Beginners Gains

Training
981

thanks guys. got hit bad with some kind of virus. just been sleeping over the past couple days… aches and fever… think i’m over the worst of it now, but will probably take tomorrow off work, too, and get a bunch of writing done. i’ve had years to have done it, really… have lots of stuff just need to impose some order on it…

not sure what is up with my pulling from the floor. need a bunch more practice, i think. need to pull slow to keep my hips down (isn’t automatic for me yet). i thought my elbows weren’t quite locked on the vid, too. never noticed that before…

sleep… sleep… sleep…

haven’t been hit this bad in years.

982

Get your rest Lex!! And feel better soon :slight_smile:

983

Congrats on the snatch PR. At my PL meet, I had my coach load the weight and told him to not tell me what it was. It was the best decision I ever made. I nailed lifts I would have totally psyched myself out on. He knew my capabilities way better than I did anyway, so I had no way of second guessing it!

I hope you feel better soon!

984

hope you’re feeling better and are getting lots of rest!!

985

hope you feel better soon.

986

CONGRATS!!!

hope you feel better…getting sick after a comp seems to be a common theme.

987

Still sick? Get better!

988

Get well soon! Hope you’re well enough for the power comp.

989

thanks guys. yeah, still pretty sick. nasty virus that seems to be going round. at least it hasn’t turned into gastro for me, and only had one day of waterworks. just feel very weak indeed. got to the gym a couple times and just spent the time with gentle mobility stuff.

the bar is feeling pretty heavy at the moment. had lots of work, too, which is just what i need financially, but going to the gym on top of that is a bit too much at the moment. really hoping things clear up soon. haven’t had this many days off from training since… forever.

990

Just catching up here (should really be doing my work), so I’m cheating by skimming.

On the video…I can definitely see where you are stronger on one side, could be because of your hamstring, at least you finished the pull and got up. I think I still have a little mental block from pulling from the floor, so please, go into as much detail as your heart desires about it :wink:

Feel better, and let your body have a good chance at recovering. And congrats on the work, hope you enjoy it.

991

knock, knock!

Just checking in on you, girlie. Hope you’re hanging in there! Have a great weekend :slight_smile:

992

I miss Lexy too.

993

thanks guys. still recovering from being sick and adapting to more work shifts.

took me about 1 month to adapt to 2-3 per week, so i expect it will take me some time to adapt to around 5 that it looks like i’ll be getting from now on. did 7 this week which just about killed me. it isn’t worth it at all for the toll it is taking on my body - except i really need the money so am simply not in the position to refuse shifts that are offered at this point. once i’m out of debt things can stabilize on around 5, i think.

there were a few days i was simply too wrecked to get to the gym. having trouble walking, mostly, and lots of problems with an achy lumbar spine. i need to get better shoes. found a place that has some merrell’s in something approximating a black dress shoe so hopefully i can pick them up when i get paid next thursday. wearing doc martin 10 ups at the moment. they are comfy in being flat and having a wide toe box - but the support around the ankles is actually really counter-productive for me. they are too stiff, basically.

lots and lots of rolling. taking a long while to get quads and ITB and calves to release. i think… work… is actually physical work for me. pretty sad… but seeming to be true right now.

yesterday -

deadlift. worked up to 5 singles (couple misses interspersed) @ 75kg. my previous max - but this time i think i’m using my legs properly with them. my lower back felt fine today, anyway. limit seemed to be wobbly knees. the movement feels pretty alien so need to work on it. enjoyed these.

today -

front squats. it has been a while. did 6x2@37.5kg (1.5kg more than the RSR base). the second rep on each set was hard. one fail. managed to get the double, though. felt comfortable which was good.

bench press. only messed around with the bar on one occasion. was planning on just messing around today but arching my back felt really wonderful so decided to see what i could do with these. some sets of 5 (adding 2.5kg each time) then triples from 30kg. worked up to a double @ 35kg but got pinned on the second rep lol. took me a while to roll it down my body and manage to get up with it on my lap lol.

really enjoyed these.

feel too fried for snatches, basically. have been doing some light mobility stuff with them (and with squat / push jerks) but 35kg feels really very heavy indeed and a lot of work lowering less weight that can’t be dropped.

dunno…

might take some time off oly lifting… do 5x5 bench progression and 1x5 deadlift progression… start light and add a little each time. might be a way i can progress on something while adapting to work. don’t know.

exhausted but for the first time in a couple weeks i don’t feel decrepit. hallelujah!

hopefully things will be more normal real soon.

994

Alexus i hope things do settle in for you, sounds like you are adjusting.

Thats funny but not getting caught under the bar, I am at that point that I have to be sure to get a spot for that last few sets of bench.

:slight_smile: off to work myself!

995

thanks :slight_smile:

i’m still getting used to the movement with benching so not sure what i am capable of and every rep feels a bit different since I’m just learning the movement. sometimes surprises me how strong it feels and othertimes surprises me how weak it feels.

hammies / glutes suffering some DOMS from deadlifting and from GHR’s. i realized it was taking me 3 sets on those to get the glutes / hammies fired up properly so have started considering those first 3 sets a warm-up for the real 5x5 and really feeling my glutes / hammies today. so… decided to do some upper body stuffs.

chin-ups - 10 singles. these feel a bit harder than they used to but guess it isn’t so surprising since i’ve gained about 3kg in these last 3 months.

inverted rows - 6x5

press - sets of 5. couple sets of pp, too.

bench - which is officially my new favorite exercise. got one of the trainers to show me how (since i know nothing about bench). need to work on my arch (which feels wonderful for my back and hip flexors). did 5x5@30kg which was work but not heaps of work. need to practice to get the movement smoother and the bar wants to wobble from side to side a bit.

work tomorrow :frowning:

so… focus on mobility mostly, i reckon. try and prevent the decrepitude that i suffered from last week.
will take fish oil (been a bit bad about that).
less vibrams, too, since it is literally freezing cold here in the mornings / evenings and i need to keep my feet warmer, i think.

will try and catch up with logs today.

996

I’m there with the :frowning: on working extra shifts to catch up/pay off debt. pouting

I think it’s good practice getting pinned under the bar, but that probably is a bad thing once it gets heavier than you. lol

997

Sorry about work. Sucks. But, benching…cool!

998

oh my god i am behind inhere! horribly late,but way to go the comp:)

and dls!!! and (shiver) benching!

999

charlie - yeah. i wouldn’t like to get squashed under much more than that. benching is weird for me with the need for a spotter. i’m used to the oly stuff where i feel safest if people are at least 5m away.

nadia - thanks for commiseration’s about work. i will adapt to it, i’m sure. it is also adapting to me a bit. told my supervisor that i have a bit of trouble walking if i run around too much and so she’s started delegating me some more standing in one place or even seated tasks. i’m optimistic that some sensible shoes really will make a world of difference for me, too.

perk of work - free food!!! my best options seem to be loads of scrambled eggs (and some bacon) for breakfast and loads of meat and green veges for lunch.

i’m a bit ambivalent about how i’ve gained 3kg. 3kg in 3 months… that isn’t so good for a bulk, i guess. i’ll admit i have some reservations about my bulk, though. apparently the gym has some special way of measuring bodyfat that is ‘non invasive’. i might have a chat to one of them about that. see if it could be an indicator, at least. if i knew that at least some of my weight gain was muscle then i’d be totally fine with the weight gain. i’m just worried that i’m just getting fatter.

thanks brute :slight_smile:

TRAINING:

snatch - up to 37.5kg. 38.5kg didn’t want to play. i-pod wasn’t charged so i blame lack of music along with general lethargy.
push / squat jerks - up to 30kg. not quite locked out. need to work the movement (catching in a quarter squat) with the lighter weight.
cleans - up to 37.5kg. 40kg didn’t want to play. pinned in the hole.
powerclean - up to 45kg which is my max. 47.5kg didn’t want to play.

call me crazy…

but i’m seriously thinking about doing starting strength. back squat, bench, powerclean, deadlift. i’ve never actually done the program as written because i got side-tracked by olympic lifting when i started learning how to powerclean. i’ve never seriously trained back squats or bench and haven’t trained deadlifts since last year.

i think it is 3x per week. then i can do mobility and olympic lifting technique (i really need to focus on mobility / positions / movements at lighter weights right now while i adapt to work) on my off days.

sounds like a plan…

1000

FREE FOOD!!! That’s a great perk. Send some to me please.

As for the weight gain, do you feel any different (feel harder?), look any different (more ripped?)? I think the usual gym bodyfat measurements are good for tracking “over a period of time” as long as the person measuring knows what they are doing.

Yeah I find I really can’t do anything without music, let alone workout.

Your plan sounds good to me. Like you I was just looking to work on the basics of my strength and got swept away once I saw the beauty of a snatch (why does talking about oly lifts always sound so dirty, ‘snatches’ and ‘jerks’ alright!) I can’t do benching properly just yet, but would love to see my squat and dead numbers climb, but one thing at a time.