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I am neither a top fitness bloggers nor a strength coach (yet) but hell, I haven't been writing here at all and thinking about this half-inspired me to post. So, my three favorite (not necessarily most effective) exercises:
1. The deadlift. Could you have guessed? I love deadlifts because they allow me to lift more weight than any other exercise (255 lbs. was my last heavy deadlift and 300 lbs. is my short-term goal). I feel like a badass standing there with that much weight in my hands (no straps, no belt, no equipment whatsoever). Additionally they have made my back thick and heavily muscled, and I do love the aesthetics of a muscular back on either a man or woman. I will take new back photos by March, which would be one year since the photo in the icon. I'm lazy about taking photos but I'm looking forward to seeing what another year of heavy deadlifting has added to what I think was a pretty damn good foundation.
2. Pullups (all the variations I can do, which is currently just chins or parallel-grip). I don't think I've had a moment in the gym as exhilarating as my first chinup. Again, I love these because they make me feel like a badass. I've just installed a pullup bar in the doorway to my rec room and am going to start doing them several times a day. Hopefully the frequency will help me work back up to sets of 5-10, even though I weigh fucking 75 kg. Yes, I can only do sets of two right now. :-P
3. Overhead press. It was tough to decide which lift to include last; there are so many which have endeared themselves to me. But I had to go with overhead press because I'm still riding the exhilaration of the 100 lbs. overhead press I got in Nov. I did sets of five with 90 lbs. last week! So my one rep max is clearly over 100 lbs. now. Even though I knew overhead strength was supposed to be a particular challenge for women, how many times did I tell myself, "I'm not truly strong until I can lift 100 lbs. over my head?" I will most certainly continue to keep this lift a priority.
( and the runners up )
What are your three favorites?
1. The deadlift. Could you have guessed? I love deadlifts because they allow me to lift more weight than any other exercise (255 lbs. was my last heavy deadlift and 300 lbs. is my short-term goal). I feel like a badass standing there with that much weight in my hands (no straps, no belt, no equipment whatsoever). Additionally they have made my back thick and heavily muscled, and I do love the aesthetics of a muscular back on either a man or woman. I will take new back photos by March, which would be one year since the photo in the icon. I'm lazy about taking photos but I'm looking forward to seeing what another year of heavy deadlifting has added to what I think was a pretty damn good foundation.
2. Pullups (all the variations I can do, which is currently just chins or parallel-grip). I don't think I've had a moment in the gym as exhilarating as my first chinup. Again, I love these because they make me feel like a badass. I've just installed a pullup bar in the doorway to my rec room and am going to start doing them several times a day. Hopefully the frequency will help me work back up to sets of 5-10, even though I weigh fucking 75 kg. Yes, I can only do sets of two right now. :-P
3. Overhead press. It was tough to decide which lift to include last; there are so many which have endeared themselves to me. But I had to go with overhead press because I'm still riding the exhilaration of the 100 lbs. overhead press I got in Nov. I did sets of five with 90 lbs. last week! So my one rep max is clearly over 100 lbs. now. Even though I knew overhead strength was supposed to be a particular challenge for women, how many times did I tell myself, "I'm not truly strong until I can lift 100 lbs. over my head?" I will most certainly continue to keep this lift a priority.
( and the runners up )
What are your three favorites?
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