Nicole’s Workout Journal

So I took a week off due to my injury or whatever you want to call it…I’m feeling like 5×5 is pretty much done…We did it for 6 weeks…not bad.  Wish I could have kept on with it, but also feel like it’s time to switch things up.  I felt pretty strong - didn’t lift overly heavy and went lighter for my lat exercises.  Surprisingly, my lat didn’t hurt at all until I did cable curls!  Anyways…pretty decent workout…I felt like I was all over the place.  I hate full body though…and I didn’t do any direct work for hammies, calves, or traps.  Here are my numbers:

 Leg Press - felt like I definitely got stronger.  Could probably jump up to 350+ lbs

• 300 lbs x 15
• 310 lbs x 15
• 320 lbs x 10

Pulldown - didn’t want to force reps or aggravate my lat, felt okay

• 85 lbs x 12
• 100 lbs x 8
• 100 lbs x 6

Hammer Extensions

• 25 lbs x 12
• 35 lbs x 10
• 35 lbs x 8

One Arm Rows - went really light with these

• 30 lbs x 12
• 30 lbs x 10
• 30 lbs x 8

Pec Machine

• 75 lbs x 12
• 75 lbs x 10
• 62.5 lbs x 8

Lateral Raises SS with Front Raises - delts looked nice and round today

• 15 lbs x 10 SS 22.5 lbs x 5
• 15 lbs x 10 SS 15 lbs x 10
• 15 lbs x 8 SS 15 lbs x 8 

Cable Curls - very light..felt sick by this time

• 60 lbs x 10
• 50 lbs x 8

Pressdown - light here too

• 70 lbs x 12
• 70 lbs x 10

So a week or so ago I noticed a weird pain in my back the day after BB Rows.  I had increased to 115lbs and it didn’t feel bad…my ROM wasn’t perfect but I didn’t feel like I was jerking to complete the movement or anything.  The next day I felt an odd pain near my right shoulder blade…it hurt to breathe in deeply (cough, sneeze, etc) but I didn’t think much of it as it wasn’t terrible pain.  So a couple of days later (Sunday to be exact) we went to workout again.  I didn’t feel 100% rested and up to a tough lifting session, but we went anyways.  Well, while squatting 180lbs (I didn’t even post this workout because it was cut short) I started noticing a pain in my lat…weird.  I did 3 sets of 180 and said…Kay something isn’t right.  We moved onto DB Shoulder press and my lat was really hurting.  I said, "F*ck it" and we went home.

 Well, two days later and my lat is still hurting…to laugh, cough, breathe heavy, sneeze…even laying down or moving certain ways brings me pain.  So what to do?  I know I need to take time off so I don’t really injure myself horribly…but it’s so frustrating.

I’m not sure if it’s really my lat, or a muscle underneath…it does feel deeper…I wish I could go see a doctor but I have learned that doctors…especially male doctors don’t take me seriously when I say I lift weights.  They probably think I’m lifting little 15lb dumbbells or something…Well, no buddy - I’m actually squatting YOUR bodyweight.  A few years ago I fell backwards while squatting 130lbs - don’t ask…stupid mistake…and anyways I had SEVERE whiplash.  When I told the doctor how it happened he rolled his eyes at me and said "Take Robaxacet" and that was it.  Anyways…I think I will take this entire week off from weights.  I hope it feels better soon because this sucks ass.

Here is my workout that for soe reason disappeared on here: 

SQUAT - Not completely happy with myself because I needed my spot. I know it’s to be expected with an increase - especially with 5×5 training, but it still makes me feel weak.

180 lbs x 5
180 lbs x 5 - assistance on last 2 rep
180 lbs x 5 - assistance on last rep
180 lbs x 4 - completely failed on 4th rep, required assistance back up
180 lbs x 4 - assistance on last rep

DB Chest Press - felt so weak

47.5 lbs x 5
47.5 lbs x 5 - assistance on last rep
47.5 lbs x 5 - assistance on last 2 reps
47.5 lbs x 5 - assistance on last 2 reps
47.5 lbs x 4 - assistance on last 2reps

BB Rows - increased the weight, felt alright but had a bit of ROM issues and grip issues on last set

115 lbs x 5
115 lbs x 5
115 lbs x 3
115 lbs x 3
115 lbs x 3

5×5 over, then tri and abs:

VBar Pressdowns

30 lbs x 12
40 lbs x 12
50 lbs x 6

Crunches on decline board

20
15
10

Okay, so the cardio didn’t cause a problem with my training.  I sort of bitched out and didn’t increase my squat to 180lbs…stuck to 175 this week and did it all by myselllllfff!  Yeeeeeah!  No assistance required…and very happy that I’m gaining strength with every workout.  I increased chest press and did need my spot but it’s to be expected with an increase - hopefully I won’t need any assistance next day!  I was gonna bitch out on bb row too…but after my first set decided to increase because I felt great!  here is my workout:

 Squat

• 175 lbs x 5
• 175 lbs x 5
• 175 lbs x 5
• 175 lbs x 5
• 175 lbs x 5

DB Chest Press - required assistance but feeling okay about it!

• 47.5 lbs x 5 (assitance with last rep)
• 47.5 lbs x 5 (assitance with 2 reps)
• 47.5 lbs x 5 (assitance with 3 reps)
• 47.5 lbs x 4 (assitance with 2 reps)
• 47.5 lbs x 5 (assitance with 3 reps)

BB Row

• 100 lbs x 5
• 110 lbs x 5
• 110 lbs x 5 - grip slipped on 3rd rep
• 110 lbs x 5
• 110 lbs x 4

5×5 done, tris and abs next:

DB Extension

• 42.5lbs x 7
• 42.5lbs x 7
• 42.5lbs x 5

Crunches on a decline bench

• 20
• 15
• 15

Thanks for your comment, mattydub17!  I agree it probably won’t hurt me…but I wanted to try and squat 180lbs today…so fingers crossed..will be interesting!  

God damn is it ever hard to keep steady state on the elliptical.  I wanted to use the treadmill, but Nataliya (my coworker) wanted the elliptical — since she’s new to the gym and needing support, I got on the one beside her.  She only wants to go M/W/F so on T/R I will use the treadmill.  I wanted to keep my HR in the 130-140 range, but even at the lowest level my HR was still 145-150 for the entire 45 minutes.  Oh well…it’s not that big a deal.

My boyfriend keeps bugging me about what I want for Christmas…and I have decided that I want a quality HR Monitor!  That way I can keep precise track of my heart rate and it will make me want to keep up with this cardio B.S…

So we skipped our workout on Saturday - my mind wasn’t in it and if I’m going to lift heavy without injuring myself I have to be completely 100% focused.  Instead we took a nice day off and went out for supper!  Since we are itching to get back we are lifting today rather than tomorrow.  The only thing I am worried about is that I told a girl at work I would start doing cardio with her at lunch time…I can motivate her to be active and she can motivate me to do more cardio…I figure it’s a good thing all around…BUT I am worried that I will be fatigued for lifting…I’m not doing intense cardio…just liss - but I am still worried.

 Okay, well I am off to do my cardio (which I hate).  I will post my lifts later tonight (or tomorrow).

So I had an alright workout yesterday…I increased all of my lifts and it felt pretty good, but of course when you increase you usually need a little help from your spotter for at least a couple of reps…Shitty thing is that I feel like a complete weiner unless I can do it ALL by myself.  I know I’m getting stronger, but in my mind if I need help even for one rep - I get mad for not working hard enough.  I know it’s all in my head…But I am really hard on myself.  Hopefully I’ll be able to push through and complete all sets and reps on my own for Saturday.  Here are my numbers:

Squat

• 175 lbs x 5
• 175 lbs x 5 (assistance on last rep)
• 175 lbs x 5
• 175 lbs x 5 (assistance on 3 reps - WTF??)
• 175 lbs x 3

Military Press (db’s) - this didn’t go as well as I has hoped for…I needed a little help on every set ..FU<K!

• 37.5 lbs x 5 (assistance on last rep)
• 37.5 lbs x 5 (assistance on last rep)
• 37.5 lbs x 4 (assistance on last rep)
• 37.5 lbs x 4 (assistance on last 2 reps)
• 37.5 lbs x 3 (assistance on last 2 reps…WTF)

Deadlift - happiest with this lift today…increased the weight and completed it perfectly with no assistance.  The worst of it was the pain in my hands after each set - but I am so impressed with how much my grip has strengthened…I don’t use straps or gloves…just raw.  I’m not really having grip problems at all these days.

• 165 lbs x 5
• 165 lbs x 5
• 165 lbs x 5
• 165 lbs x 5
• 165 lbs x 5

Assisted Pullups - this was alright, to be expected when it’s the last exercise…

• 20 lbs assisted x 4
• 20 lbs assisted x 4 - ROM a bit of an issue for last rep
• 20 lbs assisted x 4 - ROM
• 20 lbs assisted x 3
• 20 lbs assisted x 3

5×5 over, then I did bi’s…no abs today

DB Curl - meh…I was too pooped

• 25 lbs x 6
• 25 lbs x 5
• 25 lbs x 4

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…to explain what exactly 5×5 Training is and what I’m trying to accomplish in doing it. 

Well, to put it bluntly…I was stuck in a rut where my lifts were no longer increasing.  I feel as though this past year has been less than I was hoping for in terms of gains - in both size and strength.  It’s my own fault - I got comfortable with the same exercises and the same split and when you stop forcing yourself out of that comfort zone, your gains will stop (or slow to a crawl). 

Anyways, my boyfriend and I went on vacation to Mexico in September and we ate and drank all we wanted - we didn’t workout for 3 weeks and it was just the rest our bodies and minds needed.  When we got back to Canada, he suggested 5×5 to get us back into the swing of things and to re-gain some of the muscle and strength we had lost on our vacation.  You wouldn’t think that you would lose that much in only 3 weeks, but when I got back into it I was struggling with squatting 130lbs!  As you can see, in the 4 weeks we have been doing 5×5, my strength has really increased.  The reason behind this is probably a mixture between the 5×5 training as well as having a specific goal in mind and being able to mentally prepare myself for reaching that goal - to increase my lifts by 5-10 lbs every workout (which I definitely was not doing before).

 My squat goal was 170lbs - well now that I’ve reached that I’ve bumped it up to 200lbs.  We’ll see what happens and hopefully I’ll get there.

This is a detailed look at our training, we chose dumbells over bb’s for bench press and military press because we wanted to develop and work on our stabilizers (scroll down to the bottom of the page for the actual split):

http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/sclark70.htm

I just had the most amazing workout ever - I reached some personal bests that I never thought I could and now I have to aim higher!  I was pretty nervous beforehand and I knew I had to psych myself up mentally so that was my main focus.  I’m not sure if it’s the Size On I started using or what but I definitely had a mental edge today that gave me an extra push.  I didn’t require assistance on any of my sets…everything that I have previously been struggling with felt like a piece of cake…Even my ROM on BB Rows was absolutely perfect with no struggling.  I am kind of confused but very happy - everything with 5×5 is coming together!  Here are my numbers:

 Squat

• 170 lbs x 5
• 170 lbs x 5
• 170 lbs x 5
• 170 lbs x 5
• 170 lbs x 5

DB Chest Press - All on my own this week - finally!  Next week I get to increase the weight.

• 45 lbs x 5
• 45 lbs x 5
• 45 lbs x 5
• 45 lbs x 5
• 45 lbs x 5

BB Row - ROM problems gone, 5×5 finally paying off in strength gains…next week I increase!

• 100 lbs x 5
• 100 lbs x 5
• 100 lbs x 5
• 100 lbs x 5
• 100 lbs x 5

5×5 done, now tri’s and abs:

DB Extensions

• 37.5 lbs x 10
• 37.5 lbs x 8
• 37.5 lbs x 10

Crunches on a decline board

• 25
• 15
• 12

I just posted my before pictures in the "Progress Pictures" section of my bodyspace.  They have been holed up in my photobucket album for almost 4 years, and I think it’s time I post them up for all to see.  I know that it can get discouraging getting advice from people who look like they have never ever struggled - so I wanted to show that I have struggled with my weight…a lot.  Growing up I was always the chubby/fat girl who had no friends.  In high school I struggled with eating - after topping 160 lbs in grade 8 I started trying to starve myself to lose weight, and it worked…for a little while until I realized I couldn’t keep that up forever.  Finally, while in university I took control and started working out and lifting weights to change my body.  Now almost 4 years later, and I have not looked back once.  Stumbled, yes…but this is something I have worked hard for and will continue to work hard for the rest of my life.

 Just wanted to share and hopefully inspire others out there that it can be done!!

My favorite quote: "Who you want to be is inevitably who you will become."