She did the ‘good’ level which would be 170 bench for her @ her bw. 225 is the ‘elite’ weight but it also says 2xbw which for her would be 340. The test is a good concept but it has some kinks.
Either way - good job Molly!
Skye - nah… not Elite… having to do 135 on bench for 21 reps would take me FOREVER! I think if I did it correctly that I could smoke the “Very Good” weights though. Especially considering that Tim Henriques (the author) said I should use the absolute weight listed and that the body weight multipliers were actually intended for smaller people… not the heavier people. Here is what he said:
"I am glad you tried it out, it is definitely rough. The bodyweight guidelines are mainly for those lighter than the bodyweights given that can’t do the actual absolute weight listed, so for you I would suggest you just go with the “good” or “very good” weights and use the exact weights I have listed (when one category is too easy just move up to the next one).
A few comments, sorry if the article was not clear on this. Females never add weight to the pull-ups, they just do the number prescribed. And the deads are done after the pull-ups, so it goes bench, pull-ups, deads, curls.
Thanks again for giving it a whirl, good luck with your training."
And yeah, Bobbi is right… I was only doing the “good” category this time around. But as I mentioned I used the body weight multipliers instead of the absolute weights which is why my weights looks different… but I won’t do that next time as that is not what the author intended… =D
rcfromdb - Thanks Bobbi! It was fun and nice to be done with my warm-up and workout in under 25 minutes! =D
Now that I know exactly what I should be doing I am itching to try the “very good” category but I know I need to wait a while… =P
Out of curiosity, in your opinion… what are the kinks in the program?
I’ll get more detailed when I’m more soberahrah but basically I think it’s goofy that ‘elite’ women only have to do 21 pullups with NO weight - there should be weight. I think that you’re right in that one should do the heavier of the two options instead of the lighter. The weights across the board are light for women - in my opinion - of what one should consider ‘elite’. You could probably crush the ‘elite’ weights as they are given - which is great, I think you’re strong and have one of the few logs I keep up with - but still, that should prove that the ‘elite’ weights are light. In my mind, elite status should be something very few can achieve, otherwise call it advanced or ‘awesomeness’…haha
I did Crossfit for a while - I’ll agree with the article in that you work stupidly hard. Some of the exercises I just plain couldn’t do (handstand push-ups, double unders and such) so had to sub quite often, but I did my best. Thing is I really burned myself out to the extent I had to stop training completely for a few weeks and then go back to basic lifting with long gaps between sets until my immune system had recovered (white cell count was low and I was catching every virus going).
Regarding the pull-ups - best I have ever managed is 5 chins, or 3 pull-ups with shitty form. Doing one pull-up, for me, is like doing a near max deadlift. Half bodyweight bench press, on the other hand, would be tiring but really very manageable. I guess everyone has their own specific weaknesses.
rcfromdb - I am flattered that my log is one of the few you keep up with! Ditto! It’s so hard to follow everyone’s… there just aren’t enough hours in the day! I agree that the Elite numbers are on the light side… they would be quite difficult for me if I used the BW multipliers (in fact, bench would currently be impossible =D) but I think that’s how it should be. I vote for the “awesomeness” level!
Cal - Geez! That sounds miserable! But I have heard of that happening a lot with Crossfit (needing to take weeks off at a time and having a depressed immune system).
Yeah pullups are a weakness for me right now. My best is 8 or 9 neutral grip pullups, and 5 pronated pullups… my current is closer to 5 neutral and 2-3 overhand grip… I need to work on these more again! I want to be good at them!
Tonight’s workout was so-so. I hadn’t felt up to going for 95% on my squats for the last week or so… work has been crazy…sleep has been sketchy, etc. I hate when life interferes with training! ;D
It was my 5/3/1 (AMRAP) @ 75, 85, 95% on squats… didn’t go quite like I planned… Grr!
Wide Stance Barbell Back Squat
5 reps @ 150 (75%)
3 reps @ 170 (85%)
190 (95%) ------> got 7 reps. I was kinda disappointed =( I was hoping to get closer to 10… but I just didn’t have it in me. Oh well… shit happens. Definitely time for a de-load. =D
GHR (on the hard machine! =D)
5 sets of 10 w/ 10 lbs across my chest
Pull Throughs
3 sets of 20 @ 72.5 lbs
*** wore shorts today… Umm… OW! Can you say CHAFE???
YYTWLLI raises
3 sets of 10
External Rotations
3 sets of 20
Pullups (for the hell of it =D)
4 reps/3 reps
DONE! =D
CHAFE!! I can!!
I’ll put lotion on the ouchy spots!
My GHR is sooo jealous of your GHR. And your squat. and the fact that you HAVE a spotter that u trust. I think I’ll have to grow my own.
but srsly, even if u weren’t happy with it, its still fucking awesome.
Well I was happy about my dub @ 195 'til now…haha…no but really that’s still solid - you can’t put it off forever.
If I do recall you had a pr on your last squat work out. Sorry but pr’s are not going to happen everytime. especally now that you have been lifting for a while. It is good to think like that but one must be realistic.
I remember about two years ago I trained for an entire year with no pr on my pull then one day like magic 50 lbs pr.
Time … It takes time … You’ve got the hard work part covered.
Even wonder woman has limits
Well done
[quote]squat1000b700 wrote:
If I do recall you had a pr on your last squat work out. Sorry but pr’s are not going to happen everytime. especally now that you have been lifting for a while. It is good to think like that but one must be realistic.
I remember about two years ago I trained for an entire year with no pr on my pull then one day like magic 50 lbs pr.
Time … It takes time … You’ve got the hard work part covered.
Even wonder woman has limits
Well done [/quote]
This is something that I have to be reminded of just about every other day. Its so easy, especially for me when I was doing 5/3/1, to judge my workout by my PRs.
Molly, I never would have guessed that was a bad workout.
Bear - thanks! Yeah I am incredibly lucky to have a good spotter… But no reason YOU should be jealous of my squat! Yours rocks! And you don’t even have anywhere to do GHRs on a machine do you?
rcfromdb - Aww thanks! You SHOULD be happy with yours considering you weigh about 75% of what I weigh… (I KNOW you hate the body weight excuse/argument… but seriously! It’s true!)
Jimbo - Thanks! and I know everything you are saying… I tell MY Red Point clients that all the time! I just tend to be a little harder on myself! ;D
Buckeye Girl - Well thank you! It wasn’t a terrible workout… I was just hoping for more reps… =-/
I too have to be reminded of this often. I just LOOOOOOOOOOVE PRs!!! =D (and you’re right… they become even more important when doing 531 it seems)…
Perhaps the one nice thing about being new(ish) to lifting is the ever-present possibility of PRs. Simply due to learning the lift mechanics a bit better or getting stronger cause you’ve never been strong before.
Since you are already wonder women, its hard to go up from there. 
[quote]mmgalb727 wrote:
Bear - thanks! Yeah I am incredibly lucky to have a good spotter… But no reason YOU should be jealous of my squat! Yours rocks! And you don’t even have anywhere to do GHRs on a machine do you?
rcfromdb - Aww thanks! You SHOULD be happy with yours considering you weigh about 75% of what I weigh… (I KNOW you hate the body weight excuse/argument… but seriously! It’s true!)
Jimbo - Thanks! and I know everything you are saying… I tell MY Red Point clients that all the time! I just tend to be a little harder on myself! ;D
Buckeye Girl - Well thank you! It wasn’t a terrible workout… I was just hoping for more reps… =-/
I too have to be reminded of this often. I just LOOOOOOOOOOVE PRs!!! =D (and you’re right… they become even more important when doing 531 it seems)…
[/quote]
I know that you know lol
(mmg is by far one of the smartest people i have ever been around and one of the very few people i would trust to train any one of my clients including my pro athletes)
since you know me so well. You know it is very difficult for me to keep quiet especally when it comes to lifting … 
Kimba - you are so sweet! I know what you mean… I miss the days of gains/prs every workout… but it can’t last forever. Now the prospect of a PR every month or so keeps my going =D
Jim - Yes I know you can’t keep quite when it comes to lifting… thanks for the advice and encouragement! And the kind words =D
I am de-loading this week… I can only get in two workouts though (besides Monday) so I combined bench and OHP today and will de-load on squat and DL on Friday. Oh yeah, and I couldn’t remember the de-load percentages… so I used 5 reps @ 60,70 and 80%.
Barbell Bench Press
5 reps @ 80
5 reps @ 90
5 reps @ 105
Military Press
5 reps @ 50
5 reps @ 55
5 reps @ 65
Face Pull
2 sets of 20 reps @ 32.5 lbs
*supersetted with
T-Bar Row
2 sets of 12 @ 25 lbs
Pull-ups: 3
DONE! =D
no i dont have anywhere to do GHR’s without a machine, thanks for reminding me. now i feel inadequate.
incredibly busy molly is still incredibly strong molly. RAWR!!
I see your RAWR!! and raise you a GRRRRR!!!
Hi Molly! 
Bear - I <3 you!
Betty - I’ll take the GRRR as a compliment! =D
Today was de-load squat and deadlift day since I can only ht the gym a couple of times this week. I reduced the volume and weight on my accessory work too… Here we go:
BB Squat
5 reps @ 100
5 reps @ 120
5 reps @ 140
BB Deadlift
5 reps @ 135
5 reps @ 160
5 reps @ 185
GHRs (easy machine)
2 sets of 10 @ BW
Pull Throughs
2 sets of 12 @ 42.5
Pullups: 4 reps
what are you doing up so early/late?