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.