Rach's Training Log

[Rach]

Hello everyone!

I thought I'd start posting my training log here since it looks like a great way to get feedback and motivation! I started SL about 4 weeks ago, right at the beginning of the semester, after being inspired by my awesome sister (Joda on this forum) who has been working out and getting totally in shape with the program. I had been doing some working out at the gym for the month before I started SL, doing squats and a variety of things with dumbells, but I like the feel of SL, it seems so totally comprehensive, yet really not very complicated at all. I love the fact that I don't have to use any machines, and how each exercise feels like much more than one single muscle is being worked. I used to use machines, but now that I've started with the free weights, I can't imagine going back.

So! My current stats:

Female, 20 yrs, college junior
Height: 5' 7"
Wt: 174 lbs
Bodyfat: unknown? will be getting a caliper thingy soon.

Goals: I've never been totally convinced that I like the way I look, but I always sort of pretended to myself that I was sort of in shape, since my body type is such that I tend to gain weight pretty evenly, which (I think) makes me appear pretty proportional, even if I really have more fat hanging around than needs to be. I've never been a stick, and I'm sure I'll never will be (thankfully!), but I think I have the potential to be really in shape. So, back to the goals. I'd like to look good, and be able to confidently tell myself that I really do look good. I'm not interested in "losing weight" per se, or dropping pants sizes, but I want to lower my bodyfat and build muscle. I'd also like to get in better shape for fencing, my sport of choice. I'd like to justify my position of captain of the fencing club by at least being in shape enough that I don't fence one bout and get too tired to do more.

Strength stats so far: (lbs)

Squat: 5x5x125
Deadlift: 1x5x135
Bench: 5x5x85
Overhead: 5x5x55
Inverse row: 3x15 with knees bent
Pullup/Chinup: no real ones yet, working on negatives

I've been working out every other day, rather than choosing three days a week. I just like the regularity of alternating days. It's possible that it'll be too much as I start using heavier weights, but as it is, I haven't had any problems. I can either feel good because I went to the gym today, or feel good because I can still feel my workout from yesterday, and get to go again tomorrow!

I'll post yesterday's workout now:

Squat: 1x5x45, 2x5x65, 2x5x85, 2x5x95, 5x5x125, 3x5x135
Bench: 2x5x45, 2x5x65, 5x5x85 (PR?)
Inverse row: 3x15
Pushup: 3x15
Reverse Crunch: 3x15

My squat has been really regularly going up since I started- I only have had to deload once at 95 lbs, and after adjusting my form to a wider stance with the low-bar position (advice from a trainer I met at the gym), I've been feeling great on it. I stuck the three sets at 135 on after doing my 5x5 yesterday because I impatiently wanted to put the big 45 lb plates on for the first time, and I was still feeling really strong. I felt good on it too, but I stopped after 3 sets so I wouldn't be overdoing it. I think I could have done 5x5 though. I think I'll do that next time - it's a jump of 10 lbs instead of 5 but it feels really solid, I hope that's ok. I'll just be careful to watch my form.

Bench felt much stronger than last time, where I couldn't get 5 on any of my sets, and had to recruit my boyfriend's help quite a number of times to get the bar back up on the pins. I didn't have a spotter yesterday, so I was a little nervous about trying for 85, but was much stronger than I had been last time, and did the first 3 sets solidly. The reason for the dubious PR is that I think I cheated a little on the last sets by not touching the bar to my chest. Maybe I should try the same weight again next time and make sure I really do it for real.

Starting next time I'm going to do inverse rows with my legs straight. Alternatively, I might try out some Barbell Rows. Pushups have been doing well, but like on the bench press, I might be cheating a little by not going down all the way. I think I'll stick with 3x15 till I really convince myself I'm doing it.

Anyway, I'm really excited about all this working out! I already feel more confident in myself and am pretty sure that my arms and legs are more defined than they used to be. I'm looking forward to being in shape!

-R

[Mouse]

Impressive start Rach.
Don't really see an issue with training every other day as long as you're good for sleep and food.
Good lifting and welcome to the forum.

[Kathy]

Hi Rach and great start on SL! I look forward to following your progress, your lifts are impressive already.

[atypical1]

Welcome to the board and good luck with your goals! Fencing? You don't hear about that sport too often now do you?

james

[Rach]

Thanks everyone who dropped by! I'm looking forward to looking at all of your logs, too!

Today's workout:
Squat: 2x5x45, 2x5x65, 2x5x85, 1x5x115, 5x5x135
Press: 2x5x45, 60: 4/3/3/3/4
Deadlift: 1x5x111, 2x5x140
Pullup: 4 decline
Bridge: 3x30s

The squats were getting hard towards the end, but still felt pretty good! I do best when I think about driving from my heels, looking up, and breathing out hard. Also, it seems that the wider my stance, the more solid I feel. Overhead press is really killer though. This was my second attempt at 60 lbs, and not much better than last time, when I did 3/5/4/3 (don't know where my last set went). I have a feeling my form might not be great- last time I tweaked my neck a bit during the OHP, which left my neck hurting for the next day and a half whenever I turned it to the right, and today my right shoulder got a little funny towards the end, and is pretty sore right now.

I've been doing a wide stance for deadlifts with a mixed grip which feels pretty good. I'm not sure if I should warm up more on these or not- I'm already warmed up from the squats I guess. For decline pullups, I tried to go down as slowly as possible, which means the first one was about 3 seconds, and they got quicker and quicker. The declines feel better than using the assisted pullup machine, but a little hard to track whether or not I'm getting better at them. I could tell the first one was much better than it had ever been though, I went much slower than any other time. After one rep though, I was pretty tired out.

I'm looking forward to nailing that 85 lb bench on Monday!

-R

[mpetry]

what do you fence? I used to fence sabre back in high school but kind of fell out of it. I wish I had known about squatting back then! It would have made things easier on my legs.

Good luck with your goals.

[Rach]

I fence mainly epee right now. Haven't done much sabre, but I'd like to give it a try sometime. I'm glad I found out about squatting now, it's already started helping my stamina a lot!

R

[Rach]

I didn't have time to post Tuesday's workout till now, so I'll do Tuesday and today's!

Tuesday, 9/29

Squat: 2x5x45, 2x5x65, 2x5x85, 2x5x100, 1x5x115, 5x5x140
Bench: 2x5x45, 2x5x65, 5x5x85 for real this time!
Inverse Rows: 10/12
Pushups: 15
Reverse Crunch: 2x12

I worked out late at night Tuesday, which meant Security came and kicked me out, so I didn't finish my bodyweight exercises. Annoying. But I had a good day with the squats and bench. I was particularly happy about bench press, because last time I sort of did the 5x5, but I am pretty sure I cheated and didn't touch my chest. This time though, it was really solid, and I felt much stronger. Yay! My shoulder (still sore from whatever happened last time I did the Press) hurt a little during bench, but it didn't feel any worse with the heavy sets than the light ones, and also didn't feel any worse after working out than it did before. So I take that as a sign that it's ok to keep going.

Today, Thursday, 10/1

Squat: 2x5x45, 2x5x75, 2x5x95, 1x5x115, 5x5x145
Deadlift: 1x5x89, 1x5x111, 1x5x145
Bear Complex: 1x7x45, 4x7x50 (super fun)
Pullup: 5 declines
Bridge: 3x30

Today I got to the gym and someone had left piles of chalk all over the squat rack, bar, and bench that was by it. Shame! I don't even know if there's a rule about chalk or not at our gym (most people don't even use the squat rack) but it seems like bad form to leave it all messy! Bah!

Squats are starting to get heavy! I'm getting closer and closer to my bodyweight, which makes me happy. Just 30 lbs to go! They still feel really good, too, I haven't had to deload. Definitely heavy, but definitely solid. Because my shoulder still feels tweaky, I decided to skip overhead press but since I really wanted to try the Bear Complex, I did that instead. The lighter weight felt fine on my shoulder so that's good. I think the Bear is my new favorite though! I felt so super cool doing it! It's really tiring, but it feels really good to get cardio in with the weights. I seem to recall something in the Stronglifts E-book mentioning that you can do complexes like the Bear on your off days- I wonder if that's right, or if I can do it right after my workout. I really want to work it in somewhere, but I'm not sure where!

The negative pullups have been getting better and better- today my first one was a good 5 second count on the decline, and maybe half a second shorter each time after that. I still feel nowhere close to being able to do one real one, but I must be getting stronger if I can go that much slower. Also, interestingly, my Squats have somehow caught up to my Deadlifts, so I'm neck and neck on those two exercises. I think most people can deadlift more than they can squat though, I wonder if that'll just happen eventually when I stall on Squats but not on Deadlift. As of now, Squat goes up 10 to each Deadlift going up 5...

I'm so psyched about the gym all the time now! It's just so cool when one week you absolutely can not lift something no matter how hard you try, and the next week you can just do it. So cool.

[luco]

Impressive weights! You sound very motivated so I'm sure you'll reach your goals quick enough.
There's no problem doing cardio on your off-days and I reckon the bear is well suited for it.
Nothing wrong with having your squat and deadlift on the same level either. Long as the weights go up you should be happy about it. Good luck with your log and training!

[XCouchPotato]

Hi Rach and welcome to the SL Forum. Looks like you are making steady progress on all your lifts so far. Glad you are enjoying the program; wish I had known about something like this when I was your age or even ten years ago.

Sorry to hear you hurt your shoulder and neck doing OHP. One thing to remember on this exercise is to keep the weight as close to your face as possible until it is past your head level then bring your body under the bar rather than moving the over over your head. It's a kind of hard concept to grasp at first but when done correctly, it shouldn't hurt the muscles. You might want to get hold of the Rippettoe video and book "Starting Strength" It is well worth it to learn proper form.

[atypical1]

Good job on the squats and the bear. It's OK to do the bear on your off days as long as it's not taking away from your ability to lift on your work days. I used to do them but found that they were too taxing on my system so I had to switch to sprints. But as long as you can do them and you enjoy them then rock on.

james

[Rach]

Yesterday's workout: 10/3

Squat: 2x5x45, 2x5x75, 2x5x95, 1x5x105, 1x5x125, 5x5x150
extra: 1x4xBW=175!

Bench: 2x5x45, 25x65, 1x5x75, 5x5x90 PR !
Barbell Row: 2x5x45, 2x5x65, 5x5x75
Pushups: 3x15
Reverse Crunch: ran out of time! will do today.

Squats are still going up! Yay! After the 5x5, I thought I'd try a rep at BW, just to see how hard it was. I expected it to be around my 1 RM, but I pulled out 4 reps anyway! I almost could have done a 5th, but I wasn't sure so I Ieft it there. I'm excited to be so close to BW! I still have about 25 lbs to go, and I don't think I'll jump up in weight or anything, but it seems much less daunting to know I can at least do some reps.

I totally surprised myself on Bench press too, getting 5x5x90 on the first try. 85 had been so hard, and took me three times to really get solid, I didn't expect to be able to go up so easily. Maybe it was the extra workout at 85 that I did that got me really ready for it- in any case, the exciting part is that now I can put on the 25lb plates.

My workouts are getting longer and longer though- I guess I'm taking more time in between sets, but our gym also is pretty small and just has the one squat rack, so it can get kind of inefficient when my boyfriend and I both want to use the squat rack at the same time. It just means I need to find better times to go to the gym- it starts to get tight when I'm trying to make it to the gym and back to shower before my 10:30 am class...

There was a guy at the gym yesterday doing some cool things- he attached rings to the ceiling and did some gymnast-like exercises with them, and did some pretty impressive overhead squats and overhead presses. (I definitely don't have the shoulder flexibility for those squats yet! They look so cool though.)

-R

[XCouchPotato]

Hi Rach:

Congradulations on your Bench PR! Getting four reps out at BW on Squats is pretty amazing too!

I know what you mean about workouts getting longer when you and your boyfriend share the power rack. Our gym only has two so Barry and I sometimes have to share one too. It's good in one respect because it forces us to slow down and rest between sets but it does take longer than when we can both claim a power rack by ourselves.

[Rach]

Thanks XCouchPotato! It felt great to crank out that bench.

I'm going to the gym this evening, and will attempt to do some overhead press finally, although my shoulder is still sore from a week ago. Maybe I'll lower the weight a little- it hasn't gotten any worse with bench or pushups, but it just hasn't gotten much better either. I wonder what exactly I did to it- it seems to be healing slower than it would if it were just a muscle, but it's not like anything dramatic happened, it was just really sore after that one workout and stayed that way. I think it was definitely a form related issue, so I'll pay a lot of attention to that today and see how it goes.

Thanks again everyone for all your input! It's so helpful and motivating!

-R

[Kathy]

OMG...great job on the BW squats!!!! I am so psyched for you (and slightly envious) And then right after that a bench PR! Congrats.

Do you and Joda ever get to work together?