Last Week At LightHouse 0913
PRs, Celebrations , and More during the week of September 13th
PRs
Let’s talk about PRs!
Last week we had 22 ladies PR on 5×3 back squat. We had 17 ladies PR on 6×3 Strict Press. Lastly we had a total of 26 PRs for 1 rep bench press!
For 5×3 back squat Sandy W got a PR at 155 lbs. Sandy has been working on depth and her squats have looked really good recently! For 6×3 Strict Press Keely T got a PR of 55 lbs. That’s a 10 on each side of the 35 pound bar! Lindsey M and Stefanie B both benched 100 lbs for 1 rep bench press. Triple digit bench is a big achievement, great job girls!
Celebrations
Last week we had some anniversaries to celebrate! Shannon T has been lifting with us for 1 year now. Rachel A has been with us for 2 years now. Misty R has been with LightHouse for 3 whole years! Keep going!
Ask A Question
What is my background with lifting?
I was a scrawny kid with not much upper body strength. I remember some of my friends were doing 135 (45 on each side on a men’s bar) for reps on bench, and my single was no where near that. Some of them were on steroids but I was still impressed. I also remember watching The World’s Strongest Man on TV as a kid. I still love watching that, and my home gym is mostly Strongman equipment.
The picture above is a version of the first rack I had. The arms holding the bar were so close together that loading the weight by yourself was very difficult. You had to stand in the middle and keep the bar from flipping over while you tried to get a weight on the outside of the bar.
After high school I joined a Planet Fitness style gym (New York Sports Club) and did the standard 3 sets of 10 on the machines. The machines are an invention of a business model, not the best way to get results. To no surprise I did not see any benefit from the machines, so I eventually moved into the dumbbells, and a little with the barbells depending on the gym I was at. I still really like dumbbells, but they are much more dangerous than barbells and way harder to increase in weight - you have to go up by 10 total pounds when switching dumbbell weights.
My training with barbells really started in 2011 / 2012 when I stumbled into CrossFit and eventually ended up becoming a CrossFit affiliate. There’s a bigger story there but let’s move on for now. CrossFit was great, the community aspect was so much better than a traditional gym where everyone is just doing their own thing and lowkey fighting for equipment. Over the years I just saw more and more flaws with the CrossFit training. Your average person doesn’t need to do 90% of the movements that CrossFit does. I also saw that getting a little good at everything really meant you were not great at anything. Everyone lacked in strength. With strength all the other movements would have become easier, but the CrossFit programming does not focus on strength.
After CrossFit I ended up training people in an oversized storage unit (covid) and that is where I finally got to focus mostly on barbell weightlifting, for myself and my clients.
When we moved down here we were still lifting but slid back into more CrossFit style workouts - because that was what Lizi preferred at the time. I was just smoked every day, there are very few CrossFit workout that are less than 100 reps. I couldn’t recover in time for the next workout. Even when we first opened LightHouse we were still doing some conditioning in the workouts.
I forget when we finally went to just weightlifting but it was something I wanted to do for years and it was a great decision. Anyone who sticks with the program long enough ends up being the strongest version of themselves, for most it’s decades after they started working out. All prior CrossFitters who came through the gym hit all time lift PRs following simple barbell training. That includes me. I still have numbers I’d like to get to but the scrawny 18 year old me would be proud of where I’ve gotten, I just wish I started sooner.
Coaching
This was not an exact question but I think it was part of the question and it’s something I’d like to share.
My very first client was a bit out of shape and she looked it. I put her through a session that was probably more than she needed to do at the time, but I didn’t really know any better. She was gassed by the end of it and I honestly didn’t expect to see her again. At the time I thought the gym / CrossFit was for people who were already in better shape.
She came back the next day and taught me a lot in that moment. I learned that she threw up in the parking lot and still came back to the next session. I realized immediately that I would no longer judge anyone who came in and wanted to workout and get better. That moment changed my perception of coaching and led me to focus on people new to working out. It’s so rewarding to see all of you get stronger and reach new PRs. Genetically gifted people are great to watch in the Olympics but I’d rather watch someone get a 100 pound deadlift for the first time.
Macro Recap
I didn’t get to use Cal AI yet, but I did use the AI function on Macro Factor and it was not even close. I’ll dig into this some more and report back next week.
Quick protein on the go follow up.
Lineage Provisions: Protein bar review. I’m giving this bar a 3 / 10. Keep in mind I don’t think I would give any protein bar over a 6.
At first glance it’s a bit tiny and greasy, but that’s due to the natural ingredients and lack of fake binders. You’ll definitely need a napkin to go with this bar. It’s definitely big enough, I didn’t need any more by the time I was finished with it. The taste isn’t terrible but it’s overall bland. I had the Coconut Macadamia. There was not much coconut taste to it and the bar could have been better with more nuts in it. My biggest issue is that it is very sticky, like chewing peanut butter. It’s 8+ / 10 on ingredients but I’m not buying anymore after this box. I’ll stick to their protein powder. I did also get Cookie Dough so if that’s any better I’ll let you know next week.
Ask a Question
To ask a question for next week click here: https://www.l-h-s-c.com/question-form