I had the most awesome work out of my life last night! Lower body - did leg press (160), calf raise (345), leg ext (90), leg curl (80), abductors (120), adductors (140). 3 to 5 sets each, 8-10 reps, all Cybex/Nautilus. I have never worked so hard, felt so strong or been so jazzed afterward. I was high for hours! I'm hitting failure somewhere in the 3rd to the 5th set, and when I get to where I can make it into the fifth set, I up the weights next time. My take on weights (I'm a newb right now, but I did this 10 years ago, too) has always been that if I'm not weak-kneed, shaking and walking like a drunk by the time I'm done, I'm doing it wrong. Sounds masochistic, but if you'll forgive the bluntness, the only thing better is sex!

So, now for the confession....

Ok, my lifting has been pretty darn good, especially for a 'chick' and a newbie. (I'm not trying to knock women, but in general we just don't know much about lifting, and when most women lift, they go for lighter weights and endless reps.) BUT, my eating has been woefully half-a$$ed. I wasn't cheating, but my mindset was Atkins Induction M-F, eat whatever I want on Fri night and Sat. (Uh oh, now that I see that in print, I guess it could be considered cheating afterall. ) I pretty much kept carbs under 30, but sometimes my protein was only 60 grams, sometimes my cals were only 1500. Carb up days - I mangled those too. Too much fat, not enough calories, no good understanding of how this is really supposed to work. *bonks self on the head*

Last week was the first time I printed out the Petrizzi sheets. And then I MADE myself follow them. Sometimes it meant choking down 8 oz of cream cheese at dinner because my fat was low(gotta get a good oil, I'm drowning in dairy) and chewing meat til my jaw hurt. The first 4 days SO sucked, but by yesterday, the planning was better and I feel fantastic. Tons of energy, strength to spare and that WO I said was so awesome? It was a Thurs evening LBWO - when CKD is supposed to suck. Consider my lesson well learned!

Ok, if you guys are going to beat me with wet noodles, please wait a few hours til carb up begins.

Cheers,

Friday

OMG Friday~ you are a powerhouse!
Way to go


keep us posted
Bren

-I guess my 'prediction' was wrong, heheh. By the way- I didn't mean to come off as sounding negative (when I said you'll feel like crap on Thurs.)- just telling you how I felt (on Thurs.) from personal experience.

-Question: Are you going to 'structure' your 'carb-up' this weekend OR- is it a 'cheat weekend'?

LOL, you didn't sound negative and you weren't posting to me then anyways. My cardio has been a lil crappy today and yesterday, but ANYTHING is crappy at 5 am! I've heard lots of ppl say that Thurs/Fri WO on CKD are real bears, but the only time I got that way was when I was sliding into potass deficiency. (um, oops!)

I AM going to structure the carb up this weekend. I've never done it that way before *blush* and I need to do it right to see what kind of diff it makes. I only carb up for 24 hrs tho - dinner on Fri to dinner on Sat. Sunday, I go back to 20 g carbs.

Thanks for all the informative posts, btw. You guys have all been a great help.

cheers,

Friday

-Oh, yeah... duh. No carbohydrates = 'brain fog' for me.



-Sounds good.

Yeah, I am with you on the weak kneed workout feeling.

If I can walk the 3 steps up to the cardio deck in my gym without using the railing after a leg workout, then I go back and do another set of whatever is available.

Last night was Quad night. I felt the same "high" when I was done.

Leg Presses . 5 sets alternating a high/tight/parallel stance with a wide stance. This is my "warm up" exercise, so my sets were: 12 x 150 lbs, 12 x 200 lbs, 10 x 300 lbs, 10 x 400 lbs.

Smith machine squats . Yeah baby! 12 x 90 lbs, 10 x 180 lbs, 8 x 270 lbs, 6 x 300 lbs, 4 x 320 lbs.

Deadlifts (technically not all quads, but I was feeling like doing them) with a Super-Deadlift bar . 8 x 135 lb, 6 x 225 lb, 4 x 275 lb

Leg Extensions (top 30 degrees of ROM). 10 x 120, 10 x 170, 10 x 220.

My legs were shaking sooooo bad during the LXs! I take 4 seconds to lower, and 1 second to raise it. Nice!

The 15 mins I spent on the bike felt good, and I felt my legs tighten up. It goes without saying that I am a tad sore today. LOL.

I LOVE LEG DAY!!!

-You're the first person to EVER (in the existence of mankind) make that statement.

WTG Friday!
You gotta love those kind of workouts!!

LOL, he would be the second, actually. Or I would. It's my fave WO. I've even used it to get my arse into the gym when I didn't want to go, as in "Ok, if you just go to the gym you can do legs today instead of shoulders/abs..." And it works!

Cheers,

Friday

Yeah, I agree, Leg day is the worst thing ever, but I think I know what makes it cool. Since leg excersizes, especially squats and deadlifts, work compunded muscle groups, like around 70% of your skeletal muscles all at once, these excercizes trigger increase in natural testosterone production, which causes 'good' feeling later afterwards. This is why people looking to gain mass should do compounded excersizes like deadlifts, squats, bench (and some people say bent-over rows) since these stimulate growth in your entire body.

Well said. And so true.

I get asked all the time in the gym by people looking to add muscle/mass "What am I doing wrong? I lift 4 days per week and I can't gain muscle!"

When I look at their workouts, they are mostly isolation moves. The real growth-stimulators are the exercises no one likes to do. As cmorera said, squats, deads, bench, etc. The power lifts and -- for the more advanced -- the explosive lifts (cleans, snatchs, etc).

I like Leg Day so much because my legs are the strongest muscle group I have, and the poundages are getting up there ... even after dislocating my knee several years ago. You should see what I push when I am NOT dieting down. LOL. I remember squatting 550 and deading 385. Now if I could only get my bench over 300 ...

Plus, I guess I like the punishment a little. LOL.