A Cheerful Misanthrope

Bigger Stronger Leaner Powerful Women
1

Hi. I’m new here and after several months of lifting I thought I would start keeping a written log.

About me: 43 year old mother of two. I quit smoking a year ago in September and joined a gym (for the first time ever) the following November. Up until last August I spent most of my time on the Elliptical (enjoying the sights of the men lifting) and using some of the machines.

I started reading and decided I wanted to really start lifting. In September I worked up the courage to go to the ‘boys’ side of the gym and never looked back.

I have attached a photo of me in September and hope to post a recent photo soon.

Below is my log starting a a week and a half ago–

Friday. Jan. 25 (Home)
Front squat:
1x10 @ 60
1x10@80
2x5@95
2x3@95

OH Press
1X3@65
2x5@60
3x4@60

Cleans:
1@60
1@80
4@95

(When I work out at home, I don’t have a rack so I can only squat/press what I can clean)

Bent over barbell row:
1x10@60
1x5@70
3x5@80

Windmill:
2x6@20

Sunday Jan. 27 (Gym)

Back squats:
1x5@95
1x5@135
3x5@155

Bench:
5x5@85

CG Bench:
2x8@65

Chin ups:
1x6
1x5
1x4

Full Contact Twist:
2X20@25

T-bar row:
1x8@50
1x7@60
2X5@65

Monday Jan. 29 (home)
Kettlebell snatch - 30 lbs - maximum reps
52 in 2.5 minutes

Bicep curls:
1x5@45
1x8@40
1x7@40
1x6@40
1x5@40

Wrist curls:
3x20@30

Wednesday Jan. 30 (Home)

OH squats:
1x7@60
1x7@70
1x5@80
2x5@85

OH Press:
1x4@65
2x5@60
2x4@60

Bent over barbell row:
2x7@70
2x5@75
1x5@80

Dips:
3x5 bodyweight

Windmill
2x6@20

Friday February 1 (gym with trainer)

Deadlift:
1x5@135
1x5@155
3x5@175

Pullups:
1x4
4 negative (with trainer pushing down on legs)

CG chinups
1x4

Explosive squats:
5x2@95

Front squats
1x5@95
1x5@105
1x3@115

Sunday Feb. 3 (gym)

Front squat:
1x7@45
2x5@95
1x5@95
1x5@115
1x4@125
1x0@135

Bench:
1x8@45
3x5@90
1x4@90
1x3@90

CG Bench:
3X10@65

Pull ups:
1x4
4 negatives

T-Bar row:
1x10@50
1x7@60
3x5@65

Hanging leg raises (straight leg):
1x12
1x10
1x9

Today (Feb. 3) I started on rapid cuts fat burner & Leutor strength and muscle builder. It is a bit of an experiment to see if there is any effect. I hope the fat burner doesn’t make my head blow up since I don’t consume much caffeine in my diet.

Also, bought a belt. My max squat is 175 (in October) and deadlift is 210 (November). I haven’t checked max in a while. Also haven’t found a handbag to match the belt.

Sorry for the long-winded post…

2

Congrats on steppin into the boys part of the gym :wink: And joining this forum.

Your workouts look great! And I’m insanely jealous of your negative pullups.

Looking forward to following your log.

c.

3

Congratulations, you’ve taken the first step. Keep in mind this is a marathon and not a sprint. Best of luck and keep at it.

4

Welcome to T-Nation. Your workouts looks great:)

Claire

5


Thanks for the encouragement. I had been reading these forums for a while before I joined. It is nice to read/learn about lifting from a woman’s perspective. I’ve read quite a few posts and looked at a lot of profiles. In particular, C. and CVB. It gives me even more enthusiasm.

I am hoping to do a strength challenge in April. The events are pullups, deadlift and kettlebell snatch (16 kg). I’ve never done anything like that before. My goal is to not publicly humiliate myself. Anything more is icing:)

I have posted current photos from 5 months in. The biggest (unexpected) change that I’ve noticed is a thickening in my torso. Oddly I quite like it.

6

I don’t know how to do more than one photo at a time.

7

Welcome. You look good and so does your workout, but could you please change the name of your log? It just makes me feel old :frowning: 43 is still young to me. And I like your screenname and avatar, and I know the meaning of eternity.

Best to you.

8

Yo momma, thanks for the welcome. Maybe I should change the name of my log. I’m not sure how to do it.

Middle age to me is not old. It’s more of a coming into yourself and a bit of wisdom. The title does seem kind of dowdy though. Can you tell me how to change it?

Thanks

9

[quote]ouroboro_s wrote:
Yo momma, thanks for the welcome. Maybe I should change the name of my log. I’m not sure how to do it.

Middle age to me is not old. It’s more of a coming into yourself and a bit of wisdom. The title does seem kind of dowdy though. Can you tell me how to change it?

Thanks
[/quote]

HAHAHA! Don’t worry, I was just being my old sarcastic damn self. Don’t change it on my account. Wisdom does come with age for most, and you have a good perspective. As you will soon see, I am the exception to that rule. Your title is your own choosing, but if you REALLY want to change it, send a PM to one of the mods online.

10

Welcome to T-Nation! Congrats on quitting smoking and lifting heavy. You’ve made awesome progress in a short time. Best of luck on the strength challenge in April.

I can help you change your thread title if you’d like. Just let me know what you want it changed to.

11

Monday’s update. Monday’s for me are kind of training lite since I work out Sunday’s as well and Sunday’s are usually pretty heavy.

Dumbell snatch (warm up)
5 left and right at 20lbs
5 left and right at 25 lbs

Kettlebell snatch 30 lbs
38 in 2 minutes. This has gone down. It seems to get harder everytime. The endurance aspect of it is what kills me. 5 minutes will be tough.

BB curls:
1x5@45
1x9@40
1x8@40
1x6@40
1x5@40

BB wrist curl palms up:
1x30@30
1x23@30
1x19@30

BB wrist curl palms down (empty bar)
1x40@10
1x35@10
1X30@10

Plank: 2 minutes

I also spent a couple of minutes playing with my 7 year old daughter teaching her to clean an empty 10 lb bar. I just wish she would clean her room.

The reason for all the wrist work is that when I back squat I prefer the low bar position. I’m still struggling with positioning and my wrists give before anything else. Sort of like grip on deadlift. It has been improving though.

Also I changed the name of the log. The middle aged thing made me want to put pink curlers in my hair.

Eternity has a lot of meaning to me but shortly I have a feeling the 5 minutes with a kettlebell will seem like an eternity.

12

I’m curious about this competition. What is it exactly? It sounds really cool.

13

Buckeye Girl:

It is a local tactical strength challenge. The events are pullups, deadlift and kettlebell snatch (maximum reps over 5 minutes with 16 kg). There are no weight categories. Just split women/men. My worst I think will be deadlift since I’m lighter and can’t lift as much. My max. to date was 210.

I haven’t competed in anything since I did gymnastics as a kid. I’m pretty nervous.

14

Fun!

Is the DL a max or for reps? That kettlebell snatch event sounds painful.

I’d be a little nervous too…well, I am nervous (first PL competition is in April). I’m sure you’ll do just fine though.

15

Welcome to T-Nation!!

Fantastic workouts.

B-3

16

Wednesday Workout (Gym):

I was really looking forward to it because we are having a pretty severe snow storm and that usually limits the number of people who are there. Tonight it was pretty busy though. I was still able to snag the power rack for my stuff.

Deadlift:
1x5@135
1x5@155
1x5@175
1x3@185
1x2@195
1x1@200
1x0@205

Back Squat:
1x5@95
1x5@135
3x5@155

Pull up:
1x5 (5 is the most I’ve gotten to date - I started at 2 in December)
followed by 3 cg chin ups
followed by 4 pull up negatives

Dips:
3x3 (they were pretty lame and week ones too)

Hanging Leg Raises:
1x12
2X10
(I was hoping to do weighted decline situps but some guy was using the decline bench. Geez)

The cardio portion of the workout was coming home and shoveling a crap load of soaking wet heavy snow in the middle of the storm.

17

[quote]buckeye girl wrote:
Fun!

Is the DL a max or for reps?

The deadlifts is three attempts for max. Pull up is for reps. Scoring is a bit odd.
[/quote]
How long have you been training for the competition in April? Reading from the beginning of your log it sounds like you have made very fast progress. Very impressive.

18

[quote]ouroboro_s wrote:
buckeye girl wrote:
Fun!

Is the DL a max or for reps?

The deadlifts is three attempts for max. Pull up is for reps. Scoring is a bit odd.

How long have you been training for the competition in April? Reading from the beginning of your log it sounds like you have made very fast progress. Very impressive.

[/quote]

I’ve been lifting weights, in general, for a few years. This summer I learned to squat and deadlift. At the time, powerlifting sounded really cool, but I had no plan to compete this soon. I started to focus on the 3 lifts and strength in the fall, then in the beginning of January I began training at a powerlifting gym. I only actually decided to do this meet about a week ago.

Sorry. That turned out to be a really long answer…

19

Friday workout (Home)

Front Squat:
1x5@60
1x5@80
3x5@95

Clean:
1x60
1x80
3x95

Front squat seems so much harder when I have to clean it first and do it without a rack. At the gym I was able to front squat 125 out of the rack.I have yet to clean more than 95lbs. That is one of my short term goals. At this point I think it’s mostly mental.

Floor press:
1x10@75
2x5@75
1x4@80
1x3@80

I picked this one up reading Buckeye Girls log (Thanks). I knew I had cinder blocks for something - my home rack. I have a very high tech home gym. I did get awkwardly pinned with my elbows on the floor but I did avoid public embarassment.

Romanian Deadlifts:
1x10@110
1x8@130
1x8@140
1x5@150

Windmill:
2x10@25

Pull up:
1x5
1x4

20

Hope you liked the floor presses. Looks like they went well. :slight_smile: