Trying to get as strong as possible

[Jennifer Williams]

I decided to start a log here to see how it goes. I realize how annoying it is to listen to people talk about their workouts, so I try to avoid it. It might be helpful to get feedback, to the extent anyone looks at it. This may be a decent format. Anyhow, my current stats:

43 y/o Female
120 lbs (a few lbs heavy-will be looking to drop a few soon-I prefer 116-117), height 5’1.5
I did NLP and ended as follows:

215x5x3 Squat, 255x3x2 Deadlift, 154x5x3 Bench, 106x5x3 Press

I did linear progression 3x/week and at the end I was adding 2.5 lbs on squats, 1 lb on bench and press, and 5 on deadlifts. I never really had any failures, but I had been going for about 10 weeks without stop, so on the advice of a friend I took a break for a week. Where to go from there?

The following week I started to do the bridge. I have a close friend who unfortunately does have to suffer with my conversation about lifting because he’s brilliant about it. (His dad was on Team USA (or something-I’m not familiar with the competitive lifting circuit). Anyhow, he grew up with it and he’s been a successful competitive lifter himself, owned his own gym, coached, etc.). So my friend insisted that I was doing advanced techniques too soon. He recommended that I continue the NLP but change to 5x2 instead of 5x3. And that I do that for 8 weeks. With the exception of the bench which I believe is truly stuck. Getting to my current bench took almost nothing. I don’t even recall lifting lighter on bench. I’ve been lifting around the same weight forever. So, he recommended that I do bench as follows: 10, 8, 6, 4, and 2. All sets should be difficult. And deadlifts will likely need to go to 2x2 or 2x3? Not sure.

Two weeks primarily off from heavy lifting, this morning (my 2nd day of lifting this week) I did as follows:

210x5x2-squat
115x10, 125x8, 135x6, 145x4, 151x2-bench
255x2x3 deadlift- (Pulling sucks for me)-The whole workout sucked, but it may have just been because of the break-hopefully.

Yesterday I did- 4 sets of 10 stict deadhang chin-ups with 3.5 lb weight (I’m increasing by the .5 lb each week), 60 decline sit-ups with 55 lbs, 60 t2b, 60 of that thing you rollout and back with (no idea what it’s called), and 10 one minute sprints on the airdyne with one minute breaks in between.

Tomorrow will be easy 30 minutes on the elliptical and abs again (similar to above). I do pull-ups/chin-ups, abs, and sprints 2x week.

Saturday-I’m hoping to increase a little on the three lifts. I also decided to leave out presses for awhile and focus on my bench. I believe that if I can increase on my bench, the press will follow.

Anyhow, that’s it.

[granny]

I decided to start a log here to see how it goes. I realize how annoying it is to listen to people talk about their workouts, so I try to avoid it. It might be helpful to get feedback, to the extent anyone looks at it. This may be a decent format. Anyhow, my current stats:

43 y/o Female
120 lbs (a few lbs heavy-will be looking to drop a few soon-I prefer 116-117), height 5’1.5
I did NLP and ended as follows:

215x5x3 Squat, 255x3x2 Deadlift, 154x5x3 Bench, 106x5x3 Press

My SO gets that glazed look (but lets me talk on) haha. Impressive numbers!!! Best of luck with your training, Jen.

[Jennifer Williams]

My SO gets that glazed look (but lets me talk on) haha. Impressive numbers!!! Best of luck with your training, Jen.

Hi there, I’m not sure what SO stands for? But thank you for the nice compliment. I’ve seen your numbers and they are very impressive. It’s great to see all of your hard work! I’m reasonably certain that logging this stuff will be more humbling than anything else. My brain says that I should be a lot stronger since I have been lifting for a long time. And I think there will be a shorter and more difficult glide path. . Anyhow, hopefully with a lot of patience I can move some of these numbers along. Thank you for the post! Looking forward to sharing information!

[Fulcrum]

SO = significant other . . . we have to use that term now instead of boyfriend, girlfriend, husband, wife, civil union partner, friend w/ benefits, etc etc etc

Nice lifts/numbers.
I'll be following your log.
One of the few females who power cleans . . .from what I remember from your previous posts.

Cheers

[Jennifer Williams]

SO = significant other . . . we have to use that term now instead of boyfriend, girlfriend, husband, wife, civil union partner, friend w/ benefits, etc etc etc

Nice lifts/numbers.
I'll be following your log.
One of the few females who power cleans . . .from what I remember from your previous posts.

Cheers

Oh yeah, “significant other.” Thank you! .

My only hope with power cleans is that the strength I gain from the other lifts gives them a boost. I do not do those nearly as often as the other lifts. There are too many lifts and not enough time.

[Jeff Illingworth]

There are too many lifts and not enough time.

Careful! This sounds like body builder talk.

Actually, I agree. Unless there's some very specific goal or meet prep, I try to cycle a couple of lifts in and out of the rotation every ~10 weeks. It's my "guilty pleasure" in training.

[Jennifer Williams]

Careful! This sounds like body builder talk.

Actually, I agree. Unless there's some very specific goal or meet prep, I try to cycle a couple of lifts in and out of the rotation every ~10 weeks. It's my "guilty pleasure" in training.

Right! My major focus right now is the squat, bench, and deadlift. I might prioritize the lower body lifts a little over the bench, but the bench is still huge for me. And the pull-ups!!! I will be throwing myself up against the rocks on those until the end of time!!! ☺️

[Meshuggah]

Welcome aboard, you have some nice numbers. Keep up the strong work!

[Jennifer Williams]

Welcome aboard, you have some nice numbers. Keep up the strong work!

Thank you.

[convergentsum]

Great work on the LP!

"So my friend insisted that I was doing advanced techniques [the bridge] too soon."

I can see why your friend would have thought that. As I understand it, the rationale for the bridge is a) to build work capacity to tolerate higher volume, and b) to introduce techniques (RPE) and variations (pauses, partials etc.) that will be useful going forward.

Full disclosure: I glanced at it and decided it wasn't for me either.

However, I did agree with Jordan et al. that what I need post-novice is more volume, so I've got started on a program with much more volume but fewer variations: I'm focussing pretty much just squats, deads and bench. Press and chins are ancilliaries, I just do them in a couple of density blocks.

Switching from 5x3 to 5x2 is less volume. You might peak a bit, and I expect you'll benefit from practice at doubles (that's a distinct and valuable skill -- within the context of my higher volume program, I practice heavy singles once a week), but I don't expect it to help you build strength over several weeks.

"he recommended that I do bench as follows: 10, 8, 6, 4, and 2"

might be a good way to get more volume in, but I would ask him a) why not separate out the high volume / moderate intensity 8-10 rep work on a separate day from the high intensity doubles? and b) why not warm up to a heavy double first, then get the high rep volume in descending sets? I'm always keen to do heavy sets without fatigue, my instinct is it's better for training (apart from anything else, I can lift heavier that way) and less prone to injury.