Fallen Angel picking herself up!

[FallenAngel80]

Another work-out-at-home-cat-and-dog-lover-and-eat-the-same-food-all-the-time shortie checking in

Love this! Thanks for subbing

Charlie has perked up a bit now which is great - he is eating more of his food again, so I assume that the antibiotic they gave him for the urine infection has done the trick. He's on my lap right now as I balance my laptop on the arm of the sofa! Will definitely keep giving him plenty of snuggles!

[FallenAngel80]

Calories: 1885
Macros: 240g Carbs/ 118g Protein/ 43g Fat

At university again today so rest day. Only another week after this and then we have a few weeks off of uni over Christmas. I cannot wait! I am a bit tired of the journey to and from uni, especially when the lectures aren’t exactly great. I could read the stuff they deliver to us at home, on the sofa, in my snuggly fleece!

Lunch was the leftover Chipotle chilli and it was a pretty carb heavy so I had extra fish in my curry this evening to bring up the protein a bit.

My IBS has been playing me up today; my own fault really. I have eaten gluten free oats for years since I developed an intolerance in my 20s, but my local shop seems to have stopped selling them! So I bought a bag of normal oats just to see if I could eat them again as they are much cheaper. I've had them the past two mornings and I'm clearly not meant to eat normal oats! My stomach is rock hard today and feels really sore. My rational mind knows I am just bloated but I end up 'feeling fat' and miserable. Ugh! After a couple of days my stomach will settle down again. I am off out this evening to buy some more gluten free oats from another shop. Lesson learned

Meals today:
Breakfast: Peanut butter oatmeal
Mid-morning: Muesli with almond milk
Lunch: Chipotle chilli with sweet potato, quinoa, tomatoes, kidney beans, mushrooms, and onions
Dinner: Cod curry with Indian spices basmati rice, tomatoes, mushrooms, and onions
Snacks: One homemade muesli flapjack, one packet baked crisps, 4 squares dark chocolate

[FallenAngel80]

Calories: 1914
Macros: 234g Carbs/ 117g Protein/ 49g Fat

My IBS was much more settled today. Still felt a little bloated this morning but not half as ill as I did yesterday. I have not felt like that for a very long time, it was horrible. The weird thing is that I can have some foods which contain gluten but have no side-effects. For instance, the pizza I had tonight didn’t upset me. Anyway I had my gluten-free oats this morning and felt fine, might be something specific to oats.

Meals today:
Pre-workout smoothie: banana, almond milk, vanilla whey powder
Breakfast: Peanut butter oatmeal
Mid-morning: Muesli with almond milk
Lunch: Meat-free chicken curry with tomatoes, Indian spices, onions, mushrooms, chickpeas, and basmati rice
Dinner: ½ cheese pizza with salad, garlic and herb dressing, and sriracha sauce on the side
Snacks: hot chocolate, 4 squares dark chocolate

I think I will increase my weights on all of these exercises next time, apart from the barbell curls which are still a struggle. But I’m getting closer to the 10 reps though so I’ll just keep going

Barbell Curl (3 warm-up sets first)
33.5lbs x9 reps
33.5lbs x9 reps
33.5lbs x8 reps

Close-grip Bench Press
46.5lbs x10 reps
46.5lbs x10 reps
46.5lbs x10 reps

Alternating Dumbbell Curl
14lbs x10 reps
14lbs x10 reps
14lbs x10 reps

Seated Tricep Press
24.5lbs x10 reps
24.5lbs x10 reps
24.5lbs x10 reps

Ab circuits
One-arm Otis Ups with 11lb dumbbell x15 reps each arm
Leg Lift x15 reps
Air Bicycles x30 reps

One-arm Otis Ups with 11lb dumbbell x15 reps each arm
Leg Lift x15 reps
Air Bicycles x40 reps

One-arm Otis Ups with 11lb dumbbell x15 reps each arm
Leg Lift x15 reps
Air Bicycles x34 reps

In other news, took Charlie back to the vet and his urine test shows that his infection has pretty much cleared up. He’s certainly more enthusiastic about his food now so that’s a good sign; he is ruled by his belly so any time his appetite drops it’s a clear sign to me that something is up! The vet will do another blood test in January to see whether or not the medicine is helping with his kidney function so for now everything seems ok

[LunaLifts]

My rational mind knows I am just bloated but I end up 'feeling fat' and miserable.

I know that feeling, but always try to listen to the rational mind instead, it's more rational.
I'm sorry you had to go through that in the first place, it sounds horrible. I hope you continue to feel better, and that you can find a new place for oats. Have you tried seeing if you can buy some online? Might even be able to find some good prices.

Glad the workout went well, nice job on increasing weight. Yay to hear about how well Charlie is doing. That's such a cute name. :3

[FallenAngel80]

Hey! Thank you - I managed to get some more oats from the same chain of shop, just in another area which wasn't too much further away. Maybe the one I went to is having stock issues. It was just a relief as I've not felt that awful in ages and I forgot how cr@p it makes me feel psychologically!

Yeah, Charlie is currently slobbing out on the top of my sofa behind me. It's his default position!

[FallenAngel80]

Calories: 1890
Macros: 220g Carbs/ 122g Protein/ 52g Fat

So, have I mentioned before that I love leg day? Well I’m gonna say it again, I LOVE LEG DAY! I get so excited and pumped for it. I love squats especially. I think it just feels good to be lifting heavy

Just a question regarding squats – does anyone wrap a towel around the bar or use one of those barbell pads? I find as I go heavier the bar is digging in me a bit and I don’t want the pain to stop me from lifting heavier?

The joys of working out at home, the lightbulb died mid-way through our session. My other half was using the power cage but luckily he was between sets at the time. Had to bring a lamp in!

I’ll certainly be upping the weights next time, although I’ll start on the same weight for the RDLs just to ensure my form is okay; I get a little wary of increasing too quickly on deadlifts just because I don’t want to put my back out.

I bought a few Christmas-type foods the other month to store away so that Alan and I had a nice lot of food to consume over the holiday period. However, I didn’t realise that the eat-by date on the mince pies I bought was within the next few days so we’re going to have to eat them - what a chore! They’re gluten free so can be a bit dry but once you heat them in the oven and pour custard over them you don’t really notice



Meals today:
Pre-workout smoothie: banana, almond milk, vanilla whey powder
Breakfast: Peanut butter oatmeal
Mid-morning: Muesli with almond milk
Lunch: Sriracha tuna on toasted wholemeal bread, and salad with garlic and herb dressing
Dinner: Five egg-white omelette with baked beans
Snacks: Hot chocolate, 2 squares dark chocolate, mince pie with custard

Barbell Squat (3 warm-up sets first)
67lbs x10 reps
72.5lbs x10 reps
72.5lbs x10 reps

Front Squat
55lbs x10 reps
55lbs x10 reps
57.5lbs x10 reps

Romanian Deadlift
82lbs x10 reps
82lbs x10 reps
87.5lbs x10 reps

Barbell Hip Thrust
43.5lbs x10 reps
43.5lbs x10 reps
43.5lbs x10 reps

Dumbbell Seated Calf Raises (weight is each dumbbell)
38.5lbs x15 reps
38.5lbs x15 reps
38.5lbs x15 reps

Leg day can take its toll on others too. Poor Charlie was beat at the end of it! Apologies for posting lots of pictures of my pets. I decided quite early in life that I didn’t want children, so they really are my babies…..but even they answer back sometimes!

[swooshie]

I wrap a small towel around the bar when I do squats. It does help.

Nice leg day! Good job on the front squats!

Charlie is sooooooo cute!

[FallenAngel80]

Thanks Swooshie, think I'll start using a towel then, it'll save the discomfort 😊

[Echo814]

Just got caught up through your journal I think you're doing just fine and don't let stalls in progression bother you. Upper body lifts, especially pushing like bench and OHP will start off with decent increases and then they will taper of.

The bar in your power tack, is that standard Olympic or smaller? I would not cheat your numbers by not including the bar in the weights, if it's an Olympic bar they weight about 45lbs any other usually run 20-35lbs from what I've seen.

As for starting with Body Beast, while not the best program, my philosophy is I would rather see someone kill it on a less than optimal program than half a$$ on a good one. And if it gives the lifting bug even better .

[FallenAngel80]

Hey, thank you for your helpful insights

It's not an Olympic bar but weighs 17.5lbs so I'm glad I started including it in the total weight.

It's weird because when I finished Body Beast I was quite scared to use the power cage and barbell; it looked really intimidating. But I love it now and glad I moved on

[FallenAngel80]

Calories: 1863
Macros: 223g Carbs/ 116g Protein/ 49g Fat

So I took my weekly measurements today. I forgot to weigh myself before I ate breakfast so my weight includes my oatmeal, but I doubt that’s going to have a huge impact. I am up 0.8lbs – I’m not sure how much of this is actual gain or whether there’s extra water in there? I also have an extra half inch on my waist, which seems a lot in a week. It feels a bit weird to see the scale/measurements going up and, I’ll be honest, slightly anxiety-provoking as it goes against the endless striving for weight loss for so long. But I’m loving the strength gains and the amount of food I can eat, so I’ll ride out the anxiety as the end result will be worth it

Another question – is a 0.25lb increase per week the ball-park figure I should be aiming for? Just so I can keep on monitoring. Also, should I weigh myself every day and average out at the end of the week or is weighing once per week enough?

Did some cardio today. We were going to go for a run but we’ve got a storm called ‘Desmond’ messing with the weather at the moment (I don't know who picks these names!). It’s hit other parts of the UK much heavier than where we are. It was wet and windy outside and while we used to go out in all weathers, we like it a bit drier now! So, we put on a T25 for our cardio session and what happened? A few minutes before the end I twinged my back! Not happy! I assume it’s the impact of jumping up and down. I had to stop. I’ve put some cream on it; it feels sore but not like I have popped anything out so I’ll just keep an eye on it. In all the time I was doing cardio programs I have never done anything to my back before - maybe it was a sign to stay away from the cardio in future

It was a tuna-fest today. We had the same meal for lunch as yesterday as we’d enjoyed it so much. I think we have a sriracha obsession! We also had some tuna steaks in the freezer which we needed to eat so we cooked those this evening. It was nice to have some plain fish and vegetables to be honest. Sometimes I find that keeping it simple is a good break from the ‘fancier’ stuff.

Meals today:
Breakfast: Peanut butter oatmeal
Mid-morning: Muesli with almond milk
Lunch: Sriracha tuna on toasted wholemeal bread, and salad with garlic and herb dressing
Dinner: Tuna steak, green beans, cauliflower, Brussel sprouts, and sweet corn
Snacks: Hot chocolate, 2 squares dark chocolate, mince pie with custard

[FallenAngel80]

Calories:1907
Macros: 239g Carbs/ 124g Protein/ 42g Fat

Chest work this morning. I think we're going to have to invest in another bench eventually as the one we have makes it difficult to do the bench presses inside the power cage. I have the bar behind me on the pins outside of the cage while Alan spots me, whereas he prefers the bar on pins in front of him on the inside of the cage. The position of the legs on the bench means it doesn't go far back enough to have the bar behind you inside the cage. We saw a bench called the Bodycraft F320 which had good reviews on here, but at a price tag of £199 it will have to wait...or I may try and root out some more stuff to sell on Ebay

I was meant to be doing ab exercises this morning as well but thought they would aggravate my back so I did calf raises instead. It feels like I have pulled a muscle/muscles; there's no sharp pain just a general soreness (bit like DOMS) in my lower back. I'm taking an anti-inflammatory, putting cream on it and doing regular stretching. We are due to do our back exercises tomorrow, so depending on how I feel we might delay them for later in the week or just lift lighter. It feels much better than it did yesterday though. Damn you, cardio!

Meals today:
Pre-workout smoothie: banana, almond milk, vanilla protein powder
Post-workout breakfast: Peanut butter oatmeal
Mid-morning: Muesli with almond milk
Lunch: Meat-free chicken curry with tomatoes, stir fry veg, chickpeas, and basmati rice
Dinner: Meat-free sausage casserole with tomatoes, paprika, butter beans, onions, and mushrooms
Snacks: packet baked crisps, 4 squares dark chocolate

I managed to increase my incline barbell presses and my dip reps from last week but not on the other exercises, chest day is tough!

Incline Barbell Bench Press (3 warm-up sets first)
46.5lbs x8 reps
46.5lbs x8 reps
46.5lbs x9 reps

Incline Dumbbell Bench Press (weight is each dumbbell)
25lbs x8 reps
25lbs x7 reps
25lbs x7 reps

Flat Barbell Bench Press
51lbs x7 reps
51lbs x8 reps
51lbs x9 reps

Dip (Chest Variation)
Body weight negatives x7 reps (3 sets)

Dumbbell Seated Calf Raises (weight is each dumbbell)
38.5lbs x20 reps (3 sets)

[FallenAngel80]

Calories: 1888
Macros: 235g Carbs/ 130g Protein/ 40g Fat

It was back day today. I only increased my weights on the cable crunches as I was conscious of not making my back worse, although it is far less sore today which is a good sign.

I was reading up on deadlifts and squats in the Starting Strength book last night, so seeing as I had decided not to increase my weights I thought it was a good opportunity to focus on form.

There were certain parts of the deadlift which I needed to concentrate on (e.g, angle of my feet, scraping the bar up my legs, taking a breath and holding it throughout the movement). When I focused on these things it felt like the deadlift worked me even harder than before, in a good way. I only did three sets of 6 reps because I didn’t feel my back could do the full 10 reps. I think my legs came off worse to be honest!

With the squats, I had been setting the bar at shoulder height rather than at my sternum. It looked too low when I set it up this morning, but unracking and racking were so much easier and I also think I got the bar at a better position on my back. Again, I paid more attention to the position of my feet, holding my breath throughout, and making sure I pushed the knees out at the bottom. The last couple of reps of each set were harder than last week so perhaps these little things enabled me to go a bit lower into the squat.

Meals today:
Pre-workout smoothie: banana, almond milk, vanilla whey powder
Breakfast: Peanut butter oatmeal
Mid-morning: Muesli with almond milk
Lunch: Meat-free chicken curry with tomatoes, Indian spices, stir fry veg, chickpeas, and basmati rice
Dinner: Smoked haddock kedgeree with onions, broccoli, spices, basmati rice, and one boiled egg
Snacks: Hot chocolate, 4 squares dark chocolate

Barbell Deadlift (3 warm-up sets first)
82lbs x6 reps (3 sets)

Barbell Squat
72.5lbs x10 reps (3 sets)

Barbell Row
71lbs x10 reps (3 sets)

One-arm Dumbbell Row
25lb x10 reps per arm (3 sets)

Ab circuits
55lb Cable Crunch x15 reps
Hanging Leg Raise x12 reps
Air Bicycles x30 reps

66lb Cable Crunch x10 reps
Hanging Leg Raise x10 reps
Air Bicycles x30 reps

66lb Cable Crunch x8 reps
Hanging Leg Raise x10 reps
Air Bicycles x36reps

[FallenAngel80]

I need to have a rant. I have just had an email from my Mum saying that she is worried about the weight I have lost and that 'I hardly have an ounce of fat on me' (lucky me eh?!). She wants to know how often I train, that it seems I am becoming obsessed and wants to know I could stop weight lifting if I wanted to.

I had an eating disorder in my 20s. My mum equates me being skinny to me being ill. I have weighed more throughout my life (an unhealthy amount) but she has equated this to me being happy.

I was so upset to get this email as this is not the first time I have explained my eating/fitness to her before and tried to reassure her. I work hard and I LOVE what I am doing. I am so much more confident in myself and how I look than I ever have been.

I have replied to her. I have been assertive but have said I understand that her comments come from a place of care. However, she is trying to place this issue in my hands and I have given it right back to her. I've said (in a nutshell) that it doesn't seem as though she has moved on from it and I don't know what else to say to convince her otherwise, but that I enjoy being healthy and that I am very happy and have no intention of stopping the weight lifting. She also said I have lost my boobs. I said I can't control where the fat comes off and that I have no problem with smaller boobs

Apologies for the rant. This has happened before and it's getting a broken record now. She does this just before we are due to go down for Christmas and now I can't help but think that she will be monitoring everything I put in my mouth. Jeez!

[LunaLifts]

It's understandable for her to be concerned, though that doesn't mean it's not annoying. Eating disorders are a secretive disease, she can't be sure you're telling the truth, and it's frustrating because you know the truth but you can't force her to know it too. Just keep doing your thing, and be open when she asks about food, and fitness. It may suck, but the more you're open about things, the more she'll trust it over time. The more defensive you sound, the more likely it is she'll worry, and assume you're hiding something.

My mom doesn't know about my history with food issues, but she makes those concerned mom comments. About how I don't need to change, and that I'm fine as I am. It's annoying because it's not the most supportive thing to hear, but the intentions are good.

I think your mom will get better about it, it's just difficult. In the meantime, do what you do. She may be a pain about it sometimes, but lifting is awesome, and you know what you're doing better than anyone.

[FallenAngel80]

Thanks for your reply Luna,

The problem is that I AM honest about my fitness and what I eat. I have been doing fitness in some form or other for years now but my eating was rubbish hence why I was always a bit heavier.

In July we were at my brother’s wedding and I had lost a bit of weight by that point as we’d been doing T25 so maybe it was a shock to her. I’d bought myself a dress and I felt good (I don’t do dresses often!). Everyone else said I looked great...my Mum could not even say that, she just asked if everything was okay and whether or not I was becoming ill again. I explained to her what we were doing and what we were eating – although I don’t feel I should have to justify myself – but she looked at me in disbelief. I could explain to her until I was blue in the face and I don’t think she would ‘get it’. She spoke to me the following morning too, after the wedding, to ask where my boobs had gone. I tried to reassure her again but it looks as though that fell on deaf ears.

I totally understand that she’s coming from a place of caring, but from my perspective it was a long time ago and I have moved on. I’m finding it really upsetting actually. I don’t want to be reminded of it every time I try and better myself and she goes straight to the assumption that something is wrong. (i.e. losing weight = FallenAngel is unhappy).

I’m dreading going down over Christmas in case she brings it up while we’re there. I don’t want to get into justifying my weight training or trying to explain it. I think I want her to tell me what she is holding on to. My email reply was clear though so it will give her something to think about but her way of dealing with it will probably be to not reply (she goes silent when she is challenged) and so she will shut down the conversation.

Sorry, I am still wound up. I will calm down soon! Thanks for your support

[LunaLifts]

I understand. It's like someone recovering from alcohol addiction, only to be asked if there's alcohol in any, and all drinks they have. It's a reminder of a struggle you're trying to move past, and move on from. I wish there was an easy concrete way to make her understand, and hopefully she does. I hope you feel better soon.

[FallenAngel80]

Thanks Luna, I've just had a text message off of her. She says that because I have explained to her about my fitness routine she now understands that I know what I am doing. She wants to ring me to apologise. She hasn't mentioned anything about her not letting this go but if I am feeling brave I will bring that up with her on the phone. Hopefully this will be an end to it, or at least a step in the right direction

[FallenAngel80]

Calories: 1885
Macros: 225g Carbs/ 129g Protein/ 44g Fat

Damn my shoulders! I cannot seem to progress with the shoulder press. Last week I managed 8 reps but I just couldn’t do it today. I’ll keep going; one day I might crack it

I can’t increase the side lateral raises either – I’m hitting 10 reps but my form starts to suffer by the 9th rep so I’m sticking with the same weights. I am going to increase the weights on the rear delt raises though as they felt easy this week.

I dropped the weight from 82lbs to 71lbs on the shrugs and standing calf raises as I was having trouble holding onto the barbell. The lower weight felt better as I was able to keep going and get a good burn on the calf raises

Meals today:
Pre-workout smoothie: banana, almond milk, vanilla whey powder
Breakfast: Peanut butter oatmeal
Mid-morning: Muesli with almond milk
Lunch: Meat-free chicken curry with tomatoes, Indian spices, stir fry veg, chickpeas, and basmati rice
Dinner: Meat-free mince Keema Curry with korma paste, tomatoes, stir-fry veg, and basmati rice
Snacks: Mini chocolate brownie, 4 squares dark chocolate

Standing Military Press (3 warm-up sets first)
39.5lbs x6 reps
39.5lbs x7 reps
39.5lbs x7 reps

Side Lateral Raise
14lbs x10 reps (3 sets)

Bent-over Rear Delt Raise
15lbs x10 reps (3 sets)

Barbell Shrug
71lbs x10 reps (3 sets)

Barbell Standing Calf Raise
71lbs x15 reps feet straight (3 sets)
71lbs x15 reps feet turned out (3 sets)
71lbs x15 reps feet turned inwards (3 sets)

[LunaLifts]

Shoulders are a b*tch for me too. I increased too quickly on OHP, so I backed down to build up, only to get stuck again at a lower weight. Hoping the deload helps though.

Glad the lower weight helped on shrugs, and calf raises. Sometimes heavier is doable, but not always better. Getting that full range of motion, and all that burny goodness is great.

[FallenAngel80]

I will make shoulders my b*tch one day, Luna ha ha!

[FallenAngel80]

Calories:1889
Macros: 228g Carbs/ 107g Protein/ 51g Fat

Rest day today as it was my final day at university for 2015. I'll be glad of the break, although I need to do a bit of work over the holidays. Calories and macros are estimates today and protein not as high as I would like. One of the other students brought some homemade chocolate chip cookies in so it would have been rude to say no!

I had more calories than usual to have after dinner this evening so had oats cooked in water with vanilla protein powder. I do like a warm bowl of oats on these winter evenings

I'm still taking some anti-inflammatory tablets for my back and it's much better, only slight discomfort every now and then. This rest day should help but I may not do the RDLs tomorrow depending on whether or not I think they might aggravate it.

Meals today:
Breakfast: Peanut butter oatmeal
Mid-morning: Muesli with almond milk
Lunch: Meat-free chicken curry with tomatoes, stir fry veg, chickpeas, and basmati rice
Dinner: Sriracha tuna on toast with salad and garlic and herb dressing
Snacks: Chocolate chip cookie, Nutella on rice cake, oats with vanilla protein powder

[LunaLifts]

I will make shoulders my b*tch one day, Luna ha ha!

Absolutely! Nice, rounded shoulders are damn sexy, and worth the pain, and suffering. lol

Mmmm, cookies. I have been craving sweets quite a bit recently. I have sweet things, but I want baked stuff like cookies, or brownies.

I hope your back feels better by tomorrow. I hate when my back acts up, and I have to break from deads. I should remember to try NSAIDs though, if it helps then I know it's inflammation. When I got mine checked out when I first had issues they said the muscles surrounding the sciatic nerve can become inflamed, and pinch it. Stretching helps a lot too, I like cat/camel stretches, and figure four stretches.

[FallenAngel80]

Yeah I've been doing the cat/camel stretches as they feel goof. Will check out the figure four ones.

I thought that it was leg day tomorrow so I got over-excited, but it's actually arms so I have another day to see about the deadlifts which is just as well

[FallenAngel80]

Calories: 1935
Macros: 222g Carbs/ 126g Protein/ 53g Fat

I am so glad it’s Friday; it has been a long week at work. I am mentally on a wind-down until Christmas even though I have another two weeks to go! So, I thought today was leg day and even started setting up my weights last night for legs, then I remembered it was arms!

Barbell curls and tricep presses are still the same weights. I managed to increase on the close-grip press and dumbbell curls though which is good.

We had a lovely bit of salmon tonight, it was so creamy. We didn’t bother having any sauce on it because it would have masked the flavour. I think salmon will be our Christmas dinner this year

Meals today:
Pre-workout smoothie: banana, almond milk, vanilla whey powder
Breakfast: Peanut butter oatmeal
Mid-morning: Muesli with almond milk
Lunch: Meat-free chicken curry with tomatoes, Indian spices, stir fry veg, chickpeas, basmati rice, and a bit of sriracha sauce
Dinner: Salmon fillet with sweetcorn and green beans
Snacks: Hot chocolate, 4 squares dark chocolate

Barbell Curl (3 warm-up sets first)
33.5lbs x8 reps (3 sets)

Close-grip Bench Press
48lbs x10 reps (2 sets)
51lbs x8 reps

Alternating Dumbbell Curl
15lbs x7 reps per arm
15lbs x8 reps per arm
15lbs x7 reps per arm

Seated Tricep Press
24lbs x10 reps (3 sets)

Ab circuits
Air Bicycles x30 reps (3 sets)
11lbs One-arm Otis Up x12reps each arm (3 sets)
15lbs Russian Twist x30 reps (3 sets)

[FallenAngel80]

Calories: 1943
Macros: 184g Carbs/ 134g Protein/ 69g Fat

Leg day today. As much as I wanted to do RDLs, I was sensible and left them alone as my back still has a slight ache and I reckon they would aggravate it even more. Even so, I managed to increase my weights in all the exercises apart from the seated calf raises – I don’t think I could manoeuvre anything heavier onto my legs for that exercise so I’ll leave it as it is for the moment.

I really like the front squats; I use the grip where you cross your arms (I’m sure there’s a specific name but I don’t know it). They can be awkward but I love the whole thing of keeping the bar balanced across the front whilst trying to squat down; feels like a good core exercise too.

I think I’ll have to be a bit careful with the sriracha sauce as it’s setting off my IBS (not as bad as the porridge oats though). We bought a new brand (Flying Goose) and it’s much hotter than the supermarket brand; might have to switch back to the other brand. Dammit!

We finished off the remainder of the salmon we had and it was a nice big portion, hence why the fat is higher than usual.



Meals today:
Pre-workout smoothie: banana, almond milk, vanilla whey powder
Breakfast: Peanut butter oatmeal
Mid-morning: Muesli with almond milk
Lunch: Sriracha tuna on toasted bread, salad and garlic and herb dressing
Dinner: Salmon fillet with green beans and Brussel sprouts
Snacks: Hot chocolate, 4 squares dark chocolate, Nutella on rice cake

Barbell Squat (3 warm-up sets first)
83.5lbs x10 reps (2 sets)
89lbs x7 reps

Front Squat
61.5lbs x6 reps (barbell hit one of the pins in front of me which ruined the set!)
61.5lbs x10 reps (2 sets)

Barbell Hip Thrust
46.5lbs x10 reps (3 sets)

Dumbbell Seated Calf Raises (weight is each dumbbell)
38.5lbs x15 reps (3 sets)

[Partyrocking]

If your back isn't 100%, you could try single leg rdls. In general, unilateral leg exercises are easier on the back.

Kettlebell swings can also hit the hamstrings well and are easy on the lower back if you do them as a hinge and not as a squat.

[FallenAngel80]

Thanks Partyrocking, I'll look into that. I didn't even think to look for alternatives to RDLs

[swooshie]

Your food always sounds so good! I love salmon!

Nice workouts! Hope your back continues to feel better

[FallenAngel80]

Thanks Swooshie