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! 💪🏼

@firef1y that sounds exhausting! When do you rest??

I'm already excited cos it's gym day tomorrow. First up - deadlifts!

Speaking of which, can anyone tell me what weight the bar I use it likely to be? It's v old kit, needs Allen keys to get things in and off, just metal discs rather than any bumpers or anything. No markers to give me a clue. I might just have to take all the weights off and figure it out by comparing bar with weights tomorrow as I can't think of another way to tell. What's the lowest a bar could be?

If it's a normal type it would be a 20 kg Olympic bar or a women's 15 kg bar. If it's small it could be an 8 kg technique bar.

I just did an absolute killer workout, it was a 20 minute AMRAP (circuit) of 20 weighted lunges, 20 kb swings (16kg), 20 box jumps and 20 burpees. Definitely going to be feeling that in the glutes tomorrow.

Did you do that at 5am @RaisinGhost ? Impressive! And is it with CrossFit, or on your own?

I had a rest day yesterday as I was on the office and couldn't get to my usual PT session with my OH. So, today will be legs day at the gym at some point. Squats, d/ls, weighted lunges, Romanian d/ls, and banded dips/chins. Tomorrow will be upper body and I'm going to throw in a run too.

What are all your goals? My next one is to hit 115kg 1rpm on d/l and 105kg back squat. Also learning cleans, but injured my arm so have had to take a rest on that for a bit.

Glad I found this thread 🙂

I started with a PT just before lockdown in 2020, I was overweight, flabby and unfit. My goal was to be able to do a push-up and a pull-up lol.

Now I can do both!

I also love feeling strong and seeing the changes to my middle aged menopausal body. I also run a bit (but have lost my mojo for running since having plantar fasciitis with Achilles tendonitis) and do some yoga.

Last week I managed my heaviest deadlift of 100kg for 2 😁 given I’m a shortie and weigh 58kg I was really chuffed with that.

My PB for squat is 60kg for 4 and bench press of 35kg for 6. I’ve been working on my shoulders and back and whilst I managed a few unassisted pull-ups didn’t really love them - more of a ticking them off my list thing! Prefer doing lat pulldowns and seated and upright rows, for example.

Love reading all your posts - such strong inspiring women!

Those are some impressive deadlift numbers @Sidge!

I did a brutal push session yesterday, got some DOMs in my chest this morning 😬 I want to work on my shoulders a bit too as I can now comfortably manage 10x 20kg military press, but upping the weight to 22.5kg feels SO much heavier! I’m still focusing on higher reps but I might ask my trainer whether it’s worth moving down to lower reps at a higher weight.

Today is a rest day for me but I went to the gym this morning and managed a decent incline walk which was really tough - I prefer this to running. Will also try to get out for another walk this afternoon to hit 10-12k steps and that will be me done for the day.

Thanks @Work2live I was so chuffed!

Its funny isn’t it how you can comfortably manage a certain weight, then you add 2.5kg (which normally you can dangle off a finger) and all of a sudden it’s impossible, whether squat/deadlift/shoulder press etc 🤣

@Work2live instead of going down in reps with your shoulder press try drop sets. So as many as.you can @22.5kg then down to 20kg for the rest of the set.
Or you could invest in a set of micro plates, I have plates from 0.25-2kg. Makes the jump up in weight barely noticeable. I use them because 5/3/1 often gives weights between the standard 2.5kg jumps

Wasn't supposed to be doing any strength training today, but it's my partners mums funeral tomorrow and he needed some alone time.

My early morning PT session was at the stairs, but instead of the weighted vest she had me doing a very intense cardio session. I guess the only strength part was triceps walking down the stairs and some hand release triceps dips. I've got short arms and ridiculously strong triceps so she's always looking for inventive ways to make me actually feel dips, whether that's with a 20kg Dumbell between my legs or one leg raised.

Just finished the pull up workout she's given me. Scapular pull ups are the worst, they really burn after doing assisted and negatives.

But the worst thing is I'm going to have to wear gloves for a bit. I've always been proud that I lift beltless and gloveless, but my hands still haven't toughened back up from my hiatus from heavy lifting and the callouses are getting ready to open up

Whoop gym day! Just back 😃. I've been doing it a lot less time so not as heavy as others but did my 20kg goblet squats (4x11), 40kg Romanian deadlifts (4x11), then other bits and bats like walking lunges, tricep dips. I also managed to get my lateral pull downs more into my back with some adjustments - I think I usually use my arms too much, the tricep dips after were easier than normal which makes me think they weren't tired out from doing too much work on the lat pull downs.

And as ever anyone who can do a pull up is the coolest in my eyes. Love hearing about what I can aspire to.

@Work2live I second the drop set suggestion. I did that in my hammer curls and got myself up another 2kg (which was 25%).

Wow amazing lifting going on! What a thread.

@RayKray, is the bar at your gym? Do they have scales you could stand on, holding it and not? Agree the standard Olympic bar is 20, women's one 15.

My goal is ten pull ups by the end of the year - I keep getting to 6/7 then getting covid or a cold...I share PT and sometimes train with a younger man and also do intermediate focussed calisthenics classes, so I am training moves I will probably never get like front and back levers, and planche, but the drills (some using bands) all help build strength and make it more interesting - I couldn't just do push ups, pull ups and dips. So not sure what my goals are with them but am seeing slow progress - longer holds, lighter bands.....

@MsMartini it is at my gym but there's no scales. My gym is v low key and dated. There's lots of reasons I love it, but it is lacking a lot of stuff. To be honest I'm wondering what to do if/when I outgrow it, as I'm not keen on the idea of a big fancy one with lots of people. But there's no squat racks, no bench that would work with a barbell, no assisted pull up thing for example. So I do what I can with what is there, don't ever have to wait to use anything and love it at the moment, but there's a limit to what I can do there.

I could take everything off the bar and compare to dumbbells to work it out probably.

@RayKray how thick is the bar??
If its thin (1") then a standard 7' bar is 10kg, 6' is normally 7.5kg and then 5' is 5kg

If its an Olympic (2") bar, then standard is 20kg, 6' is 15kg and 5' is 10kg.

@firef1y thanks that v useful. I'd say it's thin, and not that long. I don't think it's at tall as me so sounds like 5kg which was my estimate

That's a bummer. Do they have a reasonable number of plates for you to add weight?
A trick if you're deadlifting with plates that aren't the size of a standard 20kg olympic plate is to use something (I used to use steps) to rest them on so that the bar is in the correct position across your shins

Thanks. Yes I rest them on something to get the right height. There's a stash of plates so I can keep in adding. It will start to look like quite a jumble though. I've a feeling there's none bigger than 10kg though. I already have 6 on to make my 40kg

@firef1y @RayKray thanks for the drop set suggestion! I haven’t done drop sets for ages but maybe it’s time to add them back in! My PT also suggested going very slowly as I bring the bar back down which I have been doing.

@RayKray it’s not ideal but you could get some bands to add extra resistance to your workouts. You can add a band or two for quite a lot of exercises e.g. squats, deadlifts, and rows to add more resistance if you don’t have access to heavier weights.

Rough day today with my partners mums funeral, could do with lifting up something heavy, but need to be home with him and my boys. Did do some early morning boxing though which helped get some of my emotions off.
Deadlifts and bench tomorrow...might do a max test with the deadlifts after my prescribed sets. Be nice to see where I am.

Sorry to hear that @firef1y. Moving heavy things makes me feel much better too. I've had a rubbish day today too, and no gym. New programme tomorrow though

Week 2 of 531, bench and deadlift today. Nothing spectacular with the bench but decided to test my deads after the prescribed sets. Was very happy to get up to 90kg raw and still feel like I had something in the tank. Especially as my PT made me run 5k with her cycling first thing.

Who wants to have a laugh at top of the deadlift face??

Yes please @firefly! Sorry about your bad day yesterday.

I am back up to 7 pull ups as first set post-covid, and also up to a 7k run ditto. About to go on holiday but there is a playground nearby with some bars.......

@MsMartini thank you. I've promised my trainer that I'm going to almost completely take the week off exercise when I go on holiday next month. I'm allowed to do a really pretty 3mile trail loop a couple of times but that's it.

So here's the pic. I look so classy when I lift don't I?

@firef1y you look bloomin awesome!

I felt right v down this morning but a morning in the gym getting my new programme and being shown new stuff and I'm back to feeling awesome.

I have figured out the nearest accessible gym for when I'm on holiday too, makes me a much happier person.

My PT has me on a program of higher reps/lower weights at the moment, managed 37.5kg bench press with 12 reps yesterday that I was happy with. Also managed a couple of sets of assisted pull ups where I was down to 18kg (from 27kg a couple of weeks ago). Also finally improved from 12kg to 14kg with my DB shoulder press.

You look fab @firef1y!

Holidays - tbh, I wouldn't even be thinking about that sort of bars for a week's holiday except since March I have had a bad cold (once) and covid (twice). So if I feel the urge I may try a bit of maintenance while away.