Coming Back From the Dead

Training Over 35 Lifter
461

Got a ton of stuff to grade at school - take a break & get to gym. Upper body.

Warm up: pulldowns and db presses.

Bench. Thick bar on reverse bands. 155 lbs. Trainer says I’ve trained heavy, now time for volume. Do 100 reps anyway I can. Then he walks away. Wonderful. No spot. I get into it . . . not too bad, take my time . . . 10 reps, take a break . . . 12, take a break . . . another set . . . 45 reps total . . . 62 . . . 73 . . . 90 . . . A hundred! Can’t wait for the day I can do that without the bands.

Pulldowns on plate loading machine, 2 plates per side. Fail at 9. Fail at 7.

Face pulls. One hundred reps. You read right.

Tri pulldowns, thick rope. Keep upping weight until get only 8 reps.

One arm rows, 60 lb kettlebell, 30 secs. Gagg.

Band pull aparts, 30 secs.

462

Hi, Dude! Matt likes to have us do stuff that stretches spine after squats or deads. Reverse hypers, pulldowns, etc. Hanging leg raises should do good things for the vertebrae.

Matt was working out today - deload stuff. DB presses, looked like 60 lbs or so. For him, that’s deload. So he’s staying active.

463

[quote]cavalier wrote:
Got a ton of stuff to grade at school - take a break & get to gym. Upper body.

Warm up: pulldowns and db presses.

Bench. Thick bar on reverse bands. 155 lbs. Trainer says I’ve trained heavy, now time for volume. Do 100 reps anyway I can. Then he walks away. Wonderful. No spot. I get into it . . . not too bad, take my time . . . 10 reps, take a break . . . 12, take a break . . . another set . . . 45 reps total . . . 62 . . . 73 . . . 90 . . . A hundred! Can’t wait for the day I can do that without the bands.

Pulldowns on plate loading machine, 2 plates per side. Fail at 9. Fail at 7.

Face pulls. One hundred reps. You read right.

Tri pulldowns, thick rope. Keep upping weight until get only 8 reps.

One arm rows, 60 lb kettlebell, 30 secs. Gagg.

Band pull aparts, 30 secs.
[/quote]

Way to knock 'em out, Cav. 100 reps on anything would make me puke.

464

Thanks, Albino. I’m so desperate to build up after a lifetime of weakness, I’ll do anything these guys tell me to do.

Speaking of (nearly) puking, today’s workout:

Nice day out, I guessed he’d have me do unspeakable things outside, so took a beta blocker. Good idea - they had the loading door up and the tire and sled out. Three plates on sled, I drag down and up the block 3 times. Hmm . . . not wearing me out quite so much.

Hip belt squat machine. One plate, squats for 1 min. Puffing pretty hard, but got all the reps. Not so bad. “Add a quarter!” he says. So add weight and another minute. Tough, but make it. Out of breath, legs weak, but OK. “Replace the quarter with a plate!” Uh oh. I add weight, strap in, take deep breath, and . . . off I go. Down . . . up . . . down . . . up. Somehow I make it the whole minute. Going deep, too. “Time!” I drop to the floor, unhook, drag myself up, and stagger over to the boxes where I collapse. Stomach does NOT feel good . . . I cough, retch . . .

“You alright?”

“Oh, yeah. I always turn green when I’m having fun.” He laughed at that one.

After a few minutes, get up. Legs are a bit wobbly. Stiff legged DL, pair of 35 lb kettlebells. One minute per set. Bleahh. First set not bad. “Now spread your feet really wide!” That one was hard, I was surprised. Third set, back to close stance.

Wow, I’m really getting walloped. No rest for the weary - off to the leg curl and leg extension. Three supersets.

Tough workout, but here’s the thing . . . it didn’t kill me like the last one did. Conditioning must be starting to improve. “It just takes time” trainer says. Note: work your balls off and they’re your best friend.

465

Upper body.

Conventional bench, no plates, just chains. 2 chains, easy. 4, easy. OK, cut to the chase. Got up to 10 and it was rough - strained, got it up. Then he put on 2 more. I just hit my limit - I’m supposed to do that? I try, and sure enough, it just stops in mid-air, straining with everything I’ve got. He racks it. Then he has me do it again. Same thing - it doesn’t budge. He grabs it, then gives me a big lecture about attitude and aggression and psychological blocks so on. As if strength didn’t have anything to do with it.

I think what’s going on is that these guys have had much too easy in life, and really don’t believe a grown man can be as weak as me. They look at me struggle, trying and failing to get 200 up and they really think everyone can do it - I just must not want it. Or I’m a pussy. Or something.

Pulldowns, thick bar. He sets at 15 and tells me to get as many as possible. I get it halfway down and it comes to a halt, I strain, pull, everything I got, nothing. Let it go. Tell him I got one half rep. He’s baffled. I couldn’t be that weak! So he sets it to 10 and I do 3 sets of 9 and 8. Failure each time.

He puts me on the cable machine. Face pulls, 100 reps, however long it takes. It takes about 7 sets, but I do it.

Tri extensions, lying on bench, 15 lb DBs. 100 reps, however long it takes. Takes a while, but I do it.

Workout may have done me some good, but was pretty depressing.

466

Monday had a terrific night’s sleep and felt great all day. Tuesday, back to normal. If I had the medical insurance, would check into a hospital - this manic depressive shit is wearing me out.

Lower body. Trainer had me take the sled for a ride. 135 lbs, 3 trips down the block and back. OK, now this is odd. Lungs pretty much keeping up, but legs starting out strong, zipping down the sidewalk, then legs turn to rubber and barely make it back. Good sign maybe?

Deadlifts. Great, it’s been weeks. 185 lbs. Five by five. “Chest up! Chest up!!!” Knock them out. Not tough, but out of breath. Then load another 40 lbs for 225. Do a single. I really hope he was checking for form, I could have done more. But he had the kid working in, maybe he couldn’t take more weight.

Leg curls supersetted with hypers, 3 circuits. Set curl machine same as before - whoa! Weight’s flying up! Got 10 reps without sweating (I tell a lie, it was hot in there). No plate on hyper, grind through 30 reps. Next set, could barely budge leg curl - must have used up reserves. Hypers were tough, too. Third set, set leg curl down, knock out reps. Took deep breath for hypers.

Another guy was using hypers. About my age, but really struggling. Could barely get half a dozen. Somehow it really inspired me, I started thinking of how far I’d come. I got on and started swing up and down like crazy. Got 25 reps before decided to stop.

Whew! What a workout! Wait - trainer wants more? That’s right. Two more trips up and down the block with sled.

Backwards.

I’m telling you. Not only was I pooped, but quads were on the verge of cramping. Who need leg extensions?

Note: they run the place like Metroflex. They open the doors and have a big fan blast air through the place. Better start looking for a bigger water bottle.

467

Walked into the gym and it was empty. “Hey, where is everyone?” “They’re at Matt’s meet.” That was today? Shows where I’ve been.

Upper body. Warmup with 4 sets pulldowns and 4 DB press, 20 lb, 25 reps.

Bench. Regular bar. 80 lbs chains. I go for max effort, training partner doing same weight for speed triples. Empty bar OK. 10 lb plates OK. Going up. Finally get to 35 each side. Weight comes down too fast, hits chest, throws off everything. Try again. Some more control, I get up more or less. Well, they keep telling me to get it down fast.

Incline bench. 45 lb DBs. Almost croak on first rep, struggle mightly, get a few more up, partner helps on last couple of reps. God, I just seem so weak.

Pulldowns and face pulls and band pullaparts, all supersetted. Five sets.

Tri pulldowns, 3 sets.

I express my disappointment, trainer assures me I’m getting stronger. Nice of him.

468

Matt did third in the overall. Didn’t get specific numbers. He says they didn’t have monolift, so he had to walk it out, which he isn’t used to. Also, very strict judging.

Gorgeous. Sunny. Clear. About 70. So - natch - it’s conditioning day.

Sled up and down block. Two plates. Two trips. Three plates. Two more trips. Four plates. One more trip.

And that’s just getting warmed up.

Tire flip - the BIG one. I’m guessing 400 lbs. Five flips. Get fingers under (how? there’s no space), lift, get under, (grunt), push. Gasp, gasp. Wait a bit, then 5 more flips back. I’m wiped out.

The sledgehammer. Whack the damn thing 20 times each hand. No problem, I’m really hating it. Wham, wham, wham.

But wait - there’s more.

He brings out the prowler. First time I’ve tried one. One 45 plate, two 10 lb. Looks easy (famous last words). Grab handles, crouch, away I go. Turn around, wait 30 secs. It’s barely enough, I’m panting something awful. Now push it back. Getting harder. Get halfway, then bamm - it takes root and stops. I’m pushing, nothing. Pull it a bit, then push - that seems to help. Another 30 secs, barely enough to recover. Push it back - really hard, but I really crouch, seems to work. Get down there, another 30 secs. Then push back. Seems to take forever, but I make it.

Call . . . police . . . someone . . . pumping . . . oxygen . . . out of . . . the street.

After I catch my breath, trainer has me finish up with 2 sets of abs.

Remarkable - I’m not buried by all this. Didn’t collapse on the floor or anything. Think I’m getting used to this.

469

Pain,Pain,Pain sounds like fun Cav, I built a prowler last year. They are fun, but its a big bite of humble pie. The wife was commenting the other day about all the exercise equipment laying around the garage. I don’t want to get rid of any of it but I can see her point, its beginning to look like a boot camp around our yard. I am going to go full tilt landscaping in the next week and wont stop til july. Won’t be posting much. Carry on Cav

470

[quote]cavalier wrote:
Thirty eight fucking years of hard, hard training with weights . . . and I’m still not as strong as a 14 yr old.
[/quote]

Challenge him to something you’re guaranteed to win…like a masturbating contest…no…wait…

471

Dude, I can see how all the equipment can pile up. Will be missing you.

Wow, Sen, you’re a regular Norman Vincent Peale. Actually, if I were just 15 yrs younger, I’d probably shock the poor kid.

Upper body.

Regular bench with bands. Singles Empty bar, easy. 10 lbs on each side, no problem. 20 lbs, fine. 30 lbs, still going. 40, tough but made it. 50, strain, push, shove . . . it stops halfway up. Dirty words. So that was 145 plus whatever the bands.

Circuit: lat pulldowns, then straight arm pulldowns, then band pullaparts. Three cycles.

Tricep. Pushdown to failure. Then reverse grip pushdown. Then thick rope extensions. Then one arm extensions.

Finish up with DB curls for one minute.

Workout actually felt pretty good, only got tough near the end. I think the conditioning is kicking in.

OK. Last day of classes. A ton of grading to do. Then - contract over. Got signed up to teach one class this summer (web design). Maybe some tutoring. Can’t live on that kind of money. Another instructor will see if he can get me some part time work with a local graphics agency. Fingers are crossed.

472

Lower body today. Radio was loud, as usual. Trainer told me to warm up with sledge. So I pulled the tire out, grabbed the sledgehammer, and started whacking. A minute later, he walks up. “What are you doing?” “You told me to do sledge.” “I said SLED!!!” “Well, I can’t hear you over that noise.”

So I get one of the sleds. Four plates. No problem. I take off down the block, kinda fast actually. Turn around, come back. Catch my breath, another run. Panting, then another one. Damn, I may be getting better at this. I was actually jogging during part of it. Out of breath, but didn’t hit the floor.

Deadlift. Singles. Start with 95. So easy. Add 50. Easy. Another 50. It’s OK. Work up to 235. A bit tough, strangely, but get it up. Add 20. Wait a few minutes. Then grab, pull, and . . . it stays right where it is. Like pulling a mountain. I’m disappointed.

Shit. Two years ago, pull 275 in contest. Two years later, busting my butt training, and . . . no improvement. Trainer tries to console me, telling me I’m having a bad day, it’s actually an improvement for me . . . somehow. Whatever. I appreciate the effort.

Hip belt squat machine. Two plates plus heavy carriage. Five sets of 10 . . . pause at bottom on bench. First set . . . very tough. Last few reps were absolute max efforts, grinding at it. He takes weight down a little. 2nd set, better. Rest. Third set, OK. Rest. Oh wait - he wants ANOTHER TWO SETS??? Oh, yeah. Do the 4th set. Getting tough, but OK. Legs getting pumped. Fifth set. Uh - oh . . . hit failure halfway through. Finish the set by not pausing at bottom, just down and up. He’s not even watching, so I get away with it. (Is it normal for trainers to walk away when you’re working?)

At least I’m not flattened. Still walking around. This conditioning thing might actually be working.

Leg curls, supersetted with abs. A bit stronger. If only I can get that to my deadlift.

473

Chasing the weight can be frustrating alright, but you already know that, but that sled(ge) story cracked me up. Hope the teaching jobs come rolling in for you.

474

Thanks, Techno. Yeah, it’s mighty frustrating to slug at it year after year and wondering if something’s working. Curious about deadlift, they never have me do high reps for that, 5 at most, so what’s supposed to increase it? Assistance exercises?

Upper body. High volume.

30 lb DBs, bench press. 100 reps over 10 sets.

Lat pulldowns, setting 10 (100 lbs?). 100 reps.

Tri extensions. 100 reps.

Three sets of DB curls, each go for 30 secs. 15 lbs light, no challenge. 20 lbs tough, did them but don’t know if form was off. Trainer was off doing bench press, stripping down, pulling on shirt, benching, working with other guys. I almost had to slap him to get his attention. Even then, it was “Hundred reps tri, whatever exercise you like”.

Anybody else have a trainer that just wanders off and you have to hunt him down?

475

Been really hungry past couple of days and eating like crazy. Felt pretty good today. Stepped on the scale and it said I LOST weight. God, how can anyone have trouble dieting?

Lower body. Gorgeous day. Sunny . . . 72 Fahrenheit . . . gentle breeze.

Trainer had me take sled with 4 plates and trot up and down the block 3 times. I’m getting a little faster.

Squat. Monolift. Sit on box. Bands - I estimate at least 50 lbs at top, maybe more. Singles. Down and up - easy. Put on 10’s, easy too. OK, cut to the chase. We work up to 45 on each side. I get down, give it the gas, it hesitates, then comes right up. Yeah. Turns out it was a 60 lb bar. Total over 200 lbs. Felt in good control.

Deadlift. They have 225 lbs of plates & bar, chains on top. I try - unnnnggggghhhhhhh. They take off a couple chains, leaving one each side. “Get a belt!” OK, get one off the wall, fuss with it. Can’t get it tight enough on my own, he has to help. Grab bar, inhale, shove belly against belt, tighten, pull. Up it comes. Yeah. Four more singles, 2 minutes apart. Each one tough, but I just pull it up. So glad when it’s over - that belt is really bothersome.

Well, guess I broke through that irritating block from last time. About the same weight, maybe bit more, but did each rep OK.

Leg curl! Extension! (with 45 lb plate) Leg extension! Three supersets! Go to it!

Whew, I’m worn out. Surely that must be the end?

Nah.

Maybe he’s bugged because I keep interrupting his chatting with other guys? Hello, remember me, the guy paying you big bucks to train me? When I finally get his attention, he tells me to take the sled for one more trip.

With 6 plates.

Grinding through it. Moving . . . getting caught . . . pull it out . . . keep going. I make it. Unfortunately, I ran through a patch of fresh asphalt and got gunk all over the thing. I was going to tell trainer, but he was busy yakking with someone else, so I’ll let him find out.

476

Well, I found out that Trainer can be very friendly with me and pay attention . . . as long as I’m the only other person in the gym. Got there, he was the only one. Over the next hour, a few more guys trickled in, but for a while I got his attention. He even set the radio for 70’s pop music - that was sweet of him.

Bench. On floor. In power rack, bar resting a foot off the floor. Push up from dead stop. Empty bar, whoosh. 25s on each end, going up. Switch with plates for 135 total. Tough, but go up. 140. Tense, grit, up it goes. 145. Plow into it, goes up. 150. Focus everything, it sticks some but goes up. 155 - NO GO. Strain, shove, shake - what, it’s still in my face? End of exercise.

Those are pounds, BTW, not kilos.

Pulldowns to failure. First set, 17 reps. Second set, 15. Third, 12. Really grinding at it.

DB Press. 35 lbs for one minute.

Tri pressdown. Three sets to failure, or close enough considering how wasted I’m getting.

DB shrugs. Shrugs??? Been ages since I did those. 35 lbs for one minute. I grind through, somehow. Whoa - my traps are BURNING. Good stuff. Wait - another set??? OK, I struggle through those.

Arm curls for one minute. 20 lbs. God, my arms just give out - all I can do are partials, and barely those.

Band pullparts, three sets, 20 reps. Gaggggggggg. I make it, but.

Trainer’s going to the meet in Baton Rouge in couple of weeks.

477

Conditioning day. Boy, am I glad I took my beta blocker.

Sled. Three trips up and down the block. First trip, 3 plates. Yawn. Second, 4 plates. Whipping that baby along. Third, 5 plates. Not bad, actually. I pull up out of breath but jogging instead of walking. Made it look too easy - Trainer thought I wasn’t working hard enough. So naturally, he had me throw on another plate and do another trip. Blechhhh.

Next - sledge hammer on tire. This time he really said “sledge” (see previous post). 20 swings each hand. Three sets. Gaggg. Wearing me out, resting between sets, but doing them.

They have big fans on the floor to shove air through the gym. Stand in front of one - aaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhh. Guzzle water, get air blast, repeat, two, three, four.

Time for the grand finale.

Trainer tells me to roll tire across street to field. “Do you see that small brick building?” He points to a tiny brown smudge off on the horizon. “Flip the tire there and back.”

I started retching just thinking about it.

Thankfully, it was the small tire. Not much to flip it, but I was worn out. Flip . . . . flip . . . flip . . . didn’t seem to be making progress. I stopped and leaned on the tire to rest. “KEEP GOING, CAV!!!” Great - the one time I’m counting on him to go away and not pay attention . . .

I keep flipping. And flipping. And flipping. Really think I’m going to croak/barf/heat rash any minute. FINALLY get the damn thing to the brick shed. Sit down and rest. Finally stand up and start flipping it back. Flip. Flip. Flip. Flip. Flip . . . Do I get bonus points for avoiding the doggie do? Oops - well, never mind.

A few hours later (it seemed) reached the sidewalk. Trainer waiting for me. “This’ll get you strong!” If you say so.

I must have spent about 20 minutes in front of the fan, was just burning up. And it’s not even summer yet. Boy, am I screwed.

(So where’s this runner’s high I hear so much about? Sure wish some endorphins would kick in.)

478

Felt pretty good the next day from the conditioning. Well, forearms had DOMS from fingers gripping the tire. General beat up feeling in joints. But overall flush of goodness.

Upper body today. Barbell loaded with kettlebells on chains. They hit floor on bottom part of bench, but add 30 lbs halfway up. Takes a bit to get used to it. Add 10 lb plates, do a triple. No problem. Two more 10 lb plates. OK. Two more. Just a single - it’s fine. Two more. Suck breath, arch back, tense everything, and it comes up. Trainer spotting, but swears he didn’t help. Total weight - 165. Maybe, just maybe, it was a bit easier than last time I did 165. Strength is crawling up very slowly, I hope.

Overhead press, 35 lb DBs. I grind them up twice, then kaput - they just sit there. Trainer says “That’s shit”, and switches me to 20’s. I get 22 reps.

Superset. Face pulls, straight arm pulldowns, tri pressdowns. All with thick rope. Don’t think I can even use normal grips anymore, so used to this thick stuff. Three supersets.

One arm DB rows. 50 lbs, one minute. Well, that was the plan. Got 30 secs worth and then weight just stayed there - giving it 200% and nothing. Same with other hand. God, I hate this.

Band pullaparts, 30 secs. Three sets. Seem to be getting better at this one.

Shrugs. 35 lb DBs. Get about 20 reps, I think.

Tri extension, 15 lb DBs. Made 30 secs worth, then pitooee.

Lat raises, 8 lb DBs, one minute. Made it, barely.

A bit extra shoulder work this time, trainer seems to mix and match.

479

Just stoppin in NIIIIIICE work Cav. I been working to much , will stop by again soon , keep up the pace.

480

Howdy!

[quote]cavalier wrote:
Great - the one time I’m counting on him to go away and not pay attention . . .
[/quote]
:slight_smile:

[quote]cavalier wrote:
(So where’s this runner’s high I hear so much about? Sure wish some endorphins would kick in.)

[/quote]

God I miss the high’s so much!