Search the Community

Ok, so this is the first "daily log/rambling. Last night was a "light" day on the lifting schedule. I am still liking the Madcow program and do think these "light" days help in my recovery for Friday's volume day, but I have a little bit of an issue with calling a day consisting of squat sets followed by heavy deadlifts (ok, there are OHP sets in between them) as "light". Deadlifts beat me up. I am not complaining - I do really think they work well in building strength, and a lot of it has to do with my body having become accustomed to squats rather than deadlifts, but they still leave me sore for the next day or two every time... On a related subject, I am having issues on my deadlifts with my grip... I am good for the first 2-3 reps, but I am really having difficulties hanging on to the bard for that 4th and 5th rep. I am sure a lot of it has to do with my grip strength catching up to my leg strength and the fact that I am still a noob, but I definitely think it is time to look into some straps. I friend suggested looking into the "hook grip" first, so I will give that a try and see if that helps at all. I did keep my calories in check at 1978 for the day, but I am really starting to question whether I should keep it at this level while strength training on work out days. I don't know - more research is needed, so for now I will continue on this path in hopes I am not eating too little and sabotaging my metabolism. On a different note, spent an hour at the range and was able to get some really good groupings from 10 yards out on Tuesday! I have only been shooting for about a month now, but I am REALLY enjoying going out to the range for some target practice. I find it very zen-like to have a hobby where you clear your mind, focus on form, draw, aim and release. I think tomorrow I might ramble a bit about Nutrition.... I think it is a good start today just to get my log started, so won't overdo it on day 1!

I'll try to get this to the point where I'm posting daily, but this first post is almost overdue enough to call it a weekly retrospective. MONDAY Exercise Goal: StrongLifts workout A - my first! Squats - 5x5 @ 45lbs Bench Press - 2x5 @ 45lbs Barbell Row - 4x5 @45lbs Jog/Walk on treadmill - 15 minutes/1mi Food Goal: Total Intake: 1759cal - 96 over goal of 1663 Fats: 60g - 11g under goal of 71g Protein: 73g - 87g under goal of 160g Carbs: 140g - 42g over goal of 98g Fiber: 31g - 1g under goal of 32-40g Thoughts: Sooo I suck at the bench press. I'd like to blame it on my bum shoulder, but in reality I know it's just because I've probably never used my chest muscles for anything more than supporting my boobs. (Not that that's not a task in and of itself, right ladies?) Barbell row was almost a complete success, so I'm confident that when it comes time for the next set (Saturday!) I'll do the whole 5x5. Squats felt easy at the time, but my legs were sooooo stiff the next day! Food.... ouch. I won't be too harsh on myself because it's day one, but I REALLY need to get more protein - I hit less than half my macro today! TUESDAY Exercise Goal: Not met. Missed yoga because food shopping took longer than I thought it was going to and I would have been 25-30 mins late to class, which is not cool. Food Goal: Total Intake: 1149cal - 514cal under goal Fats: 29g - 42g under goal Protein: 69g - 91g under goal Carbs: 86g - 12g under goal Fiber: 11g - 21g under goal Thoughts: This was my day off, which means I spent half the day lounging in bed, sleeping late and catching up on paying bills, reading things, etc. Days like this I actually forget to eat, which is pretty much what happened. I didn't get up and do anything, so I didn't eat. Once I finally got up, I went food shopping and that was a success, because I got zero junk food, all healthy proteins and veggies, but it was hard to catch up on my eating - I can't force myself to eat if I'm just not hungry. I tried to have 2 pieces of chicken with dinner and everything, and I just could NOT manage to finish. I did have another small victory though, because Tuesday night is Bar Trivia night, and not only did I avoid the temptation of greasy pizza (my favorite), but I kept my alcohol intake down to 2 beers. We won, because all false modesty aside, I am a trivia savant. (No really, my family stopped agreeing to play Trivial Pursuit with me by the time I hit puberty) WEDNESDAY Exercise Goal: Stronglifts Workout B Squats: 3x5 @ 45lbs, 2x5 @ 50lbs OHP: 3x5 @ 45lbs Deadlift: 1x5 @ 70lbs Food Goal: Total Intake: 1709 cal - 46cal over goal Fats: 87g - 16g over goal Protein: 112g - 48g under goal Carbs: 137g - 39g over goal Fiber: 30g - 2g under goal Thoughts: Realized I was reading directions wrong initially, and that for deadlifts it's 1x5, not 5x5. So I adjusted the weight accordingly. Increased weight for my squats about halfway through, since my legs were still sore I didn't want to hurt myself. Barely sore at all today though, so I'll definitely up the lbs next workout! Food wise this is probably my best day so far, but I'm still struggling to get enough protein and reduce my carbs. Learned that the secret to hitting my Fats macro is to just eat nuts to make up the difference, haha. Bought almonds, macadamias and walnuts while I was food shopping, so I shouldn't run out for a while! Now that I've caught up a bit, it's a relief! I'll put today's entry in a separate post since this was a lot of info in one go. What I really could use some advice on is how to up my protein intake! I do have Muscle Milk shake powder that I have after workouts, and Met-Rx bars here and there, but my problem is that they're also a lot of carbs, so when I'm already going over for that macro I need alternatives. Also, I do like meat, but I can't eat a ton of it or I get a little sick. Ideas? Suggestions?