Liz's Little 500 by '07 Log

[FormicaLinoleum]

liz- roller skating? like with traditional skates, or inline skates?

Traditional/quad skates. Katrina and I want to do roller derby, but we really need to improve our skating first. We've tracked down some non-leather derby skates; the sellers (Sin City Skates) even label them as vegan, for which I intend to thank them when I order.

Damn, why can't I do this more regularly so I don't have as many days to do at once??

Sunday, 29 Oct
Deadlift: 85 x8, 160 x6/6/6
Calf Press (one leg at a time): 140 x10, 200 x8/8/8
Incline Dumbell Press (weight per dumbell): 20 x7, 40 x2/2/0
Rear Delt Row: 45 x7, 85 x5/4/5
One-Arm Dumbell Row: 25 x7, 55 x5/5/5
Wide-Grip Pullup: -100 x7, -60 x4/4/3

Tuesday, 31 Oct
Squats: 85 x7, 160 x5/5/2
Calf Press (one leg at a time): 140 x11, 200 x8/8/8
Barbell Bench Press: 45 x8, 90 x4/3/4
Push Press: 45 x7, 65 x4/5/5
Cable Row: 55 x7, 120 x3/3/3
Lat Pulldown: 55 x7, 105 x4/4/4

Missed a couple workouts here because I was in Portland.

Tuesday, 11 Oct
Front Squat: 50 x7, 100x5/5/5
Calf Press (one leg at a time): 140 x11, 200 x9/9/9
Chest Dips: -60 x7, bodyweight x4/3/2
Power Hang Cleans: 45 x5, 80 x5/5/5
Barbell Bent-Over Row: 75 x7, 120 x5/5/5
Narrow-Grip Chinup: -80 x7, -40 x3/3/3

Thursday, 9 Oct
Deadlift: 85 x8, 170 x5/5/5
Calf Press (one leg at a time): 140 x11, 200 x10/10/10
Incline Dumbell Press (weight per dumbell): 20 x7, 35x5, 40 x3/f
Rear Delt Row: 45 x7, 85 x5/5/5
One-Arm Dumbell Row: 25 x7, 55 x5/5/5
Wide-Grip Pullup: -100 x7, -60 x4/3/4

I feel like I am not making much progress, but I guess it's mixed. I'm progressing on a couple of things and kinda stagnant on others. I am quite pleased that I am doing multiple bodyweight dips! I may soon have to add some weight.

The 170lb DL for 3x5 was pretty rough. Had to take a break after rep 3 in the last two sets. I am pretty weak on this lift, considering my squat is not far behind it at all, and it seems most other folks can DL much more than they squat. I am not sure what that's about. I also have serious DOMS in my back after DL, which I figure is a bad sign. It's definitely muscle soreness and not "bad" pain, but I guess it means I am using my back too much in the lift.

Completely off topic, but I absolutely love how Firefox 2.0 has the built-in spell checker!

[vectoranalysisgo]

cool.. roller derby is getting pretty popular around here.. a few girls have asked me to join the team but I got involved with playing ice hockey and that's enough brutality for me right now.. you should just start going to practices, you'll pick up the skating skills a lot faster (from what I've been told).. and it looks like so much fun!

[littlegirlbunny]

I am pretty weak on this lift, considering my squat is not far behind it at all, and it seems most other folks can DL much more than they squat.

I think this is true more for females than males, but I would prolly say that your squat is excellent, rather than your deadlift being weak

Anyway, guess you may be in a similar position to me on form - I pretty much only use my back when I pull - its shockingly bad form. But I have started doing pulls from a raised plateform (in my case 2x25 kg plates under each foot!) with a low weight and really focusing on keeping the back straight and using leg drive. Another thing I know I do wrong and have to correct is pulling back more rather than up. Don't know whether this is any use to you or not....

Nice squatting BTW 160lbs is more than im hoping to get max by the end of the year

[FormicaLinoleum]

cool.. roller derby is getting pretty popular around here.. a few girls have asked me to join the team but I got involved with playing ice hockey and that's enough brutality for me right now.. you should just start going to practices, you'll pick up the skating skills a lot faster (from what I've been told).. and it looks like so much fun!

We'd love to go to practice, but we have a couple things against us. We are actually going to join the London Rollergirls, as that's where we will be as of March, but obviously we can't practice with them now while we are in Baltimore. We could practice with our local team for a couple of months, but the other problem is that Katrina has no health insurance, so we are hesitant to do any actual derby stuff. So our plan is just to practice skating until we go over to London, then start going to the derby practices.

Another thing I know I do wrong and have to correct is pulling back more rather than up. Don't know whether this is any use to you or not....

Is it bad to pull back? Or you mean you need to work on pulling back more?

[littlegirlbunny]

Is it bad to pull back? Or you mean you need to work on pulling back more?

the latter - i didn't make that particularly clear did I?

[vectoranalysisgo]

that's cool.. I hope you can start pounding away when you get to london!

and for what it's worth, I'm the same way with my deadlift.. and I could echo littlegirlbunny's post word for word- I have a very hard time focusing on leg drive.. I wonder how much of that might be related to the female anatomy, having a lower center of gravity, etc.. and I know for me in particular, I have a longer torso and shorter legs, so I have to bend over a bit just to reach the bar- I can't avoid pulling with my back a whole lot now matter how I try.. I am still searching for ways to force improvement on my form..

my old standby is to focus on looking straight up.. not even forward/up, but actually straight up (or as close to it as possible)- it helps me focus on leges driving up and also on the pulling back motion as lgb described...

[FormicaLinoleum]

I have a longer torso and shorter legs

Interesting... I have the same kind of build.

[FormicaLinoleum]

Sat, 11 Nov
First roller skating lesson.

Thurs, 16 Nov
Squats: 85 x7, 160 x5/5/5
Barbell Bench Press: 45 x7, 90 x5/4/2
Push Press: 45 x7, 65 x5/4/3
Cable Row: 55 x7, 120 x3/3/3
Lat Pulldown: 55 x7, 105 x4/4/4

Sat, 18 Nov
Roller skating lesson. 1.5 hrs of being crap!

Sun, 19 Nov
Front Squat: 50 x7, 100x5/5/5
Calf Press (one leg at a time): 140 x11, 200 x10/10/10
Chest Dips: -60 x7, bodyweight x5/4/2
Power Hang Cleans: 45 x5, 85 x3/3/3
Barbell Bent-Over Row: 75 x7, 125 x3/3/3
Narrow-Grip Chinup: -80 x7, -40 x3/3/3

Tues, 21 Nov
Deadlift: 85 x8, 170 x5/5/5
Calf Press (one leg at a time): 140 x11, 200 x11/11/11
Incline Dumbell Press (weight per dumbell): 20 x7, 40x1, 35 x5/5
Rear Delt Row: 45 x7, 90 x3/3/3
One-Arm Dumbell Row: 25 x7, 55 x5/5/5
Wide-Grip Pullup: -100 x7, -60 x4/3/3

Went home to NY for Thanksgiving. Missed a skating lesson and a couple gym visits.

Tues, 28 Nov
Squats: 85 x7, 160 x5/5/5
Calf Press (one leg at a time): 140 x11, 200 x11/11/11
Barbell Bench Press: 45 x7, 90 x4/4/3
Push Press: 45 x7, 65 x5/5/3
Cable Row: 55 x7, 120 x3/3/3
Lat Pulldown: 55 x7, 105 x5/4/5

Thurs, 30 Nov
Front Squat: 50 x7, 100x5/5/5
Calf Press (one leg at a time): 140 x11, 200 x11/11/11
Chest Dips: -60 x7, bodyweight x4/2/3
Power Hang Cleans: 45 x5, 85 x4/4/3
Barbell Bent-Over Row: 75 x7, 125 x3/3/3
Narrow-Grip Chinup: -80 x7, -40 x4/4/1

Sat, 2 Dec
Shortened roller skating lesson. Still crap!

Sun, 3 Dec
1.5 hr mountain bike ride. I'm not in very good shape.

Tues, 5 Dec
Deadlift: 85 x8, 180 x4/4/4
Calf Press (one leg at a time): 140 x11, 200 x11/11/11
Incline Dumbell Press (weight per dumbell): 20 x7, 40x3/3/2
Rear Delt Row: 45 x7, 90 x3/3/3
One-Arm Dumbell Row: 25 x7, 55 x6/5/5
Wide-Grip Pullup: -100 x7, -60 x4/4/3

I was surprised at how easily I pulled the 180. I was expecting it to be much harder than it was. My form started to get sloppy in the last set, though, so I think I will stick at this weight next time.