X Couch Potato Training Log

[XCouchPotato]

My husband (Barry06GT) has said I should post my training log so others can see. Here it is: just don't laugh!

Female
Weigth 144
Age 58

My training sessions for last week:

Monday (Start of 5x5 WorkoutB)
Squat 16lbs 5x5
Overhead Press 16lbs 5x5
Deadlift 45lb (Bar only) 1x5
Pull-ups (110lbs assist) 15 12 10
Prone Bridge 3x30sec

Wednesday (Workout A)
Squat 20lbs 5x5
Bench Press 45lb (Bar only) 5x5
Inverted Row 5 5 10 (Tried doing Bridge formation but think I was too high)
Push-ups (Female) 10 8 5
Reverse Chrunch 3x12

Friday (Workout B)
Squat 24lbs 5x5
Overhead Press 20lbs 5x5
Deadlift 50lb (Bar only) 1x5
Pull-ups (assist) 12(100lbs) 12(90lbs) 10(80lbs)
Prone Bridge 3x30sec

[Kathy]

Hi X Couch Potato (great username)!!

Welcome to SL and there is no laughing !! Well, maybe a bit of laughing but more like laughing with you at the funny stuff that seems to happen when you work out. I think it's great you and your hubby train using the same routine. I am trying to get mine started but the man cannot do a proper squat so we are working on stretching and mobility first.

Happy lifting this week

[RobCosimo]

Hey Xcouchpotato, no-one laughs at people in this forum, and if they do, they shouldn't be on here. Everyone's different.

Welcome and good luck!

[XCouchPotato]

Hi Kathy and Rob:

Thank you for your well wishes.

[bobu]

Welcome X, My wife who is 60 started at about the same weights as you and within a couple of months was up around 100# squats. Unfortunately she hates exercising so she crapped out on me. Now the most I can get from her is being my spotter on bench press. Good luck and I hope you have fun.
By the way I have a son in Portland.

[XCouchPotato]

Somehow my last post got lost, so here it is again.

Thanks for the welcome Bobu. Sorry to hear about your wife but remind her that weigth training is the best way to stave off that dreded bone loss. That's one of the reasons I got back to the gym.

Actually I like lifting weigths. I hate machines. At 4'9" there just aren't many machines out there I can actually use. They are all made for giants!

[ricepower]

Kudos for starting barbell training at 58, a rare thing for a lady. Im sure you will reap the many benefits very soon.

I was wondering what your used for 16lb squats? Seems a strange small weight. If you not comfortable with a barbell yet I would suggest sticking to no barbell bodyweight squats. Focusing on good form with tight back, hips below parallel and bouncing of glutes. In addition do stretches to increase hip mobilty so once you begin with a 20kg/45lb barbell you are all set to go.

I would shy away from assisted pull ups, pull ups require all round stability. Assistance machine training wont develop this. Climb up and just do negatives to begin, youll soon be able to do 1 rep at a time. You can also use a resistance band to help which is a lot better than a machine.

In regard to push ups, by 'female' do you mean with bent legs? You seems to be doing a lots of reps, and you also can manage good prone bridges. So I suggest you witch to real ones, even if you can only do 1 or 2. I started being able to only do 3 decent push ups, but I rapidly developed to being able to do 30. Im sure it will be the same for you if you try.

[XCouchPotato]

Hi ricepower,

Thanks for your well wishes. Actually I've been going to the gym for a couple of years now but just started the 5x5 routine with my husband (barry06gt).

I was wondering what your used for 16lb squats? Seems a strange small weight. If you not comfortable with a barbell yet I would suggest sticking to no barbell bodyweight squats. Focusing on good form with tight back, hips below parallel and bouncing of glutes. In addition do stretches to increase hip mobilty so once you begin with a 20kg/45lb barbell you are all set to go..

I was using 2 8lb dumbells for a total of 16lbs. I was up to 30lbs before starting 5x5 so just dropped my weigths back so I would have a running start.

In regard to push ups, by 'female' do you mean with bent legs? You seems to be doing a lots of reps, and you also can manage good prone bridges. So I suggest you witch to real ones, even if you can only do 1 or 2. I started being able to only do 3 decent push ups, but I rapidly developed to being able to do 30. Im sure it will be the same for you if you try.

Way ahead of you on this one. I started regular pushups this week as you can see from this weeks log entry.

[XCouchPotato]

Ok, I probably should be entering these every workout but what can I say. Here is my training log for this week:

5/4
Squat 30lbs 5x5 (finally back to my old weigth; yahoo!)
Bench Press 5lbs 5x5
Inverted Rows (bridged) 10,9,4
Pushup 7,6,3 (Tried the regular kind this time - not sure if I was all the way done but I'll work on that.)
Reverse Crunch 15, 15, 15 (Really like these - good for my abs)


5/6
Squat 35lb 5x5 (Tried Sumo style since I was using a single dumbell - rellay like them as they kept my center of gravity, well, more centered. )
Overheaqd Press 24lbs 5x5 (these are getting harder)
Deadlift (stiff legged) 55lbs (Could finally feel these in the back of my legs!)
Chinup 7, 4, 2 (70 lbs assist)
Pron Bridges 3x30sec (Still not sure where I'm supposed to fell these - which muscle group do they target?)


5/8
Squat 40lbs 5x5
Bench Press 10lbs 5x5 (Learned a valuable lesson here, got distracted and my form went south on me. Need to concentrate even with light weigths. )
Inverted Rows Tried Regular (heels on floor only) - couldn't make 1; Bridged 7,3,3
Pushups (Regular) 5,2,5 (Don't know what happened on the second rep. Maybe I didn't rest enough.)
Reverse Crunch 15,15,15 (Feel like I should be doing more of these each set or another set.)

[RobCosimo]

Hey X,

Are you including the weight of the bar? For instance, you've got benchpress at 5lbs - do you mean the bar plus two 2.5lb plates? Because if so, that would be 50lbs.

Also, how do you squat with a single dumbbell? Are you working up to using a barbell?

ps. nice work with the pushups!

[XCouchPotato]

Are you including the weight of the bar? For instance, you've got benchpress at 5lbs - do you mean the bar plus two 2.5lb plates? Because if so, that would be 50lbs.!

Yes, my bad. I did forget the weight of the bar. It was really 50 lbs.

Also, how do you squat with a single dumbbell? Are you working up to using a barbell?

I held the dumbell by one of the ends so that it was in line with my body. The hard part was that the dumbell wanted to bottom out before I was in full squat position so I had to hold it up a bit, more even with my chest.

Yes I am working up to 45lbs and will probably try the barbell next week. I'm a little scared of it though. The last time I tried to place a weigth behind my back it didn't work so well. I just don't seem to have the shoulder girdle everone seems to be talking about. And I kept knocking against the bone at the base of my neck. But I'll try it and see how it goes.

[bobu]

It looks like you're moving right along. You'll find the right spot for the bar, just keep it low enough and watch some videos of low bar squats.

[XCouchPotato]

OK, here are my stats for today:

Squat 45lb 5x5
Tried using the bar today. It felt very awkward. Although I got all 5 sets out, my form really sucked. I felt as if the bar was pushing me foward beyond my toes and I had to step out at least once and did a small stutter step one other time. I also didn't feel like I was getting very deep although my husband told me I was on at least some of my sets. I tried one set in front and this felt better and allowed me to get deeper but was still awkward. Guess I will have to decide what to do on Wednesday; stick with just the bar and try to improve my form or try 50lbs with dumbells. I really like the dumbells because they help me maintain my form and allow me to get really deep. The only problem is I can't see where I'm going to be able to increase my weight much more before I won't be able to handle the dumbbells themselves. Oh well.

Overhead Press 30lbs 5x5
This was a PB for me. A little shaky and I could feel myself arching my back a bit but I pushed through.

Deadlift 60lbs 2x5 (Another PB)
Felt really good tonight. Kept good form throughout and really felt the stretch in the back of my legs. This is becoming one of my favorite execises.

Pullup/Chinup 70 lb (assist) Chin 5 Pull 2 Chin 5
Tried with just 60lbs assist but wasn't able to even do 1.

Prone Bridges 3x30 secs.
Still don't know what this execise is supposed to work but it feels good when I get done so I guess I'll continue to do it.

[RobCosimo]

Good work with the deadlifts - they are my favourite too

ps. bridges are great for core stability

[bobu]

Don't give up on the bar. It feels awkward at first but it will come to you. At this point you're trying to learn technique so don't worry about increasing the weight unless you feel you've completed the sets with reasonably good form.