Fresh Start or Picking up

[write2staceyz]

OMG ME TOO!! i've always wondered if i actually spelled it wrong every single time so it contained a censored part or something... but guess the forum hates broc****? lol. It's funny.

lol, that's funny

[jessswooo]

Hehe. I think I'm almost back to my pre-op strength level now (except for bench, I still haven't started training it back. Will do by the end of this month). So I kinda want to test out my 1 rep max at some point this month. Should be fun.

[jessswooo]

literally, parking situation EVERYWHERE gives me trouble. if i go home i'll have to find street parking in ktown (aka impossible), if i leave my bf's place i'll lose the guest parking spot, if i go to work i'll again find street parking (aka difficult during daytime) and walk >15min in the blazing sun to reach my office. this makes me want to just stay at my bf's all day long, and work at a nearby cafe.

but life doesnt always go in my favor so i ubered to work today lol. I'm grateful that i could afford the fare. i'm so broke lol its ridiculous

did a push day at the apartment gym.
- arnold press warm up + 4x10 15lbs
- bench lean over lateral raises to front 3x10 5lbs
- face pull 3x15 20lbs
- tricep push downs 3x10 20lbs
- lateral raises 3x10 10lbs

didn't particularly get the muscles activated or anything; for some reason it's hard for me to work hard for push day now. well, i'll let the shoulders rest.

YAY FOR THE COMING WEEKEND

[jessswooo]

still busy watching GoT, writing paper draft. Didn't miss out on gym tho.

pull day - DL 5x4 195lbs (same as last time)
leg day - squat 5x4 160lbs (getting easier, will try to add 5 next time)
push day - OHP 5x4 60lbs

Food: shakes, chips, all takeouts on the weekend, and regular rice/kale/fish or chicken for workday meals, sometimes a sandwich or so

[jessswooo]

it's been hard to pull the same weight as 2 weeks ago for some reason. i do watch my form more carefully now so maybe that's why.
- DL warm up 95,135,185. working set 1x5 190lbs, 3x4 195lbs, 1x4 190lbs
- wide grip pull down 75-90lbs 4x8
- neutral grip pull down 60-75lbs 4x10
- machine rows 30lbs
- bicep curls 3x10 12.5lbs
- hammer curls 3x10 12.5lbs
- stretch & roll

i did abs on leg day and push day. need to get back to cardio a bit.
the usc new gym looks alright. it's got a million treadmills and 6 racks, 4 benches, no dl area. waiting for our old gym to reopen next week and i'll see if it got any better or downgraded.

[write2staceyz]

Your dead lift number is very impressive!

Good job keep pushing even with the facility issue.

Is your boyfriend recovered from his fever?

Wish you all the best!

[jessswooo]

Your dead lift number is very impressive!

Good job keep pushing even with the facility issue.

Is your boyfriend recovered from his fever?

Wish you all the best!

Thanks! Ya my bf has recovered. He just has a lingering cough now. haha. We're heading to vegas this weekend for drinking!

Well, i've trained for a year on deadlifts now. I think I started with 135 and very quickly progressed to around 170, stuck for a while, and then reached 195, stuck for a while, had surgery, and got back to 195 again. This seems to be my 2nd plateau number actually.

no matter how much i lift i still cannot do a single pull up. LOL.

[Savyna]

Thanks! Ya my bf has recovered. He just has a lingering cough now. haha. We're heading to vegas this weekend for drinking!

Well, i've trained for a year on deadlifts now. I think I started with 135 and very quickly progressed to around 170, stuck for a while, and then reached 195, stuck for a while, had surgery, and got back to 195 again. This seems to be my 2nd plateau number actually.

no matter how much i lift i still cannot do a single pull up. LOL.

Pull ups are so difficult for me. I started working on them when I weighed 205lbs, now that I weigh less it's starting to get a little easier but I'm still not chest to bar yet. Someday though!

[mavd]

no matter how much i lift i still cannot do a single pull up. LOL.

After training HARD for ~3 years and weighing my lowest ever (15 pounds less than now) I could do ..... three pull-ups. I'm not training nearly so hard now, and I'm heavier, and I'm back to none. I feel like my lats look pretty well developed, too! Such a PITA lol.

[jessswooo]

pull ups are so difficult for me. I started working on them when i weighed 205lbs, now that i weigh less it's starting to get a little easier but i'm still not chest to bar yet. Someday though!

someday we're all gna make it

[jessswooo]

After training HARD for ~3 years and weighing my lowest ever (15 pounds less than now) I could do ..... three pull-ups. I'm not training nearly so hard now, and I'm heavier, and I'm back to none. I feel like my lats look pretty well developed, too! Such a PITA lol.

haha i guess there's some small muscles that assist in pull-ups don't get trained during other lifts? and yes, your lats look amazing. Maybe I'll resume doing assisted pull-ups again and work my way up from there........

[jessswooo]

So story time.
1. A small latino girl started to warm up on the squat rack as i got there. I asked her how many sets she'll do and she said 5. ok. so i used the seated OHP rack to warm up for my squats while waiting for her. I assumed she would have the common sense that I'm obv still waiting on her rack, but nice enough to let her work alone. I noticed some hispanic guy approached to speak to her between her sets. And after her 4th set I got closer to her. my bf asked if she's almost done, and then she said she STILL HAS 4 SETS. i was like wth. ok girl you just started your working set thanks. and she said oh so this other guy wants to use it too. we're just like ???? okay guess you guys are homies. so we waited again.

btw this girl was doing 135lb half reps throughout, and used a spotter. like. she was obv so proud of her half reps and thinks that she OWNS THE ****ING RACK BC SHE CAN LIFT. i could feel her vibe and see it on her face. i mean i see a ****ing smirk when she switches plates from 35 to 45 like oh wow the 35 was not even ur working set, right?? so impressive?? not appreciated lol. her waist larger than my ass and looks like she's only 5'2. stop feeling SO good about yourself girl. it's good if you do, but don't let me feel that you think you're better than anyone else. bc you're not.

2. so this hispanic guy, i've seen him before. short, big in that he's obv half fat half muscles. squats 3 plates, nbd considering his size. guy also has a huge arrogant showy vibe. whistles to everyone he wants attention from. he grabbed girl's bar, turned around, HIT MY BF IN HIS SHOULDER WITH THE 135LB BAR. I didn't know until my bf told me after. This just makes me LITERALLY hate this dude. how stupid can you be not to be aware of your surroundings when you decide to swing your bar with 2 big plates on it around??? like????? you sure can lift but if you don't have the brain to control your behavior that it's really a sad loss. you could've hit someone in his head/face/nose/eye instead and ****ing leave an injury. you could've hit a small girl easily and give her a concussion. my bf was lucky he got big shoulder muscles but it still hurt him a lot. you would've had to pay for this you idiot.

3. ok i was doing some hip thrusts on a cable rowing machine's bench. I would not use it if there was any other free benches available. and yes, i do have the right to occupy this bench, even when i'm not rowing. like everyone else does. if i want i can even just rest on it. and if someone needs to use it he/she can politely ask me for it. YET, this doesn't occur to some common white dude. This common white due, tall, not shredded, probably 20% bf, half grown messy facial hair, ASKED "CAN I USE THIS?" WHEN I'M IN THE MIDDLE OF MY SET. i cared enough to stop and say to him "do you want to work in??" and he's like surely not happy about how I'm occupying the seat without really using the rowing part. so he hesitated and said "YOU CAN USE THE OTHER BENCHES". i was like "oh i don't see any stable benches over there." and let him work his ****ing rowing sets in. of course he's in a rush, right? like so much that he can't think of doing some standing rowing or bent over rowing instead, and he has to be upset about me doing hip thrusts on the bench?

If we talk about it, it is a fact that everyone has the right to be on any machine without using the commonly assumed function of it. Ppl do leg presses on an assisted pull up machine all the time. ppl do all sorts of stuff they can do on a bench part of anything all the time. i'm not using a specific part of a machine bc i choose not to. i don't specifically do this just so other ppl can't use it for their purposes. i only do this when i don't have other options. so what. If you come to me feeling entitled just bc you WANT TO USE A MACHINE WHEN I'M ON IT, sorry i don't feel that i owe you anything or did anything wrong. don't be so entitled just bc ur bigger than me. don't forget everyday you **** a ton more than i do too, are you even proud of that?

anyway. I'm an equal opportunity hater. i hate stupid ppl, but i'm not letting it get to me. just sharing this information for everyone to see how great our society is right now.

Leg day
- squats 160lbs 5x4
- single leg squats to bench 3x10 w 10lb plate
- single leg hamstring curls 25lbs 4x10
- single leg hip thrusts 3x10 bw
- lunges 2x30 25lb plate
- brief standing stretches bc I was pissed off at ppl

[mavd]

I lol'd at the equal opportunity hater. Other people can really irritate the **** out of me when I'm at the gym even though I'm pretty oblivious any other time. There's this couple that occasionally come to my gym and they always want to use every single piece of equipment at once. They ask me after every single set if they can have what I'm using. I've taken to just saying no and putting my headphones back in. Oh, and there's this new guy, really skinny hipster type, that comes in with his skinny leg sweats, a beanie (hello, SoCal in August, are you nuts?) a Bose speaker which he blasts pop music from (no joke--and I like rage/metal for lifting), and spends the entire time stretching and staring at himself in the mirror. I've never actually seen him do anything except run on the treadmill (backwards, no less).

[jessswooo]

lol i don't understand why they'd wear a beanie. my bf said he used to wear a beanie too and i was just like ???? isn't it hot???? doesn't make any sense. but ya. i almost believe that some ppl come in high on drugs. or they use mysterious pre workouts that make them feel so amazing. hahaha.

I usually assume ppl who lift at this gold's gym dtla have rather good gym etiquette. I've been going to this one since June and rarely got upset by anyone. 19 out of 20 ppl would be smiling if they had to ask for anything. very surprised this morning that 3 times in a row someone is giving an attitude. not sure what it is.

[write2staceyz]

Hehe. I think I'm almost back to my pre-op strength level now (except for bench, I still haven't started training it back. Will do by the end of this month). So I kinda want to test out my 1 rep max at some point this month. Should be fun.

congrats! that's cool

[write2staceyz]

just saw your post, oh man, sorry for what that girl and that guy did.

There are some people are just STUPID at the gym. Sometimes when I post them, people get scared of going to gym. So I delete my post because the stupid person maybe 1 out of 1000000.

This morning when I was doing squat.Next to me a guy was doing DL with 2 or 3 plates on each side. After each set, he throws the bars down. So I can hear loud"BANG" sound. Knowing that he lifts quite heavily, I feel the pain as I am the floor beneath him for some reason.

[write2staceyz]

Thanks! Ya my bf has recovered. He just has a lingering cough now. haha. We're heading to vegas this weekend for drinking!

Well, i've trained for a year on deadlifts now. I think I started with 135 and very quickly progressed to around 170, stuck for a while, and then reached 195, stuck for a while, had surgery, and got back to 195 again. This seems to be my 2nd plateau number actually.

no matter how much i lift i still cannot do a single pull up. LOL.

LOL. I always wonder why it is so difficult for girls to do pull up. My friend won fitness competition several times, and she could only do 3 to 5 pulls up, maybe she can do 10 now. But it is always much difficult for girls for some reason.

[jessswooo]

This morning when I was doing squat.Next to me a guy was doing DL with 2 or 3 plates on each side. After each set, he throws the bars down. So I can hear loud"BANG" sound. Knowing that he lifts quite heavily, I feel the pain as I am the floor beneath him for some reason.

Haha ya, it's a way to preserve energy for powerlifters.... I see professional powerlifters do that so they don't have to spend energy to slowly put the bar down. At a regular gym tho, the floor could suffer. especially when the padding isn't designed to absorb that force. I can understand when ppl deadlift but definitely can't when they drop a 80lb db from waist height.

[Savyna]

Damn, looool at the story. That and some of my own experiences at my gym make me wish I had more space to just make my own home gym. For some reason people at my gym have a really bad issue with sharing/working in. They always look shocked when I say "do you want to work in?". I've had only one person ask me if they could work in. The rest hover and constantly ask. There was one guy who stood 3 inches from the bar as I was working tossing around some dumbbells (????).

Concerning the beanie: I have a friend out in California (idk where though) and he's always wearing beanies lol.

[Fiction2Fitness]

I've never been to the gold's in dtla. I only went to the one in studio city once to check it out when I was trying to pick a gym since anytime wasn't in convenient locations. Most of the LA gyms I have been in not much is ever said to me. Mostly how many sets left but they wait far enough back and somewhat patiently. Rare does anyone ask to work in at any gym in the few states I've lifted in so far but I'm also 4'11" so most of the time it would be a challenge. Biggest issue tends to be not racking the stuff when done but that happens anywhere too, though every now and then there is someone being offputting. Get the ones who drop the weights some. Not too bad in NoHo but one of the Hollywood locations, the simplest thing will make the floor shake. Makes me wonder how the building will handle an earthquake.

How is that gold's gym? The studio city had a fair amount of equipment but it was rather crammed in the smaller space they had to work with. Price wise it didn't work for me and it's not open 24 hours.

[jessswooo]

Damn, looool at the story. That and some of my own experiences at my gym make me wish I had more space to just make my own home gym. For some reason people at my gym have a really bad issue with sharing/working in. They always look shocked when I say "do you want to work in?". I've had only one person ask me if they could work in. The rest hover and constantly ask. There was one guy who stood 3 inches from the bar as I was working tossing around some dumbbells (????).

Concerning the beanie: I have a friend out in California (idk where though) and he's always wearing beanies lol.

LOL at them looking shocked hahaha. man. ppl can be so aggressive/ignorant of their surroundings. I didn't experience this in my whole year of lifting until recently at this commercial gym.
Beanie for LA in summer is seriously too much. it gets pretty hot. 80-90 all day.

[jessswooo]

I've never been to the gold's in dtla. I only went to the one in studio city once to check it out when I was trying to pick a gym since anytime wasn't in convenient locations. Most of the LA gyms I have been in not much is ever said to me. Mostly how many sets left but they wait far enough back and somewhat patiently. Rare does anyone ask to work in at any gym in the few states I've lifted in so far but I'm also 4'11" so most of the time it would be a challenge. Biggest issue tends to be not racking the stuff when done but that happens anywhere too, though every now and then there is someone being offputting. Get the ones who drop the weights some. Not too bad in NoHo but one of the Hollywood locations, the simplest thing will make the floor shake. Makes me wonder how the building will handle an earthquake.

How is that gold's gym? The studio city had a fair amount of equipment but it was rather crammed in the smaller space they had to work with. Price wise it didn't work for me and it's not open 24 hours.

this one dtla is simply BAD. i don't recommend it. very crowded basically all day. The only squat rack (and it's the unadjustable kind too) is always occupied. there's basically no room for anything. So little space that ppl would walk pass my deadlift bar almost hitting it. Ppl here have weird vibes (aggressive/showy/simply weird in that they do the weirdest thing like a handstand but with a ball in between his legs and twisting his waist, idk if it's a crossfit movement or something??). You can sure get a session done here no problem but it's not so enjoyable. The women's locker room is filled with old korean ladies in the morning (7-8am busy hour) lol. They're always in groups, chit chatting naked. Not fun when they occupy all the benches in front of the lockers and I have to be very careful not to bump into them getting to my locker.

I'm so glad the new usc village gym opened and it's so much bigger, cleaner, although still not the best for powerlifting.

[jessswooo]

The new usc village gym opened last week and i finally did a workout here this morning. It was um decently crowded at 6-8am. Feel like there's more ppl here than at the lyon center before. They have 5 racks, 4 flat benches, 1 decline and 1 incline, plenty of free seats/benches, and a large variety of hammer strength machines. Funny thing is, they didn't have any flat bar or ropes. Not sure what happened but the front desk person said they might have been stolen. LOL.

The locker room is really sweet. although there's only 9 day use lockers and ppl came late couldn't find empty ones. It's pretty cheap to rent a locker (and they're huge!). I just need to check out lyon after it opened at some point and choose to commit to either one and rent the locker.

We went to vegas this weekend and it was fun+drama lol. I got mad at my bf before we got into the nightclub, it was my bad, i was emotional, and he was being really really nice to me (according to my roommate who went with us). And then i left the club within 3min and left my girl roommate in there alone :/ I feel so bad about it.

Other than that, we had fun. It was just meant for a relaxing drinking day (we usually don't drink at all unless there's some really special event between us). We did all day of drinking and didn't feel too bad about it (i think I solo finished a 1.5L wine bottle and 3 of us finished half a bottle tequila). but, we were pretty sober at the day club. had to look at some funny ppl to entertain ourselves. it was so crowded like, we were all dumplings in a pot.

Push day
- OHP warm up + 5x4 55-60lbs
- seated arnold press 4x8 17.5-20lbs
- leaning on bench lateral to front raises 4x10 5lbs
- cable rear delt flyes 4x12 5lbs
- rope (handle) push downs 4x10 20-15lbs

not sure why weights feel so heavy on my push day now lol
food - some cereal+***e yogurt, back to my gold standard whey protein, 3 cheesesticks.... lunch: brown rice/tilapia/sauteed peppers&onions, dinner not sure, might be some deli meat/kale/

[jessswooo]

ok. what a great day to be lifting! My deadlifts finally reached 200lbs again. I was doing 4 reps/set this morning. Before my surgery, I could do 205 for 2-3 reps and I remember it was tiring (w/o belt). This time it was good! But, of course i'm wearing my belt now.

pull day
- DL warm up 115lbs, 135lbs, 185lbs, working sets 1x4 195lbs, 2x4 200lbs, 2x4 195lbs
- pull downs 4x10 2x55lb plates (plate machine)
- reverse grip pull downs 4x10 2x35lb plates (plate machine)
- machine rows 55lbs 4x10
- bicep curls/hammer curls 5x10 15lb dbs

Today I tried the pull down machines with loaded plates. I never used these before bc i didn't know i could pull whole plates. Usually on a smith machine i'd pull half of these weights, but i've been suspecting that the levers and pulleys generate forces in different ways. e.g. a lever transfers the same weight, aka 1 plate = 1 plate. but the pulley, if you have 2 separate cables attached to the same weight, then it doubles the weight? aka 1 weight stack = 2xthe weight? Man. I hate physics and never figured it out. although i got A+ in physics always. Those formulas.

Anyway, it was very satisfying to pull full plates. Today there was at least 5 powerlifters (besides us) doing deadlifts lol......
I cooked a bomb ass pot of food last night. Ground turkey/firm tofu/canned crushed tomatoes/squash. All in pan, sautee and simmer. It was SO GOOD i was thinking about it 40min after getting into bed. Never realized I love tofu this much, lol. I think i'll incorporate more tofu in my diet from now on (i usually only use chicken breasts/turkey/salmon). This week i'll have this turkey/tofu stew and tilapia to alternate.

Food today: oikos triple zero yogurt for preworkout, banana+double scoop whey, lunch could be a cobb sandwich (loaded w avocado/blue cheese/bacon yum), I got some lite string cheese sticks as snack, dinner might be tilapia/onions/brown rice or again this tofu stew/brown rice

Tomorrow is rest day! Which means tonight we can watch more GoT (season 7!!!!)

[write2staceyz]

Great work! Glad that you had a good day!

[Fiction2Fitness]

this one dtla is simply BAD. i don't recommend it. very crowded basically all day. The only squat rack (and it's the unadjustable kind too) is always occupied. there's basically no room for anything. So little space that ppl would walk pass my deadlift bar almost hitting it. Ppl here have weird vibes (aggressive/showy/simply weird in that they do the weirdest thing like a handstand but with a ball in between his legs and twisting his waist, idk if it's a crossfit movement or something??). You can sure get a session done here no problem but it's not so enjoyable. The women's locker room is filled with old korean ladies in the morning (7-8am busy hour) lol. They're always in groups, chit chatting naked. Not fun when they occupy all the benches in front of the lockers and I have to be very careful not to bump into them getting to my locker.

I'm so glad the new usc village gym opened and it's so much bigger, cleaner, although still not the best for powerlifting.

Ahh, understand. The studio city one wasn't packed people wise when I went but equipment wise, they have a little too much considering the lacking of space available due to building size. Too bad the place/people make the sessions not enjoyable there. The hollywood gym I sometimes go to has just two racks, one is the fixed safeties so I have to step out of it to squat cause it's too tall, but there is decent space and really not that many people there lifting. I honestly like North Hollywood for lifting as the gym I go to might have a lot of people most of the day but space wise, it's a big location, there are two squat racks by the upper body section (one fixed and one cage) plus three racks in a different section with olympic plates. Best spot for deadifting if you can wait a little to get one. I never go to the gym in a hurry.

Anyways. Hope the new usc one goes well for you or the other location, pending what you decide to do.

[mavd]

Tomorrow is rest day! Which means tonight we can watch more GoT (season 7!!!!)

OMG you waited that long? Now THAT'S what I call self control!

[jessswooo]

Ahh, understand. The studio city one wasn't packed people wise when I went but equipment wise, they have a little too much considering the lacking of space available due to building size. Too bad the place/people make the sessions not enjoyable there. The hollywood gym I sometimes go to has just two racks, one is the fixed safeties so I have to step out of it to squat cause it's too tall, but there is decent space and really not that many people there lifting. I honestly like North Hollywood for lifting as the gym I go to might have a lot of people most of the day but space wise, it's a big location, there are two squat racks by the upper body section (one fixed and one cage) plus three racks in a different section with olympic plates. Best spot for deadifting if you can wait a little to get one. I never go to the gym in a hurry.

Anyways. Hope the new usc one goes well for you or the other location, pending what you decide to do.

Thanks! Ya I'm totally enjoying this new usc gym right now. It's nice and spacious and ppl (mostly sc students) are 99% friendly.
Have you ever tried/heard the UFC gym in maybe hollywood/culver city area? I had some gym friends who switched to there this summer and they're not coming back to the usc gym bc its even nicer for powerlifting lol.

[jessswooo]

OMG you waited that long? Now THAT'S what I call self control!

We actually started watching from season 1 3 weeks ago, and kept watching every single day 2-3 episodes.... Just made it to season 7 this week hahaha. And, we only have episode 6 left to watch, and then this weekend would be the last episode!!!!!!! It's kinda perfect timing for us bc i only had to subscribe for 1 month and we watched it all. hehehehehehe

man the wait for season 8 will be so real and terrible lol

[jessswooo]

Edit: omg. i meant back* not "bad" to my PR.

I have come to a realization. Maybe the plateaus are meant to exist so that you can push through after a while, bc the plateau weight's gotta get a bit easier after a period of time, until you can jump by 5lbs again.

So, new jump for me after soo long (ok to be fair it was only 4 weeks probably)!

Leg day
- squats warm up raw bar + 115lbs + 135lbs, working set 155lbs 1x5, 160lbs 2x4, 165lbs 2x4 (!!! i'm so excited lol)
- single leg squat to bench 4x7 25lb plate
- hack squat 1x10 2x45lb plates (i didn't like the tension on my knees, probably my stance was bad)
- stiff legged 4x6 135lbs
- single leg hip thrusts 1x10 10lb plate (dude. I started to hate these even more now and I used to do these w like 80lb barbell)
- glute kicks 3x12 8.8kg?? (didn't like the ankle wrap they have there, won't do this again)
- abs on the thing (it's got some weight on it and resembles a leg raise move almost)
- abs on another thing (decline crunches)
- high knee 50 + jumping squats 15 circuit x3
- stretch

Food: oikos yogurt, 2 scoop whey, 2 chips ahoy, probably some cheez it, lunch is same tofu/turkey stew and brown rice, not sure bout dinner yet, might have to beg my bf for some food or i'll buy something outside.