Back to It

Bigger Stronger Leaner Over 35 Lifter
1

I am officially back to posting again.

It’s been a rough year, with spotty training. Still working through a divorce that came as a surprise, as well as working through some major and minor health issues. However, I am back to training, in fact signed back up at Los Campeones today. With my need to use speciatly bars due to old injuries I was just too limited to machines at the commercial gym.

I am in week 3 of a sixteen week cycle that I am composing using various elements that I know work for me. It is not powerlifting, more powerbuilding/bodybuilding/general health. It is progressive and each week will increase in weight, intensity, volume, or all three. We will see how I feel at the end, and if I can get back to competing. Would like a pro total as M1 still.

Easy one tonight, shoulders/tris

standing calve 6 x 15-25

standing overhead press with football bar
bar x 15 x 2, 95 x 6 x 2, 135 x 6 x 2, 155 x 6 x 2, 175 x 6 x 2

first time with any real over head pressing, esp with free weights, in years. stability and confidence were main factors with keeping weights light

laterals 40s x 4 x 12-15
face pulls 4 x 10-12

overhead machine extension 4 x 8-12
neutral grip machine press 4 x 8

rope down/rope ext 4 x 8-12 each

decent return to gym, embarassing weights on the OP but with my years of shoulder issues, and currently shitty core strength, not a surprise. I expect that to move up fairly quickly if I play it safe and don’t reinjur

2

Oh! So pleased to see you back. I have thought of you many times over the past months and enjoy seeing your boys on FB. Glad you are back at it. Always inspirational!

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Glad your back at it. Looking forward to seeing some big numbers soon.

4

Good to see you back.

5

Rock & Roll! Great to see you posting again.

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Hey big fella. Ill be following.

7

Welcome back Pete! Good to see you back in the saddle and I hope things are coming around for the better on your end.

8

today: back, hamstrings, abs

v grip pulldown 7-8 sets up to heavy set of 6

strict bent row, to sternum 225/275/295/315 x 8

stiff leg rack pull from 2 pin 315/405/495/585 x 3

ghr 4 x 8

low pulley row 4 x 10

dbell shrugs 3 x 12

cable abs 3 x 8

core and grip is weak and shitty, but this will change fast. no sets were maxes or to failure, I need to let my body adjust back to real weights vs mostly machines that I have been doing past year, then will quickly get heavier, plus adding intensifiers like drop sets/rest pause/partials, plus bands and chains as appropriate. I also really really need to build up volume, as lifting is my primary form of conditioning for now, i.e. not able to fit in cardio for a bit

speaking of cardio, took my seven year old on his first scout outing yesterday. Friday we got a foot of snow, yesterday it got up to 60. 8 hours hiking through the woods, got a great lower back pump. the kids sledded in the morning, which was good because by 2 most of the snow was gone

9

Welcome back, Pete! Waded thru some of the same waters.

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[quote]hawkcapt1912 wrote:
Welcome back, Pete! Waded thru some of the same waters. [/quote]

good to hear from you. got a couple of buddies training at your gym now, Kling and Tommy the Sailor. Keep an eye on them for me.

11

Welcome back Pete.

12

Welcome back big man.

13

Damn good to see you logging again, welcome back!

14

What’s up Big Pete? Good to see you are back and setting up your foundation for some heavy lifting in the future.

15

[quote]PeteS wrote:

[quote]hawkcapt1912 wrote:
Welcome back, Pete! Waded thru some of the same waters. [/quote]

good to hear from you. got a couple of buddies training at your gym now, Kling and Tommy the Sailor. Keep an eye on them for me. [/quote]

know them both. they do more strongman stuff. kling’s a beauty.

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chest and bis, yeah, chest and bis. oh how far I have fallen

nautilus neutral press, warm ups to 4 x 8 w/stack, last set drop set

hammer strength decline 5 x 10-15, 40 sec rest between sets

free motion chest station, fly s/s with press 4 x lots each

machine preacher 5 x 10-15, slow tempo

ez curl w. fixed bar 4 x 6, slow tempo

rope hammer 3 x 12, last set drop set

pumptastic, will try some real pressing next week

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Good to see you at it again. The only way is up.

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not the session planned tonight, but got the main objective done: first time doing a free weight squat variation in nearly a year. Off the top of my head my last focus on front squats left me with 405 x 8, and 485 x 1 paused to a low box. I have been doing hack squats, v-squats, power squats, leg presses, etc, but no barbell squats. A lot had to do with pain issues. I finally got a good chiro who, between the two of us, we figured I had been doing a lot of twisted lifting due to various injuries and also a botched knee surgery twenty years ago. Literally every other vertabrae has been pointing in a different direction. I actually went back and found video of a circa-max phase I did a couple of years ago, where in just briefs I hit 595 + about 5 hundred in band tension to a low box. I have so much of the load on my right side it almost looks like a side squat. That is also the night I popped out three ribs on the right side, go figure.

Tonight low expectations lowered even more by long work day, shitty traffic, and by the time I got there I was long past due for a meal. I think I will move legs to Sunday next week, swapping it with back/deadlifts as it is a lot easier to get through that session if I am short on time

hammer strength seated leg curl 4 x 8 w/90

efs yoke bar box squat, low padded box 4 x 6 w/270
(weight will move up fast on these)

leg extension 4 x 10-12

sissy squat 4 x 10-12

calve raise 4 x 8-10

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lots of family stuff, work stuff, etc going on. right now I am programmed for 4 days a week, which is hard for me to fit everything into, but the most I can commit to with work, lawyers, kids, etc. sometimes it ends up being 4 consecutive, which sucks for recovery, but then I end up balancing it out later with longer recovery periods

last couple

shoulders/tris

short time, had sister watching kids as no child care at current commercial gym, was in and out in 40 minutes

arnold press on free motion shoulder station 3 warm ups then 4 x 12-15 w/80, keeping constant tension on delts

super set

rear delt machine 4 x 15
w
behind neck press w/swiss grip on press machine 4 x 10-12

awesome combo

1 arm cable laterals, 4 x 15, no rest

1 arm rev pressdowns 4 x 15-20, no rest

rope down/ext/machine dip 4 x 12-25 each

machine crunches 4 x12

pumptastic, felt a foot wider afterwards

today, Sunday

fucking humiliating

just coming back to real squatting after a year. this was not intentional, mainly the commercial gym I landed at during the divorce had bars and racks I didn’t trust/couldn’t fit under, and since I was really opting out of pling I thought I would give myself a mental break. never ever ever again

again ended up short on time. drop of w/kids took forever, then I got the follow up call that I forgot to give them medicine this morning, then another call regarding missing stuffed animals, etc etc

got to gym, 1.5 hours til close

foam roll, stretch, lots - just getting back to this, let this slip and have felt the consequences

low box box squat - one inch below parallel - with massive elitefts ssb yoke bar, paused, close stance
80 x 6, 170 x 6, 260 x 6, 310 x 6, 360 x 6, x 6

fucking embarassingly hard. not to failure at all but will take some getting used to. kept belt loose a) because I have forgotten how to use a belt and b) I need the extra ab and core work

I will be keeping the weight low and start adding intensity via volume, time constraints, LATT, and chains until I feel more solid and confident

leg press on prehistoric awesome leg press. this is not your hammer strength or cybex leg press where you can load a ton, this is a homemade one that has built lots of huge quads

3pl per side for 15, 5 pl x 15, working: 7 pl x 15, 8 pl x 10, 8, 8, 5 pl x 40

superset

leg extension 4 x 8-10
w
sissy squats 4 x 8-10

quads friend, now time to cook up about ten lbs of dead animal for the week

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Glad to see you Pete. My body has been protesting back squats for like a year as well. Damn backs.