Week 7 has begun!

Week 7 of Starting Strength has officially begun! We got into lifting last night around 7:30, and it felt good to hit the weights.

I squated 215, and even though I still have some room to go deeper, I'm feeling much better about my squats. Form's improving, and adding +5 has been a great switch.

Bench press at 185 is still difficult. I made it further than last week, doing 1 set of 5 and 2 sets of 4. I'm hoping to pass this one this week, but like I said, if I don't make any progress on Friday I'm going to drop down to 180 next week and build my way back up.

As for chinups, I blew my numbers out of the water! Two sets of 10 and 1 set of 8! I wanted 3 sets of 10, but that third set was just too damn hard. Still, great progress.

During the workout we had a little bit of downtime, and people were hitting the bag and the pads. I asked everyone what they thought of just throwing punches for two minutes straight. The general response was "That sounds easy". I threw in the Bas Rutten boxing workout, and they quickly realized that 2 minutes is NOT easy. We made it as a group through 1 1/2 rounds, and then we called it quits. I think I got everyone hooked on Bas Rutten though, so maybe we can make that part of the warmup sometime soon.

We got to abs, and after a quick debate about which 3 ab moves we'd do, my roommate suggested we throw in Ab Ripper. I forgot how hard this workout is! 15 minutes, but man did it kick my ass. It kicked everyone's ass. But the group hung in there a lot better than I thought, and everyone completed the workout. So overall, great day of Starting Strength.

Also a quick note, my buddy Caleb decided to join us. I've known this guy for over 10 years, he just had a baby (that's adorable!) and he said he was looking to get back into shape. I don't think he's going to join us every night, and it is getting crowded, but it was cool to see him and for him to work out with us.

As for today, I've had my juice, and a few fruits and nuts. The diet's going well this week (it's only Tuesday though) and I'm really hoping I start to notice some weight loss soon.

Here's today's recipe:

2 green apples
1 cucumber
1 big carrot
1/2 a beet
5 stalks of kale
1 handful of parsley
1/2 lemon, squeezed

The juices are noticeably tasting more like vegetables as I add more stuff in, but the apples are still strong enough that they can get me through it.

Come on vitamins!

So that's where I'm at. The girlfriend and I are going to do Kenpo X tonight, and I'm excited. I haven't done this workout in a while, and even though it isn't the most intense workout ever, I like that she and I work out together. It'll be fun.

I'll let you know how we do. Bring it!