Still sniffly, still stressed.
squats: 5@45, 5@65, 5@85, 5@95, 5@115, 5@135, 5@145, 1@155 (ugly!) At the high weights my lower back rounds. Stupid weak back.
db bench: 5@25, 5@30, 5@35, 5@40, 5@45, fail@50. (I want those 50’s, Bobbi.)
rows: 5@35, 5@45, 5@55, 5@65, 5@75, 5@85
DB snatches: 3x10@25, each arm.
cable kneeling ab thing: 5@40, 5@50, 5@60, 5@70, 5@90, 5@110 (easy the whole way; don’t know what’s up with that.)
Time to strengthen up that lower back.
My particular ugly is the knee cave, not the back. But ugly in any form must be tamed.
you better take it easy…i had a stupid cold that really hung on. get your rest.
congrats on your PRs while under the weather…now go get your rest…
“fun” upper body day.
bench: 10@45, 10@65, 5@85, 5@95, 5@105, 3@110 (rep PR!)
barbell rows: 5@65, 2x5@85 (ugly), 3x5@70, 5x5@75 (these were nice.)
kroc rows: 10@45 each arm, 10@50 each arm, 10@55 each arm
chinups: 3/2/1 feh
preacher curls: 10@25, 10@35, 3/4/5@45
Me to lifting buddy: “These do nasty things to my wrists.”
Lifting buddy: “Nasty things like HYPERTROPHY!”
Curls do kind of hurt. Serves me right for not curling very often.
lat raises 10@15, 3x10@17.5 (going up in weight!)
weighted situps: 3x10@30
20 ab rollouts with medicine ball.
fun is FUN!
ooo, and your shoulders are getting stronger…
Do you ever do Good mornings or anything?
Strengthening the aductors can help knee cave Kim! 
No, I should try that.
Basically my problem with EVERYTHING is back rounding; whatever muscle used in arching my back must be weak. (Blame it on almost two decades of continuous slouching.) Lifting buddy, who, himself, has a terrific back, has to keep telling me to arch on practically every exercise, and keeping an arch is usually my limiting factor in terms of weight. (I feel ridiculous about deadlifts because they feel so light at <200 but if I go up in weight my back rounds.)
Is there an exercise that just works on that? (Yeah, I know, squats and deadlifts already do, but they’re also leg exercises.)
Kroc rows FTW! The chinups will come – they have to, with the quality of the rowing you are doing.
MIM – I think CBear’s plate slides are helping my adductors. They are definitely weak.
you want a back exercise that gets you stronger, I’d give good mornings a try! Anyone have other suggestions?
Also, as I’ve showed people how to squat a lot of people are shy about sticking there butts out! So don’t be shy Alisa!! 
Yeah for the low back, focus on good mornings and back extensions. You should also wear a belt for heavy squats and deadlifts if you don’t. Are your adductors and hamstrings tight at all?
Also, 3x110 on the bench is impressive, nice job!
Andy, thanks!
No, I never wore a belt; my lifts aren’t all that heavy in an absolute sense, so it never occurred to me, but I’ll see if it helps.
I’m not sure if they’re tight. When I try to stick my butt out and get low for deadlifts, they’re often sore, so maybe.
But if your lifts are heavy relative to your body structure and size, and feel heavy, by all means wear a belt.
If I were you, I’d just stretch the hams, adductors, and hip flexors/rectus femoris for the hell of it. Can’t hurt. BTW, stretching the hams in 3 positions with a resistance band while on your back is very effective (to the inside, to the middle, and way to the outside).
[quote]kimbakimba wrote:
Kroc rows FTW! The chinups will come – they have to, with the quality of the rowing you are doing.
MIM – I think CBear’s plate slides are helping my adductors. They are definitely weak.[/quote]
Kroc rows, while a good upper back exercise, will not help Alisa fix her low back arch problem. Krocs, or dumbbell rows, put little stress on the low back muscles.
[quote]PB Andy wrote:
Yeah for the low back, focus on good mornings and back extensions. You should also wear a belt for heavy squats and deadlifts if you don’t. Are your adductors and hamstrings tight at all?[/quote]
Good mornings and weighted back extensions, focussing on being tight and arching hard, are what I would do as well.
For upper back rounding I would work on rack deads above the knee with a strict focus on bringing the shoulders back and retracting the scapula at the top of the movement.
I do back extensions regularly; I’ll add good mornings and try rack deads.
(Oof … I find that workouts get longer as I go up in weight. Sometimes I’m in there for 2 hours. It’s probably part rest time and part increased number of sets – if you keep going up by increments of 10 pounds, pretty soon you’re doing 8 sets total.)
Damn 2 hours. Rest time I understand, but I try to stay around the 3 minute mark for heavy lifting.
There’s a few things you can do: cut back on the exercise selection. It’s usually better to stick to 3-4 main exercises and hit them hard instead of doing like 6. Or, you could use heavier ramps instead of 10 lbs. Or, you may be taking too long for the first half of your sets. I.e. let’s say I’m working up to a 5RM for deadlifts and it takes me 7 sets. Sets 1-4 I may only rest for 60-90s, whereas sets 5-7 I may be resting 3-4 minutes.
[quote]AlisaV wrote:
I do back extensions regularly; I’ll add good mornings and try rack deads.
(Oof … I find that workouts get longer as I go up in weight. Sometimes I’m in there for 2 hours. It’s probably part rest time and part increased number of sets – if you keep going up by increments of 10 pounds, pretty soon you’re doing 8 sets total.)[/quote]
And, I find good mornings after finishing squat sets works well. I probably wouldn’t do extensions and good mornings in the same session. Good mornings are my preference as the movement mimics the forward lean when not staying tight in a squat.
I prefer doing either deads or rack deads but not both in the same session…too much load for me.
all good info Alisa!
Hope you can come with something!
shitty off-plan diet; back on the horses tomorrow.
Squat 5@45, 5@85, 5@95, 5@115, 3@135 with belt, failed at 145, but that was probably psychological. BUT: beautiful, ass-first form.
(Note: ass-first is correct, but much scarier since I feel off-balance and weaker. Knees-first, like a plie, is easier, but I’m trying to wean myself off that.)
good mornings: 5@45, 5@65, 5@75, 5@85, 5@95.
These are horrible in a good way. Definitely a new part of my repertoire.
seated barbell press: 5@45, 5@55, 5@65, 5@75, 3@85
deadlifts: 5@65, 5@115, 5@135, belt, 5@155, 5@165, 5@175, 3@185 (PR)
high rack pulls (above the knee) 5@135, 5@185, 5@225, 5@245, 5@265.
These are fun.
They have free body-comp screenings at my gym this week, and I think I might get one out of curiosity. I’m sure the news will be pretty bad but I do want to know.