Thanks, N. Me too.
Snapper, its possible that wraps might help. Although the issue might be higher up – elbow rather than wrist. Hopefully this was just a fluke.
I do think one of the points of 5/3/1 is to make progress as long as possible. Deload weeks are pretty darn boring, though.
Yes, I understand that the goal of 5/3/1 is to stave off plateaus as long as possible and have slow, steady gains. I didn’t finish my analogy above.
Snap, another point about the 5/3/1 is that if you are really busting ass on the money sets it isn’t very mellow. Particularly on week 3 I feel like I’m going to die after my money set.
Just pointing out a really excellent blog post discussing what varying levels of body fat percentage look like in men and women:
Judging from this, I’d estimate myself at somewhere in the 17-18% range.
[quote]kimbakimba wrote:
Just pointing out a really excellent blog post discussing what varying levels of body fat percentage look like in men and women:
Judging from this, I’d estimate myself at somewhere in the 17-18% range.[/quote]
you should of posted this in oleena’s 3% thread. hahaha
i think it’d be really interesting if she’d do a comparison of apples and pears at 15, 20, and 25 percent bf.
the lady at 30% has less of a lower belly wink than me. 
lol
and we all know people with visible abs but lots of lower body cellulite and people with giant bellys and stick legs.
i’m so intrigued by the different ways people hold fat.
[quote]dejavued wrote:
i think it’d be really interesting if she’d do a comparison of apples and pears at 15, 20, and 25 percent bf. [/quote]
this came to mind yesterday when we were talking about measurements. different body types are going to measure differently and you can’t do straight across comparisons.
[quote]
the lady at 30% has less of a lower belly wink than me. [/quote]
liar!
this is so very true deja. i too am intrigued by the not just the appearance, but the stats. how BW varies so much. how people can have the toned arms/upper and fatty bottom half (& vice versa but you all know my nemesis of fat storage up top) 
ive seen a few people around me suffer from eating disorders, lose 30lbs to grossly stick proportions, gain it back and look worse than before due to muscle wasting and now fat on top of that. they weigh about the same as me but look 15+ lbs fatter.
at the end of the day, the numbers don’t really matter, but it’s a fun game of mental stress for some of us.
thanks for sharing Kimba!
Lots of nice work going on in here…
Im on a bit of a deload for a few days here :)))
I found the deload a blessing- the 4th week of 3 or 4 day a week whether it is a west side styled upper/lower ME/RE style or 531 I found by week three- I was ready.
I needed it- so some blood pumping work and lots of mobility crap to keep joints from feeling like death.
I am a chronic over trainer in that I try to pack in too much activity - too much accessory work.
or would spread out cardio or hit thinking it would be easier- in actually it hurts recovery.
Im on something that is 5 weeks to a deload, and let me tell you on week 4 I am pooped.
I did 531 for a few cycles and will do it again, when you get to the 3rd week a cycle or so in your really pushing something like 85 to 90% for high reps.
I fould pulling or squatting anything over 85 for ten or more excrutiating.
GHR vs reverse Hyper- reverse hypers do indeed hit most of the same muscles, with more emphasis on the low back and low without the machine they are hard to load.
natural Glute ham raises are very humbling. on decent bench/machine they are better
I do them in the smith machine with a bosu.
[quote]kimbakimba wrote:
Just pointing out a really excellent blog post discussing what varying levels of body fat percentage look like in men and women:
Judging from this, I’d estimate myself at somewhere in the 17-18% range.[/quote]
She’s off on some of this…she’s mixing athletic and non athletic body types so that’s going to confuse most people. Still…a decent general estimate…just don’t get married to these pictures
[quote]kimbakimba wrote:
Just pointing out a really excellent blog post discussing what varying levels of body fat percentage look like in men and women:
Judging from this, I’d estimate myself at somewhere in the 17-18% range.[/quote]
Cool link, thanks.
I’ll chime on on the 5-3-1/deloading topic just because I want to.
First, 5-3-1 preaches slow steady gains, but that does not mean you cannot also get fast gains from it. It depends on how much effort you put in each week on the money set as well as the amount and intensity of the assessory work. Don’t be fooled, the amount of work you individually put in has a direct correlation to the results you get and the amount of recovery that you need. Many people are doing “5-3-1,” but the actual program that each person does–and the results that they get–varies wildly from person to person.
Second, the primary purpose of a deload is to get stronger. Lifting heavy weights breaks down your muscle and makes you weeker–you only get stronger after you eat, sleep, recover and your body comnpensates to make itself a little stronger to avoid getting crushed the next time you lift something heavy. A deload helps with recovery and helps make you stronger. This is how the body’s adaptive process works. It is that simple.
Third, if you do not ever actually feel like you need a deload, I would suggest that that is a reflection on the amount and intensity of the work you are doing in the gym. If you work hard enough and lift heavy enough, you will eventually need a deload. Or, you may just not be aware that your body is in a perpetual state of less-than-optimal recovery and that you could make more gains taking a deload every once in a while.
Finally, a deload helps keep you mentally fresh. I freeking hate them, but they make me want to hit the gym even harder when they are over. That freshness is the secondary purpose of taking a deload.
These are my thoughts on the issue,
Jack
Thanks y’all for the words of wisdom re: the deload. I’ll keep this in mind.
I’d love to see what these home made GHRs look like! In soccer training we try to do these with someone holding down your calves, but they’re usually half-assed attempts (trying getting 20 girls to do anything is impossible, none the less actual strength training exercises).
Um yeah, those bf pics befuddle me. LOL! I’m terrible at that stuff.
[quote]kimbakimba wrote:
Just pointing out a really excellent blog post discussing what varying levels of body fat percentage look like in men and women:
Judging from this, I’d estimate myself at somewhere in the 17-18% range.[/quote]
These are fun! Yeah, those pics are at varying amounts of lean mass, but it is still fun to compare what the different body fat% look like on different people. Maybe I am weird, but I find this endlessly fascinating.
[quote]kmcnyc wrote:
Lots of nice work going on in here…
Im on a bit of a deload for a few days here :)))
[/quote]
Thanks kmc! Gee, I wonder what YOU could be up to, Daddy. 
[quote]
GHR vs reverse Hyper- reverse hypers do indeed hit most of the same muscles, with more emphasis on the low back and low without the machine they are hard to load.
natural Glute ham raises are very humbling. on decent bench/machine they are better
I do them in the smith machine with a bosu. [/quote]
Alright, I’m trying to visualize this. Putting the smith machine at its lowest setting, wedging your feet underneath the bar, but do you put your knees onto the bosu, or use the bosu to bounce your hands off?
[quote]jjackkrash wrote:
I’ll chime on on the 5-3-1/deloading topic just because I want to.
First, 5-3-1 preaches slow steady gains, but that does not mean you cannot also get fast gains from it. It depends on how much effort you put in each week on the money set as well as the amount and intensity of the assessory work. Don’t be fooled, the amount of work you individually put in has a direct correlation to the results you get and the amount of recovery that you need. Many people are doing “5-3-1,” but the actual program that each person does–and the results that they get–varies wildly from person to person.
Second, the primary purpose of a deload is to get stronger. Lifting heavy weights breaks down your muscle and makes you weeker–you only get stronger after you eat, sleep, recover and your body comnpensates to make itself a little stronger to avoid getting crushed the next time you lift something heavy. A deload helps with recovery and helps make you stronger. This is how the body’s adaptive process works. It is that simple.
Third, if you do not ever actually feel like you need a deload, I would suggest that that is a reflection on the amount and intensity of the work you are doing in the gym. If you work hard enough and lift heavy enough, you will eventually need a deload. Or, you may just not be aware that your body is in a perpetual state of less-than-optimal recovery and that you could make more gains taking a deload every once in a while.
Finally, a deload helps keep you mentally fresh. I freeking hate them, but they make me want to hit the gym even harder when they are over. That freshness is the secondary purpose of taking a deload.
These are my thoughts on the issue,
Jack[/quote]
Jack, thanks for your thoughts.
If it weren’t for the encouragement on here, I wouldn’t deload – its not my nature to back off. I’ve learned from you lot. This is only the third deload week I’ve ever purposefully taken.
The first two months of my 5/3/1 have been at very moderate weights. My January deload was an annoyance. This deload I actually welcomed, feeling a bit more beat up. Its sure to get harder next wave, meaning that I may learn to really love deloads next month.
[quote]kimbakimba wrote:
[quote]kmcnyc wrote:
Lots of nice work going on in here…
Im on a bit of a deload for a few days here :)))
[/quote]
Thanks kmc! Gee, I wonder what YOU could be up to, Daddy.
[quote]
GHR vs reverse Hyper- reverse hypers do indeed hit most of the same muscles, with more emphasis on the low back and low without the machine they are hard to load.
natural Glute ham raises are very humbling. on decent bench/machine they are better
I do them in the smith machine with a bosu. [/quote]
Alright, I’m trying to visualize this. Putting the smith machine at its lowest setting, wedging your feet underneath the bar, but do you put your knees onto the bosu, or use the bosu to bounce your hands off?[/quote]
Here is my first attempt at a natural GHR
I imagine that you would the bosu to pad your knees.
EDIT:
Here is one using a bosu ball:
[quote]owlie wrote:
[quote]kimbakimba wrote:
Just pointing out a really excellent blog post discussing what varying levels of body fat percentage look like in men and women:
Judging from this, I’d estimate myself at somewhere in the 17-18% range.[/quote]
These are fun! Yeah, those pics are at varying amounts of lean mass, but it is still fun to compare what the different body fat% look like on different people. Maybe I am weird, but I find this endlessly fascinating.[/quote]
So do I. It’s informative. I’m probably in the neighborhood of 20 but with more muscle than the girl in the picture.
A girly moment – I would buy the shit out of a fashion magazine that showed an actual variety of women’s bodies. I don’t mean the occasional plus-sized issue of Elle, brought out with great fanfare. I mean, what would fashionable clothes actually look like on a woman with quads, say? What would the J. Crew spring collection look like if Owlie was wearing it?
Today is two days before my photo shoot. This was probably my last workout before what I’ve got going on right now is recorded for me to look back on when I’m 90 and say, “yeah, I looked damn fine once…”
Off the 5/3/1 Reservation Bodybuilding Day
Leg Press
180# in plates plus the weight of the sled
straight feet 3 x 15
plie position 3 x 15
On Sunday, I finished my training with some air squats, but stopped when I felt a pulling in my left inner thigh. It hasn’t bothered me since…except on the leg presses I felt that pull again. grrr. This might be an issue for squats and deadlifts when I get back to them this weekend.
Cable flies
some for at least 20, maybe more
The good news is that my wrist pain from overdoing the dips during Sunday’s training has mostly resolved and didn’t affect my training today.
Walking lunges
142 steps with an 18# body bar on my shoulders, no stopping
Low cable rows
55# plus a plate, 1 x 25 or so
Lat pull-downs
70# 1 x 25
Triceps V-bar pushdowns
2 drop sets of 20 each, can’t remember the weight
Front raises and side raises
7.5#s 1 x 20 with 1 sec hold at top of reps
Planks and side planks
Cable hip adductions/abductions
12.5# 3 x 10 each leg, 2 different exercises
So at this point, the outfits for the photo shoot are bought, the shoes and accessories are bought and/or borrowed, and the body is what it is. All that is left is the primping (tanning, mani-pedi, hair, makeup).
P.S. Never in my life have I purchased a shoe with a heel this high. That is all.
[quote]kimbakimba wrote:
Today is two days before my photo shoot. This was probably my last workout before what I’ve got going on right now is recorded for me to look back on when I’m 90 and say, “yeah, I looked damn fine once…”
Off the 5/3/1 Reservation Bodybuilding Day
Leg Press
180# in plates plus the weight of the sled
straight feet 3 x 15
plie position 3 x 15
On Sunday, I finished my training with some air squats, but stopped when I felt a pulling in my left inner thigh. It hasn’t bothered me since…except on the leg presses I felt that pull again. grrr. This might be an issue for squats and deadlifts when I get back to them this weekend.
Cable flies
some for at least 20, maybe more
The good news is that my wrist pain from overdoing the dips during Sunday’s training has mostly resolved and didn’t affect my training today.
Walking lunges
142 steps with an 18# body bar on my shoulders, no stopping
Low cable rows
55# plus a plate, 1 x 25 or so
Lat pull-downs
70# 1 x 25
Triceps V-bar pushdowns
2 drop sets of 20 each, can’t remember the weight
Front raises and side raises
7.5#s 1 x 20 with 1 sec hold at top of reps
Planks and side planks
Cable hip adductions/abductions
12.5# 3 x 10 each leg, 2 different exercises
So at this point, the outfits for the photo shoot are bought, the shoes and accessories are bought and/or borrowed, and the body is what it is. All that is left is the primping (tanning, mani-pedi, hair, makeup).
P.S. Never in my life have I purchased a shoe with a heel this high. That is all.[/quote]
Sounds like you’re set for a figure comp.
Nice work and enjoy your phooto shoot. Hopefully this sort of thing will catch on in the PW forum and not in the 35+ one.
Wow, Kimba. Love reading your log and I really admire the fact that you recognize your body is hotter than hot and want to document it via a photo shoot. I don’t think I’d have the guts. Make sure to have fun with it. Can’t wait to see whatever you deem worthy of sharing!
I can’t wait to see this.