Jord - tackles inertia

[Jord]

No sugary foods still going strong. I have a belated holiday party on Sunday. I'm going to stay strong. I may even go another week. 

 

Friday, January 13

Stronglifts, Week 2, Day 2

 

(Box) Squats, 45#, 5x5

OHP, 32.5#, 5x5

DL, 100#, 1x5

Elliptical, 15 min

 

 

 

[Jord]

Sunday, January 15

Stronglifts, Week 2, Day 3

 

Squats, 47.5#, 5x5

Bench, 50#, 5x5

Rows, 50#, 5x5

 

Squats were still the hardest thing. I struggle at the bottom to get out of the hole. The weight feels light on my back but then at the bottom I'm like eff this. I'm considering 1 day out of the 3 doing pause squats with the 30# bar, something lighter. 

[Jord]

	Starting Weight	197
	Cut Goal Weight	180
Week	Monday	Monday Weight	Friday Weight	Friday	Average Weight	Avg Calories	Net Avg per MFP
1	January 2	197.2	195.6	January 6	195.4	2084	2020
2	January 9	193.8	194.8	January 13	194.1	2069	1905
3	January 16	192.4		January 20

 

 

My weight last week was pretty much 194+ all week and couldn't shake it. Then I lost weight this weekend. So maybe I've recovered from lasagna/bean&ham soup bloat? 

[Jord]

Forgot to add that I chose to eat dessert yesterday at the belated holiday potluck BUT I stayed within my calories and I lost 2# this weekend! So I call that a win as long as I stay in control of sugar cravings this week. (1 sugar cookie, 1 snowball cookie, and 1/2 piece of pumpkin pie)

[Jord]

The food restrictions thing has grown legs. 

 For a couple of years I've suffered from a small patch of scalp psoriasis and after trying every shampoo for it I'm going to try a dietary approach. 

 

I'm prepping to eliminate dairy for 2-3 weeks. That seems the easiest thing to try first. And from what I've read the thing that has helped people the most. I'll need to get some pea protein powder. I've been vegan before, so I already don't eat a lot of dairy except for cheese and I can just omit that. 

 

So no sweets and no dairy. If I'm cranky for a while you'll know why! 

[CourtnieMarie]

good luck! i really hope you find something that works

[Jord]

17 hours ago, CourtnieMarie said:

good luck! i really hope you find something that works

 

Thank you! 

[Jord]

I did a thing! 

 

I added calories to my daily challenge progress chart that gives me a visual on if I am over or under calories for the week on average. Using the data validation where it turns red if I am over the target. At first I had it set to tally up my total calories and what the target was, but that didn't make sense. This makes a lot more sense to me. Just get the last column as close to zero as possible. 

 

	Food Track	1	1						2	7	29%
Week 2	Weight Track	1	1						2	7	29%
1/16 - 1/22	Stronglifts	0	0						0	3	0%
	To-Do List	1	1						2	5	40%
	Calories	2,102	1,971						2,037	2,000	-37

 

 

 

Also, it's supposed to be 54 degrees on Saturday. GASP. I am going to outside on purpose GASP and go for a walk at the local park.

[CourtnieMarie]

love that table!! you got this. also, super jealous of park walk time. should be 45F here this saturday and i'm calling that a win.

[Jord]

nothing to see here, was testing

 

 

[Jord]

Checking in regarding sugar. I'm still trying to stick with no straight up sugary treats. Yesterday I was in a cafeteria and really wanted a treat but I stuck with my burger and side salad. I am noticing that the more I hit my weekly goal of seeing the weight go down the less tempted I am. Plus my cravings are almost nill now. 

Except I am currently watching "Kids Baking Championship" before bed and sometimes that makes me want a treat. Luckily I don't keep any in the house! It's hilarious though. I recommend it. From the show:

 

 

Sugar has been around 30-40g per day per MFP. But that includes my fruit, which I've been trying to eat to combat cravings. Just bananas and berries. I know bananas are very sugary/carby, but they do curb a craving. 

[Jord]

Friday, January 20th

Stronglifts, Week 3, Day 2

 

Squats, 52.5#, 5x5

Rows, 52.5#, 5x5

Bench, 52.5#, 5x5

 

also walked for 35 min on my lunch break. 

[Jord]

Cross-posted from challenge for reference:

 

Things I learned from form video for my reference:

- I like to fold over instead of squatting backward. This was very noticable in BW

- I lift with my butt first and then my chest, causing a slight good morning as I fatigue. 

- Depth is not quite back to where it should be. I only hit depth 70% of the time on back squats. It was fine on goblets.

 

Plan of attack:

- mobility work

- play with stance with and foot angle (and knees out!)

- quad strength work*

- form vids each Sunday 

- repeat today's weight next session

 

* instead of BS 3x/week, Wednesdays will be goblet squats and leg extensions

 

Sunday, January 22

Stronglifts, Week 3, Day 3

 

Squats, 55#, 5x5

DL, 120#, 1x5

OHP, 37.5#, 5x5

Elliptical, 20min

[Jord]

 

me goblet squatting vs me pretending I can back squat, and my long AF legs. 

[Urgan]

5 hours ago, Taddea Zhaan said:

 

me goblet squatting vs me pretending I can back squat, and my long AF legs. 

 

I don't really see anything so very wrong with this. Goblet squats are a kind of front squats, and you'll adopt different back angles based on whether there's a weight involved and if so, where it is in relation to your midline. If the bar goes forward of your midfoot on the way back up, then yeah you might have an issue there, but back squats do require movement to be initiated at the hips (not to the point of going horizontal with your back, but a little change in angle is not a problem). Your back's job is to maintain the neutral angle on the way down and back up. I think you may be at least somewhat mistaken with your self-criticism, but then I'd have to see you in motion to make a firm verdict~  

[Urgan]

So I went to your other thread and saw you posted the vids~ Not gonna critique goblet, as that isn't my forte and I don't want to pretend otherwise.

 

I think Junior is right about shoulders being used as a way to indicate depth. If you sit back just a bit more--slow down somewhat and let yourself sink back as if finding the seat of a chair--and concentrate more on keeping your back in a stable, neutral position throughout the rep, your upper body can't help but follow in the proper position. 

 

You may need to work on getting full ROM (you're most of the way there and I know we're working with post-accident fallout to some extent), but then you might just be bouncing through the reps because of being self-conscious/afraid? It feels like you weren't truly giving yourself enough time before coming back up. While you're working your way back to up to where you were is a good time to use the weight as a means of dynamic stretch to work on becoming more comfortable with how back squats feel. Whether Junior's point re: shoulders is affecting your perception of where you truly are or if this is a ROM or a self-awareness issue, as soon as you work through this you'll be well on your way to kicking ass. 

[Jord]

14 hours ago, Urgan said:

So I went to your other thread and saw you posted the vids~ Not gonna critique goblet, as that isn't my forte and I don't want to pretend otherwise.

 

I think Junior is right about shoulders being used as a way to indicate depth. If you sit back just a bit more--slow down somewhat and let yourself sink back as if finding the seat of a chair--and concentrate more on keeping your back in a stable, neutral position throughout the rep, your upper body can't help but follow in the proper position. 

 

You may need to work on getting full ROM (you're most of the way there and I know we're working with post-accident fallout to some extent), but then you might just be bouncing through the reps because of being self-conscious/afraid? It feels like you weren't truly giving yourself enough time before coming back up. While you're working your way back to up to where you were is a good time to use the weight as a means of dynamic stretch to work on becoming more comfortable with how back squats feel. Whether Junior's point re: shoulders is affecting your perception of where you truly are or if this is a ROM or a self-awareness issue, as soon as you work through this you'll be well on your way to kicking ass. 

 

I hadn't really thought about keeping the back angle stable and neutral, so in addition to Junior's shoulder/chest tips I will think about this next time I squat. I also appreciate the feedback about spending more time at the bottom of the squat. It's hard for me to tell from watching the videos. When I'm doing the squat it can sometimes feel very long and then I watch it and it is fairly short, so my perception of how long each squat takes is off. I definitely agree that using this rebuilding time to work on getting more comfortable with the movement will be important. 

 

I also went back and looked at the videos from August/September and my belly gets a lot more down between my legs (although back angle is still too horizontal), so I'd also like to work on letting that happen, getting those knees out and working on hip mobility. 

 

20 hours ago, Taddea Zhaan said:

 

 

From two different sets (September): 

 

and the video from the latter set: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BxkOeQSsu8ayY2pzR19vb1pkZlk/view?usp=sharing 

[Jord]

I'm a little annoyed at my body about weight, but the hip measurement for the body fat % was down slightly, so I'm trying to trust the process. I'll only reduce my daily calorie goal by 50 calories per day and keep on plugging along. 

 

	2017 Cut, January - March
	Starting Weight	197
	Cut Goal Weight	180
Week	Monday	Monday Weight	Friday Weight	Friday	Average Weight	Avg Calories	Net Avg per MFP
1	January 2	197.2	195.6	January 6	195.4	2084	2020
2	January 9	193.8	194.8	January 13	194.1	2069	1905
3	January 16	192.4	194.6	January 20	193.9	2060	1882
4	January 23	194.8		January 27

 

In comparison to September, so I'm trying to get the Net Avg down, which means more exercise *side eye*

Week	Monday	Weekend Avg Salt	Monday Weight	Friday Weight	Friday	Average Weight	Avg Calories	Net Avg per MFP
1	August 8	3527	184.6	182.6	August 12	N/A	1932	1721
2	August 15	2841	182.0	184	August 19	N/A	1951	1663
3	August 22	3042	184.6	182.2	August 26	183.8	2010	1690
4	August 29	4096	183.8	180.8	September 2	182.3	1940	1637
5	September 5	3053	182.0	181.4	September 9	181.3	1944	1769
6	September 12	2767	180.6	181	September 16	180.8	1932	1903
7	September 19	2935	182.4		September 23

[Urgan]

Videos are great for telling us the truth when sitting in the hole feels like forever, lol. Gets us every time.

 

I think it's more useful to concentrate on a strong stable back that adopts a neutral angle, individual anthropometry will dictate the precise angle. With a neutral spine you'll skip the rounding shoulders because that is a function of spinal flexion. What the real issue is, is letting that bar end up forward of midfoot into a bit of a good morning. Awareness is half the battle~

[Jord]

On 1/23/2017 at 7:57 AM, Urgan said:

Videos are great for telling us the truth when sitting in the hole feels like forever, lol. Gets us every time.

 

I think it's more useful to concentrate on a strong stable back that adopts a neutral angle, individual anthropometry will dictate the precise angle. With a neutral spine you'll skip the rounding shoulders because that is a function of spinal flexion. What the real issue is, is letting that bar end up forward of midfoot into a bit of a good morning. Awareness is half the battle~

 

I'm doing goblet squats and leg extensions tomorrow and then back squats on Friday. So I'll be working on these issues. Hopefully I can keep getting up early on Sundays for doing form videos. Also, I haven't officially purchased it yet, so I didn't post in my challenge, but I found a powerlifting club with coaching and I'm going to do a trial membership for February. If I like it it'll be struggle to make the $$ work, but I would try for at least a 3 month membership after that. 

[Jord]

Food update: 

- still doing no major sweets. However, with going dairy free for 2 weeks I bought 3 vanilla soy yogurts without thinking to check for sugar and sure enough they are loaded. So that is my dessert for this week I guess. 

- Saturday was my first day with no dairy. So today is day 4. Too early to tell if it's helping with scalp. It still feels itchy but the skin feels different more like a general itch vs a rash. I did make a dermatology appt for the first week of February. 

- Scale was 194.6 today. I'm still mad at it, but still going to ride this 1950 calorie train for another week and see what happens. I'd rather increase exercise than decrease calories. 

[CourtnieMarie]

44 minutes ago, Taddea Zhaan said:

 

I'm doing goblet squats and leg extensions tomorrow and then back squats on Friday. So I'll be working on these issues. Hopefully I can keep getting up early on Sundays for doing form videos. Also, I haven't officially purchased it yet, so I didn't post in my challenge, but I found a powerlifting club with coaching and I'm going to do a trial membership for February. If I like it it'll be struggle to make the $$ work, but I would try for at least a 3 month membership after that. 

that sounds awesome!! i hope the trial goes well. all these meets and your new gym is making me want to try and train with the PL guy at my gym...

 

41 minutes ago, Taddea Zhaan said:

Food update: 

- still doing no major sweets. However, with going dairy free for 2 weeks I bought 3 vanilla soy yogurts without thinking to check for sugar and sure enough they are loaded. So that is my dessert for this week I guess. 

- Saturday was my first day with no dairy. So today is day 4. Too early to tell if it's helping with scalp. It still feels itchy but the skin feels different more like a general itch vs a rash. I did make a dermatology appt for the first week of February. 

- Scale was 194.6 today. I'm still mad at it, but still going to ride this 1950 calorie train for another week and see what happens. I'd rather increase exercise than decrease calories. 

sames.

[Jord]

4 minutes ago, CourtnieMarie said:

that sounds awesome!! i hope the trial goes well. all these meets and your new gym is making me want to try and train with the PL guy at my gym...

 

 

do it! I think you would have a lot of fun both working with the PL guy and with doing a meet. 

 

There is a meet here in September specifically for newbies. My tentative plan is to do the February trial membership and see how I feel and if there are any spots left in the competition after that point, then I will consider registering. 

[CourtnieMarie]

14 minutes ago, Taddea Zhaan said:

 

do it! I think you would have a lot of fun both working with the PL guy and with doing a meet. 

 

There is a meet here in September specifically for newbies. My tentative plan is to do the February trial membership and see how I feel and if there are any spots left in the competition after that point, then I will consider registering. 

yeah!! that'd be awesome!

[Jord]

I think my weight was weird because of potential shark week. It's hard to tell anymore with the mirena IUD but there are signs, and then my weight was down 1# this morning. So we'll see how the week shakes out. *hopeful* 

 

I feel like my daily bottle log is a weird food thought diary because I know most people don't read it.