OneMore's Training Log

[OneMore]

Starting stats:
Start Date: June 13th, 2009
Height: 5'4"/162 cm
Weight: 149 lbs/67.5 kg
Bodyfat: 29.6% ("BodySpex" gym scale)
Waist: 27.5" / 70cm
Female
Age: 25

Current Goals:
24% body fat
3 chin-ups

History:
Best fitness: 125lbs/56.7kg at 13% body fat (professionally tested)
Worst fitness: 175lbs/79kg at ?? body fat

Week 1 progress:
Jun, 13, 2009 - Workout A
-Went to the gym around noon with the husband and took turns doing reps. Had a lot of fun this way.
Squat - 45 lbs // reps 5x5 - Felt really easy
Bench Press - 45 lbs // reps 5c5 - Again, felt easy
Inverted Row (bent knees) - max = 5 sloppy ones - will keep track of actual reps per set next time
Push Ups (on knees) - 23, 18, 14 - felt good about this
Reverse Crunch - 12, 12, 12 - held onto a fixed object, tried to do these as slowly as possible
Cardio: Treadmill- 20 minutes at 6mph
Stretching: 5 minutes

Jun 14, 2009 - 1 hour belly dancing, 40 minute run with the dogs

Jun, 15, 2009 - Workout B
-Went to the gym after work solo. Was anticipating trouble with the pull-ups...
Warm-up Squats: body weight // reps 3x5
Squat - 50 lbs // reps 5x5
Overhead Press - 45 lbs // reps 5,5,4,3,4 - the first two were easy, then my right arm just wasn't cooperating
Deadlifts - 85 lbs // 1x5 - wasn't sure on the gym's policy on deadlifts, so I did them on the rack with the side bars
Pull-ups - 3x5 (1/2 descending neutral grip things)... I couldn't even get a chin-up started! Maybe next time..
Prone Bridges - 3x30sec - This felt pretty easy.
Cardio: Elliptical- 5 minutes of warm up, plus 5x (1 min sprint, 4 min rest), 5 minutes cool down = 35 minutes total
Stretching: 5 minutes

Jun 16, 2009 - 1 hour belly dancing

Jun, 17, 2009 - Workout A
-Holy Crap! My arms and my shoulders hurt so bad from the descending chin-ups! I almost skipped the gym but I read on the forum that it would be better to push through it. Wow, was it right. The pain went away as I started hitting the weights. The pain came back soon after, but it wasn't as bad as before the workout.
Warm-up Squats: body weight // reps 3x5
Squat - 55 lbs // reps 5x5 - Noticed it was a lot harder when not putting the bar down between sets...oops
Bench Press - 50 lbs // reps 5x5 - This was easy again, but I'm going to stick to the schedule
Inverted Row (bent knees) - 6,5,5 - I was so excited to get 6 *good* inverted rows despite being so sore earlier!
Push ups (real ones) - 5,5,4 - wow, my numbers dropped, but I'm glad I can do real push-ups now.
Reverse Crunch - 12, 12, 12 - held onto a fixed object, tried to do these as slowly as possible
Cardio: Elliptical- 5 minutes of warm up, plus 5x (1 min sprint, 4 min rest), 5 minutes cool down = 35 minutes total
Stretching: 3 minutes (oops, rushed)

Jun, 18, 2009 - Day off
Jun, 19, 2009 - Day off

Questions:
The prone bridges felt pretty easy. I was used to doing them for 60 seconds at a time before starting the program.. Should I move up to 3x60sec, or should I change the exercise instead; adding elevation to the feet, or doing side to side planks?

[Barry06GT]

Hi OneMore,

Great numbers on the push ups! My wife also started out on her knees, and nor she can kick my butt in butch push ups (and she looks better that I do doing them, must be a women thing).

Your squat weight is progressing very well. Enjoy the squat while it is still not too heavy, the squat is a tough mistress!

Regarding the prone bridge, if it is too easy, as it was for me, it might be that you are not doing it correctly. I asked for help, and Kathy posted a video on my log that shows how to do it. You have to tighten everything up. Now I shake like a cold dog after 30 sec. It is fine to make it 60 sec, or even longer. You will find that as you progress on the program, core strength is going to become very important, so adding planks is fine, my wife and I are thinking about adding planks or this this called Bird dog, opposite leg and arm off floor.

You didn't say why you went to the gym solo. Did hubby ditch the gym? My wife Bernice and I keep each other motivated so we don't miss too many days.

All in all you are doing great! Give it time. StrongLifts is a long marathon, not a sprint.

.

[OneMore]

Thanks for the encouraging words Barry!
I actually started to feel the planks more on Week 2. I'm pretty sure I'm doing them the proper way but I had been doing plank exercises for a while as part of a previous routine and the aerobics I do on my "off" days are core-intense. The gym I go to has a room that has mirrors down to the floor too so I'm always checking to make sure my plank isn't slowly turning into a pyramid, haha.

My husband can't make it to the gym with me all the time. We have a home gym, but sadly no room for a rack and bench. We do both have these Polar Fitness watches that track calories burned (per workout and per week), which is really motivating now that he's turned it into a competition. I'm going to stick with stronglifts though, I'm really liking the way it's starting to shape my body already!

[OneMore]

Week 2 progress:
Jun, 20, 2009 - Workout B
- Went to the gym with the husband again. Hitting the gym around/after noon seems to be the best time to go on Saturday.
Warm-up Squats: body weight // reps 3x5
Squat - 60 lbs // reps 5x5
Overhead Press - 45 lbs // reps 5x5 - I did it this time! Waiting a little more between sets definitely helps. I think I was a little too eager the first time I attempted these. We had to move from the inside to the outside of the rack because my husband kept hitting the top cross bars inside the rack.
Deadlifts (with rack bars) 90lbs 1x5 - For some reason, these scare me a little every time I do them. I think it's because it's so easy to do them "wrong" and hurt yourself. I find out they're not so bad once I do my 5 reps.
Chin Ups (downward halves) // 5,5,6 - I was worried about these because the last time I did them, I ended up being so sore. They weren't so bad this time. Even though I'm only doing downward halves, I feel like I'm getting better at them.
Prone Bridges - 60, 60, 40 -Felt some real work doing the first two for 60 seconds. I could only do the third set at 40 seconds, but I feel like I did well.
Cardio: Elliptical- 20 minutes, even pace.
Stretching: 5 minutes

Jun 21, 2009 - Day off

Jun, 22, 2009 - Workout A
-Wow, the gym was REALLY busy today. Everyone must be getting ready for their summer "beach bods". Tried to jump in on equipment as soon as it was available
Warm-up Squats: body weight // reps 3x5
Squat - 65 lbs // reps 5x5
Bench Press - 55 lbs // reps 5x5 - There was a camp set up around the bench press, so it was difficult to jump in. The weight felt fairly easy.
Inverted Row (bent knees) - 7,5,6 - These get funny looks from other people at the gym, but I like them!
Push ups (real ones) - 9,6,7 - Improvement!
Reverse Crunch - 3x12 - Held onto a fixed object again. Tried to do these slowly.
Cardio: Elliptical- 5 minutes of warm up, plus 5x (1 min sprint, 4 min rest), 5 minutes cool down = 35 minutes total
Stretching: 3 minutes (had to run off and do something after the gym)[/i]

Jun 23, 2009 - 1 hour belly dancing (had a difficult time... stress = chest pain = elevated heart rate + bad)
Jun 24, 2009 -- This is normally my third workout day, but I was still having stress-related chest pain (from holding my breath) and didn't think it would be good to work through it. Took the day off to relax and get better.

Jun, 25, 2009 - Workout B
-Taking the extra day off helped! I was able to get a decent night's sleep the night before and the gym wasn't nearly as busy as it was on Monday. I'm thinking everyone else might be working out Mon/Wed as well...
Warm-up Squats: body weight // reps 3x5
Squat - 70 lbs // reps 5x5
Overhead Press - 50 lbs // reps 5x5 - I'm glad I was able to do all of my reps. I made sure to take enough time in between sets.
Deadlifts (with rack bars) 95lbs 1x5
Chin Ups (downward halves) 5,5,5 - I toyed around with pulling myself up on the first rep, but I'm not ready for real chin ups yet. Maybe by week 5.
Prone Bridges - 60,30,30 - Still recovering from the chest pain; these were a little more difficult to do.
Stretching: 5 minutes

Jun, 26, 2009 - Day off

Overview:
*I was a bit disappointed with the stress issues affecting my performance, but something like that is always going to come up. I still fit in all three stronglifts workouts, and made some progress, which is still good!
*I was really glad to get 5x5 on the Overhead Press, and do it both times this week!
*I might have to change the time I go to the gym. After work on Monday and Wednesday seems to be when everyone else is going. Taking a late lunch might end up being a better time to go. Saturday over lunch is great!
*Despite having a few too many "bad" meals, I'm already seeing a change in my shape. I'm getting less "pear"shaped, but a little more "barrel" shaped. I'm starting to get used to less bread/carbs and I don't feel as tired as I was over week 1.

[OneMore]

Week 3 progress:
Jun, 27, 2009 - Workout A
Warm up - Body-weight squats // reps 3x5
Squat - 75 lbs // reps 5x5 - These weren't too bad yet. I think I get more tired holding the bar than doing the actual squat
Bench Press - 60 lbs // reps 5x5 - Oh, these are getting wobbly now!
Inverted Row (bent knees) 4, 5, 5 - Worse than last week, but the Bench Press was quite a bit more difficult
Push Ups (on knees) - 9, 9, 8 - felt good about these
Reverse Crunch - 12, 12, 12 - held onto a fixed object
Cardio: 40 minutes cardio intervals (elliptical)
Stretching: 5 minutes

Jun, 28, 2009 - 1 hour belly dancing

Jun, 29, 2009 - Workout B
Warm-up Squats: body weight // reps 3x5
Squat - 80 lbs // reps 5x5
Overhead Press - 55 lbs // reps 5x5
Deadlifts (with rack bars) - 100 lbs // 1x5
Pull-ups (descending 1/2's) - 5,5,3
Prone Bridges - 3x60sec - I'm getting a good burn doing these for 60 seconds. Thinking about posting a video or photo just to make sure my form is alright.
Cardio: Elliptical- 5 minutes of warm up, plus 5x (1 min sprint, 4 min rest), 5 minutes cool down = 35 minutes total
Stretching: 5 minutes

Jun, 30, 2009 - Day off, had to work late

July, 1, 2009 - 40 minutes cardio (elliptical) at home

July, 2, 2009 - Day off, another late day at work

July, 3, 2009 - Workout A
-This workout was really late, unfortunately. Had the day off from work today though, so I was able to go to the gym and take my time.
Warm up - Body-weight squats // reps 3x5
Squat - 85 lbs // reps 5x5 - Definitely starting to feel the work on these now.
Bench Press - 65 lbs // reps 5x5 - Worried about these because they were getting difficult last time
Inverted Row (bent knees) - 7, 7, 7 - I pushed to beat my last reps
Push ups (real ones) - 10, 8, 5 - Again, the goal was to try and beat my last numbers
Reverse Crunch - 12, 12, 12 - held onto a fixed object, tried to do a few of these barely holding on
Cardio: Elliptical- 60 minutes on the elliptical, medium resistance (alternating between 3 minutes going forward, 2 minutes going backward)
Stretching: 8 minutes

Overall: This was a really bad week due to the lack of time. Some of the weights are really catching up to me now too. Despite having a bad week (food and exercise) I haven't rebounded too much on my weight or lost too much strength. I'll have to be more focused this upcoming week.

[Barry06GT]

Belly dancing?! What a fun way to get your cardio in! And good core work at that.

Do you do it with a group?

I had dinner at a Greek place and a belly dancer was entertaining, I was watching her thinking, wow, that really takes muscle control, flexibility, and stamina.

Good numbers on the weights!

Congratulations on the workout.

.

[OneMore]

Hey Barry,

Belly dancing is a lot of fun and I found that it's also great rehab for your back if you're stuck sitting at a desk all day. The other bonus of taking a dance class is that it also helps you be mindful of your posture and form, which really helps out with other kinds of exercise (including stronglifts!).

I was taking classes/lessons up to 5x's a week, but I went back to going twice a week and doing other kinds of exercise the other days.

We love going out every once in a while to restaurants that have belly dancing. It's so entertaining to watch! (And the food is usually fantastic as well.)

Thanks for the encouraging words!

[OneMore]

Week 4 Progress
July, 4, 2009 - Gym was closed, day off

July, 5, 2009 - Workout B
Warm-up Squats: body weight // reps 3x5
Squat - 90 lbs // reps 5x5
Overhead Press - 60 lbs // reps 5, 5, 5, 5, 4 - Only made it halfway up on the last rep. It seems like this is my second weakest exercise (besides the curl-ups).
Deadlifts (with rack bars) 105 lbs // reps 1x5
Chin Ups (downward halves) // 3, 3, 2 - Definitely still working on these. I don't feel like I'm making any progress though.
Prone Bridges - 60, 60, 60 - Getting better at these already.
Cardio: Elliptical- 60 minutes
Stretching: 5 minutes

July, 6, 2009 - Day off

July, 7, 2009 - Workout A
--Skipped my normal dance class because I was stuck at work late and did my stronglifts workout instead
Warm-up Squats: body weight // reps 2x5, 1x10 (got distracted on the last set)
Squat - 95 lbs // reps 5x5 - I'm looking forward to hitting 100 lbs on my next workout!
Bench Press - 70 lbs // reps 5x5 - Oh boy, I made it through this set, but I don't think I'll be able to get 5x5 on the next one. We'll see.
Inverted Row (bent knees) - 5, 5, 3 - The only spot that was available to do these, ironically, was the bench press bench. I got some funny looks doing these on a bench.
Push ups (real ones) - 12, 10, 4 - I tried to beat my last numbers and it felt like I had nothing left for the last set. I think I'll try working up to 3x12 next time instead of blowing all of my energy on the first set.
Reverse Crunch - 3x12 - Held onto a fixed object again. Some random woman at the gym seemed annoyed that I was doing these (even though I was completely out of the way and someone else was doing the same exercise nearby). She almost stepped on me on purpose. Some people are just jerks I guess.
Cardio: Treadmill at 6.0mph pace for 15 minutes

July, 8, 2009 - Day off
July, 9, 2009 - Cardio: 35 minutes on the elliptical at home. Couldn't get to the gym, Husband wanted to go out to eat right after work
July, 10, 2009 - Was planning on hitting the gym after work, but got stuck spending 2 hours picking up my car from the shop instead.

Overall
*It seems like my weeks are getting progressively worse. The gym was closed on Saturday which messed up my Sat, Mon, Tues schedule, and then my car was in the shop from Mon-Fri, as well as a couple of last minute late nights at work came up.
*Making the time to exercise doesn't seem too difficult, the hardest part is *not* working out on consecutive days to catch up if something comes up on a workout day.
*I decided to just let the last workout slide so I could get back on schedule, without having to worry about any consecutive-day conflicts. I will be shifting my excel sheet over one workout.

[XCouchPotato]

Sounds like you had a good week despite the problems with scheduling. We always try for Mon, Wed, and Fri. It's tight when we have car club meetings to go to but we still try to workout ahead of times. Life just doesn't always play fair!

[Kathy]

Hi OneMore!

Nice progress on all your lifts and I'll bet you get the 60lbs OHP on your next workout - you're so close!!

I think you are doing a great job getting all your workouts in. It does get tough as life frequently gets in the way and I am frequently tempted to "just skip this one".

I was chuckling at your comment about the gym being busy on Mondays. Mine is the same way, I figure everyone feels "guilty" about all the eating and drinking over the weekend (I know I do ). Today, I was also the oldest one in the crowded weight room (not unusual since I'm 41).

Belly dancing sounds challenging and so much fun!! Is that a class offerred at your gym?

If you wanted to make the bridges more challenging, you could do them one legged. Lift one leg off the floor a few inches and squeeze your glutes. You could put both feet up on a medicine and balance or you could put weight plates on your upper or lower back. Or do one legged, balancing one a med ball w/plates on your back (just kidding on this one but does make me think about trying it)! I had been doing these before SL so I also needed some more challenging ways to do them.

Happy Lifting!
Kathy

[OneMore]

Hey XCouchPotato,
I think everyone else at my gym does Mon/Wed/Friday as well, haha. It's been so busy there ever since our summer weather hit. I know Friday is almost always a wash for me so I shifted my schedule up to Sat/Mon/Tues. It's like I have the gym to myself on Saturday!
I think this week will be a whole lot better though since there won't be holidays, car problems and late work nights to work around (hopefully!).

I also think it's great that you and your husband work out together. My husband's schedule is so erratic so he works out as soon as he gets up in the morning to get it out of the way. For me, it's easier for me to hit the gym in the afternoon/evening. How many weeks/months have you two been on the program?

[XCouchPotato]

Hey XCouchPotato,
I also think it's great that you and your husband work out together. My husband's schedule is so erratic so he works out as soon as he gets up in the morning to get it out of the way. For me, it's easier for me to hit the gym in the afternoon/evening. How many weeks/months have you two been on the program?

Well working out with a spouse can be both good and bad but so far it has been mostly a positive experience. Looking back in my log, we have been doing SL since the last week of April, so about 2.5 months. Before that we did mostly a bodybuilding type routine without muich direction to it. I like SL because I have a definate routine with direction about when to increase and when to decrease weigths. Also, it's much shorter than our old routine.

[OneMore]

Hey Kathy!

Thanks for the comments!

Aside from the chin-ups, I think if I miss a rep or two, it's almost always there the next time I do that move. I was noticing on the OHP and the BP that I have a "lazy arm", which makes me miss that last rep. This week I'm adding Shoulder Dislocation exercises to try to get both of my arms to work evenly. It really made it obvious which arm was slacking so I'm definitely going to keep doing those!

I really like working out so it's a real bummer when I have a bad week. Every once in a while I'll have a day where I go "I don't want to do this", and while I'm getting ready and heading over to the gym I'm talking myself out of going right up until I get there and I say "I'm here, I might as well do it". Haha, it's the same thing with my cardio; I'm always thinking "You can do 10 more minutes" and then my 20 minute session ends up turning into an hour.

I can't believe you would be the oldest one in the weight room. I think there are two women that go to my gym regularly that I've seen that are a bit older and they spend most of their time over by the heavy weights. At first glance they're both very petite, but then they start lifting really heavy weights and you see how toned and strong they actually are. It's very inspiring.

Belly dancing is definitely a lot of fun (and addicting!). The only conflict that I'm having between taking those classes and Stronglifts now is that there's less of me that shakes already! My gym offers it, which is how I found out about the gym in the first place. They have all kinds of classes from standard aerobics to ballroom/latin dancing and pilates with machines.

One legged bridges sound really interesting. I tried doing (two-legged) bridges before with little exercise pods, but they kept folding over and rolling out from under my feet. I think I'll try doing the lifted leg planks with 30 seconds each side instead of doing the 60 second ones. Thanks!

(I'm so glad there's so many women on this site by the way!)

[XCouchPotato]

I was noticing on the OHP and the BP that I have a "lazy arm", which makes me miss that last rep. This week I'm adding Shoulder Dislocation exercises to try to get both of my arms to work evenly. It really made it obvious which arm was slacking so I'm definitely going to keep doing those!

Hi OneMore:

I would be intersted to find out how the Shoulder Displocation exercises go for you.

Another thing you can try is to do curls with dumbells. Start out with the same weight on each side and do both sides simultaneously, your weaker side will either prove harder or not be there at all. Adjust the weight to your weaker side then concentrate on bringing both dumbells up and down at the same rate. This should help. I had a stroke a number of years back which left my left side weaker than my right and I did this for a while when I first started back at the Gym again. It really helped me to both build up the weaker side and to learn to coordinate my two sides.

[OneMore]

Here we go:
Week 5 Progress:

July, 11, 2009 - Workout B
Warm Up:
3x10 Shoulder Dislocations
3x5 Body Weight Squats
Squat:
100 lbs - Reps 5x5
-I'm proud of hitting 100 lbs on the squats, but they're starting to get pretty hard now.
Overhead Press:
60 lbs - Reps 5x5
-I barely got through these, though making really funny noises helped get the bar up there for all 5!
Deadlifts:
110 lbs - Reps 1x5
-These are with the rack side bars at the lowest setting. I think I somehow managed to get a bruise on my shin from this today.
Chin-ups:
Downward 1/2's - Reps 3x3
-I'm not feeling any progress whatsoever with these unfortunately.
Prone Bridges:
3 x 60 seconds
-I'm thinking my lower abdominal muscles are probably the weakest out of my core. On the last 10 seconds of my third set, my pelvis just gives out and rotates butt-out. I'm still able to hold myself up and finish the last 10 seconds, but it definitely feels like that's the only part that fails.
Cardio:
15 minutes treadmill @ 6mph
20 minutes on the elliptical
10x9 burpees-without-the-pushup
-(Basically I alternated between jumps and the push-up start position. My push-ups aren't that strong yet, and I actually forgot that they were a part of burpees! oops!)
Stretching:
5 minutes

July, 12, 2009 - 1 hour Belly Dancing

July, 13, 2009 - Workout A
-Went to the gym around 1:00pm to avoid the lunch and post-work rushes.
Warm Up:
3x10 Shoulder Dislocations
3x5 Body Weight Squats
Squat:
105 lbs - Reps 5x5
-Okay, these are DEFINITELY heavy now. I could feel the fibers in my leg muscles really fighting to do this, and I couldn't dip as low as I normally do on the squats.
Bench Press:
75 lbs - Reps 5x5
-I had to sneak in and do these. I think some guys consider the bench press station their "home away from home".
Inverted Row:
Reps 8, 8, 6
-Did these with bent knees. I think once I can get 3x10, I'll move to the straight-leg variety.
Push-ups:
Reps 10, 10, 10
-Now to go for 11!
Reverse Crunch:
Reps 15, 15, 15
-Still did these while holding onto a fixed object.
Cardio: Zero
Stretching: Zero



July, 14, 2009 - Workout B
Warm Up:
3x10 Shoulder Dislocations
3x5 Body Weight Squats
Squat:
110? lbs - Reps 5x5
-There was some guy who overloaded weights on the (only) power rack, and he kept wandering around the gym between his sets. I ended up stuck having to use a Smith Machine, and I guessed that the bar weighed about 5 lbs (it wasn't noted anywhere). So, I ended up throwing on 105 lbs in these squats plus whatever the bar weighs. I really didn't like using this machine. It felt really unnatural, and it was difficult to get into the proper position underneath the bar.
These squats felt really heavy, and it didn't help at all that I constantly felt like I wasn't in the right spot underneath the bar.
Overhead Press:
65 lbs - Reps 5, 5, 4, 5, 4
-The power rack finally freed up. These were incredibly hard to do. I kind of felt all eyes on me in the gym since the squats so I felt pretty bad failing on two sets.
Deadlifts:
115 lbs - Reps 1x5
-With the power rack side bars. It felt kind of cool to have moved up to the 35lb plates for something. All of the guys at the gym seem addicted to throwing the 45lb plates on all of the bars and leaving them there. I might get up to those on my squats or deadlifts in the next couple of weeks.
Chin-ups:
Reps 10 x 1*
-*Okay I cheated here! I still can't budge from the bottom on the chin-ups, so I used the "assistance" step. I found out that the lightest weight that I can do a chin-up with is the 10 plate (52 lbs) and that's even with a jump start!
Prone Bridges:
One-legged; 3 x 30 seconds right leg raised, 3 x 30 seconds left leg raised
-I tried these one-legged on Kathy's suggestion and... they're a lot of fun! I really feel it in the leg I have raised, and in my (side abs?) muscles. I want to see if I can do 40 seconds of these on the first set the next time I do these.
Cardio: Zero
Stretching: Zero

July, 16, 2009 - Day Off
July, 17, 2009 - Day Off

Overview
*Ahh... I finally got back to having a good week (aside from a little less cardio than I normally do). I was definitely much more sore this week though, so the extra time off probably isn't hurting anything.
*I think I might have overdone my squat weight on Wednesday using the Smith Machine if the bar actually weighs more than 5 lbs. These were very very difficult for me to do. I'm hoping that I did under-estimate the bar weight so that my next proper power-rack squats aren't feeling worse.
*Wednesday over lunch probably isn't a good time to hit the gym. I felt like too many people were staring at me, and even though there weren't that many people there, it was hard to get to the equipment that I wanted to use.
*I'm lifting in socks now. I had bought a pair of chucks to use, but they actually feel a little awkward to be walking around in.
*The chin-ups... I know it's bad form to use the assistance step, but right now I'm kind of feeling like getting an unassisted chin-up is going to be impossible doing just the downward 1/2's.
*I like doing the shoulder dislocation moves. I think it freaks people out a little (it freaked me out when I first saw it too!), but I really feel the stretch in my chest and in between my shoulders.
*I started out the week thinking my chest was looking wider. I did a waist measurement and didn't find any change there; I'm still at 28 inches. Then on a whim I decided to measure my ribcage and found out that I had actually lost 2 inches there! My shoulders aren't getting wider, I'm actually getting smaller. My arms (and butt) are shaping up a lot more as well.

Questions:
What would you consider a "failed" rep on a squat? When I started out, I could go a little below thighs parallel with the floor, and up until the Smith Machine, I was still getting parallel or at least really close to it. I have a really short torso (lost 4 inches somewhere in my scoliosis), so the Smith Machine felt incredibly awkward and I was only able to sit back probably about 45 degrees without curling my spine, lifting my heels or having my knees go behind my ankles. Is that a "failed" rep?

I'm going to try getting one of those doorway pull-up bars, but I'm not sure I'm strong enough for those even with a band. Should I try to do more inverted rows/push-ups on my "resting" days so the strength to start from the bottom is there?

Whenever I try to do reverse crunches while holding onto something that's not bolted down, I end up inching down towards my feet on each rep. Does this mean I'm rolling too far up on these or coming down the wrong way? I'd like to move onto not holding a fixed object, but I'm afraid I'll end up doing laps around the room dragging a weight around after me while doing these, haha.