So life has arranged, it seems, for me to be able to attend my wife's twice-weekly lifting sessions. I'm kinda coaching her. I say "kinda" because a) Never Coach Your Wife, and b) I'm not much of a coach. But I can give her some cues and help her choose sets, reps, jumps, and modifications. She's done NLP before but has just come back from a 3-month layoff, so we're LPing again right now. She has a paper log going back 15 months which covers her first LP plus some dabbling in a Texas-Method-like intermediate program.
She is 39 years old, 68", 160lbs. She would like her bodyweight to either remain constant with a recomp toward more muscularity, or trend down slightly. Due to non-training responsibilities, gender, and age, her recovery capacity is less than it might otherwise be, hence 2/wk lifting.
In addition to the Big Four exercises, she barbell curls 1/wk, on this progression: W x10x3, W+ x8x3, W+ x6x3, W+ x4x3, then repeated with slightly higher weights throughout as progression continues. I've noticed a complete absence of elbow tendinitis in my own training since I began including curls, so this is an experiment with her as the guinea pig to see if we can stave off elbow issues before they start.
Indeed. She's just way better at form than me, and she's quickly regaining her strength lost from the layoff.
09-17-2019, 03:30 PM
Geoff Bischoff
LP2: W4D1
Squat: 110x5x3
Bench: 82.5x5x3 (Sets Across PR!)
DL: 180x3x2 (3PR!) (V6 PR!)
Firing on all cylinders. Already into PR territory on some of the lifts.
09-20-2019, 02:10 PM
Geoff Bischoff
LP2: W4D2
Squat: 115x5x3 (Tied old sets across PR)
Press: 57x5x3 (Tied old sets across PR)
When Julie remembers to press through her head ("up and back") the reps are super smooth. Third set she was getting significant moment arm to the front. But she ground them out anyway.
DL: 185x5
She was going for 2 triples, but after rep 3 I said, "If you do 2 more we can go home." She did 2 more. 5th was a really difficult lockout but legit. Julie killed it today.
09-25-2019, 03:34 PM
Geoff Bischoff
LP2: W5D1
Squat: 120x5x3 (Sets Across PR!)
Bench: 85x3x5
DL: 190x5
DL pulls were good for a triple, then vvvveeerrryyy slow for the last two reps.
Another good LP day. DL is tied with her all-time PR; squat is in new territory for 5s (though we have to move to triples next it looks like), bench is within range of various PRs within the next 2 weeks. Good times.
09-27-2019, 06:49 PM
Geoff Bischoff
LP2: W5D2
So Julie's LP is going to end here, as she's going to become a situational intermediate. She's got some self-imposed recovery issues in the form of some calorie restriction (dem ladies always wanna drop dat weight), so we're going to be proactive and do a modified Texas Method starting next week. Today went okay considering poor sleep, calorie deficit, and only 2 days rest since last go.
Squat: 125x3x5
Had to go to triples, and these were grindy by the 5th set.
Press: 59x0, 57.5x0, 45x8x2
Recovery trouble was most visible here. Makes sense: Least muscle mass.
Julie's had this in her for awhile. I snuck it onto the bar when she thought she was pulling 195, and I stopped her after a single. She got it! Bar drifted away from her legs on the pull but she recovered it, and probably had more in the tank (or possibly a pull at 205 or 210), but we're going to be cautious for awhile.
10-01-2019, 02:17 PM
Geoff Bischoff
General Situational Intermediate Program (GISP) W1D1
Yeah, I'm great at naming things. This is basically a 2-day TM variant.
Squat: 115x5x5
May have overshot this. She made it through, but I think I'll peg volume-day weight at 115 again next week.
Bench: 72.5x5x5
May have undershot this. I'm okay with that: It will self-correct.
Deadlift: 135x5x3
Perfect load choice. Heavy enough to be challenging, light enough for some technique cues.