Beginners Gains

Training
861

thanks guys :slight_smile:

i started doing kettlebell swings (with a dumbbell) but then worried about whether there was a difference between horizontal and vertical hip drive such that it might interfere with my oly lifting. i’m still not sure about this… but decided to leave them alone just in case. i will put them on the backburner and return to them in the future, though. remember i felt them in my abs since my abs weren’t so used to the decelerating part on the way down…

getting better at activating hammies / glutes for the GHR. it really is a full body exercise for me with all the climbing up and down the stick i’m doing. the time under tension for a 5x5 is quite high since i do them slowly really trying to contract things as hard as possible. think i might stick to these and increase the reps on activation drills (i was looking for vanity exercises masch!!)

decided to go to the gym after all (hell, i HAVE been taking more days off recently than i used to and i’m also going VERY EASY on myself with respect to what i can realistically expect from my work output.

TRAINING:

snatches - up to 3 misses @ 39.5kg. not finishing the pull. thats ok.

GHR 5x5 (stick assist) trying to keep time under tension high. glute pump ftw!

push-ups 3x (2x5). hit failure last rep of last set. alternated with:
one arm dumbbell press 3x (1x5 each arm). hit failure third rep of last set with left arm. cut the set short for my right.

planks - 3x 60second 20kg.

was feeling my abs after this…

done :slight_smile:

successful assertive interaction at gym, too :slight_smile:
yay me. i WILL get better at this.
(thanks random nice dude for making that easy for me).
i was so focused on my training i didn’t even notice he was hot… i swear :slight_smile:

862

Ha ha! You must be working hard if you’re not noticing the hot guys. That’s commitment!
Main thing is, the hot guy noticed you. That has to be a nice boost.

863

I have long fingers myself, so I’m just confused if a women’s bar IS better, I mean it is supposed to be used for women because we supposedly have smaller hands, not that I have big ape hands, but they are not small. Or maybe I’m missing something.

I’m going to ask to get GHR’s included in my next program. That has to be the flattest part of my body (muscle wise).

864

Glute pump…what a funny concept. I guess I have such a big booty that I never thought of this as a goal. Needless to say I wouldn’t even know where to start in trying to achieve this. I just thought I’d let you know that I’m enjoying the convo about achieving it. Maybe one day, if I have someone ask me about it, I will have some legit info!

I did have a friend once that thought about getting butt implants. She decided that white pants did the trick. Maybe white shorts!

865

Lol at butt implants!! Those are for the ladies who don’t know about deads and squats.

866

[quote]alexus wrote:

successful assertive interaction at gym, too :slight_smile:
yay me. i WILL get better at this.

[/quote]

glad to be reading this. :slight_smile:

867

cal - haha. i wish. i think it is hard to ignore the chick standing in the middle of the room (only free space) throwing the bar around. but he said i didn’t need to apologize for not being able to focus on my training when i work in with someone and he moved off the platform for me to do his deadlifts, so that was nice of him.

minimal - i find the smaller circumference of the women’s bar to be annoying, truth be told. what is good about it is that the smaller circumference makes it ‘whippier’ than the guys bar and since it is lighter more weight goes on the ends. those mean that we get more bounce out of the bar, so in theory… we should be able to lift more weight with it (if we get really very good indeed at catching the bounce out the hole).

haha sbmart. it never occurred to me that glute pump was a funny concept but now that you say it i realize that it is. guess i was thinking that glute pump is for girls as bicep pump is for boys, but maybe not lol. ironcross - yeah, i don’t think i’ll resort to implants anytime soon.

thanks nimain :slight_smile: i was feeling kinda proud of myself that that went well.

TRAINING

eva / rolling / light snatch mobility work.

RSR FRONT SQUAT 6x2 @36kg. felt light. movement felt smooth. happy.

CLEAN PRACTICE
wanted to have a go since i haven’t done them for a while. am finding it much easier to drop under them after all my work on snatches. they are feeling much easier to stand up after all my work on front squats.

couple singles @35kg.
couple double hang cleans @35kg.
happy with that.

PULLING / BACK DAY

5x1 chin-ups happy with form.

3x5 inverted rows. think i’m better off making these easier and getting good contraction for movement explosive enough to really slam my chest into the bar. rather than making them hard and not being able to finish the range of motion…

3x1 chin-ups. lats giving up… 3 slow negatives.

standing dumbbell rows. just wanted to see… meh.

standing barbell rows. less range of motion on these… hmm… up to 35kg. lats starting to bail on range of motion…

seated cable rows. except i stood up. interesting…

don’t know what it is called… some pulley cable contraption… the pic said biceps or triceps but i wanted to try and standing row. felt best with the cable fairly low to the floor (maybe because it was easier to stand without being pulled forwards). okay, i guess. i think i might have liked these the best.

gym ball. back extensions. but just static holding glute / hamstring contraction. laughed at self. went home.

868

I’m not sure why but the post you left on my log made me feel better this morning.

A whippier bar, hmmm?? I guess I have not been doing this long enough as I’ve never even thought about the bar being ‘whippier’? And catching the bounce in the hole? Maybe I should start reading about this a bit more. I’m afraid to over analyse anything though, as I tend to do that.

I have inverted rows in my A workout, might try the explosiveness too, if I can. I have a good feeling your upper body is stronger than mine.

It’s good to laugh at yourself.

869

I did inverted rows when I was first trying to get more chins. I’d forgotten about them. I’m going to do them again. And I think I really need to adopt Cal’s glute activation program. I will recruit my low back instead of glutes if I can. And my hammies aren’t firing too well either. Sorry, but your log got me thinking out loud.

Glad you are feeling so good about your front squat form. Ya know, I’ve never even tried a front squat? I’ve just wanted to master having the bar on my back and they are so hard. I know this is an adaptation for you, and that’s awesome that your RSR seems to be progressing them for ya.

I think the laughing at yourself in the gym is a good sign that you’ve still got joy for your training and aren’t overdoing things. YAY!

870

If your toosh is activating then thats what counts, right? You don’t necessarily have to be sore sore sore to know what your doing is working…although that can be a nice indicator.

Super glute powers, ACTIVATE!!!

:slight_smile:

871

Ha on the glute talk…ya know thats how i came up with my log name …German made a “joke” about my glutes being all show and no go, yea yea he says he was joking ~ Humpf

872

OH! good point about the horizontal and vertical hip drive! i hadn’t thought of that. Hm. Anyways, I went to the gym today and realized i forgot how to snatch. WAH!

Awesome on the cleans! That’s so great that your cleans have improved almost by osmosis. I reckon the same will happen with the aid of your squats.

That’s a lot of pulling! Good stuff.

You’re training has been stellar lately, Lex. Keep up the momentum girlie!

873

minimal - :slight_smile:

i have trouble with body-image stuff… i’ve realized… i have a severe case of muscular atrophy. definitely. that is what accounts for my weighing LESS than Cal (for instance) while having MUCH HIGHER grab-able flab. my body composition is off… also… i think i might have narrow bones… my wrists are tiny (compared to kimba, even). i can wrap all my fingers around my wrist with room to spare.

i’d do much better in the under 69kg weightclass… or… actually… i think what the guys are getting at is that with my height… the best option… would be to really full out my levers by getting as heavy as possible while still being able to haul my ass around the bar. i’m not that good… not good enough to be worrying about that… but from a body point of view… if i could pack an extra 5kg of muscle on i’d probably look a whole heap better. maybe to try and add 10kg with 5kg muscle? i don’t know… i need to learn a lot more about this stuff… i really should be eating my face off right now… and getting stronger, to boot.

powerpuff - yeah i have similar issues with activation. think they are mostly sorted… but i need to keep on with functional movement patterns (e.g., pushing, pulling, lunging etc) or i’ll lose them. can’t seriously progress strength on them with the Oly Lifting / Squatting… but keep them functional. i’m amazed at how quickly my body forgets.

MOM - yeah… the glute pump is mostly about vanity, i think. i just feel happy leaving the gym with a glute pump. like how the dudes feel happy leaving the gym with a bicep and chest pump on a friday night :slight_smile: i know it is only controversially and dubiously related to actual growth.

UpScale - heh. deadlift will sort you out :slight_smile:

Masch - i’m sure you will rediscover it really fast! could it be that worrying about your knee is interfering with your ability to focus on the lift? i know that when my hip feels dodgey (or whatever) my body is more concerned about injury prevention than doing what it needs to do to snatch it. i’m not sure about the horizontal vs vertical hip drive thing. but i do have trouble finishing the pull and keeping the bar close. so trying to get better at that and hold off on the kettlebell swings until i feel like i’ve got it sussed.

TRAINING
rolling…
snatch… light mobility. up to 3 singles @35kg. got the bounce nice on the last 2. 2x2 hang clean. okayish. will need to do a bit of work on these but feeling pretty good for lack of practice. 35kg is feeling much lighter to stand up. looks like the RSR is working!

meh. feeling pretty exhausted. did some overhead pressing with the bar. a little push pressing. a little push jerking. 2 jerks. then toes feeling painfull from being smashed into the ground. oh wells.

874

Body image issues, blah! One day when I have some time I’ll type out my little story.

I have a question on one of your vids, think you might be able to talk me through something. Once I have some time to type it out.

Yay for RSR!

875

Alexus: Good luck with bulk! I don’t have any ideas on how to do it… but it sounds more fun than cutting to me–well only if you get to do a dirty bulk I guess.

876

Alexus, here’s a table the Glenn Pendlay posted:

It’s for men but it gives a good idea. I think I might be able to move up a weight class too but I’m going to sit where I am for a bit. It’s mentally a bit of a hurdle to go up a weight class! But staying at 63kg is requiring some effort also. It will be a fun day when I decide to move up and hit the kitchen :slight_smile:

I have a really small frame too (wrists are 5 1/2 inches or 14 cm) but I think that means you can carry more muscle for your height. I’m sure bone density is relevant to how much you can carry on your frame too.

877

5-10kg is a lot of muscle for a woman to put on. Definitely try it.

878

[quote]if you get to do a dirty bulk I guess.
[/quote]

Lol I agree. Clean bulking is BLECK!
;D

Glad to hear that you want to put on some extra weight. It’s a liberating decision to make IMO. Good luck.

879

Don’t forget the fun part of your olympic lifting. If you’re not getting paid, there is no reason to put your body, mind or spirit under stress over all of this. You’re a beautiful woman with a healthy body. There will always be someone stronger and weaker than you, shorter and taller, skinnier and bigger. As long as you’re healthy, you are already ahead of many!

With all the gushiness being said, you may try decreasing your training by 2-3 days for strength and weight gain (I believe I read that you’re working out 6-7 days a week).

880

minimal - ask away whenever you want. not sure i’ll have an answer, though.

nadia - thanks. i need to look into food some more… i’ve been eating a lot of potato chips lately :-/

debra - hmm… my wrists are 9.5cm :-/ i triple checked them. tis true. someone mentioned peripheral limb thinning as part of a hormone / cortisol problem thing… but my trunk measurements are similarly ridiculous. need to spend some time figuring out food… then if i don’t start to grow with an increase in calories from whatever i’m taking in now i’ll go back to the doc. (GP is first port of call here - but i’m really very very lucky to have a good one who does her research and definitely doesn’t blow me off when i have concerns).

ironcross - yeah. i have no idea… what is that? like 2 maybe 3 years worth of work that i’ve set myself? i actually have no idea what that much extra muscle would look like or how much it would add to my lifts (if i built it with functional movements). it is basically a number that i pulled out of my butt.

nikki - i’ve been talking about it for a while… think i’ll get serious soon, though… need to sort out my food… figure out a feasible (pricewise and palatewise) shopping list and plan my meals for the week…

sbmart - thanks. i’ve resigned myself that i’m not ever going to get good enough to go to the olympics :slight_smile: this is indeed a fun hobby for me. i would like to get stronger though. and i think the guys with the non-twiggy legs think i’m a bit of a twig lol. yeah um ur… train less… maybe… i have light days. mobility. just a teeny tiny bit of snatching…