[quote]Dr.PowerClean wrote:
H
APR is my new term…AGING PR. I’m serious…this matches my CPR of two years ago (comeback PR), but since I’m two years older, matching it is like a PR. Well, maybe this is bogus, but today made me happy. Especially since I was a bogus deadlifter just three days ago. Doc[/quote]
I like that 
[quote]Dr.PowerClean wrote:
Hey, I got my back-ordered Werksan training Olympic bar. Surprisingly smooth, almost no knurling, but man it is a thing of beauty while powercleaning today. Racking was FAR easier and I was able to get the bar in a better position on my chest.
I started with benches but this bar was NOT meant for benches… after 3 sets of reps with 225 I hated it for this…slippery and not as thick.
But the minute I started cleaning I had flashbacks to the good old days. No more reverse curl racking…almost instantly. Did the following:
5x135
4x185
3x225
2x255
1x275
1x290 APR*
APR is my new term…AGING PR. I’m serious…this matches my CPR of two years ago (comeback PR), but since I’m two years older, matching it is like a PR. Well, maybe this is bogus, but today made me happy. Especially since I was a bogus deadlifter just three days ago. Doc[/quote]
that 470 dead is still badass…due to my back issues i am having a very loag journey back to a decent deadlift, but i will arrive eventually…you are, as always, inspiring to me.
Hey Doc, My experiment with going from 60mg prozac per day down to 40mg per day is over, and I am back to the regular dose, cuz the experiment did not end well. I forgot how angry I used to get, and how long I stayed angry, but that is exactly what happened saturday. no one was hurt, and nothing was broken, and I self medicated with 80mg prozac, 8 oz Rye and a couple movies.
I guess that’s why so many of us depressed guys end up as drunks
Doc, i feel like you were telling my story. I am 60, making a last comeback. Determined to accomplish my goals this time. Three months of careful dieting, lifting and cardio and I have something injured. I think it is a rotator cuff but my trainer says it is my pec. Can’t get to my Dr. till thursday. At any rate I am hoping it is something we can clear up before too long because this not lifting is really a bummer. I hope you are soon well. Pirate12 AKA Jon
Nice posts guys, good to see a new face Jon.
Life has been crazy since last post…I tried to workout Saturday, the day after my heavy cleans, and I couldnt move any weight hardly at all. Squats, deadlifts, nada, felt like I was 75 years old. Then family crises, work crises, blah blah blah. Finally got to workout again today.
Powercleans (first from floor, rest from hang)
2x5x135
5x185
3x205
3x225
1x245…sharp pain in left shoulder when starting my hang reps
3x245 all from floor, much less pain.
What does this mean? Something in the "second pull," as Olympic lifters call it, is finding a muscle or tendon that otherwise does not bother me. WTF. Being an older lifter is like being the roving explorer on Mars, running into uncharted rocks or holes. Exciting but mysterious and possibly seriously risky.
And, as if to prove my point...
Squats
2x5x135
5x185
5x225
5x275
5x275…now I notice blood spurting out on the floor, oops on my chest too. I go to a mirror…FUCK. I had this little red spot on the side of my nose yesterday, today it is an open gusher of blood. Reminded me of Something About Mary…“Lookout, we’ve got a bleeder here!” Glad it wasnt my pecker. In fact, I kinda enjoy spilling blood during workouts, but this was not good because it wouldnt stop for about ten minutes and I had to call it a workout.
I gather I will live since the aorta does not go through the nose. But if I died doing squats, I could live in peace knowing I died a real lifter. Ah, but it would’ve made a better story if it was 405. Doc
[quote]Dr.PowerClean wrote:
WTF. Being an older lifter is like being the roving explorer on Mars, running into uncharted rocks or holes. Exciting but mysterious and possibly seriously risky.
…
Glad it wasnt my pecker. In fact, I kinda enjoy spilling blood during workouts, but this was not good because it wouldnt stop for about ten minutes and I had to call it a workout.
I gather I will live since the aorta does not go through the nose. But if I died doing squats, I could live in peace knowing I died a real lifter. Ah, but it would've made a better story if it was 405. Doc[/quote]
Still, these are great lines to quote.
Thanks Doc
[quote]Elaikases wrote:
Dr.PowerClean wrote:
WTF. Being an older lifter is like being the roving explorer on Mars, running into uncharted rocks or holes. Exciting but mysterious and possibly seriously risky.
…
Glad it wasnt my pecker. In fact, I kinda enjoy spilling blood during workouts, but this was not good because it wouldnt stop for about ten minutes and I had to call it a workout.
I gather I will live since the aorta does not go through the nose. But if I died doing squats, I could live in peace knowing I died a real lifter. Ah, but it would've made a better story if it was 405. Doc
Still, these are great lines to quote.
Thanks Doc
[/quote]
El, sometimes I enjoy writing the commentary more than I enjoy writing the weights lifted. We might just have a few too many training logs on the forum, but I figure folks might enjoy either the wisdom or insanity that sometimes just comes out of my head.
That bleeder is still s red scab, ready to blow. Today a few buddies asked me how I got that sore, and I enjoined just saying…
“Squattin’” Doc
[quote]Dr.PowerClean wrote:
El, sometimes I enjoy writing the commentary more than I enjoy writing the weights lifted. We might just have a few too many training logs on the forum, but I figure folks might enjoy either the wisdom or insanity that sometimes just comes out of my head.
That bleeder is still s red scab, ready to blow. Today a few buddies asked me how I got that sore, and I enjoined just saying…
“Squattin’” Doc[/quote]
Remember there is a thin line between the two 
[quote]Pirate12 wrote:
Dr.PowerClean wrote:
El, sometimes I enjoy writing the commentary more than I enjoy writing the weights lifted. We might just have a few too many training logs on the forum, but I figure folks might enjoy either the wisdom or insanity that sometimes just comes out of my head.
That bleeder is still s red scab, ready to blow. Today a few buddies asked me how I got that sore, and I enjoined just saying…
“Squattin’” Doc
Remember there is a thin line between the two :-)[/quote]
Straddle the line, it makes life more fun.
[quote]hel320 wrote:
Pirate12 wrote:
Dr.PowerClean wrote:
El, sometimes I enjoy writing the commentary more than I enjoy writing the weights lifted. We might just have a few too many training logs on the forum, but I figure folks might enjoy either the wisdom or insanity that sometimes just comes out of my head.
That bleeder is still s red scab, ready to blow. Today a few buddies asked me how I got that sore, and I enjoined just saying…
“Squattin’” Doc
Remember there is a thin line between the two
Straddle the line, it makes life more fun.
[/quote]
Good play off the meanings of squatting
Hey, dammit, I’m the guy that’s supposed to make the sexual comments.
Sexual comments or social commentary… Doc, you make us all want to come back again! When I get home from Vietnam,its a new gym and a new Doc insprired program. Damn good work!
[quote]mjnewland wrote:
Hey Doc, My experiment with going from 60mg prozac per day down to 40mg per day is over, and I am back to the regular dose, cuz the experiment did not end well. I forgot how angry I used to get, and how long I stayed angry, but that is exactly what happened saturday. no one was hurt, and nothing was broken, and I self medicated with 80mg prozac, 8 oz Rye and a couple movies.
I guess that’s why so many of us depressed guys end up as drunks[/quote]
All I can say is that if your brain chemicals are not in balance, there is no reason not to use the proper medication to get back in balance. That 20 mg Vyvanse that Doc pointed out to me makes an incredible difference in my life in terms of cutting out the clutter and fog. It is like I’m in an entirely different world. The only down side is that I can see it when the yard isn’t done right, before I couldn’t really see the difference. So now I mow, weed-eat, edge and clean up after wards, whereas before I would just put on the mulching blade and it looked good enough.
But I can hear things, notice things and life from 3:00 to closing is worlds better. I no longer need to decompress when I get home.
I only wish I had gotten to a doctor when I was 13 instead of when I was 53 to figure that out (though they did not have the 20 mg dose back then. I hate side effects, so I’m a little under medicated, but I’ve learned to compensate really well – now if I’d thought of drinking to solve the problem I’d probably never have quit).
Well, my computer was out of comission all week, and so was I. vyvance is helping me function, in fact I dont think I could do my demanding job well right now without it. However, I have noticed that it causes me to have a racing heart beat which at times makes it hard for me to train properly.
It limits my ability to do significant volume work, and it oddly causes me to get light headed during heavy cleans or deadlifts. For some reason this has been a bigger problem lately especially. Last Sunday, I did cleans, got real woozy at 225 for 3 and then at 245 after one I just dropped it as my head spun. Of course, me being me, what did I do…
Max deadlifts! I tend to do max DL’s when I am pissed, and this woozy shit pisses me off. I felt strong, did a good double at 455 and then went straight to 505. Got it two inches off the floor and then…out went the lights and I fell down sideways.
This took my spirit away for a week, during which time I didnt eat much and lost seven pounds (wasting away at 249 now.) Work was killing me also, making me go back into the “what the hell am I doing” mode as far as lifting heavy or lifting OL at all.
So I thought I'd just do some light/medium weight bodybuilding today to get back in the spirit.
And the damnest thing happened.
I started to bench, and do you ever have those days when you know, YOU KNOW, that you are strong? It made no sense to me, I thought I would be weak today after a hellish week, weight loss, etc.
But I was right, I went up, 10x225, 5x255, 3x275, 2x295, 1x310, 1x320. 320 is the most I have done since my comeback started at age 50. I finished the workout with about twelve more sets of various stuff.
I guess I’m just not ready to give up this heavy stuff, I love it too much. Doc
sounds like that in combination with the side effects of the drugs, your body was telling you that it was time for a deload. Rest and heal and keep-up the good old-fashioned iron therapy…
[quote]soldog wrote:
sounds like that in combination with the side effects of the drugs, your body was telling you that it was time for a deload. Rest and heal and keep-up the good old-fashioned iron therapy… [/quote]
Of course you're right, but's its ironic you used the term "deload." This is now as common a phrase as "reps," yet when I joined the thread a couple of years ago I had never heard the term. In my competition lifting/throwing days we never used it. We would basically train like crazy from September to June and then train light and run alot in the summer. This also made us lean and buff in the summer so we could get laid more. It worked (both ways) but, when you're 20 I guess you only need one deload a year.
I am trying to figure out a system of training that works for me, but as anyone who reads this thread can see I push too close to 1RM all the time. It isnt ego, as these numbers are all a hundred pounds or more under my lifetime bests, and if I think about that I get frustrated and want to just do bodybuilding exercises. I think its more the fact that I have always, always loved to push myself to the limit on the major lifts. It is the greatest rush I get in lifting. Nobody is there to see it, my son has taken up running and cycling so its just me. I didnt enjoy sets of eight or ten even before I got old or had Vyvanse side effects.
I did better in Costa Rica I think when I was listening to a young buck on an OL thread who simply said "Doc, maybe you should stay with triples with 80% 1RM, getting up to five sets, and then when you can do that, move up ten pounds."
I must admit also that I couldnt often do 1RM's in a commercial gym down there, but in my home gym I can holler, blast heavy metal at ear piercing levles, tape and chalk myself up like a Halloween character, throw weights over my head or whatever and nobody cares. I guess I'm just an overgrown kid with some heavy toys. Doc
Deload = time it takes to load more weight on the bar between sets
[quote]Dr.PowerClean wrote:
I am trying to figure out a system of training that works for me…
[/quote]
You’ll never figure this out til you figure out what you’re lifting for. Health, comps, looks, all of the above. Got to have some kind of goal in mind to make a system to meet it. If it’s just be a strong mofo again, in what lifts? You gonna have to focus.
[quote]hel320 wrote:
Deload = time it takes to load more weight on the bar between sets
Dr.PowerClean wrote:
I am trying to figure out a system of training that works for me…
You’ll never figure this out til you figure out what you’re lifting for. Health, comps, looks, all of the above. Got to have some kind of goal in mind to make a system to meet it. If it’s just be a strong mofo again, in what lifts? You gonna have to focus.
[/quote]
This a painfully accurate comment, and were it not from somebody stronger and more disciplined than me I would probably be annoyed. But this strikes at the heart of my conflicted training.
I would love to do the Master’s OL competition, but until I figure out if my left shoulder will ever get healthy enough, or my flexibility good enough, I am just dreaming. I have been pleasantly surprised at the fact I can do all three PL lifts without major pains or limitations, but I never was a great PL lifter and my numbers now wouldnt do much in a competition.
I have had enough competition to know that I gotta have a chance to win to have fun with it. I am just made that way...maybe this is too competitive and I should consider PL meets to just enjoy the camaraderie.
I guess what you got here Hel is what happens when you cross an ex-strongman Olympic wannabe with a shrink...one large, confused mess of a man.
I'll let you know if I decide what I wanna be when I grow up.
[quote]hel320 wrote:
Deload = time it takes to load more weight on the bar between sets
Dr.PowerClean wrote:
I am trying to figure out a system of training that works for me…
You’ll never figure this out til you figure out what you’re lifting for. Health, comps, looks, all of the above. Got to have some kind of goal in mind to make a system to meet it. If it’s just be a strong mofo again, in what lifts? You gonna have to focus.
[/quote]
Excellent point, true of almost all types of training you can do.
I’ve decided to train with weights to continue rehabilitation and to increase strength. That is achievable for me. The karate I’m doing for the social interaction, the chance to learn new ways to do things I’ve done before and some increase in flexibility. With the time I have and the physical limits I have with age (my reaction speed is no longer inhumanly fast), it works.
Doc, time to decide on a single focus.
OK, I did some thinking (often a dangerous business for me.)
Time to focus. On what? The Master’s OL dream. It’s now or never on this idea. As much as I love powercleaning, it has given me no joy to powerclean the same old weights this past year. In fact I have enjoyed the powerlifting more, but even there I have just been using low rep training as my therapy for life. I actually see no crime in that, but doing periodic Olympic lifts without committment to a goal makes no sense at all at my age. In fact, it actually is dangerous, as my joints keep reminding me.
But I dont want to give up the dream just yet. I am making a commitment to OL for the next 6 months. If I can get myself competition ready by the end of that time, I will compete and keep competing until I either win that damn thing or break something trying. Once I run this thing out and get it out of my system, I can join the rest of you in sensible lifting for strength, health, vanity, whatever.
So I started today. I stretched for half an hour, using lots of stuff from our great sticky. My needs are widespread but I am focusing on shoulder flexibility, ankle and hip mobility. My right wrist is actually the weakest link right now.
I then did twelve sets of OVERHEAD SQUATS, which I consider the most vile but necessary exercise there is for me. I need a half inch board plus my lifting shoes with built in half inch heels to do these at all, but I did them, 5-8 reps for 4 sets with broomstick, 4 sets with the bar, and 4 sets with 105 lbs. Dropped some reps out front with the 105 and shook at times…sort of ridiculous but so be it.
Then did eight sets of 8x105 hang cleans, working on speed and rack position. Yes, thats 105 lbs, not kilos, but the GREATEST thing happened about halfway through these...I actually started racking the bar on my chest, with elbows up and hands still on the bar. This has not happened in a long time. It felt very good.
I did try some deep front squats...ouch, still couldnt keep my hands on the bar, but by this time I was starting to cramp up in various places and I called it a good start. Your beginner lifter, Doc.