Diane's sorta training log

[sbhikes]

I am female, 47, 5'2", about 140lbs.

I've been lifting for 3 weeks doing a bunch of stuff a trainer I hired for 3 sessions showed me. I will focus on the lifts in the SS program starting this coming week.

So far here's what I can do thus far (not showing warm-ups):

• Squat 3x8x65lbs (the trainer started me with 3x8 for everything, so I'll go down to 5 next week)
• Bench 3x5x60lbs (that 5th one almost doesn't make it)
• Press 3x5x40lbs (maybe I can finally get out from under the stupid curl bar)
• Deadlift 1x5x90lbs (piece of pie)
• Power clean: big goose egg

Also:

• Single-leg squat 3x8x50lbs
• DB Row 3x8x30lbs
• RDL 3x8x50lbs
• Pushups: 5
• Planks (elbows/toes): 3x1minute
• Assisted pullups 90x1x5
• Dead hang from pullup bar (no going up) counted to 20 before I had to let go

I usually go to the gym at 6:30am and eat breakfast afterward.

• Breakfast: Big giant steak (8-12oz) and a baked potatoe
• Lunch: 7.5oz salmon on top of a huge salad or another potato
• Dinner: Another big hunk-o-meat with some veggies

I don't do milk or grains. Sorry.

I'm eating a lot more than usual, trying to keep it to lots of meat, veggies and potatoes and hopefully not gain inches, just strength. So far so good.

Picture of me:
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8444/7...d70a87b2_m.jpg

Goal: more strength and energy; bigger, more visible muscles; hopefully enough muscles to not have my weight be such an issue; stave off the effects of aging; feel more confident; embarrass a few men

Other things I do: Hike and backpack; bicycle commute during the nicer months of the year; take walks; eat paleo (had some wicked insulin resistance and appetite control issues that were not solved until I went LCHF and paleo).

[sbhikes]

Oops. My mathiness sux and I accidentally did 90 on my squats today instead of 70. Felt sorta scary.

[sbhikes]

I'm not sure about the whole eating thing. I tend to get very hungry after lifting and I know it's supposed to be important to eat well so you gain strength. But those guys believe big = strong, so I am a little confused how much that matters for women. After all, we are superhuman in that we become small and strong. Men should be jealous of our superhuman capabilities. Anyway, since I basically eat paleo, I just make sure I eat a lot of meat.

After the gym I did some shopping so I didn't eat right away. I got really hungry at the farmer's market and bought a persimmons to eat right there. That only made me hungrier. I ate a can of salmon and a sweet potato with broccoli when I got home. Then a huge chicken leg quarter with another sweet potato and some purple carrots and cauliflower. So far I'm not getting fatter at all. If anything, I'm getting thinner.

As far as my lifting, I made gains today on the basic lifts. I did fewer lifts today. Just the B program (I mixed up which was A and which was B) plus some DB rows and the assisted pullup machine. I also did pushups and a single minute of planks. I'm up to 6 pushups! A week and a half ago I couldn't do one.

[Michele Knaub]

welcome! congrats on your progress so far.

i also am a paleo eater. the extreme hunger after lifting is a feeling we all (not just paleos) know very well! i do try to eat as soon as possible after lifting (lest I find a human in a dark alley and decide to vampire my way out of the situation.)

my advice to you is to eat to satiety after lifting, and to be sure to include some sweet potato or starchy veg (seems like you're already doing that.) preferentially eat fatty vs. lean meat. you will quickly develop a sense of how your eating impacts your lifting in all scenarios - in the short term (what/how much you ate last night and today impacting today's lifts) as well as the medium and long terms. that sense will include things like what quantity and quality helps you perform better on the platform. if you listen to yourself and are willing to be open-minded, you will certainly start to figure out how to fuel your lifts.

at the same time, you have priorities (as we all do) and you're right that sometimes male lifters aren't impacted by "food stuff" in the same way we are, so sometimes they come off as cavalier about it (intentionally or not.) there's a bunch of us women on here and we don't have a single unified opinion on these issues, but you can probably find support and input to help you sort through this stuff.

glad to see you here, and good luck.

[sbhikes]

Thanks, Michele.

I think I might need to cut back on what I've been eating after lifting. All of a sudden my stomach has a roll of fat hanging over my underwear that wasn't there 2 days ago. I do not want to get fat again. I lost from 163 (or maybe more) down to 133 just with paleo alone. I am not weighing myself while lifting, but I know fat when I see it and I don't want to add it even though that's what men do. Maybe they are okay with looking like former high school football players gone to hell but I am not.

[spudness]

The eating is definitely the hardest part for me too, so I know how you feel. I lost a lot of weight by simple caloric deficit, so eating at maintenance/ surplus is really hard for me. I know I'm getting bigger & I can tell I'm gaining fat. I know I'm eating more than I should be, but I also should be running more than I am (supposed to be training for a race, but I've been slacking). So I hope when I add the running back in, it will even out. After this race, I'm planning on cutting out all running & just focusing on lifting, so I will probably cut back on the calorie intake. I can easily eat the calories I need if I eat junk, but I just have a hard time eating that volume of food to get my calories in with healthy foods. I'm supplementing with skim milk, when I know I haven't eaten enough, but I'm not hungry, just to get some extra calories. (Obviously, I'm not Paleo.) But watching myself get bigger is tough. I should probably cut back, but then I get afraid that my DOMS will come back, or I'll stop making my strength gains. I'm not weighing myself, and just hoping that everything will start to level out. I'm only on my 3rd week.

[sbhikes]

I'm not going to cut out my running even though some people have said I should. I do it slow enough it should not hurt. Today a skirt I am wearing fits really tight when only last week it was triumphantly loose. Major suckage.

I went hiking today. Hiking is the "sport" that I do that isn't lifting, and I can't say that I do lifting as a sport exactly. Oh man did I ever feel beat up on this hike. I felt fine for the first 4 miles or so, but then I started feeling this kicked in the gut feeling and there are muscles that are tired and taxed that I didn't even know existed, mostly around my trunk. At least I get another rest day tomorrow...

[spudness]

I'm not going to cut out my running even though some people have said I should. I do it slow enough it should not hurt. Today a skirt I am wearing fits really tight when only last week it was triumphantly loose. Major suckage.

I'm glad to finally hear someone else say that. Thing is, I probably WOULD cut my running out right now, but I signed up for a marathon & am committed to that. And I am seriously regretting that decision. lol. The only thing I keep reading is that trying to do both at the same time will limit your gains & make your running mediocre, but I already suck at running, so I don't see this being a problem. I used to run a 10:30 min/mile (10:00 on my shorter distances), now I'm lucky if I can get it down below a 13:00 min/mile, but it's more like 14-15 on my long runs. And I've tried everything they say to do to boost speed and it hasn't helped. I think I've plateaued out, reached my level of adaptation, whatever you want to call it. I've also been gaining weight too (even before starting to gain on purpose - so I should really stop blaming the program. haha), which I think is even more evidence at how adapted I've become to the long miles. Not to mention the vast number of injuries I have acquired in my short running career.

I've found the same as you - my runs since starting the program have felt a lot more tiring & seem to take more energy. I'm hoping in another few weeks, I'll have gained more functional strength to maybe help the runs out, but we'll see. I'm planning on quitting running after this marathon, then doing the program strictly for awhile. Then just play it by ear as to if/when I want to incorporate the running back in. I'm sure if I start feeling a little too fluffy, then I will be adding it back in, if dialing down the calories doesn't help.

I feel like I'm exhausting this thought to death, so I apologize for taking over your log. lol :-) I'll definitely be watching your progress to see if there is anything I can learn from. Thanks for sharing!

[Diana]

Welcome, Diane! Good luck to you. Always great to have more women out there lifting heavy things.

[sbhikes]

Here is a picture of me. Hiking in Santa Barbara, of course.


I am pretty stocky. I worry that it will not get any better with lifting. If anybody has any suggestions on how I can lift heavy, get stronger yet have better proportions, I'd be interested in hearing it.