Fat broad seeks to become strong fat broad

Hi, everyone. I'm Liz, 32, 5'5" and 225lb. I work part-time from home and live literally across the street from a college gym.

I'm trying out the theory that a novice can increase muscle mass without putting on extra fat. Fat loss is not my priority at the moment because I want strength more. About six years ago I went from 190lb to 160lb in 6 months with lifting, diet, and cardio; I made minimal strength gains, hated my life, and quit going to the gym. This time I want to get strong and enjoy myself.

Started out on May 8th of this year at 230lb. I had no idea what I would be able to lift, so I started with 3x5 of the empty bar on the press, bench press, and squat. Made a few mistakes: tried doing press and bench press during the same workout, did 3 sets of 5 on deadlifts (which I think I started at 95), but that was only the first week or two. Since then, I've moved to the Practical Programming (2e) novice program, where I've stayed. I’ve missed five or six workouts in that time between business trips, vacations, and holiday gym closures.

Here are my latest two workouts:

7/20/15

Squat: 45 2x5, 85 1x5, 115 1x3, 150 3x5
Press: 45 2x5, 55 1x3, 70 3x5
Deadlift: 215 1x2, 210 1x3 (my progression said to do 210, I got overambitious and failed on rep 3 of 215)

7/22/2015

Squat: 45 2x5, 75 1x5, 120 1x5, 155 3x5
Bench: 45 2x5, 75 1x5, 110 3x5
Dead: 215 1x5 (back on schedule)

I do some cardio (low resistance, high speed) both before and after the workout, because I want to improve my cardiovascular situation, and because I feel less sore the next day if I get some fast movement in. I also do lat pulldowns and some vanity arm things after my main lifts, because I’m only human.

Welcome to the forum, Liz! Looks like you are well on your way to becoming a SFB!

Never think of yourself as "only human". Humans are glorious. You lift some dynamic weight. Keep up the good work.

Good work, good attitude. Well done, keep going.

Welcome Liz. Your log title almost exactly matches my first log title!

Good luck with your goal. Totally achievable

Quote:

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Originally Posted by carson

Never think of yourself as "only human". Humans are glorious.

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True, and thanks for the reminder. But I do share with the squat-rack-curlers at my gym the human frailty of wanting killer biceps.

Thank you all for your encouraging words! I try to keep my mind on my own business when I'm in the gym, unless someone is actually curling in the squat rack, but I sometimes feel kind of creaky and oversized among the lithe, fresh-faced college athletes. Hopefully once the school year starts up again there'll be more regular-type people around.

The bro curlers in racks, (why the heck don't they go some place else?)...may be an exception to gloriousness of humanity. I wish my biceps were bigger but at my age I don't much care anymore.

Keep up the good work.

Welcome, Liz! Getting stronger is loads of fun. :-)

Mixed bag today.

Squat: 2x5 45, 1x5 80, 1x3 125, 3x5 160
Press: 1x5 45, 1x3 60, 1x5 75, 1x4 75, 1x3 75 -- yeah, wow, failed that pretty hard
Dead: 1x5 225 -- that's my bodyweight! That's the most weight I've ever lifted in any way, ever!

After that I did 3x5 for 90 on the lat pulldown and 3x10 50 fixed-barbell press, mainly to work on form.

I went swimming yesterday for the first time in years, and it felt pretty good for my legs and back, but I'm wondering if it took more out of me than I realized. The main difficulty was a lot more burn/fatigue in my shoulders than usual. Maybe no swimming the day before press day.

Also I saw my next-door neighbor in the gym -- he works for the athletic department -- and he started asking me questions right when I was about to start my squat warmups. Awkward. Then he finished his workout and left his bench press bar loaded. I unloaded it for him because I'm such a good neighbor.

A BW DL is a great milestone and your squats are nothing to sneeze at, soon you should be at BW as well - excellent progress! Keep it up!