Work In Progress - FitoverForty

[dhr65]

No chest hair!!, but wait for the morning for those hairy DOMS to appear

Good for you!

[musculArgirl2]

Nice to see you posting. I've never ventured in to the free weights area at gym even when i go at 4 am

Glad you see you are still going at it.

[feelin-great]

I've been a bit MIA on posting workouts...still working hard but have been struggling mentally with it all. It's hard to stay upbeat and positive all the time and I have been in a mental slump.

I think we have all been there, as much as we don't want to. Hang in there, you are doing great! You have been so inspiring to me on this site. You have it in you to beat this slump

So....I went to the door of the mens weight room, peeked inside, only saw 1 guy...so I crept in and walked to the back where the free weights were....OMG! i was in DB heaven!!! Such a selection! I could finally use a DB heavier than 20lbs. (that's as high as they go in the ladies weight room )
I did Bent rows, squats with 20lb DBs then got brave and tried a 35lb. DB to do Deadlifts - felt too easy so next set tried the 40lb DB - it was awesome! The hardest part was lifting the dang thing from the rack!!
Maybe next time I'll have the courage to ask for help in doing some BB work. (notice I said "next time" )

Sounds like you may be working yourself out of that slump

Walked out of there feeling fierce! And I didn't grow any chest hair like i was afraid of....(I checked)

It's a good thing you checked, because that would be terrible if you went home to shower and suddenly realized you had grown chest hair

[musculArgirl2]

I think we have all been there, as much as we don't want to. Hang in there, you are doing great! You have been so inspiring to me on this site. You have it in you to beat this slump

I agree. I love to see what your doing for exercise, love your encouragement that you provide freely and just like to see your "face" around here.

You do have it in you to beat your slump. It will happen. No worries Lynne.

[fitoverforty]

Thanks guys! Feeling better.

Today's workout:
1 mile w/u elliptical
3 mile outdoor trail/track run

later today will do a bw workout of pushups, planks, leglifts, etc.

Back muscles and glutes are sore from those deadlifts and rows yesterday.

[feelin-great]

Back muscles and glutes are sore from those deadlifts and rows yesterday.

That's a great feeling I still wish I could get up the nerve to hit the free weights. Not only do I not know what to do with any of them, I am flat out embarrassed to attempt it in front of the guys there

[fitoverforty]

i know how you feel Joc. It was hard to switch to the free weights - I had gotten used to the few machines I used all the time ( bench press, ab crunch, fly, leg press, etc.) but once I tried them and got used to the technique I loved them. It is so much more freeing (maybe that's why they call them "free" weights ). It forces you to practice good posture & form, and it works more muscles because you don't have any assistance from the machines. I can do a shorter workout, and not have to wait on anyone to get off of a machine I want to use.
I like this sore feeling - and can't wait to go and do it again. favorite is the DB deadlift. i do it just like you would with a bar except I hold onto the end of the dumbbell and slowly lift it up, pushing through heels and forward in hips - it is awesome! That one exercise has back, arms, and glutes sore.

[fitoverforty]

Today's workout:

Met some friends and did a 6.5 mile trail bike ride. It was awesome!! I am so hooked now. It was better than any amusement ride I've ever rode. Up, down, around, between trees, over bridges down narrow trails - fast as we could go, felt like I was flying! I only wrecked one time when front tire fell off a bridge I was crossing, fell a few feet down - but okay. I'm dirty, dusty, scratched up and totally on an adrenalin rush right now! legs are totally trashed, tired and sore, but it was a total body workout. I could see this quickly becoming addictive.

[fitoverforty]

Today's workout:

3 mile tempo run
2 x 10 Captain's Chair leg lifts
Weights:
2 x 10 x 50lb squats (2 - 25lb DB's) upped the weight 10lbs
2 x 10 x 50lb incline bench press
2 x 10 x 50lb BARBELL Deadlift - 1st time to use a BB
1 x 8 x pushups w/25lb DB Row - this was very hard, only did 1 set

Bossman, or any other seasoned weightlifters out there:
Question: On the deadlift I used a barbell that was in a rack about knee high. I lifted it out of the rack w/overhand grip, back straight, butt out, head up, straightened up, pushed forward at the hips, then set it back in the rack each time, repeat. I was a little unsure of myself on setting it on the floor and lifting from there. Maybe next time? How much less of a benefit am I getting by lifting from knee height?
Still using the men's weight room. I'm in love with the place now.... Noticed there were a couple of other women venturing in there now. Maybe I started something..

[fitoverforty]

The other thing you can do is "overload" the top portion of the deadlift by eliminating the bottom portion of it.

Do you mean do more weight since I'm not starting from the bottom?
Yes, 200 pages. I'm not sure if that is a good thing or not... there was never more appropriately names journal than mine....work in progress.

[Boss Man]

Don't add more weight because you sacrifice some form or technique.

Doing a full range of motion allows full contraction and expansion of the worked muscles. Partial motion increases your ability to work with more weight, but may cause increased risk of injury or muscle devlopment issues, by not stimulating fully all the target areas.

Technique matters more than weight.

I'd use a light bar from the ground and improve your ability to do a full Deadlift, I'd go for about 10%-20% of what you normally put on the bar, plus this will allow you to test your full range of mobility.

Once you have ascertained you're good for about 3-4 reps, with no stiffness, or jery / clunky technique, increase to about 75% of what you used off the rack for a partial movement, for the same amount of reps.

If this feels a bit light, you can always increase a little on the next set or two, but if you try to use as much as before, when your're enduring more "time under tension", you'll potentially overdo it.

Using less than you could theroetically use, is better than using too much, because you second guessed it wrongly. Being conservative and adding a bit more each time to find a happy medium, is always common sense on new exercises, modified ones, or ones you haven't done for a long time.

Hopefully that makes sense .

[fitoverforty]

Thank you Brent and Bossman for the help! I am sore today all over so i must have done some good!

Today's workout:

Track run/speedwork:
3 laps warmup
4 x 400m laps - no rest, fast in the straights and slow in the curves. Then 2 laps cooldown.

Evening workout:
bw workout at home
25 jumping jacks
2 x 8 burpees
2 x 12 step ups
2 x 12 pushups wide
2 x 12 tricep dips
2 x 8 stability ball pushups with knee tuck
2 x 60 sec. planks

[fitoverforty]

Feeling awesome these days. No, I'm still not where I want to be weight wise. But health wise, energy wise I am feeling strong.

Today's workout:

2 mile repeats / mod. to fast pace
.5 mile cooldown

2 x 12 x 50lb squats
2 x 12 x 25lb Bent row
2 x 12 x 50lb (db) Deadlift
2 x 12 x 50lb Incline Bench press
2 x 12 Captains chair leg lifts

Nowadays I just walk right in the men's weight room, like I own the friggin' place.
Noticed something that really bothered me today. There was a personal trainer in the weight room with two clients (2 guys in their mid twenties, tall & lean) & he was a big muscled up dude so you assume he knows what he is doing right? He had them go over to the Barbell and load 2 weights - didn't see how much the weight was, anyway he had them do a set of 12 deadlifts as fast as they could. They had such bad form, it was all I could do not to stop them and ask the trainer to please correct their form before they hurt themselves.
I am no expert by any means, but I know that you don't just bend over at the waist and lift the barbell up with a rounded back and just go straight up. To make matters worse AFTER they had done 2 sets of this, it was the end of their workout session, then the trainer steps up and does a set and does it with perfect form! How could he have stood there while they were doing them wrong and never say a word!!?
Anyway, I had a good workout this a.m., and am going to do another trail bike ride this evening, when it cools off - to the low 100's... I'm so ready for Fall.

[musculArgirl2]

Anyway, I had a good workout this a.m., and am going to do another trail bike ride this evening, when it cools off - to the low 100's... I'm so ready for Fall.

low 100's?? not nice! and that's when it cools off?

[fitoverforty]

We have had temps above 100 every day for more than 50 days! The highs have been around 106 to 108, and not cooling off into the 90's until 8 or 9 p.m.
Today is actually a little cooler...only 100.5 right now.