Sontaikle ... that is an impressive deadlift! I HATE deadlifts and have been avoiding them ... bad I know! Your post makes me wonder what my bench press is, I haven't really done that in about 6 years! Right now I'm squatting with sets of 170lbs and leg pressing 290 in my sets. My "max" in high-school on the bench press was 155lbs, but of course that was only doing it once!

I haven't worked out in a WEEK ahhh. I was out of town over the weekend and I've moved to a new place so I need a new gym. I got up at 5:45am this morning to walk to the nearest one, only to realize it was more of a cross-fit studio ... no real machines/weights/treadmills. So I guess I'll have to join the one that is a little further!

Flashfacts - I'm really concerned about form as well, which is why I avoid deadlifts ... I feel like I'm always risking my back! I need to start taking classes that do plyometrics because I'm training for a tough mudder, but I also feel like my knees are hurting! Part of the problem is how uncoordinated I am though. :-) Being a clutz and plyometric/crossfit workouts are a hard mix!

Nice!! I envy a gal with a heavy squat. I was squatting 85 back in January. The program I'm doing hasn't called for back squats since then; I suspect I can probably squat a bit more now, but my squats were/are definitely far behind my deadlifts (currently at 140, though again my program doesn't call for them for a while, so boohoo).

Weight training class last night. We did some great stuff and I'm a little stiff this morning which means tomorrow I will wake up sore.

flashfacts - welcome to the thread! I can understand being apprehensive. A few weeks ago I did a deadlift wrong and my back was messed up for a few days. I found that going online and looking at videos of people doing things correctly really helped, but I've learned a lot from my weight training class.

I do lower the weight and up the reps when I do things that require a spot but I don't have one (my gym really isn't designed for all the lifting I do, so to do a bench press I actually grab some steps on lay on those, ). I know that if I can do 15-20 reps with the weights I listed for BP, OHP and Squats then I can really go quite a bit higher. I've actually lifted things that are heavier than all of that just when I'm out and about.

LovelyAndLosing - So funny, I LOVE deadlifts but I am super cautious ever since I messed up one a few weeks ago and hurt my back. I am envious of your numbers!! You are a strong lady!

sumire - Are you doing NROL or another program?

Yep, NROL4W. I'm a little surprised that I've been able to stick with it for so long-- something about me tends to buck when faced with a program that says "You have to do this." ("Hey! I do what I want!" ) These last 2 stages should have enough to keep me interested, but once I finish in early June, I'm going to be ready to switch to a more flexible routine.

Man I need to amp up my bottom-half lifting (right now I uhh don't really do any)!

sontaikle, sumire, thanks for the compliments - I guess since most people at my gym are extremely beefy boxers and MMA fighters, my expectations are skewed.

I had a "bad" lifting day yesterday - I just felt kind of sore and weak and pathetic and struggled to complete 3 x 8 of the regimen I did Monday. I sit in a chair all day and do a max of 45 minutes cardio most days, so I doubt I need to be eating more (intake is usually ~1300 of "real food" and 100-200 of "other"). Have any of you figured this out?

*sontaikle* - I was a competitive weightlifter in high school. I actually placed (6th) in the state my senior year. Although, then, I was about 124lbs so my body was a lot tighter than it is now! haha.

*Krampus* - I love gyms with beefy boxers, etc. haha ... I'm sad that I left Arlington and now am in DC, because I can't go to Gold's anymore! I'm worried at a gym with less "meat-heads," I will get odd looks when I'm squatting, etc. at high weight!

This is my first week of working out. OK soo I saw like a 3-4 lb increase on the scale. I guess thats normal when you do strength training? its just interesting to see such an increase because I usually only have a 2 lb difference at the end of hte day, and that is with all the food I ate, unless its TOM and I carb-binged.
My bottom half is sore and someone yelled at me in the train, but I don't care, I actually went ahead and did my work outs!
also, I had a terrible first time experience taking bcaas-branched chain amino acids. But today, I actually didn't mind drinking it as much so over time I think that I will get more and more used to it.

Dude, that is SO COOL. I would love to be an expert heavy lifter!

My gym is the opposite of Gold's...worn down facility, barebones equipment, think all the meatheads from Gold's, but below the poverty line and wearing street clothes.

OMG you guys... I don't have time to read but I had to share my ridiculous gym story.

I was feeling pretty good yesterday morning. Banged out a run pretty quick and got overconfident. I managed to unrack the 100 lb barbell and get it up on my shoulders. Was a little shaky but decided to go for a squat. Down down down downnnnn oops. I ended up a$$ to the grass and STUCK. My gym is a rec center. The only people there early on a Sat. morning were 80 year old women walking the indoor track. Looking at me. Sheist. I contemplated for quite some time. Gave the glare of death to the "Do not drop weights" sign, wondered if I could waddle over to the bench for leverage, wondered what would happen if I sat on the ground with this monstrocity still on my shoulders... Finally, caught my breath and was able to push it back up, after what seemed like 4 hours.

Ermmm I think I'll switch to hack squats, or dumbells. I dropped a note in the suggestion box. "For my personal safety, PLEASE get a squat rack!!!!"

Tragedy narrowly averted. Be careful everyone!

And also... OMG MY A$$ hurts!!!

I bought NROL4W the other day and I am super excited to get into the program, both the lifting and the eating!

I'm in the military and I LOVE my dirty little piece of crap deployed gyms! Right now I am out of town on a business trip and I have to work out at a Golds and I HATE IT!! No chalk, no bumper plates, DBs only up to 75 pounds, 1 KB up to 35 lbs... what am I supposed to do with that crap?!

I can relate because I totally get stares from the old men and crabby women in the gym when I'm tossing around heavy weights and doing upwards of 75 pullups... I had to tell someone today that "It's rude to stare!"

Ugh, only 3.5 more weeks and I get to go home to MY gym!

75 pullups, dear lord.

You are AMAZING JossFit! I love your quarter sleeve <3

Who can tell me a bit more about the NROL for Women? Does it have training plans? Do you need the gym equipment to do it our could you use it with dumbells and a barbell at home?

As you all might have read I am struggling with keeping up with the lifting. Mostly because I feel like it's not really going anywhere. With running or cardio I know what I am doing, and what it looks like when I amd doing it right (heartrate, distance, breathing etc). I feel like I need a dummy "how to guide" that just tells me to do this and that for this and that long and approx this amount of weight.

You ladies kick a$$$ I am impressed!

Well in all fairness that was from my "Cindy" Crossfit workout I did Saturday; it's an AMRAP (As many rounds as possible) in 20 minutes of; 5 pullups, 10 pushups and 15 squats. I did 15 rounds in that 20 minutes so it was 75 pullups total, not all at once! That would be insane!

And thank you for the compliment! It actually goes all the way around my arm so it's a 1/2 sleeve.

I know nothing about the NROLFW. I am stuck in an "I know how XYZ work so I'm going to do ONLY THEM" rut, but I gotta say that just doing 3 x 10 of the same 4 exercises and increasing the weights when I can has been "working" very well for me - I combine lifting with about half an hour of cardio, and in the month since I started (I've only lifted 2 days a week each week...!) my arms and shoulders look way better, and my waist has shrunk. I have also lost 3-4 lbs and I can eat way more than if I weren't lifting.

Just something to think about...you don't have to do it expertly or perfectly for results to happen!