Tonya Gets Strong

[TonyaB]

I've been working out forever and I'm always 15 lbs heavier than I'd like to be. My workout history is many years of high rep weight training and aerobics of some sort with videos. After I had my son three years ago, I started training differently. The only time I had to workout was on my lunch hour, so I joined a gym and started with Turbulence Training. This really transformed the way I workout. I no longer needed or wanted DVDs.

I started working out at home again about a year and half ago when I started doing my job from home. No squat rack led me to kettlebells and that has been my main focus lately. I've dabbled with Crossfit and have determined that I'm just plain not strong enough. I also frayed my rotator cuff (at least that's what my dr. told me) just over a year ago. PT help heal that, but since then I've almost completely neglected pushups and all chest work.

I acquired the Starting Strength Book and DVD a few weeks ago and got myself a freestanding squat rack. I already had an Olympic weight set. Next purchase is a bench, but that will have to wait a few weeks. I'm doing pushups for now and those are plenty challenging.

I'm 39 years old and a woman (in case the name and having a son didn't clue you in).

OK, enough dang history...I did my first workout yesterday. I was kind of just trying to figure out what weights to use and kept adding to the bar. The first two sets for the squats and deadlifts are supposed to be warmup sets.

Workout A 3/29/2010
3x5 Squat 45/55/65/75/85
3x5 Pushups 5/5/5 - Set 2 & 3: 2 on the toes, 3 elevated.
3x5 Deadlift 65/75/95/105/115
2x8 Chair Dips 8/8
NOTES: Wow, I suck at pushups now.
Conditioning:5 Rounds kettlebell swings, 16k, 1 minute on, 1 minute rest

[Tim Lofton]

Welcome Tonya,

Great to hear you are getting back into training. Being strong will make you happy and be a nice diversion, help you to be a better mom, and will be important to impress on your son as he gets older that there can be very strong women.

Get started on the overhead presses, if your shoulders allow, though if you're doing dips then there probably isn't a problem. As long as you can do light weight and progress session-to-session, the OHP should help your rotator cuff.

Also, if you plan to put an emphasis on strength training, then you'll need to approach the CF style conditioning work with caution as this will begin to hamper your ability to recover from lifting.

Again, welcome and good luck as you move on.

[TonyaB]

Thanks for the pointers Tim. I should clarify that the chair dips are probably called bench dips or something like that. My feet are extended out in front of me, resting on the ground. I've been working on shoulder strength a lot the last few months with kettlebells. Lots of Turkish Getups, presses and push presses. So far so good.

I'll keep an eye on recovery and if I'm not adding weight to the bar, I'll drop the 2x weekly conditioning I've planned.

Workout B 3/31/2010
3x5 Squat 55/75/90/90/90
3x5 Press 35/40/45/55/55
3x5 Power Cleans 45/55/65/65/65
4x4 Negative Chins 4/4/4/4
NOTES: Press was easier than I expected. Need to get some 2.5 lb plates cause there is probably no way I'm going up to 100 on the squat next time.

[MazdaMatt]

Tonya,

Are you trying to follow the Starting Strength Novice program? If so, you may be confused about what 3x5 means. Or I'm confused aobut how you're writing out your weights/reps/sets.

-Matt

[TonyaB]

Sorry, the first 2 sets are warmups. I'm just getting a feel for the how heavy I can go for 5 reps. So for the press I felt I could go heavier than 45. I probably should have done another set @ 55, but I was feeling pretty taxed at the end. Maybe a better way to write it is:

Squat
Warmup 1x5x55
Warmup 1x5x75
Work Set 3x5x90

Press
Warmup 1x5x35
Warmup 1x5x40
Work Set 1x5x45
Work Set 2x5x55

Power Cleans
Warmup 1x5x45
Warmup 1x5x55
Work Set 3x5x65

4x4 Negative Chins

[MazdaMatt]

Okay, I suspected it may have been something like that. Great start. Don't fixate on using the largest weight you can. There's always time to bring the weights up. If 45-55-55 was too taxing, then start your next session (after warmup) at 55 and do your 3x5 and progress from there. It wont' take long for presses to get too heavy.

[tennies]

Hi Tonya;

I will be following your log, thank you so much for posting!

I also have a squat rack at home, it is the best piece of exercise equipment I ever purchased. Perhaps try Craigslist for your future bench. (I am not affiliated, just thrilled with my rack!!)

Heather

[Gwyn Brookes]

Hey Tonya and welcome!
With all those push ups I bet your bench will rock!
Remember on the power cleans once the weight gets heavier you'll want to do sets of 3 not of 5.
Cheers!
Gwynn

[EDIT: oh yeah, and on your DL you will definitely want to do only one workset of 5 - not 3 - when it gets heavy. :-)]

[TonyaB]

Thanks for pointing that out, Gwynn. I knew I was doing more deadlifts than called for (a result of years of high rep work and a fear of getting even fatter) but I misread the part on the power cleans.

Heather, I'll keep an eye on CL, but so far nothing has popped up except for stupid multi-gyms and cheap bench/rack combos.

Weight today - 167. I've been on a diet of some sort for the last 14 years. I was, at one time, really fat and unathletic. At least now I'm only a little fat. I still throw like a girl though. My goal for the next 3 months is to not get fatter while gaining strength. I'll continue following my low carb plan and really focus on getting 1 g of protein per lb of bodyweight.

I made a evening run to the sporting goods store last night so I could pick up some 2.5 lb plates. At first, I only found one plate. WTF! The sales boy was no help. As I was walking out I glanced down at an olympic weight set and there was a 2.5 lb weight. That's mine, I said to myself. I didn't even look at the other end to see if I was breaking up the set.

Squat
1x5x45
1x5x65
1x5x70 <- easy
3x5x95 <- set 3 was pretty hard

Pushups
5
4 toes/1 toes down, knees up
3 toes/2 toes down, knees up

Deadlift
1x5x65
1x5x85
1x5x95
1x5x110
1x5x120 <-OMG. Hard. I thought the squats were hard, but not compared to that.

Dips (off a chair, feet on ground)
2x8

Conditioning
5 Rounds of kettlebell swings, 16k 1 min on/rest

NOTES:
Squats were hard, but the deadlifts! Last set made me lightheaded. That's a new one.
Dips were weaker than Monday and I'm considering pulling them out. My entire upper body is SORE SORE SORE.
2 metal slivers today. Ouch.

Mistakes I made this week:
1. Skimming the Starting Strength book (except for the squat chapter)
2. Thinking I needed to do more deadlifts.
3. Probably started out a little too heavy, but maybe not. I see how Monday goes with the reduced volume on the deadlifts.

[applescruffette]

Hi Tonya...I'm following you, too! It's nice to see another woman here posting a log.