Lifting support thread!

[Work2live]

Thought I’d start this thread as a few people thought it’d be a good idea.

It might be a nice place to support each other and talk about lifting in general, ask for tips and advice on workouts, how to get enough protein etc.

All levels very much welcome, from complete newbies to those who’ve been weightlifting for years! 💪🏼

I'm still getting on good thanks. Still a solid 4 times a week, still progressing my lifts and hitting targets. A few back and forths where I've needed to focus form issues but still in the right direction overall. As you say it's the longer game as I'm not planning on competing till later in the year so it's head down and build up that strength.

I'm not sure if I ever said before I finally got the chin ups I'd been wishing for for a long time.

Well done on your progress numbers @Proteinpudding

Ooh well done on the chin ups @RayKray ! Am I right in thinking you're doing powerlifting? If so I can imagine the two goals don't always fit so well done!

Yep I'm all about the powerlifting now. I still have chin ups in my programme to build upper body strength which helps with all the lifts. I've lost a lot of the other more hypertrophy focused accessories.

Lovely to see how everyone is getting on. You’ve got me thinking I’ve not done back squats for a long time. I used to like them, but hurt my back doing it wrong last time, and think I’ve got a mental block now. Managed a new bench press PB and got to 42.5kg which i was pleased with

@DCIJackieDeering do you know how you hurt your back doing them? You might be way ahead of me but I find squat university really good for getting my head round the squat. Lots of stability and tension needed to make it solid. I had to regress mine a lot to build back up, including paused and tempo squats to focus on the different points.

Well done on the bench PB!

Its been a very up and down few months for me. It started with shoulder issues which was extremely painful on any push exercises. OHP and bench mainly. I ended up at a physio (rotator cuff issues) and took a couple of weeks off and some extra exercises. Also a complete reset on all my push exercises which took a lot of mental strength to go from 70kg press to 15kg :-(

That said its now back up to 50kg and no pain on higher reps. I started a new programme and am now 5 weeks in. Its been really good fun at 4 days per week and Upper/Lower split which i find really good balance of resting muscles. I am in the second half of a 8 week section and found it very clever in mixing up reps and exercises.

For example if i was doing squats at 3 sets of 8 reps at 100kg for last 4 weeks. It changed to 3 sets of 6 so i had to adjust the weight up to stay at the same RPE. Some of them it went the other way with increased reps so i had to again adjust the reps to maintain the RPE. Good fun and definitely 'shocked' the muscles which i presume its what its for. Some of the new exercises are insane though. Cable Lat raises and cable bicep curls are so much harder than with free weights.

Oooh @RayKray , well done on the chins, especially as they aren't even your focus! Wow.

@Tessasanderson , bad luck on the RC - do you know what it was? I had a full thickness tear in one few years back, and partial in another, never feel it now. Though physio said I must strength train for life (yayyyy). Your new programme sounds interesting.

It is interesting hearing about how everyone programmes. Because I do 2 (possibly about to be 3 tho I think that may be too much on same skill, we will see) calisthenics classes a week, and a PT session, I have to go with the flow and on my other days train whatever doesn't ache...Tuesday is usually legs but a ridiculous number of bodyweight split squats at Sunday PT means I am struggling to walk 😄.

@MsMartini i must admit i kind of switched off when he got technical. I just do the exercises he gave me, rest and reset and its working. Upper/Lower seems to suit me so much more than a PPL routine. I am enjoying the variety at the moment tbh

@Tessasanderson , so do you do two upper and two lower? Is core Lower?

I mix it up too because of my classes and PT. I did a muscle up class last night that included pull ups and dips, and I've been doing basic planche progressions that involve lats even though it is a push move!

@RayKray very impressed with the chin ups, that kind of movement in my nemisis

I hurt my back because I didn’t brace my core properly and was panicking when doing a heavy weight. Did deadlifts tonight, matched my PB, but then started overthinking when I went heavier and didn’t get anywhere

My gym has started doing Olympic lifting classes which I’m enjoying, even if I’m doing the lightest weights there

Just wanted to share that I got a PB on bench press of 45kg this morning 🥳🥳

Also managed 70kg barbell squats.

My body weight is 59kg so I’m really chuffed with that 😁

Wow some amazing results on here!

Well done @Sidge those bench press numbers are really impressive.

I’ve been pushing myself recently too and experimenting with some new movements. I wouldn’t say I’ve been enjoying them(!!) but I’ve introduced zercher movements and they are challenging but so beneficial.

I tend to prefer pushing movements so I’ve also been focusing on my back and biceps a lot more. I’ve noticed a huge difference in my back muscles and overall shape since I started doing more rowing movements. I managed strict prone rows with 15kg dumbbells this week which I was proud of!

Ah thanks @Work2live I felt amazing! I also have Rheumatoid Arthritis so my wrists are buggered, it’s them that let me down sometimes so any progress is something I’m proud of.

I love seeing everyone’s stories, they’re so inspiring. What an incredible bunch of strong women we are 💪🏻

Thanks for the chin up love! I was going to give up on them as I felt I was getting nowhere but was great to finally get there. I do lots of other back strengthening stuff which I think helped.

Yes two Upper/Lower/Upper/Lower. Core tends to find its way into lower sessions. L sits and bicycle sit-ups, hip thrusts etc. Tbh there is a lot of core work in the compound lifts too. Once I’ve shifted the weight there is definately the muscles to show.

I need to work on my pull ups, never mind muscle ups. I think everyone has a way of training that suits them. At the moment and for the foreseeable it will just be a case of finding routines that work and are fun

Amazing effort 👏

@Tessasanderson , totally agree - finding routines that work and are fun is what matters!!

My classes are skills classes - so we train for hard moves like planche (which the instructor hasn't fully got at the moment and probably none of us ever will) and MU with "progressions" - I am nowhere near a muscle up even with bands but people who can do them probably wouldn't come to the class as they can rep out on them on their own - they don't need the progressions (high pulls with bands say). But eg a planche class is a good bodyweight pull workout, and you learn new skills. Otherwise, with cali, you would be repping out on dips, push ups and pull ups and it could get boring 😀

@sidge, great numbers!! That's brilliant.

@Work2live - good rowing, that must feel great!. I googled zercher - challenging indeed - wow - what got you into that? was it with a PT?

Hi new to this thread. It’s great reading your stories and progresses - so inspiring! I’m excited to talk to like minded women.

I began lifting about a year ago - was very unfit too. I go 3/4x per week and am working on the big lifts with a P/T. I’m having so much fun and always feel great when I finish a session. It’s the ability to have these incremental successes over and over that keep me going. My goal this year was to deadlift 100kg and I did it last week! So I’m shifting my end of yr goal to 120. After having horrendous separation of ab muscles (2 hand widths) after my 4th child was born I never thought I’d ever have ab/back strength.

Welcome @Digitalhen! Sounds like you’ve made enormous progress - 100kg deadlifts 👏🏼 I imagine you will definitely get to 120kg by the end of the year, if not more, that’s seriously impressive.

@MsMartini my coach introduced me to zerchers - they don’t programme a lot of back squatting for me as they said generally front squats and zercher squats are more beneficial for challenging your core, which is definitely true!

Hello all, am back from holiday and keen to get going. Have eaten and drunk too much so am feeling very unathletic....I've had some trips to the gym and I can feel familiar, not unwelcome, muscle twinges. Will pick up the barbell work next week.

Welcome @Digitalhen . 100kg is awesome! I'm so so close to hitting it it's getting exciting. Fancy competing in powerlifting if you're doing the big lifts?

Hello all and welcome @Digitalhen - amazing progress, that's brilliant. What got you into heavy lifting?

Hi all, been keeping an eye on this thread since the beginning. I had similar issues with my rotator cuff for about a year, and what has transformed it for me, is making sure I do a full range of mobility exercises every time I go to the gym (I do the same as you 2x lower, 2 x upper a week)

Lovely seeing what everyone is up to - my goal this year is strengthening upper body after said shoulder issues. Delighted to now be pressing 15kg dumbbells, and I bench pressed 3 x 42.5kg this morning. Felt great until I saw someone else come on and bench 60kg!!!

Looked up Zurchell - they look interesting. I like the idea of mixing ways of doing moves to bring variety in.

Earlier this week I finally got my 100kg deadlift! So delighted to hit triple figures!

Yayyy @RayKray , you've worked so consistently for that! You must be chuffed to bits.

@Thelittlestranger , hello! Well done. I only compare when it suits me 😀- otherwise just measure progress against myself.