Are you into lifting? Want to share? :)

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  • So, I've noticed a few of us around here that seem to really embrace the whole ethos behind strength training. Be it from a paleo perspective of 'move more and lift things', a love of lifting heavy, or just a general joy in building strength/muscle...I know you're there!

    I was just thinking it might be nice for the slightly more advanced lifters to have a space to share their ideas/routines/exercises they love. Or new articles you might have read that you think are interesting. Or maybe even a few tips from your own experience.

    Anyone?
  • Love this idea - where shall we start?
  • Definitely interested, but a total newbie at lifting and weights training; I have never done anything like it, but would love to try and use it to build more muscle and to help me shift more weight! Any advice would be great!
  • I love this idea too! I've been weight and resistance training on my own in my garage for about a year now. I first did the New Rules of Lifting for Women program and am now onto the New Rules of Lifting for Life. I don't consider myself any kind of expert, but I'm generally interested in talking about this topic. I notice my motivation has waned lately, though, due to a few factors. Working out alone is boring! If I'm going to progress, I also feel like I need heavier dumbbells or I need to change up what I'm doing somehow to make progress with what I do have (2 50 pounds adjustable dumbbells). Since I workout at home, my equipment is limited so I'm not able to do all the exercises in the program.
  • CherriePie99 - I was just thinking that it'd be handy to have a thread to chat about strength training without feeling awkward or inconsiderate about using more advanced terminology/techniques that could intimidate/exclude newbies in other threads just looking for basic advice.

    In general, I'd love to maybe start off by hearing from folks about what their lifting routines are? Rep/Set selection, frequency, movement selection, equipment (either gym or home), etc. I really enjoy reading the online stuff targeted at athletes or bodybuilders, so I'm kinda curious if everyone comes to the same conclusions as I do about how to approach the whole thing.

    MovingForward - I ABSOLUTELY relate to weight lifting getting a bit boring at home on your own. A few tools I like to use are: keep a workout journal, switch up your workout music mix (I like 8tracks for finding new stuff), and make it into a competition with yourself (try to beat what you did last time - 1 more rep, slightly heavier weight, etc.) Also, if you're feeling limited with your current set-up, you can try manipulating TUT (try doing each rep explosively/fast, or really really slow it down until it makes you shake ), or maybe even try switching out some movements for some new variations for a few months (eg. from squat to Bulgarian split, bent over rows to meadows row, deadlift to kettle bell swings, etc.).
  • i would love this. i hope other people share what they are doing and what their plans are!

    hi, i'm kathy and i am training to be a powerlifter.

    i lifted at home for the first year and a half. i had the help of some people on a nice journaling lifting site to help, so it was enough, but yeah... lifting in a real gym is a great experience. just being around other people who lift, even if you don't talk much is very nice.

    i just started working with a great coach (who is being inducted into the NASA athlete hall of fame this weekend in OK!) and it is intimidating but also very exciting. this week for the first time i saw a man squat 405... the first was a fail, and he got the second after knee wraps... (i got to see rich wrapping the knees and received a small impromptu instruction on it. so cool.)

    and that same day another guy benched 435 with the wide grip bar. how insane is that? you see much bigger benches online, but to see someone move that much weight in person is so invigorating.

    i don't really know what my coach is doing, but i know he is heavily influenced by the russians, so i suppose he is training me in a similar manner.

    it sucks that i have to work while in a deficit, but at least my coefficient will improve while i am losing, if i can just hold onto the lifts i have. he says he can get my bench to 145 in two months.

    (i am babbling here because there really isn't another place to do it.)

    he is big on conditioning, so i pulled the sled lots this past week. lemme tell ya, pulling that damn sled in the parking lot with 200# takes the wind out of you. i felt like puking.

    so really, i can talk about what i did on the daily, but i have no idea what plan im following, other than two days technique, two days heavy and one day full conditioning. (holy crap those two hours about killed me. i am not one for cardio)

    my long term goal is to get 1000 total raw for either 181 or 165 weight class. i don't know if i will get there, but i want it. on a good day, i think my total is 625 (225 squat, 275 dead, 125 bench) but what really matters is how i do in a meet. i hope that my first meet is in early may, so we shall see. if i cant make that one, then i have to wait until november!
  • i wrote down what he made me do after each session, so here is a sample...

    monday
    sled drag with 100#
    forward 100 yards
    backward 100 yards
    slide step 50 yards each leg
    cross over step 50 yards each

    12kg kettlebell leg raises 10x4 each leg
    12kg kettlebell side leg raises 10x4 each leg

    deadlifts 110x5, other weightsx5 i dont know how many and 220x1x6 for technique
    rdl's 110x3x5 for technique HOLY CRAP i was so doing rdl's wrong before. lit up my upper chain like nothing else before

    kettlebell swings 18kgx50


    tuesday
    one arm kettlebell cleans with 5 presses. 12kgx4x5
    dumbell press 20x4x10
    wide grip lat pulldown 80x4x10
    benchin to 125 fail. was pre-exhausted so he said don't fret about it.

    wednesday
    120 yards sled with 200# pull forward
    back against wall, tire in both hands, slam it on one side of the wall then the other 25 times
    landmines with 25# 15x1 each side
    120 yards sled with 200# pull backward
    15 (attempts at a) pushup on suspended chains a few inches from ground. OH THE LOLS
    side to side landmines 15 each side with 25#
    kettlebell figure 8's 15x18kg
    kettlebell round and rounds 15x18kg
    kettlebell (cant remember the name, but it's just back and forth around the head) 15x18kg

    did that circuit twice. was ready to die.

    thursday
    benchin warm up to 115x1 then drop sets of 100x5x5
    DB tricep extension 20x5x4
    side raises 15x6x4
    db rows 40x6, 45x6, 50x6, 60x6 (an ugly six on each side. esp the left!)
    pulldowns with the little steel triangle thingie 80x10x4
    front raises 15x6x4


    friday was supposed to be squats and sled on my own, but coach was out of town and my toddler was sick and couldnt go to daycare, so didnt do anything. i am trying not to feel guilty.

    my abs are still killing me from wednesday!
  • Sweet holy **** Kathy. Your ABS are killing you?! Are you sure it's not every other part as well?

    Are you doing endurance cardio, or intervals/sprints for your conditioning?
  • wednesday was conditioning day. do one exercise, pant until you catch your breath and then on to the next one. i suck at conditioning ...and endurance? LOL notevenonce.jpg

    what are you doing, defining? what are your goals?
  • I'm participating in a coaching program for the year, in the hopes that it'll actually help me develop some accountability. I'm looking to finish up just under 20% bf, and put on maybe 5lbs of muscle by the end of the year; who knows if I'll actually hit those goals though.

    So we've been asked to do 3x workouts a week, and 1-2 sets of intervals a week plus active recovery NEPA.

    Workouts usually include:
    Foam rolling/mobility work
    Goblet or split squat
    Dumbbell press (vertical or horizontal)
    Dumbbell row
    Variation on the theme of RDL
    and some kind of core thingy (planks, cable rows, etc.)

    I'll admit, I haven't really been super challenged by these workouts, and I think I'm going to add in a second workout for the evenings on my own (I have too much time on my hands anyway ).

    Which will probably include:
    Hip thrusts
    High pull
    Farmer's Walk
    Jump Rope for a bit

    And maybe even a fasted walk before breakfast a few times a week, and an occasional sprint session after lifting. We'll have to see if I'll stick with it though!
  • Yes. I lift heavy. Most days. And run. Most days.

    I am still playing with my diet.

    My diet for losing weight (low calorie, low everything) has not worked out for weight training or running though.

    So I am still trying to tweak it but am not there yet which is proving a headache. I did not figure at the start of my journey that I would be in the gym so much after losing weight. But, hey, I am and I enjoy it.

    My new thing is to try more calories and carbs. Low calorie, low carb was not working. Left me tired before going in. Not good.

    I've kept my protein high throughout.

    Any tips?

    I don't know the names but most days:

    Run 3.5 miles (used to run 6 miles a day but burnt out)
    Bench 100lbs x 10 x 3 sets
    Biceps 70lbs x 10 x 2 sets 80lbs x 10 x 1 set
    Triceps 60lbs x 10 x 3 sets
    Butterfly 20lbs x 10 x 3 sets
    Start the lawnmower 65lbs x 10 x 3 sets
    45 sit ups

    and variants thereof.

    I grunt and snarl.

    I'd like to train with Katerina!
  • is this for college, defining? or some other sort of coaching program? do they not want you to BB squat or do regular deadlifts? trying to get a handle on what you're doing.

    20% bf for a female is an awesome goal. some women even see shadows of ab's at 20%

    i am so used to basic programming. it's why i'm so unsure of what rich is doing with me. it's been every week, squat, dl, bench, ohp with a few accessories and done. for over a year and a half now, it's pretty much all i've done, with some swimming and attempts at running. it's a big change to do all of these different things.

    IanG, i think i remember a thread recently where you ask about cardio and dieting. running 6 miles a day blows my mind. running a mile blows my mind. hahaa! do you ever do lower body weight training?

    you would hate training with me bc i would kvetch the entire time you make me do cardio. lol

    I will definitely let you guys know how this goes. It's only week one. I am curious and excited and nervous, because I don't want to fail my coach. or myself. I'll tell you this much; my diet went to H-E-Double-Hockeysticks last week. I need to have that in check this week. No more than 1800 kcal with 140 grams protein. I do not need all the extra calories. Some sort of mental thing that I need to get over.
  • also, IanG, are you thinking about upping your bench? i bet you can handle it, considering your other lifts.
  • Kathy, it's a fat-loss/lifestyle change coaching thingamagig (PM me if you're curious about the actual name, I don't want to spam 3FC ); it's in the first 6 weeks still, so the exercises are all meant to be approachable for people with very different athletic abilities. Proper DLing comes later on. And I agree, I properly hate 'cardio'. But I have come to really enjoy all-out intervals a few times a week, and I LOVE to walk.

    I can't really do proper BB squats because I workout at home, and don't have a squat rack. And I don't want to add a DL on my own, at the moment, because there are squats every workout, and I'm still working on building my erector muscles - don't want to blast them too badly by trying to deadlift after squatting...yet I also have sh*t posture, so I make a point of ensuring I get a good amount of upper pulling movements in; which can only help with my DL later on.

    Ian, I'm also curious if you've explored any lower body work? I actually enjoy lower body lifts better than the upper body work; mostly because I tend to make better progress on those . I'd definitely suggest running AFTER you lift for the day, so you're not depleting glycogen before you ask your muscles to move heavy stuff. And quickly plugging your info into a TDEE calculator, it says that your energy needs are around 2,400kcal a day, with the exercise you do. How far under that are you eating? Sometimes, all we need is a 'break' week, where you get eat a bit more and take a break from hardcore exercise; think of it like giving your body a chance to fill in the potholes from your road through fat loss.

    This is a great article about a bit of science behind balancing calorie deficit vs. metabolic adaptation http://www.t-nation.com/free_online_...iction_part_ii - Part I is also pretty nifty. Might help?
  • oh, cool, defining. are you liking it so far? what were you doing before that?

    i wanted to let you know that i enjoyed part I and II of that article you posted. i recalculated my macros/cals based on it and am now currently trying for 1850 as a goal with 160 grams protein. yesterday i overshot with 2177, but meh still below maintenance so IDGAF. ha!

    today we worked on technique on squat lots. it was very helpful. just using 150 to nail technique. heavy enough to mean something to me, but light enough that i can slow down/speed up as necessary. i ended up doing lots of accidental pause squats because i was thinking so much! coach gave me lots of great cues and pretty much tore apart my squat from beginning to end.

    we did more sled work today and i kicked the sled i was so mad at it.

    here's to torturing ourselves with heavy weights!