Lifting like girls

Rox 165# for 9x8. Hats off to you. How was your grip for all those reps? Do you use anything? I don't think I've done more than 6 reps per set at that weight, and I always start losing my grip, and my forearms hurt! Those cleans at 100# are impressive too. I'm going to have to start eating more....
Suspension trainer face pulls - I had always assumed that they were the easy version of inverted rows, but now realise that they use entirely different muscles. Love em. As to d rings for the trainer, I have them all over the place. One above where I lift, so that I can do band assisted squats (gets me out of the hole), and some at various heights on a wall for pall of presses, kickbacks etc. Very useful. But as I said, makes my workout room look a little dodgy!

Love my EZ curl. As Tom said, more ergonomic. I use it for everything except dls and squats.

Phase 2 of gsf2 looks quite like the stuff I normally do on in-between days. I may have to change up my 'other' stuff. I quite fancy mixing in some of Nia's body weight workouts.

Tom, I feel for you with elbow issues, it effects everything. I try to do stuff like dips etc on the suspension trainer, so I have a more neutral hand position. Curls don't work for me, but hammer curls seem OK. You'll just have to do lots of lower body stuff! Get squatting.

Lisa, interesting about endurance giving you lean lines. I think my problem with it is that it makes me ravenous. Short (30mins) low reps very close to 1rm plus a finisher seems to keep my appetite in check. And this girl can eat! Bulking and cutting does start to make sense....

Karen - paramedics after 15 miles? I'm impressed ( 100 yds of running is about my limit).

Yesterday I did 3 different lwf workouts. The 10 spot (<10 full gym) wow. Hello lungs and heart! Gluteus Magnificus (<20 full gym) - ok, but more of a glute activator than a workout, at 14 minutes for 5 rounds, I'd use it again, as a warm up. It's a Bret Contreras one. Finished with The Grindstone (<20 full gym, but it's actually 24 mins long), which I loved doing. Some good core work.

Lisa, I love kcm too. I always get upper body doms from her stuff.

Quiet weekend for me. Weather miserable (England, eh?) I'm having to do boring indoor stuff. Housework yuk.
 
Hi everyone! Happy (end of the) weekend!
desertambrosia said:
It would not be pretty, if I had to run a marathon. Paramedics would have to roll in, at about mile 15, or before. I can lift weights forever, but run forever? No.
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Karen, I'm with you. I can run a bit -- not 15 miles -- but I just don't love it. Sprinting I like OK.
lisa_la_machina said:
Yep, the Fall hangries are real. I know I'm eating loads for a variety of reasons, but eating more than ever has definitely helped me up my muscle mass, thus helping me up my workout weight loads, thus helping me up my muscle mass and so on. Hmmm, maybe all those lifters and competitors are on to something with the whole bulk and shred approach (as Karen rolls her eyes and says "duh"). :p
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Lisa, congrats on your hard-earned gains! You've been rocking it.
I wonder if Karen (or anyone) has insights into length of building/cutting phases. Does it matter?
Justinef said:
Phase 2 of gsf2 looks quite like the stuff I normally do on in-between days. I may have to change up my 'other' stuff. I quite fancy mixing in some of Nia's body weight workouts.
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Oh Justine, I think you could totally do a phase of Nia's new BW workout program in tandem with GSF2 Phase 2. That's brilliant. I wish I'd thought of it. I'll have to take a closer look at phase 2 of GSF1 to see if I could do the same.
Justinef said:
Gluteus Magnificus (<20 full gym) - ok, but more of a glute activator than a workout, at 14 minutes for 5 rounds, I'd use it again, as a warm up.
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Well, I'm ashamed! I did this workout today, and I was really breathing! 5 rounds with 175# hip thrusts and a 45# DB for the goblet squats with pause. Oh, and Lisa, I gingerly tried the sliding disc reverse lunges (only 5 per side per round) without pain! Woo! Not rushing into anything, but I was glad to be able to do just that. I played with some other LWF stuff -- splicing together bits of this and that. It was a great met con workout!
Justinef said:
Oh, and I can't do 1 armed chin ups. Nowhere near!
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I'm surprised to hear that, Justine, as you totally leave me in the dust with pullups. What's the deal, do you think? Stronger biceps vs stronger lats?
Speaking of pullups -- that's tomorrow's workout for me!

Tom, are you visiting the grandkids again this weekend? Great job on your workouts, as always.

And Liz, what are your thoughts? How are you faring?
High fives all around!
Roz
 
I'm trying to muster up the courage to do my missed leg day. I kinda feel like I'm trying to break into a " league of their own" Justine busting 50 pull ups/w/o..Roz cranking 1 armed chins, Karen seldom mentions accomplishments, probably so the rest of us don't feel "unworthy" and Lisa, changing diapers( and not gagging) while banging out regular tough wo's! You guys are a tough crowd, so I'll go squat now!!!
 
Tom, you're too modest. I know what you mean about Karen, though. I think she maybe squatting 400# and not wanting to shame us. Karen?

Roz, I wasn't as heavy on the gluteus maximus, so no wonder I thought it easy.
Nia even suggests her body weight stuff can be done alongside a lifting programme. I'll just start it and see how it goes.

Day 1 of gsf2 phase 2 today. Loved it. Very metabolic. Loads of reps. Kb jump squats, suspended push ups, Cossack squats, Russian twists and skater squats. Just don't know how I'll progress it over 4 weeks.

As to not being able to do 1 arm pull ups? Just not strong enough! Didn't even feel like I was leaving the ground. But you're right about biceps v lats. I still struggle with wide pull ups.


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Justinef said:
Tom, you're too modest. I know what you mean about Karen, though. I think she maybe squatting 400# and not wanting to shame us. Karen?



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Uhhh, no!! That won't be happening any time soon. I will be starting GSF, November 1. Need to read the material, to learn about the program, and find out what I will be doing. I'm excited. Time for a change! Still going to cycle in HoCo. I'm determined to kick it's butt, eventually. I don't mention my workouts, cuz, I don't want to admit that, I had to lie on the floor for 10 minutes after the workout, so the room would stop spinning, and I could actually breathe and see again.

If a one arm chin-up is part of the gig, I'm toast already.

I'm with you Tom, when I miss a planned workout, I'm cranky all day. Nothing is right with the world!
 
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Today was chest day. I'm posting weights because I need the embarrassment to improve!! This is definitely not bragging because my 1RM is probably down 70# from sts days. I did 12 sets of bench, always doing short sets going up to avoid fatigue(don't have the endurance of my cathlete sisters) 85#x5 115x5 135x3 155x2 175x1 3 sets at 155 on the way down 4x5x3 4 sets at 135 8x8x6x6. 1 set of incline flys 40's x10(only did 1 set because it bothered my elbows???) I then did 3 sets of decline pushups with feet on bench 15 15 12 and finished with a 5 min plank rotating every 30-60 seconds from front to side etc The last minute was alternate knee to chest. I am still losing weight, weighing in this AM at a less than hefty 164!! I know this is a big part of my strength loss, but ain't happy here!! I know the weights are not impressive, but I believe I can get them up if I can gain a little weight. On a more positive note, I hear they are looking for someone to play a stork in a new movie...thought I might apply!!! At 6`1" 164 I'm a shoo in!!! Karen, still laughing about the spinning room!!!!
 
Roz, I remember you saying that gsf2 gave you doms through phase 1, but you failed to mention that they got worse with phase 2
I woke up this morning with doms in my right buttock (yes, just one side). By lunch time my boobs felt like they were 2 kettlebells (24kg ones, at that), and my quads wouldn't cooperate with my brain wanting them to walk. By the time I'd finished lunch, all down the sides from armpits to hips had ceased up. Ow, ow, ow.

Anyway, I decided to give Nia's body weight 10 phase thingy a try. The first workout was very easy (even though I tried to do as hard as possible stuff) and I was done in 20 mins. I think I'll just do one week of phase 1....unless I can work out how to make step ups harder. (20" step, did a skater squat on top of the step, and then kept my trailing leg at a skater squat angle whilst lowering myself.)

Day off tomorrow and another long walk day with dogs and friends.
 
Hi everyone!
Justinef said:
As to not being able to do 1 arm pull ups? Just not strong enough! Didn't even feel like I was leaving the ground. But you're right about biceps v lats. I still struggle with wide pull ups.
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Justine, are you supporting with your other arm? Grab the bar with your right hand then grab your right wrist/forearm with your left hand. I can't do them unsupported.

Re: Phase 2 DOMS, I had some the first week, but not throughout like in Phase 1. You crack me up! :)

Oh, and you asked about deadlift grip issues and I forgot to answer. I dunno, I just think I've gained significant grip strength. During STS Meso 3, I couldn't do 6 bodyweight RDLs without my grip failing. Now, it's rarely the limiting factor.

Hmm, sorry to hear the Nia BW program didn't wow you. Maybe switch to pistols instead of step-ups? ;)
desertambrosia said:
I will be starting GSF, November 1. Need to read the material, to learn about the program, and find out what I will be doing. I'm excited. Time for a change!
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Woohoo! You're gonna love it, Karen. As Justine said, DOMS comin' atcha!

Tom, I echo what the other ladies have said -- glad you've got an appointment!

Lisa, hope you had a great rest day with the family yesterday!

Oh right -- my workout. So, my daughter has (knock wood) been sleeping a little later, so I've started getting some workouts in in the morning again. I'm thinking I'll probably get On Demand to try the ICE workouts when they come out, but I've been wanting for a while to try a month of Ilaria Montagnani's On Demand. So I signed up this morning and did Powerstrike 5 -- LOVED it! At one point I could have sworn she said, 'four more', but was disappointed, a minute later, to realize she'd said 'forty more'. I love the choreography -- definitely kept my attention.
Oh ye with Ilaria workouts -- any recommendations?

Happy Monday,
Roz
 
Geez, a girl takes one day off from the forums and look at everything I missed!!!

Tom, you and my DH need to talk about legs. He has to muster up desire to do them too. I'll give unsolicited advice and say don't beat yourself up on the weights. You just keep hitting it as hard as YOU can. I would go to sleep crying each night if I thought about how much more lbs the other lovely ladies (and you, kind sir) can lift than me. Just keep going for it and having fun. I hope the doc can give you guidance although I also hope there isn't anything 'wrong.' I do seriously wish there was a stork, though. I would much prefer a pleasant bird with your good personality dropping a baby onto my doorstep than the whole messy mess of childbirth. See, this is the kind of talk you are in for when you hang with the ladies. Sorry 'bout that. :)

Justine, thanks again for clueing me into the d-ring idea. You've given me lots of ideas on how to use them. Generally, do you prefer metabolic to heavy weights/low reps? I love workouts that use weights but also keep me huffing and puffing. Your idea to combine GSF with Nia is terrific. I didn't even think one-arm chin-ups were possible. I like to live in ignorance, then I don't feel bad about the things I cannot do. ;) Sorry about the bad weather. Do you still go on your long walks, even in the rain?

Karen, 'sup girl? Nice YAYOG + HiiT combo. Have you always done doubles? Or do you only do 2 workouts/day when you're in certain rotations? Nov 1 is coming soon, better read up on those new workouts! ;)

Roz, Ilaria On Demand? I didn't know that existed! I believe you and I have discussed trying out her workouts before but you beat me to it. I appreciate your recommendations. I'll have to add her to my impulse purchase cart during the next TotalfitnessDVDs sale. Soooo glad you're getting some good sleep patterns from your cutie pie DD. Knock knock knock on wood that it keeps going for you. My DD1 nixed the naps quite early on. Not that she was ever a good napper to begin with. :rolleyes: She did start sleeping longer at night, though, without the naps. That's a good thing, right? Thinking of you and your sweet family...

Yesterday I rested and today I did XTrain Legs, the premix with the barre. I love the burn without heavy weights. Just to make you nervous Justine, I'm boldly announcing that I have no idea what I'm doing tomorrow. Ha!

Lisa
 
I may be psychologically (and physically) traumatized,but today I took a page out of Justine's book with pull ups, and found out something very interesting...I peter out FAST!!! I started with 10 reps, then 8, then 6,then 5, then 2 sets of 4 and finished with 9 sets of 3!!! I couldn't have gotten the 4th rep on ANY of them, but never had difficulty with the rep 3??? I don't get it. I felt like I could have done more 3 rep sets but figured 64 might be fatal tomorrow! I thought at about rep 30 something I was toast, but was fine with more 3 rep sets. I did 3 sets of wide grip lat pulldowns with 100#x 8 and 2 sets of single dumbbell rows with 70 x8. It totaled 20 sets, but only took about 35 minutes. Hopefully I can get "ye ole" lats to pop!! Hope everyone has a great workout and even better day!!
 
Good morning, everyone! This morning was HoCo Volume 2. It was very difficult this morning. These are definitely going to be an after work, workout. Give myself all day, to warm up. This week is going to be a kinda, sorta "deload week." only one workout a day. I'm feeling kinda, beat up. Last week was very busy, and it's time for a little R & R. It would have been just too easy to lie on the floor, all day, after the workout this morning. But, the dogs started licking my face, and that's definitely a deal breaker.

Tom, you're making me tired, just reading your post. Geez!!
 
desertambrosia said:
Good morning, everyone! This morning was HoCo Volume 2. It was very difficult this morning. These are definitely going to be an after work, workout. Give myself all day, to warm up. This week is going to be a kinda, sorta "deload week." only one workout a day. I'm feeling kinda, beat up. Last week was very busy, and it's time for a little R & R. It would have been just too easy to lie on the floor, all day, after the workout this morning. But, the dogs started licking my face, and that's definitely a deal breaker.

Tom, you're making me tired, just reading your post. Geez!!
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Karen, sometimes a break is MUCH needed!! You hit it "out of the park" every day!! Enjoy some r&r( before the "commando sisters" goad you back!!
 
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