Lifting like girls

Lisa, Karen, really great to hear from you both! Lisa, please take care of yourself and get healed! Thank you guys for asking about my wife, she is doing great with the new knee. Deload leg day, light and lackluster, but that's ok! 4 sets of bench squats x5, 3 sets of reverse lunges x8x6x4. 1x8 light staggard deadlifts, barbell calf raises 2x25, some 1 leg hip thrust and 2 leg hip thrust (all unweighted). I finished with cable crunches 2x20 and side planks x 1 min. All the weights were light and reps were pretty short. but at least I won't need a caretaker to get around...hopefully! I read an article of what exercises NOT to do if you are over 40, and among them were several I have already quit doing due to lousy shoulder mobility, behind the neck presses and upright rows, and flys, but also included were crunches, conventional long cardio, leg press, Smith machine squats(due to dictating movement path) and ...gulp...deadlifts!!! I never was great at following directions and probably won't start now, but that was disturbing! As for bad eating habits,I have a McDonalds about 2 min from my house, but when it is that close you get tired of it. I really can't get into wine...used to hit the beer a little harder when younger, but decided most of the really stupid things I have done in my life involved some of it, so I drink about 10-12 drinks a year...not as much fun as I used to be!!! We do however eat out most of the time which makes a really lousy diet especially in a small town with limited options. It just seems hard to cook for 2 and we have friends like us that like to go out...NO DISHES, but not healthy either! I was going to make this short and sweet, but didn't succeed ....sorry!! Have a great midweek Ladies!
 
Tom, I read that same article. Like you stated, why start now. I never do behind the neck presses, and rarely upright rows. (Was told not to do upright rows, when I was training for the fire dept.) Evidently, they are really hard on the shoulder. You sound like me, I have maybe one margarita a year, possibly two. But, only when we go out for Mexican food. Definitely not as much fun as I was. I guess we could say; life happens.
 
Lisa, wishing you a very speedy recovery!
Tom, glad the wife is well. Intense workout, as usual!
Hi Roz! Justine, I know, it shook me!

I washed and hand polished my motorcycle today. This rain needs to subside more! I need to ride. Did get a new game and spent the afternoon playing it with the boys.

Tomorrow is the full legs workout! Interestingly, I am actually looking forward to it!

More good news......I'm not having to use the knee support on every workout now! And, I can walk barefoot without ANY pain! In fact, I haven't had any shooting pain for maybe a month! This is so very wonderful! even with all the jumping jacks and such in Xtrain!!
 
Deload shoulders today. 4 sets of seated dumbbell press, my heaviest set was 60s x3, strict press, 4 sets, the heaviest 105 x3, 2x8 side lats (20s), 2x8 rear delt flys (30s), 2x8 alt front raise( 20s)and shrugs, 2x20 (60s). I did get 1.5 miles on the stationary bike before as a warm up...sorta cardio Lisa???? Lib, great news on being pain free (at least until after todays legs!) Karen, I hear you on the "life happens" but where the he!! did it go and how come so fast?? Justine, if we do the magazine, you can do an article on pullups called UK Lats and I will have a column called "Codger Corner" for old f@rts that can't accept the inevitable! Lib can be the Recreation editor and do segments on kayaking and biking (motorcycle style). Karen can have a weekly feature called "Ripped in Utah" and Roz can be the safety editor, showing us how to get a car off of someone trapped under it by deadlifting! Lisa, you are in charge of "circulation" haha, since you are our Cardio Queen! (What was in my cereal??)!! Get some iron Commandos!!
 
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Tom, I love it! That would be fun!

I did better on legs today, got dizzy towards the end of standing. Must start eating breakfast everyday! I did delta first today, because I was so wiped after lets last week. But discovered I could have done just fine on either side today. I am quite pleased with how today's workout went, i didn't expect the improvements I saw today
 
I think there's gotta be a market for C.I. (Commando Illustrated), no? :) Love it!

Enjoying my deload. The RP templates weren't working with my life right now, so I've switched to tracking calories/macros on My Fitness Pal and it is sooooo much more enjoyable! :) Using a lot of the RP sensibilities, I just don't have enforced no carb meals (which, as a vegetarian = an eggwhite-tear-spinach scramble) and I don't stress about meal timing (though I pretty reliably get protein throughout the day without trying). I'm sure when I'm back to heavy lifting I'll focus my carbs more around training. Not doing an intra shake now, though I'd do one if I were training heavy first thing in the morning. Still doing my casein at night, but I love it blended with frozen banana and PB, so it's a treat by choice. ;)

Lisa, happy to hear from you! sending lots and lots of love and hope you enjoy re-entering workout land when it's time. :) I'm sure you will! And I know you have your eye on that new Live kickboxing quick fix. :p

Great job, everyone! You rock!
Roz
 
Lisa, so good to hear from you. Sending virtual recovery hugs across the Atlantic. Don't be in too much of a hurry to get back into the Cathe workouts, they'll wait for you.
Thanks for asking about my dh and his knee- he's back walking, no issues. Mind you it was keyhole, so recovery is quick. 2 acl tears and a foreign body(!) in his knee, and it turns out he has bad arthritis.

Lib, so many good things seem to be coming your way. Pay back for all your hard work and dedication. You've earned it!

Ice metabolic- I liked it the first time I tried it. Very similar to flextrain and supercuts, but a little more gentle. I was able to double up the weights. So, I thought it would be a good workout for my recovery week, but when I tried it for the second time, I just wasn't feeling any love. It just felt like a load of stuff I've done before. BUT I was a bit 'meh' all day, so it could have been me. I'll try it again.

Roz, sounds as though you've learned enough on RP to chill about the eating and do your own thing. A great, healthy perspective. You've got the templates if you ever feel the need to be strict again.

Yesterday was legs for me. Squats (narrow and sumo) and deadlifts. Plus hamstring curls and calves. I was feeling strong (although the prescribed weights are lightish, so I may be kidding myself).

I'm loving commandos illustrated. We could have a puzzle page! Converting pounds to kilos, and calculating 85% of 1rm, and a crossword puzzle ( muscle that's disappeared? Abs-conded. Or maybe that should be crappy joke corner?)

Almost the weekend (a long one in the uk- not that it makes a difference for me, as all the days are pretty samey)

Enjoy!
 
Deload arms today. Skullcrushers/dumbbell curls,2 x 8, tri pushdowns/hammer curls, 2 x 8, tri crossbody/conc curls, 2x8 and close pushups/bicep isos, 1 x 25. All the dumbbell work was with 30s, and I finished with cable crunches 1 x 20 and plank x 2 minutes. Justine, the puzzle page was great...glad hubby's knee is getting along well.Roz, I admire your ability to control your eating and especially to make good choices. My diet is pretty random, the only thing I concentrate on is getting protein, the rest is really unstructured!! Hope it is a terrific weekend for All!!
 
We can all work on the starter section of CI! Y'all did a great job helping me get started!!

So I have to brag!! Xtrain: Hard Strikes done! Not only did I finish it......I only paused three times and very shortly to down a bit of water.......and I did NOT modify until the very last two minutes!!

So proud right now! I am definitely improving in so many areas!

And, I can officially say, I am starting to like cardio!!

Justine, your leg days are awesome! I only did metabolic a couple of times, but like it.

Tom, been meaning to ask, what do you mean by "deload" arms? Your guns must be intense!

Roz, share any recipes you want! I am in awe of your nutrition adherence! I am working on that. My fitness pal app is helping a lot (and not eating out). It shook me up to see how many calories were in everything.
 
Hope everyone is having a fantastic weekend!!

I didn't do lower body on Saturday. I have been having a lot of stress around here, and it all came to a head that day. Took all day to get it dealt with and to stop it completely. I wanted to do the workout yesterday, but the boys wanted to kayak, so we hit the lake early (knew it would be packed later), and then We all slept the rest of the day.

So, back at it today. Disappointed I missed Saturday, but so glad the stress is gone!! Should I add that workout onto one of the weight workouts this week? Or just let it go and stop the guilt........
 
Officially off deload week! Yesterday I did some deads and core work, nothing note worthy. Today was back to chest and did 12 sets bench, 3 sets incline bench, 1 burnout set dumbbell incline and 1 burnout set of pushups. I worked up to 205 x 3 x 2, 185 x6x5x5, 165 x8x6, and incline was 135 x 10 x 9 x 8,. For burnout dumbbell inclines, I used 50s x 15 and pushups 1 x 25. Felt good to push it again! I had a friend from Omaha down over the weekend, and Saturday nite was a late one at the casinos in KC, but I did sleep in late Sunday so "no harm done"! Lib, glad the stress is gone, and as far as the missed w/o go's, I am no expert, but not worth dragging yourself down trying to add to another w/o. In the long run, 1 missed w/o out is NO BIG DEAL. Finish the weekend out well Ladies!!
 
Lib, I'd let it go, and not fret about making the workout up. I find that I come to resent working out if I feel pressured into catching up. You went kayaking! That counts!

Tom -12 sets? You really came bouncing back from deload!

Push-pull for me today. All very traditional. I'll be getting bro gainz in no time! Bench, incline bench (somewhat lighter than Tom, though -40kg), bent over rows, pull ups, skull crushers and ab work.

Hope you've all had a fab long weekend
 
Lib, I think a deload week is a lighter. Less intense, giving the body a chance to rest and recover. Usually less sets, less weight etc. I think there are different ways you can do it, I didn't apply much science, just " lightened up". Sometimes it is hard to dial it back, but, in the long run, you will make more gains and less chance of plateauing and burning out. Call your kayaking a " de load"!!!
 
Today is a rest day for me. It's also a holiday. So, DH and I planted our garden. It's about two weeks later than usual, but I think we will be ok. Tomatoes, peppers, beans, peas, zucchini, corn and potatoes. We planted the potatoes in whiskey barrels. We've not had great luck with potatoes in the past. But, we are trying again.
Yesterday was chest, shoulders and triceps, nice well rounded workout. The day before that was legs. My legs are still sore. I'm trying to mix it up with legs. One leg day I will work heavy with squats, deads etc. Multi muscle exercises. The next leg day I will work lighter, with single muscle work. More of a metabolic speed. Legs are difficult to define for me, so I'm trying different strategies.

Tom, Love your magazine idea. I would be in charge of: "There was a time I was ripped in Utah!"
Have a great day, everyone!
 
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Good Morning All! Back day here consisted of lat pulldowns 6 x 10, deadlifts, 205 x 5, 225 x 5, 265 x 3, 295 x 2, and loaded 325 on but didn't have the fortitude to get that done, so I backed off to 205 and did a set of 12 (sumo), I have never done 12 reps on deads before so that was different! I finished with dumbbell rows, 80s, 3 x 10. Seems like Monday due to the holiday, which I hope was great for all Commandos!!
 
Legs done! Won another battle with my cerebral cortex. Brain says "you can function on those skinny lil legs"...ego says "get off your ars and fry em" and today ego won! I worked up in sets of 5 on bench squats to 225x2 (tough second rep) and finished at 185x10. Next I did 1x15 gob squat with a 50# kb, dumbbell reverse lunges 3x8 with 40s, barbell calf raises, 185x30x25x25 and 1x25 donkey press(unweighted) I finished with abs, 1x50 crunches, 1x60 sec side planks, and 1x30 cable crunches. Hoping today find everyone happy, healthy, wealthy and wise! Have a great one Iron Sistas!!
 
Karen, keep us posted about the garden! I love stuff like that. We grow just about everything possible. I guess your vegetables are outdoors? For us, tomatoes, aubergines, cucumbers and peppers need to be under glass. At the moment we're getting sick of purple sprouting broccoli, asparagus, broad beans (fava in the us?) and globe artichokes!

Tom, great work on the legs. Donkey presses suck! Your 225 squats were impressive.

Push-pull for me today. The sets are ramping (6 sets of EZ curls is really quite boring), but the volume is still manageable. Weirdly I'm starting to miss cardio. Just one workout will solve that problem for a while, though!

Lib, any time change makes a workout feel hard for me. I'm a creature of habit.
 
found a knitting pattern today, decided to just try it (I get bored easily with knitting anymore, but haven't done any in over four years). Next thing I knew it was 2 pm and I hadn't eaten anything but a small handful of almonds. Whoops! Calories today will be way under.

Did get Xtrain: chest, back, and shoulders done.
 
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