cupcakes!!
front squats looked good.
yeah for 5k!
new goal: catch Frenchie. 
In my opinion, you have far too many cute Lulu outfits to be dressed like an elf on your first race. 
Woohoo on the MP!!
Upscale, yeah I started running last December. The day after my 46th birthday, when I figured it wasnāt gonna get any easier if I waited. Honestly, the running was a two steps back, one step forward sort of arrangement for most of this year. But I am nothing if not persistent and not easily deterred.
Betty, it will be SO COLD by the time of the Jingle Bell run that any elf costumes wouldnāt be very sexy anyway.
Maschy, lately Iāve been all about the trying of the new things. Ruts, begone!
Hallowed, I humbly accept the Courage Wolf. Action is ALWAYS my opportunity. RAWR!
LastStand, it usually is bitter cold here by the week before Christmas so the Santa-clad probably arenāt that bad-off. The beard must get super-annoying, though.
Frenchie, Iād run pretty darn fast to catch me a Frenchie. Are you running these days? Rucking maybe?
Lula, there will definitely be a cute lulu outfit on race day. No shortage of those clothes at my house. I see you rocking some of that in your vids. Delicious!
Last night I trained on the way back from a pizza and gelato visit to the city. The carb-up didnāt hurt, but the late hour meant the training was cut short due to time constraints.
Deadlift day
Good mornings
Bar 1 x 5
65# 1 x 5
75# 1 x 5 <ānot very low
85# 3 x 5 regular stance
85# 2 x 5 <āsumo stance
I didnāt get as low on these as I might like, but Iām doing better at 85 lbs. keeping a good arch. I thought since Iām doing these to strengthen my lower back for deadlifts, I ought to try the sumo stance. Actually, it felt easier than a narrow stance.
Step ups to Bench
BW 1 x 10
These, honestly, sucked. I have the worst knee cave ever! Obviously I need to start with a low step.
Sumo Deads
115# from risers 1 x 5 <āeasy, peasy
135# from floor 1 x 3 <ānormal stance, eh. and 1 x 3 <ānarrower stance, kind of hard
Either my energy started to run out or I just have a horrible time getting this shit off the floor. Its the first few inches that is the problem. grrr.
Todayās run was 4.96 miles in 44 minutes. I thought I had broken through the 5 mile distance, but no. My GPS was too generous with me. I add 2 minutes per run, so Iāll get it next time.
Sorry your training disappointed you (I canāt get low on deadlifts either - my hips DO NOT WANT!) but yay for running. Youāre going to end up like Nadia doing half marathons and stuff.
hipflexor is still whining. I havenāt runned or rucked in a couple of weeks. Iām waiting for it to heal a bit moreā¦
I wouldnāt mind seeing a video of the Sumo GMās. Iā going to be adding them in and Iād like to see wide stand GMās before I try them.
Cal, my end-game goal with running is to be able to run a 10K at a good pace. After that, Iām done with distance, and will move on to another goalā¦hill sprints, indoor track workouts, etc. One of the main attractions of running for me is its efficiency. How one can leave the house, get in a good workout and be back at home in under an hour. This is impossible with my other main sport, bicycling.
Frenchie, I was hoping that hip flexor was better by now. Bummer.
Joe, your wish is my command:
I could do with widening my stance and getting lower before I increase the weight.
From what Iāve been reading there are a lot of conflicting opinions on just how low you should go on GMās. Particularly wide stand ones.
Yours looked really good to me.
[quote]JoeGood wrote:
From what Iāve been reading there are a lot of conflicting opinions on just how low you should go on GMās. Particularly wide stand ones.
Yours looked really good to me.[/quote]
ditto. As you say, Kimba, just work on getting lower and stretching those hamstrings and theyāll spring back stronger over time. I think the only rule (if there are any) is that the bar has to be beyond your feet, otherwise itās a squat.
GMs are such a tough move for me. Iāve never been able to handle much weight. Iāve always done them narrow stance standing. Perhaps I should try a wider stance.
Whatās up with your DLs? Were you supposed to do another set? With sumo, breaking the weight off the floor is the trickiest part, I believe.
hai
first visit in a while and you are busy
your doing a good job sending your hips back in those Good mornings
and running almost 5 sub 9 min miles is good living
nice work Kimba
Joe, thanks for the encouragement. There are lots of conflicting opinions on almost everything! Since my goal with the GMs is to strengthen my lower back for sumo pulling purposes, it seems to make sense for me to mimic that position as much as possible.
DCA, I have been feeling the standing GM workout in my hammies the next day and a bit in my lower back. The very best hammie workout for me is RDLs.
Snapper, try doing the GMs with your modified sumo stance. Iād be interested in your thoughts on that experiment. I was planning to do another set of sumo deads but ran out of time. They sucked anyways, so perhaps discouragement was also a part of it.
Hey kmc! Nice to see you. Hips back in the GM position is about the one thing about them that I really do like. The rest needs some work.
Last nightās training was interesting. Iāve spent most of my training life doing full body workouts. Lately with the whole upper/lower split Iāve exceeded the volume that I thought I was capable of. In other words, I would never have thought I could get through a bunch of bench presses, then a bunch of rows, then a bunch of dips. But I did!
Bench Press (5/3/1 week)
Bar 1 x 5
75.5# 1 x 5
85.5# 1 x 3
95.5# 1 x 0
So close on the money set ā inches away from completion then I hit the bar on the uprights and lost focus. It would have been a new 1 rep max by .5 pound, but no. I will reset my bench max and ramp it up slowly again.
BBB 65.5# 5 x 10
supersetted with
Kroc Rows
37.5# 5 x 10
Dips
BW +10 on the dip belt 1 x 10
BW +5 1 x 10
BW 1 x 10
After that last set of dips, I was DONE with dips.
Biceps Curls
15# 1 x 10, each arm
My left arm is really weak and I barely squeezed out the last 2 reps
Ab rollouts
43# bar 1 x 5
48# bar 1 x 5
53# bar 1 x 5
For some reason, these were alot easier than last time. Iāll have to weight my back with a plate next time.
My chest and arms are DOMSy this morning.
[quote]kimbakimba wrote:
95.5# 1 x 0
So close on the money set ā inches away from completion then I hit the bar on the uprights and lost focus. It would have been a new 1 rep max by .5 pound, but no. I will reset my bench max and ramp it up slowly again.
[/quote]
I wouldnāt reset since you didnāt hit the rep because of a form issue. Tighten up and nail it next week.
Nice work.
I do GMs like that too!
[quote]giterdone wrote:
[quote]kimbakimba wrote:
95.5# 1 x 0
So close on the money set ā inches away from completion then I hit the bar on the uprights and lost focus. It would have been a new 1 rep max by .5 pound, but no. I will reset my bench max and ramp it up slowly again.
[/quote]
I wouldnāt reset since you didnāt hit the rep because of a form issue. Tighten up and nail it next week.
Nice work.[/quote]
x2
You know whats best for you but that seems like a blip, not a reason to reset.
Git and Joe, I also missed getting the money set reps on the 5 day and the 3 day. Seeing as I missed the 1 day too, I think Iāve got to reset.
Betty, if you do sumo GMs, I want to see them. Video!
Yesterdayās training was my first 5 mile run ever. 5.25 miles in 46 minutes (8:47 min/mi). I would have been OK with sitting on the couch for the rest of the day, but instead we decided to visit a new restaurant in town. Except that we deliberately parked way far away and did a really nice 5.6 mile roundtrip walk to help burn off all the calories we ate.
Poutine ā first time ever, and it was delicious. Who knew that fries topped with gravy and cheese curds could actually be delicious?
This morning was squat day, but my glute-ham tie in was pretty fried from all that running and walking.
Squats
Bar 1 x 5
Bad idea
Front squats
Bar 1 x 5
65# 1 x 5
75# 1 x 5 <-rep PR +2
85# 1 x 3 <āPR +10 lbs.
90# 1 x 2 <āPR +15 lbs.
There is still a knee cave issue if Iām not very conscious to spread my knees out and when I get even a little tired. So far its been knee āwiggleā and not full-on cave. Weāll see what happens as I add weight on the bar.
Seated GMs (to 2 stacked 25 lb. plates)
Bar 1 x 5
65# 1 x 5
75# 1 X 5
85# 1 X 5 <ā25 LBS. more than last time
Iām getting more comfortable with the setup of these, so Iām adding more weight.
Bulgarian split squats
BW 4 x 10
Iām determined to make these my little bitches. My balance is vastly improved while on the right leg, and somewhat improved on the left leg. When I can do a set of 10 without losing my balance, Iāll add weight.
Step-ups (to 4 risers plus step)
BW 2 x 10
Seems wimpy, but these were very hard to do controlled and carefully. I will add 1 riser next time.
HLRs
Sort of straight leg 1 x 5
Bent leg 2 x 10, 1 x 13
If I practice this enough, hopefully I can do some pretty reps with actual straight legs.
And that was it. Iāve changed up my workout nutrition a bit. In the past, Iāve used a 1/2 scoop of Surge Recovery in my water bottle during and after workouts. I couldnāt use a whole scoop because it was just too sweet. The last two trainings Iāve switched to just water during the training, and then a scoop of Grow Whey in cold water when I get home.
BTW, Betty I bought the vanilla flavor of Grow Whey and its quite good as a shake. A bit sweet for my morning oatmeal, though.
Thats a nice jump on the seated GMās.
Wow! Nice work on those GMs. If you think about it, youāre pushing some serious weight with those! Thatās like 75% of your BW! Nice stuff.
And the front squats look good! Even with the knee wiggle. And it looks like you are consciously fighting the knee cave, which is great! You do have to retrain your body with these sorts of things, so I think youāre definitely moving in the right direction - both in strengthening those tiny knee stabilizing muscles and with mind-muscle connection. Soon you wonāt even have to think about knee cave!
Btw a 90lb front squat AND 15lb PR! I better step up my game!!
And yes, step ups ARE hard! Especially when youāre really working on not using your resting leg to push off. UGH! Torture!
YAY 5 miles, and quite a respectable time!!! I love the fact that you parked far away and ended up walking almost 6 miles for your food. Way far away in my mind is like, not the closest spot available to the restaurant.
Great job on all the PRs, you are clearly doing a lot of things very right.
x3 on the step ups!!
and I canāt help it, I imagine you donned in black leather, knee high stilettos, whip in hand, while doing your Bulgarians.
Front squat looked AWESOME!!! And you purposefully pushed your knees out on the way up. Was that intended or did it naturally happen? great great work thereā¦
Front squatsā¦who knew??! 
And yay for your run too!!
ok, okā¦video it is. Iām still kinda shy about taking vids at my gym. Not many do, but Iāll try to be sneaky.
And good to hear about the wheyā¦I trust your tastes