Phoenix's Specimen Challenge

[Phoenix91]

Tuesday workout:.

 

ARMS + flys 5x5 (5 lbs)

Curls 5 x5 (14lbs)

Walking lunge 5x5 (5lbs)

Squat with barbell only (14lbs) 5x5

Bench with barbell only (14lbs) 6x5.  I literally can't wait to add weight to this.  

 

Things I learned tonight.  Squatting with a barbell is way different than squatting with dumb bells.  I got to play around with where the bar feels comfortable, which for now is higher up.  About 8 years ago my horse dislocated my left shoulder and at they tie I was the person who yelled "hey, ma!  pop this shoulder back in for me I've got to get back to work" because working in a barn you don't take sick days for trifling things like dislocations and broken bones.  Of course I'm suffering for it now, so a higher position bar works a little better for me as my arm doesn't really rotate far enough to get the bar lower.  Maybe in time and with more flexibility it will.  I'll have to get round to taking video and posting to the form check page.  

 

I also leanred that benching anything, even just the bar, is hard when you have a cat who insists on trying to touch your tummy with her silly little foot.  That nonsense just tickles; oh and trying to workout at 9pm is maybe not the best idea, especially after the monster bowl of food I ate not 3 hours ago.  Ugh.  

[Phoenix91]

Impromptu mini leg day

 

Brisk 2 mile walk to warm up.  

30 leg extensions at 30lbs (my new bench is awesome!, still no clips though)

10 leg curls at 15lbs because omg they are so hard.  

 

Battled the demon spawn cat to trim her nails, it's a 2 person job requiring burrito-ing and a cat muzzle but that went smoothly and she's now safe to be around again.  

 

Edited because I was feeling fantastically healthy today, sitting drinking my fruit smoothy so of course I've come out in hives on my arm.  Stupid outdoors and nature, I bet I touched something, maybe a freaking tree.   

[Blocky]

Good job with the cat - we've given up on ours because he is a douche.

[Phoenix91]

10 minutes ago, Blocky said:

Good job with the cat - we've given up on ours because he is a douche.

 

Thanks.  Mine doesn't mean to be an ass, she's just a hell beast who can't help it.  Having a cat muzzle really helps so she can't bite anyone; if we don't trim her claws they get ingrown and that's a whole other level of hell to deal with.  

[Blocky]

Mine absolutely tries to be an ass. He seems to enjoy it. I don't have kids but I do have the cat that will randomly wake me up anytime between 0300 and 0700 because douchiness...

[Phoenix91]

49 minutes ago, Blocky said:

Mine absolutely tries to be an ass. He seems to enjoy it. I don't have kids but I do have the cat that will randomly wake me up anytime between 0300 and 0700 because douchiness...

 

Oh dear, he sounds like fun.  I have 2, the spawn of satan and her brother who is lovely.  Mines pretty good about being an alarm clock, anywhere from 5:00-6:30 is her time frame.  Weekends are a pain as she's so used to getting up early.  Her brother would sleep until mid day if I let him, he likes his sleep (which is why he's lovely and totally my favourite).

[ManicSpider]

5 hours ago, Blocky said:

Good job with the cat - we've given up on ours because he is a douche.

 

Same! I also have a douche cat. She peed on my table the other day because I changed her litter and she didn't like the new brand I bought. 

[Phoenix91]

7 hours ago, ManicSpider said:

 

Same! I also have a douche cat. She peed on my table the other day because I changed her litter and she didn't like the new brand I bought. 

 

Oh my! Bad kitty! I've never had my cat pee anywhere except the box before, my big male had a few accidents when he was sick but it wasn't his fault.  My little demon cat once ate the new cat litter because she's slightly unhinged.  That's why i can't use that lovely biodegradable stuff anymore because apparently it tastes great.

[Phoenix91]

According to an email my 10lb plates should arrive tomorrow with clips!  They're coming via usps so it could be Friday in 2 months time, I won't hold my breath, if they turn up they turn up if not well... I'm not expecting much at this point.  Oh and Amazon have the 5lbs in stock now, but if I buy them now I'll pay all the shipping instead of getting it for free.  Annoying.

 

My legs are sore today which actually makes me feel like I did something good.  I'm going to try to squeeze something in tomorrow evening but I've scheduled Chinese food and a poldark marathon so the workout might get bumped to Saturday.   

[Phoenix91]

My cardio for today is done.  This huge multi legged monstrosity just ran out from under my keyboard and across my pastry.  My heart is beating so fast i'm counting it as cardio!!  Sadly, the shriek i let out as i lunged away means i have to now go pick up my dignity and try to behave slightly more like a warrior and less like a mouse. 

[Phoenix91]

10lb plates arrived and clips!  Now I can finally start using my berbell and weights without feeling like I'm going to murder a cat if I get tickled and flinch, worst that will happen is the whole bar goes sidewards, not weight plates dropping off.  

 

 

I do need more plates, 5s definitely so I can have better incremental increases, maybe some smaller ones too.  I'm going to start off small and work up, luckily the bar is super light.  If I'm not too stuffed with Chinese food tonight I'll get in a quick workout . So far I'm happy with my new setup!  

[Phoenix91]

 

Saturday workout: + a 2 hour trail ride on the horse and a nap which was awesome!  

 

Squat:

5x5 with barbell (14#)

1x5   29#

 

Bench:

5x5 with bar (14#)

3x5  29#

 

Deadlift:

5x5 with bar

1x5  29#

3x5  34#

 

I finally finished starting strength, I'll have to go back over a few things as I am a little uncertain about the press and the clean, maybe I'll wrch some videos to get them more clear in my head.  I've found that squatting without a squat rack is freaking nigh impossible; with the bar alone it's not so bad but put some weight on and after 1 set of 5 I had a few seconds of panic and thought I wouldn't be able to get the bar off my shoulders and back over my head; which is why I left it at 1 set.  I could have reasonably gone heavier with the deadlift (which are totally my favourite right now) but I wanted to concentrate more on form and keeping my back straight, the 34# felt easy so next time, more weight!  I'm also heading out tomorrow to try to find 5#s and 2 1/2# plates so my increases won't be huge jumps.  

[Grymm]

It's tough to learn the lifts directly from the book, especially not having done them with a challenging weight.  Power cleans don't come on for starting strength until you've more or less got your squat set and improving.  I'd set that aside for now.  After a couple weeks, re-reading the chapters on the individual lifts can still yield a lot of dividends you miss the first time through.  Also, you can read material on the lifts from other authors.  I like Greg Nuckols's write ups on his website (strengtheory.com).  It's comprehensive like the starting strength book but a little more flexible.  Mostly, it's all the same information delivered a little different way.  I don't know if he has a write up on the press.  

 

And, as always, Alan Thrall videos because of the beard.  

[Phoenix91]

4 minutes ago, Grymm said:

It's tough to learn the lifts directly from the book, especially not having done them with a challenging weight.  Power cleans don't come on for starting strength until you've more or less got your squat set and improving.  I'd set that aside for now.  After a couple weeks, re-reading the chapters on the individual lifts can still yield a lot of dividends you miss the first time through.  Also, you can read material on the lifts from other authors.  I like Greg Nuckols's write ups on his website (strengtheory.com).  It's comprehensive like the starting strength book but a little more flexible.  Mostly, it's all the same information delivered a little different way.  I don't know if he has a write up on the press.  

 

And, as always, Alan Thrall videos because of the beard.  

 

 

It is tough, I've been watching videos too but I think doing and adjusting with low weight will be the best way to get it right. I'm going to try to get some videos taken and up on the form check posts.  I'll put cleans aside for now then. And I'll look up Alan Thrall's videos, I do like a good beard

[ManicSpider]

On 10/9/2016 at 9:59 AM, Phoenix91 said:

I've found that squatting without a squat rack is freaking nigh impossible; with the bar alone it's not so bad but put some weight on and after 1 set of 5 I had a few seconds of panic and thought I wouldn't be able to get the bar off my shoulders and back over my head; which is why I left it at 1 set

 

Ha, I did that when I started as well! I ended up having to roll the bar down my spine onto the kitchen table, which is... not ideal Squat racks FTW

[Blocky]

Cleans and Power cleans are going to be the hardest to learn. It can be really hard without a coach. What I would say about it is: the power clean is in starting strength because itis really common for high school athletes playing american football to be taught by their football strength coach. If you are squatting and deadlifting, then the power clean isn't 100% necessary - I would be inclined to replace it with a barbell row if you aren't doing it already. My 2 cents....

[Phoenix91]

9 hours ago, ManicSpider said:

 

Ha, I did that when I started as well! I ended up having to roll the bar down my spine onto the kitchen table, which is... not ideal Squat racks FTW

 

It's terrible, and not like i can't squat the weight but my tiny stick arms aren't strong enough to get it back over my head.  I need stronger arms (or more likely a squat rack)

 

8 hours ago, Blocky said:

Cleans and Power cleans are going to be the hardest to learn. It can be really hard without a coach. What I would say about it is: the power clean is in starting strength because itis really common for high school athletes playing american football to be taught by their football strength coach. If you are squatting and deadlifting, then the power clean isn't 100% necessary - I would be inclined to replace it with a barbell row if you aren't doing it already. My 2 cents....

 

Awesome, i will not do them yet then!  I'm not currently doing barbel rows but i can add them in, i've been doing dumbbell rows.

 

I also got 5 lb and 2.5 lb plates on sale yesterday.  Which should make progressions easier.  

[Phoenix91]

 

Tuesday workout:

 

Squat

3x5 19#

3x5 24#

1x5 29#

 

with the new plates I could do more squats but not heavier weights.  It gets to that 29# and the feeling that I'll not be able to get it back over my head after a second set creeps in, it did feel easier to get it over my head after the 1x5 today though.  My shoulder still doesn't like the arm position, I might have to look into other types of squat which is a shame because if it wasn't twinging I quite like the squat. 

 

Bench

5x5 24#

5x5 29#

3x5 34#

 

Scary moment with the 29# set when I knocked the bar rest out of its hole with my wrist picking up the bar.  I had to balance the whole thing on my hip bones to fix the rest, with a heavier weight I couldn't have done that.  I need to find someway to keep the rests in place, maybe zip ties would work.  

 

Deadlift

1x5 29#

5x5 34#

3x5 39# 

 

Yesterday I topped the 98lb point on the scale

I also decided that since I'm getting a little bonus from work to buy some incredibly obnoxious workout T-shirts with fun slogans on them. 

[Phoenix91]

 

Thursday workout:  I'm either killing it or it's killing me... 

 

Squat

5x5 19#

5x5 24#

1x10 29#

 

Bench

5x5 29#

5x5 34#

 

Deadlift

3x5 39#

3x5 44#

 

Barbell curls

5x5 19#

5x5 24#

 

Ugh, it was so hard today.  My shoulders hurt during squats, my right thigh feels knotty so deadlifts were a pain and bench just felt hard.  I need to foam roll my this and maybe eat more food and stretch better or something. 

[RedStone]

1 hour ago, Phoenix91 said:

 I need to foam roll my this and maybe eat more food and stretch better or something. 

 

All the somethings! May mighty gains accompany your DOMS.

 

 

[Phoenix91]

8 minutes ago, ~RedStone~ said:

 

All the somethings! May mighty gains accompany your DOMS.

 

 

 

They best be mighty, omg so many knots.  

[Emerald_Dragonfly]

So much awesome! 

[Phoenix91]

2 minutes ago, Emerald_Dragonfly said:

So much awesome! 

 

Thanks, I feel less awesome more 'need to lie down and die for a while'. It'll be better for Saturday's workout!  

[Phoenix91]

 

 

MY THIGHS!  Oh my, today is a day of pain.

 

 

[Phoenix91]

Did arms today, mostly because my thigh still feels like it's been stabbed.  I foam rolled too which hurt like a bitch but I enjoyed it

 

I got a 3 hour trail ride in today and aiming for the same tomorrow.  It sure is fun to hear leaves crunching under horse hooves for 3 hours.