Atlas Shrugged; I Pressed

Training Over 35 Lifter
461

[quote]bulldog9899 wrote:

[quote]LittleStrick wrote:

[quote]bulldog9899 wrote:

[quote]LittleStrick wrote:

Basically…
Phase 1 - cut out extraneous sugar (soda, dessert, sugary cereals (which I love), etc…)
Phase 2 - start limiting breads and pasta (Don’t make life miserable, but limit them until you feel the need.) Also, allow for a cheat day (I know, blasphemy…but I think it keeps my body guessing). But I have cut out dessert except for maybe once every 3 weeks.
Phase 3 - Tighten it down even more if needed, but make sure to feed before working out and getting the protein afterwards.

That is all I have done so far. Of course, I had, and have, plenty of weight to lose. But I am just shy of half-way to goal.
[/quote]
Very much the same mind set I have regarding things on my end Diet wise. Like you know I been focusing on conditioning. I haven’t tighten up the diet as of yet since I didn’t want change everything in one swoop.But the phases you mention parallels my own.Except I do your phase 1 &2 at the same time. On my end I just will keep my carb sources limited oatmeal,rice and sweet potatoes with some fruit.Cutting bread and pasta for me doesnt phase me because Ive gone ape shit on dropping weight and have done low carb diets before where the carb intake was jack and shit.But for me I found those kind of diets turned my training into shit.[/quote]

That is the part I was trying to limit…where my strength went to shit. Fortunately, I am trying to regain strength, not forge new territory. Unfortunately, I am still seeing the negative effects…making everything harder and slower.

I tried the Atkins diet a couple of times. Both times, I hit two weeks and was still feeling like I wanted to die. I never seemed to round the corner and start feeling better. The first time I made it almost three weeks and decided it wasn’t worth it. The second time, two weeks was enough.
I can go lower carb, and I am good, as long as I am not working out heavy. But it catches me quick if I stay low and keep hitting the gym.

Glad that it is working for you![/quote]

i think it boils down that certain people are better fat oxidizer then others.In a nut shell some guys just need more carbs in their diet then others.[/quote]

I must be one of those guys. I can live with that. Well, at least until it kills me.

462

[quote]kpsnap wrote:
Love reading about Lexie’s workout! I found it impossible to train my daughter at the same time as doing my own training. Sometimes meant two trips a day to the gym. And so funny that I forgot about OHPing when I was talking about the Big 3 in my log. Especially since you are the OHPing king![/quote]

Well, we will have more updates after tomorrow morning. We are going to focus on upper body tomorrow and lower body on Sunday. She seems really excited to be going back.

I am still trying to figure out if I can do some form of DL, with the back problem. I think doing sumo might help some, but I have no mobility in my hips…never have. I spent a lot of time, today, reading about Spondy and lifting. My biggest issue is that it is “active” instead of “inactive”…meaning that, while having an anterior shift, L5 also shifts over S1, instead of just flexing like a bendy straw. I might try it with a trap bar. Having the weight inline, as opposed to out in front MIGHT help.

And working out at the same time is somewhat of an issue. Part of the reason she got tired doing bench was because we were swapping weights every set. And I would get her going with her first set of the other exercises, while I did a different one for myself. But, tomorrow, we should have more overlap.

463

For the lower back, I read both of these - PRICELESS!!!

464

[quote]late2thegame wrote:
For the lower back, I read both of these - PRICELESS!!!

[/quote]

Thanks! I will definitely check into those!

465

2nd Daddy/Daughter workout is in the books. She, again, said she had fun, is looking forward to tomorrow and genuinely seems to be taking to it.

Military Press

I didn’t hit the reps I wanted. On the first set, I staggered on the 4th rep, which killed the 5th. On the other two sets, I just didn’t have the gas. But, I was still pleased to get the reps I did, on the follow ups.
It feels like I am hitting a barrier. I am sure you have all felt it before. You get to a certain point in the set when you feel like you should have more, but your body seems to be de-intensifying. That, if you could just push through that next rep, the barrier would be breached and you would barrel forward. If that is the case, I am close to making some good progress…but not there yet.

First reps, on all sets, were strong and more explosive than they have been. But a few reps in and the barrier was reached.

Military Press
barx10
95x10
135x10
185x5
205x5
225x4x3 - staggered on 4th rep of 1st set
205x4
Looks like 4 was the lucky number.

BB Shrugs
225x15
315x12
405x10
405x12 - 3 sec hold on last 3 reps

Lat Pulls
130x10
150x10x3

Rear Delt Raises
40x10
45x10x2
45x12

DB Laterals
40x10x2
30x10

Machine Rear Delt
90x10x2

Now for Lexie…

Military Press - never done these before with a bar
Barx10x4 - She had plenty more, but we worked on stance, hand placement, bar path, head placement/movement, setting her base (pulling her shoulder blades back). I was impressed. OHP is not easy when you have never done it.

Bench Press
Barx10
60x5
65x5
70x5
Barx10
Again, we worked on form. So, we kept the reps low so we could see form, not fatigue…getting tight, leg position and push, hand placement, bar path, consistent bar path :), not being in a rush, etc… Went to 70# trying to get enough load on her to actually see her form. It is apparent that her right side is stronger and that is pushing her to the left. We will work on that.

Assisted Pull-ups - bodyweight minus assist weight
95x10
85x10
70x10

Lat Pulls
30x10
50x10x2 - barely got 10 on the last set

Rear Delt Raises - very awkward movement for her
10x10x2
5x10x2

Machine Rear Delt
15x10x2

She did very well. I am so proud of her and her want to keep doing it. Of course, we are only 2 workouts in.
I am seeing glimmers of the strength I suspect is there, though.

466

What an awesome emotion it is to share your passion with your children and have them embrace it. Oh yeah great OHP too.

467

dueling Stricks FTW ! it sounds enjoyable just reading it…the only thing my kids want to do with me is go to the ATM !

468

Leg Day

We tried do do some DLs. Well, actually, we were going to do rack pulls, to just work on part of the form. But there was no way to get the bar low enough for her. No blocks and the pins in the power rack didn’t go low enough.
This is going to be an issue. Her legs work wonky…very wonky.
With her feet slightly wider than shoulder width, and toes pointing out, her knees cave so much that they touch. When she squats, she ends up on the balls of her feet. She can’t get her heels down without falling.
I got her in a sumo stance, as best I could instruct, and she seemed okay with that. Any advice anyone can give on sumo DLs would be greatly appreciated. I will do some research on this end too.
The caving knees were an issue on leg press too, with her toes forward, slightly out and even 45 degrees out.
Lotta work to be done here.

Leg Press
260x15
440x15
620x15
710x10
800x10
850x5
940x5

Leg Extensions
130x10x2 - warm-ups before leg press
150x10
210x10x2

Leg Curls
90x10x3 - warm-ups before leg press
150x10x2

Lexie’s workout

Rack Pulls
135x5x2

DL
135x1x3 - sumo

Leg Press
130x10
170x10
210x10x3
230x7 - She bit off a bit too much on this one.

Leg Curls
30x10x2 - warm-ups before rack pulls
30x10
50x10x2

Leg Extensions
30x10x2 - warm-ups before rack pulls
50x10x2
70x10

All the trouble with DL made the workout kind of disjointed and wonky, but still got some decent work at the end. Her interest seems to be holding.

469

Just a maybe suggestion: For the squat and the sumo deads it’s going to take a ton of patience and practice to establish the correct range of motion and form. Your daughter must program these movements into her brain but I think with girls it happens faster than boys, they take direction better sometimes(probably smarter). Most likely one day soon after you’ve been getting her to do the movements over and over it will happen that she has perfect form like a light switch has suddenly turned on.

470

GV, that is a good idea. I have been thinking about getting her to squat with the Smith Machine. That way she doesn’t have to worry about trying to control the bar while working to learn to squat down properly. Just have to make sure that she isn’t using the machine as a balance.
We will wait a couple of weeks to get to that, though. I want to make sure she is sticking with it and that it remains fun for her.
Not to mention, I want to make sure she gets eased into working her body.

471

Dr. Appointment this morning…

Unofficial, official weigh-in…down 28.2# (19# to first goal. Will re-evaluate there. The most I would aim for is 39# more, but that might be a bit much.)

BP down from 145/83 to 127/72 … any lower and I am dropping the Lisinopril

Resting pulse was 72, which is better than the typical 78-80.

Got blood drawn to check glucose, among other things. Was a bit high last time. Suspect it will be fine this time.

Jennifer says that my snoring is much improved. I am sleeping better.

Now, if I can just get the damned weights to move faster!

472

[quote]LittleStrick wrote:
Dr. Appointment this morning…

Unofficial, official weigh-in…down 28.2# (19# to first goal. Will re-evaluate there. The most I would aim for is 39# more, but that might be a bit much.)

BP down from 145/83 to 127/72 … any lower and I am dropping the Lisinopril

Resting pulse was 72, which is better than the typical 78-80.

Got blood drawn to check glucose, among other things. Was a bit high last time. Suspect it will be fine this time.

Jennifer says that my snoring is much improved. I am sleeping better.

Now, if I can just get the damned weights to move faster!
[/quote]
Look at you getting all healthy. I’m really happy for you. Definitely an inspiration for me to be a good boy.

473

[quote]NHLFTR wrote:

[quote]LittleStrick wrote:
Dr. Appointment this morning…

Unofficial, official weigh-in…down 28.2# (19# to first goal. Will re-evaluate there. The most I would aim for is 39# more, but that might be a bit much.)

BP down from 145/83 to 127/72 … any lower and I am dropping the Lisinopril

Resting pulse was 72, which is better than the typical 78-80.

Got blood drawn to check glucose, among other things. Was a bit high last time. Suspect it will be fine this time.

Jennifer says that my snoring is much improved. I am sleeping better.

Now, if I can just get the damned weights to move faster!
[/quote]
Look at you getting all healthy. I’m really happy for you. Definitely an inspiration for me to be a good boy.[/quote]

Steve, the issue for me has never been losing weight. At various times I have dropped 34#, 87#, 110# and now 28.2#…so far. The issue with me has always been keeping it off. As long as I am motivated, that seems to be okay. As soon as I fall off the wagon, though, it starts going back up.

In partial fairness, when I lost the 110#, I started working out again (and joined this place not long after). I gained about 20# of muscle weight pretty quickly (recovered), then my thyroid went wonky. That was probably from the fairly rapid weight loss. It seemed to hose my hormones. My wife has gone through the same thing since her weight loss. I gained nearly 40# before we got it figured out. And I was living off 1800-2100 calories a day and doing cardio. After that, I gained about 12-15 more pounds of muscle.
Since stopping working out, just over a 16-18 months ago, I had slabbed on about 45# extra. The interesting thing is, I am now as thin, if not thinner than I was before I stopped working out. But I weigh 5-10# more.
But I still can’t lift as much!

474

Man this forum is quiet during the day! You would think you all had jobs of something…

Labs came back. Glucose was 92. Everything seems to be within desired range, or close to it…except for the number of plates on the bar.

475

number of plates on the bar…low on iron I see !!

476

[quote]OldGoat wrote:
number of plates on the bar…low on iron I see !! [/quote]

Lol…indeed. Perhaps if I eat a few 2 1/2# plates my bench will go up. At this point, I am willing to try it.

477

Bench Day

Lexie was running on less than 5 hours of sleep (goofy teens). Also, she had eaten 4 slices of bacon and 4 crackers throughout the day. That was it!
Of course, I wasn’t especially feeling it either.

Bench
barx15
95x10
135x10
185x5
225x5
255x5
275x5
295x4 - probably had the 5th, but wasn’t willing to risk it
305x3 - probably had the 4th, ditto
315x1 - 90% sure I had the second…maybe a 3rd…but there was no way Lexie could spot me

Face Pulls
160x12x4 - good burn

DB Rows
120x10x3 - wore me out. This is the heaviest DB they have, so, good thing it is heavy enough to wear me out

Military Press
145x10x3 - 10# more than last week. Shoulders were screaming by the time I got here. Weight felt light until the 9th or 10th reps.

Seated Row Machine Thangy
150x15
170x10

Lexie’s Workout

I am not sure about a lot of this, as we were only on top of one another for Bench and Face Pulls

Bench
barx10
65x5
75x2
85x1 - trying to see how high she would go without hitting an actual max
barx10 - working on exploding off the bottom.

She has no explosion. It is all very slow, and, almost, ho-hum. Gonna continue to work on tightness and explosion. No doubt she is over 100# before summer is out.

Face Pulls
30x10x2
35x10

Seated Row Machine - Whatevs
50x10
70x10x2

Pull-assisted
85x10
95x10
105x8

Somehow we missed her 2nd push exercise. Since it was 8:30 when we got out of there, though, just as well.

478

BACON FTW! Looks like things are starting to come together for you Skip. …and Lexie

479

Paul, we are finding a groove. It is just too darned slow. Having her there has doubled the workout duration. We really need to whittle that down.
For her part, she says she is still having fun. She said that the bench made her chest hurt…translation: she actually had to work to get a couple of the reps. Hopefully, when she really sees improvement, she will find a little more focus/intensty. For know, though, I am just thrilled that she is there.

480

Official weigh-in…down 29.4#. 18.4# to goal.