I am in total heaven. As a member of a student gym, there are certain times of the day/year that are busier than others and today... was empty.
Abandoned
Quiet
Deserted....
I managed to get my whole set done in good time and without any hassle. There were no curl bros, no grunting men, no whiny women... It was silent. Well apart from the overly chirpy dance music in the background!
I have changed my routine lately, switching to 5x5 to see if I can improve my overall strength, and I have surprised myself.
I did my first real pull up a couple of weeks back but now all of a sudden its 2! Where did that come from!? Now that first pullup is... well... easy! I always wondered how my partner made them look that easy but now I understand. If all of his feel like my 1 then thats why. Things are starting to make more sense to me as I see more improvements in my workout.
For example, I shocked myself by being able to squat 60kg for 5 reps. Something I thought was waaaaaaaaay off in the distance for me. But not just that. The more weight I add, the more I realise how important my form is in preventing injury, keeping my balance and working my muscles to the max.
After so short a space of time, I have come so far. I have achieved half of my original goals
- Squat half my body weight (35kg)
- Bench half my body weight (35kg)
- One un-assisted pull up- Run 1.5 miles in under 14 min
- 10 real push ups
- Took the big brave jump and joined a crossfit gym
- Started thinking about nutrition, especially paleo
- I found my bicep too ;)
But I am so close to completing the rest. I only need another 10kg and I will be able to squat my own bodyweight. And that will be a very very proud day. But when I reach that point, all this work will not be over. It will be time to think of new goals and work towards them.
"It is never too late to be who you might have been."
~George Eliot
Hi Tilly.
ReplyDeleteI see your that you are doing Stronglifts 5x5 ... How do you like it? I was interested in doing it, but I am just getting over a herniated disc in my neck. So at this time it's back to the basics for me as in making sure my form is good. I just worry about adding weight every workout (even if it's 2.5) and my neck. And I was wondering if you always able to 5 good reps every time you lift and adding weight. And if you don't, how do you handle it?
Sorry for all the questions, I have been reading the site, but haven't come across some of my concerns. Especially from a women's perspective!
Tina
Hey Tina,
ReplyDeleteI think its good to keep your body guessing when it comes to routines. I had been on my 3x12 for a few months and had heard good things about 5x5 programmes and so decided to shake things up a little. So far it is going well but I have found the jump in weight quite intimidating. That might just be in my head though! My max weight on the 3x12 was 15-17kg. My max weight atm on 5x5 is 20kg and when I reach that 5th rep, it is difficult. Sometimes I reach that point where I really dont think I am going to be able to get up! But I always manage to so I am stronger than I think. I always put the safety bars in and train with someone I trust so I know that if I do really reach the point of failure, nothing too bad is going to happen. I am hoping to push to 22.5 in my next heavy session.
Considering your recent injury, be very careful! It takes a long time for your body to fully recover and then even after that it needs time to build its strength in that weakened area. Maybe talking to a coach/gp about what exercises would be best for you, would ease your worries on the situation.
I agree that you should work on your form until you are 100% that it is perfect. Good form will prevent you from aggravating your injury or causing more. As for adding weight every workout, I dont think you need to. I only increase the weight when I can complete the full amount of reps with good controlled form. Then I know I can handle more. This means that I can go for quite a few sessions without upping the weight. I think that this is ok for me, allowing my body time to adjust. You might benefit more from a 3x12 routine as this would allow you to be on a smaller weight but still benefit from it. You could just try adding really small amount of weight and see how you feel with it and the after effects. Once you know you that is ok, you can move it up another small ammount.
Hope I have answered some of your questions! Thank you for asking :)