4/12: Chimp Mode.
Spent the morning prepping concrete, picking up a 140 lb metal cellar door at Lowes, placing it as a mock up for the masonry/carpentry piece.
Felt decent so just went with the flow. Ended up having the best full body (or any split) session in awhile.
Simply rocked out quality, medium heavy reps/sets on: cable upright row, T bar variant, PJR tricep, high incline press, and wrapped it up with habilitative-hypertrophy on the legs (leg extension +hamstring curl). Pretty much everything was traditional rest-pause a la DC training.
Nice.
4 Likes
4/14: Not a full body…full body
Spider curls: 1 high rep set-pump
Incline dumbell curl: 3 sets, fixed weigh-tension
Medium-grip bench: ramp up, 1 set of 6 then clusters.
Slight Decline Dumbell pullover: started at 20 then 40, 50, 60, 70
Prone incline shrug-row: fixed weight, 3 standard sets
This was another banger of a session. Just started with biceps and from there, let my body tell me what was ready. Knees and back are cranky (beyond) from masonry, carpentry all weekend.
Likely emphasize the lower body next time. I think a leg extension/hammy curl superset before Zerchers or Bulgarians is where I need to go with these old man knees.
I remember John Meadows saying once: the best body part split is the one where you hit what’s ready to train on that given day.
This has some major “yeah, buts…” and so forth (don’t turn every day into guns and pecs day for example).
But if you are experienced, know recovery rates…it’s liberating.
3 Likes
4/16: I started with…
High rep pump set of hamstring curls+leg extension
Zercher squats sans knee sleeves: didn’t go great. 5 triples with a pathetically light weight. Lesson learned.
Dumbell row: strict, zero english. 2 sets.
Slight Incline dumbell press: same as above.
JM press: rest-pause.
DB lateral: half assed pump set.
Notes:
I think new allergy med is making me feel off.
Going by feel in these sessions. I generally can tell what is ready to train and what needs a break. More cellar door work this weekend. Have to get the mud out too.
Enjoying "mandatory " walks with my wife after work and training. I miss the days when could get in 5 miles just walking to and from work.
Getting 30 minute mid-day walk instead of compulsively trying to keep up on patient charting. Fuck that at the expense of my mental/physical health.
3 Likes
4/17: Extra
Did some extra bicep stuff while dinner was cooking. We got in a long walk after work. Gorgeous spring day.
Notes:
I’m finally developing a mind-muscle connection with my biceps. This is encouraging and entertaining. 32-33 years of lifting and direct bicep work was only my first few years.
It’s amazing how long we cling to identity. “I’m a powerlifter!” OR whatever, long past our competitive years and even more so the internal delusion of being XYZ when we never really did something professionally.
I train to be strong and as I age, not a broken pile of grisly tissue. And have fun. It’s kinda cool seeing muscles stand out that were previously weak points. Strong ass biceps are quite “functional”, but I, ironically, drank the KoolAid of "functional strength " that was a mental circle jerk all along.
3 Likes
4/19: Here’s what’s going on…
Bad back pain which is so rare for me it’s both shocking and surprising. But I’m 99% sure of the “why”. And it ain’t the lifting.
Did the following:
Cable upright row: hit a PR first work set. Nice. Love this movement.
Slight decline DB pullover: worked up to a measly 60 lbs from 20 lbs. Stiff on this movement so exercised caution.
Medium-grip Bench: rest-pause set. Really milked every rep on this. Phenomenal stretch in the pecs.
Prone incline row: this is another keeper. Hits all that other stuff more lat focused movements don’t nail quite as much. I think "gorilla muscles ": upper back, traps, etc.
Habilitative hypertrophy: 1 high rep set each of hammy curl, leg extension.
It’s amazing. Literally couldn’t put my socks on in the morning then I start lifting and things feel great. An hour later? I’m all seized up.
Since this is a catch up recording, marginally better on the pain. Do some dead hangs and rolling around later.
3 Likes
4/21
Back is 50% better. Up late “rescuing” my son and his friend well past bedtime. Car problems. Then proceeded to have my guts FUBAR’d for 24 hours by eating too many homemade cookies. Dysfunctional gallbladder. Reminds me…I need to call the scheduler back.
Just got quality work on the following because I feel like a dried up turd on a rough stretch of highway:
High incline press
Strict barbell curl
Seated cable J row
Cable push down
Just quality mix of standard, cluster, and rest-pause depending how I felt on the first work set. Felt good. Wanted to do some pulls but let the fire in the back chill.
3 Likes
4/23: Same but different…
Back feels better. Had to call in to work yesterday. Severe nausea, GI stuff. I fully suspect that gallbladder is just begging to be plucked. Just sipped on a quadruple scoop protein drink throughout the day.
Got in solid work on:
Standing cable lateral
Cable curl
Medium grip bench
Incline dumbell row
Hammy curl+DB stiff leg rep out.
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4/25: Literally watching paint dry so…
Set of spider curls followed by a set of incline curls. Pump and stretch. Figured I should log it.
3 Likes
4/26: What is my day job?
Spent the day wrapping up cellar storm door install. Long day.
Had a great session and hit quality sets on all of the below:
Deficit T bar row: PR on weight +reps
High Incline Press: same as above
Cable curl: more strict version requiring less weight. Only 1 set but milked it.
Cable upright row: same strategy as curls.
PJR tricep extension: rest-pause
Leg extension: rest-pause+mypo reps (of a sort)
Notes:
Wanted to hit a quad dominant “big” movement but crouching, kneeling on wood/concrete, up/down stairs, etc did not do my much abused arthritic knees any good.
Overall great session. Lots of manual labor and light on total calories but hit a couple PRs on my personal indicator lifts. Or what are becoming indicator lifts from experience.
3 Likes
4/28: Anger
My son’s newest piece of shit car broke down at his nutty ex-girlfriends last night so instead of training, I’m up to my elbows. Double the fun!
Scanned it, replaced the relevant part…and its worse. So my evenings are set as a shade tree mechanic for now.
Fuck my life.
1 Like
I could have told him not to buy a Mini. I mean Toyota.
4/30
Good, solid work despite long stressful evenings helping my boy with his car.
Kneeling cable lateral
Low incline press
Barbell curl
Low incline curl
Dumbell pullovers
Incline row
Forgot hammy curls
Added 1 hour walk with the lady. Knee was having me gimping all day but disappeared on the walk. Got replacement minimal support shoes that always help and my gait is already better. Don’t know why I drifted away from them.
2 Likes
5/3:
Full-bodyish session. Basically feeling out what’s ready to train, what’s pissed off or not, etc. This guides me more lately.
Busy with outdoor projects, getting the boy’s car up and running so an uninspired but good feeling session. Nothing to sneeze or write the folk’s about.
Edit: whole blood donation 5/1 plus hypocaloric state plus extra walking every day. Yeah, "uninspired ".
2 Likes
5/5
Did some meaty work on rows, medium grip presses, PJR, light bicep work.
Forgot up until that point I spent 8 hours straight yesterday digging dirt, hauling said dirt, wrestling big as tree roots, cutting big ass tree roots, etc.
Filled in why I wasn’t feeling the love for planned stiff leg pulls.
Wife and I took a long walk instead. Win.
3 Likes
5/7
Kneeling cable lateral
Prone incline row
Low incline neutral grip DB press
Deficit DB stiff leg
Hamstring curl
Cheat-ish barbell curl
*All went well. Still not a fan of dumbbell presses but feeling out different lower stress movements to alternate with the heavier presses done on previous sessions.
45 minute walk with the wife.
Done.
3 Likes
5/10
Spent about 8 hours putting in x60, 10 inch x 7 inch pavers with 16 bags of gravel base, 2 bags of sand. That all was loaded/unloaded by hand by me alone.
I’m no hero. I just declined having the young folk at Lowe’s slide a pallet of aforementioned ingredients into my pickup. With a forklift. Naw.
On to lifting…proper.
Decided my lower body conundrum needs to end. The extra walking in minimalist shoes has helped. I was watching a 'Tuber talk about resilience and other aspects of lower body health/conditioning vs just lifting heavy weights. It’s one if thus “Duh” moments. Like being more “springy”, mobile. Not eschewing strength but not that one way street.
It’s funny. I forgot about bench presses the day I decided I was done with competing. I still pull but use different variety but not grinding out heavy. Not being able to do a heavish barbell squat of any kind…its maddening.
What’s even more strange: I hate squats. Always have. My anthropometry is not conducive to deep, upright squats. Yet, I pounded that square peg into a round hole millions of times. But, got to where I could blow my quads up with barbell alone. So doing unilateral movements, dumbbells, and so on just bore the fuck or of me.
So I tried this:
High rep leg extension x1 set then…
Rounds of bodyweight…
Bulgarian squat
Heels elevated squats
Deficit reverse lunges
Felt brilliant. My quads are shaking but the joints don’t feel like broken glass. Win.
Then…
Cable upright rows
Plate deficit pullovers: went from 25 lbs to 35 to 45. Felt good vs mono-dumbbell.
Cable curl
Medium grip bench
Dumbbell shrug variant
Nice. Call it a day. After our post dinner walk that is.
Oh yeah! Third edit. The wife told me to “strike a pose” as the kids say🙄
4 Likes
5/12
Did another full day of manual labor landscaping 5/11.
Today…
Kneeling behind the back cable lateral
Hammy curls plus dumbbell SLDL with pause at the feet/rep, no lock out. Fire!
High incline press
Seal dumbbell row
Cable pushdown
30 minute walk with the lady. Got 30 minutes in at work as well.
Happy fucking Monday.
2 Likes
