Thread: Catalyst

Yeah, but did it have to be day four? My favorite day? Hmph.
Today was a rest day, and as I am still recovering from nearly dying I did the minimum...I basically did some abs, 20min on the bike, and 15 on stairbeast.......that's it...

All I have to say is this: day one better rock.......

Yep it's always the day your all psyched up for, or that's your favorite.

I think it's more the disappointment after you being prepared to kick some butt. At least that's how it always feels to me.

Saw in a different forum you were looking at lifting straps.

Here are the ones I use. They work great as wrist support as well.
Schiek - 1000-PLS

They are affordable on amazon as well.

Haven't been here in awhile....just lots going on with divorce/move, grandma died, mom flew in, and final few weeks of school....am still working out. At the gym just no time to post......

Thanks for the link, Omerta, I will check them out......I have been stuck for two weeks at 225-227 after that great run of pound per day losses, but yesterday I was down a pound so mebbe my body is ready to let go of some more excess baggage.....I have had three mights in a row of 8hrs of sleep.....prob the first time that has happened in six months....yeah - I think its related......for me the weight loss is all about hormonal levels, because I DON'T cheat, I don't avoid the gym, and I when I'm there I work out HARD.........

Haven't been here in awhile....just lots going on with divorce/move, grandma died, mom flew in, and final few weeks of school....am still working out. At the gym just no time to post......

Thanks for the link, Omerta, I will check them out......I have been stuck for two weeks at 225-227 after that great run of pound per day losses, but yesterday I was down a pound so mebbe my body is ready to let go of some more excess baggage.....I have had three mights in a row of 8hrs of sleep.....prob the first time that has happened in six months....yeah - I think its related......for me the weight loss is all about hormonal levels, because I DON'T cheat, I don't avoid the gym, and I when I'm there I work out HARD.........

Alright - I've been going to the gym, just haven't had time to post on here. I've got three weeks of school left - so it might be a bit sketchy until after that. After getting sick, and losing quite a bit of strength, (unremarkable workouts) I am back to making some gains.....I'm not gonna post all the missed workouts - no time - so just highlights....

Hammer high rows - 8x245/4x295/4x295
Low rows - 6x150/6x135/6x120/8x120/12x105
Rack pulls - 5x5 - 135/225/275/275/225 - no prob with grip at 275.
Decline bench - 5x5 95/115/135/135/135
Squat - 5x5 - 135/145/185/205/185
Lat pull downs - 5x5 115/130/115/115/115
Weighted abs - 5x5 110/150/125/125/125
Flat bench - 5x5 - 95/95/115/135(4)/135(4)/95(10x)
Press downs - 8 reps - 130/140/140/150/160x6/170x2
Deads - 5x5 135/185/235/250/235 did the rest of day four and then a second round of deads - 5x5 2(135) 3(155) Cause I could......lol....best day ever and yeah, I'm still sore (this was two and a half days ago, lol)

Yesterday and today:

Bench - 5x5 95/115/115/115/95 - these felt terrible! I was failing on the last rep on these.
cable flies - 3x8 - 20/30/20 - first time on this particular machine
bent rows - 5x10 - 40 - just doing things differently - bored
decline bench - 5x5 95/95/115/115/115
Rack pulls - 5x5 - 135/185/225/275/295


Day Two
Calf/leg/highfootplacement/press - 20/10/12 reps respectively - 235/425/515/425
Squats - 10x5 - 115/115/135 for all the rest
Hack squats - 3x8 155 - bored, trying something different
bicep curls 5x5 25
hammer curls 5x5 25
Going back tonight for cardio...

I'm noticing that I'm not breaking into a sweat in the first couple of sets like I used to.....I'm kinda at the point where it seems like my body has adjusted and need to switch things up....my wrists bother me a bit with the benching/dumbell stuff. I would just lift heavier and keep the intensity but I can't just keep increasing forever, my joints have limitations!

I have been stalled out at 224 for awhile now.....Have lost some inches here and there, but nothing dramatic. My clothes are ridiculous - so maybe in places I'm not measuring?

Ditch anything that's messing with your wrists for now - give them a break. What do you figure is the reason you're currently stalled?

Lack of sleep.....I swear when I get two 8hr nights in a row - I start dropping again. Plus, it was that 'time' - water gain hides any losses for a bit. Was down today, bya pound to 224.

My pattern seems to be to lose dramatically, like a pound a day for 15 to 20lbs, then nothing for a few weeks, and then down again.......if I had the time, I'd add cardio back in consistently, but just not feasable for the next few weeks.

This is my third day with steady progress downward, so I think I've pushed through another plateau.....222 this morning. I'm gonna have to go buy more workout pants. NOT letting it get so bad that I lose 'em doing squats like last time.....heh

I'm also increasing lift weights in some areas, and not in others. For example - I'm NOT going to do calves very much anymore, because my calves are getting too big. I don't WANT to be that muscular and ripped that you can see the definition....My boys told me I looked 'swole' today.....YIPES. I guess my triceps are showing......other areas too.

I'm gonna have to adjust to this new body. The changes are scary - I don't and never wanted to look super muscular, but I happen to be a body type that gains muscle very easily, and have the hormones to support growth, I guess. I like athletic figures, but I don't want to be thick or bb-like. sigh......how to continue to lift, lose weight, AND achieve the look I want - while maintaining the lifting high I get from going heavy.......THAT is the question.

Originally Posted by niki

This is my third day with steady progress downward, so I think I've pushed through another plateau.....222 this morning. I'm gonna have to go buy more workout pants. NOT letting it get so bad that I lose 'em doing squats like last time.....heh

I'm also increasing lift weights in some areas, and not in others. For example - I'm NOT going to do calves very much anymore, because my calves are getting too big. I don't WANT to be that muscular and ripped that you can see the definition....My boys told me I looked 'swole' today.....YIPES. I guess my triceps are showing......other areas too.

I'm gonna have to adjust to this new body. The changes are scary - I don't and never wanted to look super muscular, but I happen to be a body type that gains muscle very easily, and have the hormones to support growth, I guess. I like athletic figures, but I don't want to be thick or bb-like. sigh......how to continue to lift, lose weight, AND achieve the look I want - while maintaining the lifting high I get from going heavy.......THAT is the question.

Congrats on breaking a platau! that can be a bummer! LOL on the losing you pants story!

You are doing well and you have a great coach!

Thanks, Jagbender, and I agree completely!

You won't look as muscular as you think you will once you're lean. You'll be muscular, to be sure, but think of it this way: if you only have two choices - big and hard, or big and squishy - which one would you pick?

I made this realization years ago. When I focused on becoming big and hard, I got smaller and leaner.

Props on busting that plateau!

Originally Posted by Built

You won't look as muscular as you think you will once you're lean. You'll be muscular, to be sure, but think of it this way: if you only have two choices - big and hard, or big and squishy - which one would you pick?

I made this realization years ago. When I focused on becoming big and hard, I got smaller and leaner.

Props on busting that plateau!

Big and hard is good, much better that soft and squishy anyday.

Going out to lift this AM

Originally Posted by Built

You won't look as muscular as you think you will once you're lean. You'll be muscular, to be sure, but think of it this way: if you only have two choices - big and hard, or big and squishy - which one would you pick?

Um, I don't want 'big' anywhere in the equation at all! And I'm on a mission to eliminate Squishy....

I mean, if given a choice and all.

It just freaks me out when my boys call me 'swole' at the gym.....I'm paranoid enough with all these meatheads staring at me when I lift.....and that's when I'm warming up....and I quote, "did you just dead lift that?"
"I was standing right next to you man, didn't you hear the weight hit the floor?"
"No, seriously, did you just dead lift that?"
(my oldest son) - "Yes, she did, and that's my MOM."
As the guy looks up into the stratasphere at my oldest son, "No WAY something as big as you came out of someone that small, that's just wrong man. No way she just lifted that......I can't lift that"....

Sigh......

I'm just gonna trust you, Built, and keep on keeping on.....but if my bb buddy makes any comments about my arms getting big enough to hurt his feelings I'm going to need serious therapy.....just a heads up....

You didn't hear what he said, did you?

""No WAY something as big as you came out of someone that small, that's just wrong man. "

Nope, I missed it.

I keep typing out my response, and erasing it because it sounds lame even to me. Things like; at 222lbs nobody is gonna describe me as small.....and my son is 6'6" so ANYONE is gonna be small compared to him......

I think I need therapy........

You've got body image dysmorphia. It happens to everyone who loses a lot of weight. Your eyes need to catch up with your brain's image of yourself. It can take a while.

You find yourself trying on clothes that look too small and being amazed they're too big?

I'm not much of a shopper........and with school......but yeah, when I am forced to go clothes shopping due to my pants falling down when squatting, I end up trying on things that are too big......

Then I go down two sizes, and they are still too big......so I go down another two sizes and am shocked that those actually button and zip...and fit.

So, I'm four sizes body dysmorphic, lol. I remember as a teenager always feeling larger than I was. I think part of it was due to my mother being very petite. I was 5'8" and 150lbs and she is 5'3" and 105lbs.

But I don't go shopping much, 'cause I hate it.....didn't like it even when I was a thin teenager, so that ain't gonna change!

Originally Posted by niki

... when I am forced to go clothes shopping due to my pants falling down when squatting, I end up trying on things that are too big......

Then I go down two sizes, and they are still too big......so I go down another two sizes and am shocked that those actually button and zip...and fit.

So, I'm four sizes body dysmorphic, lol.

Yep. I remember going through the same thing, myself - except that I LOVE $hopping. Dammit.

Originally Posted by niki

I was 5'8" and 150lbs...

... I was a thin teenager...

Yep, that's thin. I'm 5'7", and I wear a size four when I weigh 148 lbs.

You were thin at 150; you would have been perfectly healthy at 170. You're not that fat anymore. You've got a bit to go, but you can see it now (really!), and it's working.

If you find you've got "too much muscle" on you when you're lean, you can lose it easily then by eating too little, eating less protein, and overtraining. Don't do it now though - the muscle will help you drop the fat.

Dammit, you made me cry....



And it is such a strange thought to realize that I have the kind of control now, that you mention in the latter part of your post.

Success is motivating.

Yes, Built, yes it is.....

And here are day's 3 and 4.....as well as 5 (oops, I got a little carried away today)

Day Three
Mil press - 5x5 50
SSL 3x8 - 50
BSL 3x8 - 30 - used slightly different form, much more difficult to do
Hammer high row - 4x8 225 (4x275)
Lat pull downs - 3x10 - 85/100/115
Low Rows - 5x5 90/105/120/120/105

Day Four
Deads - 5 reps of 135/135/155/155/185/155/155
Tricep ext - 3x12 50/60/60 - using the rope, overhead - first time for this exercise.
Skull crushers - 5x5 60
Good Mornings - 3x8 95/115/115
Lunges - 6x20 - omg...leg death. collapsed at the end trying not to throw up....waited for EMT/Firefighters to no avail.......alas, they weren't working out yesterday....

Day Five - now, I do realize that I should have rested today. I was going to do a bit of cardio on the bike - to loosen up the ol' legs after leg death. Mebbe sit in the sauna for awhile. some abs were a possibility......I dunno - I work tomorrow, so figured that could be my rest day. I snapped and I wanted to LIFT....

Weighted abs - 4x20 - 110/110/110/95
Cable pull downs - 3 sets of 92/82/72lbs - as many as I could do - I gave myself the luxury of NOT COUNTING the damn things. I HATE counting.....grrrrr...it was lots, and you guys will just have to believe me...Not sure what they are called, but on the knees, pulling the rope down from overhead, all the way to the floor on each side. I won't tell ya what I call them - 'cause it isn't politically correct. They look like this: but holding a rope....lol

This is where I kinda went crazy. I don't know what happened. I blame it on working out abs for the first time in forever......
Flat bench - 4x5 - 115/115/115/115/115x3
Decline bench - 115x5/115x5/135x3/135x4/135x5/135/3
Cable pull downs - 3x30 - 82lbs (round TWO)
Oblique machine - 4x5 each side, 150....let's see if I'm sore tomorow....hehehe

Now I've already cancelled work tomorrow to study for my exit exam AND I was sore from benching within HOURS....that has never happened to me before! It usually takes me at least 24 hours or more to feel sore! Eeeek Keep in mind my lower body is incapacitated as well......from all those lunges....I can't sit properly, I can't walk properly, and now my upper body is sore within three HOURS of benching? oh.my.god. tomorrow's gonna suck.




in a good way

Hehehe... you're a glutton for punishment, aren't you!

Hey, good luck on that exit exam. You're so close now - when is it all done for you?

This Wednesday is my last test. Thank GOD......well, except for the state boards, but that won't be for a bit. After Wednesday, it is all tying up loose ends....

Yes!

And still, how much have you lost while going through all this?

I've lost about 115 overall, and nearly 50 since beginning to lift.

While maintaining the number one position academically in my class, and being on the Dean's list. (I'm up for valadictorian or whatever it's called)

I also got a job and have been working.

Of course, my marriage ended.....so it wasn't all a triumph....but at least I'm starting to work to my potential.

Holy CRAP.

<bows down>

It doesn't seem to me the dissolution of your marriage has destroyed you. It must have been a long time coming.