Lifting like girls

Woke up at 2 am, migraine gone! Yes! I ordered On Demand! I'm starting STS today. Have any of you done it yet? I'm wondering if I need to add cardio?? I wish I had more of a layout on it. I am very excited.

Starting today actually works out best for me, Friday's and Monday's are lighter days this semester, and Sunday's I will be off anyway. I am hoping my son will do it with me. He wants to add muscle for basketball....coach told him it would be a good idea......he's 13 and 6'5" .....and about 140 lbs.

Going to cheat for breakfast.......biscuits and gravy.....but easy.....the boys have been asking all week. I am also going to cook up some chicken for the salads I will be making for the week!

Need to sit down and figure my calorie intake level. I detest counting calories. I may forget it and just work on eating right and more veggies.

Have a fabulous day! Going to try to go figure out my one rep max (thankfully there's a video!) then let the workout load (my internet says its 3G.....ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha.....but I can play Netflix usually with out issue, so it should be fine. This is the best thing I have done for myself (besides finding all of you!) since I quit smoking in June!

Lib
 
Wow! At first I kept thinking this isn't bad. That wasn't tough. Then able t half way through it hit. Just finished disc one of STS and my chest is on fire! Along with my bi's and shoulders.

It stalled in the beginning warm up, but I let it load for about 10 mins and it did great! So glad it plays well.

Better grab some coffee.....might not be able to lift a cup later!
 
Hope everyone has had a great start to the new year. I managed to avoid any carrot sticks, but seem to have fallen face first into a baked Brie. Yum.

Tom, I liked the age-adjusted chart. Makes me feel a little better. Sadly I don't make elite on any lifts, but a solid advanced on them all. Yet another target for me!

Lib, a 6'5" son? That's properly tall. Has he stopped growing? And biscuits and gravy???? I had to look it up, but for us biscuits are what you call cookies, so no wonder it sounded a bit icky when I first read it!
As to STS, I've done it a few times. Once in the usual manner, once as a 6 month rotation (ie doing each week twice) and once backward. I've got to say that I end up gaining a bit of weight on the programme (muscle and fat), but I know that not everyone has the same results. It seems to happen during meso 2 mainly, and 3 a little. I've never worked out why. The first time I started from very lean (15% body fat), and gained 6-8 lbs. I didn't count calories, however, so perhaps I was just very hungry.

Today was the start of week 3 of HTS. I upped my weights a little. Not a great rep range for me (10-15), I'm lousy at endurance, and hypertrophy stuff. It's very good for me to have to do it!

The best New Years resolution I've heard so far? A girlfriend said she was going to continue being fabulous!

May all my commando siblings continue their fabulousness into 2016. X
 
Hi, my name is Tom...and I'm a "carrotoholic!! I did have some carrots last night, but quickly chased it down with booze and some chocolate...I am SO sorry! Justine, I cracked up on you trying to justify cookies and gravy, does sound awful! I greatly benefited on the link because I am old enough to be a fossil!! I'm on the last bracket..geeze, how did that happen so fast! Lib you may not loose a lot of weight with sts because you need the fuel for strength, but you will be so much stronger..you will amaze yourself with the weight you can throw around, and the muscle you build will raise your metabolism. I did an arm day wo today and tried to do some bi stuff. I started with 6 sets of skullcrushers 35s x12 40s x10 45s x8 50s 2x8 40s x12, then tri pushdowns 70# 3x8. Next I gave bi's a try 45 x10 45x12 65x12 75x10 x10 and concentration curls 35s x8 x6 30s x8 x8. It felt good to do something with bi's and really didn't feel to bad! I started to try 75# first thing and it was a definite no go but after doing 45 and 65, it was ok. I didn't try anything heavier, was tickled to do this. I even did a couple of chin ups at it wasn't too bad...color me optimistic!! I finished with 4 sets of pulley crunches 2, both elbows to knees, 1 set right elbow to right knee and 1 set left elbow to knee. Hope everyone recovers from last night's fun fests and starts the year off right!
 
Lmao! That reminds me of discovering chocolate gravy.....ugh! I still don't understand that one. I almost clarified sausage gravy.....thinking I'm glad I didn't!

Tom, that's good! I love carrots. They are sweet to me.

Hmmmm. I did two rounds of p90x a couple of years ago, never dropped a lot of weight, but did get strong. Strong is good. :)
 
Hi everyone!
Eek! Still running around with post-holiday madness, family visits, etc.! Glad to see you're all still killing it. Not that I'd expect anything less. :)

Karen, WOOHOO! Hooray for your new grand-baby! (and also yay on the awesome workouts)
Also, please don't hate me for saying I LOVE raw carrots. I mean, ideally with something fatty and delicious on them, but still. Love 'em.

Justine, your program sounds fabulous. I think it's good to take a break from the constant heavy stuff -- do what feels good to you! Those are NOT easy workouts you're doing!! I would be toast. (Hopefully toast with baked brie on it... dang, that sounds good right now.)
Oh, and yeah, that WOULD have been a 2x BW deadlift (I'm normally ~140 like you -- now closer to 147 or so), but the b*$ch about gaining some lbs is you've got farther to go to hit those xBW milestones. ;) Soon, I hope.
Speaking of #s on the scale meaning NOTHING, I get emails from Jill Coleman. 5'6" or 5'7" and 160 lbs and freakin' ripped. WTH?! What am I made of, meringue?!

Hi, Lisa! Glad to hear you were also conked out before the ball dropped last night. I am such a NYE slacker. I just love sleep too much. :)
Great job on all your workouts, mama! As always, of course.

Lib, On Demand is a great choice! I think it's the way to go. So glad you're doing STS -- I think you'll love it. I also gained a few lbs on STS but gained strength and muscle. I wasn't careful with calories at all -- like Justine said, I was hungry.
If counting cals makes you batty, don't do it! You know how to eat well, so you don't NEED to count. Getting enough veggies and water always helps me. I'd just say, make sure you calories aren't TOO low during STS -- gotta fuel those workouts and that muscle. Of course, the actual # of cals needed is different for everyone.
Cardio-wise, you might find you want some as the mesocycles progress. Meso 1 keeps you breathing with long sets and shorter rests. By Meso 3, the cardio factor has serious decreased (except for plyo legs!!), so you might want to add some in by then. See how you feel. If the weight workouts are as much as feels right for you, that's fine! Of course, you have such a vast and delicious menu of Cathe's offerings On Demand, you might find yourself clicking on some fun Live cardios... ;)

Tom, great UB workout!
I read over those tables and just though... OMG... my bench SUCKS!!! :mad:
OK I wasn't going to do a New Year's resolution but... I think I have to resolve to not suck at benching!

Ummm... I've done some stuff, I swear! Yesterday was OH pressing. I did one-arm push presses, mostly at 50# in the 5-8 rep range. Wish I had KBs for heavy push presses, DBs are cumbersome. I did some parallel bar dips, some Arnold presses (why do I freaking LOVE Arnold presses? tell me!), some TRX rows... some other stuff, core, etc. Too lazy to log onto Adaptifier. ;)
Today I did an adapted version of Jill Coleman's Bodyweight Delight from LWF1. Love this one.
Tomorrow is squats if I have time.

I'll be back as soon as I can -- till then, keep on being awesome into 2016! WOO!
Roz
 
Good evening everyone!
Roz, your DL weight is awesome. One arm push press with 50 lbs. Very impressive. I've never been good at presses. When I have to do a press, the Arnold press is my favorite. Nice work!
Lib, glad you got rid of that migraine. Have fun with STS. Like others, I gained muscle, and fat with that program. I was always hungry. You won't regret subscribing to On Demand. Keep up the great work!
Justine, mixing it up is always good. Have fun with it. Baked brie? Sounds so good. I didn't have any carrots either. Probably tomorrow. Like Roz, and Lib, I do like carrots, with spicy avacado hummus. So good. But, last night, I went next door, and had the rum balls. I'm glad it was next door, and I could walk there.
Tom, carrots with booze, and chocolate. Don't think I will go there. Nice upper body workout, though!
Today was: Rock M Sock M, from ICE, this morning. and....GSF2 BB rack pull 200 lbs, slam ball toss 25 lbs, good mornings 85 lbs, DB front raise 15 lbs, DB hammer curl 20 lbs, KB plank pull through 26 lbs, and valslide bodysaw 6 sets of everything.
Hope you are well, Lisa. I was out before midnight, too. The fireworks got the dogs attention, they woke me up. Looked at the clock, it was midnight, so I guess I saw the new year come in, kinda.

Keep up the great work!!
 
Happy Saturday! Today was a kinda hodge podge day. I started to make it a core day, but did some other stuff as well. I started with crunched x60 x40. Next I did 3 sets of ohp, 65x10 100x8x4. Next I thought I would do some deadlifts and was going to work on form, 225 x4 (c) x1 (sumo didn't test well so did the rest conv) x5 x3, I felt better than I thought so I did 255x3 275 x2 and then decided to go big and put on 300. I bailed on this about 1/2 way up because I felt all lower back and didn't think I needed an injury! I wish I had stayed with it, but probably was a smart call. I am hoping when my versa grips arrive it will help, but grip was less problematic today although there were a few "fingertip" reps. I finished deads with 255x3. Glute bridges were last 255 x15 x20 x22 x22. Roz, those are great push presses! I cant really seem to do push presses any more. I haven't tried dumbbells, but barbell ones just seem awkward! I guess us old guys need to stay "planted"! We are heading to Arkansas to visit "me mum". She is 92 and has dementia issues, but still lives at home with 24 hour care. When my Mom and Dad built the house, they designed it with wide doors and no steps so they could live there even if disabled. Have a great weekend Iron Warriors!!!
 
Jill Coleman 160# - wow. She has great shoulders (the one thing I remember noticing). Perhaps I need to put on some weight???? Anyway, Roz, I reckon you can count that as a 2x bw dl, since the weight gain is temporary.

300 Tom, great, even if you didn't quite make it. Do you wear a belt? I watched the worlds strongest man last night. Oh boy did it make me feel a weakling. They were throwing massive KBs over their shoulders, deadlifting several hundred kgs....mind you, they were massive blokes.

Karen, great numbers there. The rack pulls were good. Sounds like you're on stage 3 of gsf?

Lisa, lib, what you been up to?

Day 'off' for me today (yes, a lonnnnnng hike). Off to the pub for a recovery meal now.
Xx to all
 
Justinef said:
Jill Coleman 160# - wow. She has great shoulders (the one thing I remember noticing). Perhaps I need to put on some weight???? Anyway, Roz, I reckon you can count that as a 2x bw dl, since the weight gain is temporary.

300 Tom, great, even if you didn't quite make it. Do you wear a belt? I watched the worlds strongest man last night. Oh boy did it make me feel a weakling. They were throwing massive KBs over their shoulders, deadlifting several hundred kgs....mind you, they were massive blokes.

Karen, great numbers there. The rack pulls were good. Sounds like you're on stage 3 of gsf?

Lisa, lib, what you been up to?

Day 'off' for me today (yes, a lonnnnnng hike). Off to the pub for a recovery meal now.
Xx to all
Click to expand...
Justine....I freakin forgot the belt!!!! Geeze, dementia strikes!
 
Had to rush my youngest to the dental ER today........he showed me the entire top of his tooth in his hand.......after driving an hour to get there, then waiting for two hours to be seen......well I am told it's his baby tooth and that's how baby molars look when they come out.

Well that explains why it felt better after it came out. Of course I felt dumb. Friends are laughing. I'm exhausted but managed to get a few things done for work while in town.

Snuggle time and movie.


Major DOMs:)

All of you are worrying me about the weight gain. I'm hoping it's because you didn't have 50 lbs to loose to start with :)
 
Liberty said:
Had to rush my youngest to the dental ER today........he showed me the entire top of his tooth in his hand.......after driving an hour to get there, then waiting for two hours to be seen......well I am told it's his baby tooth and that's how baby molars look when they come out.

Well that explains why it felt better after it came out. Of course I felt dumb. Friends are laughing. I'm exhausted but managed to get a few things done for work while in town.

Snuggle time and movie.


Major DOMs:)

All of you are worrying me about the weight gain. I'm hoping it's because you didn't have 50 lbs to loose to start with :)
Click to expand...
Saw that a lot!! Still laughing!!
 
My favorite part of this thread? Well, besides the fact that you are all terrifically motivating and wonderful people, is the language disconnect. Biscuits = cookies; pub = restaurants; kgs converted to lbs. Then there's Tom who's going entirely international with a visit to "me mum." :)

Amazing workouts. Tom, seems like your elbow is doing better since you went rogue for a few chins? Karen, AMRAPs galore! Plus HoCo and ICE. Justine, I'm thinking I want to do HTS. It looks so fun, I just suck at paper programs. Roz, your love of Arnolds makes me happy, since I used to live in the great state while the MAN himself was the governator. :) Lib, STS? Get ready for push-ups and push-ups and more push-ups!

Yeah, I love carrots just the way they are too, but I also like them coated in maple syrup + roasted w/sweet potatoes. Ooooh!

Karen, like clockwork, we have fireworks here too on every single ridiculous holiday. Guys, it's like -2 out and you're blowing off fireworks at 1am?

Lib, I didn't gain weight with STS. I have done the program 3 times through, and I still randomly use the workouts--most especially the leg workouts. Love them! I did 3 days STS/3 days cardio. My favorite was the undulating rotation where one week you do Meso 1, the next week Meso 2, the next week Meso 3, then repeat (with the active recovery weeks thrown in there). You can read up on the different STS programs when you're waiting for your son's baby teeth to be removed at the ER. ;) (Seriously kidding, you're a good momma to be so concerned over your boy.)

Yesterday I did Rock 'Em Sock 'Em Live and today I did GS BSB.

My resolution is a continued goal I've had for the past few months, which is to focus on the word 'Enough.' As in, my best was 'enough,' whether it was a balanced workout, my efforts to parent, be a good wife, a good friend, a student of my profession (which I continue to do even though I'm not currently working full-time). I've been amazed at how often I need to remind myself, and at how relaxing it is when I embrace the 'enough.'

Happy weekend to all!
 
Lib, had to giggle about the tooth, sorry! But which of us hasn't done something similar? As to STS, I'd not let others' weight gain worry you. There are plenty on this forum who've had fab body composition results with STS. Plus, although I was careful what I ate, I didn't control how much I ate. You'll be wiser, heh? The other thing is that the gain didn't happen until meso 2, so don't let it concern you for a month

Lisa, yes, the language. It's funny. It's also the manner of speaking. I have to remember that it's only us weird Brits who mean awesome when we say fine, and mean only just ok when we say fantastic! And I try to avoid sarcasm and irony in case it's taken too literally and I offend everyone. It helps that my best friend is a Texan who's lived over here for 20 years- I now know that pancakes are thick and muffins are sweet and that peanut butter and jelly is not as bad as it sounds (almost, though). I've also discovered the joys of pulled pork and bbq ribs. She has come to like cheese with her apple pie, and fish chips and mushy peas.

Love your resolution, Lisa. Gives me something to think about.

Anyway, today was HTS. I think whoever came up with the idea of a 333 count for goblet squats (15 of them!) should be banned from exercise selection forever. After finishing the w/o I added The Body Snatcher (lwf2 <10 mins BB). 5 snatches, 10 sumo dls and 15 sit ups, for 8 minutes. I managed 4 rounds in just over the time. Interesting how I've changed since last doing the workout. The overhead pressing bit felt easier, and my BB scraped my shins on my dl. I wonder if that's from HTS? Anyway, a good 70 minutes.

It's pouring with rain here, and like some of the US, parts of the U.K. Have flooded over the last week or so. It's just been a horrid winter so far.

Xx
 
Hi Commando buddies!
Lib, like Justine, I wouldn't worry about weight gain with STS. When I began STS I was kinda scrawny from breastfeeding. I probably 'needed' the extra lbs, some of which was muscle. If you keep your diet sensible, I doubt you'll gain. Plus, you can always switch to a different program if you don't like what you see/feel!

Karen, killer workout with those rack pulls! Yowza!
Justine, great HTS workout and nice hike. Thanks for the dialect giggles. :)
Tom, awesome deads, wow!
Lisa, what did you think of Rock'm Sock'm? Great job on GS BSB!
Also, let's hang out and eat some roasted roots, OK?? Sounds tasty. :)

My friend had a 'bring a friend to the gym' pass so I went with her the last couple days. Yesterday I did squats, and I had the mirror to keep me honest on depth. I took everything past parallel (but not a lot), worked up from 155 (x5 for a couple sets) up to 185 x 2, 195 didn't quite go up when I got that deep. I availed myself of the leg press machine (260x6x10) and did some glute ham raises, some neutral grips chins, and played around with this and that. I felt a little bummed (pun intended) that my parallel squats weren't quite as strong as I thought. Oh vell!
Today I went and benched. Do they have magical bars/benches there? I PR'd the crap out of my bench (worked up to 125 x 2). I think I'd maybe gotten 110x1 in the past. Some close grip bench 85x4x8-10 or something, some incline DB presses, flys, and some skullcrushers and front raises. A bit of conditioning this-and-that then called it a day. Anyways, this made up for my humbling squat sesh yesterday.
So to hit 600 I need 290 in my deadlift, which I hope I can do. I think I pulled 280x2 last week. I feel like -- realistically -- 185 in the squat (to legit depth), 125 in bench are all I'm going to get. Maybe I can squat 190... but not sure I'll try it at home without a full rack to 'spot' me.

OK, friends -- I'll 'talk' to you soon!
Roz
 
Hey everybody, feels like ages since I checked in.
Yesterday I was lazy, and took a rest day. Today was HoCoVolume 2 and a Nia's bodyweight workout. 10 minute AMRAP. Thought I would use HoCo as a warm up. Didn't quite work out that way. Eight rounds of Skater squat, pike pushup, and pullups. Ten reps each. Then it was another AMRAP, leg curl, jumping jacks and scarecrows. Got in ten rounds of these @ eight reps each. After this I was fried, and had to lie on the floor, until the room stopped spinning. Now, when I read this, it sounds kinda wimpy. But, it is, what it is. I tried my hand at making my own almond milk. it's pretty good, but, do any of you make your own, and do you have a favorite recipe?
Right now, I wish I had a pub, where I could get a recovery meal.
Keep up the great work everyone. You're all so awesome.
Lib, it's been so long since I've seen a baby tooth, I wouldn't know what it looked like. So the tooth fairy should leave something under your pillow, just for the ER factor alone. But, it is kinda funny! Take care, everybody!
 
I have to share these comments with my friends! I laughed so hard! Had a hard time waking up tonight. Must never drink tequila again! Ugh!

Did get my workout in though. My youngest did it with me. That was cool. I think he might be hooked! Thinking I need more barbells though, my oldest might end up looking into this also.

I moved a lot of the tricep work to 10 lbs, which is great for me! I also dug out my 15s for back work. I need to look at 20's and 25's.

My triceps are burning! :) yay
 
Nothing for me today...travel day. Roz, congrats on SMASHING THE BENCH PR!!! I think, when the adrenaline is on, you're gonna obliterate that 600!! I bet your increase in bench is proportional to the great gains you;ve made in other lifts. Sometimes increasing strength in opposing muscle groups seems to help the opposite group and all the pulling increase has to help the opposing push side! Do you ever think of entering a powerlifting contest?Karen, 8 sets of those things sounds brutal, then adding the other stuff... Wimpy my a$$!! Sounds like that pretty much pulverizes every body part! Justine, ya gotta learn to "count fast" on that 3 3 3 stuff!! I whacked up my shins Sat too, don't know why? Lisa, enough is a great word, but sometimes hard to say huh?? With all the irons in your fire, it's a word that needs sayin...just sayin!! Lib, I added weight on sts, but REALLY pushed eating and was really trying to add weight, protein shakes, everything I could pound down. I doubt you add any pounds, but if you do, it will be good pounds!! Congrats on the weight increases!!My versa grips came in so I will give em a shot tomorrow, also I picked up 2 more 35s at Play it Again Sports. That gives me a "ton" of weights in plates...wish I could lift them all at once!!!!
 
Roz, great work. You're setting PRs left, right and centre. You'll hit that 600, I'm certain. I'm probably not even at 550, but I'm hopeful the gainz will come once I get into the meat of HTS. 290 for your dl would be amazing. However, you'll then be gunning for 300;)

Karen, those Nia bw workouts are pretty brutal, given how short they are. And total body, too. Great work.

Liz, way to work, girl. Triceps are hard to hit. Love the idea that you need heavier weights already!

Tom, are you off anywhere exciting?

HTS for me again today. Upped my weights slightly, but it's still not (yet) a truck-has-run-over-me programme. I guess that will start with the deadlifts that are introduced in month 2. Anyway, I finished in 45 mins, so had a Lisa-inspired 15 minutes and did PRS. Trouble is, I put prs#1 on instead of #2. It got messy!

Anyway, I need advice. I want to focus my fitness goals more this year. I want too many things (strength, better dl, deeper squats, bigger muscles, less fat...all the usual things). I feel I'd do better focussing on one goal, but I'm not sure which to pick? Or is it possible to achieve all the above? I'm committed to HTS (which promises great strength gains), so I reckon I just need an eating plan, and need to decided how much 'other' stuff to do. Sorry, it's only you guys I can ask advice of (well, I could ask anyone, but I mean you're the only ones who'll give me a sensible answer).
 
Another Monday, another chest day. Today I did 14 sets of bench, 5 sets incline bench and 2 sets of decline push ups. For abs I did 3x16 pulley crunches, going both elbows to knees, right elbow to right knee, both again,left elbow to left knee, this is 4 reps. I feel a really good ROM on these. On bench I went 115x5 135x3 155x3 175x2 185x2 195x1 200x2(last rep shorter) 185x5x3 175x4x4 155x8x6x4. On incline I did 145x5x6x5 and 135x7x7. Decline pushups x20x14, then the ab stuff. Feeling better about bench, it seems to be coming along well, not where I was late in sts, but gaining!I used the new grips and they seem ok, tomorrow will do some deads, that's where I really need them and hopefully they will help. Some say they take some getting used to...we will see. As an interesting side note, one of my new 35s has some PINK paint on it...makes me think of ya'll!!lol Hope everyone's week starts with a "clang" (or is that bang??) Have a great Monday!
 
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