Attn: people who have done1RMs: HELP!!

Thanks Debbie. I really appreciate your offer of help. You are so kind. I just can't get started with the 1r tests. It seems like too much. The reason I loved doing Cathe was she had rotations for me to follow and I could feel like I was part of a class and I could follow her form pointers and the time just flew by or I could do a rotation that other experienced (and wiser) exercisers made. This just leaves me feeling helpless and alone with all that heavy weight and the wall. My idea of ....! My longed for STS has arrived and I don't even want to do them because I'm too overwhelmed by the tests. I don't want to do heavy weights for an hour a day for one or two weeks. It may be "so easy a cave man can do it" but this cave woman can't.:eek:
I might try doing what CynamonKis did -
"I did mine like a circuit. Focusing first on the 4 and 5-star exercises for each body part, in this sequence: Chest, back, shoulders, legs (thighs, hamstrings), bicepts, tricepts. It took 1.5 hrs to get thru 21 of the exercises. If I do this every other day, I estimate it will take me 2 more sessions to get through the 3, 4 & 5-star exercises."
I'll try doing them that way tomorrow.
Thanks again so much.
Colleen:(
 
Colleen:

I may be way off base here, but you know what? at this point I would just START STS :) There are LOTS of people who are NOT doing the 1RM testing and while I'm sure that it would be somewhat more beneficial, it is not worth all the stress that it is causing you! STS is supposed to be a fun and challenging, not wig you out :) Pick weights that might be a tad bit more than you would normally do for multiple steps and just go for it!

I did some of the 1RM tests for 4-5 star tests, but guessed a bunch of similar movements would be the same weights and did NONE of the lower body tests!

Life is too short to stress over issues like these! take a leap of faith and push yourself to do your best!
 
Colllen, it IS overwhelming when you see how many there are to do & thinking I have to do ALL of them. I would suggest you wait a week or two to start your STS. Then, over the next week or two, print off the "Workout Manager Cards" for JUST the first two weeks. That will tell you which exercises you will be doing. ONLY concentrate on the FIRST card. Don't even look at the 2nd. card. Once you get the first card tested for your 1RM's do card #2. Then, card #3. Then, when it is time to do your SECOND week of cards, many of the exercises are repeated! JOY! :D I think it will help a lot if you think of ONLY one workout at a time rather then EVERY 1RM you need to do. It worked for me because I procrastinated far too long too. Isn't it funny how much we wanted these here already but just couldn't get started on OUR part? Hang in there...let me know if I can help out in any way.
 
Or, just do as Dani suggested. I also agree to pick a tad higher weight then you THINK you will be able to do. I found I doubted myself many times on the weight my 1RM said, & I pulled it off!
 
DebbieH and belden1, I feel so much better after "talking" with you tonight. I'm going to see how I feel in the morning. My 11 year old DS is sick tonight ( I can hear him coughing as I write to you). I'm going to go give him some TLC and tea with honey and say tomorrow is new day and I'll see which aproach feels right. Thanks for the "encourage"ment.
I mean it. :)
Colleen
 
Great, glad we could help. Let me know if I can help after you decide how to approach it. It really is so much fun and once you start, you'll forget about how overwhelming it seemed. Just keep in mind, you don't have to start any particular day...what's another week or two? You'll be surprised how easy it is ONCE you get started. NO WORRIES, okay? Take care of your precious lil' one! We'll be here later. Email me if you'd like.
 
Debbie, what a GREAT approach for 1RM testing!! I've changed my mind about 3 times now on how I'm going to do it :p :D , and I think I'm going to do it your way! It seems easy and logical and not something I have to think too much about.

Colleen, I haven't even started the testing yet so you are not alone, my friend!! C'mon, we can do this ;) . I think it's just a matter of getting started. It looks like a lot but it's probably much less than we think it is. I'm just so darned happy to know that I'm not the only one who hasn't started it yet. :eek: :rolleyes:
 
Colleen

Colleen,
I started by just doing the 4 and 5 star workouts which for the most case are the ones we’re all familiar with like dumbbell curls, barbell curls, shoulder overhead press, squats, etc. Then when I started looking at the discs, I noticed that since so many of the exercises are repeated in other discs, when I picked a new disc, many of my 1RM’s on the discs were already completed. So then I started focusing on the discs and the further along I got, there were many discs that were already completed. (Hope this makes sense.) I didn’t worry about doing 1RM’s for any of the exercises that use the paper plates or others I just wasn’t familiar with. And, I only did 1RM’s for STS exercises; I didn’t do ones out of the giant exercise list. So now I’ve actually done two of the STS workouts, and afterwards I went in and added my 1RM’s for those I hadn't done and now they’ll be done for next time.

I hope that helps. Once you start doing it, you’ll see it’s very manageable. But you don’t have to do them all. Some people aren't even doing them so it’s your choice. Don't let the 1RM's stop you from starting the workouts! You'll have a great workout whether you have them or not!

Good luck!
Jo
 
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Miss Lee said:
Debbie, what a GREAT approach for 1RM testing!! I've changed my mind about 3 times now on how I'm going to do it :p :D , and I think I'm going to do it your way! It seems easy and logical and not something I have to think too much about.

Colleen, I haven't even started the testing yet so you are not alone, my friend!! C'mon, we can do this ;) . I think it's just a matter of getting started. It looks like a lot but it's probably much less than we think it is. I'm just so darned happy to know that I'm not the only one who hasn't started it yet. :eek: :rolleyes:
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This really, truly is the biggest hurdle. I put it off for a long time. Then once I just picked a day and decided that was the day I was going to start and picked that first exercise it all fell into place. I was sorry that I had let myself get so freaked out about it.

I really hate that "caveman phrase" and feel it was an unfortunate choice, kind of belittling everyone's concerns about getting something right that is has been stressed as being so very important to the success of STS. And while I'm on a tangent already, I also really resent when we're given instructions with the word "simply" as part of the action. It makes me feel that if I don't get it right away I'm dense. And considering how many things have needed to be fixed before they are right (just consider the list of exercises that have had to be corrected and the bugs that needed to be fixed from the first version of the WM) it's not always our "fault" that something is not crystal clear. I think SNM has done a wonderful job on this whole project as a concept, between STS itself, the Webste, the Workout Manager, etc. The features provided to us for free are amazing. But things are not perfect, and trying to give the impression that we are just "not getting it" is not a fair attitude.

Okay, I'm off my soapbox now. It must be late and I'm tired! Colleen and Miss Lee, you really will get this, no matter which method you choose to do your 1RM tests, or even not at all. I would wish you "good luck," but you don't need it. You'll be fine!
 
I used my 4DS worksheets to determine what weight to use for 1RM. If I did an exercise using 15 lbs for 4DS, I would do my 1RM for that exercise with 20 lbs. Sometime the weight was too heavy (only got in 6 reps), sometimes too light (got 16 reps), but I just entered the weight and # of reps i did in the workout manager and kept going.
I am being fairly relaxed about my 1RM here is my method.
Find a five star exercise for each upper body part (Chest, Back, Bi, Tri, Shoulders). Do the 1RM for those 5 exercises. Then do my regularly scheduled workout for the day.
I am starting STS Sunday and figure I might by through my 4 stars by that point. I will continue doing 1RM on cardio days when I start the rotation. I have no real intention of testing for legs b/c I do not have a squat rack.

I think anyone who is overwhelmed by trying to take 1RM tests should just not worry about it. You will have to take the first couple of workouts to figure out the best weight for you to be working at, but that is what we always do!
 
You all are the best. DS in on the couch home from school and I'm heading up stairs to treat my 1r's like a circuit. Here I go!
Colleen
 
Karen from what I read, you enter 20...

rose2boys said:
OK, I finally got started today! I made a lot of progress, esp. since i'm just concerned w/upper body. I don't like to lift heavy legs since my thighs tend to get thicker, so i may not even do legs 1rm at all...

Anyway, one more dumb ? for you guys. How do I enter the weight used in the calculator, if I used 2 -20# dbs, do I enter 20 or 40? AND if you went over 10 reps did you actually retest or guesstimate. Thanks so much!
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I'm doing it by disc. I just did disc one today. Tommorrow I will do cardio for 30 minutes. I will do the next disc on Wednesday and so forth. I will preview the exericise cards and discs and eliminate duplications until I get done all of them.

I really pushed it today to see what I could lift and for how many reps. Phew - what a workout!
 
I started. Yea. I did a warm up, two rounds of 5 star back, chest, shoulders, legs, bi & tri., abs and stretch. Tomorrow I'll do Imax2 and alternate 1r tests with cardio.
Thanks for all the support.
Colleen
 
cocob1 said:
I started. Yea. I did a warm up, two rounds of 5 star back, chest, shoulders, legs, bi & tri., abs and stretch. Tomorrow I'll do Imax2 and alternate 1r tests with cardio.
Thanks for all the support.
Colleen
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Wonderful! Great idea on doing it as a circuit!

Jo
 
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