LWL# 183 Last Week of 2004!
 

Good morning! My signature for this year should have been "dates on calendar seem closer than they appear." I can't believe 2004 is finally drawing to a close. It's been a tough one me for me.

Just one more round of legs-chest-back-shoulder-arms, and that's it for the year :lol:

We had snow last night, not enough to do shoveling cardio, just enough to make driving a mess.

Off to the gym, it's LEG DAY!

Mel

Good morning Mel and all LWL! Freezing cold here but not a lot of snow. Spinning this morning and then cleaning up the Christmas debris. Santa brought me a new iPod -- woohoo! He's such a sweetie! :gift: I also got the hugest stack of books ever, so am set for 2005 reading. All cookies and tempting goodies are either gone already or scheduled to go in the office with DH tomorrow, so I'm looking forward to a week of squeaky clean eating. The gym craziness has started already here and I'm NOT looking foward to the next six weeks.

Hope everyone has survived the holidays so far - onward to 2005! (and none too soon ;) )

G'mornin' LWL!!

Today I am definitely cleaning up the crawp foods from the house! I am sooo swollen from the salt, sugar and carbs... Today no gym, I think I am taking a break, not sure yet... there is some snow here but not alot, just nice fluffy stuff that I will go shovel at my parents, I love shoveling when it's cold, sunny and fluffy! :D...

Well gotta go get ready...

Good morning Mel, Meg, Ilene and LWL!

That’s it: The holiday binge is officially over for me – I spent Christmas at my mother’s house, but today I’m back home where there’s no chocolate, cakes or cookies in the cupboards! Just fresh fruits and protein powder!!! :D
I want a week of squeaky clean eating too!

No weights today: did 45 minutes of cardio (wonderful!!!) – leg day tomorrow!

The only junk food left at my house is cookies my DH likes and I don't - he's in charge of those! :lol: I have a huge salad with me for lunch, complete with some black beans and a hard boiled egg for protein.

We had about 5" of new snow overnight, so while I was shoveling before work, it wasn't enough to be cardio either. Gym stuff is in the car for after work - legs today!

I ordered several books and an exercise DVD on Amazon yesterday. Got the new Thin for Life, and frankly I forget what else, another wl book. Anyway, now I'm anxious for them to come. . .

Edited at 8:50 pm: Legs are done! And another 14 minute mile on the elliptical! Yippee!! I dropped my CD player and was mightly distressed when it wouldn't come on, but on reading the instruction manual :eek: I found that I'd merely hit a switch that locked the buttons so it wouldn't come on inadvertently! Whew.

Hi,
Food binge over. I did 20 mins rowing, 35 mins cycling today, and I gained almost nothing. Snow here also, very unusual, but less than 1 inch and I think it will be gone tomorrow.

rabbit

Good morning –
I did legs today. Finished off the last week of 2004 with 110lbs squats! It’s a new record for me, so I’m very proud of myself.
:strong:
I spent the Christmas weekend with family, but came back home for my real vacation (my family is sort of stressful! ;) ). I’m single and live in a tiny one-woman-apartment with just enough space for me and my books. I moved in here when I went back to school four years ago, and I love my life here. I wish I never had to go back to work out in the real world again – I love being a student, and I have only a year left before I’m done! :D
But anyway. I went to the gym today, and I did legs *and* broke my squat-record. I’m having a really good day so far. For the rest of the day I’m going to play some Sims2 and watch some old season 6 X-files episodes.
Have a nice day everybody! :barbell:

Congratulations Mette :bravo: on ending the year with a record breaking leg session! And welcome back.

The last of the junk food got chucked out this morning. No way do we need 2 pounds of store bought cookies here that no one really likes, but you-know-who would eat them anyway :( So OUT they went. Unfortunately, I can't find my keys and I really don't want to root through the trash cans to look for them. Yesterday when I can home from taking ds to the orthodontist, there was a huge mess in the driveway where all the recyclables had spilled, the neighbors' trash had blown into ours, and stuff was everywhere, including a broken beer bottle. I had my purse, gym bag, keys, the mail and whatever else I could possibly have been holding. I think I plunked it all down on the driveway while ds and I chased protein powder tubs and egg containers down the road :dizzy: , then swept up broken glass. I haven't seen my keys since. I'm really hoping they are not in there with the cookies and broken glass :?:

About 2 months ago (uh, maybe it was longer than that) I pulled a ligament in the back of my knee which has really affected leg workouts. LOL- no kidding. I guess most sane people would stop, but 2 weeks rest didn't seem to help, so I just wrap it and have been lifting lighter. I've been working on upping my bench press instead of setting new squat or leg press records. In the words of my boss and former trainer: "WHAT THE #$^& ARE YOU DOING? YOU WRECKED YOUR KNEE SO NOW YOU'RE TRYING TO WRECK YOUR SHOULDER???" Actually, I'm being verrry careful, but have discovered one of the great truisms of powerlifting: it helps to be heavier. I've lost about 10 pounds in the last 2 months (YAY ME!) and so has my bench press, despite all sorts of training tricks :?: Now I know that I haven't lost 10 pounds of chest muscle, I doubt I have that much. Just goes to show that not all goals are compatible. Lean doesn't necessarily equal strong. Or really strong.

off to do cardio, then go back to work.

Mel

Mel – I loved your post from yesterday! :D This relationship between weight and strength, and how we’re stronger when we’re heavier is important to me. Since I started lifting weights and became stronger, I’ve been wondering what will happen to my muscle strength when I lose more weight. I want to find ways to reduce the loss of strength as much as possible.

I used to be a yo-yo dieter; I did starvation diets and always gained back whatever weight I lost much sooner than I lost it.
This time (since I’m old and wise now :p), I’m doing everything slowly: I eat enough food and I lift weights to build muscles. I lose weight in steps, and maintain the new weight between each weight loss period. I have lost 60lbs so far: the first 35lbs a couple of years ago, and then 25lbs last summer. I have maintained the new weight since late August, and after a few ups and downs the first months, I’ve now stabilized my weight at 183lbs.
I’ve done weightlifting regularly the last six months, and I really love getting stronger!

I plan to lose another 20lbs this summer, and since I enjoy getting stronger I’m wondering what losing weight will do to my strength and muscle mass. Your point that maybe it’s not possible to become both lean and really strong – I suppose the question is: do I want to become lean or really strong?
Right now, I have no idea what the answer to that question will be for me. I know that getting thinner often feels unsafe for me (hence the yo-yo dieting), and I also think that one important reason for why it hasn’t scared me this time, is because I’m getting stronger and building muscles. I know I’ve used fat for protection in the past – so it makes sense that getting physically stronger makes me feel safer and tougher. It’s another result from lifting weights I didn’t expect!
I used to feel big and strong when I was fat, and when I got thinner I felt weaker (and hated that feeling), so building muscles is just what I needed!

And, Mel: I hope you found your keys! :D

Mette: Yes, I found my keys, and I'll come back later and post more about body weight and strength! Don't get too worried about losing your strength!

Mel

I acceded to a time crunch last night and this morning I'm so angry with myself. At six our friends called and invited us for tea at seven. I had an hour ... I was in my sweats and runners ... but I plunked in front of the news instead of doing legs like I'd planned.
A couple of months ago, I would never have allowed that to happen. But I think the junk food chemicals have muddled my brains :dizzy:
I then sat there with my fat head while my friend told me how well I've done and how much she admires my determination :o Huge guilt trip!
Maybe I should have posted this in the maintainers forum because for me it's another lesson in how quickly taking a couple of days off can turn into more than a couple of pounds and control top pantyhose!

Well, even though I dragged myself kicking and screaming (at least in my head) to the gym last night, I had a really good workout. Did an UBWO, and was able to up my weight on several exercises. Then I really didn't want to do any cardio, but there was my DH running away on the treadmill and I thought if he can do 50 minutes running, I certainly can manage 20 on the elliptical even if I don't go fast. I swear there's something to be said about the miracle of upbeat music! I plugged in my CD player and started off, not even paying attention to how fast I was going, but pretty soon the music got to me and I was into "can I still make a 14 minute mile even with this slow start?" I almost did (14:10). :) I guess the message is what Woody Allen says: "90% of life is just showing up." Have a good one.

I absolutely agree about the music. I hate cardio! I get on the elliptical and ages later, it's only 3 minutes! But with music 15 or 20 minutes is easy. I love my new mp3 player!

Hi everyone! Just wanted to introduce myself. After an extensive search, I found this forum and it looks so great! I look forward to meeting everyone and fully participating.

I have been doing BFL for 5 weeks now and I love it. I'm also in the 300 support group here, so that gives you an idea of where I am. I've lost about 22 pounds (scale is wonky) and I feel healthy, energetic and stronger all the time! There is no turning back for this fat chick! :D

I've always loved lifting weights and dabbled in it over the years, but I guess I just hadn't made the decision and commitment to make a permanent change in my life/health/nutrition so I got discouraged and quit. I even used to injure myself because I was impatient, sabatoging any success I might have had.

I really love BFL. It came along at just the right time in my life. Imagine that... I'm so excited about continuing my journey and meeting people here.

Hi Qadira :wave: Welcome to LWL! I'm glad you found us and BFL :) It sounds like you are doing great and it is the right plan for you at the right time. Amazing how sometimes things just click, even when we've known all the components all along, just haven't been able to put it all together previously. Congratulations for the first 5 weeks :high: Are you doing a "by the book" challenge?

Pat-Good for you for showing up :lol: I think some of my best workouts started with a bad attitude and just "showing up". Somehow the gym environment always changes that.

Either I need a gym break, or I've had really great workouts this week (with arms still to do tomorrow)! Every inch of me is sore :o My chest is sore to the touch from "fun with bench pressing", my abs are screaming because we've been inventing new ab tortures at the gym in a spirit of sadistically competitive fitness (try hanging in the "up" position on a pull-up bar and bring your knees up to your elbows for a variation on a hanging crunch :devil: ), my back is remembering muscles it used to have from doing real unassisted pull-ups for the first time in 8 months, and my arms are already sore from all the chest and back exercises. Oh good- tomorrow is arm day :lol:

On the relationship between weight and strength: For true powerlifters, bodyweight really does matter. That's why when you watch Olympic lifting, the athletes are not ripped, lean bodybuilders, but kind of hefty. They train completely differently, doing sets of usually 4-6 reps MAX and resting 2-3 minutes between sets. That's what I'm trying to force myself to do now, but only on bench presses and certain tricep exercises. It's really boring, and doesn't do anything for leaning you out. Powerlifters do not do cardio.
On the other hand, a workout designed to build muscle (hypertrophy) and strength keeps reps in the 8-15 range, using either a pyramid scheme (like BFL), even weight sets, drop sets or combinations. That's how most bodybuilders train. That's how I've been training continuously for the last 4 years, and on and off for about 25. You will get strong training that way. Currently I weigh 127 pounds and here are the weights that I currently use on my "heavy" set of 8-10 reps:
Curls: 25 pound dumbbells (I got hurt using 30's)
Flat Back Deadlifts: 185 lbs (including the bar)
Squats: 225 (including the bar) I used to squat heavier, but am babying my knee.
Bench Press: 115 ( :( I really want to get that up to at least my body weight!)
Unassisted pull-ups: I can do 8 nice ones before they get really ugly.
Pushups: Never just done pushups to failure, but I've done 50 continuously.

I'm not trying to brag here. If Luv2Lift or Nelie were still posting, they'd probably blow me away. So might Karen or Meg. My point is that what makes you strong is consistent training. Yes, I lost a little muscle when I lost bodyweight. It's really hard not to, but I'm still VERY strong for a 127 pound 50 year old woman. Which is why we are all on this forum and in the gym: we don't want to lose muscle when we lose weight!

If you are still reading, Happy New Year!

Mel

Hi Mel, & the other LWL,

Wow, I get very encouraged by reading your post. I am 46, just started with the whole fitness thing about 6 months ago and restarted 3 months ago after the summer holidays. Basically I started working out to release endorphines so my burnout and depression would get better without medicines of which I am sort of scared.
Then when I noticed this really worked I wanted to get the 26 pound off that I gained during the last 10 years of getting 2 children, with a demanding desk type job, burnout gain of 6 pounds etc. So far I have lost the 6 pounds, and I want to loose the next 6 pounds inn the first 3 months of 2005.
Unfortunately I have injured my elbow ligaments (?), so I have to be very carefull in lifting. I used to think that I was too old to get well, but just reading here really lifts my spirits and you are really an example to me that I am not too old and that it is possible to look great, be strong and work out.

Goals? ... hmmm. My arms just need to get stronger. A dip or two would be nice. I want my stomach to look flat no matter what day it is nor what I'm wearing. And I'd like to turn two more people on to resistance training. A 25 lb curl ... hmmm.

I'm all ears! :mouse:

Qadira? I think you're well on your way already! But if you ever need any prodding, come on back here. We'll give you a boost :)


Hey, I'm 44! What's old? I once knew a 92 y o who cut her own lawn.

Hello Gang :wave: Just a quick hello to all and the newbie Qadira "WE LUVS NEWBIES HERE!!" :dance:...

My 2005 goal would be to run a 10K in less than an hour, either in a race or on my own... To join the gym's running group, who keep asking me to join them, I feel intimidated by them, I have no idea why :shrug: ... I just want to put my stoopid insecurity asside and "do it" ... Keep working out, of course, and eating healthy and posting here :D ...

Gotta go, expecting a couple of friends in a few minutes... Oh, and BTW I'm almost 48! So we're a bunch of pretty healthy older wimin folk aren't we?? :cp:

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!!! TTFN :wave:

Hi all,
Just a quick message to say welcome to Qadira and happy new year to everyone. I'm still on vacation until tomorrow, checking my messages @ a cybercafe :) I have no idea how the scale will turn out, probably not so great, but tomorrow's another year. ;) See y'all in 2005.

Happy New Year LWL!!!
 

Welcome Qadira and 4rabbit! :wave:

Mel, thank you for your explanation around weight and strength – and on the difference between building strength (powerlifting) and building muscle & strength.
I’m so impressed with your stats – and you truly are an inspiration – seeing how strong you are: it makes me want to become that strong too! So thanks for posting it!

artmaker – writing down weightlifting goals for 2005 is a great idea. I do have goals for 2005, and I think I’ll even put them in my signature so that I can see them every day!
Just like Qadira, I’m adding that I want to do a single pull-up too! :D

My 2005 Weightlifting Goals are:
1) Lift weights 3 times every week in 2005
2) Squat my body weight
3) Do one perfect unassisted pull-up

As for the last week of 2004, I did: 110lbs at squats, 75lbs at bench press, 25lbs dumbbells at biceps curls, and nowhere close to an unassisted pull-up.
I want to bench press my body weight too – but I think that will be a goal for 2006! :p

Wish you all a happy and strong 2005!

Good morning '05 everyone!

I'm not understanding the pull-up thing. How low do you have to start? How high do you have to go? Maybe I'll go visit Krista.

Mornin' Ilene. Intimidation must be a relative thing. I'm intimidated by folks who run at all :)

I have another question, it's about Beth Horns. What's the backward motion? Shoulder blades together?

I researched pull-ups yesterday. I had my husband hang me up there and he was going to count. I read that you start with 30 seconds then lower and begin again. No 30 seconds here. Maybe 2 ... Guess I'll have to work on that.

On a happier note ... I can do 3 'real' push ups! I live with men who can do several with ease. They giggle while I do knees ones. So I tried, and was very happy with my three.

Hi ,

Just checking in as a part of my new years resolution. I'm not lifting this week because of the tennis elbow, but I want to increase the cardio to get rid of the 1 pound I gained at christmas & new year.

I did 15 mins of rowing, 40 mins stationary bike & 5 mins stretching and jogging in place.
Maybe I can up the jogging in place a bit to get some more endurance and gradually get into running.

God luck to all the LWL with the new years resolutions,

4rabbit