The effort to be a more useful person/better looking sandwich.

[rtzptut]

I can't find a women's section any more.
I lift heavy shit at work a couple days a week and need to get better at it. I also own many boats which I have a hard time getting up on top of my way too tall jeep. I can't get the tandem up there at all dammit. I detest having guys help me. My parents had heart problems but I do not. So sorry cardio is part of the equation - why I am not in the SS section - yet.

Goals: Kilgore's standards, be untrained by the first of the year, novice by first of April.

I have not been weight training for some time, only accidently at work. I broke my big toe and thumb this year and it has taken a long damn time for them to heal. Aside from some grip issues on the broken thumb side they are OK now.

Thursday at work, removed and put back on 9 manhole covers ranging from 75 pounds to 150. Toted a 30 to 40 pound backpack (coworker who goes to my gym said 60 lbs I think not) to these sites which are all over the place and many only accessible on foot by hiking quite a distance.

Just got out of the batcave and this is what I could do.
Press 45 - untrained already woohoo
BP 47 - that sucks
Deads 80 - already there
PC 42 - just shy of untrained but I am tired
Squats 0 didn't ever try - I know complete sacriledge.

Here's my plan. I just can't squat. I hold the title of worst Barbell Cert attendee ever. Or did for a while. I just watched a video of some girl s curving her way up out of a squat - that's me to a T. I did get an explanation out of a chiropractor that one of my hips is tilted. My right pants leg drags the ground - left does not. We are trying to fix that. And I have a mild case of scoliosis, quite the S curve on the xray. He says I am too old to fix, so crooked I will stay. So somewhat of a reason for my non linear functioning.

I am headed for sissy leg presses until I can move bodyweight plus 65. Then I will start to squat and try not to waver back and forth. I planned on doing them today but forgot and left the gym post spinning. I have my own black iron, bumpers etc. but no leg press here.

My usual weekend is 3 to 4 mile dog walk followed by spinning. Do not scoff until you try it. It will kick your ass. As a former aerobics teacher for years, spinning wins hands down. And you just can't do it outside due to traffic etc.

I have a hard time doing much of anything during the week except paddling on Wednesday nights. Work kills me both spiritually and physically, so I am useless afterwards. But I hope to be doing modified SS and riding my bike to work. Today the above lifting was added with lighter sets working up to the listed weights. I am starting slow. I cannot afford to get hurt and not be able to do my job. I am the sole provider for one more helpless child.

Just got rid of the bf who did indeed look at me like a sandwich, which I LOVED. I want that back but with a new guy. I need to lose like 15 pounds.

Think twice about saying mean shit please, as I am easily crushed. I have no support system what so ever. Attending Burgener's Oly Cert was the first time in my life EVER any one encouraged me to do anything. Hauling my pitiful 95 pound deadlift up at the barbell cert with the participants cheering was the second. I am not an athlete and probably will never be. But I am a hell of a lot more useful than most women I know.

[rtzptut]

Well did I lift Monday, no. I did however do better at two more substantial dog walks and rode my bike to work. Like I said weekdays I am worthless.

Now absent BF, before he got himself fired, poached me an albeit ratty olympic bar and hated spring clamps out of a dumpster and it is at work. Debated taking bumpers and working out during lunch but could not figure out how to get them and the bike up there. Also debated on hill sprints (it is a single speed) on the bike at lunch but worked through lunch instead for meeting I was hosting today. I have made it three days with no outside, restauranty food. And I am skinnier and richer to boot.

Today nothing but two small dog walks, disaster on all fronts with school skipping, girl/teacher harassing non homework doing kid and a battle with safety woman at work (she is making my already hard confined space work even more dangerous) and an engineer in the meeting from another organization was up in my shit. So today sucked all the way around.

But I could ride tomorrow since no powow with the school to go to. Kid just waltzed in - the asschewing about his behavior begins.

[Dastardly]

Single speed bikes are perfect for sprinting, (why do you think they use them in sprint races). I'd try on the flat first though, often working against the resitance of rolling drag etc can be plenty enough to push against. If your pedalling cadence begins to top out, even better, because it means you are being challenged to keep tension in the drivetrain/adding velocity.

I ride fixed wheel and this lets you cheat a bit in this regard as the momentum keeps your cranks turning even if your effort is slacking. But with freewheel, you have to keep pushing while sprinting or you get awkward lack of engagement/slack chain.

In terms of your bench, hows your technique? I would expect there to be a problem if you are able to overhead the same weight.
In terms of leg pressing, its probably a bad idea. Its very hard to get any hamstring/hip engagement at all on those things. They are pretty much a quad isolation exercise which puts a lot of stress on the knees and are bound to make free squat technique and imbalances even worse.

You should do something free standing, doesnt have to be weighted. BW squats, goblet squats, walking lunges, step ups etc.

Focus on perfect technique/symetrical posture with anything you do and it should build the supportive muscleature and propreception to help fix your hip problems and improve your ability to perform a weighted barbell squat in the future. Leg presses wont do this.

Or you could just deadlift or trap bar lift.

[MazdaMatt]

Welcome to the board. I'm sure you won't find much hate here though maybe plenty of playful ribbing.

Do yourself one favour - don't think about that 15lbs you want to lose till you're squatting your bodyweight - I guarantee that 15lbs of fat will have been replaced by muscle at that point and you'll be on par with a roast beef on dark rye with a quality mustard and fried onions... *drool*.

[slowjoe]

I like your plan. Unlike Dastardly, I think leg press as a route into squatting is an inspired solution to an awkward problem.

If live is saying "Two workouts a week and no more", then them's the breaks. You won't make as much progress, but please don't think that a program similar to SS can't work for you. Mention of Burgener suggests you have a reasonable idea of what good form is, which is useful, even if it only means you can identify your own form problems.

In general, we're an easy crowd, although we might tut a little about trying to lose weight too hard. But you won't get any flak unless you give some out. We love to see success,

[rtzptut]

At Rips cert he said he use leg press for women who can't squat. I think that is about the only thing he finds it useful for. That was his idea not mine. Then when I can move some weight with good form and not sway all over the place I can add weight. He told me before the cert I would get a PR, no woman ever lifted under 100 lbs etc. I on the other hand proved him wrong, did not get a pr nor lift anywhere near 100 pounds because I had recently wrecked my bike twice landing on the same knee. Sooo I had not squatted to practice as planned as my knee was bothering me and I did not want to miss my race by trying to do too much. I was tri training and yes I know the two things don't mix but he hardly ever showed up on the east coast so I went. I sucked, humiliated myself but I learned a ton.

Today, rode the bike in the rain. After I did some "assitence stuff". This is a lifting forum I better lift something. I did ten ghb raises to verticle then ten pullups with the Jet propulsion band then ten more raises. That was about all I had time for and still get to work. My entire pelvis is forward of the rollers so I can come up to my knees and this KILLS my quads. My posterior chain loves this and has no problem at all coming to verticle it is my quads or possible the fat layer on top of them that hurts. It's not a muscle thing at all just the pressure hurts. Odd, I hope it goes away. Because if my thighs did not hurt I could do this all day. Of course if you slide farther back it doesn't hurt but then you can't come to verticle which was my goal.

Regarding benching. I think the kid moved the pins in my squat cage. I started out benching a little high. I need to fiddle with that to get it closer to my chest either putting the bench on a stall mat or putting the pins down closer to me. Yeah I though that weird too, press = bench wtf? I have never had trouble benching before and I don't remember being that bad. But it was a first attempt after a long hiatus due to my broken thumb.

That was about the only praise I got at the cert was that I coached the bench well. Certainly not from Rip but from someone else. I'll take the good stuff when it comes. And Kelly Moore told me "the clean is your lift" I should have that tattooed on my delts hahhahaah. Or elbows up on the back of my elbows. If you can read this then my elbows are up.

Rode home after work, loaded another boat up on the car out to paddle for three hours in the cold and dark. I was the only one with a wetsuit on. I think you need them at this point. I do anyhow. I could never get back from the end of the reservoir all wet cold and bedraggled without hypothermia setting in. I fell in once in May and it sucked I was so cold.

Yes the kid (another one) has a fixie. Thanks for mentioning that chain gap/slack business. That drives me nuts I have not put new pedals on yet so I can use my clipless shoes. That should help but if that goes away with a fixed gear then I am definitely getting one. I was going to get one too but got a half price boat with a rudder instead. I was missing a rudder on my other boats and they cost freaking 275 bucks to add. So used boat add a rudder = new boat half price that comes with a rudder and you don't have to do all the adding. I'll take the latter. Plus you just can't have too many boats like you just can't have too many bikes or bars for that matter. If I make it to novice, I want a Burgener Rippetoe bar for a present. I love my Pendlay womens bar, it rocks. My York squat bar soso. Crap bar at work is indeed crap but it is full sized and not some Kmart tiny bar. I could floor press at work if get the bumpers up there. And I do have a trap bar but the reach is a little wide for me. My powerlifter buddy was to buy it from me so I could stop tripping over it but he didn't and then he moved. I need to get longer arms, I guess hahaha. I do need to do some goblet squatting to get rid of my butwink as well. I have a kettle bell at work I could do that when I am getting pissed off. Instead of finding something to eat. I have not resolved the confined space issues yet so am perrenially pissed at this point.

I love to eat and will be eating stuff as big as my head again when I get more active. We shall see. I ate a ton doing the tri training and stayed smaller. It was awesome. If I never gain any strength then I'll do someting different but just not eating out I have lost some weight. Pants are looser. All I drink is coffee, milk and water. Just not whole milk but I eat heavy cream quite often so it evens out. I wouldn't even mind weighing this much if the fat was gone. Weight is not an issue for me, the fat suit on top of the muscle is. I am assuming there is muscle under there? Hope so anyhow.

Oh turns out, my kid was skipping school WHILE I was in a conference with his teachers. Where was he? Back at my home making lemon squares. They were delicious. My reaction - at least he wasn't blowing himself up in a meth lab. I'll take the cookies and he can take the big fat 0 for the classes he missed.

[Dastardly]

Rip seems to have a unusual disliking for unilateral movements. He seems to be caught up with bilateral movements assisting other bilateral movements, the ultimate of which for Rip is the barbell squat.

But we are walking/running/cycling creatures! I personally think a person can get a lot more out of unilateral stuff safely than leg pressing. But I am not advocating pure single leg work anyway, im just advocating that you do something free standing so your full hip muscles are active and contribute, flexbility/balance/coordination is also challenged and the supportive back and abdominal muscles too.

Every leg press I have tried did not allow much of anything to be worked except for the quads, I think they suck.

[rtzptut]

Point taken but the press keeps me from moving all over the place. I am too lazy to find that woman's swaying squat video for you to look at but it is here. I am that person or was at the cert and it sucks to be moving all over like you are on a balance board or something. The leg pressing is ONLY 'til I can move a reasonable squat amount say 50 or 60 lbs. So a month maybe then I'll probably never do it again. That's reasonble for an old woman trying to get to 65, obviously not you guys.

Rode the bike to work yesterday, accidental lifting at work. Two manhole covers repeatedly, 40 lb winch, 40 pound tripod, 50 pound generator, 40 pound air circulation device, computer, harness and assorted tools, extension cords, gas monitor, out of the shop in the truck out of the truck into the field and the reverse. I did have some help though with some of it, a rarity. Dogs got crappy walks.

Spin at the gym tomorrow. Hopefully I can remember to stay and use the press. The kid is pissed because he is grounded. If I stay too long he will cut out to the UVa game which he is not allowed to do. Boat came damaged and the wrong color. I can send it back but it has to be all wrapped up and it is 17 feet long, no easy chore. Sort of a downer.

Workout paddle up and back on the reservoir and spin scheduled for Sunday, lift in there too somewhere. Oh and a bike ride mixed in. Found someone as small as me to ride with. So he can borrow my bikes as he hasn't any of his own.

[rtzptut]

4 mile dog walk, 22 mile spin.
legpress 80 5x5
100 5x3
120 3x3 forgot to take SS there to do the # equivalent of squats oops
calfpress with toes and stretching heels back under the press plate 80 1x30
100 1x10
100 1x 20 what in the hell am I doing this? it rids me of plantar fasciitis which sucks - 10 miler training starts next week.
lat pulldowns 50 5x3
62 5x2 why - help with pullups

Back home following SS example back of book with wimpy women weights
Press
22 5x2
27 5x1
29 5x1
43 5x1
42 5x2 couldn't get the last set up there tired...

Deadlifts
32 5x3
42 5x1
47 5x1
65 5x1
85 5x1

Well posting is making me feel obliged to get this done - good. Down four pounds too, also good. NO $$ spent on to go food, less diesel burned as well. It's all good.

[rtzptut]

I am back, injured in multiple places, heavier and a mess. And I just lost my reply and am too lazy to do it again. Wish me luck. But bike riding is screwing me up for sure. I have to mix some lifting in so I can move some stuff I have to move and get the damn door open to my new to me funky old truck. Pretty embarrassing when you can't get out of your own truck.