Oh yes, and terrible ab circuit of death:
decline situps with bar behind back- 8, 2, 2,
Hanging leg raises w/25lbs between knees- 3x15
plank-30 sec hold
i think with the pull-ups it depends on what you are wanting to do with them…
shifting your weight forwards (and raising your legs) puts the emphasis on your biceps, i think. whereas keeping your legs straight (or even crossing them behind you) and leaning back just a tad puts the emphasis more on your lats. i think. but i’m far from a pull-up master…
nice work 
I like the sound of your ab circuit of death. How often do you do it?
I can’t help with the pull up form, but good work on the pushups you looked like you were kissing the floor. That’s kind of gross actually :-/ eww gym floor, I drip sweat all over that. lol
Hopefully it just looked that way.
nice pushups!!! And it looks like you were doing them the ‘right way,’ too.
It’s good to hear I’m doing the pushups right.
alexus- your explanation about the pullups make sense. I should probably concentrate on letting my legs hang.
Charlie- I’ve never actually kissed the ground, but yeah that would be gross.
I bring my legs up on pullups too. I’m not sure what it means, but I don’t worry about it. And aren’t you just the cutest thing. I adore the cursing as well.
Jealous of your push ups, can’t even do 2 anymore. Your form looked great on those.
For the chin ups, back when I could do them before the shoulder (& also weighed 15lbs lighter), I found that I really had to work on not bringing the legs up, and like you I didn’t use momentum. But maybe you could try to train not to do that, just as something to train them differently??? I really can’t advise you on the body machanics of chins, think I need to learn some physiology one of these days.
wiki says (for what it is worth):
Pelvic tilt and the orientation of the legs can alter which of the core muscles are used to bear their weight. If the legs are lifted to the front and the pelvis tilts posterior, the rectus abdominis (with aid from the psoas) bears more weight. If the legs are lifted to the back and pelvis is tilted anterior, the erector spinae (with aid from the lats) bear more weight. Raising the legs and one side of the pelvis laterally will result in more weight born by that side’s obliques.
[quote]alexus wrote:
wiki says (for what it is worth):
Pelvic tilt and the orientation of the legs can alter which of the core muscles are used to bear their weight. If the legs are lifted to the front and the pelvis tilts posterior, the rectus abdominis (with aid from the psoas) bears more weight. If the legs are lifted to the back and pelvis is tilted anterior, the erector spinae (with aid from the lats) bear more weight. Raising the legs and one side of the pelvis laterally will result in more weight born by that side’s obliques.
[/quote]
That makes sense.
Man, I wish someone would give me a serious kick in the ass.
I’m back to slacking on the gym thing. M2 is out of town for another month. Been training with the boyfriend but I think what he needs is a good personal trainer and he wants me to be motivation for both him and myself.
Maybe I should go back to working out with my work buddy who just got back from Holland. He was the most fun to workout with of anyone I’ve been in the gym with because he’d get excited and cheer me on, as opposed to my boyfriend who just wants to listen to music and get pissed during his gym experience and M2 who cheers me on with things like “yay! You can do it!”, which is surprisingly not motivating. The only problem with my work buddy is he’s 140lb and 6’ tall and swears that he’s 100% content with his body while eating carrots and rice for lunch. But in the gym he’s fun.
My ideal training partner would have the following qualities: 1. Cheer like a badass 2. Not mind joking around between sets 3. Understand basic logic behind training and be willing to pick out their own program and/or track stuff themselves. 4. Stay in town longer than a month
Maybe I should put an ad on craigslist.
haha, I might qualify!
[quote]mom-in-MD wrote:
haha, I might qualify!
[/quote]
I wish but you’re not located anywhere near me.
Today I made more progress:
Deadlifts
135x5, 155x5, then 145x15, 145x15, 145x12 (with two minute break between sets. It felt very hard at the end, but is an improvement over last time when I couldn’t get through the second set of 15 and had to break it up into 3 sets of 8,6, and 1)
Leg curl
90lbsx10, 10, 8, 7.5
Step up to balance
30lb DBS per hand, 10 reps per leg for 3 sets
Hip extension (I really felt this in my hammies)
10lbsx15repsx4sets
I’m pretty happy with this workout. The 145lbs felt lighter than last week, as did the short set with 155lbs. Next week I’m kicking it up to 155lbs for DL, increasing the weight on the hip ext, and the reps on the step up to balance.
Lastly, I need to remember that the gym makes me feel awesome about myself and life and that should be my #1 reason to go. Before I did this workout I was feeling pretty insecure in general and just discouraged about a lot of things. Now I feel like I’m awesome 
Okay 3 things:
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I can’t help but laugh about the comment you made in my log about the girls who said you looked like a man. You are so lovely and strong looking. There is nothing manish about you.
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Don’t discount the interwebz for finding a potential workout partner. My workout partner, Molly and I met on this PW forum many moons ago (2008 I believe). She is now a super great friend and we are still training together. Before her, I lifted solo.
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Nice pull-ups and presses. You are definitely AWESOME!
I think you’ll find more than just a workout buddy from Craigslist, ;-0
But everything worth doing takes time, you’ll find someone that you can stay in the groove with.
Yeah I’m somewhat of a hedonist, love endorphins & that ‘high’ from working out; having a good session always makes me feel ‘awesome’ & that life is the way it should be. I just have to remember that when I have bad sessions too.
you have a wonderfully tiny waist and rounded rump. very cute
and go endorphines!!!
You could rest more btw those dls. 2 minutes isn’t so long. Good luck finding a training partner…till then, keep kicking your own ass!
OMG! This log is fucking awesome! I regret I stayed away so long!
Hilarious about your varied workout partners. lol! I hope you find a good gym buddy too! You go all out - such good times. Craigslist sounds like a good idea.
Also, you have an awesome physique. Strong and lean. That’s what I strive for too
About the legs going up with chinup. From the vids you look like you have a very strong core. Maybe the legs up helps you incorporate them more. I see nothing wrong that. The chinup is a compound lift, your abs will get involved. If you feel like trying something different, see what they feel like with your legs crossed behind you. I do them that way and really think about touching my chest to the bar. I find this engages the back more.
sorry to hear you don’t get to train much with your partner. that was a lot of deadlifting! nice work.
Alexus- Thanks. The deadlifts are mentally killer and afterwards the entire workout feels harder than the others.
Mascherano- You have a pretty amazing physique yourself! I’m going to try the chinups with the legs behind me from now on.
Nadia- You’re telling me! The reason why I made the rest period between DLs so short (it’s supposed to be a min the way I originally wrote it) is because that day is based on the way the second upper body day is set up, high reps. So it’s supposed to be like the pushups where I do max reps with a minute between sets. However, given that I’m not DLing gigantic amounts of weight, I figured keeping the reps at 15 or below and upping the weight each week would be better than doing a set of 35 reps at 115lbs.
But really, it’s just an experiment to see what high reps and low rest periods on DL does when increased over time. I’ll probably switch to higher weight, lower reps, and longer rest periods in another two weeks.
nlmain- Thanks.
Minimaltechno- Just think of it this way; even after a bad session you get endorphines. Free altered states of consciousness cannot be overrated!
sbmart2- Thanks for all three points. I don’t think I look much like a man, at least one that I’d date, but the standards for manliness seem to be lowering as time goes on. I’m content to still be able to wear short dresses without showing cottage cheese. That’s all you can hope for after a certain age.
My workout for today:
Bench Press- 75lbsx10, 95x5, 105x3, 115x4 (one more rep than last time), 115x3 (just had to get under it again)
Upright Bench Press- 35lb DBs (5lb increase from last week)- 10, 7, 7, 6
Seated Cable Row- 110lbsx12, 110x11.5, 110x11+1, 110x10+2 (this one felt stalled. As in I really didn’t make progress)
Bent-over reverse DB fly (emphasis on rear delts)- 15lbsx10repsx3sets
It was an okay workout. Things felt a little stalled. All weights felt as heavy as last week and I basically got more on the cable row by jerking a bit more.
Free altered states of consciousness cannot be overrated!
Indeed! That is a significant part of why I got totally hooked on the whole thing. And then the feeling of accomplishment and feeling like a bad ass made it take priority over my former recreational habits lol.
I have never tried high rep deadlifts. Had enough trouble with lower back fatigue with low rep deadlifts. Now that I"m getting the hang of using my legs more I should give higher rep ones a go, though. Sounds like some great work for the legs.
“Just think of it this way; even after a bad session you get endorphines. Free altered states of consciousness cannot be overrated!” –
Haha ok you know how to bring out the hedonist in me, its all about the high!
Hmmm… high reps, I hate counting.