting saving now to take a month off to ski next year. Yeah buddy!

Monday lifting

Based on a recent comment that squats warm-up the whole body, I decided to ditch any cardio warm-up and see what happened. I had a great lifting session, progression after my last reset of volume day was better then expected, allowing me to add an extra set of five at the work weight to squats and bench press. Sometimes I do things just because I can, you know?
Here are the details, squats, 1x10x air, 1x8x bar, 1x5x 65, 1x5x 85, 1x5x 105, 1x5x 115, 4x5x 120, Yay me! Bench press 1x8x bar, 1x5x 65, 4x5x 80. Deadlift, 1x2x 135, 5x1x 150. Active recovery for overhead press 3x10x bar and done.
Tomorrow is LSD day, although at this point my long distance intervals are .5 mile. Aiming for 4.0 .25, 5.2/ .5 to three miles. Wednesday will be intensity squat day, looking for doubles at 130 lbs. Overhead press still looking for 3x5x 65. Romanian deadlifts 3x5x 115.

Sunday session

Run/ walk 4.0 6.0 intervals for three miles. Then volume day for squats with five rep sets, goal of 3x5x 120. Bench press goal 3x5x 80 lbs, based on last BP dat 3x5x 75. Deadlift, 1x5x 150. Will update after.

It turns out that raising the intensity of running made me unable to lift. Training to run breaks down as (in quarter-mile increments) 4.0/ .25, 5.2/ .25, 4.0/ .25, 6.0/ .25, 4.0/ .25, 6.0/ .25, 4.0/ .25, 3.0/ .25( still needed to catch my breath after the 4.0 quarter so added in a slow lap), 6.0/ .25, 4.0/ .25 and cooldown lap. Super-red and sweating after that, I changed shoes and shirt and had some water.

At the squat rack I warmed up, 1x10x air, 1x8x bar, 1x5x 65, 1x5x 85, then I just could not do anymore. So, lifting and running will now be on different days, volume squat lift day for Mondays, five rep sets up to 120 lbs. Bench press 3x5x 80, deadlift 1x2x 135, 1x5x 150.

The gym didn't make me sick, it was my man!

But the throat thing seems to have gone away, which is good. Yesterday for the run I added some longer intervals at the slow jog pace (5.2 mph). So it went .25 mile warmup at 4.0, .25 mile at 5.2, .25 mile 4.0, .5 mile at 5.2, .25 mile at 4.0, .5 mile at 5.2, .25 mile at 4.0, .25 mile at 6.0, .25 mile at 4.0, cooldown. Now that I now I can jog for half a mile without keeling over dead, I will alternate LSD training with half-miles at 5.2 for the whole session, with fast quarter miles at 6.0 for the next session. Next time (Sunday) 4.0/ 6.0 for 3 miles.

I took a little break and went on to lifting, heavy day for squats. 1x 10x air, 1x 8x bar, 1x 5x 65, 1x 5x 85, 1x 3x 105, 1x 3x 115, 4x2x 125 (heavy sets, felt good) 2x 5x 115. For next time I haven't decided if I want to do as much as I can at 120, or just stay with the 125 and go for more reps there.

Overhead press still shitty 1x8x bar, 1x5x 55, 1x4x 65, 2x3x 65. Maybe I should do these first before squats. Romanian deadlifts, 1x8x bar, 1x5x 95, 1x5x 105. So here's the thing, do I work my upper body first because it is so weak and lagging, or do I continue to focus on lower body because those are the biggest muscle groups?

Is the gym making me sick?

How did you like that Carrie Bradshaw opening? It is strange, I had a great workout but now at home my throat is bothering me again. Ah well, it isn't bad. I did the run/walk intervals at 4.0, 5.2, 4.0, 6.0 and so on for three miles.
Squats were 1x10x air, 1x8x bar, 1x5x 65, 1x5x 85, 1x5x 105, 3x5x 115, good work sets, 3x5x 95, easy back offs. Happy with those will have an intensity day next time, going up until failure.
Benchpress 1x8x bar, 1x5x 65, 3x3x 85 (was supposed to be 5x3 but hasn't happened yet), 3x5x 75. Deadlifts 1x2x 135, 2x2x 145, fucked up form and hitched the fifth one, so did it over. 20 back extensions mostly for the stretch and home for food.

Saturday gym time

Kicked things off on the treadmill, getting ready for a four mile trail run in April, yes, I like a lot of lead time. Walk 4.0 jog 5.2 .25 mile intervals except for the last .25 I ran at 6.0. The friend going to the race with me said she runs at 5.2 or so, but I may end up more comfortable at 6.0. Will see how that goes. Total mileage was 2.75.
Lifts: Squats 1x10x air, 1x8x bar, 1x5x 65, 1x5x 85, 1x5x 105, 5x3x 115, 3x5x 95. Those last three sets were tacked on because there was a 'drinking bird' lady using tiny dumbbells right next to me and I couldn't resist doing more squats with an easily handled weight.
Overhead press 1x5x bar, 1x5x 55, 3x3x 65, 1x5x 55. Deadlift 1x5x 135. Back extensions 20 reps. Shower, tuna sub from Subway and time to get to work.

One year ago I was squatting with the bar only!

Trying to get motivated

This day has been dragging on so slowly- ugh! The powerlifter link in Kyle's comment on the blog entry below this is inspiring, love watching a small woman squat 225. Maybe finding more clips of athletic people will have me more stoked about getting in the gym tonight. Taking Spinning for entertainment yesterday didn't work, I was bored halfway through. The instructor is down to earth and funny, but I think she has us move our arms around to all the different bike handle positions in an effort to keep the class engrossing, but instead I find that a distraction from the activity. Yes, this post is full of complaints, no?
It is a beautiful sunny day outside too, which makes me miss living close to a great park with waterfalls and hiking trails. When I first moved there I would only go on the main path and with someone else. Later, alone seemed acceptable, then I got brave and started taking the trails. By the time I had been there a few months I was completely off-trail, using the creekbed as the guide. I miss that park.

Uneven shoulders and strength on each side

My left shoulder in noticeably smaller then the right, so much so that when squatting I have to raise the left elbow up higher to keep the bar straight across my back and during the squat the bat tends to dip on the left side. Rip's book says that with time and lifting body imbalances will become balanced but that hasn't happened with me in just at a year of lifting. I don't know what to do.

Today is a non-lifting day so I'm just taking a Spin class for entertainment. Tomorrow will be squats, going for 3x5x 115, overhead press 3x5x 65, deadlift 1x5x 135. Also run practice, 2 miles, .25 mile intervals walk 4.0 jog 5x2. Next week I'll put a slight incline on it and go another .25 mile, so it will total out at 2.5 miles including the cooldown quarter.

First lifting day after a sick week

Squats were 1x10x air, 1x8x bar, 1x5x 65, 1x5x 85, 1x5x 105, 3x3x 115, 3x5x 105. I do the extensive warmup because my knees are a little wonky and it helps me get brave when I go up step by step.
Overhead press 1x8x bar, 1x5x 55, 2x3x 65, 1x5x 55. Very rough sets. Romanian deadlifts were 1x5x 95, 1x5x 105, 1x4x 105. So it was a kind of lame workout but felt very tough and at least I did it. This was Monday, all day Tuesday my quads were screaming so I took a Spin class to pump extra blood through the body.
Normally I take more then one day between lifting sessions, but I needed to hit the gym today to get over a crappy experience (non training related) and went for it. Also, I didn't note, on Monday I started training for a four mile trail run and did 2 miles on the treadmills with .25 mile intervals. They were walk 4.0 jog 5.0. today, Weds, I did the same but the intervals were walk 4.0 run 5.1. My heartrate recovery was very good from max (165) to not max (135) but getting lower then that at 3.0 for my cooldown .25 mile was difficult. That was the warm-up.
After doing an intro/volume day Monday i did a tentative intensity day tonight. Squats were 1x10x air, 1x8x bar, 1x5x 65, 1x5x 85, 1x5x 105 (really working on keeping weight over heels as my mindful cue tonight). 1x3x 115, 2x1x 125, 1x2x 125 (Whoo-Hoo) 1x1x 125, 1x dumpx 125, 2x3x 115. Good lord I was done with squats then.

Bench press 1x8x bar, 1x5x 65, 2x3x 85, 1x2x 85, failed the third rep. Then decided to get more exercise at least with 3x5x 70- oddly the last set was the easiest one. I'm going back to linear progression on bench press and will see how that goes, so next bench day 3x5x 72.5 20 back extensions and done.