Ladylydia Rises from the Dead

[ladylydia]

	Sunday	Monday	Tuesday	Wed	Thursday	Friday	Saturday
Week 1	Walk	Yoga
Week 2
Week 3
Week 4
Week 5
Week 6

 

Definitely feeling it the walk still. mostly in my feet, mostly because I need new shoes.  Stretching yesterday helped. 

[ladylydia]

	Sunday	Monday	Tuesday	Wed	Thursday	Friday	Saturday
Week 1	Walk	Yoga	Weights
Week 2
Week 3
Week 4
Week 5
Week 6

 

RDLs  1x10 @ the bar,  1x5 single leg RDL @ the bar. each leg

Shoulder press 2x5 @ the bar. 

 

[ladylydia]

	Sunday	Monday	Tuesday	Wed	Thursday	Friday	Saturday
Week 1	Walk	Yoga	Weights	Rest
Week 2
Week 3
Week 4
Week 5
Week 6

 

Yesterday: Rest day. 

[ladylydia]

	Sunday	Monday	Tuesday	Wed	Thursday	Friday	Saturday
Week 1	Walk	Yoga	Weights	Rest	Weights
Week 2
Week 3
Week 4
Week 5
Week 6

 

Squats- inverted from 12-1. @ BW

Bulgarian split squats, each leg (long stance to get hams)- 3x8 @ BW

Shoulder press- 3x8 @ 30 lbs,  & 3x8 @ 45 lbs. 

Ab slides with the bar- 10 @ BW

 

  

[ladylydia]

	Sunday	Monday	Tuesday	Wed	Thursday	Friday	Saturday
Week 1	Walk	Yoga	Weights	Rest	Weights	Yoga	Rest
Week 2
Week 3
Week 4
Week 5
Week 6

 

Thursday was a terrible mistake.  I am still hurt; not sore, hurt.  Halfway through my sets, I felt like it was enough.  I felt slight shaky and properly worked over.  But, I wanted tp finish the sets I has planned.   For the record, my muscles feel fine.  My joints, however, are killing me.  Squats were a terrible idea; especially a whole reverse pyramid.  I've been rehabbing my legs for months and it just feels all undone, right now. 

[ladylydia]

	Sunday	Monday	Tuesday	Wed	Thursday	Friday	Saturday
Week 1	Walk	Yoga	Weights	Rest	Weights	Yoga	Rest
Week 2	Rest	Mobility	Mobility
Week 3
Week 4
Week 5
Week 6

 

[ladylydia]

4 min tabata cardio video, 4 min. tabata glute bridges, 4 min tabata inner and outer leg raises. 

[ladylydia]

My mom died today. 

[ladylydia]

I thought about changing my thread title, or starting a new one., because of my mom's death.   But recently I've decided that as this thread had a great deal of discussion about course correcting and a lot of epiphanies about my health journey, I think it's better to just keep going at this point. 

 

It's been three months since my mom died.   I've been in grief counseling almost that whole time and it's helped quite a bit.  I used to talk to mom for a couple hours a day, so I have a lot more time in my day now.  My brother also moved in with me afterwards; we both cook, so I don't always have to figure out dinner by myself every night. and he works a lot earlier than I do, meaning he goes to bed earlier, meaning I go to bed earlier than used to so I don't keep him up.  Besides the effects that grief has on the body, and my stress reactions from work, I'm feeling much healthier and have more time to workout.  I've been doing random body weight workouts at home but I am thinking a lot about going to the gym again.

 

I've been beating myself up for six, nearly seven years, about not being able to stay consistent at the gym since graduating law school. I keep trying to do things the way I did them when I was in school, which was the last time I was fit and healthy.  But I'm not in school any more, I'm not in my early twenties anymore, I have to do things differently.  And after a lot of reflection, I think I have figured out what the  major problems have been.   

 

1.  My schedule varies greatly from day to day, and from week to week. 

When I was in school, I had a set schedule every semester, it was easy to keep on my gym schedule from week to week, because everything else was on the same schedule for months at a time.  I do not have that option,  I don't have a normal 9-5, I'm a trial lawyer and business owner.  Sometimes I have court at 8 am and then meetings in the afternoon,  sometimes I don't see anyone and just do paperwork all day, some days I'm in court from 11am-10pm.  Sometimes I get to enjoy my weekend, sometimes I work through the weekend.  Sometimes I can't get in the groove of working until 3 or 4 pm and stay until seven.  There is no set schedule.  At best I can know my schedule a week in advance.    ....... So I've come to the realization that I will not ever have a set workout schedule that I can adhere to week- in/ week-out . 

But, that doesn't mean I can't still have a workout plan.  As long as I hit 2-3 workouts in the week, I'll can make strength and stamina progress. It doesn't have to be the same days from week to week.  And,  most of the time,  I know by the weekend, what the next week will look like.   So maybe one week I workout on Mon/Wed/Fri; maybe one week I do Sun/Tues/Thurs; maybe I only do Wed/Fri, etc.   If I can accept that the schedule will always change, I won't get derailed if I miss a workout, or if I can't make every Monday, etc. 

 

2.  I love strength training on the 5/3/1 Wendler program, but it doesn't actually work for me. 

To be fair most weightlifting don't work very well for me.  Largely weightlifting programs are designed by men,  and don't happen to take the menstrual cycle into consideration.  Also they are designed for people who are training for a specific purpose: competition, aesthetics, whatever.  I want to increase my functional strength and I have no specific goal in mind.  I have no goal besides feeling better and being stronger.  I know we really like goals on this site, but with my history of bulimia, I have found that I cannot  have a specific training goal, or I get overly focused on the goal and lose site of healthy training.  So what does this have to do with 5/3/1?

 

2.(a).  5/3/1 is a four week cycle, increasing weight every week, while decreasing reps, for three weeks; and a de-load week in the forth week. This isn't actually a great plan for  women.  Because of hormones,  most women are at their strongest when they are ovulating, and at their weakest when they are on their periods.  Those events are two weeks away from each other.  However, the 5/3/1 program puts the heavy weights/PR week in week 3 and the de-load in week 4, right next to each other.   

 

Spoiler

In the past I've done week 1 after my period ends, week 2 while I'm ovulating, week 3 after that, and week 4 (de-load) while I'm on my period, and I don't actually do weights that week, I usually do bodyweight circuits of whatever I can handle at that particular time.  If I do week 4 during my period, I'm still losing energy in week three, estrogen is going down, progesterone is going up; and while I can still work out, it's a dumb time to do the heaviest weights of the progression.  In my twenties, when I had more energy, a set schedule, normal -enough periods, a willingness to train into injury, and the youth to bounce back from it; I managed to push through and deal with the reduction in strength during week 3.  But now I'm in my mid-thirties and I'm not willing to feel terrible and go for PRs at the same time.   I did consider adjusting the program so I'm on de-load week during the week I'm losing energy, and do week 1 on my period, but I don't like doing the deadlifts and squats at all on my period.  Between cramping and leaks, it just two much trouble.  For years I lamented to myself that I couldn't just do the PRs the week I'm ovulating,   I feel great, I'm strong enough for the jump in weights, why wait a whole week when I won't be feeling as good? 

     

 2.(b).  When I do any weight lifting program, I can't do other stuff like circuit training, or work on BW stamina.  I need to rest a day in between to avoid injury,  so I can lift weights or I can do work on other things.  This makes sense when you're in training for a specific thing, but I'm not in training for anything but a better life.  My goals are functional fitness, and I don't want to forsake training one thing, just because I'm training another.   

The solution to both problems is to only do the first two weeks of the 5/3/1 program;  move the 3x1 PRs of week three to week 2, following the final set of 3x3 per exercise.  And for week 3 & 4 do the other stuff I miss when I'm just training weights: circuit/cross training, stamina workouts, skills training, etc. 

 

Making my new 5/3/1 modified plan looking something like this: 

 

Strength stuff: 

Wk 1: 3x5s @ 65%, 75% & 85%.,  

WK 2: 3x3  @ 70%, 80%, 90% & 3x1 @ 95%.     

      This is working  RDLs & Bench, on day 1 of that week,  Squats & Shoulder Press for day two of that week,  and (if I can do a third gym day that week)  Glute bridge & Lat pulls for day three.    

Stamina stuff:

WK 3:  1-3 sets of 15-100 reps @ 40-50% or at body weight 

WK 4:  1-3 sets of 15-100 reps @ 30-40% or at body weight

      Exercises will change daily,  

 

I quite like my new plan.  It's got enough flexibility it can actually work with my ever fluctuating life, but still has enough structure to avoid me wandering aimlessly around the in my fitness journey. 

 

 

 

 

[Elastigirl]

Sorry about your mom. When your mom is your friend, that makes it doubly hard. I still miss my mom, and she's been gone over 10 years.

I love how you are now adapting to how your life is now. I think that's one of the keys to consistencies. 

 

[ladylydia]

We're snowed in today, and it's giving me time to think about things.    I think I'm actually looking forward to all the New Year's resolutioners who will be flooding the gyms after the 1st; because I feel so out of place at the gym at this point, I would like other out of shape people to blend in with.  I managed to hit the gym once a week in November.  I haven't gone at all in December.  I just don't feel comfortable in the gym like I used to, and that makes it hard to stay consistent.  Twelve years ago, when I first started to pay attention to my health.  I didn't start out in the gym, I started out just walking around my backyard. Then I transitioned to  walking in a nearby park over the summer.  In the fall I started an aerobics class at school in addition to my walking.  I didn't go to a gym for at solid year after that when i joined a beginning runners group in law school.   We all did our own things, but it helped knowing friendlies were there.   Soon after that I was working out extra, b myself, but it took a couple months.   I've been beating myself up for being embarrassed at the gym, when at one point in time I was quite the gym rat; but when I really think about it, this is actually new for me.   I've never frequented a gym at this size and fitness level before, I didn't even try until I was eighty pounds lighter.  It's okay for me to be shy at the gym, I haven't done this in a while; and I'm doing it alone this time.  I am learning to be kind  to myself without losing my self-accountability.    The plan to work on mobility for the couple of  weeks  and then when I have my new court schedule for January set, I'll go back to the gym with the other newbies/detrainees and feel confident in knowledge that everyone else is uncomfortable too. 

[ladylydia]

I've lost 20 lbs since September. 

[ladylydia]

Finally went back to the gym, it's been awhile. I realized if I'm going to struggle to get a workout in in the evenings because of an ever changing schedule; then I should lean into the fact that I have  a fluid schedule and go during the day, (provided I don't have meetings afterwards). 

 

I just kind of felt it out this time, instead of making an over-zealous plan and risking injury to complete it, and was surprised that I wasn't as bad as I thought I might be.  

 

Cardio: 14 min. on treadmill.  (5 songs)

 

Reverse pyramids-sort of: 

RDLs: 10 reps with just the bar,

8 reps at 50lbs , 8 reps at 55lbs, 

6 reps at 60lbs, 6 reps at 65lbs,  6 reps at 70 lbs,

4 reps at 75lbs,  4 reps at 80lbs,  4 reps at 85lbs, 

3x2 reps at 90lbs, 

10 reps at 100lbs. 

 

Bench press

10 reps at 25lbs,,  10 reps at 35 lbs

8 reps at 35lbs, 

6 reps at 40 lbs, 

4 reps at 45 lbs

5x2 reps at 50lbs

5 reps at 55lbs. 

 

Stretched. 

 

 

[Jackdaw]

On 1/20/2023 at 3:03 PM, ladylydia said:

I've lost 20 lbs since September. 

Wow that's great! Congratulations!

[ladylydia]

Friday 1.5 mile walk, 

 

Sunday: 7/10ths mile walk

 

Yesterday;  glute bridge with bar- inverse pyramid to 10 reps.  

[ladylydia]

I recently bought a sandbag and have been playing around with it, and had a fitness epiphany.   I hate going to the gym.      

 

I'm, more or less, fine once I get there, and certainly fine once I start actually working out; but I really don't like going.  Trying to carve out a whole block of time,  making sure I have everything, waiting for machines or weights, or spaces that I want,  I want convincing myself to go; it's a hassle.   A monthly gym membership is less expensive, short term,  then all the equipment  and I don't have to find space for equipment in the house, but I still don't like going.   I originally grew an appreciation for the gym, years ago, simply because of the equipment issue, but I've never liked going; I just like lifting.   However, I discovered, for the interim, that I can put my adjustable sandbag on my barbell, and add weights to my lifts that way.  It's been way easier to get in my workouts that way.  

 

Also, I've just completed 6 weeks of working out consistently twice a week!  So good habits are forming. 

[ladylydia]

Got a second adjustable sandbag. now I can put one on each side of the bar. 

[ReturnOfTheDad]

Glad you’ve found something that works for you! I’ve also been working with sandbags for a bit and I’ve found the Rogue Fitness XL sandbag to be great as a versatile training tool as well if you want to lift between 25-200lbs. Great for deadlifts and cleans, shoulders, all sorts of leg workouts and because of the size and wide handles you can get some great back workouts with it too. You fill it with up to 4 fifty pound bags which you can use independently and fill with less sand if you prefer (I filled them at 25lbs until I was able to lift more).

 

Hope that helps as a future consideration as you continue your home gym journey!

[ladylydia]

6 hours ago, ReturnOfTheDad said:

Glad you’ve found something that works for you! I’ve also been working with sandbags for a bit and I’ve found the Rogue Fitness XL sandbag to be great as a versatile training tool as well if you want to lift between 25-200lbs. Great for deadlifts and cleans, shoulders, all sorts of leg workouts and because of the size and wide handles you can get some great back workouts with it too. You fill it with up to 4 fifty pound bags which you can use independently and fill with less sand if you prefer (I filled them at 25lbs until I was able to lift more).

 

Hope that helps as a future consideration as you continue your home gym journey!

Thanks!  I'll check that out.