View Full Version : Isis and the Barbell
Thanks to Gwynn, TonyaB, applescruffette and tennies for the inspiration to start a log here.
I'm 43, 148 lbs, 5'6", and have been lifting since a year ago September. After rehab from knee surgery, my surgeon told me to "go lift weights and get strong." So I went looking for a weightlifting book for beginners on Amazon, found Starting Strength, and discovered that playing with heavy toys can be a lot of fun. Novice progression took a year, with some interruptions, and I've been making progress on the Texas method since last fall, except for the upper body lifts where an injured shoulder was holding me back. The shoulder is now pain-free and I'm working on getting my upper body strength back to what it was.
My workout schedule often gets extra rest days thrown in because the rest of my life gets in the way, but that doesn't seem to stop the TM from working.
I didn't have enough time to do all of my intensity day workout yesterday so I finished it this morning.
I use kilogram plates, so the numbers are kg x reps x sets.
yesterday:
Squat
20 x 5 x 2
50 x 5
70 x 5
80 x 1
87 x 5
Bench Press
15 x 5 x 2
20 x 5
24 x 5 x 3
today:
Power Clean
15 x 3 x 2
25 x 4
35 x 3
40 x 2
45 x 1
45 x 3 x 6
Chinups x 5 x 3 with an 0.5 kg plate
I just started benching again this week and am starting really light and plan to take a couple weeks to work the weights back up. 24 was easy. I lost focus on my 3rd set of power cleans and missed two reps so I did a 6th set.
Gwynn
04-02-2010, 05:33 PM
Awesome! What a strong squat. Thanks for adding your voice to the chorus.
applescruffette
04-02-2010, 06:17 PM
Another woman's log to follow! I envy your squat and chin-up numbers. :)
Squat
20 x 5 x 2
50 x 5
70 x 3
80 x 5 x 5
Bench Press
15 x 5 x 2
20 x 5
24 x 5
28 x 5 x 3
Halting Deadlift
40 x 5
70 x 5
85 x 3
98 x 8 (alternate grip)
Pullups x 4 x 2
Pullups x 3
About a week ago I decided to try creatine and started taking 6g/day. Maybe it's too early to say if it's definitely helping or not, but today instead of barely getting through the last few reps of the 5x5, they felt surprisingly good. And afterwards I felt like I had enough energy to tackle a 6th set, which I didn't do, but this is the first time I've ever had that thought.
On the other hand, I am definitely retaining water--maybe 2 or 3 pounds. But not retaining it in the usual places. I can tell by the way my clothes fit that it's in my shoulders, back, butt and thighs. The same pair of jeans I wore four days ago is now tight in the thighs. My bra strap is tighter around the chest. The pants thing is bumming me out a little...in my 18 months of lifting I've gained about 10 pounds and worn the same jeans the whole time, and suddenly they're too tight.
Power Clean
15 x 3 x 3
25 x 3
35 x 3
40 x 2
45 x 1
45.5 x 3 x 5
Press
8 x 5 x 2
15 x 5
21 x 5
26.5 x 5 x 5
Front Squat
20 x 5 x 2
40 x 3
55 x 3
61 x 3 x 3
Overhead Squat
8 x 8 x 2
16 x 8
23 x 8 x 3
The creatine is definitely working...not only did my presses feel a lot lighter than normal, enough lighter that I had to check the bar to make sure I loaded it right, but I was feeling ready for the next set a couple minutes sooner than usual. I was expecting the squats and power cleans to be a struggle because I was still feeling tired and slow from Sunday's squats, but they weren't hard either.
TonyaB
04-07-2010, 09:57 AM
You're my hero isis. Very cool, especially given the time frame you've made these accomplishments.
I'm interested how you will deal with the increasing pants sizes. That's something I will surely struggle with.
Tonya
I dealt with the pants size problem today...by going shopping.
TonyaB
04-08-2010, 03:09 AM
Ha ha. I meant mentally. But obviously a butt that is muscle looks better in bigger pants that butt that is covered in a layer of fluff.
That's exactly it Tonya and there's really not much fluff left on me. I decided not to worry because the creatine water weight is reversible if I just stop taking it, and wearing some bigger pants for a while seems like it will be worth it if it gets my ever-frustrating press to move up.
This workout was delayed two days. I tried to get it done yesterday, but during my squat warmups my right quadriceps tendon was giving me a nasty twinge. That's the healthy knee and it has never bugged me in that spot before. Since I couldn't warm up through it I decided not to continue with the workout and instead thoroughly foam rolled everything from my hips on down. That apparently solved the problem because I had no knee pain today.
Squat
20 x 5
50 x 5
70 x 3
81 x 1
88 x 5
Bench Press
15 x 5 x 2
20 x 5
26 x 5
30 x 5
32 x 5 x 3
Power Clean
15 x 3 x 3
25 x 3
35 x 3
40 x 1
45 x 1
46 x 3 x 5
Chinups with 0.75 kg
3 x 5
Nothing was really hard today...that's the wonderful thing about a few extra rest days. My original plan was to do 30 on the bench press, but it was so easy I added a couple more kilos. At this rate I'll be revisiting my previous 3x5 max from six months ago by the end of next week...I'm curious to see what will happen when I try.
tennies
04-10-2010, 06:44 PM
Hi Isis,
Thank you for posting your log, I will be following! You are strong, I can't imagine doing the squat weight that you are lifting.
Heather
IlPrincipeBrutto
04-11-2010, 08:36 AM
Kudos to you Isis,
your squat numbers, back and front, are impressive. And so is your power clean.
IPB
Thanks Heather and IPB. I never imagined lifting these weights either, but just kept on loading one more kilo on the bar, and it adds up after a while.
Squat
20 x 5 x 2
50 x 5
75 x 3
81 x 5 x 5
Bench Press
15 x 5 x 2
20 x 5
25 x 5
30 x 3
34 x 5 x 3
Rack Pull
40 x 5
75 x 5
95 x 2
102 x 5
Pullups
BW x 5 x 2
BW x 4
+2 on the bench press felt perfect today...I don't think I would have gotten through 3 sets at 36. My rack pull increment is also 2 kg, but I felt my back position come unglued on the last rep. So maybe +1 next time. It's still exciting to have a set of 5 in the triple digits.
Press
8 x 5 x 2
15 x 5
21 x 5
27 x 5 x 5
Overhead Squat
8 x 8
17 x 8
24 x 8
Power Clean
warmups then a lot of triples between 40-45 kg
Front Squat
20 x 5
40 x 3
55 x 3
60 x 3 x 3
The first half of the workout was at home in the morning and the second half at the gym in the afternoon where I got some coaching on my power clean. Getting my back really set before I pull and then not rushing it are the main things I need to work on. Front squats are always harder two days after rack pulls than they are when they follow halting deadlifts. 61 was easy last week and 60 this week was a grind. But two weeks ago I dropped 60 so I'm making progress.
LiftingLiz
04-17-2010, 08:30 AM
Hi there! Thanks for stopping by my log, your advice has been great. I look forward to following your log.
Squat
20 x 5 x 2
40 x 5
60 x 5
80 x 2
89 x 4
Bench Press
15 x 5 x 2
25 x 5
30 x 5
34 x 1
36 x 5 x 3
Power Clean
15 x 3 x 2
25 x 3
35 x 3
45 x 3
46.5 x 3 x 4
Chinups
BW + 1kg x 5 x 3
I was feeling tired and slow, far less recovered than usual before this workout. The squats felt heavy, I failed on the last rep, and I stopped after 4 sets of power cleans because my form was falling apart. But they were really crisp, like the bar path was right on target, until I got tired.
Maybe I overdid it on recovery day with the power clean practice. I didn't count the number of sets I did but it was probably closer to 10 than 5. Next week I'll avoid that mistake and do a light press workout instead of the 5x5 and see if it helps.
Squat
20 x 5 x 2
50 x 5
70 x 3
82 x 5 x 5
Bench Press
15 x 5 x 2
25 x 5
35 x 5
38 x 5 x 3
Halting Deadlift
40 x 5
70 x 5
90 x 3
99 x 8
Pullups
BW x 3 x 3
TM volume day scares people but it's been growing on me lately. 5x5 is a lot of work but I'm feeling rested and strong and get right through it and really feel like I accomplished something. But the day after volume day is definitely my least favorite day of the Texas Method week.
Squats are getting a little harder but still easier than they were pre-creatine. Bar speed was very good for all reps of the bench press. The scale was telling me I'm up a couple pounds, and that definitely makes pullups harder.
TonyaB
04-22-2010, 01:26 PM
Inspiring, isis.
Power Clean
15 x 3 x 2
25 x 3
35 x 3
45 x 3
47 x 3 x 5
Press
8 x 5
15 x 5
20 x 5
24 x 5 x 3
Front Squat
20 x 5 x 2
40 x 3
55 x 3
62 x 3 x 3
Overhead Squat
8 x 8
15 x 8
20 x 8
25 x 8 x 3
It took me a few sets to remember what I was doing last week with the power cleans. I'm happy with how the overhead squats are going. Once before I had them in my program and worked up to about 25 using 5 sets of 3 but they started feeling really hard on the shoulders and my presses were stalling so I stopped doing them. The sets of 8 I feel more in the abs than the shoulders. My goal is to work the OHS's up to the mid 40's to get them higher than my power snatch, as they should be according to Sassy Sage B (http://sageolylifting.blogspot.com/).
I am feeling much less tired, slow and sore than I did on recovery day last week. Not sure why exactly but here are some possibilities that have occurred to me:
1) the difference between haltings and rack pulls
2) I only added 1 kg to the haltings instead of 2 kg
3) I drank 3 glasses of milk on Tuesday which is 3 x as much as usual. (This wasn't something I planned, I just was hungry and had no time to fix myself a snack, so I went for the milk.)
4) all of the above
Squat
20 x 5 x 2
60 x 5
80 x 3
91 x 5
Bench Press
20 x 5
25 x 5
35 x 5
39 x 5 x 3
Power Clean
15 x 3 x 2
24 x 3
35 x 3
45 x 3
47.5 x 3 x 5
Chinups
BW + 1 kg x 5 x 3
Last week I was tired on intensity day and managed 89 x 4, so today since I was feeling good I decided to go for 91. The last rep was hard but not 1RM hard so I probably had even more in me. Then I almost hit myself in the chin with 47.5 kg doing power cleans.
Had a talk with an experienced lifter about fatigue and recovery. Doing workouts while feeling unrecovered is normal and necessary to make progress beyond a certain point, he told me, but most people don't want to do it. I knew that fatigue is normal for recovery day in the TM, but hadn't grasped that might also apply to intensity day. The reason for intensity day is to expose the nervous system to heavy weights, and to demonstrate progress. So if next week I'm tired on intensity day but can lift more than I could last week when I was also tired, then I've made progress. He told me that doubles and triples might work better than sets of 5 if I'm frequently underrecovered on intensity day.
Hi Isis,
I'm thinking about getting back on TM. I'm hitting the wall on all my lifts doing straight linear progression. TM seems ideal for a "mature" lifter like me. My energy levels seem to fluctuate wildly from day to day. I am not looking forward to those intensity days. It takes me like an entire afternoon to get through one and I tend to overdo it on the recovery days. I'll start out with 5's in intensity days but I may have to go to triples. Do you have any tips or pointers for success?
When I first put my upper body lifts on the TM I picked volume weights that I now believe were too high, wasn't sure what to use for a week-to-week increment, and was trying to rotate singles, doubles and triples on intensity day, all with different weights and I didn't have any idea what increments to use there either. I think I was stuck from the beginning but there were so many variables that it took me weeks to figure out I wasn't getting anywhere.
Meanwhile my squat in which I started at a lower weight relative to my old 3x5 and used the same intensity day workout each time, a heavy set of 5, made steady progress.
So my new rules as I'm trying to get my upper body lifts back on the TM are: start low and keep it simple.
Squat
20 x 5 x 2
40 x 5 x 2
70 x 3
83 x 5 x 5
Press
8 x 5
15 x 5
20 x 5
27.5 x 5 x 5
Rack Pull
40 x 5
75 x 5
95 x 2
103 x 5
Pullups
BW x 4 x 3
Both kneecaps were bugging me during the squat warmups, but they sorted themselves out before the work sets. It probably has to do with the massage I got yesterday which left me feeling nice and loose but apparently with leg muscles a little out of balance.
This is going to be a Texas method week for the press and I'm looking forward to trying some heavier weights on intensity day. I'll be out of town this weekend so intensity day will be a few days late.
Rack pulls were not hard today. Maybe +2 kg is too much, but +1 kg doesn't seem like enough. Loading 104.5 seems a little silly, but maybe that's what I should try next time.
Power Clean
15 x 3 x 3
25 x 3
35 x 3
45 x 1
46 x 1
45 x 2
45 x 3 x 2
Bench Press
8 x 5
15 x 5
25 x 5
33 x 5 x 3
Front Squat
20 x 5
40 x 3
55 x 3
61 x 3 x 3
Overhead Squat
8 x 8
15 x 8
21 x 8
26 x 8 x 3
I felt pretty good this morning but it was clear to me even while warming up on the rower that my energy level was limited. Blame the rack pulls. But I adjusted the power clean and front squat weights down a little and had a good workout.
Squat
20 x 5 x 2
60 x 5
82 x 5
92 x 5
Press
8 x 5
15 x 5
20 x 5
26 x 3
31 x 1 x 5
Power Clean
15 x 3 x 2
25 x 3
35 x 3
45 x 1
48 x 3 x 5
Chinups
BW + 1.25 kg x 5 x 3
I had an extra two days of rest from lifting but this weekend's travel left me feeling stiff and sleep deprived. The squats were heavy, my form felt like it was going wrong a different way on each rep and the last rep was very slow.
Five singles across is my new plan for press intensity day. 31 felt heavy and moved slow and I just barely got the last one, so I feel like I started with the right weight (which I got to by adding 10% to my volume day weight and rounding up).
Had lots of energy left for power cleans and they felt nice and snappy.
TonyaB
05-05-2010, 02:43 PM
Still inspiring. Even when you're sleep deprived and stiff.
Squat
20 x 5 x 2
50 x 5
70 x 3
84 x 5 x 5
Bench Press
15 x 5
20 x 5
25 x 5
35 x 3
40 x 5 x 3
Halting Deadlift
40 x 5
70 x 5
90 x 2
101 x 8
Pullups
BW x 5 x 3
The last few days have been stressful and a common pattern of mine when things are stressful is to forget to eat. I weighed myself this morning and got 146, down 3 pounds. In my life before lifting I would have been happy about that, but now it doesn't seem like such a good idea, especially on volume day.
Squats were more challenging than last week, but I rested longer between sets (10 minutes) and got them done. The bench press also felt heavy, so it's probably time to start making 0.5 kg jumps. Pullups get the advantage from a little weight loss. This is only the second time I've completed 3 sets of 5 pullups. The other time was on Christmas Eve...and stress probably had something to do with it then too.
Power Clean
15 x 3 x 3
24 x 3
35 x 3
45 x 1
47 x 1
48.5 x 3 x 3
Press
15 x 5 x 2
24 x 5 x 3
Front Squat
24 x 5
40 x 3
55 x 3
60 x 3 x 3
Overhead Squat
8 x 8
15 x 8
20 x 8
25 x 3
27 x 8 x 3
The kids gave me their cold so I'm feeling icky and I still haven't been eating enough according to the scale. Each set of power cleans had one good rep, one OK rep, and one ugly rep. My front squat warmups felt really heavy so I decided 60 was good enough for light squat day. Sometimes I wonder how much I could actually front squat if I tried it when I wasn't tired. But the OHS's made me feel like I made some progress today, and I feel better than I did before the workout.
Nice of the little one's to share. Happy Mother's Day!
Squat
20 x 5 x 3
Bench Press
20 x 5 x 2
30 x 5
36 x 3
40.5 x 5 x 3
Power Clean
15 x 3 x 3
25 x 3
35 x 3
45 x 2
47 x 1
49 x 3 x 3
49 x 2
49 x 3
Chinups
BW + 2.25 kg x 5 x 2
BW + 2.25 kg x 4
My right quadriceps tendon has been bugging me since the last workout. Perhaps because of those heavy-feeling front squats. It has been improving but the squat warmups didn't feel very good so I decided to give it another few days off from squatting. My timing was off in the 4th set of cleans and I racked one late and torqued my wrist and then the next rep wouldn't go at all. A renewed focus on "slow off the floor" fixed the 5th set. The wrist seems to be fine now.
Based on my scale weight I guessed I could add more weight to my chinups, but I was a little too ambitious.
Squat
20 x 5 x 2
50 x 5
70 x 3
85 x 5
83 x 5 x 3
Rack Pull
40 x 5
75 x 3
90 x 2
104 x 5
Press
8 x 5
15 x 5 x 2
22 x 3
28 x 5 x 5
Pullups
BW x 4 x 3
I am in love!!!!! with my new neoprene knee sleeves. I should have bought them ages ago--it's like having little knee saunas that I can take with me anywhere. That right quad tendon talked to me a little on the first warmup sets but I focused on jamming that knee out and had no pain at all for the work sets.
But I got the squat workout I deserved with 9 days since the last volume workout and no intensity workout...85 was too heavy, and the last rep at 83 was an ugly grinder. I stopped after 4 work sets because it is rack pull day and my family needs me to have some energy tomorrow and not be zombie mom. But then the rack pulls felt really light at 104.
Squats and pulls got done in the morning, but the upper body lifts had to wait until afternoon. Presses were significantly easier than last time but pullups were harder. If I had had more time to rest after the presses that would probably have helped.
The non-training-related stress in my life has been off the charts, but it's looking like things will calm down later this week. I found a little time yesterday to spend with the barbell.
Power Clean
15 x 3 x 3
25 x 3
35 x 3
45 x 3 x 5
Bench Press
20 x 5 x 2
25 x 5
32 x 5 x 3
Overhead Squat
8 x 8
15 x 8
20 x 8
25 x 3
28 x 8 x 3
2big2fail
05-19-2010, 06:44 PM
Life stress is a real workout killer for sure. Ironically enough, the best way to cope with said stress is working out ( at least for me ). Glad to see you got to spend some time smashing weights.
Thanks 2big. Working out definitely helps my anxiety level.
Squat
20 x 5 x 2
50 x 5
70 x 3
85 x 2
95 x 1 x 3
Press
8 x 5
15 x 5
20 x 5
26 x 3
31.5 x 1 x 5
Power Clean
15 x 3 x 2
25 x 3
35 x 3
45 x 1
47 x 3
48 x 2
47 x 3,3,2
Chins
BW + 2.75 kg x 5 x 3
My non-training issues have gotten a lot better, but I really didn't take very good care of my body this week. I felt that matching my previous 5RM was an iffy prospect, so I decided to load up 95 and see what I could do with it, which turned out to be 3 singles. I attempted a double on the first set and a fourth single and failed both of those.
The press has always been my slowest lift so it's good to see progress there, even if it's only half a kilo. Power cleans are starting to feel like they need some coaching.
Power Clean
15 x 3 x 2
25 x 3
35 x 3
45 x 3 x 5
Bench Press
20 x 5 x 2
30 x 5
36 x 3
41 x 5 x 3
Halting Deadlift
40 x 5
70 x 5
90 x 3
102 x 8
Pullups
BW + 0.5 kg x 5 x 3
My right knee has been bugging me since the last workout. Today in my squat warmups it started out unhappy and got worse, and stretching and using the foam roller didn't help, so I decided to postpone squatting and use the time to do some power cleans, mostly because my head was full of anxiety and stress and if I couldn't use squats to clear it out then power cleans seemed like the next best thing.
Usually I land my jump in the same place or a little backwards, but there were a couple of reps where I landed forward on my toes, and that made my knee complain. Maybe that's what I did on Friday that got it irritated.
Haltings and bench press felt strong, although I'm sure that not being tired from squats helped a lot.
Press
8 x 5
15 x 5
20 x 5
25 x 5 x 3
Goodmornings
8 x 5
15 x 5
20 x 8 x 3
Today I got my light presses done and tried flat-backed goodmornings for the first time, using a conservative weight. My knee is better but not 100% and since I'm going to be away from the weights until Tuesday I decided to wait until then to try to get back on my squatting program. Or some squatting program...since I have made 13kg of progress on the most basic texas method template, I've been thinking it's time to change it up a little.
IlPrincipeBrutto
05-28-2010, 05:49 AM
Or some squatting program...since I have made 13kg of progress on the most basic texas method template, I've been thinking it's time to change it up a little.
I know it's a trivial question, but why ? if you are making progress with this program, why change it ?
IPB
That's a good question, not a trivial one. Rip talks in PP about how variation on Fridays helps with staying unstuck. My thought was to introduce some variation before I actually get stuck.
IlPrincipeBrutto
05-28-2010, 10:29 AM
Ok, thanks for the reply.
I thik it would be better to wait until you actually get stuck, or at least have the clear feeling that you are goint to pretty soon.
Either way, keep up the good work.
IPB
K.Diesel
06-09-2010, 02:45 PM
Just found your log today. Your lifting is awesome! Looking forward to following along.
Powered by vBulletin™ Version 4.1.0 Copyright © 2013 vBulletin Solutions, Inc. All rights reserved.