Coming Back From the Dead

Training Over 35 Lifter
421

Lower body. Kettlebell swings, 53 lbs. 100 steps on treadmill not turned on. Three sets of each. That’s warmup.

Monolift. Ordinary bar. Resting on chains, so start rep at bottom, then squat up. Practically have to crawl to get under it.

Empty bar x 3.

95 x 3.

135 x 1.

155 x 1.

185 x 1.

205 - FAILURE. Strained with superhuman force, it wouldn’t budge.

He says “Get a belt!” I’ve never trained with belt for squat before, but first time for everything. So grab one off the wall (they got half a dozen) and fuss with it.

“That’s not a squat belt!” Gee, nice to tell me. So they hunt around for another. I get it on, firm but not suffocating.

215 x 1 - not budging. Wait - it’s moving. Moving . . . I’m up! Cheers all around.

Another try (didn’t catch weight). NO GO - it just stays there. Oh, well, happy with the first one.

Uh oh. I can’t get the thing off. Can’t seem to get it tight enough for prongs to slip out. Am I stuck with this for life? Trainer finally helps me.

Deadlift - rack pulls in power rack. Started with, I dunno, 185. Singles. 225. Got up. 275. This was my lift in the meet 2 yrs ago and I’ve been stuck at it ever since. Got it up. Good. 295. Couldn’t budge it - bolted to the floor. Very, very annoyed. Then a small girl stepped in and lifted it.

I am pissed.

Trainer wouldn’t let do anymore, so no chance to see if I could do it.

Reverse hyper with a lot of weight. Superset with leg extensions. Three sets.

Did some grip machine. One more session tomorrow, then deload.

422

Keep up the good work Cav!

423

Thanks, Hawkman. I sure hope it gets me results.

Finally - last workout before deload. Regular bench with football bar. (They have 2 - one with parallel grips, one with angled. I used the angled.) Reverse bands. Load 45 lb plates. Easy. Load more, do singles. Keep going. Did over half a dozen sets, until loaded two 45’s on each end. Puuuuuuuussssssh . . . nothing. How I long for the day I will bench 225, and without bands.

DB rows, 60 lbs. Got 13, more or less.

Incline bench with 25 lb DBs. As many as possible. Got up to 30, trainer yelling at me “You’re giving up! Don’t give up!!” Somehow, got 3 more.

Pulldown with thick bar. 120 on stack. Grind through 4, then kaput. Trainer surprised, then tells me keep doing 4 reppers. Two more sets.

Tri pulldown with thick rope. One set, then another set with EZ-curl bar. Both to failure. About 8 or 10.

Kettlebell tri extensions. Lie on back, 25 lb in each hand. Try to keep elbows steady, shoulders keep wanting to take over. Grind, grind, get 10 before they drop. He tells me go up to 35. Grab bells, bend arms down, and . . . nothing happens. Straining mightily, they just sit there. “How did you go from 10 to none?” he asks bewildered. “You tell me.” I say. I thought I’d get 3 or 4.

Curls with 25 lb DBs. Keep going, keep going . . . got to 12, was giving out, he says “Do one arm!” So one at a time, grind up to 16.

Panting, gasping, pounded. He says “You have 3 seconds to start pushups to failure.” OK. Pushups. I get all of 4 or 5, then body just stays stuck to floor. “Go to knees!” Up on knees, 3 or 4 more. God, I was in pain.

Finally, vacation.

424

Nice work, I am interested to see what happens if you stick with the belt on the squats

425

Very vivid, descriptive log. Well done.

Besides impressing the girls, high(er) rep curls are supposed to be conducive to elbow health; balancing the flexors of the elbow with the triceps/extensors and all that.

426

Thanks, Dude. Don’t know if they’ll have me belt up much more, but now that I have a taste, am definitely curious.

Hi, Punnyguy! Guess it runs in the family, my sister writes mystery novels. Were you the one asking about that? Did you get the book? How did you like it? She’s hard at work on the second one in the series.

Yeah, I get the impression they want to balance arms. As for high reps, well, I didn’t expect them to be high, but the guys don’t take no for an answer.

RUMOR ALERT * * * * I’m told that Matt (Wenning) is doing a meet soon, and is planning to bench over 600 raw. Just a rumor until I get to ask him about it.

427

Deload. Go to commercial gym, taking week off from Ludus Magnus.

Do some pullups (not chins) on assisted machine. Got to 4 reps with only 40 lbs off. Better than I expected. Well, trainer said I was improving on pulldowns.

OH press - don’t get to do these at LM. 55 lbs, hi reps. Surprisingly taxing.

Calf machine - anothing thing I don’t do at LM.

Cardio on treadmill. Crank up incline, get speed going. Wheee! Getting good at this. Ten minutes.

Want to do some wrist work. Why not Farmer’s Walk? Grab a pair of 75’s, shuffle around a bit. Try to put them back - hmmm, could be safety issues here, nearly dropping them who knows where. OK. Carry one 75 to chair, pose as if for one arm row. Hold DB. Switch hands. Keep going. Seems to be working. Funny how one 75 lb DB in one hand is tougher than a 200 lb barbell with both hands.

Eats.

428

Farmers walk is a great exercise. You will feel the effects, and the gains that they seem to bring out. I did some heavy ones last summer. I always find myself thinking why don’t I do these all the time.

429

[quote]punnyguy wrote:
Very vivid, descriptive log. Well done.
[/quote]

It is a great log, isn’t it. I started to log on another site since I’m not really lifting for now, and even though most of them do, their logs are boring as fuck, and no one is really interactive.

430

Well, Dude, I’d do more of them, but the gym can be haphazard. Have to map out a route, don’t know if someone will walk in front or what. Also leary of dropping a DB on my foot. Should ask at Ludus Magnus what they have for Farmer’s Walk.

Techno, thanks. Back when I put everything down in a log, I’d just sit down, type in log, and boom you’re done. But the LM workouts I don’t have time to write things down, so rely on memory, and I start remembering all sorts of details.

Trainer phoned and confirmed when I’m coming back to LM. He commented I’ve been gaining “by leaps and bounds”. Amazing what encouragement can do. Stopped by the commercial gym today and had a blast. Some bench, some face pulls, arm curls, side bends, OH press, seated row, wrist curl, whatever struck my fancy. Actually hated to leave.

Funny thing. Did couple sets of tri pulldown. Skinny ropes. Knobs on ends. Not at all what I got used to. Set stack higher than ever before and it still wasn’t a challenge.

It’s coming in bits and spurts, but think I’m starting to feel what normal people call “confidence”.

431

LM seems to be the thing that is working the best for you. Confidence never hurts either.

432

Good to see you are still after it. That helps me get moving too.

433

Thanks, Dude. Have been very disappointed by training before, this time seems to be working.

Hi Elaikases, don’t be a stranger.

Deload vacation over. Back to Ludus Magnus. They had a surprise: some new machines, everything moved around in different places. Gagg - it upsets my sense of security.

Upper body:

Bench 95x10 95x10 95x10 105x10 105x10 105x10 105x10 105x10 95x10 95x10

On the last few sets, the last rep was a real grinder. Trainer spotted, but didn’t touch it, came close though.

Tri extension on pulldown stack. New machine, had to grip a plastic ball, one arm at a time. These guys think of everything.

DB rows. 60 lbs is TOO DAMN MUCH!!! Had to get 12 reps, cheated the last few, rested on floor, yank up, anything.

“How’s your back feeling?” “Fine.” So he puts me on wide grip pulldown. Thick bar, angled towards me. Moderate weight. “GO!” I’m pulling, pulling, it keeps moving, up, down, up, down. Ten reps . . . 15 . . . 20 . . . 25 (hmm, slowing down, he’s yelling “keep going!”) . . . 30!!!

I sure hope that ten by ten works, cuz it wore me out.

Confirmed. Matt Wenning is competing May in full PL meet. He’s hoping to set a record in raw lifting. I wished him luck.

434

Lower body today. Trainer can’t make it, so I end up in Matt’s group. He has about a dozen guys and one gal in a group. We all take turns.

Monolift. Regular bar. No plates for me or the gal, the guys add one plate. One big dude takes 3 per side. Chains for everyone. Singles.

Empty bar. Piece of cake. One chain. Hohum. Two chains. Barely challenging.

Three. Getting hefty. Four. Get it up, but Matt points out I’m leaning forward a bit instead of using hips.

Five. Tough, but form’s a bit better.

Six. Maggie struggles, but gets it up. I WILL NOT be beaten by a woman. Grab it, suck air, arch back, down I go, and force my way up.

Seven. Maggie can’t make it. I’ll do it. A spotter on each end, with one behind to grab me (I assure you, his intentions are honorable). Grip - tense - arch - suck - bend - PUSH PUSH PUSH and I’m up!! Made it! (Say, why do my eyeballs feel like they’re oozing out of my face?)

Matt estimates weight somewhere around 250 to 280 lbs. Yay.

When everyone’s done, rack pulls. 225. Piece of cake, I thought, but something went weird, twisted and jerked to get it up. Matt says move knees forward.

Everybody else goes, then the first guy puts on 3 plates, 315 total. He gets it fine. My turn. Uh-oh, I’ve only done 275 before. Well, it’s just a rack pull. Nothing ventured, nothing gained. Grip bar hard. Arch. Suck. Tense. Pull in belly. PULL . . .

And damn if the fucking thing doesn’t just come right up and I’m standing there with it. Yay!!

Matt says slap a quarter on each end. OK. I grab, pull, and it just sits there. Well, already got a PR, I’m happy. Dizzy, head swimming, but happy.

Then use same set up for shrugs. 225 for me, 275 for others.

Finished up with a set of reverse hypers, quite a few plates.

I told Matt thanks, and we shook hands. He squeezed a little. Now I’ve noticed when a really strong guy shakes hands, he never puts pressure on because he might break something. But I think he’s treating me like I can take it. I’ll take it as a compliment.

435

That sounds all great! Hope you ate yourself in a coma after that. I hate getting beat by women too, at least you didn’t say girl.

436

LOL about the eyes oozing. great PR.

437

Hi, Techno! Yeah, I head to the kitchen and chow down. Actually, gender isn’t the problem. When you see someone half your size lifting so much, you get a BIG incentive to push harder.

Dude, thanks. Really disconcerting to feel so . . . spent on these sets. Blood pressure probably goes off the scale.

Upper body. Trainer says we do shoulders today. Good - I’m weak there.

OH press. I tell him my max is around 100. Empty bar, 10 reps. 65x5. Easy. 75x5. Good. 85x5. Getting tough. 95. Get 2 of them, almost 3, then croak. Hate being so weak. He points out though, that my 1 rep max must now over 100. Progress. I’ll take it.

Incline DB press. 30 lbs. 5 reps left arm, 5 right, lather rinse repeat. Left arm croaks after 12 reps total. Take a couple of minutes, chat a bit. Do it again. 10 reps . . . 11 . . . 12 . . . “You’ve got more!” and I did . . . 13 . . . 14 . . . croak. Why is it when I stop and chat with people, my lifts go up?

Tri pulldowns, thick rope. Keep going until can’t make 8 reps.

New pulldown machine, plate loading. He loads 1 plate per side, go to failure. I’m off. 10 reps . . . 20 . . . getting near 30. . . Then something strange happens. Behind me, one of the other guys talks with trainer. He’s more or less as strong as me, a bit more in bench. He’s about 30 or so. Been training several months like me. He’s asking if he’s got genetic barriers to getting big, so disappointed with results. If I hadn’t been in the middle of a set, would have shaken him and yelled “Fool! If anyone’s a hardgainer, it’s me! When I was your age, I had barely half your strength, and I’d busted my balls in gyms for years!!” Somehow, it gave me the strength and I cranked out 40 effing reps. My lats really felt that one.

Look, only a lab can tell you what your genetic markers are. But he’s so despondent. And I’ve been depressed over my difficulties for years . . . decades, really. So why can’t I muster any sympathy for him? Because I’m finally making gains? If I can do it, can anyone? Do I just want it more than he does?

Just musing.

438

I’m glad to see the direction your training is going.

439

Thanks, Snap.

Today’s episode: “Death March”

Plate loading hip belt squat machine. Load one 45 lb plate. (No idea what it weighs empty, but is considerable.) Squat 25 reps. Pretty easy, last rep was a little tough, but have to do 4 total sets. Hmm. Second set. Getting harder, have to struggle. Made all 25, thighs felt pumped to bursting, difficult walking. Heart palpitations - wait for it to die down. And I have to do 2 more?? Uh oh.

Third set. Taking it slower to keep heart from going beserk. Getting really, really tough. Strength draining from legs. Somehow, get all 25, but can barely crawl away. Panting like run a marathon. Lie down on bench.

Trainer: “You OK?” Oh yeah, I always turn green when I’m having fun.

Fourth set. Hook belt. Stand up. Shove safety lever. Squat. Not too hard. Five reps. Now it’s hard. Ten. Almost half there. 15. Have to pause, pant, struggle, pause, struggle. 20. Only 5 more. 22. 23. 24. 25. Push safety lever back and collapse straight to floor. Panting and retching. Slowly turn over. Grab bench and pull myself more or less up. Crawl over and collapse. Hmm, nice ceiling.

“Stiff leg DL with kettlebells!” Somehow drag out out 50 pounders and start. Made all of 2 reps. He hands me 35’s and I do a few more.

“Leg curls!” OK, push myself up, tell legs “Walk!” and legs say “Forget it, buddy.” Somehow stagger like Frankenstein’s monster and plop down on machine. Not too bad, hams weren’t too fried.

“Hyper extensions with 25 plate! Superset with leg extension!” Flop over the ledge, grab plate, up and down. Not bad. Hobble over to leg x. Usually good on this one, but thighs are FRIED - could barely move it. Do a few reps. 3 sets.

I am spent. Wasted. People have called 911 for less. It will take at least half an hour to get enough strength to drive home.

“Kettlebell swings for 1 minute, 50 pounds!” Ha ha, I know I imagined that . . . please tell me I imagined that?

Somehow pull myself to the kettlebells. Grab one of them to drag out of the way, and . . . it doesn’t move. Keep pulling. Oh well. Grab the other with both hands and get a more or less standing position. I swing all of 3 inches. Strain, push, shove. 4 inches. He takes the kettlebell and hands me the 35. Not much improvement. I do, well, something for a minute. Then I slam straight down on the bench.

Try and find anyone else who wants it this badly.

440

Now that brings new meaning to Leg Day.