Today at BodyPump, I decided that I was going to push myself really hard and see where it would take me. Not that I haven't been pushing myself, as I have been - hard, every time, but I had extra motivation this time. I would be able to get to the weights I had on the bar as I did when I stopped in April due to an injury AND for some body parts, I would be even higher.
BodyPump isn't exactly heavy lifting or light lifting. It's kind of in between. I know now the research is all on lifting heavy, but for now, at least, I know I wouldn't lift weights if it weren't in a class, so that's what I do - I do the class. Maybe, after I read these books "New Rules for Lifting" I will switch it up and start doing it differently, but I hope my husband and I will keep doing it together as it's something that helps both of us. What I do know - lifting what I do now is still better than not lifting at all.
Anyway, back in April this is where I was with weights for each track/body part:
Warm-up: 3.5 kg on each end of the bar.
Squats: 10 kg on each end of the bar.
Chest: 5 kg on each end of the bar.
Back: 7.5 kg on each end of the bar.
Triceps: 2.5 kg for kickbacks, almost all the triceps dips, half the triceps push-ups, 5 kg for overhead
Lunges: 3.5 kg on each end of the bar.
Biceps: 3.5 kg on each end of the bar.
Shoulders: 1kg on each end of the bar, 4 lbs for rotator presses, 2 push-ups on the toes, rest on knees
Abs: all crunches, all planks and side planks.
This is more than most people have in the class for most things. I had the heaviest for women for squats, back and average for chest, lunges, biceps, shoulders and abs, weaker for triceps.
When I went back on August 15th or so, I had to drop some things way back and, I was way, way sore after that for days. This is where I started back up a month ago:
Warm-up: 2.5 kg on each end of the bar.
Squats: 5 kg on each end of the bar.
Chest: 2.5 kg on each end of the bar.
Back: 5 kg on each end of the bar.
Triceps: 4 lbs for kickbacks, almost all the triceps dips, half the triceps push-ups, 5 kg for overhead
Lunges: 2.5 kg on each end of the bar.
Biceps: 2.5 kg on each end of the bar.
Shoulders: 1kg on each end of the bar, 3 lbs for rotator presses, all push-ups on knees
Abs: all crunches, half the planks on the knees.
Today, one month into getting back into doing BodyPump twice a week, with pushing myself hard each and every time. I'm now here:
Warm-up: 3.5 kg on each end of the bar.
Squats: 10 kg on each end of the bar.
Chest: 5 kg on each end of the bar.
Back: 8.5 kg on each end of the bar.
Triceps: 2.5 kg for kickbacks, all the triceps dips, all the triceps push-ups, 5 kg for overhead
Lunges: 4.5 kg on each end of the bar.
Biceps: 4 kg on each end of the bar.
Shoulders: 2.5 kg on each end of the bar, 4 lbs for rotator presses, 4 push-ups on the toes, rest on knees
Abs: all crunches, all planks on toes and half the side planks.
The ONLY thing I'm not back to where I was are the abs and I think I wasn't able to do it today as I was full out of steam because I upped my weights on: squats, chest, triceps, lunges, biceps and shoulders today. Of course, all of that needs core stability, so my abs were just DONE by the end.
For most things, I only went up half a kilogram per side from last time. I wasn't sore after last week, so,I decided to see if I could do a bit more and I could - without missing any reps either. I was grunting pretty loud at the end, especially on the shoulder track, but I finished it!!!
My guess is that I was able to do such a rapid increase because I didn't really lose the strength over the 4 months I wasn't doing bodypump. I wasn't inactive for those 4 months. I was doing landscaping at home! I manually ripped up sod, dug up/turned over all the dirt for a 200 square foot garden, laid a stone pathway, applied 12 cubic yards of mulch all over the yard, planted a bazillion perennials and annuals, removed a half ton of sand off the driveway and hauled ceramic pots all over the yard. My upper body actually, got stronger, especially my triceps, for some reason.
It just felt great to day - after feeling soooooo bad when we started back up, I was like, "really, I lost so much?" I guess not. Muscle memory? or what? I don't know, but I'm feeling stronger!
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