Atlas Shrugged; I Pressed

Training Over 35 Lifter
541

Military Accessory Day…lol

Bench still sucks. Finally hit my limit on MP for rep. But…Lexie hit one bill!

Lesser Workout

Bench
Barx15
95x10
135x10
185x5
225x5
275x5
295x3x2

Face Pulls - alternating grip palms inside and then outside
160x12x2
175x10x2

Military Press
135x5
165x5
185x10x2
185x8 - couldn’t get my 3rd set of 10. Staying at 185 next week.

Lat Pulls
130x10

Seated Row Machine Thangy
150x10x2
170x10

Lexie’s (greater) workout

Bench
barx10
65x5
80x3
90x2
100x1 - PR +5# - not the prettiest rep. She got intimidated by the weight, lost form, but fought through it and it went up.

Face Pulls
40x10
55x10
70x10x2

Military Press
barx10
65x5
70x3
75x1
80x1 - used legs a little

Seated Rows
50x10
70x10x2

Lexie had more in her at 100#. Her form completely broke, but she had the strength to push through it. Very heartening!

542

Hey Big Man, I think Lexie’s MP at 80 is even more impressive than the bench…all around good stuff…

543

[quote]OldGoat wrote:
Hey Big Man, I think Lexie’s MP at 80 is even more impressive than the bench…all around good stuff…[/quote]

Thanks, Paul. It is early to tell, but her MP and bench seem to be more like mine, unfortunately. MP is much closer to bench max than average.

544

I apologize for not keeping up with everyone. Since my Dad arrived, and with the work in my brother’s basement, there just hasn’t been much time to do anything else.
Heading to the river in just a bit, for tubing…and they think skiing. They are gonna have to offer me a lot to get my big ass back up on skis.
Hopefully I survive this “fun-filled” afternoon.

545

Just got back from the river a little while ago. No skiing. My brother and I did get on dueling inner-tubes, though. We had a blast. Grandpa didn’t go very easy on Will and I. He got us up to about 40-42, several times, and then cracked the whip. It was a lot of fun.

The kids had even more. And I have to say that I am very impressed with Lexie’s upper body strength (working to get back on the tube from the water)…and her grip strength. She got on a tube with me, while Will was on the other. Grandpa let us have it and she was able to hang on almost as long as me. Very impressive. All the kids had a great time and Grandpa enjoyed watching them and trying to sling Will and I off the tubes.

This alone made the trip worth it.

I am exhausted, though. Keeping my big…uh…self…on an inner-tube while some deranged old fellow is trying to sling and bounce you off of it is exhausting.

546

Military Day

Got in a fight with some wasps, yesterday. Zinged me twice. In retribution, I took out the whole nest. Wasps - 2 … LittleStrick - 16

Day seemed to start okay. Then I had a mis-rack with 225#. I expended a lot of energy trying to get the thing back in place. It showed.
225# felt better than usual, though.
Also, got Lexie on actual 5x5, for bench and MP. She did well and will be going up in weight on both, next week.

Military Press
barx20 - (10 front and 10 back)
95x10
135x10
165x5
195x5
225x5 - good set. Had 1, maybe 2, left in me. This was also the mis-rack.
235x3
240x1x2

Rear Delt Raises
45x10x4

DB Laterals
30x10x2
50x10 - 1-arm
30x10

BB Shrugs
315x15
405x10
455x10
405x10 - 3 sec pause on each of last 5 reps

Cable Upright Rows
115x10
130x10
145x10

Rear Delt Machine
105x10
110x10

Lexie’s Workout

Military Press
barx5x2
55x5
60x5x5 - all plenty strong

Rear Delt Raises
10x10x3

DB Laterals
5x10x2
10x8

Bench Press
barx5
65x5
70x5x5 - all plenty strong

Cable Upright Rows
40x8
25x10x3

Now…off to my brother’s…again.

547

Nice work by you and Lexie.

548

[quote]Crippler56 wrote:
Nice work by you and Lexie. [/quote]

Thanks Crippler. We are working on it.

549

Back/Leg Day

Grandpa went to the gym with Lexie and I. We didn’t get any work out of him, but he observed, took pictures and coached Lexie on Leg Press.
Nothing really to report. Lexie did 5x5 on Leg Press, with a weight higher than she has ever used before. I knew she was sandbagging.

Leg Curls - just trying to move them…IT Band still has a lot of pain
110x10
140x10
150x10

Leg Extensions
125x15x3

Lat Pulls - alternated between wider and narrower grips
130x10
140x10
150x10x3

Seated Cable Rows
250x10
275x10x2

DB Rows (Krocs)
120x15x2

Lat Pulls
150x10x2

Seated Row Machine
170x8
160x10

Lexie’s Workout

Leg Extensions
65x10x3

Leg Curls
65x10x3

Lat Pulls
45x10
65x10x2

Seated Cable Rows
85x10
110x10x2

Leg Press
100x10
150x10
190x10
205x10
230x5x5

Lat Pulls
50x10x2

Seated Machine Row
70x10x2

Now for hanging out with Grandpa.

Oh…and despite all of my eating, I am down 2/10th # for the week.

550

Sounds like a fun weekend with the family Strick.

551

Great job Skip. Glad your dad is so close with you and your family. Good for the grandkids.

552

[quote]DBasler wrote:
Sounds like a fun weekend with the family Strick.[/quote]

It has been a busy 9 days…loading and unloading lumber, helping put up stud walls in my brother’s basement, trip to the river for tubing, swimming in the pool, fixing toilet and lawnmower here at the house, taking my wife to the Dr. (still fighting this migraine), getting the van to the shop (hit a deer going almost 70), etc…
I would say that getting back to work was a relief, but I am tired of doing what I do.

And life moves on…

553

[quote]NHLFTR wrote:
Great job Skip. Glad your dad is so close with you and your family. Good for the grandkids. [/quote]

Well, he isn’t close as far as location. He lives down in GA. But he makes a couple of trips a year, for about two weeks at a clip.
We are a very close family, though…including aunts, uncles and cousins. My moving up here, near my brother, was all part of that.

And the grand-kids love having Grandpa around. So, it is a win-win.
He has really gained respect for Lexie, this visit. She has been in the middle of everything, a trooper, a big help and, of course, she is now lifting weights :slight_smile: All wins for Grandpa.

554

Holy crap Skip that was a busy 9 days…sucks abut the van…

555

Paul, they were busier than I made them sound. And Grandpa is still in town. I have been back at work this week, but have managed a lunch with him and my brother and he came to the workout again, tonight. As an adviser, of course…

He will be here until Sunday morning. So, Friday night and Saturday will be packed, I am sure. Great to have him here! Even if it is wearing me out.
And, he is very impressed with Lexie’s lifting, manners, willingness to jump in and help. Heck, if he were the only judge, she might be declared a great kid :slight_smile:

556

Military Press Assistance Day

Got my damned 185x10x3 on MP… In fact, I got 12 on the last set, to make up for the 2 I missed on last week’s set.
I think I am going to have to make a couple of requests at the Y…1) I need a 34" neutral grip lat bar, so my elbows quit hurting, and 2) they need to ban yoga pants. I may be 46, and I am definitely happily married, but I am not blind.

Bench Press
barx20
95x10
135x10
185x5
225x5
275x5
295x3
315x2x2 - really think I had the 3rd on the first set, but Lexie was my spotter. On the next set my worries proved to be right, as the 2nd rep drifted and stalled, until I got back under it. She was a bit slow on the response.
Also, I widened my grip to the max allowed. It actually felt decent. I normally don’t go out that far, because of my shoulders, but they didn’t seem to notice.

Face Pulls - alternating palm inside and outside
175x12x2
190x10x2

Military Press
135x5
185x10x2
185x12 - made up my missed two from last week, Felt like I probably had one or two left in me.

Lexie’s Workout - sticking with 5x5 We are upping the main exercise for the day and leaving the other the same as the previous workout.

Bench
barx10
55x5
65x5
75x5x5 - no problem. It worked her a bit, but it was never close to failing.

Face Pulls
55x10
70x10
85x10 - little much, couldn’t get the full pull
75x10

Military Press
barx5
60x5x4
60x8 - made her rep out the last set. She could have had one more but sandbagged.

Saturday, she will stay at 75# on bench and move MP up to 65#

Decent workout all the way around, even with my bench floundering. The MP at 185# felt strong. Next week, though, at 195#, will be a bear. I would like to get to 205x10x3 before looking at changing the routine. That might take until Christmas, though.

557

Yoga Pants FTW…just get a pair of dark sunglasses…very nice MP progress young man…

558

[quote]OldGoat wrote:
Yoga Pants FTW…just get a pair of dark sunglasses…very nice MP progress young man…[/quote]

I assume you mean the mirrored kind!? So I can gawk all I want an no one will know…

559

[quote]LittleStrick wrote:

[quote]OldGoat wrote:
Yoga Pants FTW…just get a pair of dark sunglasses…very nice MP progress young man…[/quote]

I assume you mean the mirrored kind!? So I can gawk all I want an no one will know…[/quote]

Skip…I have an extra pair if you need them !

560

I forgot to mention…a funny thing happened in the gym, yesterday.

When Lexie and I bench, we share a bench, which means we have to swap weights every set…after the 1st. After I got up to 185#, I told her that I would take the 45’s off and put them back on. Not knowing how she would fair on her 5x5, I didn’t want to wear her out loading and unloading plates.

So, when I started to load the bar, with 275#, she just stayed on the bench…laying down like she would if about to do a set. I saw a couple of guys looking her way and talking to each other.

As I put the last weight and collar on the bar, one of them walked over, and asked, “Is she about to do that? Because if she is, I want to video it!”
I laughed and told him that she wasn’t…at least not this month. Then, as I turned, a woman behind us (working out with her boyfriend/husband) said, “Holy Cow! I thought she was about to do it!”

I had to laugh. I retrospect, it definitely looked like I was loading the bar for her to go after it.

Obviously, people pay more attention that you realize. It was good for Lexie, though. She got to see that how much she can lift can impress…another motivator.