I have read through all of the replies from today twice now i'm excited to post to a thread that focuses on strength training and weight loss. it is exactly where i am these days.
Thursday
conditioning. i was not at my best. i had a migraine later on that day and today was the start of TOM, so it all finally made sense. chalk it up to aunt flo being a biyatch.
120 yards with sled +200 lbs forwards
30lb incline db press x10
90 lb lat pulldown x10
10 russian twists
120 yards with sled +200 lbs backwards
15 lb curl and press x10
100 lb machine row x10
20 tire slams against wall side to side
120 yards with sled +200 lbs side ways
1-hand kettlebell swings 16 kg bellx20 each arm
20 fighter figure 8's with 16kg kettlebell
Did that circuit twice.
I was supposed to do that set three times. uh. no. took me far too long to do that. almost an hour and a half.
Today
deadlifts. took it easy and did a quick ramp up and some heavy singles and called it good.
135x5, 160x5, 185x5, 205x3, 225x1, (add belt and chalk and mixed grip) 250x1, 275x1x5
Nutrition
2079 a day average for this week.
about 130 grams protein a day.
224.6 last week
222.8 today
(TOM is affecting gains/losses so won't know until next week if i am being effective, but i think under 2100 a day will be fine for 1lb/wk loss)
jamsk8tr i hope you do start a thread. i can just transfer today's stuff over there. i hold lots of my extra fat in my abdomen, too. not fun.
Your call, dudes and dudettes - if most of the participants are game to tweak the subject of the thread, by all means keep on here! But it's also cool if you'd rather start a new thread with a more targeted topic. I have ~30-40lbs to lose, and would also prefer that most of it goes in fat, NOT muscle - looks like most of us are in the same boat, at the moment.
I finished my 300 swing 'challenge', took a week off (which was brutal, I was super fidgety), and am now aiming for 200xhip thrusts + 100m farmer's walk every day, in addition to daily workouts (or intervals, or 'active recovery', depending on the day). My posture is really bad, and I have some pretty significant upper back/neck pain from it - so the majority of my 'extra' activities are aimed at remediating that, for the moment.
I am crossing my fingers that by the end of the calendar year, I'll feel better about my alignment/movement patters/form so I can really start digging into the heavier side of lifting!
Location: Lyin' in a puddle of sweat on the floor.
Posts: 2,296
S/C/G: 235/201/175
Height: 5'7"
Hey all. Sorry, I didn't leave myself enough time to this morning to get on the computer before work. Since we're all here already, and nobody seems to mind, shall we just keep on with this thread?
My freezer is completely devoid of diet-friendly protein at the moment, so I need to hit Costco today to restock. Also need to hit the gym again since I didn't get a chance to squeeze in a workout for myself this morning when I was there.
I need to talk to my trainer today, show him the fat test truck results, since he was out of town, see what he thinks as far as an eating plan to start with.
I'll report in later with the food plan and a workout report. Will start weighing and recording everything tomorrow. I'm out of the habit of daily weigh-ins, but find that helps when I'm trying to drop weight, to keep me on track with my eating, but also because I like to take the daily numbers and track the weekly average weight, since it shows more of the trend, which is IMO a truer picture of what's going on with the scale, since it smooths out the daily fluctuations due to female issues, water retention from lifting, etc. Plus, I'm a data nerd...probably why I like crossfit and lifting...lots of details to keep track of, lol.
Location: Lyin' in a puddle of sweat on the floor.
Posts: 2,296
S/C/G: 235/201/175
Height: 5'7"
Kat, that circuit looks brutal...120 YARDS with the sled each time? I'd still be at the gym trying to finish, lol! Can you explain what the tire slam on the wall is?
Ian, I love seafood...wish I could find a source for good seafood at a better price...the price of salmon is about ten bucks a pound right now...it's killing me! I'd eat that every meal if I could afford it. Working on tweaking the budget to see if I can't squeeze a little more out for the clean eats budget.
Defining, congratulations on finishing your challenge. I love kettlebells, but all I really know how to do with them are swings and snatches. I'm sure I could be getting a lot more out of them if I learned some new movements. Glad you are working and seeing progress in your posture. We have a gal at our gym that came in severely hunched over from years of sitting in too-big office chairs at a computer (she's very petite). The doctors told her there was nothing she could do, but she's seen major improvement over the past year from crossfit and lifting, just strengthening those muscles so they can do their job.
ian, i am hopeless at bench, too. i was looking at my 1rm on exrx, and for my weight (in the super heavy weight class. ugh) i am a novice at bench.
defining, what was the swing challenge? like, kettlebell swings? i like those. they are lots tougher than they look.
jamsk8r, i tend to stop at the 60 yard mark and pant before i turn around and go back. it's back and forth total 120 yards for each walk with the sled. it takes me for freaking ever to finish conditioning day. i am definitely not conditioned. ETA: oh tire slams! they're cool. you take a regular sized tire (lots laying around in the yard outdoors at the gym) and hold it with both hands (with gardening gloves), stand with your back against a wall and slam it on one side of the wall, and then swing it in front of you to the other side. back and forth. it's fun, but really gives your shoulders and lats and obliques a good workout. in my city there are mostly stone walls, instead of wood fencing. i live in a desert town.
today was bench, and here it is..
barx10
65x10
85x10
95x5
105x5
115x3
80+chains x3x10
120x1x3
i had to get back and take care of the kids as they are out of school. so that's all she wrote.
today's weight was 222.4, so still seeing a loss, which is fantastic. not just a fluke.
Last edited by katerina11; 04-18-2014 at 06:18 PM.
Well I am new to posting on this thread, as well as to lifting, but I like the idea of being able to talk about the diets that support our lifting goals as well as the weight training. The is too much crossover to ignore the food side of the program as well.
I am in weight maintenance, but at a higher weight than I would like to be long term. But as attributed to coco c, at a certain age a woman has to choose between her *** or her face. I had lost a large amount of weight and not only was I stalling, my skin was not keeping up with the weight loss. So I switched targets. From weight loss to fitness, because I believe we can have both, if we are willing to work for it.
I've been working out since november to gain some general fitness and basic strength. (I was very unfit). I am now working on a program with a trainer to build muscle mass over the next 12 weeks. We've done some 1 rep max testing and are now conditioning at the moment but there are already positive changes in my strength.
I am generally uncoordinated and lack a sense of balance and of my physical self when it comes to my holding correct form. thankfully my trainer is patient.
I am also starting to run as I want to keep a functional and rounded fitness. My ultimate aim is to move my fitness out of the gym and into active sports and hobbies, with some focus on maintenance. But I am going to work on that over the next 12 months. I am also hoping that I will be able to eventually return to weight loss and take off the last 10 kilos even if it is slowly.
So a lot going on, and even so I am still in bed late in the morning. I love public holidays and long weekends!
hi, jen! i was never the athletic type, either. in december 2011, i did ten bodyweight squats and was so sore i couldn't sit on the toilet without wanting to cry for a week! and i am not coordinated, either. it takes me a while to learn the motor patterns.
if anyone needs some inspiration, here is a woman who works out in my gym. she is 101 years old and she pushes the prowler on days when she feels good enough to do a workout outside.
KatErina, she is awesome. I want to still be pushing more than a zimmer frame when I am that age! But I need to start now?
I am amazed by how quietly the extra strength sneaks up on me as I am working out. Thanks for the support!
I will post my routine as I do it over the next week or so. We are modifying it slightly.
I am also working on getting strong enough to do pull ups. Currently I working the negative as a starting point (get up there and hold, get up there and control the lowering). Can't wait until I can just grab the bar and rip out a couple of good ones!
Last edited by Electro; 04-19-2014 at 05:24 AM.
Reason: Auto correct on a name
Location: Lyin' in a puddle of sweat on the floor.
Posts: 2,296
S/C/G: 235/201/175
Height: 5'7"
Welcome, Jenn! Ditto on the pull-ups. I can do kipping pull-ups at this weight, but only because I know how to work the kipping swing, lol. I lost my strict pull-ups when I packed on the extra 30 pounds I'm sporting these days, and would like to have those back, so I've started working on that. I've also never been able to do a dip unassisted, so am working toward that goal...long way to go there, but like you are doing for the pull-ups, hold at the top, lowering slowly, holds at the bottom, plus I'm using bands to do some reps. Know what you mean about the old skin not keeping up, lol. I've been pretty lucky as far as my arms and legs, but my face definitely looks a lot more wrinkled after losing a lot of weight, and I have extra skin on my stomach. It definitely shrank down some, but I'll be 45 this year, so it's definitely not as springy as it would be if I was younger. Still, definitely beats being obese, IMO. I never want to go back to being the person that got out of breath walking up a flight of steps or who could not run more than 30 seconds without feeling like I was dying.
Kat, thanks for explaining about the tire slam exercise. There's one they do in crossfit workouts that they call a tire slam, but it's hitting a big tractor tire with a sledgehammer. I was trying to figure how you were doing that against a wall, or was thinking maybe she means flipping a tractor tire against a wall, but I couldn't figure how that would work...LOL! That sounds like a good one. I don't have a stone wall, but could use the side of my house, I think. BTW, thanks for sharing the video...she is great!
I guess this makes me a wimp at bench, also, since my last 1RM was 120 lbs. I'm getting stronger, though, so it will come.
Location: Lyin' in a puddle of sweat on the floor.
Posts: 2,296
S/C/G: 235/201/175
Height: 5'7"
I think I forgot to report in about my workout yesterday. I went in and only had time for the crossfit workout. Meant to do my speed pull (deadlift) session that I missed this week, but the gym was closing, I still needed to get groceries on the way home, so punted for another day. Here's what the crossfit workout was:
As many rounds and reps as possible in 10 minutes of:
12 Toes to Bar (hang from pull-up bar, touch your toes to the bar = 1 rep)
6 Power Snatches 115/75 (115# for men, 75 pounds for women)
I can't do Toes to Bar right now, so I did the same movement lying on the floor, just holding one of the support posts for one of our pull-up rigs, and doing strict leg raises, touching my toes to the pole, lowering under control. It's a good sub and an ab-killer if you do it right.
I used the 75 pounds for the power snatches, and got 5 full rounds plus 9 reps of the "toes to pole" ab torture in before the ten minutes was up. It was a good workout.
I talked to my trainer about how to approach the leaning out thing while strength training. He suggested I keep my protein to about .7 g per pound of lean mass, so for me that's 138 x .7 = 96.6 grams a day, so around 95-100g a day would do it. I'll also start with about 40 grams of fat per day and see how that works for now. As for carbs, he knows I eat paleo mainly, which makes it hard to get the carb grams and calories up there without getting too sugary, but he said just pound the veggies, have about 2 servings of fruit a day, and he has me trying to eat half a sweet potato at least 4 meals a day, along with the broccoli or spinach or asparagus I normally use for carbs, and we'll just see how that goes, adjust in a few weeks if needed.
Back to the lifting topic:
We just finished doing a 9 week strength training cycle on conventional deadlift, back squat and floor press. We'll be testing 1RM in all those either this week or next, I think. Then, we're going to do another cycle but switch out the lifts. I know my trainer is thinking front squats, overhead press, and I'm not sure what he's thinking instead of deads. I'm thinking I'll ask if I can do this next cycle with sumo deadlift, now that I can pull from the floor with decent form. Front squats I'd love to build up, so I'm good with that one, and strict press/overhead press will be a good one for me, too. I'll keep on with back squats, conventional deads and bench pressing, but use them as accessories mainly for this next cycle. I'm excited to see how this last one went. I definitely feel like my back squat has probably gone up, and maybe my deadlift. The floor press, I'm not sure, as the left shoulder still wants to fail around the same weight. I'm thinking I could probably build up stability there if I put in some bodybuilder type accessory work for shoulders and arms. We'll see.
i really wish i could do a pullup. i wish i could do a negative pullup. i wish i could hang on the bar for more than ten seconds.
aside from my big three lifts, i have some other goals that i will share.
strict pull up
pistol squat
muscle up
8 minute mile
if i can do those, i will feel well rounded. getting to a more reasonable weight is the only way i think i will accomplish those. i can already swim a mile, which was a goal. it was surprisingly easy, as compared to what i thought it would be. probably because all my fat helps me float. haha.
we do tire slams with a slegehammer, too. i didn't know what to call them, so just called them sledgehammer to tire. we use a 20lb sledgehammer and it wears me out pretty quickly. and we do tire flips, too! i love them. all things i can do bc my fat doesn't matter, so of course i love them.
on the paleo diet can you eat green beans? i forget the rules.i am not very good with rule following in general. i am even gluten intolerant and will often say FUGGIT and eat an english muffin at breakfast and i will eat cupcakes for birthdays, too. small amounts like that don't bother me. and sprouted bread doesn't bother me, either.
all i am doing is 130 grams protein and let the rest fall where it may. cap of 2100 calories a day. or weekly average cap, if i lose my mind and eat a pint of ice cream one day. haha. IIFYM is pretty much the only way i can comfortably diet. i get super fiesty and rebel. i wish i had more control and could carb backload or carb cycle, but i am not food disciplined.
Last edited by katerina11; 04-19-2014 at 11:49 AM.
Location: Lyin' in a puddle of sweat on the floor.
Posts: 2,296
S/C/G: 235/201/175
Height: 5'7"
Kat, I'm not a paleo ****, so I'm not sure about the green beans. I'd eat them if I wanted to, but they're not that appealing to me, so I don't unless it's the best looking thing at a potluck, lol. I originally gave up a lot of the non-paleo foods to ditch the calories, like bread, cheese...I wanted more food and could get a lot more calorie-counting bang for my buck without that stuff. Other stuff I gave up, like ice cream, because I couldn't keep it in moderation if it was in the house. Super sugary stuff I gave up later on because after ditching high fructose corn syrup and high sodium stuff (which pretty much includes the bulk of processed foods), things like candy and soda started tasting way too sweet. So, I'm an accidental paleo eater, that tripped this way via calorie counting, which is how I lost 75 lbs the first time. This time, I feel like a bit of a noob at some of this, because it's a bit of a different game trying to keep my calories up, and while I'm definitely not eating low carb enough to go into ketosis (which I don't really care to do), it's hard to get my carbs up where I'd have kept them last time. I'm thinking, "what she said" as far as macros, just try to hit the protein, make good choices, let the rest fall where it may, and track it so I can see what to change when the weight loss stalls out.
You can have those stinking pistol squats, lol! I'm guessing your trainer is helping you with that, but if it helps, a good place to start is to squat to a high box or maybe a tire, gradually either lower the box height or throw a stall mat scrap under your feet to get a little more squat depth. You can also practice full depth ones while holding onto an assistance/resistance band that's attached to a pull-up bar or beam overhead. When you get close, the easiest one to get is usually to tuck the other foot behind and rest it just below the calf muscle on the standing leg...a little easier to balance that way. Also try a counterbalance, take maybe a 10 lb plate and hold it between two hands, stretch your arms out in front and straight like you just bench pressed the plate, and try the pistol like that...it can help keep you from falling on your butt till you find your balance without it.
Location: Lyin' in a puddle of sweat on the floor.
Posts: 2,296
S/C/G: 235/201/175
Height: 5'7"
Anybody have a good split they do for arms and shoulders? I'm feeling pretty clueless about that, but feel like focusing on those smaller muscles in and around the shoulders might stabilize the joint and keep my shoulders healthier in the long run. I also think some good old bis and tris work could help my bench, being able to squeeze/grip the heavier atlas stones (my trainer is anti-tacky, which, can't blame him since it is messy) and pull-up goals.
I feel like I'm doing okay working lats since I threw in some wide grip strict pull-ups (with a band, I'm not all that, lol) and more barbell rowing. I've been working hamstrings more, too, using RDLs, glute-ham raises, and good mornings, though some days I'd kill for a good old hammy curl bench just to do something different!
ETA: almost forgot. Weigh-in this morning was 192.4, mostly water weight I'm sure, since I was bloated up like crazy from a couple of high-sodium days, but that's a pound and a half I don't have to lug around, so I'll take it! I'll wait to change my ticker till I have a week's worth of daily weigh-ins, and just put the average of all those on my ticker...that way I don't have to keep moving it up and down with the daily fluctuations that occur.
it is exactly where i am these days. 
hey everyone!
I'll wait to change my ticker till I have a week's worth of daily weigh-ins, and just put the average of all those on my ticker...that way I don't have to keep moving it up and down with the daily fluctuations that occur.
