LiftingLiz's SS Log

[LiftingLiz]

Today's Lifts:

Squat
2x5x45 lb
1x5x65 lb
1x3x100 lb
1x2x145 lb
3x5x170 lb
Last set was exhausting. I think if I'd laid down on the floor, I might have gone to sleep. My form was not great for the last set, but not bad enough to cause injury.

Bench Press
2x5x45 lb
1x3x55 lb
1x2x70 lb
4/5/5 x80 lb
I'm going to call 80 lbs good, but I will be incrementing by 2.5 lbs instead of 5 lbs from now on.

Deadlift
1x5x135 lb
1x3x155 lb
1x2x185 lb
I think this proves that my last deadlifts were not a recovery problem. I'll go back down to 165 and work myself up again.

On the one hand, I've stalled on the deadlift, which sucks. On the other hand, this is supposed to be a herald of the end of my time as a novice, which is kind of cool. This is a little lower than I thought I'd be stalling relative to my squat, but I seem to recall Rip saying that odd things happen to the squat and deadlift relationship with short, stocky women. It's possible that anthropometry is stacked against me. In any case, it feels like my squat is not too far behind, and I wouldn't be surprised if I were to fail in the next week or so here.

[isis]

You have really made amazing progress on your squat these last few weeks. It took me a heckuva lot longer than a month to get from 130lbs to 170. But maybe you aren't stalled on the deadlift, maybe you're just ready for a smaller increase than 10 pounds. 2.5 lb jumps might prolong linear progress on your squat as well.

[LiftingLiz]

You have really made amazing progress on your squat these last few weeks. It took me a heckuva lot longer than a month to get from 130lbs to 170. But maybe you aren't stalled on the deadlift, maybe you're just ready for a smaller increase than 10 pounds. 2.5 lb jumps might prolong linear progress on your squat as well.

That's true. I'll have to re-read the section on weight progression, but everything you've said sounds like a good idea.

And also, thank you. You're the second person to compliment my squats, and it feels totally kickass.

[LiftingLiz]

So, I haven't updated in a little while. Life caught up with me, and I need to re-juggle my schedule to fit lifting back in. I'll work on fixing up my diet in the mean time.

[tennies]

Liz, glad you posted, I hope to see some lifts again soon, from you and myself, I had fallen off the wagon! Be well.

[LiftingLiz]

I'm back!

I did spend the last two weeks re-assessing my diet. I was "cheating" far too much. I was using my protein powder instead of actually eating real food too often. All that has stopped. So today, I started lifting again! I didn't feel that I could just pick up where I left off, but I didn't think I'd been away long enough to warrant a complete restart, so I took 10% off my PRs, and I will add weight aggressively until I hit my PRs again. In two weeks time, I should be back where I was before this break. After that, I will be loading 5 lbs on deadlifts and power cleans, 2.5 on squats and bench presses, and 1.25 on overhead presses.

Today's Lifts:

Squat
2x5x45 lb
1x5x60 lb
1x3x90 lb
1x2x120 lb
3x5x155 lb

Bench Press
2x5x45 lb
1x3x60 lb
3x5x70 lb

Deadlift
1x5x135 lb
1x5x150 lb

As far as I can tell, there were no form issues. Just lots of soreness from my hamstrings and back due to not using them for two weeks.

Since it's been over a month since my last set of pictures, I took them again today after my workout.



Note to self: indoor pictures look really shitty with my camera. Also, don't wear all black next time.

I don't see any change from last month, but I still am looking better than December. Let's hope next month's pictures blow these out of the water.

[LiftingLiz]

Well, the weekend sucked as far as diet an exercise went. I'm sure I'm not alone in that. What really matters is that I'm back on now.

Today's Lifts:

Squat
2x5x45 lb
1x5x60 lb
1x3x95 lb
1x2x125 lb
3x5x160 lb

Overhead Press
1x5x45 lb
3x5x55 lb

Hang Power Cleans (because there's no way to get the bar high enough off the ground until I have the 10s on)
2x5x45 lb
5x3x60 lb

I was super pissed at myself for not doing shit this weekend, and I think I had one of my best workouts ever because of it. When I get up to my PRs again, I'll definitely be using this trick more often.

[Gwyn Brookes]

Nice to see you posting again!

[LiftingLiz]

Good God, I need to get back to twice a week at least. Of course, it didn't help that my boyfriend brought home a sinus infection from hell, and I was brought down with it for the last three days. I think I might be back in the swing of things now, though.

Today's Lifts:

Squat
2x5x45 lb
1x5x64 lb
1x3x95 lb
1x2x130 lb
3x5x165 lb
Bar speed starting to get slow, but as I said, I've been sick, and therefore not eating properly or sleeping well.

Bench Press
2x5x45 lb
1x3x65 lb
3x5x75 lb
Same as squats.

Deadlift
1x5x135 lb
1x5x160 lb
Had to switch back to mixed grip part way through the set. Also couldn't do it all in one go. I took a 30 second or so break after reps 2 and 4. But, I got it done.

[MazdaMatt]

Hey Liz,

I just read your log for the first time. I'm impressed. Kudos for taking this initialitive and laying all the truth out on the internet for everyone to see. That takes a lot of guts that most women just can't muster. You're going about your decision making in a logical way and that's going to be to your benefit as you continue.

Do you have a trainer? If not, would you consider posting form check videos? With the progress you've made, I wouldn't want you to get stuck because you're missing something.

I have a friend that dropped 8 sizes and brought her squat up to 200lbs and bench to 150. It CAN be done!