3/22/11
Daily stuff:
10, 10 pushups
50 KB swings 30 lbs. < wow these made me nauseous! Love it.
Gym 5/3/1 Deadlift Day week 2 Training max 180. 1 RM 200.
Deadlift
Warmup
bar 1x5
95 lbs 1x5
115 lbs 1x3
Working
125 1x3
145 1x3
160 1x6 < I was happy enough with this. I dreamed of hitting 10, insisted on more than 5 and settled for 6.
Accessories
Leg extension 5x10 65 lbs
Leg curl 5x10 80 lbs < pretty fucking hard
Ab wheel 5x10 (on knees)
I feel fantastic today! Skin: ok. Slight pinch between my shoulder blades.
Also my arms are huge!
3/24/11 5/3/1 Bench day week 2
wt 116 and about to bust my jeans.
Maintenance walked in with a new bench for me just as I started my warmup. Unfortunately the bench would have been high enough with my previous ‘triceps’ bench press, but wasn’t high enough for my new wide grip. He’s going to pull the rails off and set the hooks lower for me.
Bench
Warmup
45 lb 1x5
65 lb 1x5 < I forgot this was my first set and did it as a warmup.
working
72.5 1x3
80 1x8 < I have to tell you all I was suspicious about widening my grip but these felt great! and I think I’ll be breaking through that 100 lb plateau I’ve been stuck at.
accessory
skullcrushers
ez curl bar + 26 (need to weight this thing or just move on to the oly bar) 5x10
lat pull downs 110 lb 5x10
dumbbell bench press 20s 5x10 < these were so easy I looked at my records and 20 is my 10 RM. Looks like I can break that next week.
All in all a solid day. I feel strong. I think I am making very good progress, and I’ll know in a few weeks when I test my maxes again.
Body check:
Hamstrings sore from the leg curls Tuesday. Skin, ok but red. Elbow inflammation I should address soon. My legs are really big, either because of fat or muscle or both. Note to self to find out where wonderwoman buys her clothes because narrow shouldered shirts and small legged jeans don’t appear to be working out any more.
[quote]arachne12 wrote:
Thanks Brute, you are such a doll. :*
Additional daily 3/21/11
4 chinups
10 pushups
I’ve been musing for quite some time that the reason I was so lean when training for bb is because I was doing sets of bodyweight exercise all day long, and not because of the total number of hours working out. Then I found as similar concept in “the four-hour body”, but he was specifically recommending timed exercise around food intake. Since I ate and did pushups, crunches, and lunges all day long, it’s hard to know if the timing was right or not.
I know that I feel better and my body looks better when I do a lot of random sets throughout the day, but I can’t say I have gotten significantly leaner in the last few weeks of stepping up the daily activity. Just some thoughts. [/quote]
Just catching up Arachne. The vids were very fun to see. Nice to see another small woman doing this with such style too in that singlet!
And this is interesting stuff about exercise and the timing of our activity. Thanks for posting.
[quote]arachne12 wrote:
Note to self to find out where wonderwoman buys her clothes because narrow shouldered shirts and small legged jeans don’t appear to be working out any more.
Excellent lifting to you all!
[/quote]
When you find out where she shops PLEASE let me know. LOL. I would live in dresses and sweatpants, but I have to wear pants to work. UGHH. So hard to find ones that fit. I just end up a) wearing stuff that almost fits OR b) getting things tailored.
Nice lifting. Are you able to train at the RMLC? Also i saw you mentioned Gillinghams program. I can’t say enough good things about it, especially for a raw, drug free lifter. You may want to tweak it a bit to meet your needs but Brad really has his stuff dialed in.
[quote]Germanone wrote:
Nice lifting. Are you able to train at the RMLC? Also i saw you mentioned Gillinghams program. I can’t say enough good things about it, especially for a raw, drug free lifter. You may want to tweak it a bit to meet your needs but Brad really has his stuff dialed in.[/quote]
Hi Germanone,
I’ve been to RMLC twice for meets (once to watch) Everyone seems nice, and very knowledgeable. I’ve been considering going over there for training for a long time, but haven’t taken the step.
I’m intrigued by the limited reading I’ve done about Gillingham. I’ll keep studying.
I was scheduled for lunges, but, well, I hate lunges and will avoid them whenever possible. In a fight between cardio and lunges… I’m not sure which one I would skip first.
I’m feeling a bit battered today. My feet and hips hurt in a creaky way. I’m not sure if that’s from the workouts, the raucous sex, or from staying up all night afterward playing minecraft. Better take some fish oil and reexamine my lifestyle.
Monday starts week 3 of this round of 5/3/1. I think it’s going well. Quick question: how often and when in the cycle do you test your maxes (those of you doing 5/3/1)?
Monday starts week 3 of this round of 5/3/1. I think it’s going well. Quick question: how often and when in the cycle do you test your maxes (those of you doing 5/3/1)?
Happy lifting!
[/quote]
If you are planning competing again (and you’d better be!), look at testing your maxes about a month out from the meet. I also like hitting a couple heavier singles on the 5-3-1 day especially when you single is way lower than you max. This keeps your body used to the heavier stuff without overstressing it.
main and veggie, I’m hoping raucous sex can double count for lunges AND cardio. But that’s only if you do it right.
dog, I am definitely competing again! I’ve got the bug and I am eyeing Karen’s record. I like the idea of hitting heavy singles on low max days. Seems like week 1 would be the ideal time to do that, especially after the one week deload. Thanks!
[quote]arachne12 wrote:
3/25/1 Quick question: how often and when in the cycle do you test your maxes (those of you doing 5/3/1)?
Happy lifting!
[/quote]
I’ve recently incorporated heavy singles in to my 5-3-1 week, but I didn’t start doing that until I was several cycles in. But, I don’t really think of them as 1 rep max attempts. The point isn’t to find my new max, but to practice heavy singles.
[quote]arachne12 wrote:
I’ve got the bug and I am eyeing Karen’s record.
[/quote]
If you’re looking to break my raw state records, you should be able to do that easily. I’ve only done two raw meets and went for third attempts of 154 squat, 99 bench, and 220 DL at my second meet and missed 'em all! Argy! I hit a 148.5 raw squat easily at a meet once but couldn’t claim it 'cause I wore a shirt during the bench portion. I should go back and get that or the 154 someday. Good luck.
I was scheduled for lunges, but, well, I hate lunges and will avoid them whenever possible. In a fight between cardio and lunges… I’m not sure which one I would skip first.[/quote]
Maybe we should have a lunge-off. Walking or static? Barbell or DB? Pick your poison, set your best sets x reps attempt and challenge me to beat you!
You, my dear, are doing it right! Don’t mess with the feet, though. Roll them out with a frozen water bottle if the bottoms are hurting.
Thanks Nadia. I’ll post how those work out for me.
Kimba, ok, Friday I will lunge with you in mind and I will take care of my feet!
3/28/11
Woke up feeling not so great. I’ve got a stiff neck and my lower back was also stiff. That hasn’t happened to me in years since I was 40 or so, when I thought an aching back was just inevitable with age. I’m not sure what caused this. Possibly too much sugar last night. (I mean actual food sugar in case anyone thinks that’s a euphemism!)
5/3/1 Military Press day week 3, training max 62.5, 1 RM 72.5
setsxreps weight (lbs)
MP warmup
1x5 13
1x5 23
1x5 33
working
1x5 50
1x3 55
1x3 62.5 < miniumum expectation was 1 rep, 3 is fair. 5 would’ve been nice for a new 5 RM, but it didn’t happen.
Accessory work
DB rows 5x10 25s < easy weight gets a little tiring on the 4th and 5th sets
Triceps cable pushdown 5x10 60 < weight getting a little challenging on the last couple reps.
DB MPress 5x10 15s < toy poodle weights, still.
Did I tell you about the giant orthopedic feet the facilities manager put on one of the benches for me? I’ll try to upload a pic from my blackberry. The only way I know how to do that right now is to upload it to facebook, download to my computer, then upload it to PW. Is there a better way??
[quote]arachne12 wrote:
I’ve got the bug and I am eyeing Karen’s record.
[/quote]
If you’re looking to break my raw state records, you should be able to do that easily. I’ve only done two raw meets and went for third attempts of 154 squat, 99 bench, and 220 DL at my second meet and missed 'em all! Argy! I hit a 148.5 raw squat easily at a meet once but couldn’t claim it 'cause I wore a shirt during the bench portion. I should go back and get that or the 154 someday. Good luck.[/quote]
Yes, that’s my goal. I’ll leave the geared records to you.
I thought I could get it next time when I read somewhere that your total was 197.5 kg, but then I looked again and it’s something like 230. It might take some hard work to get there. I think I can pass your bench but I can’t touch your squat!
Gym
5/3/1 Deadlift day training max 180, 1 RM 200.
setsxreps weight (lbs)
Warmup
1x5 45
1x5 95
1x3 115
Working
1x5 135
1x3 152.5
1x3 170 < I have a recorded 5 RM at 175, but I am not sure in retrospect if those were full reps, with a setup in between. My deadlift seems to be all over the place sometimes. I can predict my max squat and bench on any given day within 5 lbs or so, but I could be off by 25 on the deadlift. I dunno.
Accessory work
Leg curls
3x10 95/80 <5 at each. I couldn’t quite achieve 10 reps at this new weight.
2x10 80
Leg extensions
5x10 80 < pretty pleased at increasing weight here and making all five sets.
skipped the ab work. There’s really no excuse for this.
Nice work getting 170 up for 3! Deadlift is unpredictable for me too. Some days I feel strong despite sleep or nutrition issues, and other days where I should be strong, I’m weak. But, you made your reps on 5/3/1 day and that is always worth celebrating!
