Hi everyone. I had a journal in the female bodybuilding section but since I am 43 now, this may be a more appropriate place for me.
I started working with weights in the fall of 2004 following the recovery from major abdominal surgery. I was pretty weak and lacked muscle then. I am 5'5" and weight about 130lbs and my BF is around 22%. I want to be healthy and active for at least another three decades and believe maintaining muscle and staying fit is the way to do it. I would like to lose a few pounds of fat but that is secondary to keeping healthy.
I have been trying to do three full-body routines per week with three or four sets of 5, 8 or 15. I do 6 exercises hitting all the major muscle groups with at least 4 of the 6 being compound exercises.
For today (March 9) I did the following:
Warm-up 15 minutes elliptical
Incline chest press 24 lb DBs 4x5
Seated Cable Rows 60lbs 4x5 (inc weight to 65 next time)
Good Mornings 55 lbs 4x5 (new exercise for me - working on form)
Plie Squats 24 lbs 4x5
Stab Ball military press 16lb DBs 1x10 2x6
Alternate bicep curls 13lbs 2x6 1x5 1x3
Welcome to the club. I get teased all the time and asked if I am Canadian because I use the word "Eh" so much. I lived in Toledo for many years and always had a lot of Canadians that I dealt with often since it was just over the lake...such an easy thing to pick up and it became a habit...lol. Hope you enjoy your stay here. A pretty cool crowd here eh?
Double T Sponsored Athlete!!!!
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If you can't run with the big dogs, stay on the porch.
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"If you are going through hell... keep going" Sir Winston Churchill
Thank you all for the warm welcome. I am trying to fine tune a workout that I can manage to get done on a schedule so will probably have quite a few questions for everyone.
Welcome, Cheryl! From Winter-peg, huh? How much snow still on the ground! Brrr.
Oh, by the way, before Joed asks, how about some pics?
When the last deer disappears into the morning mist,
When the last elk vanishes from the hills,
When the last buffalo falls on the plains,
I will hunt mice, for I am a hunter,
And I must have my freedom.
Chief Joseph, Nez Perce
Welcome - all the stuff that people say about me isn't true.
There is a time in every man's education when he arrives at the conviction that envy is ignorance; that imitation is suicide; that he must take himself for better, for worse, as his portion; that though the wide universe is full of good, no kernel of nourishing corn can come to him but through his toil bestowed on that plot of ground which is given to him to till.
I've been using a workout written by Chad Westerbury called Hypertrophy Harbinger. This is workout #2 week #3.
All exercises should be 4x8 with 90 sec RI
10 minutes warm-up on elliptical.
Wide grip lat pulldowns 55lbs 4x8
Incl BB bench press 55 lbs 1.6 50 lbs 1x8, 1x6, 45 lbs 1x7
DB Squats (ATG) 16 lbs 4x8
Good mornings 55lbs 4x8
Seated military DB press 16 lbs 3x8, 1x4
Lying DB tricep Extensions 19 lbs 4x8
I usually am better at bench press but I normally do chest then back and my biceps were a bit tender from my last workout.
Squats are a major challenge for me. I didn't workout for almost two weeks recently because I was so frustrated because I couldn't do barbell squats. I've added the GMs in the hopes that my posterior chain will be strengthened and help with the squats. I am also one of those unfortunate souls genetically predisposed to have no bum. LOL
Don't feel bad...I don't have one either. I was told by a friend of mine once (who is black by the way) that I have "White Man's Ass" LMAO. I have to really work to even have any at all...lunges helps.
(Gosh...can this thread handle any more hot ladies in here?!?! )
Looks like you have a great game plan going for your workouts. Hang in there and just stick with it!
Double T Sponsored Athlete!!!!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
If you can't run with the big dogs, stay on the porch.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"If you are going through hell... keep going" Sir Winston Churchill
Cheryle, welcome aboard! As for the squats, try putting some weight in a backpack for squats. My wife is rehabing a shoulder injury and this is the way I've gotten around putting any pressure on her shoulder. Eileen actually came up with this way of doing squats.
I have no rear bumper either, lol!!
Last edited by GREENFEATHER; 03-11-2006 at 10:40 AM.
"Socialism is a philosophy of failure, the creed of ignorance, and the gospel of envy, its inherent virtue is the equal sharing of misery.."
-- Winston Churchill
"When the government fears the people there is liberty, when the people fear the government there is tyranny."
Thomas Jefferson
Look'n good, Cheryle - pics and the workout. Stick around here a while - you'll find a lot of wisdom in the veterans.
When the last deer disappears into the morning mist,
When the last elk vanishes from the hills,
When the last buffalo falls on the plains,
I will hunt mice, for I am a hunter,
And I must have my freedom.
Chief Joseph, Nez Perce
It seems there are quite a few gluteally challenged people around. LOL Thanks Greenfeather for the idea of using a weighted backpack. It sounds like an excellent idea. I shared it with my 70 year old mother who is also having trouble with squats.
Today was a cardio only day. I did 40 minutes on the elliptical with HR of 130-140 and worked up quite a sweat.
I have a formal ball in June and plan to wear a fairly daring (but elegant) dress - low V-neck halter with an open back to about the waist. It is also in a satin finish silk which doesn't usually look good if there are any extra lumps and bumps around.
I went out for lunch with a co-worker and lunch wasn't overly satisfying and then I was attacked by a giant piece of ice cream cake. It had a fudge bottom and whipped cream on top. I counted it as about 500 calories on fitday and hope it was enough.
Day 3 of week 3 is 3 sets of 15 with 120 sec RI. I didn't quite make it for a few.
Started with 15 minute warm-up on elliptical
DB Incline Chest Press 16 lbs 3x15
(realized later that I had an extra 2.5lb on one of the DB's - duh)
Seated Cable Rows 45 lbs 3x15
Good mornings 45 lbs 3x15
(I may pay for this one tomorrow and the next day)
Lying Tricep Extensions 19 lbs 3x15
DB squats 13 lbs 2x15, 1x12
Stability ball military presses 13 lbs 1x15, 1x8, 10 lbs 1x15
Decline bench crunches 2x15 BW
Finished off with another 15 minutes on the elliptical with HR in the 130 range.
That was a toughie and I feel it in my upper back. I do feel like I'm working very hard and may even be making some progress on the whole posterior chain issue.
Hmmm. I seem to recall reading a funny about either my bottom or the bottom of my dessert but now its gone before I could think of a good response. Ah well. Perhaps next time I will be quicker.
My son is graduating this year and we had a safe grad meeting at the high school. I didn't get back home until 8:40 so my workout was a bit shorter than usual.
It is week 4 and day 1 of the routine. This is antagonist pairings with 4 x 5 and 60 sec RI. It was harder than it sounds.
Warm up 10 minutes on elliptical.
Looks like you're doing well, Cheryl. Don't get too wrapped up in the "rest times" you find in routines. Your body will tell you (one way or the other) if you need more rest.
Looking like you're doing great!
When the last deer disappears into the morning mist,
When the last elk vanishes from the hills,
When the last buffalo falls on the plains,
I will hunt mice, for I am a hunter,
And I must have my freedom.
Chief Joseph, Nez Perce
Nice workout, Cheryle! Congrats to your son! My daughter will be graduating from college in May. It's both a nice and kind of strange feeling to see them grow up.
"For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind." 2 Timothy 1:7
GO COCKS!! 11 Wins and Outback Bowl Champions!!! Kicked ClemPson's butt too. :-D
It seems there are quite a few gluteally challenged people around. LOL
Some but not all.
My @$$ looks like two basketballs being juggled under a blanket. I tend to stay away from lunges and hack squats. These add mass like nothing I know.
Good luck.
J
"If you prick me, do I not Bleed? (blue and white)"
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