Skip, great to see you back! I hope your son gets the workout bug and runs with it. I’m looking forward to reading the Strick family’s lifting progress.
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PG, it really is. Sometimes we fall on our face. It’s okay. Just get up and keep going!
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Harry, I don’t know that I will ever hit 315# again on MP. It is a nice fantasy. And it is likely one that, as long as my body holds together, I will flirt with. Right now, though, I will be happy to hit 225# again. Come on muscle memory!!
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Steve, always good to see you around! I am hopeful that he will stick with it. I know he went nuts, right from the get go and wanted sleeves, wrist wraps, ankle weights, a weighted vest, a sled (which I made the mistake of mentioning), etc…, etc… I have reined him in a bit and shown him a few things he can do with just plates and, yes, an old snow sled, if he wants to punish himself.
Patience is not his forte. Moving iron teaches patience, though. That said, he has a good frame, some good instincts, and is 15…so loaded with T. He should make some good gains. I am mainly trying to keep him in check and keep him safe.
What got me lifting was wanting to make sure I stayed ahead of him for at least a few more years 
At his beginning max session, he was kind of hurt that I would rep out 10 or more reps with his max. So I asked him, would he feel better about the world if I couldn’t. He pondered it for a few seconds and decided it was better this way…lol.
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Enjoy being stronger than your son while you can. It won’t last long. My oldest benched 420, over head push pressed 315x5, log pressed 305 and deadlifted 635.
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Whoa!!! That is a stud!
I kind of look forward to it, as long as he is here to take care of things…lol.
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Okay. Need some belt advice.
Joshua has been using an old bodybuilder style (or what I call it…wide back and tapered front), leather belt. It was one my dad had made for me when I was 14. Tonight it bought the farm. I can’t complain. It survived 38 years of me, my brother, and now Joshua. He needs a new belt, but I have no desire to invest in an Inzer, or the like. And, honestly, he doesn’t need it right now.
I have an aversion to nylon belts, though. I have no justification for that other than it would not have worked for me, when I was hitting it hard.
Anyone have any suggestions?
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Pioneer makes good belts.
Back at it. Did multiple light sets of bench, up to 225x5. Threw in a few light sets of CGB, which I suffered for last night. Part of the problem was not getting any pull done. Shoulders always hurt if I just push.
Followed up with a few sets of rack pulls, DB rows, and 1-arm rear delt raises. Shoulders feel better.
Joshua was supposed to do 5x5 w/ 100#, on bench, yesterday. It was too easy, so I bumped it to 105#. It worked out well, as just 5# extra showed some form issues that needed to be addressed. So, he got 2x5 @100# and 3x5 @105#. Followed with 3x8 @70#, on MP and rows using the sled.
Today he did squats. His mom had to spot him initially, because I was on a late work meeting. She came in and asked if he could go up another 5#, because 135# was too easy. Sure…why not!? He eased through the rest of the 5x5. He followed that with rack pulls at 155#. 2x8 and I let him rep out on the last set. He got 20.
If he can get his form right on the 1st rep, which is a little bit of a struggle, he will blow past his initial maxes. That would be good, as he needs the positive reinforcement. That and I think he is getting weary of being coached (know it all teens). So, seeing his max go up would show that dad knows a little bit about getting stronger
New belt and actual, though cheap, sled should arrive tomorrow.
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What did you end up getting?
A leather, double-pronged ProFitness belt. Not what I would buy if he was stronger and definitely sticking to it, but should get the job done. The Sled is a cheap Sportsgear US setup. Again, not sufficient if he was hardcore, but it will get him by for now. And it spares my wallet unplanned pain…lol.
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I completely understand. I have a Be Smart lever lock from Amazon but use the velcro belt 
and a homemade sled. It gets the job done.
We have been using an old snow sled. Definitely not ideal. And he insists on stacking enough weight on it that he has broken a couple of the slats.
My brother, Mr. welder, would love to make us one, I am sure…but he is so busy that I have no idea when he could get to it. He and I started a BBQ/Southern Food catering business, late last year. It burns up a lot of our free time. Now if it would only become profitable.
Good food, though. Have a couple of customers, formerly living in Texas, that order brisket every time we have an open smoker. If Texans like your brisket, it is either pretty dadgummed good or at least the best they can find in the area.
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I know! I know! I disappear for half a decade and next thing I know you are all svelte and I am still petite!
You can thank (blame?) my youngest. He took the Doritos bag out of my hand and put a dumbbell in it…lol
Honestly, he asked about a Y membership. Knowing him as well as I do, I knew that he would a) be embarrassed by his numbers and b) would hurt himself trying to do more than he should…because of “a”. So, I started working with him.
He will still end up at the Y, eventually. But, at least, he will have good form and not feel inferior when he gets there. He just has no concept of how much further along those who have been working out are compared to those who have been playing Fortnite.
How are things in your neck of the woods? I bet pup isn’t a pup anymore!!
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Slightly dated…but that’s the pup.
Sniffing at a 600lbs pull soon.
Anyway welcome back… dont break my heart and leave again.
A few thoughts on starting back after a 5 year layoff and over 50.
I can’t believe how quickly strength fades. Maybe it is just me, but WOW!
It makes me think of a story my dad told me about my granddad. For those who don’t recall, I go by Little Strick because my granddad was Big Strick. He was all-state in football and track, was South Pacific Navy heavyweight boxing champ, during WWII, at 19. He was 6’3" and 245#. After the war he is said to have bench pressed 500+ and could Military Press (probably the lean back, not super strict) 350#. Years later, my dad convinced him to go to the gym with him. My dad grabbed a couple of dumbbells for some exercise. He said my granddad walked down to the end of the rack, a bit puffed up, and grabbed the 125# dumbbells. He picked them up, set them back down and walked out of the gym. It happens to everyone…but it sucks.
The body protests more, now.
It doesn’t recover as well, now.
It isn’t as explosive, now.
Sometimes it feels more like a foe than a friend.
Be careful about your lifting rituals. Your kids are watching! When we started up, Joshua (LittlestStrick) would do the things he always saw me do…rattling the bar into the rack before a set, deeps breaths with some guttural sounds mixed in, grunts while lifting, even talking to himself and the bar. If he was moving a lot of weight, it would fit better. As it is, it is out of place and kind of cute (Don’t tell him I said that!). In a gym, though, it would draw unwanted attention, when you’re in your mid teens and trying to lift weights that you will soon see as less than impressive. We all start where we start and that is fine. The fact that we are in there doing is what matters. At his age, though, in a HS gym…well, teens/peers can be brutal. There is way too much ego in the world.
More than anything, I keep reinforcing that it is not him versus anyone else. We have no control over anyone else…not their genetics (or our own), not their work ethic, not the program they follow, not the lengths to which they are willing to supplement or “supplement”. The only thing we can even begin to control is what WE do. We can look to others for motivation, but judging ourselves by them is dangerous.
I am closer to the grave than to the delivery room. And that is okay. The way things are going, death will be my only retirement and the wear and tear on my body make the good day to bad day ratio not as good as in my youth. Fortunately, at death I will be renewed. I thank God for that. And I thank Him for keeping me here long enough to see my children growing and, hopefully, helping guide them in the right direction. It is only by the grace of God that there is anything good in this world and any hope for something beyond.
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THAT ain’t no pup!!! You better keep lifting!
How old is he now?
I love the shirt! Joshua was texting someone during workout, yesterday. I had to point out…workout before women or women before workout. They don’t mix, unless she is your workout partner.
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That’s awesome! Congratulations to you and him!
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