Adena

Wow. Seriously. I read that and said "damn!" outloud. I was mad because I was supposed to do five reps and I haven't been able to this week. I guess I haven't gotten THAT much stronger this time around. Thanks for being impressed, haha. Makes my day.

Haha, thanks. I think it might be about time for a new 1RM attempt. I'm pretty sure I could do 205 now.

Smart move. I'm glad to hear it's feeling better!

Week of April 13, 2010 Standing Overhead Press Day SOHP: 1x5x50 1x5x55 1x3x65 Bent Over Rows: 3x12x65 One Arm Dumbbell Press: 1x15x20 1x12x20 1x10x20 (right arm) 1x12x20 1x10x20 1x8x20 (left arm) Assisted Pull-Ups & Chin-Ups Various planks Deadlift Day Deadlift: 1x5x135 1x5x155 1x5x175 I still haven't bought any chalk, but I brought my straps. I felt pretty strong on the second set, so I thought I'd use my bare hands like normal, and it never slipped on that last set. I readjusted my grip a few times when I brought the bar back down, but I wasn't dropping the bar like the last time I tried 185 without chalk. I hope this is a sign my grip is getting a bit stronger. Good Mornings: 5x12x105 Farmer's Walks with 50 lb dumbbells Plate Pinches with two five lb plates, each hand held as long as possible...I'm averaging about 30 seconds for the right hand and 15 for my left. Hanging Leg Raises, arms fully extended above me, hanging from a pull-up bar. This helps me work on grip. Even after all those farmer's walks and plate pinches, I was able to hold on for eight slow leg raises, which is an improvement over last week.

Awesome! You are FAST! Now, time to celebrate with some of that chocolate tofu...

I used to do the Bill Star 5x5 which is great for beginners, but not so good for intermediates. I moved on to Jim Wendler's 5 / 3 / 1, which is four days a week instead of three. You can check it out in my log, but to briefly explain, each of the four days focuses on a compound lift. Day One is Standing Overhead Press day, Day Two is Deadlift Day, Day Three is Bench Day, and Day Four is Squat day. Each training day you do the compound lift first, then the rest is all assistance and you can choose whatever lifts you think will help you see bigger strength gains in the four main compound lifts. What is your goal, though? Mine is just strength gains, it has nothing to do with appearance. Is that also what you're looking for? If you're already in the intermediate stage, you may not see as great of gains in anything anymore, and it isn't as helpful to do the same compound lift twice in the same week. I'm no expert, though.

Ouch! That definitely sounds unpleasant! I hope you feel better soon.

Nah, those deadlift scrapes are a badge of honor! I think I have permanent scars on my shins.

You could always check out the Health and Nutrition subforum on this site and www.veganhealth.org

You don't suck because of things that are out of your control! I hope the eye thing gets figured out. Also, I wonder sometimes if you get enough sleep with all of your intense education and intense training. Geez! Give yourself a break! I'm a huge worrywart too, so I can understand being really stressed about the job and possible moving situation. Get back to training when you can, and be proud that you can complete a triathlon if that's all you end up doing. Congratulations on finishing school! I'd celebrate the end of that much university time with a good ol......Faturday! (I'm so predictable.)

Oh, you train at Gold's Gym? I work out at a Gold's here in Des Moines. When I first went there they said I could have a free session with a trainer (I picked a powerlifting trainer, since that's where my interests lie) and when he asked me about nutrition I told him I had been vegan for seven years. I expected him to be weirded out about it, but he actually was pretty stoked. I guess there's a really good powerlifter who works out there whose wife is vegan and he ends up eating vegan meals about 80% of the time, kind of by default. Apparently, he's one of the top lifters there, so this trainer I was talking to had no doubts I could succeed. And he was right, I'm having no issues whatsoever with gaining strength.

+1

Nice job! I have to say, you look much more balanced now from working so hard on your legs.

+30 Total: 60955

I'm sad and also disappointed to hear that your friend is using and dealing steroids. It can't possibly help his self-esteem issues because he has to be wondering how much of his accomplishments was him, and how much was the drugs. In your case, your accomplishments are completely due to all the hard work you put into it, so you should at least feel good about that.

Gee, thanks!

I have some kind of weird inability to properly execute the snot rocket. It just ends up all over my face. Which still makes people die laughing, so I guess all is not lost. And yes, I make the coffee cake from Vegan Brunch. I'm glad I don't eat like that every day, but thank goodness for Faturdays!

Thanks, everybody! Maybe I'll get up the gumption to compete someday...

If I'm your strongwoman hero, then you're my cardio and nutrition hero! I bet your cold isn't going to last very long, not with all the healthy habits you have. Now, on to planning my cheat day this weekend. I'm thinking coffee cake...

Deload Week For those of you just tuning in to my training log, a deload week is when you intentionally lift less than you can to give your muscles a bit of a break. You can't lift heavy 100% of the time! Next week I'll be back to throwing around heavy weights. Standing Overherad Press Day SOHP: 3x5x45 BOR: 3x10x55 One Arm DB Press: 3x10x15 for each arm Assisted Pull-Ups and Chin-Ups Side note: I consider pull-ups to be the ones with an overhand grip, and chin-ups to be the ones with an underhand grip. My boyfriend says I'm weird and nobody calls them that except me. I guess that's all right with me. Deadlift Day Deadlifts: 1x5x80 1x5x100 1x5x120 Good Mornings: 5x10x95 Farmer's Walks with 50 lb dumbbells Plate pinches Hanging Leg Raises, hanging from my hands from a pull-up bar to strengthen my grip Various planks

Yes, it's a four day split. The first day is Standing Overhead Press, the second day is Deadlift, the third day is Bench, and the fourth day is Squat. And you can do whatever assistance exercises you feel like for each day, so I just picked a few things that I thought would work. You're supposed to have a rest day in the middle, and two rest days after the fourth training session. I ended up with a Tuesday/Wednesday Friday/Saturday split because my squat sessions take a lot of focus, and I like having a nearly empty gym, so Saturday is perfect for that.

Deadlift: 185 Squat: 160 Bench: 105 Bodyweight: 127 I'm a girl, if you didn't know...I like the idea of this chart!

Agreed. Wish I didn't love my pancakes so much!

Bench Day Bench Press: 1x5x80 1x3x90 1x1x100 I really couldn't lift it all the way on the last rep, a bad sign since last week my 1RM was 105. I realized I've been working on having a more neutral grip though, so that might be all it is. My grip used to be too wide. Ah, well. J & Press: 1x12x65 1x10x65 1x8x65 (something like that) DB Chest Press: 1x12x25 lb dumbells 1x10x25 lb dumbells 1x8x25 lb dumbells Dips: 1x10xBW 1x8xBW 1x6xBW Push-Ups: 1x10 1x9 1x7 Squat Day Squats: 1x5x125 1x3x140 1x2x160 Box Squats: 3x12x105 Lunges with 25lb plate overhead Leg Press: 3x12x280 Leg Curl: 3x12x65

Oh my gosh, you guys are going to make me blush! I think I have a really good training program going on. I've even inspired my boyfriend to follow the same training program. It's called Jim Wendler's 5 / 3 / 1 and I think there's a pretty descriptive article about it on T-Nation somewhere. I don't take supplements of any kind, just a B-12 sublingual and vitamin D until the sun comes out. Sometimes I have a cup of soymilk after training. Mostly I just try to eat a lot. The only thing I've tried recently is moving toward a more organic/whole foods type of diet, at least most of the time. A lot less dessert, and a little more chickpeas, lentils, quinoa, brown rice, tofu, tempeh, and seitan. I'm really not doing anything special, just working hard and chowing down!