I’m 37 now and have made similar goals in my head too. I want to achieve new heights before turning 40.
Here too. My main focus is going to be the old big 3 for the next year or so.
Interesting to follow your journey pal.
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Looking forward to seeing your goals realised!
15/07/25
Still in the do something phase, need to ramp up the frequency and then do something smarter.
Squats: 60, 80, 100, 120, 140kg x 5
Walk out: 180kg
Just to feel that weight on my back again, going to include these each time I back squat and start to build up just to get the psychological benefit of knowing the weight and how it feels, before I get there again.
Bulgarian SS: 20kg DBs x 5 each side x 5 sets
Deep controlled reps, was going to go up to 30kg, but decided to instead focus on form and really get the movement nailed down, still plenty of time to build up.
Single leg RDL: 20kg DBs x 10, 15kg x 10 x 2 sets
Weight wasn’t so much of an issue as balance and form, but dropped it just to focus on it, left leg revealed something not 100% right, I think I’m so tight/stiff at the hammy it pulls on the knee. I’ll be keeping these in, easing into them and seeing if that improves. I also have awful balance.
A1) Axle OHP: 38, 48, 58kg x 5, 38kg x 12 x 2
A2) pull ups: 5 x 5 sets
Elbow still has tendonitis/tennis/golf elbow/pain that isn’t muscular or bone related. I’m still doing nothing proactive about it.
Not a terrible session, I had zero idea about what I was coming in for or what I wanted to achieve apart from something and I haven’t squatted for a while so there it is. Once I’m regularly stringing 3-4 session of lifting together I’ll look to get something coherent in place.
On a related ish note I had 6 call outs in 24 hours over the weekend then followed it by laying flooring in the house for 14 hours, nearly straight through (apart from a brief reprieve to answer a call out, but got turned around on the way to the job so straight back to flooring!). Good news is the kitchen is close to finished, the bad news is the flooring flows through the whole downstairs of the house and so whilst I’ve fitted 11 packs (about 25m²) I’ve got another 21 to go, and I’m clearly not that quick! (Although the kitchen was fiddly, ton of cutting).
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I’m in the same boat. It’s that last part - caring or in my words, ‘what’s the point’? I have some changes I need to make but I’m just not very motivated to do it. I don’t know why. I keep kicking the can down the road and telling myself stuff like “it’ll be easier to fix when I go back to school in August.”
I also have another lake trip planned for the 24th - 28th and know what I’ll be doing there. More of “what’s the point?” thinking. I’m still trying to clean myself up in the meantime, but I’m struggling to get myself going.
It also doesn’t help that I have a loving wife! She keeps telling me I look fine instead of fat shaming me.
Funny, I just recently saw how it can be a valid tool for leg training. I view it in terms of movement, though. The bar path is fixed and straight. That might work for some movements like front squat or RDL’s, but definitely not back squats. I think it was Jeff Nippard who posted the video. He was rating leg exercises from A to F for quad development. I noticed that he has torso and leg proportions that allow him to high bar squat with very little forward lean. His knees go over his toes but it works for him. That’s probably why he doesn’t hate Smith back squats. You and I are built differently, and I don’t think they’re a good option. Most of the YMCAs around here have scrapped the traditional hack squat and replaced it with the horizontal version, but I think Smith front squats might be a viable replacement.
In regards to your training goals, good luck! That 100kg OHP is a beast. I can’t even push press that anymore.
I’m with you on having set weights and reps to do every session. I guess now that I’ve dropped goals like yours, I train more aimlessly.
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Have you tried simply exerting increased force in the upwards direction? I find that helps.
Don’t worry if you don’t exactly hit these things by the age of 40. Trust me when I say, you probably have many good years of lifting ahead of you, maybe your best years.
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Let’s hope so! On this note (longevity) - annual blood results were overall decent:
Hormones and lipids spot on (lipids have improved, HDL up triglycerides down)
The only marker I’m still not happy about is hba1c:
Which has a slight increase, but if I’d taken this test 2 months ago it would have been better I suspect. My diet is getting back on track, might look to reduce overall carb consumption as well as cutting out sugar again (basically been crap since the week before the cruise).
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Might be another year older today…
Had friends round last night for the boxing and a filthy burger takeaway, Usyk showing his mastery of the sweet science.
Was due for another takeaway with FIL for the actual day… Ended up on a 2 hour trudge through a bog, in a dry suit, to rescue someone, then doing something akin to sled push for a good 15 mins as part of the rescue.
Not quite the way I intend to spend this day!
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Happy Birthday! You’re a credit to your community to be out there taking care of others on this day.
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Happy Birthday, Hero! I hope you enjoyed that burger and that you’re at home resting after the big rescue.
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Happy Birthday!
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Thank you, really appreciate that.
I very much did, until 4am when I woke up feeling like a shrivelled up prune, must have been a lot of salt in that thing, I drank 3 pints of water before bed as it was!
Thanks Shane.
21/07/25
Triple testing.
Squats: 60, 80, 100, 120, 140, 160kg x 3
Bench: 60, 70, 80, 90, 100, 110, 120kg x 3
Deads: 60, 100, 120, 140, 160, 170kg x 3
OHP: 20, 40, 50, 60, 70kg x 3
Decided that as I have some targets to hit within 364 days it would be good to have in idea of the baseline I’m working from, but not wanting to go full on max, since I’m quite fatigued and sporting some bodily niggles, that triples would be a reasonable way to go about it.
The squats felt strong on the way up, despite some minor knee pain, apparently walking in a bog and falling over every few steps isn’t easy on the joints. Definitely had more on the squats, but happy to call it at 160kg, not sure if 170kg for a triple would have been there looking at the speed drop off between 140 and 160 and I’m really looking to avoid grinding reps.
Bench was as expected, the 120kg was a little grindy, and butt lifty, definitely room to clean up there. Elbow also said: “why do you hate me?” To which I replied shut up and bench.
Deads, wasn’t sure what to expect here, haven’t done conventional in a while, and it’s a very hot or miss lift for me, it was a hit today, I got 160kg and thought, that was good, I’ll call it there and write up that I could hit 170kg without grinding, then I decided if I really felt that I should actually do it. Turns out 170kg wasn’t hard but didn’t look clean on the video, bit grindy, slight reversion to previous form.
OHP wasn’t sure what to expect after the elbow and by this point I was feeling a little tired, 60kg felt easy, 70kg didn’t feel heavy in hands, but the lift was enough to know, no more.
That went better than I had expected, maybe not from a numbers perspective but I felt good, considering I had to really force myself out here, really no desire at all, but working on discipline not desire.
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In a burst of sort of planned sort of spontaneity, we’re booked to go to Rhodes for 11 days next month, we came back from the cruise feeling knackered and needing a proper relaxing holiday and then had a few months of madness and emotional turmoil. This hasn’t yet stopped, but looks to all be finished with by the week before we go away, so seeing an opportunity, I went for it.
We will be spending a lot of time sitting by a pool or on a beach and relaxing, and eating stifados. With likelihood of spending a long time topless, it’s time to go on a short sharp cut!
Since I’m time limited this will be the opposite of the last cut (good I don’t like doing the same thing twice in a row!) I will be going for 2k cals a day, 200g protein 200g carbs 44g fat and I will be tracking - be interesting to see how this works for me.
My main meals will look like:
40g oats
250g FF greek
35g whey
75g Blueberries
1 tbsp cinnamon
That’ll be 2x a day - breakfast and lunch
Dinner will be something like chicken rice and veg that fits with the remaining macros after…
Bed time snack:
250g FF greek
25g whey (chocolate)
1 tsp peanut butter.
(@Chris_Shugart I’m guessing this might work as a creami Reese’s style recipe - or some variation on it, shame I haven’t got one yet!)
Not much variety but that’s perfect for a controlled, short stint.
Training will look something like a push, pull, legs 3x per week, 2 LISS sessions and my usual Thursday strogman HIIT style thing. Plus any surfing I manage to squeeze in, got a 630am session in on Saturday, I am actually improving which is nice.
In other news the kitchen is so close to done
Even the dog got her own unit:
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Congrats on the vacation. Relaxing for 11 days sounds perfect.
Kitchen looks great!
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Kitchen looks great mate and happy birthday young fella.
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Missed you birthdayl Usyk is downright a dude. My jaw dropped when I saw the kitchen. Goodjob!
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The kitchen looks great!! Want to come and do mine next? Lol
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I think it would! Maybe add a little milk of choice.
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I hope that do my kitchen is not a double entendre 
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I mean, if it means I get new cabinets… lol
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and those soft close drawers !
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Absolutely, sounds necessary at this point as well, counting down the days already!
Tell that to my nagging injuries! Thanks for the birthday wishes!
Probably my best ever before and afters!
That he is, I don’t see an interesting fight out there for him in the HW division right now, Moses Ituama in 3-5 years but by then Usyk will be past prime (although he seems to keep getting better with age!) and it wouldn’t be level playing field.
I’m good at the destruction, got in real professionals (/best mate) for the important stuff. Ripping out, filling, finishing and flooring are all I can take credit for!
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