Lifting like girls

Roz, great news on the front squats progress! The Adaptifier sounds frustrating. I think I'll stay away from it! I'm also staying away from calorie counting as well, but sounds like it would be required with the Renaissance Periodization approach. Maybe after the Holidays, when life is less hectic? Whatchya making for your family?

Woops, the little lady just started crying, so best hurry.

Justine, sorry for your leg pain. Those aches that come for no good reason are the worst. Just listen to your body like you always do. Sounds like walking doesn't cause pain and there are still other things you can do. Yes! Have a Thanksgiving party in Boston, UK. It's never a bad thing to have an excuse to party.

Karen, I LOVE LL&A. I like it better than Legs and Glutes, though I do like both. Which do you prefer?

Tom, ruh-roh. Scooby says it's never a good idea to get "stuck" on chest work! You were able to type a coherent check-in message, though, so I'm assuming that the weights didn't smoosh your big brains. :) I always feel like I need a spotter when I push any kind of flye or bench press weight limits. Nice job!

Today I did a KCM total body, 30 Mins to Fitness: Weights. She intersperses the core work throughout and I really like that approach.

Take care, everyone!

Lisa
 
Today was back day. Elbows have been really cranky, I thought I might max out on some chins yesterday at work, but NOPE!! I got 10 before the surgery started on my tendons! So today I did completely different things for back day. I started with barbell bent over rows 8 sets 45x8 115x8 135x8 155x8 175x6 155x8x6 135x10 (not sure this was elbow friendly, but kinder than chin ups have been) Next I did 6 sets of dumbbell pullovers 35s x12 40s x8 45s x8 x8 x6 40s x 8 and finished with RDLs 160 x 8 x8 x8 Only got 17 sets ,not 20, but may be a strange week w/o wise due to Thanksgiving. I finished with 40 reps of seated knee to chest. My core day Sat was really great and I was sore from it..hadn't had real ab DOMS in awhile...kinda missed em!! Lisa...If I had dropped the weights on my head there may have been a "cognitive upgrade"!!! Hoping y'all have a great day!!
 
Hey! Just hey. Didn't get to GSF2, last night, so I guess it's going to be my Tues. Thurs. and Sat workout. Thanksgiving making that even iffy. Did do HoCo last night. It's interesting how some days HoCo is ok, the next time I do it, it's a killer. Oh well. This morning was one of the Hiit workouts from RWH. Tonight is GSF2. (heavy).
Lisa, I can't decide which workout I like better. Great Glutes, or LL&A. I think I'm leaning towards Great Glutes. but they are both very good. I love KCM Total Body. Good job.
Justine, hope you are feeling better, and I agree with Lisa. Have a Thanksgiving feast in Boston. When are you starting Nia? Have you already?
Tom, as always, your workouts are killer. Good work. Your sets and weight, blow me away!
Roz, always up on the latest workout routine, and willing to share. All the while killing it.
Good job everyone!
Remember, It's better to be a lion for one day, than a sheep for 100 years.
Someone sent that to me, thought I would pass it on.
Have a great day, everyone!
 
Lisa- I'm a fan of abs throughout the workout too.havent done any kcm in a while...I never quite know how to categorise her workouts, so I tend to do them when I'm short of time and nneed a general workout. A bit like supercuts etc. I love her unusual moves, I always seem to end up with doms!

Tom, great weights. You've sort of reminded me of DB pullovers. Must add in soon.

Karen, that is a bit weird on hoco being harder sometimes than others. I guess it's the sort of thing that if you can't, you really can't. And, yes, I'm doing a Nia programme, just 2 or 3 times a week of her body weight stuff. Loving it. I can imagine you enjoying it. Did you buy her 10 phase body weight series? The one where a suspension trainer is essential? That's the one I'm doing. It's fun, working on things I find tricky (pistol squats!)

Roz, hope you're doing ok, and not too busy.

I'm thinking of getting yet another programme (even though I've 2 lined up):

http://www.hightensilestrength.com/?hop=tonyg18

As recommended by t gentilcore. Thoughts? Am I just mad considering yet another programme? Maybe it's because I'm 3 weeks off finishing gsf2.

Good upper body workout today. Low rep (3 reps a time) as heavy as I could. Loved being back to this sort of thing!
 
Tom, DANG! 175lbs on those rows? I'd give you a friendly pat on the back to congratulate you, but I'd be afraid your rock hard lats would hurt my hand! ;) Have I mentioned I deal with elbow tendinitis too? There are some exercises that I know for sure are deal breakers, but with others if it doesn't hurt I just go for it. I'm assuming these rows didn't hurt while doing them, so you're probably OK. I got my medical degree from Google, so take that advice FWIW.

desertambrosia said:
Roz, always up on the latest workout routine, and willing to share.
Click to expand...
Karen, I agree that Roz...and Justine...are so "kind" with their sharing. :) I'm impressed that you are still on the HoCo train. That says a lot about your resilience, sticking to something that is so difficult. Yep, Thanksgiving makes the workouts tricky, especially if there are big family gatherings in store and you are the one responsible for making the magic happen. And heck yes on the mobility drills. I need to do more workouts like that.

So, yeah, thanks Justine for the High Tensile Strength link. I really like what he says about being fit not having to be painful (as in injuries, aches and pains). That's one of the things that scares me about stuff like Cross Fit. I speak from ignorance, never having tried it, but it just looks like an injury waiting to happen, at least for ME. Kudos to those who love it, but I'll keep doing other things. As far as KCM, a lot of her stuff I consider to be either cardio or metabolic, so like you said I'll use it like a FlexTrain or a Cathe circuit like HSC or one of the Lives.

Roz, how's the Thanksgiving Day prep? I forgot to ask yesterday: you said you eat a whey shake and then a meal around noon? Is that it for your day, a la Intermittent Fasting? Or is that just a morning routine that's working for you?

This morning I did Totally Toned Legs Live (6/15/15). I keep thinking I'm going for Lives I've never done before, then I start it up and realize I've done the workout at least 2 or 3 times already. Maybe I should look at my Workout Manager log before picking my workout, eh?

This afternoon is all about holiday prep. My DH put the Christmas lights on our roof a couple weeks ago. We haven't turned them on yet but he puts them up early so he doesn't have to climb around the roof in the snow. Welp, turns the strand in the most tricky spot of our roofline has gone kaput, so my poor DH has to fix that up this afternoon!

Lisa
 
Nutso day foe me today!! I decided to do a 100 rep lower bodyweight challenge and a 50 rep upper body challenge. Started with a circuit of bodyweight squats 2x50 single calf raises 2x50 rear leg lifts 2x50 and finished with 100 double calf raises. Then for upper body I started with bench 100#x 25 x25 barbell curl 50# x 25 x 25 ohp 50# x 25 x 25 and finished with one set of barbell skull crushers 50# x 25. The load wasn't heavy, but I was really fried on these!! Except for curls, all of these used tris as a secondary and I could tell it!! I finished with ab wheel roll outs X 25 x 25 and now it was official...tris were FRIED!!! This was a really great w/o, took about 45 min and hit MOST stuff, except lats and lower back. Heading to St. Louis for Thanksgiving with older son and wife..licking my chops already..gonna do some SERIOUS damage to that bird!!! Pray that everyone has a fantastic Thanksgiving and safe travels to and from if traveling!! Justine, I hope the quads heal, rest can be a wonderful thing, even for dedicated 'CRAZIES' as you know you are!!! Glad you are participating in our wonderful tradition!!
 
Good morning!
This morning was a Great Glutes premix. Good leg workout.
Last night was GSF2. Front squats, 6X6@100lbs, side lunges 8X10 no weight, superset with planks. RDL10X10@125 lbs.Not super heavy, but a nice little workout. I warmed up with the mobility exercises Justine posted. I loved it, I think I am going to order.
Nice workout, Tom. Another killer.
Tonight is HoCo. Hope it's not a killer tonight. Always a surprise.
I've decided I'm going to conquer front squats.So much easier to get lower with a front squat. I just have to figure out what method works best for holding the bar. That's my biggest rub.
If I don't post again, have a great holiday everyone!! You as well, Justine, and thanks for the mobility post.
 
Karen, I ordered! It's great. Love at first glance. You start by doing a few mobility tests, and the results put you in one of 4 categories (it's not a test of whether you have 'good' or 'bad' anything, more a look at which way your body moves). I did the tests, but I'm going to repeat, as the results were borderline for me. Then you choose fat loss or muscle gain, and minimal equipment or full gym. There are options for 2,3,4 days per week. Looking through the workouts I have enough kit to do full gym. The only difference between muscle gain and fat loss seems to be that for fat loss you do 1 set fewer of each exercise, but then you do a finisher at the end. Sooooo, I'm doing muscle gain (but I'll sneak in some lwf workouts so hopefully there'll be a bit of fat loss too), full gym, 4 days per week. The exercises look good. Lots of stabilisation and mobility stuff alongside more traditional lifting. Also, you can switch between programmes if you're away, or short on time. Very, very usable.

Tom, I love the sound of that workout. Maybe you could just design WODs for us all, and I could save some pennies instead of accumulating about 2 decades worth of weight training programmes......

Just a thought!

Lisa, yes, I'll be having a mini- thanksgiving. Turkey and all.

Roz, you take a bit of time for you (if possible!)

Have a wonderful day tomorrow everyone. I'll be thinking of y'all
 
Thanks Justine, this is just what the Dr ordered. I am sooo right side dominant, I probably walk like a crab!
Ordering ASAP!
I'm all for that! Could you just figure out a workout for all of us, Tom?

Just have to add: were you a Scooby fan, Lisa? When my kids were young, I would watch them watching Scooby. They thought he was so hilarious, they were rolling on the floor laughing. Made me laugh, watching them laugh. Nice little re-wind there, thanks.
 
Last edited:
Hi my dear fitness friends!
Can I just say UGH!!!!!!!!!!!!! I am SO stressed out about hosting Thanksgiving and I'm just letting it go to my head. I feel like such a mess! :eek:
Guests haven't arrived yet -- arriving later today. I've prepped a fair amount so I'm not too worried about having meals ready but... I don't know... what is it about having a bunch of family visit that's like a flame and I'm a ball of wax and I just melt down? LOL at myself.
Sorry if I don't have the presence of mind to respond to everything. I'm just taking a little 'me' time during naptime now.

Karen and Justine, I need to check out this program. You two are evil, I will probably have to buy it.

Tom, killer work, as always! Those are some REPS!

Lisa, I'm not doing intermittent fasting -- I just had been holding off on having a really substantial meal until 10-noon. I ate later in the day, too.

But, OK, I've gone a bit crazy here! (I swear this is unrelated to holiday stresses -- I made this decision in a moment of great CLARITY a couple days ago. ;) ) I realized why I was resisting trying a couple of eating cycles as laid out in the Renaissance Periodization literature. I'm scared of gaining weight! There's just something that feels programmed in me saying that it's just BAD to gain weight. That it'll never come off. That I'll be stuck with a bunch of 'fluff' that I can't get rid of. Well, I'm getting out of my comfort zone!! I'm taking advantage of those holiday calories and I'm going to do a 6-8 week 'massing' phase, then probably a month of maintenance, then a cut. If it feels wrong/awful, I'll stop. I do need to start now because I don't want to be at my heaviest when we go away in the Spring (as planned). So I'm starting now, and I'm also changing my program (ahhhhh!!!) to the Off The Floor advanced program, which is much better geared to hypertrophy than GSF1 Phase 3 (which has suuuuuper low reps) and is 4 days/week. I know, I know, it sounds like a midlife crisis but... I'm relinquishing fear and taking control! :) LOL. We'll see. I'm having fun so far. I'm not stressed about it at all, in fact it's a fun project.

So yesterday I did OTF (Off the Floor) workout #1 conventional deadlifts (4x8 and 1x6 at 215#), RDLs (sense a theme?), chinups, DB snatches, and Russian twists. I added in some bench pressing (several sets at 80, 90, and 100# in the 6-10 rep range) because there's just no horizontal pressing in OTF. At all! Also threw in some BB curls and calf raises -- I figure as long as I'm massing, I should kill it in the gym! :)

I'm going to add in a couple steady state cardios a week (since I understand that this helps with recovery during really intense training phases). Today I signed up for Cathe On Demand again! Lisa, YAY! :) Let me know which Live cardios I need to do. ;) I love LWF, but I do feel like they can interfere with recovery -- some more than others. I will keep using some. Also, I want to be 'there' when ICE comes out.
This morning I did 4DS bootcamp cardio only. My first time doing this one!

I realize I'm all over the place -- bear/laugh with me! :)
Thanks for being here, everyone! You rock!
Happy Thanksgivings to you all,
Roz
 
Happy Thanksgiving Eve, Commandos!

Tom, your workout sounds like it had a major cardio factor. Were you huffing and puffing? I agree with Justine that you ought to plan WODs for the rest of us. Have a lovely time with your family this holiday.

Karen, I'm right side dominant too! Every time I get a massage or some kind of professional body work, they always remark on how screwed up my right side is in comparison to my left! Nice job on GG, and thinking happy thoughts of you crushing HoCo tonight. As a kid I remember watching Scooby if it was on, but don't really remember 'loving' it. I'm just dorky and like making any kind of pop culture reference I can think of. ;) My fave cartoons were the Chipmunks, the Muppet Babies, and then there was my crazy ridiculous obsession with Saved by the Bell (not a cartoon but certainly not hard drama).

Justine, hope you're hip flexor/quad ouchie is doing better. Are you a foam roller person? Sometimes I swear it's the magic cure and other times I think it makes me feel worse. Epsom salts are always lovely, though.

Roz, (((hugs))). You are the hostest with the mostest, and I have no doubt your holiday will be lovely. I am so sorry about the stress you are feeling. I'm cheering you on, as I will always be doing. Thanks for answering my IF question, and no I don't think you're having a midlife crisis. You are always trying to improve, change, challenge yourself, which is why you are so amazing (well, one of the many reasons, my friend). I think your plan sounds great and might help with your life holistically, IYKWIM. And OH YEAH I've got some Cathe Live recs for you. You let me know how many you want and when you want it. First one that comes to mind is Fitness Fusion. I remember thinking "Roz would dig this" when I did that one.

Today I did Step On It Live (7/16/15). Roz, I think you might find it repetitive but it is 100% steady state, really no blasts like some of the other Live steps. I'd say it would be a good one if you really want a recovery cardio. This is my second time doing this one and I liked it better the second time around. PRS2 + SB + other random moves.

Happy T-Day to all and to all a good evening!

Lisa
 
Hi all,
Quick check-in here -- I've got five minutes of 'me' time and I'm going to spend it at the commando club!
I worked out this morning -- I'm just going to give the general idea as I don't have time to look up the specifics on Adaptifier. All straight sets. Push presses something like 8 x 8-10 mostly at 75#, a few at 65#. BB rows ~8 x 8-16, 85#-95#. DB squeeze presses (took me forever to figure out what this is -- basically a DB bench press where the grip is so close that you're squeezing the DBs together (and you're holding them with the handles parallel to your spine, not perpendicular) -- great lift, really hits the triceps -- Tom, I definitely recommend this one for chest day!) 2x30# 4 or so sets 8-12 reps. DB shrugs 2x20# 4x20. Totally sandbagged on weight here as I'm not looking for crazy trap hypertrophy, LOL. Then finisher 'er off with some planks, 5 sets of 30 secs.

Lisa, ITKWYM (I totally know what you mean :p) about it being good holistically -- and I agree! :) And thanks for the Fitness Fusion rec -- I'll put it next on my list! When you have time (no rush at all! tomorrow's lifting and I want to start with Fitness Fusion), maybe your top 5 or so Lives that are pure cardio or metabolic workouts that don't poop out your muscles too much (understanding that my muscle endurance is not up to par with yours!! I'm totally an endurance wuss these days).

OK, my fives minutes are up -- HAPPY THANKSGIVING TO YOU ALL! (especially you, Justine ;) )
I'm shooting for 2800-3000 cals most days, and it's easy to get 'em all in with all these desserts around. :p
High fives to my awesome commandos,
Roz
 
Hi all!

Heavy deadlift / pull up day for me today. Happiness . Rows and pallof presses too. My favourite day. Did sumo dls. Not my heaviest (4x3 92kg) but I was very pleased with form, really felt it in my adductors and glutes.

Roz, good on you for getting a workout in. And a good one. I'm going to pick your brains more about your nutrition etc, once your guests have gone. Curious as to your thought processes which have lead to your new strategy. (Basically I need to know if there are ideas I can steal!)

Lisa, yes my quad is better thanks. I've worked out that it's one legged squat to a box which does it. Only below 10", and only on the right leg. I took your advice and foam rolled the life out of it!

I'm interested in your favourite live list. I love the thread you've started about it.

Tom, Karen, any workouts today? Tom, you'll probably bench press the dining room table. Karen, a little hoco between the turkey and the pudding?

Have an amazing day everyone! I believe it's appropriate to give thanks for stuff today....I'm thankful for the commandos and their incredible wisdom.

(PS I've already had my turkey!)
 
Gotta try that Roz! I notice my traps feel most worked after deadlifts, even more than heavy shrugs, so as much as you throw around on those, you're probably good! Today I'm " nuttin but glutton" and away from home, so no iron for me( said the depressed old guy)! Lisa, that w/o did have me huffing, I think the long sets were out of my wheel house! Karen, I think that hoco has got you hooked! Wish I could muster some of dat!! Roz, It will be interesting to see how your weights go up with "massing" I have to try really hard to get 3000 calories, and that has made it tough to get stronger, but I think I'm ready to put on some size and strength( thanks zinc). Gonna use YOUR bulking as my motivation,cause if I don't I'll be seriously outclassed! Red neck motivator of the day...getting your a$$ kicked in the weight room by the " commando sisters!! Justine..I'd LOVE to design you a workout, but you're way beyond me in that arena!! Your organized mind would REBEL!! Nice on sumo's!! Your average deadlift w/o would kill me! I've gotta add lotsa volume to deads like you and Roz, and add some variety like Karen (I WISH I could do her stuff!!) Hope everyone's Thanksgiving was terrific!! Not sure when I get home, but the clanging will start shortly after!! NOW...tryptophan coma!!
 
Today- 30 mins of bodyweight stuff, courtesy of Nia (3x10 of skater squats, handstand push ups and pull ups), then onto a Tom-inspired upper body homemade workout. DB bench press, flys, band pulls, close grip DB bench press (thank you Roz) and cross body kickbacks. Nice to lie down for a workout! Anyway, I did them as a giant set, 12 reps of each, 4 rounds 10kg DBs. Loved the change. May be feeling it tomorrow, as I haven't done that sort of workout for a while.

Roz, what has made you switch tack? When you say lwf is sabotaging gains, do you think it's because it's metabolic, and burns too many calories? I'm assuming you're aiming for hypertrophy? Do you want to end up leaner, more ripped, or just more muscular? Sorry for all the questions, and if they're to intrusive. I'm sort of thinking about new goals (even though I haven't yet hit my strength goals set a year ago!) you always bring such intelligence to your workouts, it's great to hear your thoughts.

Hope you all had a fab day yesterday, and that you haven't spent too much today!!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Our Newsletter

Get awesome content delivered straight to your inbox.

Top