Avatara's training log

[MarthaF]

17 August
Squat 3x5 80 lbs
Press 3x5 40 lbs
DL 1x5 110 lbs

Missed two workouts while I was out of town - this time I even remembered to look up gyms to get a day pass, but the only gym in town was closed before I finished work both days. On the other hand, I did spend all that weekend moving furniture into a friend's new (second floor) apartment, so that ought to count for something.

One of my goals was to adhere to the program as closely as I could, but it has turned out to be frustratingly difficult. I backed my weight down a little this workout, but I didn't worry about backing it down a whole lot since I'm not exactly moving big numbers yet, and I did get at least some unorthodox work in with all the furniture lifting. I am bound and determined to get in 12 weeks of legitimately Doing The Program(tm), so I am restarting the clock once again.

Adrian351 - Thanks for all the advice! I've thought about knee sleeves, but they seemed like a crutch to disguise bad form. I figure I will focus on making sure my form is good, and then if the problem persists despite good form then I might consider something like knee sleeves.

For low bar position, I've found that my shoulders are gradually getting more flexible, and getting the bar position right has gotten easier. Usually I do one or two warmup sets, and the stiffness is mostly gone by the work sets.

Don't worry about the unbroken program bit! That really never happens. I've talked to some SS coaches and even they say an LP can get extended for more than a year because life happens. Mine has had plenty of blips in training, it's just knowing how to pick up where you left off. Usually you just take 5%-10% off the bar depending on how many workouts you missed, and work your way back up.

[MarthaF]

I had a really easy pregnancy (although the baby made up for it during the delivery >.> ), but after giving birth I discovered that during the preceding 9 months of inactivity I had lost every scrap of muscle I ever had, and wanted to do something about it.

Still makes my heart jump reading that! Hope the little one is treating you well. You will have more muscle on your frame that ever before, and life is going to be amazing :-DD

[MarthaF]

Squat 3x5 85 lbs
Bench 3x5 60 lbs
DL 1x5 115 lbs

Numbers going up nice and smooth! Yay!!

[t-money]

Don't worry about the unbroken program bit! That really never happens. I've talked to some SS coaches and even they say an LP can get extended for more than a year because life happens. Mine has had plenty of blips in training, it's just knowing how to pick up where you left off. Usually you just take 5%-10% off the bar depending on how many workouts you missed, and work your way back up.

Martha's been in this a lot longer than I have, so I'll just second everything she wrote.

Muscles get built during the recovery period. ;-). It might not actually hurt you to miss a work-out when life happens, so don't stress yourself out. Just stick with it. You're doing well.

[Avatara]

22 August
Squat 3x5 90 lbs
Press 3x5 45 lbs
DL 1x5 120 lbs

[ravl]

Great progress!

I struggled a bit with the placement of the bar in the squat at first too (I blame StrongLifts). The way I find the right spot is, with the bar on the rack, get my shoulders/hands in the right position with the bar clearly too low on my back and then slide my body down until I feel the bar "click" on the shelf of the delts.

[Avatara]

I haven't posted in a long time, but I am still here! I've had several stops and starts, and also discovered that I will never have 12 solid weeks of Doing The Program(tm) without hitting a few hiccups, but here are my numbers as of right now:

Squat 5x3 165
DL 5x3 165
Bench 5x3 110
Press 5x3 75

[JessEvans]

I haven't posted in a long time, but I am still here! I've had several stops and starts, and also discovered that I will never have 12 solid weeks of Doing The Program(tm) without hitting a few hiccups, but here are my numbers as of right now:

Squat 5x3 165
DL 5x3 165
Bench 5x3 110
Press 5x3 75

Welcome back! It's nice to see another woman novice. I'm impressed, like everyone else, that you're hitting the gym while you have a newborn. Cut yourself some slack when life gets in the way, after all, you're in it for the long haul, right?

I just started Feb 20 and the bar position is the only thing about the squat that is actually feeling comfortable for me.

When you're doing your warmups, your shoulders haven't loosened up yet. It is ok to let your hands be far apart, even all the way out by the plates. Just squeeze your shoulder blades together hard and get under the bar. Then push your elbows back and feel where your arms start to lift the bar up. Wiggle it a little, pushing your elbows back and letting them come down a little bit a few times to find that sweet spot where your arms are helping to solidly support the bar but not pushing it too high. Shoulder blades stay tight together the whole time, to protect your spine.

With each warmup set, you will usually find that your hands can move a bit closer together. By the time you are doing your work sets all the slack will be out and your arms and shoulders will be nice a snug and tight. It all starts with pulling those shoulder blades in hard.

[Avatara]

I LIIIIIIVE! Ahem. Well, I am 4 months pregnant. I haven't lifted at all since I found out, but today I decided to start back. During my last pregnancy, I pretty much just sat on my ass for 9 months; I had a very difficult delivery and was also fat and badly out of shape after the birth. So this time I think I am going to try and train for as long as I can during the pregnancy (albeit of course at a very gentle pace), in the hopes that having extra muscle will make the delivery easier and maybe speed along the recovery time after the birth so that I don't emerge from the hospital looking like a fat pudgy snowman like last time.

So here are today's numbers:
Squat 3x5 65lb
Press 3x5 45lb
DL 1x5 95lb

I did a pretty drastic deload from what I was doing before, since I'm now pregnant plus haven't touched a barbell in 4 months. I'm in no hurry really, so I'll probably take it pretty conservatively.

[Mr. Bingley]

congrats!