How Heavy Weightlifting Works for Me

After posting my last waist goals update I’ve pondered the fact that I really haven’t been putting much effort into my diet. Yet gradually (very gradually) my body shape has been changing.

So I went back through my old blog posts to see if I could answer the question: “what’s changed?”.

The answer: my workouts.

From Fall 2011 (when I was training for my marathon) up until this past August when I started my waist goals, I wasn’t doing a lot of training with heavy weights and I wasn’t focused on building strength.

I really need a picture of me actually lifting weights…until then, The Beast will suffice.

March-May 2012 – Full Body Circuits

I put aside strength building to do full body circuit workouts. I had goals to increase my strength too, but I didn’t put any concrete focus on them. So I made myself a 3 day full body circuit which got boring fast so I switched it to a 6 day full body circuit.

I was also incorporating lots of conditioning workouts as cardio to get away from running (I had little motivation to run after the marathon in January).

June-July 2012 – Slow Tempo, Light Weight, High Reps

I decided to start working with high reps (8-12) and pushing less weight around. I don’t know what I was thinking.

I wanted to fatigue my muscles in a different way so I worked on this Tempo Weightlifting Routine which focused on slowing down my weightlifting and increasing the amount of time my muscles were under tension.

It was so. fucking. boring. I hated it.

Looking back I believe the combination of having just come out of marathon training and then choosing circuits with low weight and high reps is really what shaped my body in a way that I was uncomfortable with by August.

This is when I started to make some changes to my workouts and decided to set a goal to lose size from my waist.

August 2012 – Olympic Lifting

After watching the badass women’s weightlifters at the Summer Olympics I was inspired to start an Olympic Lifting routine.

I would hog the squat rack for my entire workout so it was the kind of routine that I could only pull off during the summertime when people forget what the gym is.

Olympic lifting opened me up to a whole new world of high intensity lifting. It made me sweaty and hungry and tired so it basically emphasized my 3 favourite things (sweating, eating, and sleeping). It was fun and tiring and although I wasn’t lifting anything very heavy I felt like I was making improvements every week.

It was about 2 weeks into a 4 week Oly lifting routine that I set my Waist Goals although I didn’t post about them for a few weeks after that.

September-December 2012 – Crossfit Football

I didn’t have a specific workout routine which is really weird for me so I had to look back at my Fitocracy profile to figure out what I was doing at the time!

It was Crossfit Football. These workouts start off with Olympic lifts or big multi-joint exercises and then end with a high intensity conditioning component.

I really liked this style of workout because it incorporated heavy lifting with high intensity in a way that worked better than anything I had tried to come up with up to this point.

…and then I learned about 5/3/1.

December 2012-May 2013 – 5/3/1

When I heard about 5/3/1 I knew it would be great for me because 1)It focuses on strength building and multi-joint lifts, 2)There is room for creativity with the accessory lifts, 3)Having my loads pre-determined really forces me to improve my strength.

I’ve completed 21 weeks of this programme so far and it is awesome. By adding a high intensity conditioning component to the end of my workouts, I’ve set this programme up to be just like Crossfit Football but with a stronger focus on strength improvement which has helped me blast through PRs.

Now I think if I put even a little effort into my diet I think I could whittle my waist faster but it’s tough-going to cut calories when your workouts make you hungry all the time and when all you really want to eat is cookies.

I could probably make some healthy substitutions in my diet without sacrificing my quality of life in the process. This is something I need to work on.

Waist Goals Update 5

It’s been 2 months since my last waist goals update, ie. my September resolution to lose 6cm from my waist.

Goal: 77cm waist; 85cm belly.

Right now I’m feeling awesome. My weight had been spot-on 170 the last 2 months but has gone up a pinch in May as my waist size has gone down.

I’m only 2cm away from my belly’s goal now but my natural waist is thoroughly enjoying an 82cm girth. :-/

Progress: (the measurements are waist/belly/weight)

Aug 15: 83cm/ 91cm/ 166.8lb
Sep 10: 83cm/ 89cm/ 166.2lb
Oct 10: 82cm/ 89cm/ 166.6lb
Nov 15: 81cm/ 87cm/ 169.4lb
Dec 1: 82cm/ 88cm/ 170.2lb
Jan 1: 82cm/ 88cm/ 169.4lb
Feb 1: 84cm/89cm/171.8lb
Mar 15: 83cm/88cm/170.0lb
Apr 15: 82cm/ 88cm/ 170.0lb
May 15: 82cm/ 87cm/ 170.8lb

Since March I’m down 1cm in both waist and belly. Fab!

Taken Aug 31

Taken Jan 28

Taken Mar 17

Taken May 14
. . . why hello there, shoulders and triceps.

As a refresher, my game plan was to increase my protein, cut out white carbs, plan out my late night snacks, include a cheat meal every week (with dessert and/or white carbs), and opt for high intensity exercise.

How I’m Following Through with my Game Plan:

So, umm… basically I’m not. I haven’t been following any sort of protocol in April and May.

I’ve easily decreased my protein consumption to about 50-70g per day (~15% of my calories) and my calorie intake dropped naturally (though not significantly).
As I mentioned in my March recap, I feel and function better with more carbs in my system.

Those carbs that I like so much are usually in the form of beans and vegetables, which make up most of my diet. I’ve continued to limit my intake of refined carbs, but not to the point that I’m only eating them once a week. It’s more like 3-4 instances per week of either pasta or bread or rice. . .

. . . as for dessert though, I’ve been eating it daily, so there’s that.

For me exercise is easy to follow through with. I’ve added a tonne more yoga to my weekly exercise and, of course, I can’t say enough about the awesomeness of the 5/3/1 programme that I’m working through right now.

I’m making some ridiculous strength gains and weirdly I’m not bored of doing the same exercises all the time. . . likely because I switch it up with all the high intensity cardio-style lifting I’ve been adding to the programme.

Going Forward . . .

I really think I have to rein in my sugar consumption. Maybe I’m not getting enough calories so I go for the quickest, easiest source? Or maybe I just have a sweet tooth (…it’s probably that).

Waist Goal Recaps:

My Waist Goals
Waist Goals Update 1 – October 2012
Waist Goals Update 2 – November 2012
Waist Goals Update 3 – January 2013
Waist Goals Update 4 – March 2013

5/3/1 for Women – Cycle 5 Recap

I’ve finished 3 of 4 weeks of cycle 5 in the 5/3/1 for Women Training Programme, which means deload time!

If you’re unfamiliar, the programme focuses on building strength in the big multi-joint lifts– squat, deadlift, bench press, and overhead press–by increasing weight and decreasing reps each week (5 reps/ 3 reps/ 1 rep/ deload, hence the name 5/3/1).

Read more about how it works here: 5/3/1 Training

Main Lifts

Cycle 5

I set a personal record in each of the 4 big lifts this cycle. Every. Single. One. Guys, do you understand how awesome that feels? I dare you to try this programme and see what kind of badass you can be.

Deadlift: 230lb for 1 reps
Push Press: 120lb for 3 reps (that’s a small person I can hoist over my head)
Squats: 215lb for 2 reps
Bench Press: 140lb for 2 reps (without a spotter!)

But if we’re being honest I missed my goals for bench press (145lb) and push press (125lb) neither of which I even attempted, out of sheer fear of dropping so much weight on myself.

The push press is most terrifying. Just attempting 120lbs was making my heart race before I even grabbed the bar. What if my shoulder gives out? What if this thing falls on my head? I had lots of thoughts, mostly alarming ones, that kept me from trying for 125lbs but I’m still happy with what I did do.

Cycle 6

Since I missed my goals for push press and bench press I’m going to take two steps back before taking one step forward. I will redo the cycle 4 loads in cycle 6 and then go forward from there using the normal load calculations.

My squat and deadlift goals for cycle 6 are: 225lbs and 240lbs respectively. Yikes! I’m nervous already.

Accessory Lifts

As I mentioned in the cycle 4 recap after my big lifts I’m doing variations of complexes and circuits that I make up myself or steal from crossfit football. And that’s my cardio.

Deload Week

Finally! Week 3 really exhausted me and I was easily sleeping like a log for 9+ hours a night. It’ll be nice to take it easy this week and get outside more for my 30×30 Nature challenge.

Deload week means doing the same big lifts but with much lighter weights, so I may put two workouts back to back and lift 2 days this week instead of 4.

Cardio

What cardio? I call that my accessory lifts.

Cardio without Running

I haven’t run in a really long time.

I’ve done some sprints (mostly on the treadmill because the rains we’ve been experiencing lately are level: British) which are fun but not a lot of “oh I’m just heading out for a quick 5-miler” stuff.

I’m trying to maximize my cardio and minimize the amount of time I spend working out so I can increase my weekly yoga practices. It’s really as complicated as it sounds.

As I mentioned in my last 5/3/1 recap I am swapping out accessory lifts for crossfit-style complexes and circuits which can potentially get my rate of perceived exertion up to an “I’m gonna die“ level.

So four days a week, after lifting the big lifts (squat, bench, deadlift push press) +1 accessory lift then I do a circuit like the ones I’ve listed below.

Here are some that I enjoyed recently (and by enjoyed, I mean loved-to-hate because they were torturously exhausting)

15 Box Jumps
8 Push Press at 75lb
10 Plank Tuck Jumps
Repeat circuit for a total of 18min (ie. AMRAP 18)

5 Squat Cleans at 75lb
10 Mountain Climbers
15 Wall Balls at 15lb
Repeat circuit for 20 min (ie. AMRAP 20)

Row 1000m
50 Push-Ups
Run 1000m (0.6mi)
50 Inverted Rows

30 Wall Balls at 12lb
30 Sumo Deadlift High Pull at 45lb
30 Box Jumps
30 Push Presses at 45lb
30 Push Ups
30 Squat Jumps
Repeat circuit once.

4 rounds of 12 then 9 then 6 then 3 Reps (12-9-6-3)
Power Snatch at 40lb
Overhead Squat at 40lb
Burpees

5 Push Press at 75lb
10 Deadlifts at 75lb
15 Box Jumps
Repeat circuit for 10 min (ie. AMRAP 10)

20 Kettlebell Swings at 35lb
15 Burpees
10 Goblet Squats at 35lb
Repeat circuit twice.

I have been keeping track of my times or the number of rounds I do for these circuits so that when I repeat them I strive to do at least as well.

For more cool circuit exercises check out this programme.

5/3/1 For Women – Cycle 4 Recap

As of today I’m deloading from cycle 4 of the 5/3/1 for Women Training Programme.

My original plan was to follow the program for 3 cycles but I’ve been loving it so I’m going to keep going for another 3, at least.

Each cycle is 4 weeks. It focuses on building strength in the big multi-joint lifts: squat, deadlift, bench press, and overhead press by increasing weight and decreasing reps each week (5 reps/ 3 reps/ 1 rep/ deload, hence the name 5/3/1).

Read more about how it works here: 5/3/1 Training

Main Lifts

Cycle 4

I’ve slaughtered PR’s in 3 of the 4 big lifts in Cycle 4 which feels totally empowering. I was pretty content with my loads in Cycle 1 so being able to push heavier weights than ever is kind of blowing my mind right now.

Deadlift: 225lb for 3 reps
Push Press: 115lb for 4 reps
Squats: 210lb for 3 reps (though I don’t think my form was spot on for these ones)
Bench Press: 135lb for 3 reps (not a PR, unfortunately)

Cycle 5

I’ve recalculated my loads for cycle 5 by adding 10lbs to my Cycle 4 1RM for Squats and Deadlifts and adding 5lb for Bench and Push Press, then taking 90% of these as my baseline number. This is putting me at some frighteningly heavy lifts that I’m quite nervous for, but I’m going to try to crank them out to the best of my ability and if I can’t make them then I’ll have to take a couple steps back.

Accessory Lifts

Cycles 1-3

I was doing a variation of the ‘boring but big’ accessory lifts:

- the Main lift, then
- the Main lift in a different form (eg. squats + front squats, bench press + dumbbell bench press, etc), then
- 3 accessory exercises with a higher rep range (10-15)

Unsurprisingly, this was getting boring so I’m switching it up for the next 3 cycles to include more cardio.

Cycles 4-6

Cardio time! I’m doing some variations of complexes and circuits that I make up myself or steal from crossfit football. I like it because I get an elevated heart rate and a good sweat in 10-20 minutes.

Something like this took me only 8min:

5 rounds of:

10 Inverted Rows
15 Kettlebell Swings
3 Burpee Broad Jumps

Deload Week

Deload week is awesome. It gives me a chance to recover and gives me more time for cardio and yoga.

Cardio

I’m getting most of my cardio from my accessory lifts now. I’m cutting back on my ‘cardio only’ workout days so I can have more time for yoga (. . . for super exciting reasons which I plan to divulge soon!).

Four Things

A Feast for Crows is lacklustre and and boring in comparison to A Storm of Swords which I read last month. None of my favourite storylines are in this book. I’m about 3/4 through it and not much has happened at all.

On the bright side, Game of Thrones Season 3 starts in T minus 5 days.

Matt brought home pheasant today! He bought two from someone at work who hunted them. I’m pretty excited to try it because I’ve never had pheasant before and I love trying new foods.

Luckily his friend de-feathered and packaged it nicely for us. I don’t know what I would have done had Matt brought home a carcass feathers and all.

The package says Matt Skin which is kinda gross if you think about it. Don’t worry, it’s poultry.

It’s like Willy Wonka, but real! In the most epic marketing campaign I’ve ever heard of, Tate & Lyle Sugar created an eight-room Tasting House in London where nearly everything was some form of edible dessert like a meringue rug, fudge windowsills, and pillows made of spongecake. It’s my dream come true!

See more pictures here and here and here.

The pillows and the book are both edible!

I notice a huge difference between practicing yoga at home and going to the hot yoga studio. It’s partly because I slack off a little more when I practice alone, partly because the heat makes me more limber and lets me push myself farther, and partly because the interaction with the instructors is so helpful.

It might be time to buy another set of class passes.

Waist Goals Update 4

I haven’t given an update on my waist goals since the end of January. It was my resolution in September to lose 6cm from my waist.

I hit a snag in December with the delicious vicious holiday chocolate and cookie spreads I could hardly say no to but I’ve slowly made a comeback.

Progress: (the measurements are waist/belly/weight)

Aug 15: 83cm/ 91cm/ 166.8lb
Sep 10: 83cm/ 89cm/ 166.2lb
Oct 10: 82cm/ 89cm/ 166.6lb
Nov 15: 81cm/ 87cm/ 169.4lb
Dec 1: 82cm/ 88cm/ 170.2lb
Jan 1: 82cm/ 88cm/ 169.4lb
Feb 1: 84cm/89cm/171.8lb
Mar 15: 83cm/88cm/170.0lb

1cm down in both waist and belly. Minor improvement, but I’ll take it.

Taken Aug 31

Taken Jan 28

Taken Mar 17

You can’t really see any differences in the pictures, but that’s because I haven’t made any major progress.

As a refresher, my game plan was to increase my protein, cut out white carbs, plan out my late night snacks, include a cheat meal every week (with dessert and/or white carbs), and opt for high intensity exercise.

How I’m Following Through with my Game Plan:

Start the Day with Protein

Usually eggs or a smoothie are my typical breakfasts but on the days that I wake up in a rush to get to work (which is relatively often) I’m also been inclined to settle for some toast and butter, which I know isn’t really doing anything for me.

Going Forward: Give myself ample time to prep breakfast.

Overall though I’ve slowly been decreasing my protein intake and I must admit that I feel much better as a result. I think I need a high fibre diet to feel feel my best which is hard when you’re shooting for a high proportion of protein in your macronutrient split.

Cut out processed food and white carbs.

While I’ve cut way back on sugar because of Lent I’ve been baking some white bread and cooking pasta a little more often than I should be.

Going Forward: Plan weekly meals that have less refined starchiness and more protein and vegetables.

Cheat Meal

These last few weeks of Lent I’ve been having sweets on Sundays which has been working out pretty well.

Going Forward: I’d like to continue to limit my sweets to once per week.

High Intensity Exercise

As of last week I restructured my accessory lifts in the 5/3/1 Programme for weightlifting to be complexes and high intensity lifts (a la crossfit) to get more cardio in.

For example, yesterday after heavy deadlifts and sumo deadlifts I did:

5 rounds, as fast as possible, of:

- 10 Inverted Rows
- 15 Swings (40lb)
- 3 Burpee Broad Jumps

in 8:40.

Going Forward: I’ll keep this up for at least the next 3 cycles of 5/3/1

Plan Night Time Snacks

Yeeeeeeaaaah, umm, this had completely slipped my mind.

Going Forward: Calculate calories throughout the day to either allow for a late night snack or to make sure I don’t eat one when I’ve overeaten throughout the day.

Other waist goal recaps:

My Waist Goals
Waist Goals Update 1
Waist Goals Update 2
Waist Goals Update 3

Four Things

I’m loving my new Adidas tights. They’re thin, super soft and smooth, and my stomach doesn’t show when I wear shorter tops because the waist is nice and high. That’s normally not a very flattering cut, but since they have horizontal stitching just above the butt it makes them look good in spite of the high waist.

Also they’re kinda wild and much more exciting than the blacks and greys I normally wear (even though they’re, ya know, still black and grey).

I started out 2013 by keeping a day-by-day calendar. I wanted it to track my weightlifting progress but it’s become more like a journal and I’ve been filling it in every day with not only my workouts but also noting cool things I’ve cooked, interesting news headline I’ve read, and what the “Best Part of The Day” was. I think it’ll be interesting to look back on at the end of the year.

I’m three quarters of the way through Storm of Swords, the third book in the Song of Ice and Fire series by George R. R. Martin. Holy Shit it’s good. I basically spend all my spare time reading, speaking like I live in the Middle Ages, and saying things like “I am the Mother of Dragons!” and “You know nothin’ Jon Snow” in British accents.

I started Cycle 3 of my 5/3/1 Training programme and it’s been going well. I haven’t done a full recap of Cycle 2 because it wasn’t much different from Cycle 1. My loads were similar but I was able to squeeze out more reps in my final working set, so I felt accomplished.

Cycle 3 is already starting out as a challenge which is already starting to excite me. The testosterone will be raging.

Work Out ‘Like a Man’

I recently read this post in The Cut: I spent Two Weeks Working Out ‘Like a Man’ and I was slightly annoyed.

The author writes about a 14 day period in which she tried out a bunch of different workouts she determined to be ‘manly’, like Crossfit, P90X, Martial Arts, and Bootcamps.

(source)

Showcasing to women these workouts that traditionally appeal to men is an awesome idea. The author could have done so much to encourage women to add them to their fitness regime.

For one, she could have refrained from defining male and female dominated exercise styles as mutually exclusive. She might have highlighted all the great fitness and women’s health benefits that come with these workouts, or the fact that women are often welcomed and made to feel comfortable in male dominated fitness environments, or the fact that the challenge of trying new workouts can be extremely rewarding.

But she doesn’t. So, to me, the article is a total failure.

Instead the author draws the line in the sand about what makes a workout ‘manly’ (we’re trying to break down these stereotypes and she just sustains them). She complains about the smell of the mats in a Muay Thai gym, laments about how she couldn’t keep up in many of the classes, and dramatizes about how her unbearably soreness is making simple daily tasks impossible for her.

Even I don’t want to try any of these workouts after that sort of review. Evidently neither do some of the commenters:

“I’m pretty happy with Tracy Anderson‘s workouts”

“I will stick to my yoga, spinning, and elliptical circuit, thank you. Just reading about not being able to put my shirt over my head is not appealing to me personally.”

Men should feel comfortable in a yoga studio or aerobics class. Women should feel like it’s okay for them to lift weights or kickbox. Can we just stop with the stupid exercise stereotypes already?

I think it’s awesome that the author tried out so many new exercises (and I’m kinda jealous too). Trying new forms of fitness is a great way to learn new skills and discover a new passion. But by framing the article around the fact that the workouts she chose to try are traditionally preferred by men does nothing to encourage women to try them out.

She missed a great opportunity to get women excited about trying something new.

Medicine Ball Circuit

Last night Matt and I actually worked out together!

I love having a workout partner. Love. But if Matt and I are ever at the gym together we usually do different things. He starts with cardio then does lots of supersets of isolation exercises whereas I do big lifts, take lots of breaks, and rarely do cardio on my lifting days.

Plus I’m stubborn and like to stick to my programme like glue. As does he.

I recently structured a whole weightlifting programme for my brother-in-law Sean that I based on ideas from stronglifts and crossfit football. It starts with strength exercises (low reps and heavy weight of cleans, deadlifts, bench press, and squats) and ends with cardio complexes or circuits (little rest and lots of repetition).

Click to see the whole workout

Anyway, Matt’s been doing this programme too which is really exciting. He says it’s exhausting which is great for him because I know how much he likes a really tiring workout.

Last night while Matt was doing his Power Cleans and Inverted Rows I got my tread on. It was my cardio day.

30 minutes on the treadmill:

10 min jogging
12 min of intervals: 1 min at 6.0mph, 2min at 8.5mph
8 min cool down – jogging & walking

Afterward I met up with him to do a circuit from the programme:

Medicine Ball Circuit

16 rounds of
- 5 wall balls
- 4 alternating medicine ball push-ups
- 5 ball slams
Rest after every 4 rounds.

One of the trainers came over and told us not to do wall balls because it could damage the drywall (I really need to start workout out in a place with concrete walls) so we ended up just tossing the ball straight up in the air and catching it.

The workout was tiring but fun because I had a partner to do it with. I originally prescribed 30 rounds but we only did 16.