345 Before the Big 50

Hi folks, first time poster here. Thought I’d stop lurking and start a log here because:

It will make me more accountable with my training.

I might learn a few things as I go from some folks who are way stronger and quite possibly smarter than me.

It seems to be a pretty cool BS free zone around here.

I am 44 years old and although I have been fitter and more active than many for most of my life I have only really returned to lifting in any regular or structured way for the last 2 years since training pretty regularly throughout my 20s. Work commitments and having 2 young children dictates that I can only lift twice per week, three at a push.

Up until the end of last year I had been using 531. Since then and up until the last couple of weeks I have been doing mostly 5x5 progressions. Last couple of months I’ve had some lower back and hip pain that my osteopath tells me a couple of weeks back is due to me having an irritated lumbar disc. The result is that alongside some rehab stuff he wants me lighten the load and shorten the range on squats and deads and build back up slowly.

Some stat’s-
I am 6’1" 200lbs. My less than stellar PRs are:
Squat 135kg x 5
Bench 90kg x 4
Deadlift 140kg x 5, 160kg x 3

Not training to compete, just to get stronger, a little bigger and stay in shape. Would love to get to a 3 plate bench, 4 plate squat and 5 plate dead one day before I’m 50.

That’s probably enough rambling for one post. I’ll put up the last couple of workouts in a while.

Welcome aboard man.

I like that the no “bullshit Zone”.

Ok here we go…

Last Tue
Bench-bar x lots, 30kg, 50kg, 70kg all x 10, 90kg x 3
Deadlifts 60kg x 5, 100kg x 3, 140kg x 2
Kroc rows- couple of warm ups then 30kg x 20
Tri pushdowns- 30kg x 15 x 3
Reverse hypers with small med ball between ankles x 15 x 3

Last Fri
Squats- bar x 10, 60kg x 10, 80kg x 10, 100kg x 10, 120kg x 12
Bench- same as Tue plus one rep on top set
Chins- bw x 8 8 6
Forgot to put inc db press 30kg x 8 x 3 here-looks like my memory is going with age as well as my joints…
Back extns- bw x 15 x 3
Hammer curls- 16kg x 10 x 3 ss with bw dips x 15 x 3

Today
Bench- bar x lots, 30kg, 50kg, 70kg all x 10, 90kg x 5 BUT person ‘spotting’ touched bar as I was grinding to lock out so I’m calling it 4.
Deads 60kg x 3, 100kg x 3, 140kg x 3
Kroc rows 30kg x 21
Tri pushdowns 30kg x 15 15 20
Reverse hyper with slightly bigger med ball x 15 x 3

[quote]FISCHER613 wrote:
Welcome aboard man.

I like that the no “bullshit Zone”.

[/quote]

Haha! Thanks Fischer.

Welcome

Welcome to the gang. I’m a noob to the O35 section as well, but it’s a cool group we got up in here.

Welcome, there’s a lot of experience and wisdom (and some extremely strong folks) here in the No Bullshit zone.

Welcome, I’ve been doing alot of 5X5 myself-like it. Good luck. True, we don’t cater to BS here.

Thanks for the welcomes guys.

Hawkcapt you’re not wrong about the extremely strong folks… some pretty awe inspiring numbers being put up in some of the logs around here!

[quote]Jersey Centurion wrote:
Welcome, I’ve been doing alot of 5X5 myself-like it. Good luck. True, we don’t cater to BS here.[/quote]

I like 5x5 a lot. I’m needing to use higher reps while I try to rehab this injury though and right now am basically using the 2 day a week idea that Dan John has outlined a couple of times on this site. I did use it before between the 531 and 5x5 at the end of last year as a kind of break of sorts. Funny thing is that when I look back at my log book I see that actually made the most progress of the last couple years while on it.

Howdy! Join the party!

Welcome 68 and just remember, 50 is all what you make it. Good work going on in here, keep on progressing. Good luck on the lower back rehab…take care of that thing. Have a good one

Thanks Greystoke and Led, appreciate the comments.

Ok did some sprints today, about 50 yards x 10. This does not seem to have aggravated my back/hip.

Happy days.

Today’s training (all weights in kgs):

Bench
bar x a bunch, 30x10, 50x10, 70x10, 90x4

Squats
60x10, 80x10, 100x10, 120x10, 140x10 - Now because of this back problem I am only squatting to a 20 inch box right now so I do not consider these legit squats or this a PR at all but… it’s been a few years since I had a bar loaded with 3 plates a side across my shoulders and going into this set I would have been happy with 1-5 reps. So when I hit 10 with a couple left in the tank I’ve got to say I was still pretty happy.

Pull ups
BWx8 6 5 ss with
Back extn
BWx15x3

Inc db press
30x10x3

Hammer curls
16x10x3

A decent session. Not impressed with my performance on bench and pull ups today but happy with progress on squats, inclines and curls. I think the back extns and reverse hypers are having a tonic effect on my back.

Having a week away with my wife and my little girl and boy next week so I think my only exercise is going to be walking, swimming, playing with the bambinos and maybe a few 16oz curls

Ok, first one back after a week off (all weights in kgs):

Bench
Bar x a bunch, 30, 50 and 70x10, 90x3.

Deadlifts
50,90 and 130x5.

T-bars 5x10 worked up to 3 plates
SS with
Tri pushdowns 30x10x5

Hanging Leg Raise x10/7/5 -haven’t done these for a while and judging by how much I sucked at them today I should probably do them more often.

Hi 68Guns. Like you, I’m also in my early 40s and also have lumbar disc issues. I’ll be following your log as inspiration to help me along. Wishing you the very best.

[quote]anomie_nomad wrote:
Hi 68Guns. Like you, I’m also in my early 40s and also have lumbar disc issues. I’ll be following your log as inspiration to help me along. Wishing you the very best.[/quote]

Hi anomie and thanks.

FWIW doing the following things for the last few weeks seems to have been making a positive difference for me:

Thoraccic mobility and glute activation work.

Rolling out and stretching piriformis regularly.

Reducing squat frequency from twice to once per week.

Cutting squat depth at the point that I lose a tight lumbar curve. Also lightening the the load and upping the reps for squats.

Including hingeing movements like back extns in my training.

My back is still not tip top but it is improving. I can tie my shoe laces without a lot of difficulty now which I could not do a month ago.

[quote]68Guns wrote:

Hi anomie and thanks.

FWIW doing the following things for the last few weeks seems to have been making a positive difference for me:

Thoraccic mobility and glute activation work.

Rolling out and stretching piriformis regularly.

Reducing squat frequency from twice to once per week.

Cutting squat depth at the point that I lose a tight lumbar curve. Also lightening the the load and upping the reps for squats.

Including hingeing movements like back extns in my training.

My back is still not tip top but it is improving. I can tie my shoe laces without a lot of difficulty now which I could not do a month ago.
[/quote]

Thanks very much for sharing your routine. That all sounds really great. I haven’t been able to lift for several weeks now (and I hear you about tying shoelaces – I really struggled with that and, at one point, my wife had to put on my socks and shoes for me, the pain was so bad and debilitating). In my case, the disc is herniated pretty severely (the pain in my lower back and down my leg was absolutely brutal) and I’m in the middle of a course of epidurals to correct the problem. I hope to get back to lifting in the next couple of weeks if things go well. I’ll need to start light, and I’m trying to read and learn about single leg work – anything that will help to mitigate the loads on my lumbar spine while strengthening the muscles in that area. I’ll give your routine a try as well.

Thanks again, and best wishes to you for continued success and progress.

[quote]anomie_nomad wrote:

[quote]68Guns wrote:

Hi anomie and thanks.

FWIW doing the following things for the last few weeks seems to have been making a positive difference for me:

Thoraccic mobility and glute activation work.

Rolling out and stretching piriformis regularly.

Reducing squat frequency from twice to once per week.

Cutting squat depth at the point that I lose a tight lumbar curve. Also lightening the the load and upping the reps for squats.

Including hingeing movements like back extns in my training.

My back is still not tip top but it is improving. I can tie my shoe laces without a lot of difficulty now which I could not do a month ago.
[/quote]

Thanks very much for sharing your routine. That all sounds really great. I haven’t been able to lift for several weeks now (and I hear you about tying shoelaces – I really struggled with that and, at one point, my wife had to put on my socks and shoes for me, the pain was so bad and debilitating). In my case, the disc is herniated pretty severely (the pain in my lower back and down my leg was absolutely brutal) and I’m in the middle of a course of epidurals to correct the problem. I hope to get back to lifting in the next couple of weeks if things go well. I’ll need to start light, and I’m trying to read and learn about single leg work – anything that will help to mitigate the loads on my lumbar spine while strengthening the muscles in that area. I’ll give your routine a try as well.

Thanks again, and best wishes to you for continued success and progress.[/quote]

Damn that does sound brutal! Hope you have a full and speedy recovery.

[quote]68Guns wrote:
Damn that does sound brutal! Hope you have a full and speedy recovery.[/quote]

Thanks very much! I’m keeping my fingers crossed.

Continued best wishes to you, too. Please keep us updated on your progress.