Weekly Feature: What did you do?

[cereta]

I thought it might be fun to have a weekly post where people could comment with what strength training they did this week. It could be a fun way get ideas, cheer each other one, and help our members keep track of their own work.

I'm keeping the title completely neutral, because I want this to be as broad as possible. You can go into detail, you can talk about something new you did or an increase of some kind, or you can just report time or days or whatever makes you happy.

Comment away!

Comments

[cereta]

Today was my first day attempting to work without my personal trainer, and I think it went very well. I discovered that the window seat in the play room is perfect for chair lifts (once I move the toys out of the way). I did three sets of ten reps of:

Chair lifts
Shoulder presses (done with a twist motion - I can't find the name for it) 16lbs
Bicep curls (16lbs - I had been at 20 Monday, but 16 seems to be plenty for now)
Single arm rows
Pushups (from the knee)

I also did two sets of 15 second planks. I think I'm ready to go up to 20.

I skipped lower body stuff because I did them Monday and Wednesday, and my knees are bothering me a bit, so my trainer advised a week off.

I have some ideas for adding stuff, but I will probably wait a week until the semester is over and I have more time.

[rydra_wong]

Despite the comm title, I don't think I've actually lifted anything heavy in the past week *g*.

I recently recovered from a virus, so exercise (apart from climbing) has been fairly informal and haphazard: mostly whatever I feel like playing around with at home and have the energy for.

I've been doing sets of push-ups at random intervals through the day on a "greasing the groove" basis (note: this is not a porno title, really -- it's a strategy for increasing reps by picking a number that's well below your limit, so you don't go anywhere near failure, and then practicing it a lot; I thought I'd experiment with it and see if it works for me).

Oh, and working on pull-ups: doing negatives at home, and practising the very bottom of the movement (from a deadhang, the bit where you have to engage your back muscles) at the climbing wall, where they have a nice metal pole you can hang off in the training area. I WILL GET MY PULL-UP BACK ONE DAY DAMMIT.

And a few bodyweight squats with a broomstick, because good squatting form was one of the big things I learnt from the workshop I attended, and I'm determined to engrave it in my muscle memory. There's a whole thing about sitting down between my legs rather than on top of them (yes, I know this makes no sense in words) that was a revelation to me.

[cofax7]

I bouldered on Monday evening instead of lifting, and then on Wednesday morning I lifted for a bit, and then did some bouldering. (Yes, bouldering is totally lifting heavy things, as it involves lifting me. *g*)

[rydra_wong]

\o/ Bouldering!

[cereta]

Yay! I really want to try that soon.

[sanguinity]

And the absolutely classic heavy thing, at that!

[damned_colonial]

Ha ha, nothing! It's been a low motivation week for everything but my Club Vivid vid.

[yvi]

I only started weight training three weeks ago and I did a lot more reading up and modified my strength routine this week. As of two days ago, I have added squats, lunges, rows and shoulder presses to what I did before (bench presses, wall push-ups, crunches, biceps curls, flies and reverse flies). My new program takes me about 50 minutes, which is a good amount of time, I think. The squats were a bit hard on my knees, though, and since I also do running I am going to leave them out today so they can recover.

So far. my weights looks like this ( provided my barbell actually weighs 11 kilograms...):
squat: 20 kilograms, able to do that 12 times, but I can't yet go down far so I will also practice without weights
bench press: 16 kilograms, able to do that 11 times
curl: 13 kilograms, able to do that 12 times
shoulder press: 13 kilograms, able to do that 12 times

I am actually not sure how much my dumbbell handle weighs. I think 2.5 kilograms, but it could also be 2 kilograms, and I add 1 kilogram per handle for all the exercises so far except or the rows which I can comfortably do with 2 kilograms added.

I'll probably up a few of those next training or the one after that. I am still trying out a lot of stuff, having my boyfriend watch whether I am doing them correctly etc.

I am pretty proud of myself right now :)

(Note: not a native speaker and damn, all that new vocabulary is a bit hard)

[rydra_wong]

Form is definitely vital to protect your knees during squats.

For me, the things I have to watch are a) making sure my knees are lined up pointing in exactly the same direction as my toes, and b) making sure they don't wobble inwards as I stand up.

Still getting the hang of that, which is why I'm spending a lot of time with just my broomstick *g*.

[umbo]

Saw personal trainer on Weds. and did mostly upper body stuff; will be seeing her again today and doing mostly lower body stuff.

[lyorn]

I went to the gym four times. Unfortunately it's machines only when it comes to weight training, but it's also women only, which I like. I have difficulties talking about the machines since I lack all relevant vocabulary, but I'll try.

I did a yoga/pilates mesh class on Saturday, which always reminds me that I have very far to go when it comes to being able to lift my *own* body weight and that I have no stomach muscles to speak of. It's a mystery to me how other people can use their stomach muscles and keep breathing! (I have very, very bad coordination and flexibility. That's the reason I'm taking that class, and I fail at it so hard.)

Because of the usual yoga/pilates induced soreness, on Sunday I did only my back exercises and 2 km of runnning intervall training. I have recently switched from attempting to jog, which bores me and did not go anywhere, into 60 seconds running, 60 seconds walking. Which is great fun, but brought unexpected problems.

Tuesday back exercises, and the machine circle. I raised the weight on the dip machine to 30/33 kg, on the leg press to 95/105, and on the move-legs-outwards (no idea how it is called) to 32/38, all with about 12 to 14 repetitions, but not too sure of my form. Then some running, which failed -- I seem to have either pulled muscles on my ribs and in my lower belly, or ripped something other than muscle -- anyway, rapid movement or jostling of the areas causes a short, sharp ripping/stabbing pain. Which means, when running fast, every step hurts. I don't even notice it during strength training, though.

Thursday, same as Tuesday. Still running fail with much ouch.

I'm not satisfied with the week overall.

I also carried a 20kg bag of cat litter up three floors, which was, in a way, best moment of the week (strength-wise) because I wouldn't even have attempted that a year ago.

[littlemousling]

IDK if mine counts; I've never been clear on the exact line between cardio and strength training, because most of my cardio comes in HOLY GOD MAKE IT STOP style, with resultant big bulging muscles. I mean, when I'm on my highest gear biking uphill, it doesn't feel much different from one of those leg-pushing machines with a LOT of weight on it, you know? (Except then I get to crest the hill and coast down the other side--silly machines don't let you do that!)


Anyway. If any of you know the line better than I do, I'd love to hear a clear explanation of the difference between that and the leg machine thing. (Is it just "duration"?)

[rydra_wong]

Hrm. *ponders*

Essentially, with cardio, the focus is on movement as a way to raise your heartrate. You're probably going to be using no extra weight or light weight, and moving around (steadily or with intervals of greater intensity) for a longish period of time, at least 10 minutes or more.

If you could only push the pedals down on your bike 10 or 12 times before you had to have a rest, you wouldn't be getting any cardio benefit.

With strength training, the focus is on performing movements a few times but with much greater force, to increase strength: you want to be having a hard time completing the movement after 10 or 12 reps.

If you could keep going with the same movement continuously for 10 or 10 minutes, it'd mean you were using a weight which was way, way too light, and you wouldn't be getting any strength benefit.

Obviously there's a fair amount of overlap, with some activities having strength and cardio elements. It's mostly a difference of emphasis.

It sounds like the hills are giving you some natural interval training, with intervals of much higher intensity (when you may also be building strength because you're having to exert a lot of force), followed by recovery intervals when you coast down the hill.

Interval training is generally considered to be of the win, so go you *g*.

[daedala]

I went to yoga a lot (4 times?). The classes are for one of the more strength-focuses variations, so there was a fair bit of bodyweight lifting. I'm almost back to where I can do a full pushup again, hooray!

I am trying to get myself of doing assisted chinups whenever I pass the chinup bar in the basement. I did lots of laundry yesterday, so there were chinups. :)

[rachelmanija]

Attempting to get back in shape after I injured my knee AND my elbow, and then turned into a slug for the last six months.

At home, with the weights I had lying around, while watching Project Runway, everything in 2 sets of 8 at 10 lb: Squats, shoulder press, bicep curls. Vowed to go in to gym, where I have access to more stuff.

[sanguinity]

Exhumed the weights from the clutter. Lifted them.

(I had, for reasons that are not worth enumerating, gotten out of the habit. I have also, for more reasons not worth enumerating, been looking at the weights without moving the weights, and thinking that I need to get back into the habit. At this point, I'm chalking myself a victory.)

Now I just need to figure out what I'm going to do about lower-body strength, given home free weights and a balky ankle.

[rydra_wong]

Now I just need to figure out what I'm going to do about lower-body strength, given home free weights and a balky ankle.

I suggest lots of one-legged exercises (doing one side, then the other). The balance element is good for stabilizing the ankle, and it effectively doubles the amount of work the leg is doing, so it works well if you don't have very heavy home weights.

Try one-legged deadlifts and Bulgarian split squats, or one-legged squats going down as far as you possibly can.

[laurashapiro]

Monday:

Assisted pull-ups (-80lbs)
Low rows (50lbs)
Side raises (10lbs each)
Back extensions
My weird-ass combo PT/yoga ab workout
20 min treadmill w/a 3-minute sprint at the end

Wednesday:

Assisted pull-ups (-80lbs)
20 min treadmill w/a 3-minute sprint at the end

Friday:

I am in a lot of RSI-related pain today, so I did about 20 minutes of yoga and that was it.

[red_eft]

Did dumbbell curls and... what's the thing where you lift them straight up? Shoulder presses! twice this week. 10lbs, 2 sets of 10 reps. I think I'm ready to move up a weight. I'm looking for wider varieties of stuff that can be done without access to a gym/special equipments, as all I have are various weights of dumbbells and a barbell. Still, as I haven't done any exercise at all for... gah, a long time- I'm counting it as progress.

[cereta]

Dude, that is progress!

Also, you should post asking for ideas. ;)

[gchick]

This week I've lifted my laptop (a jillion sets of infinity, to failure), pressed deadlines, clean-and-snatched a lot of technical logistics out of someplace approximately near my glutes for a conference at work, and finally did a sort of reverse deadlift thing that I think is technically called "fall down go boom".

On the other hand, while I was busy skipping fencing practice, lessons, and even my beloved strength and conditioning class, I did manage to read The New Rules of Lifting For Women, and I think I've figured out a way to fit the program into my insane schedule. I highly recommend the book, btw, whether you're a woman or not.

[azurelunatic]

May I share a selection from this comment in metaquotes?

[sophinisba]

I haven't done any strength work in the last few months because my work schedule got difficult and I had to stop going to classes, and I find it really difficult to do this on my own. I get distracted, confused by so many different possible exercises, can't keep track of what I've done or should be doing from one workout to the next. I've been concentrating on running and neglecting the strength stuff.

Still, this comm and rydra_wong's recent posts have gotten me interested again. I bought an exercise ball recently and last Saturday got out the video to go with it. So I haven't been lifting heavy things but I've done at least a bit of strength work most of the days this week, and had some sore muscles in the days afterward, especially abs and hamstrings. It's felt good.

The semester's ending and I'm hoping I can get into a more balanced routine again pretty soon.

[daedala]

Oh, was the shoulder press you (cereta) meant the Arnold press? That's the one I know with the twisty motion anyway....

[cereta]

No, it's...hmn. You start with the weights at your shoulders, parallel to your clavicles, legs spread a bit, then lift one diagonally as you twist in that direction, twisting the opposite foot.

[tielan]

I've upped several of my class weights this week:

13kgs for quads
10kgs for chest/pecs
5kgs for shoulders

Weights resistance training for me is entirely based on gym classes. (Body Pump classes, 1 hour of assorted muscle groups in 5 min blocks, 3x a week.)

I considered posting about gym classes this week, but reading the comments, it looks as though few people here would benefit from it - most people seem to prefer freeform weights. I find the structure and the group encouragement of the class helps me keep going where my lazy ass gives up on freeform after a handful of reps.

[cereta]

I would love to hear about it!

[azurelunatic]

I am new! And I am going to see if joining a friendly community will help me find some consistency.

Today I hauled 42 lbs of kitty litter up some horrible little stairs, and did other various and assorted lifting of said kitty litter incidental to its purchase and transport; also assorted lifting of 36+ lbs of soda, and just now a few gratuitous sets of a few reps of getting-out-of-the-chair lifts.

[cereta]

Dude, kitty litter counts. Heck, I'll be lifting bags of dirt tomorrow;).

[jld]

Count me in with the people whose gym routines recently fell apart. Although I did do some lifting: my boxed-up bicycle, to carry it from my bike shop to the UPS store to ship it across the country to where I'm going to be spending the summer. Google claims it was half a mile, but it felt like longer; UPS claims it was 42lb, which is more than I thought the bike weighted but okay.

(Here via metaquotes, but seeing this comm reminds me that for a while there I was going to the gym because I felt like it, which is unheard-of, and that I'd been meaning to acquire more clue about things other than weight machines.)

[sophiap]

New to the comm, and thrilled to have found it.

I'll second the rec for The New Rules of Lifting for Women. I'm currently on Phase 2 of the program, and therefore this week, I did the following:

Tuesday/Saturday:

Push Press
Stepups
Dumbbell row
Static lunges
Pushups/assisted dips/triceps extensions
Plank
Wood chop

Thursday:

Deadlift
Bulgarian split squat (ow, my butt)
Underhand lat pulldown
Reverse lunge
Cuban snatch
Crunch Variety Pack
15 mins of intervals on the elliptical

Yesterday's workout was kind of disappointing. I was tired and a little fibro-achey, so couldn't push as hard as I normally would have. Still, I went, even though I was very tempted not to, and I felt much better for it afterwards.