I started to post a reply to another post and it was then that I realized that I had never done an introduction, but have been lurking for the past couple of years. (How rude!) Anyway here is the post I was going to comment on and my (about time!) answer. 
**New Rules of Lifting for Women is a great book.
I agree it has answered a lot of questions I have had. I am back to working out after having my chronic illness turn acute again. (Damn thing!) So all the progress I had made, I get to redo. I have gotten good at picking myself up, dusting myself off and getting back to it!
One question that it doesnât really answer is that I lift Mon., Wed., and Friday but my body is still sore on the lift day. I am lifting until failure, but that is usually just one set of 10 going through the complete routine, arms, legs and core, then a 2 minute break and do the routine again two more times with the two minute break between âsetsâ. By the time I am done, my heart rate is up to 182. I also do 20 to 30 minutes of fast walk on my tread mill before starting the weights. My arms and legs are a little sore on the next lift day, but my âcoreâ, back absâŠis VERY sore. As in when I sneeze or cough, I see stars.
ThoughtsâŠfeedback?
Todayâs work out: Treadmill, 3% incline, 5MPH 20.02 minutes
Free Weights: 3 Circuits, 10 moves each: Bicep curls 12.5 lbs. for all upper body, Bicep to tricep flex, side raises 5 each, overhead press 5each. Bent over swing through, 10each.
Squats 10 each, one legged reverse curl with 30lbs 10 each, leg raises 60lbs 10 each, then using the leg raise attachment I do upper body rows with 60lbs again 10 each and 3 circuits.
If you are wondering about the shoulder work, I blew both of those out in an accident so even 5lbs makes them scream. (What? You have never heard your shoulder scream?! Really? Lucky you!)
Hi Queen! Glad to see you posting!
Couple questions for you, since Iâve never read the book and so have no clue what the scheme is like at all.
- What kind of weight are you using for each exercise?
- What does the rep scheme look like for the program?
- How long have you been following this program?
- Do you do any foam rolling or other recovery work on your days off?
[quote]PixieThrower wrote:
Hi Queen! Glad to see you posting!
Couple questions for you, since Iâve never read the book and so have no clue what the scheme is like at all.
- What kind of weight are you using for each exercise?
Do you mean how heavy? See above.
- What does the rep scheme look like for the program?
What do you mean?
- How long have you been following this program?
I just started again this week after being off of it for over 6 months.
- Do you do any foam rolling or other recovery work on your days off?
I play Frisbee with the dog and either walk on the tread mill or the dog and I go for a walk on the nature walk path here in town.
[/quote]
Ah, you just started again. Youâre body is just going to need a little time to adjust to the movements youâre putting it through again. Give it a few weeks and everything will be conditioned for your workouts. Wonât hurt as much.
I hope so, today was cardio only so that helped. Tomorrow is back to a full work out and then Monday is a increase in weight and a full work out.
I find it odd that my arms donât hurt, just my rib cage and those supporting muscles. Oh well, time heals all wounds.
Opps, I forgot already!
90 minutes cardio which included 30 minutes HIIT on the treadmill and the rest was walking the dog and playing Frisbee with the dog.
45 minutes, 3 mile walk with the dog. 15 minutes of playing Frisbee with dog.
Nice to see your log, Bee.
Sorry to hear about the problem with rehabing your shoulder. Ouch. These things can be trying.
You mentioned that the weights were making you sore through your core. Thatâs good. Can you do planks without shoulder pain? I know you were thinking about what you can do at home. Those are a good one to work in.
Looks like you are following a full-body workout for now. Great way to ease back into it. And thumbs up on just being active walking and playing outside as much as you can. Thatâs the way to do it! Have fun and be as active as you can.
Pixie Thrower made a comment in a different thread about (Insert guys name here) 5-3-1 program which I quickly Googled. After I Googled, I called a friend of mine who works out, knows my health limitations and is in school to get certified. He needed a genie pig and I needed advise, win/win! Any way he will be here tomorrow to run me through some exercises to check my form and he thinks probably to increase the amount of weight I am using. He thinks that I am not lifting enough weight. He is kindly bringing me 200lbs of weights that is not being used anymore. Eventually I will have to decide what I am going to do. Continue to build my home gym, or join a gym that has all the free weights, weight machines and other apparatus that a limited budget may not be able to buy. (Or have the room to bring it home.)
Powerpuff, I have a weight limit of 5lbs of anything shoulder height or higher. That includes push ups, planks or pull ups. âTheyâ donât ever know if the shoulders will be strong enough to do much of anything.
[quote]QueenBee wrote:
Powerpuff, I have a weight limit of 5lbs of anything shoulder height or higher. That includes push ups, planks or pull ups. âTheyâ donât ever know if the shoulders will be strong enough to do much of anything. [/quote]
UGH! Thatâs rough. No wonder youâre impatient with it. I saw your post on the Directory page about your home gym set-up. Sounds like you are all set with more than enough weights. Nice and Iâm jelly. What did your more experienced friend think about your shoulder issues? This is from an accident, correct? Have you already been through PT?
Powderpuff, my shoulders are from an accident and I have been through PT. The PT said that he was amazed I could do what I do. He suggested ssssssllllllllllloooooooowwwwwww increases in my weights, no more then 1/2lb every three weeks and at the first twinge, STOP.
I can lift off of the floor and take that weight on a curl bar to my chin, do curls, rear flexes and 100lb rows. But as soon as I try to bench press anything heavier then 5 lbs., the pain is unbearable. Sadly, part of my shoulder area, upper and lower arms will develop but the âtopâ of my shoulder may never get any stronger then in is at this time.
My friend/trainer was a huge help. I love the lifting part of the work out but HATE the cardio. I showed him my paper work out journal and while he was encouraging, he said that I did not need to do all that cardio on the treadmill. The I could lift more weight, faster and have a better total body and cardio work out then the way I was doing it. I have to say, that really perked me up! I know I need more cardio endurance, but I also know with my joint issues, I am never going to run a foot race again. We managed to come to an agreement where I am doing 10 to 15 minutes on the treadmill and starting with 30 minutes weight trainingâŠat much higher weight then I had been using. (Well, except for the shoulders. He was very cautious with his advise and my shoulders, but he was the EMT on site after the accident.)
Ahh, and he also went through my collection of vitamins and minerals and he through some out that were dangerous and laid out a plan that will help my health, my mental health and aid in allowing me to build muscle. Vitamin D is HUGE due to my joint issues and my odd depression. So, more good. And it only cost me a home made gluten free 5 course dinnerâŠwhere he took home the left overs! 
He is also going to come over/down once a month and we will work out together so he can check my form and see how I am doing. He also remembered the weights he promised so I have an additional 200ish lbs. His thought, and I agree, is that when I grow out of these, it will be time to join a formal gym where they have the heavier weights and the SAFETY equipment to use said weights. But I will still have these should I not have time to go to the gym and want a quick, home work out.
Got it. So sorry. That has to be hard to work around. I can see why you might want to have more access to the machines so you can take the shoulders completely of of lower body lifting at least. Also, it would make it possible to set the bar up so you donât have to clean the bar or anything thatâs so rotator cuff intensive.
You have shoulder pain in both over head pressing and horizontal pressing. Probably also have some pain when pulling or rowing something? You arenât having a problem just holding a BB in a lowered position, hanging from your hands then? Apparently you can do things like BB deadlifts or DB lunges without trouble. I guess you just go slow. Honestly, lots of walking can really work for weight loss, then do what you can to maintain and rebuild your muscles.
Keep at it, Bee. Lots of people here have come back from injury. Snap might be helpful to talk to. Sheâs come back from shoulder surgery herself.
[quote]Powerpuff wrote:
You have shoulder pain in both over head pressing and horizontal pressing. Probably also have some pain when pulling or rowing something? You arenât having a problem just holding a BB in a lowered position, hanging from your hands then? Apparently you can do things like BB deadlifts or DB lunges without trouble. I guess you just go slow. Honestly, lots of walking can really work for weight loss, then do what you can to maintain and rebuild your muscles.
Keep at it, Bee. Lots of people here have come back from injury. Snap might be helpful to talk to. Sheâs come back from shoulder surgery herself.
[/quote]
Over head and horizontal pressing will award me with a instant stop and probably a sore foot after I drop the bar. I would not know about hanging from my hands, but I would imagine that it would be painful. No pain doing any other of the mentioned items/moves.
Playing Frisbee, doing Golf Frisbee and walking with the dog, are all pluses this time of year. I find walking on the treadmill terribly boring no matter what podcast/TV show/music or radio show I have on. So while I am bored with it, I still do it. I just want to see some changes quicker then I normally do when I focus on cardio for 80% of the work out and lifting at 20%. The ratio is now probably 40% cardio and 60% moving weights.
Now that I have a doctors approval. All of these are combo moves so I donât know what the names are, so I will do a hyphen name for them here.
Bicep curl-press to over head and controlled swing down and back to a 33 degree arc behind my back and hold. 15lbs.
Set 1 10
Set 2 5
Set 3 5 (98% failure)
Lifting arm to should height. 5lbs.
Set 1 10
Set 2 10
Set 3 5
Knee Raises. 80lbs.
Set 1 10
Set 2 10
Set 3 9 (98% failure)
Bent over rows using Knee Raise extension on bench:
Set 1 10
Set 2 10
Set 3 8 (Failure)
Bench press, at the top of the press lowered at an angle to hips. 15lbs.
Set 1 10
Set 2 7 (Failure, but no pain.)
Treadmill, 20 minutes
[quote]QueenBee wrote:
⊠I would not know about hanging from my hands, but I would imagine that it would be painful. No pain doing any other of the mentioned items/moves.
[/quote]
Hey Bee. About âhangingâ, I was just asking if it hurts to just hold a barbell in the relaxed position, with your arms straight down in front of you. Sounds like that is ok, itâs just when you want to raise your arms.
I see that you got your Dr. to look over your plan and youâre going forward. Baby steps. You made me smile when you mentioned not knowing the names of all the moves. No worries. It does have a whole new vocabulary. Inventing names for stuff is half the fun. People will find it humorous. I remember logging about my hanging leg raises. It took me awhile to realize that I was doing them with my back supported on a captainâs chair, instead of actually hanging unsupported. NOT doing them like all the cool kids.
Ahh. Well my trainer does have me doing combo moves that are made up of many single moves. So trying to name every part of the combo would be challenging as well. He does tell me what the generally accepted combo moves are called, but I am a little focused on other matters at the time to write it down.
He did pop by on Saturday and checked my form. I am now allowed to go up in weight again. Because of my health issues, âthey allâ want to be sure that I am not moving to quickly.
Back on track, and posting about it as well.
Bicep curl-press to over head and controlled swing down and back to a 33 degree arc behind my back and hold. 17.50lbs.
Set 1 5
Set 2 5
Set 3 5 (98% failure)
Bicep Curls: 17.50lbs.
Set 1 5
Set 2 5
Set 3 5 (99% failure)
Lifting arm to should height. 5.lbs.
Set 1 10
Set 2 10
Set 3 10
Knee Raises. 90lbs. (Using bench leg extension apparatus)
Set 1 10
Set 2 10
Set 3 10 (98% failure)
Bent over rows using Knee Raise extension on bench 90lbs:
Set 1 10
Set 2 5
Set 3 5 (98% Failure)
Bench press, at the top of the press lowered at an angle to hips. 20lbs.
Set 1 10
Set 2 10
Set 3 10 (Changed hand grip when wrists hurt.) (Failure, but no pain.)
Treadmill, 15 minutes
Terrible cramping/charlie horses in my legs, arms and lower back even though I am taking potassium supplements. And while shaking the dog bed cover on Sunday, I bashed and broke, the last joint in my left hand, middle finger. Oh woe is me. 
98% failure is âDang! Sure couldnât do that again!â
99% failure is where I almost drop it, but donât want to ding up the hardwood floor.
Bicep curl-press to over head and controlled swing down and back to a 33 degree arc behind my back and hold. 17.50lbs.
Set 1 5
Set 2 5
Set 3 5 (98% failure)
Bicep Curls: 17.50lbs.
Set 1 5
Set 2 5
Set 3 5 (99% failure)
Lifting arm to should height. 10.lbs.
Set 1 10
Set 2 10
Set 3 10
Knee Raises. 90lbs. (Using bench leg extension apparatus)
Set 1 10
Set 2 10
Set 3 10 (98% failure)
Bent over rows using Knee Raise extension on bench 90lbs:
Set 1 10
Set 2 5
Set 3 5 (98% Failure)
Bench press, at the top of the press lowered at an angle to hips. 20lbs.
Set 1 10
Set 2 10
Set 3 10 (Changed hand grip when wrists hurt.) (Failure, but no pain.)
Treadmill, 15 minutes
6-13-2013 70 minutes Cardio Shoulders, knees injected
6-14-2013 60 minutes Cardio Left knee injected again.