Going heavy to get light: My journey to self redemption

[Tuley]

Great journal, love the new title. You are on a good path, keep it up

[mmater]

Def. looking forward to my off day tomorrow (funny thing is, I'm only off because I am working a 12-hour shift, haha)

Shoulders are by far my weakest area

DB shoulder press
3x10 @ 25lbs
DB arnold press
3x10 @ 25lbs

Leg raises
3x15

close-grip upright rows
3x10 @ 50lbs (ez bar)

crunches holding 12lb medicine ball straight arms (working shoulder as well)
3x15

shrugs
45lb plates each hand

side raise (working obliques)
45lb plate

lateral DB raise superset with front raise
3x10 @ 15lbs

Ab machine
3x10 150lbs (remember this is the machine weights)

I am thinking of starting the QBM training program and intersperse crossfit workouts every 4 weeks. Maybe even do the QBM transformation. who knows.

[BTM1ND3D]

I am thinking of starting the QBM training program .

I'm thinking about it too.. I sent my gym buddy the site link, but he said he couldn't download it.. let me know if you start

[shirehobbit]

I think I FINALLY found my female bodybuilder inspiration. Her name is Amy Schmid. I saw her as the coach on the MTV show MADE, and I liked the way she looked. Checked out her stats, and although she is a few inches shorter than me, she has a lot of muscle. She looks how I would imagine myself to look underneath all this fat. I'm so happy I found a body to emulate. It seemed I was always finding either figure competitors (sorry Ladies, just not my style, although you all are awesome!) or unnatural female bodybuilders, and I didn't want that either. Amy seems like the perfect mix of both. Not to mention watching her on the show, she seems like a pretty cool person.

Just had to share.

I'm so glad you found your inspiration! Every woman lifter should have one. I googled Amy. I like the athletic photo of her in the stairwell! And the photo of her looking out the window with her back to the camera (wearing a tulle ballet skirt).

When I was in my early 20s I wanted to look just like Ms. O., Juliette Bergmann. She's only an inch taller than me. Back then her upper body wasn't as muscular as it is today. I actually like the old look better. Attached is an old photo with the look I prefer.

Cheers,

Shire

[mmater]

I used yesterday as my day off from the gym as I had a 12-hour shift. Today, I did some HIIT and just hit all my major muscle groups with moderate weight for as many reps for 1 set. Varied the pace of the lifts and basically just moved quickly through the exercises.

I have decided to go with QBM for a while. I am going to spend some time over the weekend getting well versed in the routine of the workouts. I am also going camping this weekend, with some hiking and mountain biking on the agenda. I am so excited. I love the outdoors, but where I live, combined with lack of friends who enjoy the outdoors, this is very hard to do for me. It will be a nice stress reliever and way to get away from everything even if just for a couple of days.

I don't talk much about my nutrition, because quite frankly it is my weakest area. I understand it is the most important part though. I am sticking with my philosophy right now, which is "eat less of what I'm about to eat." So far so good. I am making smarter food choices when going out to eat, and just eating less. The scale has been moving in the right direction, so I will take it. - A little side note, I get on the scale every time I go workout. Most people don't agree with weighing every day, but it doesn't bother me. I look at the scale and I see where I want to be for my first goal and where I am at now. I take my fingers and see how far apart that is. Not more than an inch. AN INCH!!!!! Funny how an inch on the scale seems so small and short, but actually getting there takes much longer. I just try to tell myself, "only one inch, only one inch." Makes it seem a little easier.

[BTM1ND3D]

I am starting QBM next week.
That is great.. only an inch away you so close

keep going.. by the time you know it, you will only have 1/2 inch left

[MuscleMom]

going to be following! Can't wait to share notes on the QBM

[joakman]

Looking forward in seeing your thoughts on the QBM.

[thehobbes]

Just had to say, I love the new title!

[mmater]

This past weekend, two of my friends and I went to the closest state park (1.5 hours away) for a little weekend getaway. The plan was to bike the first day, and hike the second day. The weather was AWESOME!!!!! I was in shorts and a tshirt. We get out bikes ready and choose a trail that was supposed to easy according to the lady at the visitor's center. Yea, NO!!!! I was off my bike more than on it. We crossed a non-flowing river many times, which was all deep sand. Not to mention steep inclines. Needless to say I coined a new term, bhiking - where you take your bike along for a hike. haha.

We ended up doing 8 miles on the bike. It was hell. It was fun, and challenging, but my legs were like jello at the end. Then the next day, we decided to do the hardest trail to one of the most spectacular viewpoints in the whole park. I say hard, because it was one mile, STRAIGHT UP!!! I'm talking some scrambling along the way. I got about a 1/4 of a mile up and I was seriously debating whether I would make it because of my legs. I took it as a mental challenge and just put one foot in front of the other. Of course, it was worth it at the end.

Needless to say, we had no intentions of that trip being THAT difficult, but it was, and we still had fun. Today, another friend of mine wanted to go workout, and I was so sore, but I went and did mild cardio.

The great news is that apparently in the past 6 weeks I have lost 5 lbs, 2% bodyfat, 3 inches off my waist, and 1.5 inches off my hips. Who knew!!! haha, of course that is fantastic!

I hope to start QBM with my friend tomorrow (she is looking it over as I write this) and see where that takes me. Still eating less of what I'm eating, so far so good. Just like the hike, just putting one foot in front of the other.

[thehobbes]

That trip sounds like it was a blast. And congrats on your progress!

[MuscleMom]

Weekend sounds like so much fun!

Have fun with the QBM tomorrow!!

[BTM1ND3D]

HAHA! Bhiking
too funny.

well hey at least you kept going.. sounds like an amazing trip. intense w/o and get-a-way all in one.

I will be following your QBM.. try to keep up with ya

[mmater]

HAHA! Bhiking
too funny.

well hey at least you kept going.. sounds like an amazing trip. intense w/o and get-a-way all in one.

I will be following your QBM.. try to keep up with ya

I wanted to stop many times, but the reality is I couldn't. I mean I guess I could if I knew how to make a sleeping bag out of sand and a tent out of rocks, could start my own fire, and hope the coyotes didn't eat me. See, it was really out of survival that I kept going. lol.

I'm sure I will be trying to keep up with you. problem is you use kg, I use lbs. ;-) I don't want to do the math. haha. I'll be switching order of workouts every week and rest days in between. I'm going to go for 4 weeks and see how I feel then to decide if I want to cross train on anything for a week or two.

[BTM1ND3D]

I wanted to stop many times, but the reality is I couldn't. I mean I guess I could if I knew how to make a sleeping bag out of sand and a tent out of rocks, could start my own fire, and hope the coyotes didn't eat me. See, it was really out of survival that I kept going. lol.

I'm sure I will be trying to keep up with you. problem is you use kg, I use lbs. ;-) I don't want to do the math. haha. I'll be switching order of workouts every week and rest days in between. I'm going to go for 4 weeks and see how I feel then to decide if I want to cross train on anything for a week or two.

You crack me up
Now that you put it that way, I would keep going to survive too! I'm not very crafty or creative, and quite frankly I probably go into cardic arrest if I saw a coyote

my gym uses both. But everytime I want to use the machine that shows lbs, there is always some guy sitting (not working out) on it. >:/
I edited my journal with the lbs.. ish..

[AprilShowers13]

This past weekend, two of my friends and I went to the closest state park (1.5 hours away) for a little weekend getaway. The plan was to bike the first day, and hike the second day. The weather was AWESOME!!!!! I was in shorts and a tshirt. We get out bikes ready and choose a trail that was supposed to easy according to the lady at the visitor's center. Yea, NO!!!! I was off my bike more than on it. We crossed a non-flowing river many times, which was all deep sand. Not to mention steep inclines. Needless to say I coined a new term, bhiking - where you take your bike along for a hike. haha.

We ended up doing 8 miles on the bike. It was hell. It was fun, and challenging, but my legs were like jello at the end. Then the next day, we decided to do the hardest trail to one of the most spectacular viewpoints in the whole park. I say hard, because it was one mile, STRAIGHT UP!!! I'm talking some scrambling along the way. I got about a 1/4 of a mile up and I was seriously debating whether I would make it because of my legs. I took it as a mental challenge and just put one foot in front of the other. Of course, it was worth it at the end.

Needless to say, we had no intentions of that trip being THAT difficult, but it was, and we still had fun. Today, another friend of mine wanted to go workout, and I was so sore, but I went and did mild cardio.

The great news is that apparently in the past 6 weeks I have lost 5 lbs, 2% bodyfat, 3 inches off my waist, and 1.5 inches off my hips. Who knew!!! haha, of course that is fantastic!

I hope to start QBM with my friend tomorrow (she is looking it over as I write this) and see where that takes me. Still eating less of what I'm eating, so far so good. Just like the hike, just putting one foot in front of the other.

Good job on your progress. Three inches off your waist is awesome!!

[mmater]

Good job on your progress. Three inches off your waist is awesome!!

Thank you!

[mmater]

Today was day one for the QBM and I went pretty light, because I wasn't sure how hard it would really be. Needless to say, I'm glad I did. I did the workout with my friend and we alternated between exercises and kept the rest periods between sets pretty short (15-20 secs)

Wide Grip Pulldown
Stacked Set - 40,50,60
superset with Close grip reverse pulldown 60, 60, 60

Seated Close Grip Row (partials included)
superset with
wide grip high row - 40,50,60

Bent Dumbbell Flyes - 8,10,12
Close grip pullups (used the assited pullup machine) 6,5,4
Hyperextensions (no weight) 15reps, 13reps, 15reps

Triceps pushdown
stacked set - 40,50,60
superset with reverse grip pushdowns - 60,60,60

overhead tricep extensions - 40,50,60

Dips to failure - 11reps, 13reps, 14reps


The close grip rows were brutal with the amount of reps and the partials. The last set was killing me. I'm interested to see how I feel tomorrow, but as of right now I feel I could have gone a little heavier on the lat pulldowns and the tricep exercises. I will know for next week.

Tomorrow is leg day.

[ERGOGENIX]

I'm interested to see how I feel tomorrow

Tomorrow is leg day.

You will be sore!

Good luck with legs

[BTM1ND3D]

how do you feel ?
you did good weight! goodness !

[mmater]

how do you feel ?
you did good weight! goodness !

so far so good. Thanks.

[MuscleMom]

Great job with your first QBM wo!

Good luck with legs tomorrow

[TMac26]

Do not be discouraged by the leg workout.


You will be sore and make sure you eat some carbs about 2 hours or so prior to lifting.


It helps.

[mmater]

So today was QBM leg day. OMG!!!! FML!!!! WTF!!!! FTW!!! That's all I really gotta say about that. lol.

Leg extension
50,60,70
70,80,80
80,90,90

Leg Press
50
70
70 added 10 for each set after til 4 when we ran out of plates, so ended at 130

Hack Squats (these suck for some reason) 20,30,40
superset with
Dumbbell Squats (I used one DB between my legs) 15,20,20

Seated leg curl 50,60,70,80,80 - 80 - 80
superset with
DB lunge - no weight, I was concentrating more on form and it hurt plenty anyways

Lying leg curl 50,60,60
superset with
stiff legged deadlifts 20,20,20

Hip Adductors - 30,40,50

My Review: this workout KILLS!!! I was working out with my friend and she has had a recent knee injury so we modified a few of the exercises for her. Instead of hack squat I had her hold on to the TRX rope to take some of the pressure off the knees and just do bodyweight squats. For the lunges I had her go into a squat and had her hold the position for as long as possible.

For me, I could go heavier on the leg press. The hack seems like so much more work, not sure what gives on that. The leg curls def. worked my hammies. I have almost no flexibility in my hips, so the adductors were difficult because it was as if I was doing partials the whole time. Yes, I am the inflexible in the hips. I'm working on it though.

It did take us a while to get through the workout, so I am hoping after this first week, the pace picks up. I hope to get it under an hour with both of us doing it.

[BTM1ND3D]

So today was QBM leg day. OMG!!!! FML!!!! WTF!!!! FTW!!! That's all I really gotta say about that. lol.

I agree

[TMac26]

Legs are def. the hardest part of the workout.



If you can survive the leg workout, you can survive any workout.

[LW79]

So today was QBM leg day. OMG!!!! FML!!!! WTF!!!! FTW!!! That's all I really gotta say about that. lol.

Leg extension
50,60,70
70,80,80
80,90,90

Leg Press
50
70
70 added 10 for each set after til 4 when we ran out of plates, so ended at 130

Hack Squats (these suck for some reason) 20,30,40
superset with
Dumbbell Squats (I used one DB between my legs) 15,20,20

Seated leg curl 50,60,70,80,80 - 80 - 80
superset with
DB lunge - no weight, I was concentrating more on form and it hurt plenty anyways

Lying leg curl 50,60,60
superset with
stiff legged deadlifts 20,20,20

Hip Adductors - 30,40,50

My Review: this workout KILLS!!! I was working out with my friend and she has had a recent knee injury so we modified a few of the exercises for her. Instead of hack squat I had her hold on to the TRX rope to take some of the pressure off the knees and just do bodyweight squats. For the lunges I had her go into a squat and had her hold the position for as long as possible.

For me, I could go heavier on the leg press. The hack seems like so much more work, not sure what gives on that. The leg curls def. worked my hammies. I have almost no flexibility in my hips, so the adductors were difficult because it was as if I was doing partials the whole time. Yes, I am the inflexible in the hips. I'm working on it though.

It did take us a while to get through the workout, so I am hoping after this first week, the pace picks up. I hope to get it under an hour with both of us doing it.

are the numbers the weight used or the reps done?

[mmater]

Yeah, sorry about that. It is weight done. I was assuming everyone knew what the workout consisted of. Whoops. If I knew how to insert a picture I would just post my workout log in a .jpg format, way easier than typing it all out.

[mmater]

Legs are def. the hardest part of the workout.



If you can survive the leg workout, you can survive any workout.

survive is such a relative term ;-) I survived as in I walked out of the gym on my own accord and my own two feet. BUT, tomorrow, surviving may take on a whole other meaning. I almost wish I could hibernate right through the sore part, that's how much I am dreading finding out how sore I will be.

But, I guess, No pain (the good kind) no gain. :-)

[mmater]

ta-dah!!!!! Thanks hobbes for posting a step-by-step on how to do this.