Here are the top 5 methods. Most common used is probably the caliphers. Top 5 Ways to Measure Body Fat Percentage - BuiltLean
Thanks, Harry. I wonder if they have a tongs style caliper…lol…BBQ grade.
Military Press Day
Kind of an odd day. I had to leave work early. I ate a couple of sesame chicken thighs, for lunch. And I had a sugar crash from hell. Out of the blue. Not sure what caused it.
Got to the gym a few hours later and was feeling pretty good. Got through my first several sets and felt great. I cut down on the number of reps because I was thinking of making a go at 315#.
Then I hit 275# and it felt like a ton. 295# was the longest rep I believe I have ever had. It stuck at transition. I let it drift back a little and it went up a couple of inches. Then it drifted too far back and came down a an inch or so. I got it forward again and it went back up but stopped again, before I found the groove and finished the rep. I must have had that damned thing, in/at my sticking point for a full 4 seconds. My triceps are confirming that.
Then I dropped down and matched my best at 275#, since returning and got a rep PR at 245#. I wonder if I shouldn’t have skipped those reps early on and I just wasn’t fully warmed up!?
Military Press
Barx20
95x10
135x10
185x3 - normally would have been 5
215x3 - normally would have been 5
245x2 - normally would have been 3
275x1
295x1
275x3
245x6 - PR +1 rep since returning – I think I had one or two more but had held my breath and was out of air.
Reverse Flyes
55x8x3
45x10x2
DB Laterals
25x12x2
It was a strange workout. But, I got a really heavy set in, a decent set at 275# and good reps at 245#. So, I won’t complain.
Congrats on the PR! Whoo hoo! (needed more letters…lol)
sounds like an epic battle overhead! Congrats on the PR’s!
Somedays gravity is just heavier. Great pressing though.
Great pressing, probably feels incredible.
Thanks ChickenLittle. PR’s are always “WooHoo”…especially when they are getting rarer.
Paul, “Epic” is how it felt…at least to me. When it finally went up, I didn’t have much left.
Harry, that definitely seems to be the case. I am still not sure how I so quickly migrated from everything feeling light and fast to…oh my God!
Biker, getting the three at 275# felt good. I am not sure it was pretty, but definitely felt like I had done something.
Excellent overhead work. Those great presses are a great indicator of your total body strength being pretty high.
Thanks GV.
I need to start working lower body again. Deads and squats are out, because of the spondy. After just a couple of workouts, even with just moderate weights, the inflammation starts mucky with the nerves. My numbers actually start going down after a few workouts. And the pain in my low back/hips makes my bench and MP take a hit.
I need to get back on leg press, as I can avoid stressing that area too much. As a refresher, I stopped doing them because of pain in my IT band area…left leg.
Interestingly enough, the pain was right where my cell phone sat most of the day. I kept it in my left pants pocket. I have quit carrying it in my pants pocket and the pain, that was even there when I just stood up, seems to have gone away.
I can’t confirm that the phone was the cause. And, I haven’t put it under load since the pain has gone away. It was ever present, though, for months…even after laying off of lower body work for months. Now I don’t feel anything. Wouldn’t that be a bitch.
Anyway, weight loss plan goes into effect in about a week. I will start back with leg press then.
Damn cell phones have hidden powers and may be the end of us all… Sucks to have pain like that especially when it limits movement. I roll my IT bands sometimes and they can be so painful that I start to perspire but when I finish it’s like the world is new.
Like I said, I can’t prove it was the cell phone. But, the coincidence is big enough that I won’t be carrying my phone in my pants pockets anymore.
Bench Day
Sticking with the plus 5# from the previous week, on my top set.
Bench
Barx20
95x10
135x10
185x5
225x5
275x3
315x3
340x3 - bumped this one 5# so the next jump wasn’t as big
360x1 - PR +5# - since returning
335x3
315x5
Face Pulls - alternating hands inside and outside
115x10
120x10x2
115x10
95x10x2
Pec Dec
245x10x2 - this machine only has 245#
Looking back, I might should have just doubled 340#. 360# was a tired rep. But, it was good for a few more pounds.
Will be gunning for 365# next week. That will be a good marker to hit. My form is not as tight as it was back when I hit 405#. In part because I am not wearing my belt during bench. In part because these benches are just too damned narrow.
That said, for just being back at it for a couple of months, I am pleased.
Congrats on the PR anyway! You’ll get the 365 next week.
Skip, sweet PR. 4 plates again on each side in no time.
Meeting Paul today was cool. You’d really like him. He’s this nice guy that my wife and son even liked. Weird.
Thanks ChickenLittle. I am not in a rush. When the weight loss starts, everything is gonna slow down anyway.
Still trying to wrap my head around that so that I don’t say piss on it and just eat, lift and be merry. Hmmm…having put it that way, maybe I don’t want to lose weight…lol.
Steve - I’ll hit 4 plates again. It is just a matter of when.
Back when my wife was looking at a meeting, in Boston, I really thought that I might be able to squeeze in the trip for the meet. Then it all fell apart. I am going to get up there, though. You two are on my bucket list.
Back and Leg Test Day
Decided to throw leg press back into the mix, today. Nothing major, but to just stress test the leg. What do you know…no pain. I will have to give it a couple more workouts and some heavier weight to declare victory. But, it felt promising.
Lat Pulls
135x10
165x10
180x10
195x10
210x8
210x8 - neutral grip
Seated Row Machine
190x10
230x8
245x7
230x8
Leg :Press
350x10
530x10
650x10x2
DB Rows
120x10x2
On to another week. Weight loss begins next weekend.
This whole '" weight loss" thing is weighing heavy on your mind. I am not convinced this is something you really want to do. I understand if you feel like it’s something YOU need to do, but I personally, have never had much luck, fighting a battle to satisfied someone else. Make sure your heart is in it before you get all crazy. As heavy as you lift maybe you just need a few small adjustments?
Strong work Strick. Good luck on the weight loss.
ChickenLittle…Yes and no. I need to drop some weight. I know that and it is for me as much as anyone. The fact that getting down to 260-ish pounds is worth just over $800, is just more incentive.
What is weighing heavy on me (no pun intended), is the impact it will likely have on my numbers. There will be less energy, less nutrients to recover with and my leverages will change, as I thin out. I have never lifted to lose weight, though. I lift to push my numbers higher, because that is a huge source of achievement, satisfaction and general mirth. It is also something that I am somewhat decent at. I have never been much for overt accolades, but we all want to be good at something, or somethings.
And I have played this weight game so many times. At 26, I weighed 262#. I started cutting calories, doing cardio (sorry for the cursing) and got down to 187#. I hated it. What mass I had faded and the presence I had always carried was gone.
At 30 I started lifting again, weighing about 215# at the time, and gained about 20# of clean mass. Then I started eating more and gained mass, and fat. I got up to about 275# and then dieted down to about 240#.
Then I got married and the kids started coming. I was 32 and the gym was nowhere in sight. By 38 I had crept up to nearly 335#, with a size 48 pants.
Back to the weight loss. In 14 months I went down to 222#. That is when my wife old me to quit losing weight, because I was starting to look freakishly thin and she didn’t like my fading “presence”.
So, I started lifting again, just before I turned 40. Everything was okay for about a month or two. I put on 20# of mass in no time. But the loss of 8# per month, for 14 months, threw my endocrine system into a spin. My thyroid was hosed and I started gaining 1.5 - 2 pounds a week, even eating a 1900-2000 calorie a day diet, doing cardio and lifting. I had hit 275-280# before I got on the right med and the gains stopped, on a dime.
I continued to lift and traded some fat for muscle, until I was up around 285#. I was at 285# when I finally hit my 405# bench and 315# MP.
Hosed ribs, moving activities, etc…and it crept back up.
Last May I was at 323#, and started lifting and watching the diet again. Was 293# when they weighed me for the insurance thingy. Made it down to 283# before I decided to back off. Once I did, the gains started coming easier. But my thyroid numbers were/are off again. Unfortunately, my current doc couldn’t care less, since I am still “in range”. Forget that I was in range (though at the top) when I started gaining uncontrollably.
Looking for another doc.
Anyway, that is the long of it (sorry).I need to lose the weight, for health. And 255-265# seems about right to me, assuming I don’t lose much lean mass. I am just dreading the lagging/falling numbers.