Hey, thanks. I’ve read yours in the past – your physical and mental strengths are inspiring!
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Curious if you can pick up a few things from here
It’s not bad albeit a bit surface-level. I prefer the JTS videos. Appreciate the thought!
C2W2D4
Bench
35x8
65x5
75x3
85x3
95x5
75x13
SA BB Row 50x9,8,9
BB curl 45x16,15
50 dips
50 reps ab wheel/dragon flag superset
100 band pull aparts
Legs are still sore so I did an easy 20 minute ride on the Assault bike. 145 cal
Another crummy day, feeling weak to say the least. But I can’t say I’m surprised, can’t have it all. Weight loss (maybe a touch too fast), work stress, and the resulting poor sleep are responsible. I might increase my intake a bit to prepare for 1s week.
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How heavy are each of those plates? I am having trouble in my math brain reconciling what I am seeing in the video with what you are writing down.
Also, you need to change your log title. I can count on zero hands the number of girls I have seen who can do 50 dips in a week, let alone a single day. Holy crapola.
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25 and 5 loaded on each side. I have a women’s barbell, so it’s not a standard 45# bar.
Appreciate the words, but I’ll have to disagree. Can barely squat a touch over my BW for reps and bench triple digits, so pretty weak for sure. I’m half-decent at BW movements only because I’m not super heavy
Do you see any upside to calling yourself weak?
I can’t help but recall from the early days of this log an exchange that occurred,
In effect calling yourself weak is self-diminutive and I don’t see how that does you any good to (at whatever frequency you visit this log) further this idea of yourself as being weak. As an outsider, I view this as self-deprecating and maybe you disagree with that but I want to raise a red flag nevertheless.
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I agree with what @Voxel said in principle. I am fully onboard with the idea of expecting more of oneself (anyone who knows me here already knows that much), but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t celebrate the things you CAN do. You are strong. Not gonna convince me otherwise.
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I expect more of myself. I celebrate what I achieve. I still find myself weak. And I am, by many strength standards.
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It is possible to hold both the opinion that one is not good enough, and at the same time that one is still pretty damn good.
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@Voxel @Cyrrex Maybe I am more critical of myself than the average person, but I feel I am being more of a realist than a pessimist. Sure, I’m probably stronger than the average girl/woman you find on the street, but among those who actually care even slightly about lifting, I reckon I’m in a low percentile. I don’t always play these comparison games, but weak and strong are relative terms. And unless someone works a physically demanding job where there is a standard of sorts, there has to be at least a loose idea.
I do pretty much expect more of myself in everything I do, as I don’t believe I’m naturally gifted in anything. But I’m satisfied with what my realistic perspective has done for me in nearly everything else. I just need to put in more time into lifting, and maybe one day I won’t be so weak. I don’t want to compare myself to the average girl who doesn’t lift because it’s futile.
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Reading the rest of your post, I believe it’s quite evident that you may drop the word “maybe” from this sentence.
I believe you are grasping at extremes to support your argument, because I believe it’d be very easy to court the phrase “care even slightly about lifting” to “prove” you are correct. As a counter-argument, I’d like to highlight that if we go from
- All women, to
- women that exercise regularily,
- exclude those whose idea of exercise is cardio/yoga,
- focus on those engaging in sports with a strength component or outright lifting
so that we retain for instance MMA-practicioners, climbers, those that do group sessions involving a barbell, CrossFitters, weightlifters, hockey players, … I don’t believe you can outright “reckon” this
and I believe that you are inadvertently supporting my side which is that you are hard on yourself.
This is a fine quality to have, but it is also a dangerous one. In my experience, it easily leads to focusing solely on the gap between where you are now and where you are aiming to go and never acknowledging that as that gap closes you’re someone that has accomplished something on the way. It becomes very easy to forget to celebrate the victories and the progression.
I recall distinctly from my childhood practicing three-pointers. Whenever the ball went through the hoop, I had no response to that. Because that’s what I wanted to have happen. Because I was expecting more of myself. When I missed, I’d turn my aggression inward: “oh, you suck. Anyone can take that shot.” That kind of mindset can drive progression forward for a long time, but it’ll also leave a fair share of scars.
Again, we’re in a context of me highlighting that I think you are hard on yourself and don’t give yourself enough credit. That you are potentially looking down on yourself. Once more, I feel my concern is warranted.
So, again, this mindset can work for you but it can also do you an unkindness in the long-term. It might not be necessary to drive progress forward either.
Finally, I notice the phrasing here,
Will you ever allow yourself to consider yourself strong?
I consider myself weak still, but I out deadlift my 10-20 kilo mates by some 60 kilos. My frame of reference is borked, since I spend time here. I outclimb them all too, with the exception of an elderly gentleman with decades more experience. It’s quite conceivable I’m projecting my problems onto you here and you’re doing it in a “healthy” manner. But please, consider it a bit further.
Maybe find a way to surround yourself with average girls who lift and see where you stack up.
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We’ve got @anna_5588 who always thinks she’s eating too much, we have @queen_cobra who’s too hard on her form, and we have @Bagsy who think she’s weak.
Meanwhile, here I am, wondering which places in SF have burritos as good as San Diego’s…and if I can get some boba milk tea tomorrow.
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There are absolutely standards in lifting. Dan John certainly has some that would be easily searchable, if you’re looking for objective standards from someone who’s been coaching women in sports for longer than I’ve been alive.
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O, no. no, I pay for this coaching , that’s the only reason to be so hard to myself 
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Hehe. Anwyway, you ladies are strong AF!
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Hello, strong girl!
I don’t have enough time to read the new topics, not even for my favorit one, but thanks to @whang I found this.
I want to know if these numbers on the barbell are kg or lb. Sorry, in my country we use kg and it’s a little confusing to convert.
Asolutely right. If you want to be a pro powerlifter of a regular competitor at least. In any other case is irrelevant. Just a few months ago I thought the same. I couldn’t accept nothing less than heavier barbell every week and also …
.
But then I discovered a whole new area of strenght training, focusing on strict form, body posture and preventing traumas and I just dropped the weights in half and I’m really pleased by the results. So… this is just a state of mind and it will evolve in time - my be to pro powerlifting/ weightlifting goals, may be not.
Good luck!
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Dang, girl, you have a serious stable of motivational people in your corner!
I’ll offer you a quick, and slightly different, perspective… You’re weak(er) than you want to be, okay. Only one thing to do about that, and you’re already doing it! Let’s see where you are after 10 cycles of 5/3/1.
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Our mentalities are very similar - I do this to myself regardless of what hobby it is - lifting, guitar, table tennis, etc. Maybe learning the difference between being happy and being content will help you. Be happy you’ve accomplished what you have, but don’t be content with it. That, plus pride in the effort you’re putting into things is usually enough to keep ya going. I’ve never cared whether someone beats me, but if someone out-works me I’m pissed.
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@Voxel I appreciate the concern and again don’t disagree with everything you are saying. Yeah, I am hard on myself, and I don’t ever usually feel good about myself or what I have done. But I’m not displeased with where I am. There’s just more to do.
And I don’t mean to turn this into a pity party for myself, but I pretty much know the factors at play. I played a team sport at a decently high level growing up, but car rides home from practices and games were always filled with abrasive critique from a parent. I expected negative commentary on my performance, and I imagine some of that still brews even in other athletic pursuits. But I like many others here have fallen victim to comparing oneself with other lifters online who show off their best moments. I also have imposter syndrome in my academic life due to personal circumstances, but so do other people. I think based on what you and others have said, whether these issues are used as fuel or they exacerbate well-being is highly dependent on the individual.
Personally, even though I don’t celebrate anything I have done, I’m not dissatisfied with where I am. I have loose ideas of when I can stop considering myself weak, but you’re probably right that they might always be in limbo. Regarding the last comment, it’s quite difficult to do that. In undergrad I was always the only girl at my school’s gym (though not that many people lifted anyway), so there was almost no one I could use as reference outside of the Internet. Then I moved and was a member of a powerlifting-style gym until COVID happened. While there weren’t that many women there, certainly no world record holders or anything, they took lifting seriously. And I was the weakest one by far. Maybe with the exception of pull-ups since I have the benefit of being lighter than many, but even then I’m not sure I would call myself “stronger” there.
@whang Well, sounds like the solution to your problem is to be harder on yourself until you find the perfect burrito spot, hahaha.
@dagill2 Yep, tons of standards from coaches like the example you give. I’ll have to check out more of his work. I’ve been meaning to pick up one of his books from the library this year, actually. But my point is more that there are so many different informal and formal standards in lifting, whether from yourself or someone else, or comparisons to be made in-person or online, that it’s different from a specific occupation’s expectations. You’re free to choose whatever standard at anytime. And that can be very negative, e.g. why people feel social media is so “toxic.”
@queen_cobra Numbers are in lb. I’m glad you’ve found an approach that works for you!
@OTHSteve Oh, man… now I’m thinking about it, and I must have done at least 40 cycles of 5/3/1. And like most, I feel like I should be much better at this point by now. But tiny progress is better than nothing, and I believe in the philosophy, so I’m okay with that. Thanks for the comment. Weaker than I want to be is a great way to phrase it.
@garagerocker13 Yeah, I think I do this to myself in my other hobbies as well. It doesn’t feel like something I have to fix though. Keeps me working hard like you say.
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