gwnorth's Road to Starting Strength

[gwnorth]

I thought I’d start a journal to document my progress in my quest to get stronger, increase muscle definition, and drop more body fat.

I have struggled with my weight for most of my adult life. I slowly gained after graduating from University and starting to work full time. I made half-hearted attempts to lose at home just doing cardio, but never stuck with it. I eventually joined a gym when a new one opened up close to where I was working. They had a routine that they introduced all new clients to - a 20 minute weight circuit where you did the generic 2 sets of 12-15 reps. This was my first introduction to weight training. I also started running on the treadmill and attending fitness classes. Without changing my eating habits I managed to lose about 20 lbs. I kept it off for a while but regained most of it following the birth of my first son (yes I said following, not to be confused with gaining during pregnancy which I didn’t). I wasn’t able to get into gym on a regular basis and so gave up exercising completely.

Finally 2 years later after the birth of my second son, I was bound and determined once and for all to lose the weight. I signed back up at a local gym and this time I hired a personal trainer. In addition to the machines, I had my first real introduction to free weights. It was a small gym so mostly we stuck to dumbbells incorporating stability elements. It was again though a high-rep focused program. I also changed my eating habits and started tracking my calories.

It took me 8 months to finally get to my goal weight and in the process started running again. It was my trainer who talked me into my first 5k race. From there I was hooked. I did a 10k running clinic through the gym and then progressed to ½ and full marathons through a local running store. I raced for about 5 years and added triathlon in the summers for 2 years. Then I burned out. I had no more immediate goals and I didn’t want to train through another winter. As my running mileage had increased, my weight training had decreased to the point where I was no longer doing weights. Also as my mileage increased, so did my weight. My training was getting harder and my times were getting slower. Feeling completely discouraged I sat my but down on the couch and it took me 2 years to get back off. In that time I stopped tracking my calories and my weight continued to creep up.

It’s taken me almost a year to get my weight back down again. I returned to the gym and once again hired a personal trainer. This time my training was different. Last time I worked out at a small women’s only gym and this time I was at a large co-ed gym (same company, just different location). I became much more comfortable in the weight room and learned how to do barbell squats, deadlifts, and bench presses. We still did mostly higher reps and super sets, but with more technical lifts. I also discovered bodybuilding.com and learned all about the importance of macronutrient targets. My diet this time around has looked a lot different than last time and once again I’ve been counting calories.

I’ve been working with the personal trainer at the gym 3 x a week for the past year and have incorporated a fair amount of cardio while eating at a deficit. Now that my weight is in a healthy range I’m ready to switch my focus to building strength. I have of course experienced strength gains over the course of the past year, but it hasn’t been my main goal, and my nutrition has not been geared for optimal strength increases. I plan to eat as close to maintenance as possible, but expect that I should still be able to make considerable progress. I’ve been slowly bringing up my calories for the past few weeks from 1500 cals/day. My goal this week, is 1800 cals/day. This is probably still below maintenance, but I’d rather err on the side of caution and see how it goes before increasing any more.

I have to give credit to 2 posters in particular for pointing me on this road. First thanks to Rowyn and her suggestions for Recomping. This approach really appeals to me. I know it’s a much slower approach than repetitive bulk/cut cycles, but after having spent the past year dieting down and losing 50+ lbs, I’m not psychologically ready for the idea of a bulk. I certainly don’t want to be cutting again anytime soon.

The other poster I want to thank is ironwill2008 who in response to my training questions steered me in the direction of a strength building program. From the research that I did, I settled on Rippetoe’s Starting Strength.

I’m booked with my trainer until the end of June. With summer holidays and the kids being home, it’ll be difficult for me to get into the gym so my plan is to workout at home and officially begin the Starting Strength program. We have a Power Rack with sundry attachments and a variety of dumbbells and weight plates, so I should be able to continue training without too much disruption to my schedule. My runs will go from treadmill to outside and we have an outdoor pool to help keep generally active.

Until then I’ll just be following whatever plan my trainer designs and using the time to really perfect my form, especially for cleans and push presses.

For the next 3 months, my workout schedule will be the following:

M,W,F – 15 min warm up/stretching + 1 hr with trainer
M,F – 30 min SS run + 5 min cool down following strength session
Tu – 1 hr spin class + 1 hr yoga style class
Th – Off
Sat – TBD, probably some supplemental weight work at home
Sun - Off

Prior to this I was also running on Wednesdays, spinning on Thursdays, and Saturdays were off. This new schedule reflects 2 hours less of cardio and 1 hour more of weights. I’ve also changed my run pace from LT (7.2 mph) to SS (6.2 mph), though I tend to throw in a burst of speed for the last 5 minutes depending on how I’m feeling.

Beginning Stats:

Weight 124.5 lbs
Chest - 33"
Midriff - 26"
Waist - 28"
Hips - 35.5"
Thighs - 20"
Calves - 13"
Biceps - 11"

[gwnorth]

Day 1

So today was officially day 1 of my new strength building program. The past 2 weeks we were having a serious heat wave with summer like temps. The gym was a sauna until they turned the air-conditioning on. Well the temps fell drastically overnight to below freezing, and the gym was an ice-box. I had some extra time before my PT appointment, so I extended my warm-up on the treadmill and followed it with some basic stretches to loosen up my hip-flexors. I am by nature and as a by product of having been a distance runner, very inflexible. It hinders my ability to get the range of motion needed for proper form for certain exercises like squats and deadlifts and today was to be deadlift day.

This is how it went today:

Superset:

Deadlifts
95x5x1
105x5x1
115x5x5

Assisted Pull Ups
70x10x7 (55 lbs offset (125-55=70))

Then:

EZ Bar Bicep Curls
30x6x2

Hang Tens
5x2

Cardio: 20 min/2k (1.3 mi) brisk walk warm up before weights + 30 min/5k (3.1 mi) SS run & 5 min easy walk cool down after weights

Total = 55 min/7.65k (4.75 mi)

The warm-up sets for the deadlifts felt fine, but I was getting tired by the 3rd set of my working set. I was pretty pleased with my form. We were using 25lb weight plates and then added 5lbs per side for each set. This makes the bar set up lower to the ground then with 45lb plates, and with my flexibility issues, I know my hips weren’t as low as ideal. I managed to keep my back from rounding out and my pulls were smooth and straight, so I was happy with that.

The pull ups were surprisingly challenging. I was good for 5 reps, but the last 5 for each set were much tougher. The bicep work wasn’t that challenging except that I get a good burn from the hang tens even though I was only using 5lb dumbbells.

[danap3681]

Go get 'em girl! Can't wait to follow your progress!

[gwnorth]

Go get 'em girl! Can't wait to follow your progress!

Thank-you so much.

[gwnorth]

My Craptastic Workout

But first. Yesterday was off. Usually on Tuesdays I do a 1hr spin class followed by a 1 hr yoga style stretch and strength class (a combination of Tai Chi, Yoga and Pilates), but my youngest son had an appointment with an educational psychologist as we are trying to determine if he has a learning disability. Preliminary results show that he is a very bright little boy but there is some indication that there might be something going on with his gross motor skills that is affecting his handwriting. At this point there is enough of a deficit to suggest he would benefit from some OT. Whether or not he’s actually dyslexic is still TBD. Poor kid has been struggling since grade 1 and it’s only now 2 years later in grade 3 that the issue is being addressed. As a result, he’s under the impression that he’s dumb and gives up easily whenever given a challenging assignment. We’ve been telling him he was smart but with the IQ test results he’s become more of a believer. It doesn’t help that he’s constantly comparing himself to his older brother, who in addition to being 2 years older, is also intellectually gifted.

After his testing, I met with the psychologist who administered the various assessments and she gave me an overview of his results. It was funny to hear her describe personality characteristics in him that were identical to me .

Now on to my crappy workout today. I should have known it was going to be a bad day when I was unpacking my bag at the gym and realized I only had 1 glove – again. Oh well, 15 min warm up on the treadmill and some brief stretching later and I’m looking around the gym for my trainer. He’s nowhere I can see. That’s ok, I know the plan for today - chest/shoulders/ triceps. I’ll just do a few warm up sets on the bench press and wait for him to show as he’s often a few minutes late. 15 minutes later still no show. I’m wondering what’s going on when I finally think ‘duh why don’t you just call him’? Call him, his truck is broken down and he’s waiting for a tow. Won’t be able to make it. Apparently he’d left a message with the front desk, but no one told me. Oh well, I’ll just work out on my own. I don’t have a workout plan but I figure bench press/oh press + push press/assisted dips. I’m eventually going to be training on my own without my trainer, so off we go. This is how it went (or rather didn’t go):

Chest

Bench Press
Bar(45)x10x1
65x10x1
75x5x1
85x2-Fail
80x3-Fail
75x5x1
77.5x3-Fail
75x5x2

I’d done 85x5x3 on Saturday when I worked out with dh, so I was so PO’d that I couldn’t do it today on my own. I don’t know what happened, whether it was the psychological fear of not having a spotter, or not resting long enough between sets, but whatever it was, I just couldn’t do it. The more I failed the more and more pissed off at myself I got. The only upside is that I learned I could fail and still get myself out from under the bar. I just brought it down on to my chest, rolled it to my stomach, sat up, tipped the bar one way to dump the plates (I didn’t use clips), then tipped opposite to dump the plates off the other side, and then re-racked the bar.

Sigh, anyway. Onwards and Upwards

Shoulders

OH Press
10x10x1
12.5x10x1
15x5x1

Push Press
Bar(45)x5x5

Working set was same weight as Saturday so no progress there. If I’d been thinking I would have added 2.5 lb plates, but I was too discombobulated to think clearly.

Triceps

Assisted Dips - (125 lbs body weight – 40 lbs offset)
85x10x3

I knew we had done 50 lbs offset last time so I was prepared to do 45lbs, but the 5lb weight plate on the machine was broken so I had to settle for 40lbs. In any case it went fine and it’s the only exercise that actually represents a weight increase from previous.

I was too ticked off after doing the weights that I decided to blow off my cardio. Actually a friend of mine recently joined the brand spanking new humongous Lifetime Fitness they just built here and is taking me tomorrow on a guest pass, so I’ll do my cardio then. So just my warm up:

Cardio

15 min/2.1k (1.5 mi)

And that’s all she wrote folks. A rather dissapointing day at the gym on my own.

[gwnorth]

So checked out the new Lifetime Fitness they just built here. The first in Canada and apparently the largest facility they've built to date. It's absolutely beautiful and has everything you could possibly want. You can tell which area gets used the most by it's size - the cardio area. A bazillion different choices and each with it's own tv screen. The weight circuit area is very extensive as well. Many different types of machines to chose from. The free weight area isn't bad - 2 power racks and at least 1 squat rack (might have been 2) & a smith machine. Didn't spend as much time in that area as my friend isn't a weight lifter (though I did introduce her to the basic leg machines), but I believe there were quite a few benches. Dumbbells were another section unto themselves. There was another area strictly for stretching and another for TRX. The spin studio looked awesome with theatre staging and a huge screen so they can show video to simulate outdoor rides (like Tour de France).

We were there late morning (when I usually train) and almost had the place to ourselves. Not sure what it's like during peak hours though. The third floor is dedicated to childcare where they have different areas according to age. What appeals to me about this place is that with family membership, I'd get 2 hours of childminding but the kids would be engaged in physical activities like playing basketball or soccer or the huge indoor climbing walls (tallest in Canada apparently). For extra charge they have camp programs, swimming lessons, and martial arts for the kids. My current gym doesn't offer anything more than childminding in which the kids sit in a room geared for babies and toddlers and watch tv. My kids are way to old for that and they wouldn't be getting any exercise while waiting for me.

There's an indoor and outdoor pool. Outdoor pool has a huge water slide and it's own cafe. Indoor pool is divided into sections and they have one area exclusively for lane swim. When we were there I would have had all the lanes to myself.

There is also sauna, steam room, hot tubs, spa, hair salon, and restaurant. Everything you could ever want. You could easily spend the whole day there. My friend and I were there from 10:30 am to 3:00 pm. Out of that time we worked out for less than an hour. Workout for today was:

Cardio
Treadmill - 31:00/5k (3.15 mi) + 5 min cool down
Arc Trainer 15:00

[danap3681]

So checked out the new Lifetime Fitness they just built here. The first in Canada and apparently the largest facility they've built to date. It's absolutely beautiful and has everything you could possibly want. You can tell which area gets used the most by it's size - the cardio area. A bazillion different choices and each with it's own tv screen. The weight circuit area is very extensive as well. Many different types of machines to chose from. The free weight area isn't bad - 2 power racks and at least 1 squat rack (might have been 2) & a smith machine. Didn't spend as much time in that area as my friend isn't a weight lifter (though I did introduce her to the basic leg machines), but I believe there were quite a few benches. Dumbbells were another section unto themselves. There was another area strictly for stretching and another for TRX. The spin studio looked awesome with theatre staging and a huge screen so they can show video to simulate outdoor rides (like Tour de France).

We were there late morning (when I usually train) and almost had the place to ourselves. Not sure what it's like during peak hours though. The third floor is dedicated to childcare where they have different areas according to age. What appeals to me about this place is that with family membership, I'd get 2 hours of childminding but the kids would be engaged in physical activities like playing basketball or soccer or the huge indoor climbing walls (tallest in Canada apparently). For extra charge they have camp programs, swimming lessons, and martial arts for the kids. My current gym doesn't offer anything more than childminding in which the kids sit in a room geared for babies and toddlers and watch tv. My kids are way to old for that and they wouldn't be getting any exercise while waiting for me.

There's an indoor and outdoor pool. Outdoor pool has a huge water slide and it's own cafe. Indoor pool is divided into sections and they have one area exclusively for lane swim. When we were there I would have had all the lanes to myself.

There is also sauna, steam room, hot tubs, spa, hair salon, and restaurant. Everything you could ever want. You could easily spend the whole day there. My friend and I were there from 10:30 am to 3:00 pm. Out of that time we worked out for less than an hour. Workout for today was:

Cardio
Treadmill - 31:00/5k (3.15 mi) + 5 min cool down
Arc Trainer 15:00

WOW! Can I come visit you? Sounds like a really cool place.

[gwnorth]

WOW! Can I come visit you? Sounds like a really cool place.

Yeah with a super duper monthly fee - $222/mo for family membership + $154 enrollment fee + $100 maintenance fee (don't know if this is 1x or annual). Pool is included, which my gym doesn't have. Swimming lessons for the kids would be extra but no more expensive then what I currently pay through the city. If it means that the kids can be more physically active I'm seriously considering it.

[danap3681]

Yeah with a super duper monthly fee - $222/mo for family membership + $154 enrollment fee + $100 maintenance fee (don't know if this is 1x or annual). Pool is included, which my gym doesn't have. Swimming lessons for the kids would be extra but no more expensive then what I currently pay through the city. If it means that the kids can be more physically active I'm seriously considering it.

My gym is old school! I pay $60 for 3 months which includes weight room and any classes. No pool, no daycare and sometimes no air conditioning

[Cardioconvert]

Dropping in from lurkdom to say "hi" Glad to see you have started a journal as I have read some of your responses to threads and really appreciate the encouragement you provide posters and your positive attitude. It helps too that we share a love of running

I can't promise to chim in too often (I am a newb and learn more by constant reading - won't be in a position to offer advice for years (if ever) compared to the other gals around here) - just wanted you to know I am cheering you on!

CC

[KPainter70]

Holy crap that gym sounds expensive! Are you joining?

[gwnorth]

Dropping in from lurkdom to say "hi" Glad to see you have started a journal as I have read some of your responses to threads and really appreciate the encouragement you provide posters and your positive attitude. It helps too that we share a love of running

I can't promise to chim in too often (I am a newb and learn more by constant reading - won't be in a position to offer advice for years (if ever) compared to the other gals around here) - just wanted you to know I am cheering you on!

CC

Thank-you for dropping in and for your encouragement. It appears we share a love of Under Armour as well .

[gwnorth]

Holy crap that gym sounds expensive! Are you joining?

I wouldn't call it a gym, more like a country club lol.

Haven't decided yet. I'm booked with my trainer until the end of June, so if I do, it won't be until then.

The biggest thing that bugs me about my gym is that I have no real options for childminding for my kids. I also am trying to find ways to get my older son more active. He takes after his mother and is a bit of a couch potato. One of my friends' family has joined and another may as well. That would be great as the kids could all get together and play. I have to admit that the indoor pool is tempting as I'd like to get back to swimming lengths and I hate using the city pools. The rockwall is also freaking awesome and there isn't another one anywhere around here. It's something I've always wanted to try and so would the boys. I'm also tempted by the spin studio. Then there is the shiny newness of the place. My gym could use a major overhaul.

So many things to consider given the price. On the other hand once you factor in how much we'll be saving once dh and my personal training sessions at our present gym are done, it makes it more do-able.

[gwnorth]

Repeat workout from Wednesday, but this time with the trainer.

Chest

Bench Press
85x3x3

55x3x2 w 3 sec pauses at the bottom

Incline Dumbbell Chest Press
20x5x5

Cable Chest Press
30x10x3

Shoulders

Seated Military Press
15x6x4

Lateral Raises
5x10x3

Triceps

Cable Triceps Push Down
80x10x3

Drop Set
70x6x1
60x6x1
50x6x1
40x6x1
30x6x1

Cardio

13:00/1.9k (1.2 mi) warm up before weights
35:00/6.3k (3.9 mi) progression (6.2-7.5 mph, avg pace 6.7 mph) following weights
7:00/.75k (.45) mi cool down

Total = 55 min/8.95k (5.55 mi)

Regarding the bench press, I realize that the only reason I’ve been pushing 85 lbs is because my trainer was helping more than I was aware. For the initial sets/reps he’s helping to stabilize, and he definitely helped me lift the last rep of my last set. Looks like next time I try on my own I need to drop the weight and maybe try 80 lbs. I’m also going to cut down on my warm up sets because I have a feeling that they’re actually acting as a pre-exhaust.

With the exception of the 85x3x3 bench press, none of the other exercises were particularly challenging, but I did get a burn from the triceps drop set.

[KPainter70]

The indoor pool would be a big thing for me. (We live in FL and now that we have a pool, I can't imagine being without one.) I've always wanted to try a rockwall too! I know there's a couple around here, but I've never been. I should really get on that now that my upper body strength has improved.

[gwnorth]

The indoor pool would be a big thing for me. (We live in FL and now that we have a pool, I can't imagine being without one.) I've always wanted to try a rockwall too! I know there's a couple around here, but I've never been. I should really get on that now that my upper body strength has improved.

Yeah we have a inground pool but 1) pool season is May-Sept, and 2) it's too small for laps.

As for the rockwall, I've always heard that novice women generally do better than men because the men try to muscle their way up using their superior upper body strength. Since most women aren't as strong, they tend to be more strategic in picking an optimum path to the top.

[KPainter70]

Here's to a great week!

[gwnorth]

Here we are April already. Need to remember to take some starting photos to document this journey.

Ended up taking Saturday and Sunday off. My shoulder/chest, just under my right clavicle was feeling tweaky after my bench press on Friday and I didn't want to aggravate it. Toss in some super sore calves from running 2 days in a row (which I haven't done in a while) and I wasn't feeling motivated. Actually I suspect that calf DOMS was from running 2 days where one of them was in my barefoot runners. I had planned on doing my run today in my regular runners, but I was in a bit of a rush after my weights session and didn't want to take time to change my shoes. We'll see how the calves do. I've been trying to slowly increase the mileage I do in the barefoot shoes. They certainly work the muscles differently.

Workout for today was pretty light

Legs

Squats
45x5x1
65x5x1
75x5x5

I was really happy with these. The weight is light, but I was finally able to get parallel. So much harder when you get that much lower. In order to do so though, I put 5lb weight plates under my heels to elevate them to help compensate for my lack of flexibility. I lift in my barefoot runners but they have 0 heel. I need to look into buying some Oly lifting shoes.

Cleans

Still trying to get the hang of these so just some practice doing pulls and shrugs first with a body bar then with the oly bar. Only did a few full cleans with the bar/45 lbs.

Box Jumps

5x3 @ 4 steps high
5x2 @ 5 steps high

Shoulders

DB Overhead Press
17.5x3x3

Push Press
Bar(45)x3x3

Cardio

Treadmill

15:00/2.25k(1.4 mi) Warm Up
30:00/5.1k(3.15 mi) Progression Run (6.2-8.0 mph)
5:00/.5k(.30 mi) Cool Down

Total = 50:00/7.8k (4.85 mi)

Nothing too tough.

On a sad note, got a call from the educational psychologist re ds#2 and they are making a diagnosis of a learning disability with a deficit in writing. Not sure how I feel about that. In the grand scheme of things in this technological age, it's pretty minor, but the reality is that it's going to make schooling a bit more of a challenge for him. Need to get him some typing lessons. At least with a formal diagnosis the school will be required to make modifications for him to be able to use assistive technology, but I just worry that it's going to get him labeled by his peers.

[gwnorth]

Feeling very sore today, especially in the shoulders and upper back. Hope this is a sign that my program is working.

Mostly cardio today:

1 hour spin class + 1 hour "yoga~ish" class.

Was feeling even more achy after yoga. Going to have a nice long soak in a hot bath tonight before bed and take some Magnesium. Tomorrow is deadlifts so I hope I feel looser by then.

[tina722]

Subbed. Amazing job with the weight loss. It seems like you have a great trainer to work with. I bet you will love building strength.

[gwnorth]

Subbed. Amazing job with the weight loss. It seems like you have a great trainer to work with. I bet you will love building strength.

Thank-you for the encouragement. I do really like my trainer. It took us a bit of time to gel but we've been working together steadily for a year. It will be hard to let go and go it alone come the end of June (see my workout from March 28th lol), but he's helped me come a long way and I should be ready to go solo by then.

[gwnorth]

My shoulder is feeling better today, but I did take an ibuprofen before bed last night for a couple of reasons 1) because I'm a wimp and DOMS distrupts my ability to get a good night sleep and 2) as an anti-inflammatory. In any case my shoulder is doing ok today. Workout for today was:

Legs (and glutes & back)

Deadlifts

45x5x1
120x5x5

Superset with

Back

Assisted Pull-Ups

75x5x3 (125 lbs bodyweight - 50 lbs offset)
85x5x2 (125 lbs bodyweight - 40 lbs offset)

Biceps

Superset:

EZ Bar Curls

40x6x3

Hang Tens
5x1x3

Cardio

Treadmill

10:00/1.6k (1 mi) warmup + stretching
35:00/5.9k (3.65 mi) SS run
5:00/.5k (.3 mi) cool down

Total = 50:00/8k (5 mi)

Deadlifts were tough but the rest was ok. Calves were starting to feel really tight by the end of my run as I have done all my workouts this week in my barefoot runners.

Friday is a holiday so I'm hoping to get out of bed early enough to workout at home. Then we are off to the in-laws for the weekend. Dh's grandfather is celebrating his 100th b-day so there will be a big family reunion. No workout again until Monday.

[KPainter70]

Wow - his 100th birthday? Amazing. I think having the weekend off to rest could be good for you. Have a fun time!

[gwnorth]

Had planned this to be a quick workout before we headed out of town for the weekend, but dh decided he wanted to workout too, so I ended up having to shorten my plans and dropped the biceps and triceps.

Squats
45x5x1
55x5x1
70x5x1
80x5x5

Flat Bench Press
45x5x1
60x5x1
70x5x1
80x3x3 with assistance

DB Bent Over Row
40x5x3

Deadlifts
45x5x1
75x5x1
100x5x1
130x5x3

DB OH Press
15x5x1
20x5x1
45x5x1 (BB)

BB Push Press
50x5x3

Pleased with the depth on my squats and my form on the deadlifts. Frustrated with my continuing struggles with the flat bench.

Now off to eat some birthday cake.

[gwnorth]

I've gained 4 lbs in the last 2 weeks of what I can only imagine is water as my mid-section is feeling squishier than normal. I'm peri-menopausal and my hormones are out of whack but I also think my increased carb consumption of late is partly to blame. I'm going to ease back on the starches and try drinking more water to see if it will help.

Workout for today was as follows:

Flat Bench Press
90x3x3 with major assistance

60x3x2 w 3 sec pauses at the bottom

Incline DB Chest Press
22.5x5x5

Cable Chest Press
35x10x3

Seated Military Press
17.5x6x4

Lateral Raises
10x10x2
10x8x1

Cable Triceps Push Down
90x10x3

Drop Set
80x6x1
70x6x1
60x6x1
50x6x1
40x6x1

Cardio

Treadmill

5:00/.72k (.45 mi) warm up before weights
45:00/7.57k (4.7 mi) SS following weights
5:00/.48k (.30 mi) cool down

Total = 55 min/8.77k (5.45 mi)

Again struggling with the flat bench. I told my P/T that 90 lbs was too much but he insisted that I try. I don't like doing weights where I need assistance to complete. I don't really see the point. The rest went fine and the tricep push downs were really tough. My arms were aching and burning by the end.

As a side note, when we were down in the pit working with the dumbbells, there were 2 ladies there as well working on their own. The one was coaching the other who was very obviously unfamiliar with working with weights. I overheard the one tell the other "You don't need to lift heavy weights, just feel the burn". My trainer and I just looked at each other and rolled our eyes lol.

[Cardioconvert]

Hi~ nice workout! Love the tri drop sets - that is one of my fav ways to finish off a lifting session (either tri or bi drop sets). Gotta love finishing off with a great pump

When you say "struggling" re: flatbench, do you mean you are struggling because you aren't increasing the weight the way you were hoping or do you have an injury / past injury - I looked a few posts back in your journal but don't see anything. I noticed you have expressed frustration twice and was just wondering.

CC

[gwnorth]

Hi~ nice workout! Love the tri drop sets - that is one of my fav ways to finish off a lifting session (either tri or bi drop sets). Gotta love finishing off with a great pump

When you say "struggling" re: flatbench, do you mean you are struggling because you aren't increasing the weight the way you were hoping or do you have an injury / past injury - I looked a few posts back in your journal but don't see anything. I noticed you have expressed frustration twice and was just wondering.

CC

The drop sets are tough. My triceps were on fire by the time we were done.

Regarding the flat bench, no injuires. When I say struggling I mean it's not progressing the way my other lifts are. I can do 75x5x5 on my own. When I increase to 80 lbs though I need assistance to be able to complete 3x3, and I've been stuck at this weight for a couple of weeks. When I workout on my own, I keep the weight the same until I can do all sets & reps unassisted, but my trainer insists on increasing the weight and providing assistance, which I personally would rather not do.

[Cardioconvert]

Oh, okay - now understand the frustration (trust me, I feel your frustration). Your attitude is so good, I am sure you will shift off this plateau and it will be onwards and upwards from there!

CC

[gwnorth]

Cardio Day

1 hour spin class
1 hour "yoga~ish" class.

I love spin class. I recently switched from a structured programmed class to an instructor's choice class. I'd been doing the first class for quite some time and then tried the instructor's choice class one day due to a scheduling conflict and found to my surprise that I really enjoyed it. I was doing both classes for a few weeks as they are different (the first has more short high intensity intervals the other has more longer endurance intervals), but with my weights focus turning towards strength I figured I should cut back on the cardio a bit, so I dropped the first one. Today's class was quite challenging. We had one track with 5x1 min race intervals followed immediately with a 7 min mountain climb track, no break in between. Personally I prefer climbing over racing. I'm more of an endurance athlete than a sprinter.

The "yoga" class is very challenging for me as well in a different way. I'm flexibility challenged in both the lower and upper body. I've come to realize lately that I'm a bit of a perfectionist (only took me 40+ years to figure that out lol) and I get frustrated when I can't perform to what I perceive to be a proficient level. For this reason I find this class frustrating. It's not a traditional yoga class, more like fitness yoga, so at least I can feel a measure of success with the strength aspects of the class (except for the pilates core work - yuk, lol). I'm just as sore after the class as I am before, though the 5 min of relaxation at the end is nice. I was origianlly doing it first followed by Spin class which is a horrible combination. Being able to switch the 2 classes around is much better, but it means that my legs are already tired before having to do upteen squats and static lunges.

[gwnorth]

Not too tough in general today, but my shoulders got a good workout.

Squats
45x5x1
80x5x5

My hip flexors were feeling really tight today so it was tough to get low, even after doing some stretching after my warmup. PT stretched me out some more after the second working set which helped a bit. But man that hurts.

Cleans
Bar(45)x1x2
50x1x2
55x1x1

Still mostly technique practice

Box Jumps
5x5 @ 5 steps high

DB Seated Overhead Press
20x6x5

Push Press
Bar(45)x3x5

Cardio

Treadmill - Just my warm up

11:00/1.7k(1.03 mi)

Tomorrow is a rest day. Need to take the car in for maintenance service.