Doc, I hope you left the plates on the bar for him to unload.
I saw this post the other day and it reminded me of you.
www.straighttothebar.com/2007/10/surrounding_the_dragon.html
Keep it up.
Stu
Thanks, Stu. And Barry, HT is right about something in the way you talk is really hilarious. I had to tell my family the “Missouri Mule is coming and bringing cash for bail.” You are now legendary.
It’s kinda weird, I think sometimes I’ll quit going on-line here and get back to my “normal life.” Because part of my craziness is not just doing stuff like I did yesterday, but getting validation and praise for it from all you nut cases on T-Nation. We’re like a bunch of schizophrenics all agreeing with each other that there is a grand conspiracy going on which started with the Kennedy killings, includes alien and CIA involvement, and will end up with all of us dying a terrible death.
Ah, WTF, I learned long ago to not question the things that bring you joy, as long as they don’t ruin your life in the process. Doc
WooHoo! Excellent work Doc, back in the swing of things hey, me too. I did a fairly solid session using Chad Waterbury’s SOB training and moved about 12,000kg or 26,000 lbs in the session without any pains or strains afterwards. I’m quite pleased with that. I’m nowhere near your efforts but it felt good to finish without injury.
I enjoy adding up all the weight moved in the sessions, not sure why, but I think it helps me somehow.
That’s a good DL Doc, very good.
“Train hard, increase your tonnage, and finish without injury.” That should probably be our credo in the older lifter category.
The tricky part is the motivation. What drives each of us must be different. At first I read some of Staley’s stuff, and I immediately fell in love with the chasing PR method, even if it was just a PR in lateral raises. I’m not dissing Staley, I really don’t know his methods in detail and I love the idea of being an “athlete”, but chasing PR’s everwhere helped aggravate my shoulder greatly.
On T-Nation, there is almost information overload. Every author has a different training system, everybody makes good points. We really have to be pretty damn smart to figure out what system not only is best for our bodies but also our MINDS. I like many different training systems, but I still love low rep, heavy training more than anything-not stupidly trying to get a 1RM every week, just hard and heavy. And it takes all the discipline I have (and more) to not do that with my injured parts. Even deadlifting heavy is risky for me and my back, but I only have gone for a heavy single once a month in my comeback, and each time it’s going up about 30 lbs, without pain, so I must be on the right track.
Often confused but not so crazy, Doc
Hi Doc,
I once had this button that said: “Why be normal”. My personal favorite is: “There’s no future in being good…bad to the bone.”
And yes, I am a girl, often confused but not so crazy(shoutouts to the ADHD’ers)
I can’t believe you just posted me. I just read your posts on the “Are the wives impressed?” I wanted you to know that, if your guy is a boob guy, he will die a boob guy. I know this for a fact. However, a man can learn to appreciate the other parts of a woman’s body. When my wife is leaner, I enjoy the improvement in her legs and butt, and when she is heavier, I enjoy the “improvement” in her chest. To make a twenty year marriage work, you’ve gotta be flexible. So she doesn’t work out anymore, hey, I can live with that, because she still cares about staying at a sexy bodyweight.
BTW-being good IS overrated. Doc
[quote]Dr.PowerClean wrote:
“Train hard, increase your tonnage, and finish without injury.” That should probably be our credo in the older lifter category.
[/quote]
Thats correct, Doc. We need to make fitness our sport. To keep chasing PR’s, we need to change up the movement we chase, ie: max number of push ups/sit ups. Length of static holds such as handstands; Best 100m, 200m, and 400m times; Best 5 or 10k.
Along with absolute strength, max deads, squats, cleans, we need to chase these less malignant (on our old injuries) goals as well. This is the primary gift I received from Crossfit - the mindset.
Al
Hi Al, glad to hear from you, and as usual appreciate your thoughts. Oftentimes you provide me with a wrench to readjuct my crooked mind.
Speaking of my mind, it was truly tested tonight. The following story is 100% true with no embellishment or drama added, or God strike me down. (oops, drama just added.)
Anyway, my recent enemy gym which kicked me out (for a day), actually closed for two weeks for renovations (I can't fathom what, it was already perfect, every machine immaculate, floor you could eat on, etc.) So my son and I went off across town in the hunt for a temporary new gym we had heard was "Muy bueno."
We found it, and it consisted of four separate rooms with no particular organization to the machines in each room (leg machines next to benches and so forth). It was dingy and run down, which made me happy but freaked my gym-spoiled son out. However, it was VERY crowded, and this I knew would present big challenges. I told my son to wipe the negativity off his face and get to work, find any machine or set of dumbells and lift. He did.
That left me to try to find something remotely close to a barbell with which to squat. There was no rack or platform of course, but they did have this THING resembling a SMITH machine. I swear to you, it was homemade, and the more I looked around, ALL of the machines were homemade, except the cardio.
This “Smith” machine was occupied by a 4 foot 9, seventy pound Tica (Costa Rican girl), with TWO personal trainers eagerly buzzing around her. They jumped in tandem to change her weight from the bar plus two fives per side to bar plus three, hopping up and down in tandem like synchronized swimmers. This machine had a bench WELDED into the framework, so that you had to do half squats at lowest. She, however, was busy doing one-eighth squats, with the trainers each putting their hand under a glute to show this proper “depth.”
Meanwhile, I occupy myself with the only machine available, a seated calf machine, and I proceeded to do one giant set of 178 reps with 45 lbs. I didn't want to miss the nanosecond that Tica left the Smith machine, and I indeed seized the moment, scaring her to death as I lunged to grab ownership of this device.
So, FINALLY, I can lift. However, this damn machine is built so that I HAVE to do something resembling PL type squats, because not only does this welded bench make my stance very wide, but they have a makeshift "Manta Ray" welded on the bar which forces it down your back. So OK, I get to squat with 315 easily, except it's not really 315 because each plate is labeled as 42lbs, 46lbs, 41 lbs, etc.
Now I’m starting to get some work done but this combination forced unusual posture and stance puts a big strain on my bad shoulder, and after 3 sets of 6 shitty Smithoid half squats I just can’t take it, it feels like I’m doing exactly what everyone said not to-work through joint pain.
Now my son comes over, the frown now worse than ever. "I can't train in here, Dad." "Yes, you can. Be a man. Adapt. Improvise, be creative, do forearm work, abs, anything."
OK, off he goes. I look around. All machines busy, except one way off in the far corner. I go explore. AHA! It’s a homemade, T-bar machine with a chest support. Except it’s completely horizontal, and you have to pull the weight up off a resting point a full two feet off to the left. The LEFT. My BAD SHOULDER SIDE. FUCK. I spot a personal trainer temporarily disconnected from his mini-me Tica. “Senor, si puede, ayudame con este pesa.” Half ass spanish for help me.
So I lift what’s there (3 plates of 40ish each) for a giant set of 32 reps or so since the trainer quickly disappeared and there are no free plates around to add. I leave the weights on the ground instead of putting them in that ridiculous side location, and decide I need to do something good for my shoulder.
I go in hunt for some shiny dumbells, and I spot a room where there are literally 40 (again, I SWEAR) beach balls of various sizes, and some brightly colored tiny dumbells. I grab the heaviest one (the 12 pounder, which is PINK) and start doing my lying lateral rotator exercise. I am surrounded by five pretty Tica’s doing pelvic thrusts or sexual acts on these beach balls, so I end up doing sixteen or seventeen sets of various rotator exercises.
My son now comes in, having been searching for me and despondent beyond words, and I decide I better take him home before he gives up lifting for good.
Hey, I at least got in one hell of a good shoulder rehab workout. Doc
Sounds to me like you got an eyeball workout Doc.
Perhaps a “Tica” on each hand and try to bench them… 
You don’t have DB’s or anything at home?
Duke, I’ve got a 400lb bar and weights, a multi-purpose machine, plus a DB rack to 60 in a house I’m part-owner of and trying to sell four hours away. I’m temporarily in a tiny rental with no garage, and not a extra square foot anywhere for weights.
How I got here is a long, sad story, but I’ve just got to make do with commercial gyms for now. I’m sure within one year (hopefully a lot less) I’ll have a new place and my home gym back, plus a new rack for squats and overhead (I didn’t do them for a LONG time.)
BTW, what the hell happened to my picture? Somebody cropped the bottom half out. It's like what they did to Elvis's pelvis years ago..., but I sure as hell didn't have his pelvis. Have I been hacked?
Somebody fucking with me? No stars on my thread yet when I get 5 stars for my OUST thread? You just can’t mess with a shrink on the edge living in a tiny room with no home gym, rising Estradiol and a shoulder that hurts like hell this morning thanks to that damn SMITHOID machine…ARRRGHHHH! Doc
haven’t noticed any change in your avatar? maybe it was over the allowed size and cropped automatically to fit in?
How do you mess around with a shrink’s head?
Back off and let the shoulder get over the attack of the Smithoid. You could use your spare time to elaborate on the long, sad story of your living circumstances… I’d be interested. Might even give you a star or two for it
Duke, I SWEAR my picture was cropped in half yesterday, only the top half showing-on my profile and all of my posts. If nobody else saw that, then I am SERIOUSLY concerned about my mental health. It’s back to normal today. Freaky.
As for my long, sad, story, I was born to immigrant parents who came to America with just the clothes on their back. My mother was...
No, can't do it. Sorry, I don't want those stars that bad.
I will promise you that if I ever go back to that gym, I will take pictures of both that evil Smithoid machine and the room with the girls doing simulated sex acts on the Swiss balls, if they'll let me. Doc
BTW-messing with a shrink's head is usually an oxymoron, but everyone has a breaking point.
Dear Dr. PowerClean,
I’m a over-40 guy who benches 565 but I arch my back. Plus, I can only deadlift 225 and my preacher curl really sucks. I’ve got a bum knee, bad right wrist and I’ve only got three fingers on my left hand. I eat very clean but occassionally binge on Philly cheese steaks and chocolate eclairs. My wife doesn’t understand me and almost left me for a rodeo clown. I’m not sure I’m focused enough, but I do know I’m VERY determined to get my bench up to 650. What do you think?
Doc: Sounds like you’re pretty normal to me. Just add some weighted dips and drink an extra Muscle Milk per day. And listen to Tony Robbins tapes to Unleash The Giant Within.
Oh well, just getting crazier and nobody’s talking to me.
For those three of you out there still reading, I’ve really gone and done it. I challenged Uber N3wb, the 280lb 16 year old freak strongboy, to a powerclean 300 contest. He’s a great kid, can deadlift 650 or so but his power clean’s a couple pounds below mine. Had to do it.
Now, what's making this really challenging for me is right now I'm a "bodybuilder." No shit. I've got an opportunity (as in money) to become a poster child for over 50 guys getting in shape, but I'm still at 14.5% bodyfat with one and a half veins showing barely. I've dieted strictly this weak, went from 240 to 234 and only dropped point five percent BF. And I feel WEAK.
So that's why I challenged this kid, to FORCE myself to figure out a way to regain some strength while cutting up a little more. This ain't gonna be easy.
I'll refocus my lifting to everything that'll help powercleaning and only that, plus ongoing shoulder rehab. Any other thoughts or ideas, I'm listening.
Today I did hang cleans, five sets of five x 185, one set of 3x225. then did high pulls/shrugs from knee height up to four sets of 5x365. Finished with some leg presses and out.
How I get myself in these weird situations in life I'll never know. Doc
Sounds like you need a quote!
“Of course we all have our limits, but how can you possibly find your boundaries unless you explore as far and as wide as you possibly can? I would rather fail in an attempt at something new and uncharted than safely succeed in a repeat of something I have done.” ~ A.E. Hotchner
Rock On Crazy One.
Have a great weekend.
Barry, you always make me smile, with your quotes, stories, and your “vernacular,” as HT called it. Even just looking at that mug of yours makes me smile!
Likewise! 2 old farts whose flame may not blaze but it still burns. If you get too close you’ll get burned.
Of course I’m still reading Doc.
Tried HRX (HOT-ROX)? I took a bottle a month ago and it did quite a bit for me.
What other supps are you on that might be of assistancce to your fat loss and strength and stamina levels?
I’m doing CW’s SOB training at the moment, just finished my first week and I’m pretty happy with the results. My lifts (as mentioned previously) aren’t in your class but I have a good go at it, but I’m nobody’s poster boy I can tell you that.
OK, Thanks to Duke and Barry and whoever was crazy enough to give me 5 stars, I submit my video of my comeback progress. I fully expect to be belittled even though some non-athletes find this impressive. But how ironic, the guys that want me for the poster boy shots have called for a meeting in two hours, and hey, what the hell, I’m still not buff enough. Duke, I’ve got hypothyroidism and take thyroid, so I’ve been leery of OTC stimulants, but I have an unused bottle of HOT-ROX, so I might as well try it. Doc
Well done Doc.