Nice job with the brick breaking!
[quote]arachne12 wrote:
This was a HUGE personal accomplishment for me. :):):)[/quote]
oh dang!!! that was incredible!!! congrats. ur a total badass.
Thanks!
So, first day back to lifting today and it felt great but yes, I have lost some strength, particularly on the chinups. No worries. You’ve seen me break a brick, wait til you see what I do now!
BB deadlift: 1x5 45,65,85,105,115 < my grip has gotten weak over the month away. I’m still not sure I get the “sitting back” and “lifting with the glutes not the back”. I might go to a real lifting gym and get a training session
DB one-leg deadlift: 1x5 30,35,40 < these felt easy. PR on is 60 so I’ll increase Friday
Chinups BW+15 lb 4x2 < these were really, really hard! and I was up to 3 reps and also 20 lbs when I stopped. sheesh. I intend to have huuuuge biceps by December.
Bench 1x5 45, 55, 65, 75, 75 < these felt surprising ok, perhaps because i don’t expect much from my bench… yet.
DB row 1x5 15, 20, 25, 30 < easy, easy easy. I will increase on Friday.
Have a great evening everyone!
[quote]arachne12 wrote:
Thanks!
So, first day back to lifting today and it felt great but yes, I have lost some strength, particularly on the chinups. No worries. You’ve seen me break a brick, wait til you see what I do now!
BB deadlift: 1x5 45,65,85,105,115 < my grip has gotten weak over the month away. I’m still not sure I get the “sitting back” and “lifting with the glutes not the back”. I might go to a real lifting gym and get a training session
[/quote]
I’m not sure I know how to explain it, either, other than visualizing it when you’re not there, and going very slowly, feeling every muscle fire (with light weight) a few times during warmup.
I hope you can find a real lifting gym. They’re worth their weight in gold.
[quote]arachne12 wrote:
Thanks!
So, first day back to lifting today and it felt great but yes, I have lost some strength, particularly on the chinups. No worries. You’ve seen me break a brick, wait til you see what I do now!
BB deadlift: 1x5 45,65,85,105,115 < my grip has gotten weak over the month away. I’m still not sure I get the “sitting back” and “lifting with the glutes not the back”. I might go to a real lifting gym and get a training session
DB one-leg deadlift: 1x5 30,35,40 < these felt easy. PR on is 60 so I’ll increase Friday
Chinups BW+15 lb 4x2 < these were really, really hard! and I was up to 3 reps and also 20 lbs when I stopped. sheesh. I intend to have huuuuge biceps by December.
Bench 1x5 45, 55, 65, 75, 75 < these felt surprising ok, perhaps because i don’t expect much from my bench… yet.
DB row 1x5 15, 20, 25, 30 < easy, easy easy. I will increase on Friday.
Have a great evening everyone!
[/quote]
You’ll be back and exceeding your old PR’s in no time! A real lifting gym…wouldn’t that be wonderful. In the meantime, get a video of your deadlift up on here. I’ve gotten some really invaluable advice on improving my form. I know I’ve improved my deadlift form because my lower back no longer feels as beat up and my glutes and groin (I’ve been pulling sumo) feel more used.
Thanks CBear and Kimba. I heard from Chrysalis and her husband about a serious gym here in Denver. Now I just have to get the time and courage to go on over there.
I’ll try to get the video done Friday and post it for brutal criticism.
Cheers!
Are you talking about Armbrust, Arachne? If so, they are very nice folks over there. One of the owners just took second in the Ms. Olympia…
Also, Phil Heath trains there. He has such beautiful eyes! Hehe.
[quote]arachne12 wrote:
Thanks CBear and Kimba. I heard from Chrysalis and her husband about a serious gym here in Denver. Now I just have to get the time and courage to go on over there.
I’ll try to get the video done Friday and post it for brutal criticism.
Cheers![/quote]
what kind of fucking powerful woman are you? Damnit put down your self help book and pick up a barbell. there is no better source of self esteem and pride than picking up something heavy and moving it.
get your ass over to that gym.
Chrysalis: yes, Armbrust. I’ll definitely check them out.
CBear: Yes MA’AM! 
Well that was illuminating! I just ran over to the gym and videod my squat and deadlift. I found out that squatting down to the rail doesn’t bring me anywhere NEAR parallel. Dammit! Worse than that, that’s about as far as I can go before my tailbone starts to tuck under. I’ll try to post the deadlift later. My work doesn’t let us on youtube.
If you posted a video or a link, I can’t see it.
Oh yeah, I understand NOT LOW ENOUGH! That is totally what I learned when I videoed my squat for the first time. So. Disappointing.
Perhaps you will be joining me in the Light Weights/Form Police squat rack???
[quote]kimbakimba wrote:
If you posted a video or a link, I can’t see it.
Oh yeah, I understand NOT LOW ENOUGH! That is totally what I learned when I videoed my squat for the first time. So. Disappointing.
Perhaps you will be joining me in the Light Weights/Form Police squat rack???[/quote]
Holy shit, yeah! I went back to squating to a step with a board on it using only a light bar today. Not only was I not going deep enough, I was fooling myself into believing I was because I let the bar touch the rails, then bounced out of it while leaning forward. What a bunch of crap! I can’t post til after work, but wait til you see this. It’s embarassing!
Friday
Dozens of boxsquats to a step while sticking my ass out as far as possible with a light bar. These made me sweat, honestly, I was pushing so hard. It’s actually funny. The previous post shows the step I’m squatting to.
DB row 1x5 20,25,30,35
One-leg deadlifts 1x5 35,40,45
Overhead db press 1x5 20,25
Overhead bb press 1x5 45
Bench 1x5 45,55,65,75,80 < at least this is going well. I am trying to make it a whole body lift and I’m even tightening my butt to push. Still not sure how to press through the feet but I think I’m on the right track
Deadlifting 95. I’m not sure how much to lift to demonstrate form. My max is 155.
I’d lean back a tad, to keep your shoulders behind the bar.
other than that…
pretty fucking awesome!
Thanks CBear! I concentrated on keeping my shoulders back today. It feels great! I’ll video again on Wednesday at 115 lb to see how the form looks as the weight goes up.
BB OPress 1x5 45, 50, 55 lbs < feel pretty good. Heading back up to 1 RM which is 62.5
DB OPress 1x8 20 1x5 25 lb
BB Squat off the rails 1x5 45, 50, 55, 60, 65 < this is form rehab work. I stole the suggestion from the advice to Kimba, so I am totally de-loading the bar from my shoulders at the bottom after each rep. I’ll video again Wednesday. Also 1x5 45 lb to a low box (pictured above).
BB Deadlift 1x5 95, 105, 115 lb < these feel good but my grip is almost failing. I’ll try for 125 Wedneday heading back to 1 RM of 155.
DB Row 1x5 25, 30, 35, 40 lb
BB hipthrust 1x5 45, 55, 65, 85 < I was going to ask y’all what a pussy pad is… then it came to me suddenly! These are pretty easy and fun. I’ll go up in weight Wednesday.
It feels so great to be back!
We are definitely in a similar place on the squat. Sadly, I am not quite short enough to squat up from the rails.
Did you run into an issue rolling the bar on and off before and after the hip thrusts? I almost want to put 35# plates on just so I can get under the bar and roll it on and off me easier.
[quote]kimbakimba wrote:
We are definitely in a similar place on the squat. Sadly, I am not quite short enough to squat up from the rails.
Did you run into an issue rolling the bar on and off before and after the hip thrusts? I almost want to put 35# plates on just so I can get under the bar and roll it on and off me easier.[/quote]
Yeah, I have really short lower legs (what are those bones called?) for my torso so it works for me.
Haha on hip thrusts! I had the same thought, until I read about using the pussy pad. Today I just kind of tilted the lower weights to the side and rolled the 85 off. I might be able to wiggle under the 25s. We’ll see on Wed.
I just had some guy put it in my lap…yeah.
[quote]rcfromdb wrote:
I just had some guy put it in my lap…yeah.[/quote]
I try to work out alone at my work gym. But there is a cleaning guy who always seems to need to dust a bench when I am lifting. His timing is amazing. It’s the strangest thing! I guess I could ask him.