Harriet's Year of Transformation: Act V

[Harriet]

Harriet’s Year of Transformation: Act IV
So I made some major changes in Act I, but the daily habits I tried to introduce in acts II-IV crashed when I got sick, when we went travelling, over Christmas when we had visitors, and when I got sick again. So I need to wind it back and be wiser about my strategy. Instead of changing everything with the lovely wave of motivation that comes from a new challenge, I am going to inch forward with tiny steps that I hope will form disruption-proof habits. They need to happen at a specific time because without that cue, I spend the whole day vacillating about whether to do the thing now, later or not at all. It eats up my mental energy and it means I only get things done if it’s a good mood day. I also need things so small that I can continue doing them even if I am sick or suffering some other negative status effect.

I’m going to add one or two tiny things every week. I’ve already done a week of getting up and dressed at 7:30am (7/7). I will continue tracking this. 

Zero week:

-Cleaning: After I get back from grocery shopping, I will do ONE thing to make the house tidier. For the first week, it should be really tiny and take no more than a minute. On gym days I will immediately put the laundry on after getting back from the gym.
-Spearmint tea: it will allegedly help with my skin, but in order to see if it works I have to drink it daily. This at 10pm before I go to bed. I shall put an alarm on.

I will determine what to add week by week according to how well the previous habits are going. 

Barbelliversary

Also, February marks the end of my first year of lifting. I have never, ever stuck at exercise for this long, ever. I'm giving myself a respectful nod of acknowledgement.

 

I did this:

Bench 22lb->85lb

Deadlift 66lb->160lb

OHP 22lb->60lb

Squat 45lb->100lb

Row 22lb->70lb
And, um, bodyweight 135lb->145lb

[Scaly Freak]

5 hours ago, Harriet said:

Barbelliversary

Also, February marks the end of my first year of lifting. I have never, ever stuck at exercise for this long, ever. I'm giving myself a respectful nod of acknowledgement.

 

 

Very awesome and impressive.

 

This is the first time I've ever been first to reply to a challenge! This is so exciting!

[raptron]

Hell yes!!! A year of lifting.  

[CourtnieMarie]

happy barbelliversary!! those are some serious numbers to be proud of

[Grumble]

16 hours ago, Harriet said:

Barbelliversary

Also, February marks the end of my first year of lifting. I have never, ever stuck at exercise for this long, ever. I'm giving myself a respectful nod of acknowledgement.

Happy Barbelliversary! That's most excellent.

 

[Harriet]

11 hours ago, scalyfreak said:

Very awesome and impressive.

 

1 hour ago, raptron said:

Hell yes!!! A year of lifting.  

 

1 hour ago, CourtnieMarie said:

happy barbelliversary!! those are some serious numbers to be proud of

 

51 minutes ago, Grumble said:

Happy Barbelliversary! That's most excellent.

 

Thank you, my pretties <3

[Mike Wazowski]

Barbelliversary!!!!! Congrats!

 

And here's to forming some bulletproof good habits!

[Harriet]

Gym today. Still struggling with an 85lb bench. In fact my progress is backwards: I could only get 2 reps on each set. Maybe because of sickness and time off. Oh well. Barbell row continues to suck, at 70-75lb. After about three reps, I just can’t get it to my chest without cheating. I did a couple of cheating reps anyway, but didn’t count them in my notebook. I figure they’re better than nothing.

While I was doing medium-weight-for-me overhead presses at 50lb, a dude next to me was doing some sort of seated overhead press with 150lb. He wasn’t a giant, either, just an average sized guy. Oh well. Comparison is foolish and there is no reason why I would need a bigger overhead press right now. All I need is to keep chipping away at my lifts and not be impatient.

[Scaly Freak]

If I have been gone from lifting for a week or more, I drop all weights by 10% (rounded upwards). If I end up doing twice as many reps with that lower weight I can go back up to my previous weight next time. However, that way I'm not shocking my poor fragile body into over-doing anything and risking injury.

 

[Gemma]

On ‎2‎/‎4‎/‎2019 at 7:18 PM, Harriet said:

Harriet’s Year of Transformation: Act IV
So I made some major changes in Act I, but the daily habits I tried to introduce in acts II-IV crashed when I got sick, when we went travelling, over Christmas when we had visitors, and when I got sick again. So I need to wind it back and be wiser about my strategy. Instead of changing everything with the lovely wave of motivation that comes from a new challenge, I am going to inch forward with tiny steps that I hope will form disruption-proof habits. They need to happen at a specific time because without that cue, I spend the whole day vacillating about whether to do the thing now, later or not at all. It eats up my mental energy and it means I only get things done if it’s a good mood day. I also need things so small that I can continue doing them even if I am sick or suffering some other negative status effect.

Barbelliversary

Also, February marks the end of my first year of lifting. I have never, ever stuck at exercise for this long, ever. I'm giving myself a respectful nod of acknowledgement.

 

I did this:

Bench 22lb->85lb

Deadlift 66lb->160lb

OHP 22lb->60lb

Squat 45lb->100lb

Row 22lb->70lb
And, um, bodyweight 135lb->145lb

Lots of very awesome awesomeness here - and Happy Barbelliversary to you! Whoo Hoo!!! Also - excellent GIF choice  

 

22 minutes ago, Harriet said:

Gym today. Still struggling with an 85lb bench. In fact my progress is backwards: I could only get 2 reps on each set. Maybe because of sickness and time off. Oh well. Barbell row continues to suck, at 70-75lb. After about three reps, I just can’t get it to my chest without cheating. I did a couple of cheating reps anyway, but didn’t count them in my notebook. I figure they’re better than nothing.

While I was doing medium-weight-for-me overhead presses at 50lb, a dude next to me was doing some sort of seated overhead press with 150lb. He wasn’t a giant, either, just an average sized guy. Oh well. Comparison is foolish and there is no reason why I would need a bigger overhead press right now. All I need is to keep chipping away at my lifts and not be impatient.

Bench tends to go lower quickly when you are sick and/or take time off, totes normal. And OHP is so very individual, even more than most lifts - when I was in weighlifting classes I used to get very frustrated when guys would walk in having never lifted before and *start off* with the OHP weight that it took me a year to work up to. But as you already know, comparison serves no one ...

[Grumble]

2 hours ago, Harriet said:

Gym today. Still struggling with an 85lb bench. In fact my progress is backwards: I could only get 2 reps on each set. Maybe because of sickness and time off. Oh well.

As noted above, bench loses strength quick. However, You can, and should, be working on the weakest parts of your bench. What part are you stalling on?

 

2 hours ago, Harriet said:

Barbell row continues to suck, at 70-75lb. After about three reps, I just can’t get it to my chest without cheating. I did a couple of cheating reps anyway, but didn’t count them in my notebook. I figure they’re better than nothing.

What kind of Bent Over Row are you performing? For your convenience

This matters more than you think.

 

2 hours ago, Harriet said:

While I was doing medium-weight-for-me overhead presses at 50lb, a dude next to me was doing some sort of seated overhead press with 150lb. He wasn’t a giant, either, just an average sized guy. Oh well. Comparison is foolish and there is no reason why I would need a bigger overhead press right now. All I need is to keep chipping away at my lifts and not be impatient.

Cool. Was the dude actually a mirror? Cause then I would both be comparing and concerned. If he was just a dude, Don't worry about it. Do you. 

[Scaly Freak]

7 minutes ago, Grumble said:

What kind of Bent Over Row are you performing? For your convenience

 

Thank you for this link. This cleared up so much about my struggles with barbell row!

[Harriet]

2 hours ago, Gemma said:

Bench tends to go lower quickly when you are sick and/or take time off, totes normal. 

 

2 hours ago, scalyfreak said:

If I have been gone from lifting for a week or more, I drop all weights by 10% (rounded upwards).

 

I didn't know this. I will keep that in mind next time I am stuck on the bench (<--that was a pun)
 

28 minutes ago, Grumble said:

As noted above, bench loses strength quick. However, You can, and should, be working on the weakest parts of your bench. What part are you stalling on?

I didn't know there were different ways of failing a bench. I get stuck in the middle, I guess. First couple of inches are okay, then I slow down and have to grind. Actually, I'm getting better at grinding. It used to be that if I felt that slowdown/resistance, I'd think "nope" and fail. Now, I slow down and think "maybe, keep pushing" and sometimes it goes up! 

 

 

22 minutes ago, Grumble said:

What kind of Bent Over Row are you performing? For your convenience

 

Thanks. I've tried bent-over and yates rows, I'm not especially consistent. I've just started them again after many months of trying dumbbell rows, inverted rows, and assisted pull-ups. So you could say I'm pretty new at them. My lower-back is so much stronger than my upper back/triceps that the angle I choose doesn't seem to make a difference to how much I can pull. I haven't tried the pendlay rows. I think they'd be weird because I'm using wee ten pound plates that are close to the ground. Also, do I really need that extra strain on my lower back, given that I have deadlifts to do? 

[Grumble]

13 minutes ago, scalyfreak said:

 

Thank you for this link. This cleared up so much about my struggles with barbell row!

 

I love this lift almost as much as I love the Deadlift. So I've invested a lot of time in understanding it.

 

15 hours ago, Harriet said:

I didn't know this. I will keep that in mind next time I am stuck on the bench (<--that was a pun)

You're benched

 

15 hours ago, Harriet said:

I didn't know there were different ways of failing a bench. I get stuck in the middle, I guess. First couple of inches are okay, then I slow down and have to grind. Actually, I'm getting better at grinding. It used to be that if I felt that slowdown/resistance, I'd think "nope" and fail. Now, I slow down and think "maybe, keep pushing" and sometimes it goes up! 

Depending on where "in the middle" you're getting stuck, you can always work on pin presses. I'll let people smarter than me explain it here. Keep it in mind that you can, and should, go heavier than your current max weight because it's a partial rep.

 

15 hours ago, Harriet said:

Thanks. I've tried bent-over and yates rows, I'm not especially consistent. I've just started them again after many months of trying dumbbell rows, inverted rows, and assisted pull-ups. So you could say I'm pretty new at them. My lower-back is so much stronger than my upper back/triceps that the angle I choose doesn't seem to make a difference to how much I can pull. I haven't tried the pendlay rows. I think they'd be weird because I'm using wee ten pound plates that are close to the ground. Also, do I really need that extra strain on my lower back, given that I have deadlifts to do? 

If you're lifting properly on ANY version of rows, you should not be straining your lower back. You can stack a couple 45s under the plates to use them as a height boost until you can get up to 135. Unless they're metal, then I wouldn't recommend as pendlay rows are only concerned with the concentric (lifting portion of the exercise) and are meant to be a fairly explosive lift. Once you hit the top of a pendlay row, keep your hands on the bar, but let gravity do its job, it's not a controlled drop. It takes a whole new meaning to clanging and banging.

[Scaly Freak]

13 minutes ago, Grumble said:

If you're lifting properly on ANY version of rows, you should not be straining your lower back. 

 

I use this as my primary cue for form drop. The moment I feel a hint of strain below the middle back, that set is over.

 

And I have now learned that I do the middle-of-the-road bent over row, thanks to that video.

[farflight]

26 minutes ago, Grumble said:

I love this lift almost as much as I love the Deadlift. So I've invested a lot of time in understanding it.

 

OOOOHHHHH!!!! I'm SOOO telling deadlift! You hussy!

 

On 2/4/2019 at 6:18 PM, Harriet said:

Barbelliversary

Also, February marks the end of my first year of lifting. I have never, ever stuck at exercise for this long, ever. I'm giving myself a respectful nod of acknowledgement.

I love this new word! CONGRATS on sticking with it! 

 

On 2/4/2019 at 6:18 PM, Harriet said:

but the daily habits I tried to introduce in acts II-IV crashed when I got sick, when we went travelling, over Christmas when we had visitors, and when I got sick again.

Habits and routines are great! For 'routine' days...(i.e. the typical). When you're sick, traveling have pests family over routines tend to go out the window. When those things happen, try just going into damage control mode and minimize the damage done. Be kind to yourself also, realizing that life happens and sometimes things don't always go the way we hope, and try again the next day! Keep up the great work!!!!

[Grumble]

5 minutes ago, scalyfreak said:

And I have now learned that I do the middle-of-the-road bent over row, thanks to that video.

 

It's my favorite overall strength training version. The only time I use pendlay is if I'm working on leveling up my deadlift in a hurry.

 

1 minute ago, farflight said:

OOOOHHHHH!!!! I'm SOOO telling deadlift! You hussy!

Deadlifts and I have a mutually open relationship.

[Harriet]

22 minutes ago, Grumble said:

Depending on where "in the middle" you're getting stuck, you can always work on pin presses. I'll let people smarter than me explain it here. Keep it in mind that you can, and should, go heavier than your current max weight because it's a partial rep.

Neato, I see how this works. Pin at the sticking point. I know it says you can do more than your max, but I may have to experiment to figure out what I can do after I've spent my strength on the actual lift, because I guess I would be doing them after my main lift. Or maybe as an accessory on OHP day.

 

25 minutes ago, Grumble said:

If you're lifting properly on ANY version of rows, you should not be straining your lower back. You can stack a couple 45s under the plates to use them as a height boost until you can get up to 135. Unless they're metal, then I wouldn't recommend as pendlay rows are only concerned with the concentric (lifting portion of the exercise) and are meant to be a fairly explosive lift. Once you hit the top of a pendlay row, keep your hands on the bar, but let gravity do its job, it's not a controlled drop. It takes a whole new meaning to clanging and banging.

 

Maybe strain is the wrong word, but of course bending over and lifting heaving things puts some stress on the back, doesn't it? Would you say pendlay row is preferable to bent-over? I just want to build up some pulling/lat strength.

I haven't had any success with explosive movements before, I think I was just too weak and lack the...how can I say this... the control over how my muscles respond i.e. firing in a mutinous half-assed way vs firing whole-assed, working promptly and as a team. I guess this is something that could be built up with practice, but I would have to go a lot lower in weight from my already subpar rowing weight. 

[Harriet]

9 minutes ago, farflight said:

Habits and routines are great! For 'routine' days...(i.e. the typical). When you're sick, traveling have pests family over routines tend to go out the window. When those things happen, try just going into damage control mode and minimize the damage done. Be kind to yourself also, realizing that life happens and sometimes things don't always go the way we hope, and try again the next day! Keep up the great work!!!!

 

Yeah... I need a damage control plan that works. Trying to continue doing everything doesn't work, but dropping everything isn't damage control. I need something in the middle. I will have to develop a contingency plan for illness and travel. 

[Scaly Freak]

30 minutes ago, Harriet said:

Maybe strain is the wrong word, but of course bending over and lifting heaving things puts some stress on the back, doesn't it? Would you say pendlay row is preferable to bent-over? I just want to build up some pulling/lat strength.

 

Yes, your back will be involved in the lift and help out, but activating your back muscles is not the same as straining them. "Stress" and "strain" are bad words, and they imply that bad form is involved. For row, it should hit the same back muscles as a pull-up or a dumbbell row does. If your lower back muscles are working so hard they strain/hurt during the lift, that means form is off. Lower back helps keeping the upper back in place, no more.

[Harriet]

EEEEEeeeee. The martial arts clubs at my gym are offering free classes this week for people who want to try them out! They have taiji, wushu, yongmudo (sounds like hapkido to me), judo, karate and taekwondo. I'm massively excited because I always fantasise about being a fighty badass who kicks things. 

It could be an awesome way to increase my aerobic fitness, I think. But it would be a pretty big commitment if I decided to join-- it's three times per week so it would mean 4.5-6 hours of training plus an additional 3.5 hours of walking per week  just to get there and back. Unless I fix my cycling problem. And I'd have to cook and eat dinner super early or super late on those days. Hmmmmm. 

 

On the other hand, sometimes I have more time than I know how to use. And I have more energy than I used to (apart from temporarily being sick). And I loved taekwondo as a teenager. And I super loved my kickboxing which I did for a few months, pre-lifting era, but I had to quit because I re-sprained my ankle quite badly. And I keep returning to the fantasy of learning martial arts so it's not just a new shiny distraction.

I'm not sure I like the idea of judo (grappling) so I think I'll try out karate and taekwondo (kicking, yay). Then I have to decide if I'll stick to it and how to manage the dinners and so on.

[farflight]

27 minutes ago, Harriet said:

Unless I fix my cycling problem. 

Remind us what the cycling problem is (besides eternal fear of getting run over, which I had a close call the other day myself...slipped gears/chain fell off approaching an intersection)

 

27 minutes ago, Harriet said:

Then I have to decide if I'll stick to it and how to manage the dinners and so on.

An easy thing that has worked for me...cook large portion (e.g. essentially double whatever recipe your making) so you've got a plethora of perfectly prepared and portioned noms. I only cook about 2-3 nights per week (including weekends). I'll make a pork shoulder, roast, loin, chicken, or chicken parts. I select base recipes that can be used multiple ways 

 

Pork should-tacos, topping on a grain with veggies, straight outta tupperware, mixed into eggs, add into soup (***Really easy pork recipe at bottom of post)

Beef roast-sandwiches, straight up roast goodness, casserole

Chicken-whole bird wonderful, soup, casserole, chicken salad

 

If it's a long time dream/fantasy, I'd suggest going for it. If it's meant to be, the details will get sorted through trial and error

 

 

****

1 whole pork shoulder roast (boned or de-boned, doesn't matter, ones I typically get are 8-10 lbs)

1 cup salt

1 cup white sugar

1 cup light brown sugar

1 tsp salt

 

Thaw pork should. 

 

Mix 1 cup salt with 1 cup white sugar

 

Coat pork roast with mixture, wrap in foil or plastic wrap, place in pan in fridge over night (at least 8-10 hrs)

 

Remove roast from fridge and wrapping. Drain off any liquid. Place pork roast in preheated 300 degree (F) oven. Add some liquid stock (i've used veggie or beef before with good results) around roast. Bake at 300 (F) for 7-10 hrs until pork shreds off easily with a fork or the roast collapses. 

 

Remove from oven, coat with brown sugar and remaining tsp salt. Turn on broiler of oven, place pork under broiler until sugar forms a nice little crust.

 

Remove roast. Shred with forks or meat claws. Try not to eat the whole thing before family gets there portion

[JustCallMeAmber]

On 2/4/2019 at 7:18 PM, Harriet said:

Barbelliversary

Also, February marks the end of my first year of lifting. I have never, ever stuck at exercise for this long, ever. I'm giving myself a respectful nod of acknowledgement.

Slightly belated but congrats!

[Harriet]

17 minutes ago, farflight said:

Remind us what the cycling problem is (besides eternal fear of getting run over, which I had a close call the other day myself...slipped gears/chain fell off approaching an intersection)

I have very poor balance/get visually confused by moving objects...like cars. So cycling is quite scary for me. And it hurts my knees because I keep the seat low due to said balance problems. Dealing with the anxiety will be a huge challenge, and I'm not sure I can introduce it at the same time as 3/week martial arts, which will be a welcome but moderate stress. I was trying to keep this month's challenges really small and fail-proof. But if life offers you taekwondo, you should take it. Right? 

 

19 minutes ago, farflight said:

If it's a long time dream/fantasy, I'd suggest going for it. If it's meant to be, the details will get sorted through trial and error

Yasssss. You understand. Mr Harriet saw how excited I am and said I should go and that he'll forage for his own dinners if necessary. 

Your pork recipe sounds awesome, though I'm intimidated by all the sugar. TWO CUPS? But it also sounds delicious. And having pre-made meat to chuck onto different things sounds useful. I may try this, thank you. 

[farflight]

24 minutes ago, Harriet said:

TWO CUPS

Reminder: That's two cups to 8-10 lbs of pork shoulder. It's fantastic...gimme a moment...........Okay....moment over...I do have a less sugared carnitas recipe at home. I'll try to look it up later and post.

 

26 minutes ago, Harriet said:

I was trying to keep this month's challenges really small and fail-proof. But if life offers you taekwondo, you should take it. Right? 

 

...Goals can change...just use that little edit button, or update your goal section :-P

 

As far as bike balance, is it mainly when you stop/stopping? I ride high on the bike (cause I'm tall), I can't touch the ground when I'm on the seat. My secret...or not secret...slide forward off the seat to place one foot on the ground at stops. When I need to start back up I stand on the pedals to get momentum going.