Embarrassed Guy Log

Training Over 35 Lifter
101

[quote]sfp wrote:
Thanks, Carl. I follow your log religiously. I wish I had your oly-lifting ability.

Also, as far things go, I’m not into traditional powerlifting per se. I just want to get stronger. In fact, I don’t squat at all like a powerlifter (obviously, right? I don’t squat like much of anything…), I try for more of a traditional oly squat. Not hitting that very well either, though, so if you have any advice, I’m all ears.

[/quote]

I can relate to that. I want strength and power in my legs. I don’t want to get side tracked or end up trying to do to many sports at once. I do like free weight squats but I find machine squats give me more control over my workouts.

I can go slower, explode with far more force and focus more on individual muscle groups. That’s my story and I’m sticking to it!

102

[quote]streamline wrote:
Kind of places a limit on your life style.[/quote]

You can say that again Brother! Yeah its a combination of birth defects/injuries. Im not so sure, well Im sure Ill never be right.
Thats why Im decent at upper body, and suck at lower.

103

Galaxie, you’re really beginning to leave me without excuses for my own poor performance.

104

There is no way I would call what your doing a poor performance. You are a strong guy.

105

Had to move lots of boxes and stuff up stairs and around the house. I’m calling this my GPP day. Tomorrow is full body.

I’m beat!

106

The combination of yesterday’s activities and getting up at 3:30 to drive my wife to airport really had me wiped from the start. Then, I got in some good NEPA at the Walmart super center shopping with my son. I had a big lunch, then went to the gym when my oldest got home:

Squat variations/bench superset

Bench: 45x15 warmup, 135x6 warmup, 185x3, 205x2, 225x1x3

Back squats: BWx15, 135x8, 225x5, 275x2, 295x1, 315x1

High box squats: 295x3x2 (thought this was 275, so I felt pretty good when I learned otherwise. This was done on a bench, probably 16", probably not quite 2" above parallel)
Low box squats: 225x3, 245x3 (done on a stake of 6 plates, probably 12", or a bit below parallel)

Rack pull/Leg press superset
Rack pull: 225x8, 315x5, 405x2, 365x2x2
Leg press: 5 plates x 10, 8 plates x 10, 10 plates x 10

Found out my right hand supinated grip is weaker than the pronated grip. That bothers me, and I don’t think that used to be the case. Wonder why…

GHR/Chin-Pull superset

GHR: BWx10x3
Chins/Pull-ups: BWx12 (chins), BWx10 (neutral grip pull-ups), BWx10 (chins)

That was all I had time for, and I had to go back to cook dinner for the brood. Finished up with an hour more of NEPA at Cub Scouts with my son.

My form on the box squats wasn’t as bad as I had feared they would be, it was so long since I had done them. I also focused on keeping the bar lower, which I found difficult. I at first had it resting on my outer shoulders (rather than at the top of my traps), and that was just painful. I moved it up a tad to sit at the bottom of the traps, which was still painful, but not as bad. Between that and making sure my elbows stayed down, I was surprised how different it felt, but I do think it helped the bar stay on a better arc on the way down (per Meat’s suggestion). Definitely be doing more box squats.

107

Thats a lot of work. No kiddin. I hate box squats. How ever, they do work.

108

[quote]sfp wrote:
The combination of yesterday’s activities and getting up at 3:30 to drive my wife to airport really had me wiped from the start. Then, I got in some good NEPA at the Walmart super center shopping with my son. I had a big lunch, then went to the gym when my oldest got home:

Squat variations/bench superset

Bench: 45x15 warmup, 135x6 warmup, 185x3, 205x2, 225x1x3

Back squats: BWx15, 135x8, 225x5, 275x2, 295x1, 315x1

High box squats: 295x3x2 (thought this was 275, so I felt pretty good when I learned otherwise. This was done on a bench, probably 16", probably not quite 2" above parallel)
Low box squats: 225x3, 245x3 (done on a stake of 6 plates, probably 12", or a bit below parallel)

[/quote]

Nice work there. The lower they are the tougher.

Same for me until I got my neck and upper back chiro’d.

good Chins there

[quote]

That was all I had time for, and I had to go back to cook dinner for the brood. Finished up with an hour more of NEPA at Cub Scouts with my son.

My form on the box squats wasn’t as bad as I had feared they would be, it was so long since I had done them. I also focused on keeping the bar lower, which I found difficult. I at first had it resting on my outer shoulders (rather than at the top of my traps), and that was just painful. I moved it up a tad to sit at the bottom of the traps, which was still painful, but not as bad. Between that and making sure my elbows stayed down, I was surprised how different it felt, but I do think it helped the bar stay on a better arc on the way down (per Meat’s suggestion). Definitely be doing more box squats.[/quote]

109

Thanks y’all. I felt really sluggish today going into the gym, and debated going at all, figuring a a day of recup might be good. But, I did it.

I just did some minor ab stuff, weighted decline crunches, face pulls, hanging leg raises, and then moved on to cleans, which I told myself I definitely wouldn’t do.

Glad I did. Started out with 115, which felt really light. Bumped it up 10, then to 135, and finished with 145. Also did a few snatch grip high pulls (originally intended to do snatches, but was too worn out).

Up until recently, tendonitis in my right arm kept me from doing cleans (which I think helped aggravate the problem). Right arm got better, so I started doing them again. Now I’ve got tendonitis in the left arm, but cleans don’t bother me as much, because I think my form has improved. Much tighter in the shoulders and arms on the first pull, and I try not to jerk it up with my arms period (which I tended to do before). High pulls have also helped. I’ll have to follow Professor Darby’s daily seminar to really begin to improve, though…

Time to go pick up the youngest from pre-school. And more GPP tonight with Special Olympics soccer.

110

[quote]63Galaxie wrote:
Thats a lot of work. No kiddin. I hate box squats. How ever, they do work.[/quote]

Just trying to keep up with you!

111

[quote]skidmark wrote:
sfp wrote:
Found out my right hand supinated grip is weaker than the pronated grip. That bothers me, and I don’t think that used to be the case. Wonder why…

Same for me until I got my neck and upper back chiro’d.
[/quote]

Got to go do this.

112

Today was DE lower body day, but 16" box squats felt really good last week at 295, so I decided to see what I could do on them:

16" box squats (bit above parallel):
BW x 15 warmup, 135x8, 225x5 (these were regular back squats)
295x3, 315x3 (still feeling good at this point), 335x2x2

Most I’ve ever squatted that low. I think I could have gotten 10 or 20 more (lbs not reps), but it was DE day after all…

Front squat/kneeling box jump superset
Front squat: 135x8, 185x5, 205x2x2
KBJ: BWx5, BWx5, BWx4

Snatch grip DL on 2 plates/GHR superset
SGDL: 135x8, 185x5, 225x2
GHR: BWx10x3

Jump squat/Single leg donkey calf raise superset
JS: 135x15x3
Calf Raise: BW+90x15x3

Very happy with the 335 on the box squats. Not yet to parallel, but it seemed like a big leap, and I’ll try some more/go deeper next week. All in all, a good day. And kite flying GPP (can I count that?) afterward with my youngest. He’s been waiting a while for that.

113

Wellll, I cant do that. No way no how.
Outstanding.

114

Awesome work. Well done on the 335, keep given’r shit.

115

[quote]63Galaxie wrote:
Wellll, I cant do that. No way no how.
Outstanding.[/quote]

Sure. I’ve been following your log, and know you do more!

Thanks for the kind words, though.

116

Maybe its just the horror of the box that scares the poop out of me, but I can tell you the heaviest Ive ever gone on a box squat is 225. That was just below the mark.

117

[quote]sfp wrote:
Today was DE lower body day, but 16" box squats felt really good last week at 295, so I decided to see what I could do on them:

16" box squats (bit above parallel):
BW x 15 warmup, 135x8, 225x5 (these were regular back squats)
295x3, 315x3 (still feeling good at this point), 335x2x2

Most I’ve ever squatted that low. I think I could have gotten 10 or 20 more (lbs not reps), but it was DE day after all…

Front squat/kneeling box jump superset
Front squat: 135x8, 185x5, 205x2x2
KBJ: BWx5, BWx5, BWx4

Snatch grip DL on 2 plates/GHR superset
SGDL: 135x8, 185x5, 225x2
GHR: BWx10x3

Jump squat/Single leg donkey calf raise superset
JS: 135x15x3
Calf Raise: BW+90x15x3

Very happy with the 335 on the box squats. Not yet to parallel, but it seemed like a big leap, and I’ll try some more/go deeper next week. All in all, a good day. And kite flying GPP (can I count that?) afterward with my youngest. He’s been waiting a while for that.[/quote]

I like to fly kites too!Nice work on the box squats.Keep hammering away you are gonna make the gains.

118

Thanks JimmyT. Nice day today…DE upper

Bench/High pull superset

Bench: 135x10, 155x10x3
High pulls: 135x3, 155x3x4

High pulls really felt great, and I was getting much better height than I have in the past.

Floor press (alternating grips)/Chins superset

FP: 135x10 (NG), 185x4 (MG), 185x5 (WG), 185x2 (NG), 135x12 (NG)
Chins: BWx6 (towels both hands), BWx5x2 (towel one hand each), BWx2, BWx10 (towels both hands on first, then immediately switched to regular chins), BWx5x2 (alternating again), BWx2, BWx10 (same as before)

First time I’ve ever tried towels in both hands, and it really exposed how much I need to improve my grip. First set was OK, but then the next couple just really beat me up.

Dips, DB rows superset
Dips: BWx10, BWx12x2 (first set was palms out, rest were neutral)
DB rows: 105x10, 105x12x2

Arms circuit:
Windmill curls: 50x8, 50x10x2
Tates: 40x10x3
Incline curls: 35x5, 35x7x2
Supine cable triceps extension: 70x15, 90x12, 100x10

And more kite flying later on today…

119

[quote]63Galaxie wrote:
Maybe its just the horror of the box that scares the poop out of me, but I can tell you the heaviest Ive ever gone on a box squat is 225. That was just below the mark. [/quote]

Interesting. For me it’s just the opposite. Psychologically, squats are tough. In the back of my mind I think “what if I can’t come out of the hole?” With box squats on the other hand, knowing there’s a box on the bottom, and that it will give me a chance to set everything up just right, somehow just feels easier. A bit of a security blanket. That’s something I really need to overcome, though. On the other hand, knowing I can bring the weight up with a box will make it that much easier to do it without.

That’s what I’m hoping anyway. You’re probably just much more mentally tough than I!

120

I dont think so. The prob I have with the box is once I hit neutral I cant get started again. I think it is hard on everyone, more so on me because of my problems.