My goals for the week are

1) Work out 6 days
2) Drink tons of water
3) Don't eat/snack late
4) Eat smaller portions


On a number goal....I would love to lose 3lbs this week....

Kristen

Hi,
I am new to this board and to BFL as well.
I tried BFL a few years back while staying in Japan, but had problems to adjust to the High Point technique as well as to visit the gym six times a week.

No I am on day 2 and my goals for this week are:
1.) 6 times to gym, even I have to go early in the morning before work . I am not a morning person and I need to adjust my whole schedule and to go to bed much earlier.

2.) To learn the High Point technique and to learn exercises with free weights. Until now I mainly used machines which I find quite boring. My first UBWO was fantastic and I feel every muscle in my upper body.

3.) Adjust my eating habits.
I am on LC with ca. 10-15 gr. carbs since Jan 1st and lost already 17,6 pounds, but I hit a plateau since two weeks. Currently I have 17% fat and my aim is 12%.

I have a question concerning carbs:
How many grams do you cosume during the day? I am quite confused about this during BFL

Arnie: I'm planning to do a reverse pyramid with a very light warm-up set beforehand. Tomorrow will be the Bench Press attempt and I'm planning to do 5 x 20 kg, followed by 50/47.5/45/40/35, going to failure on the first 2 sets and to 12 reps or failure on the last three, whatever comes first. If I feel really incredibly strong on the warm-up, then I may try 55kg as a first effort, since I calculated my 1RM from what I was able to do on my high set of the BFL pyramid--which, as you point out, comes after 30 reps of lower weights!

I have a very competent spotter lined up to assist me with this lift.

Squats will be attempted in similar fashion, on Saturday morning.

Redeemed: I've always been pretty strong. I started lifting weights in 1983 and graduated from the "girlie" weight room on my very first day, much to my shock--I had no idea I was that much stronger than most women. Over the past 20 years--including some looooong stretches with no serious training at all--I've worked up slowly. However, nothing has been more effective for my training than this BFL program. I am so pleased with the results that I'm already thinking about another Challenge...but I might do a powerlifting program instead. Haven't quite made up my mind yet.

Emily

It is great to see some more people join our little group! I am glad I am not the only newbie asking questions!

To answer the carb question:
I don't count carbs, just limit them. I am certainly not on Atkins induction or anything...though I probably should be until I get my sweet tooth in control. After trying very low carb my first week of BFL, (this is week two for me) I found my energy was lacking. Now I give myself a little extra carbs, mostly before working out. Weightlighting seems to be going better now. Of course, I must add- last week I was getting over a nasty kidney infection, so my loss of energy might not have been related to my very low carbing.

Emily,

Thanks for answering my question. You are truly amazing. You have set such high goals for yourself (and you reach them too). Sometimes, I think I am too easy on myself.

UBWO went great tonight!!!!!!!! I got all of my tricep work in. WOOHOO!!!! I was mentally prepared to do whatever it took to push through, and it worked! My arms are still shaking- which feels wonderful because I know I worked them hard.

Tomorrow I HAVE to do my LBWO since it is the only day I will be able to go to the gym. Has anyone ever had to do weight training two days in a row? Am I going to set myself back a lot by doing this? I just figured it would be better to at least do it two days in a row, then only once this week.

You should be fine since you're working the other half of your body.

brilliant, nothing better than hitting those 10s is there

You should be alright doing your LBWO the next day as you are obviously working different muscle groups, watch your energy levels though as you may not have recovered from todays workout. But if it doesn't work out don't worry about it, put it down as a lesson learned and move on.

Mike

Thanks for the input everyone!

Turns out I will not be able to use the gym until Sat. (my hubby has to let me in and he will be away for a baseball game). Looks like I will be doing double cardio instead... :rolleye: Much rather be doing weights. Strange how I used to love cardio. I suppose I will do HITT tomorrow and my Reebok "Intense Moves" on Friday.

Still no diet drinks here. Water is starting to taste good!

How is everyone else doing with their weekly goals?

Well, I havn't lost the 2 lbs yet, but considering I went up 2 lbs after my free day oink out, I'm happy to be back where I started and I still have a few days to get there.

Yesterday I had a great LBWO. Last Friday I did a new Personal Best (PB) of 205lbs on my sqauts. Then yesterday I tried 205 for 6 reps again and it was surprisingly easy, so I added two more 25 lb plates to bring it up to 255lbs and thought I'd try it just to see if I could get a rep or two. To my surprise I got 6 reps! I couldn't beleive it. I'm still stunned. I have to admit though that my form was suffering. My back was wabbly and my knees were wabbling too. My lower back is sore today. Not injured, just very sore. I think I'll pull back to about 225 lbs next week and see if I can do that with better form.

I've been getting big strength gains every time I walk in the gym. The only thing I can attribute it to is maybe the nutrition change I did this challenge. Unfortunately, the strength gains have not yet translated into muscle size or fat loss gains. But it's only week three for me, so maybe it will in time. But it makes it very exciting to go to the gym. I can't wait until tomorrow.

Arnie

Fantastic Squats, Arnie!

I've had a small setback today...had to take so many anti-inflammatories to deal with TOM pains that I really should not attempt any kind of maximum lift today. Thankfully, the cramps are gone--but the side effects are in full force, so my joints feel loose and wobbly, and my muscles are weak. I've lifted before on days like this, and it's just not worth it.

Running would not be smart either, with this much painkiller in my system, but I can probably do something non-impact like the elliptical trainer. So I will probably do cardio instead of weights tonight.

Ah well. This should be over by tomorrow and then I'll hit the bench press.

struggling onward...

Emily

Emily,

That is a wise decision to hold off. It may not be a setback at all. The extra day of rest for your muscles may just make you that much stronger tomorrow or the next day.

Arnie

Arnie,

Great job on the squats!!!!!!!! Going from 205 to 255 is a huge jump!!!!! You must be doing something right!!!!! I know all about gaining weight from free day binges. I had my free eat day today and I am very bloated, my pants feel very tight. Ick! At least I still have my cardio to do today, (will do it at 3:30 pm so it will be 3 hours since I last ate) so there is hope for me yet.

Emily,

So sorry you have to bypass your goal for another day. I am feeling PMS in a big way as well. Sometimes doing cardio helps relieve the pain. Hopefully this will be the case for you as well. You will have a great day tomorrow!!!

Well, I went and did my cardio, and I must say it helped with the pain somewhat.

And with that, I've finished my cardio workouts for C1!

YAY Emily!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! You HAVE to feel a sense of pride in that!!!!!!!!!!

Just came back from the gym, where I did 52.5 kg (115.5 lbs) x 2 reps, for my max lift.



Emily