Chasing Big Strick

Training Over 35 Lifter
721

[quote]DaCharmingAlbino wrote:
LittleStrick wrote:
63Galaxie wrote:
LittleStrick wrote:
63Galaxie wrote:
Still looking good though. Congrats on the upward movement.

Thanks 63G. And REALLY good to hear from you! Looking forward to you starting back up…
How’s the shoulder?

It still sucks. Thats my excuse anyway. BTW Gray is still kickn.

Also I think is about time to change your name to Big Strick.

Well, I assure you that we are all ( at least most…don’t want to speak for everyone) looking forward to your return.
Glad to hear that Gray is still hanging tough. I hope the prognosis is good.

63G and DCA - I have considered changing my name. Big Strick seems rather pretentious, though. Maybe I will just go with Strick. I did a search for it and it doesn’t come up as a name already used.
The deal is, though. I won’t do it until my bench hits 350 and squat 400. The 500 DL was one of those goals. I just happened to hit it early.

For future reference, how do you change your name?

Well, as I found out through changing from skidmark to my current awesome apellation - you can’t. You have to create a new account and notify the mods of your intent so they can lock the old one. They don’t like people signing on with multiple accounts and will lock the new one if you don’t tell them.[/quote]

Ah…that is pertinent information. I will note that for when the time comes. Hopefully that will be before Christmas.
Thanks, DCA.

722

[quote]LittleStrick wrote:
j_willy3 wrote:
Good job on the record lift LS. I’m like DCA, the weight lost. I’ll be intrested to see how the knee sleeve helps you out, as well as following along your training regime after the deload.

Thanks j-willy. Funny thing about “the plan.” I am great at coming up with them but suck, royally, at sticking with them. I get a new max stuck in my head and turn into The Tick…ooh, shiny! One of the disadvantages of not having a workout partner. I have to keep myself in line.[/quote]

I wish I had The Tick’s size and strength, but I too am hit with his lack of attention. SPOON!!

723

I was sitting around pondering my goals. In particular my DL goals, as I have yet to hit the bench and squat goal. It got me to wonderin’ what the rest of you do. Do most of you set goals for yourselves, be it a certain bodyweight, pant size, DL, bench, squat, speed skating time, mountain to climb or whatever? Do you set them with a timeframe in mind or just an “I want to get to/accomplish X at some point?”

I tend to be a goals under time type. I like to do that because it provides a specific target. The issue being, I don’t want to set them too low, or I might not push hard enough and sell myself short. Yet, I don’t want to set them too high, because repeatedly falling short is frustrating.

Just wondering…

724

I started by setting the overall poundage goals for lifts important to me and then aimed for short term poundages in those lifts so I had something manageable to reach. They’ve all been subsumed by my new body weight goal because I now understand (after more than 2 years of trying to reach my goals) that I can only reach them by getting bigger. I originally wanted to do 2/3/4/5 at 180, but I kept getting hurt. So my overall goals of lift poundages have remained the same but I had to give in to reality a bit.

Had I never set the main goal, though, I would never have met Meat and Phil, read so much about training or learned everything I have nor would I be as close to these weights as I am. It blows me away right now that I CAN pull 500 lbs off the floor, that I am 5 pounds away from a 400 squat. 2 years ago that would have seemed impossible. With no overarching goal and a strong desire to achieve it, no setting of intermediate goals, I would not be anywhere close right now. I’d still be doing 3x10’s and wondering why I can’t get stronger.

I originally set a time limit, but I’m almost 9 months past it now, so I amended it to end of this year. But I didn’t give up on the goal, instead I gave up on some cherished ideas and listened to some good advice.

725

Sure set goals. I did/do. Just dont let your goals get in the way. Thats kinda what happened to me. Was I strong enough to push the weight that I got hurt at? Yes. Was I pushing my self? You bet. In other words just be ready to pay the piper when he comes. I mean, unless you just have to push that hard - dont. Have fun.

I told JimmyT today “Put 275 on the bar, Im gonna do 5x5. And I dont care what I say, dont let me add any more weight for at least a month”. His reply? “Your lucky Im even let’n you put that much on the bar, so dont push it”.

You are already vicious strong. I dont know what youll be like in a year, but if your gonna set a goal make it at least a year out. If you get there sooner great.

Just some late night ramblings.

726

[quote]63Galaxie wrote:
Sure set goals. I did/do. Just dont let your goals get in the way. Thats kinda what happened to me. Was I strong enough to push the weight that I got hurt at? Yes. Was I pushing my self? You bet. In other words just be ready to pay the piper when he comes. I mean, unless you just have to push that hard - dont. Have fun.

I told JimmyT today “Put 275 on the bar, Im gonna do 5x5. And I dont care what I say, dont let me add any more weight for at least a month”. His reply? “Your lucky Im even let’n you put that much on the bar, so dont push it”.

You are already vicious strong. I dont know what youll be like in a year, but if your gonna set a goal make it at least a year out. If you get there sooner great.

Just some late night ramblings. [/quote]

True. If the fun goes, you’ve lost the meaning to what you’re doing.

727

[quote]DaCharmingAlbino wrote:
I started by setting the overall poundage goals for lifts important to me and then aimed for short term poundages in those lifts so I had something manageable to reach. They’ve all been subsumed by my new body weight goal because I now understand (after more than 2 years of trying to reach my goals) that I can only reach them by getting bigger. I originally wanted to do 2/3/4/5 at 180, but I kept getting hurt. So my overall goals of lift poundages have remained the same but I had to give in to reality a bit.

Had I never set the main goal, though, I would never have met Meat and Phil, read so much about training or learned everything I have nor would I be as close to these weights as I am. It blows me away right now that I CAN pull 500 lbs off the floor, that I am 5 pounds away from a 400 squat. 2 years ago that would have seemed impossible. With no overarching goal and a strong desire to achieve it, no setting of intermediate goals, I would not be anywhere close right now. I’d still be doing 3x10’s and wondering why I can’t get stronger.

I originally set a time limit, but I’m almost 9 months past it now, so I amended it to end of this year. But I didn’t give up on the goal, instead I gave up on some cherished ideas and listened to some good advice.[/quote]

Thanks for the insight, DCA. And, for the record, after “getting to know you”, it doesn’t surprise me at all that you lift what you do. But also, given your bw to max ratio, sounds like the original time limit was hard, hard, hard core. I really enjoy keeping up with your progress. The knowledge, intensity, variation (creativity), etc… I can’t wait to see you have to make new goals!
I know it helps keep me motivated…and enlightened.

728

[quote]63Galaxie wrote:
Sure set goals. I did/do. Just dont let your goals get in the way. Thats kinda what happened to me. Was I strong enough to push the weight that I got hurt at? Yes. Was I pushing my self? You bet. In other words just be ready to pay the piper when he comes. I mean, unless you just have to push that hard - dont. Have fun.

I told JimmyT today “Put 275 on the bar, Im gonna do 5x5. And I dont care what I say, dont let me add any more weight for at least a month”. His reply? “Your lucky Im even let’n you put that much on the bar, so dont push it”.

You are already vicious strong. I dont know what youll be like in a year, but if your gonna set a goal make it at least a year out. If you get there sooner great.

Just some late night ramblings. [/quote]

When it comes to bench (mine), I think you hit the nail on the head. My want of a higher max (and my ego) had led me down a path of diminishing returns. Hopefully I am disciplined enough to stay off that path.
And, again, you are absolutely correct. Losing the fun kills much of the reason for doing it. Otherwise, I may as well go do work when I should be lifting :slight_smile:

I do find, though, that lifting for strength is much like my days playing football. Practices sometimes sucked. Conditioning always sucked. It was very much work, and decidedly not fun, at times. In the end, though, when the last second ticked off the clock and the game had been won, it was ALL good. The fun was winning, period. Catching some unsuspecting quarterback and knocking him halfway into the next life was fun, gratifying and an adrenaline high. If the game was lost, however, that simply faded away.

My bench and squat goals seem to be both reasonable and attainable. I feel good about them. My DL goal is the one that is giving me fits. I looked back to some of my 1st posts and found that I had thrown out the goals of SOMEDAY being able to bench 405, squat 500 and DL 500. The 1st two are a ways off but, hopefully, still doable. I already hit the DL goal, though.

I am pleasantly surprised, thrilled and dumbfounded by the rate of progress on my deads. At some point that is going to stop, but I have no idea when. I have been thinking about setting next April (1 year since starting back heavy) as some sort of major goal for me, with shorter term markers before then. But, heck, what do I go for?? If I grind to a crawl, 550# might be a realistic goal. If I don’t slow down for a while, though, 650 might be a better goal.

In the end, they are just goals, but, as DCA pointed out, they provide focus and drive. I like to envision myself hitting that magic number. Visualizing that weight going up and what it will feel like to know that I have moved x lbs. But don’t want to set myself up for frustration by declaring a pipedream as my aim. Focus and drive…not delusion :slight_smile:

729

Deload Day-

Bench
barx1x2
95x10
135x10
185x5
205x10 - right shoulder/arm went nuts
185x10x2 - No issues at this weight

Seated Rows
160x10x3

supersets
Pushdowns - elbows in
70x10x3
DB Incline Curls
30sx10x3

Not much, but enough to keep the muscles used to the movements. The bench weights felt heavier than they have since I started back and the shoulder gave me a nice shooting pain once I hit 205#.
Maybe this is a good chance to really alter my upper body workout, de-emphasizing bench, and concentrate on lower body?

730

I havent been able to keep completely up, whats wrong with you shoulder, where does it hurt?

731

[quote]63Galaxie wrote:
I havent been able to keep completely up, whats wrong with you shoulder, where does it hurt?[/quote]

Well, the left shoulder is better than it was when I started logging. It still nags a tad on OH presses and forward raises. The issue now is my right shoulder/arm. The pain starts about 2/3 the way up, on my right medial delt and travels about 1/2 to 2/3 the way down the outside of my arm…almost (maybe it is) between the tricep and bicep. I notice it most on laterals, OH presses and bench, when the weight becomes heavy enough to employ more delts.

I felt the 1st twinges, today, at 185#. When I went to 205#, I almost didn’t finish the set. It was definitely force of will to hit those 10.

I have started doing direct bicep work, hoping that will have a positive impact. For the time being, I am really scaling back on the bench and avoiding OH presses, except with REALLY light DBs.

732

Im no Doc, but the description seems very similar to mine.

733

Yeah, lifting has to be fun, or it loses everything. I have “Like to reach goals”, but mostly train for fun.

This is just my opinion, but your deload looks a bit heavy. 205/320 is about 65%, which should be a max weight for deloading, and then to do ten reps.

Rotator cuff issues usually radiate pain to the deltoid insertion of the arm. Could be from overuse, looseness or tightness of the shoulder joint, flexibility and/or strength imbalances between the front and back of shoulder.

734

Probly so. In my case it radiated straight down my arm between my Tri/Biceps. Mostly on the inside, but the outside as well. In fact as I type this its on the outside. Straight to my elbow.

735

danjo- 205 is as high as I had planned to go. Usually the discomfort doesn’t really become an issue until 225. Of course, I normally don’t do 205. If I flare my arm at all, though, I can feel it at a much lighter weight. I am just going to have to really scale back the bench. Doing some felxibility work, as well as emphasizing work on the medial and posterior delts definitely can’t hurt. I think I will take this opportunity to throw in some different movements and literally work around the issue.

63G- that is interesting. Sitting here, I have no pain at all. I can move my shoulder all around and have no pain. A bench press, OH press or anything thing that would mimick the upright row movement (elbows out) sends twinges and pain straight down the outside. If I keep the elbows tight while pulling something up, it is okay.

Thanks for the input, Gents…

736

Yeah if I dont aggravate mine its ok. But yesterday I was learning Akedo(sp)/Jujitsu. And coming off a bench WO.

737

Question for you gents…

I just saw this in another part of T-Nation.

What really interested me were the squats (1st part of the video). I would have never guessed that those would be considered to depth. I would call that hitting the top of parallel…maybe parallel. Is this the normal required depth? Is it a matter of the federation? These particular judges?

Just wondering…

738

[quote]LittleStrick wrote:
Question for you gents…

I just saw this in another part of T-Nation.

What really interested me were the squats (1st part of the video). I would have never guessed that those would be considered to depth. I would call that hitting the top of parallel…maybe parallel. Is this the normal required depth? Is it a matter of the federation? These particular judges?

Just wondering…[/quote]

It seems, to this armchair warrior’s eye.
That all that little man’s squats were high.

739

[quote]DaCharmingAlbino wrote:
LittleStrick wrote:
Question for you gents…

I just saw this in another part of T-Nation.

What really interested me were the squats (1st part of the video). I would have never guessed that those would be considered to depth. I would call that hitting the top of parallel…maybe parallel. Is this the normal required depth? Is it a matter of the federation? These particular judges?

Just wondering…

It seems, to this armchair warrior’s eye.
That all that little man’s squats were high.
[/quote]

That was my take on it. The observation is not intended to diminish the feat, only for me to get an idea of what is and isn’t “good.”

740

Nice work LS…

I stay away from commenting on the PL stuff- I don’t compete, nor Do I understand the nuances of gear or multiply gear- I am often confused as to what is depth, legal etc.

kmc