Baking A New Cake

Training Over 35 Lifter
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720×479 91.7 KB

It’s been a long while since I posted in this thread. I have a PL meet coming up on August 21, so I thought I’d start keeping track of the training leading up to that.

Quick Summary:
Age 57
Weight 179
Height 5’5" - Troll sized
First IPF meet was last July. Results: Squat - 403; Bench - 176; DL - 463. I wore a Metal squat suit, belt and knee wraps for squatting; singlet and wrist wraps for bench; singlet and belt for DL.

I have worked on getting all my lifts up. I’ve been training pretty hard for the past year, 3 to 4 days a week in the gym, plus some fast walking to keep me svelte. Hahaha.

Monday, July 12
The usual warm up - dynamic crapola of all sorts, about 10 minutes - reverse lunges, facepulls, shoulder warmup, pushups; plank holds with right leg elevated, then elevated and rotated out to the side, then repeat with left leg up.

DB Bench
60X12
70X10
80X8
90X0
85X3

DB Incline
70X10
80X6
80X4

HS Incline - Close Grip
70/side X 10
90/side X 8
100/side X 6

DB Side Lateral Raises
25X8 - 2 sets
30X8
35X4

Seated HS Rows
90/sideX10
135/sideX10
180/sideX8 - did these one arm at a time

Pullups - not super wide
BW X 5, 4, 3, 3, 3

HS Selectorized Curl Machine - Curls for the girls
50/side X 10
60/side X 10
70/side X 8

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Wednesday July 14

Squat Day

Warmup - dynamic movements a la Cressey/Robertson. Stair stepper - 5 minutes.

Squats
BarX20, X10
135X10
225X8
315X5 - Belt
345X3 - Belt
375X3 - Belt and APT Knee Sleeves
405X1, X1 - Belt and APT Knee Sleeves - felt heavy but okay. Went deep.

Hanging Leg Raises - to the bar
6, 6, 5, 5

Standing Pull Down Abs (cable crunches)
96X12
108X12
120X12
120X12

DB Swings
75X8, 8, 8

45 Degree Back raises
no weight - 15 reps
with 25# plate held out in front (arms extended)
4 sets of 12 reps

Pullups - medium width
BW 5, 5, 4, 3, 3, 2

Dips
BW 10, 10, 7

Handclap Pushups
8 sets of 3

Lots of stretching.

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The thread was missing something. Oh yeah, a new favourite, from Creemore Springs.

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Friday July 16

Warm Up
Push ups; face pulls; external shoulder rotations; front bridges; 45 degree back raises

Dynamic Bench
some warm up sets, always aware of set up and form - barX20; 75X10; 105X10
135X3 - 8 sets
165X3 - 3 sets
185X3

Wide Grip Press Downs
84X12
96X12
108X12
120X12

Rear Delt Movement - Unilateral Low Cable, using a straight arm
5X10 - 2 sets each arm
10X10 - 2 sets each arm
This was a completely new exercise for me. I could really feel the rear delt activation.

Seated Rows - wide grip
5 sets of 10 - ramped up weight on each set

Dips
BW - 3 sets of 10

Strive Machine Preacher Curls
4 sets of 10
The Strive machine has a cam action. You can adjust the cam to concentrate the load at the beginning, middle or end of the curl. I progressed through the positions but used the same weight.

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Sunday July 19

Dynamic Squat Day

Warmup - 5 minutes on the stair climber; foam rolling; dynamic stuff, reverse lunges

Low Box Squats - 2" below parallel
10X45
5X95
5X125
5X185
5X215
5X245
2X275 - 6 sets
2X305
2X315
2X345

Edit: Used a belt for 245 and up.

Seated Good Mornings
10X45
10X135
10X185
8X225
6X255

Pullups - BW
5, 5, 4, 4, 3

45 Degree Back Raises
12XBW
12X25 plate X 2 - arms extended
10X35 plate - arms extended

These fried my back.

Hack Squat
2 plates/side X 10
3 plates/side X 10 - 2 sets

Home to strip loin steak, very rare; grilled onions, new potatoes, a big salad, washed down with a Muskoka Cream Ale. Hog heaven.

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Monday July 20

BB Bench
Working on setup/form, staying tight
45X20
95X5 - 2 sets
135X5 - 4 sets
165X3
195X3

HS Plate Loaded Incline - Close Grip
45/sideX10
70/sideX10
90/sideX6 - 3 sets
100/sideX4

DB Side lateral raises
25X8
30X8
35X8

DB Rows
65X10
100X15 - 2 sets
120X12

Machine side lateral raises
3 sets X10 - ramping up each set

Shrugs - using HS plate loaded Ground Squat apparatus
Using angled grips - facing away from machine
2 plates/side X 10
3 plates/side X 10
4 plates/side X 10
Using straight grips - facing machine
3 plates/side X 10 - 2 sets
I’m feeling this in my low back while typing - need some ibuprofen tonight.

Wide stance Pushups - with light jump stretch band across back
20X3

87

Good looking training. Nice work.

Edit: So 403 in a suit, now doing singles with 405 belt only? Great work.

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[quote]cakewalk wrote:
Monday July 20

BB Bench
Working on setup/form, staying tight
45X20
95X5 - 2 sets
135X5 - 4 sets
165X3
195X3

HS Plate Loaded Incline - Close Grip
45/sideX10
70/sideX10
90/sideX6 - 3 sets
100/sideX4

DB Side lateral raises
25X8
30X8
35X8

DB Rows
65X10
100X15 - 2 sets
120X12

Machine side lateral raises
3 sets X10 - ramping up each set

Shrugs - using HS plate loaded Ground Squat apparatus
Using angled grips - facing away from machine
2 plates/side X 10
3 plates/side X 10
4 plates/side X 10
Using straight grips - facing machine
3 plates/side X 10 - 2 sets
I’m feeling this in my low back while typing - need some ibuprofen tonight.

Wide stance Pushups - with light jump stretch band across back
20X3
[/quote]

Nice work. Not sure what the ground squat app is, but I’ve seen them using the hammerstrength seated shoulder press for shrugs at my gym. They stand on the seat and do them. Also have seen the seated bench press used for rows. Hammerstrength machines have multiple uses.

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[quote]jjackkrash wrote:
Good looking training. Nice work.

Edit: So 403 in a suit, now doing singles with 405 belt only? Great work. [/quote]

Thanks jjack. Sometimes I get frustrated at the very slow rate of improvement. It took most of a year to see that gain. But it’s better than stagnating or going downhill.

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[quote]ruglayer09052000 wrote:

Nice work. Not sure what the ground squat app is, but I’ve seen them using the hammerstrength seated shoulder press for shrugs at my gym. They stand on the seat and do them. Also have seen the seated bench press used for rows. Hammerstrength machines have multiple uses.[/quote]

Thanks ruglayer. The HS Ground Squat is a versatile machine. It’s good for shrugs and that’s how most people at my gym use it. But, if you want to really work the quads, you can elevate your rear foot on the crossbar, get into a lunge position and do static lunges until you want to puke, or as Ouro posted recently, feel “vomitous”. Hmm, squat day tomorrow, have to revisit that exercise.

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It looks like your training is going well. I’m really glad you made the cut for the meet. They still haven’t updated the list with your name yet but I know a couple of people that have pulled out due to injuries.

I think you will really enjoy the meet. It’s always well run and a bit of a social event. Is your son coming again? What about your wife?

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[quote]ouroboro_s wrote:
It looks like your training is going well. I’m really glad you made the cut for the meet. They still haven’t updated the list with your name yet but I know a couple of people that have pulled out due to injuries.

I think you will really enjoy the meet. It’s always well run and a bit of a social event. Is your son coming again? What about your wife?[/quote]

Hey ouro,

I’m #14 on the list - M2, 82.5 kg. I’m looking forward to it. I’m hoping to make it a bit of a family event - wife and younger son Alex, the one you met in Ottawa last July. We’ll go down Friday evening. 7:00 AM weigh-in is pretty early.

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Thursday July 22

Weight - 179
4 weeks until PL meet.

This should have been my Wednesday training, but life intervened.

The usual warmup, lots of foam rolling, 5 minutes on the stepper.

Squats
Bar X 20 - 2 sets
135X10
225X5
315X3 - belt on
345X3 - belt
375X2 - 3 sets - belt

I had planned to go heavier, with suit and knee wraps, but my usual training partner wasn’t there and I didn’t trust anyone else in the gym to spot me.

So, I thought, why not deadlift? Haven’t done those for a couple weeks. Better get some pulling in.

DLs
135X10
225X6
315X3 - belt on
405X3 - belt
465X1, 1 , 1 - belt - these three were real grinders, for some reason. I also realized that I’d forgotten to trim the calluses, which were really starting to bunch up and hurt. So I didn’t go for a max. I’d been hoping to hit a clean 500. The current max is 495, done about 6 weeks ago.

Standing Cable Crunches
3 sets X 12, 1 XS 6 - ramping up the weight. On the last set, I felt like I was going to get lifted off the ground. That would have been pretty damn funny.

Hanging Leg Raises - to the bar
3 sets - 7, 6, 6

Pullups
BW X 6, 6, 5, 3, 3

Chins
BW X 5, 3

45 Degree Back raises
BW X 15 - 2 sets

Home to wholewheat fettucine smothered in home made vegetarian sauce with loads of plum tomatoes, veggies, roasted garlic and onions; a roasted chicken leg; and a Creemore Springs Kellerbier to wash it down.

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I saw you on the list. They finally updated it with the new additions. I have 3 training weeks left and only one heavy week. I start to back off three weeks out.

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That’s a ton of work to do in one session. Great job.

96

Very very impressive with your lifts there. Lots of volume. You must be conditioned very well. Good job.

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[quote]ouroboro_s wrote:
I saw you on the list. They finally updated it with the new additions. I have 3 training weeks left and only one heavy week. I start to back off three weeks out.[/quote]

That sounds like a good plan. I’m planning to work up to openers about 2 weeks out, then cruise.

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[quote]jjackkrash wrote:
That’s a ton of work to do in one session. Great job. [/quote]

Thanks jjack. I felt it on Friday.

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[quote]scottgomez wrote:
Very very impressive with your lifts there. Lots of volume. You must be conditioned very well. Good job.[/quote]

Thanks Scottg. Thursday was a lot of volume. I like to think I’m in fair condition, but don’t ask me to run!

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Saturday July 24

The usual pre-bench warmup. Made sweet love to the foam roller, then a lot of shoulder and upper back movements. Push ups, face pulls, DB external shoulder rotations, planks.

BB Bench
45X20
95X5 - 2 sets
135X5 - 2 sets
165X3
195X2
205X1

BB Incline Bench - Wide Grip
95X5
135X5 - 2 sets
155X5 - 2 sets
165X5 - 1 set

Rear Delt Movement - Unilateral Low Cable, using a straight arm
Did a few, and felt a severe pain in the right shoulder. Decided to let it go for another day.

T-Bar Rows - Chest Supported
1 plate X 10
2 plates X 10 - 3 sets
115 X 6 - 2 sets

Some stretching and out.