Squidwina

Thanks for the info. If I have this right, USAPL goes by the IPF guidelines. The approved StrengthShop singlets are only 25 bucks, so at least you can get into a legal singlet for a low price.

There seem to be about a zillion federations out there. Would you mind giving a rundown of the major ones and what the story is with each one? I'd like to know how to prioritize my choices about which meets I want to do, and to make sure that any equipment I purchase conforms to the standards of the strictest important federation. And I definitely don't want to end up doing anything with a federation that is not drug-tested. I'm primarily interested in powerlifting in the United States, but any and all info would be appreciated. Thanks.

Totally agreed with this, especially when you're new to lifting. I've been doing my current program for about 3 months now, and I've made tremendous gains (165 to 500 lbs on the 3 main lifts in the first 10 weeks) and I'm only now starting to feel like it's getting "hard." That's mainly because of my own dumb mistake. I tried to push myself faster than my plan, which ran me right into a brick wall. Noob gains are a wonderful thing. Enjoy them! This is the kind of thing I was getting at when I suggested that you might want do a glute exercise or similar. You can also choose cardio that will help build the right kind of strength, like maybe the stationary bike/spin class if that works for you. Of course, doing additional mobility work as TurtleRunner suggested is a great idea. With all that said, the fact that you have to focus your strength training mainly on your upper body at this point actually creates a unique opportunity for you. Most women's upper-body strength develops more slowly than their lower-body strength, so in a sense, you'll be putting yourself ahead of the game. Or even more ahead of the game, because benching and barbell rowing 65 lbs is very very good for a woman who is just starting out. I assume you spent a lot of time on crutches...well, it's paying off. By the way, there are a number of articles on Tnation about knee issues and squatting. I can't speak to the quality or applicability of any of them so I'm not going to link directly to them, but they might be worth a look.

Congratulations! Sounds like a great start.

Better programming? I'll take a shot at it- It would be easy for you to adapt the basic Starting Strength/Stronglifts template to meet your needs. Both of these are extremely successful novice programs, and they both are centered on the big basic compound lifts. The workouts are both 3 days per week and each day has squats and 2 other exercises. Alternate workouts A and B. Here's the basics of both of them, kind of squished together: Workout A: Squat Overhead Press Deadlift Workout B Squat Bench Press Power Clean (SS) or Barbell Row (SL) So let's see how we can modify it... - Sub in the leg press for squats. The potential issue here is that the program calls for squatting 3x per week. - If it turns out that leg pressing that often aggravates your knees, then maybe do something else on 1 of the 3 days. - You can't power clean, so do the barbell row or other horizontal-pull row. - You're good on the OH press, bench press, and deadlift. (Have you tried a trap bar deadlift?) Jfreaksho's suggestions for general rehab and working towards squatting sound excellent. Something like the one-legged deadlifts might be good to sub in for the one day of leg presses. Maybe Romanian deadlifts? As a novice, you definitely want to keep it simple and not add in too much fluff. That said, if you want to do a little more lower-body work because you're squat-less, you could take the opportunity to do some targeted glute work. Glute bridges and bird dogs are bodyweight options. I'm guessing cable kickbacks and cable pull-throughs wouldn't bother your knees too much.

I understand that hydrolyzed whey protein is often tolerable for people with milk allergies. It is used in baby formulas for babies with milk allergies, but I don't know if that is more highly processed than typical hydrolyzed whey protein powder. It may or may not work for you, but I just wanted to mention that it may be an option.

That works. TrueNutrition offers a lot of flavors and varieties of protein, and more importantly, you can choose 1/2 strength flavor/sweetener. The "better" ones are stevia sweetened. You can get double-strength flavor too if you like. I got the cold-filtered whey isolate in "vanilla cake batter" at 1/2 strength along with the same in unflavored and unsweetened. The half-strength still tasted super-sweet to me!! And a little TOO delicious. Right now, I'm mixing 1 part of the half-flavored powder with 2 parts of unflavored, and it tastes pretty good.

I tried the hemp protein in oatmeal...yuck. It was like getting a mouthful of grass clippings and sand. I might try making some granola-ish bars or something with it. There seem to be a variety of thoroughly unappetizing recipes out there. If that doesn't work, I conveniently have a vegan friend who can't have gluten. Maybe she'd be willing to eat it.

This thread may be of interest to you: http://rebellion.nerdfitness.com/index.php?/topic/42281-lets-talk-undies/

Bummer. Thanks.

http://i.imgur.com/l15KlMW.png http://i.imgur.com/ofhNU6Z.png I can't seem to find any info on what the difference might be.

Good to know. I wonder what the difference between the "Men's Version" and the "Women's Version" is. Then again, I'm not sure I want to know.

I record everything in a notebook too. But then I put all of the data in excel and crunch away to my heart's content. I like playing with data and excel gives me many more options than any app. I find it very motivating to quantify what I've been doing. Maybe it seems wrongheaded to want to get my butt to the gym to make sure my weekly average doesn't drop too low or push more weight so I can see the line on my graph go up, but it's working for me.

Yay for being old!! I don't care about doing well at this point. I just wanna play. The NJ State Open is on Aug 1 in New Brunswick. I assume "Open" means you don't have to qualify to get in, yes?

I'm in. Could somebody please explain how one qualifies in Masters? I may well qualify in "open" by then anyway. We'll have to see. Even if I don't qualify for this year's nationals, I'd definitely like to join the team! I'll be in Scranton cheering you all on. I'll wait to sign up for USAPL.

It makes for a great little snack if you're feeling especially hungry. It's a real bargain in terms of protein benefit for the calories. Even if you don't use it daily, you should definitely have some on hand. It's really good for when you get that late-night realization that you just haven't eaten as much food as you should have that day.

Do you find that most of the lifting gyms allow you in for a day rate? Or a reasonable day rate, rather? I spend a lot of time in NYC (upper East Side - lots of family there) and haven't been able to find one with a decent day rate. That's NYC, though, and most of nearby gyms are full-scale health clubs. I'm looking for a solution so I can go lift while I'm there and not worry about getting back to my gym. I'd even be willing to pay NYSC's outrageous day prices, but they only allow you to use a day pass 4x per year and their weight room kind of sucks. I realized that my mom's building does have a built-in stairmaster though-- it's a 19 story building! Here's a recent thread on whey protein - http://rebellion.nerdfitness.com/index.php?/topic/62206-whey-without-sucralose/ Definitely check out TrueNutrition. Medhi has this attitude of "you must do everything exactly like I say or you'll end up as a weak slug on the couch," but that fails to account for reality. And especially the reality of female beginners. When looking at Stronglifts materials, remember that the program is directed at males. There is that little section called "Does Stronglifts work for women," but it's pretty sketchy and patronizing. He's received feedback about the strong male orientation of the program, but has chosen to ignore it. He uses male terms like "guys" instead of gender-neutral terms like "people" or "lifters." It's all pretty unfortunate. Practical matters: Does your gym have fixed-weight bars? That's another option if they do. Mine has 20, 30, and 40 lb bars with magnetic stick-ons that will add 2.5 or 5 lbs. If not, sure you can start with dumbbells. What choice do you have? Once you get to the Oly bars, 1.25 lb plates help a LOT. For the deadlifts - You may be able to put something on the floor to elevate the bar a little. My gym has some squares of rubber flooring around that you can use for such things. Putting 45s flat on the floor can work too. And naturally the safeties would be fine if they're the right height. Could you ask someone who works at your gym to suggest a solution? For warmups, I just improvised when my working weights weren't high enough to start with the 45. I still use the fixed-weight bars to start my OHPs.

The other thing that's weird about that Lane Bryant bra is that it has little adjuster hooks at the sides of the bottom band. Kind of like the ones you'd use to fasten thin straps on a bathing suit. Not only are they irritating, but the hooks fall out all the time. Once I have it on, they do stay secure. I think I'll just squeeze them closed with a pliers. I put up with it all because Lane Bryant was one of the only brick-and-mortar stores where I could get a plus-sized sports bra on short notice. One that worked, anyway. Other than the various weirdnesses, it's really comfortable and works well. I eventually bought 4 of them. Once I need to replace them with a smaller size, I'm going to do however much mail-ordering I need to in order to find something better. Lane Bryant "activewear" is pretty much a joke anyway. Maybe I should start a thread on plus-sized activewear.

Wow, those are some great numbers! Have you tried kettlebell swings for high-intensity cardio? Have you considered bringing a jumprope with you while you're on the road? Also, do you use whey protein? That might help meet your protein needs while on the road. (And any time, really.)

Is it this one from Lane Bryant? With little adjustable hooks at the sides under the armpits too? I usually put it on over my head and then reach back and hook the hooks. Your question isn't ridiculous. The bra is.

Hey, at least he wasn't the Sheik of the Shake Weight. I've sometimes described my job as "CEO of Saving PDFs in Folders."

So at the gym the other day, there was a lightly loaded bar in the squat rack with a guy standing there. "Are you squatting?" "No, but I'm using this." So I go to the power rack, where there was another lightly loaded barbell. "I'm using that too." "Are you squatting in either of them?" "No." "Well, could I work in?" [really annoyed and exasperated look] "I guess." So I started to unload the plates on the bar in the squat rack and he walked away...to do incline presses. I watched him for a while. It turns out that he had commandeered the only squat rack and the only power rack to do a circuit of curls, overhead presses, and incline presses, with really long rest breaks in between each one. I was actually completely done with my sets by the time he got back to the squat rack! And he didn't want to let me work in. Who does he think he is, the Sultan of the Weight Room? Did you know that we have an actual rodeo in NJ? (Okay it's south Jersey, but still.) I only discovered this when I was shopping for a pair of cowboy boots. I'm definitely going to check it out once they re-open for the summer.

waywardsister: I'm an utter failure at the eating slowly/mindful eating thing. I plan to work harder on that in the future. UPDATES: Challenge Goal 1 (revised): Squat 175 lbs. Current weight: 175. COMPLETED!! Challenge Goal 2 (revised): deadlift 175 lbs. Current weight: 185 COMPLETED! Challenge Goal 3: The Dreaded Food Diary Welp, I'm doing even worse than before. In fact, I now have a 3-day gap in it. I'm tempted to say "screw it," but I'm not going to. My grade will suffer mightily, though. Okay, well, see, I did that one already too. Yesterday, March 19, my 1-rep max for squat was 200.I don't even have to figure out my 1-reps for deadlift or bench, because I'm doing 3 reps at 185 and 115 respectively. That gives me 500. So... Bonus Challenge 1: Join the 500-Club Squat, DL, and Bench combined = 500 COMPLETED! And so I declare... Bonus Challenge 2: Stop Adding So Damn Much Weight to the Bar! I said above that I was going to try switching from a mostly 3x5-across scheme to a 5x3-ramped scheme. The good news is that my max weights shot up. That's why I hit my goals so much earlier than expected. The bad news is that I just don't feel confident at those max weights. I like the ramping, but it means cutting into my warm-up sets. I like warm-up sets. I love having a higher max weight, but not if it means I'm not doing as good a job of building a solid foundation of strength. So I'm going to take the next two weeks and re-set. I'll stay at my current weights, and work my way back to being able to do 3x5 (mostly) on them. I'll go back to using the same warm-up set scheme as before. (Basically as directed in Starting Strength) After April 5, I will start making progress again. I may do some light ramping, like adding weight only to the last set or two and then starting at that weight next time. Not adding weight will be the hardest challenge of all! But I think it's absolutely imperative that I learn to hold back sometimes. So here are my current weights and the set/rep scheme I will be going back to: Squat: 175 lbs. 5x5 Deadlift: 185 lbs: 1x5 Bench Press: 115 lbs: 3x5 Overhead Press: 75lbs: 3x5 Pendlay Row: 90 lbs: 3x5 (My current weight is actually 95, but my form sucks, so I'm de-loading) The one exception I might make is going to 185 on squat. I think I have plenty of gas in the tank on that one, and I'd rather use a pair of 25s on the bar than 4 10s. (I know that's silly, but I'm permitted a little silliness, right?) I also do a couple of accessory and finisher items, but I'm ignoring them for now.

I understand your feeling of being overwhelmed, but I have to say that I'm feeling quite differently since I started my program. My focus has shifted away from what my body weighs to what my body can DO, and I'm enjoying myself so much that I don't really care if it takes a long time to reach my fat-loss goals. The fact that the numbers on the scale are going down means that I'm becoming less over-fat, but that's the only reason they're important.* And you said you didn't even know how much you had to lose, right? You might feel great at a much higher weight than you think you will. p.s. Here is my prescription for how to be happy with your body when you're fat: Lift weights. Heavy barbell work. Not only is it awesome for your body and changing up your metabolic engine, it entirely changes your perspective. When a barbell that used to seem unimaginably heavy is now an easy warm-up set, it's pretty hard to worry too much about what's on the scale. * The exception to this is if you have to be in a certain weight class for some reason. I'm considering doing powerlifting competitions, and I absolutely have to get out of the "unlimited" weight class if I want to have any hope of doing well. I don't really care about doing well in my first few competitions, but after that, I want to at least have a shot. So that gives me a good interim goal of either 22 or 35 more pounds, depending on federation.

I got my order from True Nutrition. I got the vanilla cake batter, and I would give it the same review. I got the half-strength flavor, and I had to mix 1 scoop of that with THREE scoops of unflavored before I got it to be un-delicious enough so that I didn't want to drink it constantly. It was still pretty damn good. I might have to mix in more unflavored. Lest you think that this is a complaint, it's not. It's just what I personally need to do. I'm trying to reduce the flavor because a sugar addict and my cravings are triggered very easily, so I have to be careful not to have anything that tastes like "sweets." Even if the whey doesn't trigger cravings for other things, I don't want to want to drink it just because I want something sweet. I'll have to use it for a few days before I can really assess the product, but so far so good. I forgot that I had also ordered some hemp protein, figuring I could use it in oatmeal and such. It smells really great in a grassy sort of way (no pun intended). I ate a pinch of it, and it tastes good, but it's gritty. I can't imagine wanting to drink it, but it will be good to use in other things. Lots of fiber too. I have to give True Nutrition absolutely top marks for packaging, lack of bullshit, and a huge variety of options. The powders come in plain mylar bags, but you can get a plastic jar and a scoop for 75 cents. I got the jars so I had something to keep the stuff in, and it's nice to know I can just refill them instead of constantly throwing away jars. They also have different size scoops available. I got some smaller ones to make my mixing and matching easier. My only complaint is that it took 12 days to get my order. Not their fault - they shipped it on the business day after I placed my order, but I wanted to mention it in case anybody is expecting Amazon-type speed in delivery. They do offer expedited delivery. I'm too used to Amazon Prime. "What? I have to pay for shipping?" Well, even with free shipping, you're still paying for it in one way or another. The product prices are very good, so it's more than fair.