2020: The Best IronOne Yet

Training Training Logs
41

Reflection over last 8 days:

6 workouts - 3 upper and 3 lower

Basic tenants:
Frequency up, volume down
Workout duration down
Exercise variety up
Method variety up

This is probably the most important post I’ve ever posted.

I’ve learned my body likes high(ish) frequency and low volume. OK to keep intensity up, as long as volume is down.

Mentally I really like (effectively) just focusing on 2 lifts per session. Maybe 3. But no more.

Mentally I can keep intensity (quality) up for about 45 minutes, then it’s a steep dropoff.

How about all quality reps, insead of chasing pounds on the bar and fucking the movement up (even if it looks acceptable by eye, however you know deep down inside it’s a steaming pile of shit).

I get work done quick, bc I know how to. No need to beat myself into oblivion anymore.

5 Likes
42

1/15/2019 - Shoulders/Arms

Warmup with rolling, quick 3, super d shoulder protocol

Axle Incline Bench Press
25x8, 55x8, 75x8, 105x8, 135x8, 155x8, 165x7, 155x8, 145x8
-with-
Single Arm Laterals
25x3x12 (rear)
25x3x12 (reg)

Strict Skull Crusher
35x30, 45x30, 60x20
-with-
KB Curls
A lot

Took about 40 mins. 165 and down were tough reps on incline. The laterals really were adding to the fatigue. Love incline with false grip on the axle, shoulders felt great.

3 Likes
43

Nice set of squat Iron, looking good.

1 Like
44

1/16/2019 - Legs

Warmup with rolling, quick 3

RDL
45x8, 75x8, 95x8, 135x8, 165x8, 185x8, 215x8, 205x8, 195x8 (paused)
-with-
RFESS
BWx2x10, 18x2x10, 26x2x10, 44x2x10

Spanish Squats
1x20, 4x10

Hollow Hold
3x

The pump was real. Never experienced this with squats of any method/intensity. Interesting!

Going to take the next two days off. Then train Sat/Sun. Monday is my heart ablation. Will probably take all of next week off. See what the Dr says. Good time for a deload.

3 Likes
45

1/19/2019 - Chest/Back

Warmed up with rolling, quick 3

Axle Bench
25x2x6, 55x6, 75x6, 115x6, 145x6, 165x6, 185x6, 200x6, 210x6, 185x10, 135x20
-with-
Meadows Row
x10, 20x10, 40x10, 60x10, 80x4x10

Feet Elevated Ring Pushups
2x10, 1x12

210x6 axle bench

Second set ring pushups

Still need to work on right shoulder on flat bar benching. A minor amount painful and some audible noise. Progress has been made on it though. Need more extension and int rot.

4 Likes
46

1/20/2019 - Legs

Warmed up with rolling, quick 3, side plank abduction Banded psoa march, hip circle stuff

Squats
45x2x8, 95x8, 135x8, 175x8, 205x8, 225x8, 205x8, 185x8
-with-
DBs SLDL
10x10, 30x10, 50x10, 70x5x10

Ab Wheel
3x15

That was a lot of squats. I’m tired. Not going to lie, 225 may have outmatched me, but that’s bc I have high standards. All the reps were fine, but not perfect. This is where I’m at currently. Since 225 challenged me pretty fierce, those down sets were no piece of cake, especially when all this was paired with the SLDLs. That’s a money move. Such good mmc, when the hams are typically tough for me to connect with.

OK, ablation tomorrow at 630am. No weights for 2 weeks. Will rest, take walks, and continue to hit the rehab hard. Planning to come back from all this 100% and continuing the comeback to awesomeness.

5 Likes
47

Good luck tomorrow!

1 Like
48

Thanks Serge!

49

Didn’t notice this one at first, good luck my friend. Hope it goes well.

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50

Thanks Mort!

51

The heart cath RF ablation went with no hiccups, per Dr. I reported to the hospital yesterday at 630am, and was in the cath lab at 8am. Quite a pleasant experience. They started the anesthesia drip and night night I went.

Woke at 1130 in recovery. Nurse tending to me said everything went well. Had very bad pain in right shoulder from how I was laying, I believe. It’s already better.

Got back into a temp room around 2PM yesterday and Dr. came to check on me and said he saw everything he needed to see. Said there was a lot of action around pulmonary veins so he took care of that. He said he tested hard with the adrenaline, didnt see anything else. He did ablate for aflutter too.

Spent the night at the hospital with my wife for monitoring Doing well, standing, walking around some. Heart feels ok. In sinus rhythm, heart rate still elevated around 75. Usually 58-60. This is part of the hearts healing process. Feel like I’m having some PACs, but it may just be thr elevated rate. Either way it’s pretty standard in the 3 month blanking period healing process.

I do feel like I’ve been beat up from the inside out. The tube shoved down my throat to keep me breathing while I was under did some damage to my esophagus, along with the RF burn. The two access sites for the caths in my groin are healing nicely, but have a ways to go.

I will say, I was underprepared for the magnitude of the procedure, which may have been a good thing. Hell, they poked a hole in my heart to access the inside with the caths. Going under anesthesia is never a cake walk. My entire respiratory tract is bruised. My heart is healing, and its letting me know.

But, hopefully this is the ticket to get all this behind me.

I’ll be monitoring my mental and physical stress very closely moving forward. That will be part of my daily entries. I am going to get back down to 185-190lbs as well, to ease some of the burden. It’ll be a slow diet down though. At about 200 right now.

2 weeks off from the gym. Will lay low a few days while I heal up the access sites and my throat. Then I’ll start back some walking and PT.

6 Likes
52

Glad to hear you made it through without any issues. I’ve heard that a sore throat after anesthesia is a sign of a bad anesthesiologist (or at least one who wasn’t on their A game).

What exactly does it mean when the Doc says he saw a lot of action and took care of it?

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53

Thanks J. Could be, could also be esophageal irritation from the burning of the RF ablasion, or a combo of both. They told me to be prepared for it, just didnt think it would be this bad.

They 3D map the heart out and look for the source of the arrhythmia by exciting the heart muscle with adrenaline like meds. When they see the activity, the EP will burn/ablate a ‘fence’ or completely ablate the problem area. The EP/Cath lab I was in looked like some NASA shit. It truly is amazing technology wise.

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54

I was thinking to myself that you took it quite easy about it.
Thought that it was a big one you were up to, it was.
Glad that all went well Iron.
Eat well, sleep well and recover.

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55

I didn’t understand what ablation meant. I was thinking the whole thing was a heart cath - which still freaks me out!

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56

Jeez man, good thing you were in some kind of shape, you took a beating!

I hope you’re on your feet again soon.

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57

Thanks guys.

Recovery is going slow, unfortunately. Main issue is very low energy, and any effort I put in (cleaning dishes, walking, etc) knocks me out quick. No stamina. All pretty normal though. The catheter sites have healed well, so that’s good.

I’ve had no irregular readings with my portable ekg/ecg, but damnit if my heart doesn’t feel off (which is also normal). Lots of palpitation like effects, not aflutter or afib, but noticable beats that sometimes feel in rhythm and sometimes not. This may also very well be my hypersensivity to my heart beat. Also, anxiety.

All in all, I’m fairing well. Today is my best day yet so far. About to go on a small stroll outside with my wife. Sun is shining and it’s relatively warm. Should be great.

4 Likes
58

Enjoy the stroll Iron.
You know it takes time to heal up… so relax, get used to the new stuff, and enjoy life.

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59

Another 30 min walk today, was nice.

Have my 1 week post-op appointment tomorrow. Have some stuff to cover, but nothing that’s not normal for where I’m at in recovery. Cath sites, fatigue, palps. Rhythm is good, but have some palps that catch my attention. Cath sites have felt much better today, less tender. Was worried there for a moment I was heading towards either an infection or damage to the puliminary vein. Feel better about it today.

All in all, doing well. Looking forward to getting back into some light training next week. Also looking forward to getting lean again. Started my clean diet today. Just cutting junk. Should get me started nicely. I dont have much to lose, so I can take my time. We are planning a family Hawaii trip for mid-late July. Gotta be looking tight for that.

Edit: for fun I called the hospital to see what they were going to bill my insurance. Only 2 of the Bill’s were generated. $190,000 LOL. Healthcare is such a joke. My OOP max is 5K, so it looks like I’ll hit that in January. Family max is 8K. So looks like we will do a lot of medical stuff in 2019 since maxes are hit. :yum:

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60

$190k?!? Holy crap! I bet the doctors don’t see much of that either. No one can afford that but I’d say you had a potentially life saving procedure. They put a hole in your heart!

That’s probably worth the money, but those snake insurance companies need to pay it.

1 Like