Lifting Support Thread 3

[Proteinpud]

Continuing from @Work2live 's original thread, with the following intro post

"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 made a new gym friend today! There is only one rack/platform in my gym and a lady was using it. I've seen her before and she's amazing, really strong and does both powerlifting and oly lifts.

I asked her how many sets she had left and she said she had quite a few but suggested we share the platform so we could both deadlift. So we did! It worked fine, we worked around each other and it was a huge help for me because it meant I could get my session done.

You hear a lot of stories about idiots in gyms but my positive experiences far outweigh the few negative ones.

Good here. I'm out of my lifting blues (although jumping on any box higher than 20" is now my Achilles heel), and a couple of weeks ago "pulled a double hundred" ie got 2 100k deadlifts in a row (touch & go). When I think how long it took to get to double plates and how hard it felt, I just marvel at the human body.

In other news, I bench pressed in a PT session the other day. Unusually, my PT had me do my main lift as the bench - got me up to 47.5 for failure - could not get it more than a couple of inches off my chest! But then did 5 sets of 3 at 40k, so the 57.5 isn't far off. I want 50 by the end of the year.

Great story about your new gym buddy @everycowandagain I was posting on a very bad tempered thread which was ranting at people who "hogged" equipment in the gym, trying to educate posters about the need to rest between sets, and the concept of working in (under a name change, don't know why on this thread it still uses my old name, but heigh ho). BUt many posters weren't having it. They'd hate my gym. But you show that works beautifully, and you get to fangirl another female lifter!

Yayyyy @YellowAsteroid thats brilliant!!! Thibk I’m making progress with bench - I took the weights down to fix form so climbing back up to 50 AGAIN but got some solid sets on 45 this week without waving the bar around.

i was in that thread - oh my!! People grudgingly accepting it was ok to have 30 secs rest!

@everycowandagain what a great story and outcome! That’s been my experience too - sometimes working in just doesn’t make sense especially with a stranger (my gym partner and I find ways round it even when we are at very different levels but we are used to working it out) - but when it does with a little ingenuity and give and take it is so satisfying! I enjoy occasionally jumping in with different people and trying slight tweaks too (pyramid sets say, recent one).

Yes I saw you in that thread doing sterling advocacy of the needs of weight lifters @MsMartini !

@YellowAsteroid , it actually made me a bit cross - not the individuals but how badly women have been served by the fitness industry (and society!).

Sounds like a 50kg bench is in your future @YellowAsteroid! I suspect I am testing my bench next week, it's been moving really well and next week in my session with my coach it's an RPE 9 single but we discussed testing my bench a while ago, he told me he wouldn't label it as testing and this week he said "no pressure next week, we'll just see what happens, normal day in the gym" which 100% means he is planning something!!

You remind me of the lengths my PT used to go to, to hide the actual weight I was lifting on the way up to a 100 deadlift. I'm a bit more gung ho about bench and squat for some reason. Did bench presses from the floor in a gym class on Friday - got a couple of sets of 3 for 40, and it's much harder on the floor because you can't get the bar right down. So it's going well.

Squats are my nemesis in that respect @YellowAsteroid so we have the same drill. He puts a big bumper plate and then hides little plates behind his back and gives me random mobility drills to distract me while he loads the bar! Funny how so much of it is mental.

My squats are feeling a lot better, I have been doing lots of single leg balance work and focusing on foot and ankle pressure on the less stable side and they are looking much more stable and stronger. Hopefully we can add a bit more weight soon, it's creeping up but I am impatient and feel like I have lost ground so I am keen to load that bar back up!

Funny how so much of it is mental.

Indeed! I have learnt a lot, doing this lifting heavy shit off the floor thing. I have to face failure - almost every week. I do not like it!

It's quite interesting - I'm very successful in my work, and have never had to psych myself up or face likely failure in my career, so I'm used to sailing through hard things. But no sailing through lifting heavy bar bells or sprint intervals or effing rowing or burpee broad jumps.

Am a bit tired atm after doing 3 sets of double 100s. And I think back to when a 70k deadlift felt heavy!!!!

Completely @YellowAsteroid I learn a lot from doing this because it's HARD! I have also had to learn to focus on my own progression and not compare myself to others, which is not something I have ever struggled with professionally.

Today I benched 1kg under my 1 rep max reasonably comfortably so it's looking promising for testing while pretending we are not testing on Sunday

Completely agree. And it has all been so good for me mentally. I'm much less prone to comparing myself with others in the rest of life, or to worrying that I don't want to do what others do (parties, some kinds of holidays), much more prone to think sod it I'll happily do my own thing......in a way especially the calisthenics as so few women my age do it and I train in a small gym....it has all been life-changing for me.

It makes this thread special for me, too.

for testing while pretending we are not testing on Sunday

@everycowandagain , two men testing tonight on squat rack next to me, thought of you, they weren't pretending 😀.

Ooomph, did pull ups tonight (new set, I'm trying to do 5 sets of 6 in 15 mins twice a week) and then box squats which felt smooth but couldn't get as many or as heavy as usual....felt good though.

hey all, been a bit MIA as life has been busy along with training/comp prep etc. Sounds like there is some great progress being made across the lifts! How is everyone feeling after the weekend?

Agree with women in gyms, I find a lot of the time women used to be very "wary" of others in the gym, but this attitude has changed and more people build others up now which is nice. Needs to become the normal though, not the exception!

I've just had a week off training after competing last weekend. Managed a +12.5kg PB on my total, which was a 10kg PB on squat and 2.5kg PB on deadlift. Bench turned up again for an equal PB but really want to work on bench now as the deficit is getting much bigger, it's less than 50% of my squat now as squat numbers just keep on climbing!

Congrats on your comp @2andadog 🙌🏼 sounds like you made some good progress especially on squat. Well done 👍🏼

Thanks @erinaceus . 150kg squat on the horizon now! Got an off season now for general strength and some more cardio work, so that'll be fun..!!

Wow @2andadog - I can only dream of those numbers (but I'm nearer 70 than 60 ...)

But a 12.5k uplift in a competition s A-may-Zing!!!

Thanks @YellowAsteroid , you're doing incredibly!

Great work @2andadog!!

I didn't manage a bench PB on Sunday, even warming up I knew it wasn't there! I equalled my PB (AGAIN!!) and I reckon on a random day when it's moving well I am just going to whack some weight on the bar and see what happens!!

I am not annoyed about it, I know by now that bench seems to have its own timeline. It's there, I just don't manage to have a good day when I am testing, but it will happen at some point.

Off on hols in a week and then I have told my coach I want a couple of blocks of some heavier squats. Sick of tempo and pauses!!

Ah @everycowandagain bench is such a fickle monster of a lift! New block sounds fun though, have to love some heavy squats!!

In other news, I used a deadlift jack today for the first time and I think it might have changed my life!!

@2andadog Yayy brilliant work! That’s massive on your squats.

i did trap bar deadlifts last week - liked them. Anyone else done them and got any tips?

@everycowandagain deadlift jacks are life changing!! Especially with metal plates!!

@MsMartini trap bar deadlifts are good, keeps the weight central and is a bit more of a quad dominant movement. Really good for getting the “push” off the floor!

Has anyone else been watching the IPF open worlds? I find it inspiring which is helpful as I’ve been feeling meh about training lately.

My coach changed up my program to help with my motivation and gave me a new DL variation: deadlift with controlled eccentric phase (that’s the descent). This is hard: it’s good to have something new to play with.

Hope everyone else is training well 💪🏼

I have followed of IPF worlds via Instagram @erinaceusbecause I follow some of the female lifters. They are all so strong! Love seeing it.

Your deadlift variation sounds interesting, my coach does like a controlled eccentric but it gets harder as the weight increases.

I had a week of holiday and then got floored by a nasty virus but I am well on the way back to normal energy levels and easing back into training with some lower volume. I did paused squats with my coach earlier in the week and they actually looked and felt pretty good despite everything. We are doing a block of paused squats and then planning a block that works up to some heavy singles, which I am looking forward to after a frustrating 6 months with squats.

Happy training everyone!