Fortune Favors the Bold

Training Over 35 Lifter
181

Okay…am I the only one who gets stressed about the money sets?

For instance, with the 315 on bench (Sunday). I woke up and knew that there were certain markers that this set could hit. 4 reps would have been a PR. 5 reps was a short term goal that I had identified.

8 reps is a big goal that I have set for myself. Which one would I get? Would I be happy with 4 reps? What if I don’t even get a PR? What if I get to 7 and I am soooooo close to hitting that HUGE (to me) number 8?

I stressed about it the whole damned day, right up until I unracked. And I mean, at times, my stomach was tense, when pondering it.

Today has been the same way. 205 on Military Press. 8 will be a PR. But I REALLY want 10. 12 would be awesome beyond words. Am I too tired, with it being the last workout before deload? Will the fact that I am sick hinder me? What about the meds I have taken? I get stressed when I think about it.

Anyone else go through this? Or do I just need to get a life. And, yes, I acknowledge that maybe I think about this stuff too much.

182

ummm - I’d go with choice b!

I’ve enough stress in my life without letting my recreation stress me. I try to not even look back at my previous marks until after I lift. What I have been doing since lowering my training max is to try to match the reps from the 5’s week on the 3’s week and get as close as possible on the 5-3-1 week, without stressing over it.

183

[quote]soldog wrote:
ummm - I’d go with choice b!

I’ve enough stress in my life without letting my recreation stress me. I try to not even look back at my previous marks until after I lift. What I have been doing since lowering my training max is to try to match the reps from the 5’s week on the 3’s week and get as close as possible on the 5-3-1 week, without stressing over it.[/quote]

That’s a very good point. If I have the time to worry over it, I must not have too much to bitch about in life. Of course, part of my Aspie nature is to hyperfocus. It usually bounces between finances and weights.

184

Along the same lines, though. I use my lifting, besides just a desire to be stronger, for fun, stress relief and the high I get from progressing. Not progressing kind of neutralizes part of what I am deriving from it.

If I had gotten 315 only 2 times, I would have been pissed and in a bad mood. My workout would have failed to provide a portion of what I do it for.

185

Lifting, even though a hobby, has become a big part of your life. So not surprising you think about it outside the gym. I get anxious before workouts sometimes. Especially high rep squat and deadlift workouts.

186

[quote]ecogenx wrote:
Lifting, even though a hobby, has become a big part of your life. So not surprising you think about it outside the gym. I get anxious before workouts sometimes. Especially high rep squat and deadlift workouts.[/quote]

I don’t find any of that odd at all. Days when I’m pushing for more, I think about it the week before. Like last Sunday when I knew I’d be trying to double 325, I planned my warm ups carefully and could feel the stress and anticipation. I think that is what pushes you on farther and makes you achieve more.

If you have a laissez faire attitude, your results will reflect that. I know for some, they don’t like to add stress to their lives by adding it to their hobby but for me, the success I get from my sport, translates into other aspects of my life giving confidence.

187

Yeah, I do something similar on the 5/3/1 money sets. Before I go in, I’ve already figured out a number that I will not be disappointed with, a number that will make me happy, and one if I get, then even the crack of dawn will have to careful when I’m around.

I can’t say that I stress about it, but I do spend entirely too much time thinking about it. I have speadsheets with graphs of estimated maxes and linear regressions showing rate of strength gain that I spend a lot of time fooling with.

188

Cycle 1 / Week 3 / Day 3 - Military Press

Despite my eerie obsession with working out and unnecessary stress, I declare it a good workout…congestion and medicine head aside.

Dislocatesx10x2
Windmillsx10x2
Static Strtching
Foam Rolling

Military Press
barx15
95x10
135x5
working sets
165x5
185x3
205x11 - PR +4 Reps … 1 more than I had hoped for … and boy do I need some core work!

225x1x2 - couple of heavies to usher in the deload - these were a bear, after the money set

BB Shrugs
315x15x2 - no straps, but barely held on for 15 on the 2nd set
405x15x2 - straps, and barely got 15 on the 2nd set…fatigued traps

Supersets - DB Laterals and Bent Over Rear Delt Raises
Laterals
35x10x3

Rear Delt Raises
35x10x3

No direct bicep or tricep work

Deload begins…NOW!

189

Great job and excellent music selection. See, stress sometimes helps you focus.

190

[quote]ouroboro_s wrote:

[quote]ecogenx wrote:
Lifting, even though a hobby, has become a big part of your life. So not surprising you think about it outside the gym. I get anxious before workouts sometimes. Especially high rep squat and deadlift workouts.[/quote]

I don’t find any of that odd at all. Days when I’m pushing for more, I think about it the week before. Like last Sunday when I knew I’d be trying to double 325, I planned my warm ups carefully and could feel the stress and anticipation. I think that is what pushes you on farther and makes you achieve more.

If you have a laissez faire attitude, your results will reflect that. I know for some, they don’t like to add stress to their lives by adding it to their hobby but for me, the success I get from my sport, translates into other aspects of my life giving confidence.[/quote]

Steve, that is very true. I wouldn’t even call it a hobby. Even though I don’t compete, it is much more than that.

Julie (that is correct, right?), I think you hit the nail on the head. I see it much like my football days. I put in the hours. Practiced/played when sick. Suffered through the setbacks and injuries. Just playing isn’t enough. I am in it to win. And to me, progression is winning.

For a non-competitor, I take this very seriously and think it very important. If I just wanted a hobby that didn’t matter, I would go fishing. (No offense to those who see fishing this way) But that is part of my wiring. I, sometimes unfortuantely, don’t know how to do things like this just for fun.

It is fun, but a whole lot more. As my wife likes to say, “You have two speeds…all out and stop.” And I admit that can be a pain in the ass. BUT, it does provide a near insatiable drive.

Okay, Carl. You have me licked. I do use mj’s spreadsheet and have a sheet for recording maxes of weights and reps. But graphs of linear what? lol

And I should clarify. I am not stressed to the point that I can’t do other things. But if I have idle time, that is where my mind goes.

191

[quote]ouroboro_s wrote:
Great job and excellent music selection. See, stress sometimes helps you focus.[/quote]

Yeah. I am not into Death metal, but I can’t pull any energy from the classics. I prefer music that is somewhat raw, frantic, emotionally charged, but not quite demonic…lol.

Of course, when the grunting and cursing was over, the wife and I introduced our kids to Fleetwood Mac. And they actually liked it!

192

[quote]LittleStrick wrote:

[quote]ouroboro_s wrote:
Great job and excellent music selection. See, stress sometimes helps you focus.[/quote]

Yeah. I am not into Death metal, but I can’t pull any energy from the classics. I prefer music that is somewhat raw, frantic, emotionally charged, but not quite demonic…lol.

Of course, when the grunting and cursing was over, the wife and I introduced our kids to Fleetwood Mac. And they actually liked it![/quote]

Mine actually like The Beatles, The Who, Zepplin, etc. These are the same ones who also listen to just about everything currently put out, from metal to hip-hop. They are alot more eclectic than I was at that age. However, because of them, I have a whole new list of metal bands to listen to. That’s my favorite lifting music.

193

[quote]ouroboro_s wrote:

If you have a laissez faire attitude, your results will reflect that. I know for some, they don’t like to add stress to their lives by adding it to their hobby but for me, the success I get from my sport, translates into other aspects of my life giving confidence.[/quote]

I’m gonna go with this. You get out what you put in. We want more out of what we do so we put more into it…ie planning our training, anticipating, setting goals, Breaking PR’s, etc. Without these, we tend to just become another hamster in a wheel. Of course, at our age, we tend to know how to keep it in perspective.

194

Strick- helluva of millie session, WOW!!

195

Nice millies! Looks like the overthinking really helpped! You are a damn strong, snotty, rascal. Hope the cold sinus thing dries up soon.

196

[quote]ruglayer09052000 wrote:

[quote]ouroboro_s wrote:

If you have a laissez faire attitude, your results will reflect that. I know for some, they don’t like to add stress to their lives by adding it to their hobby but for me, the success I get from my sport, translates into other aspects of my life giving confidence.[/quote]

I’m gonna go with this. You get out what you put in. We want more out of what we do so we put more into it…ie planning our training, anticipating, setting goals, Breaking PR’s, etc. Without these, we tend to just become another hamster in a wheel. Of course, at our age, we tend to know how to keep it in perspective.[/quote]

Yeah, I am too old to bother about things that don’t matter. If it doesn’t matter, why do it? If it does matter, get after it.

197

Thanks OG, Wilson. I think I am starting to round the corner on the sinus stuff.

On another note, the money set, on millies, put my estimated 1RM at 280#. Yet another “lol” moment.
I got online and found a page that had 3 1Rm calculators on it. The results were the same as Wendler’s…and up!?

I’m sorry, but I can’t be that much of a mutant.
Do I think I can break my current millie max of 250#? Sure. By 30#? Hell no. Same with Bench…estimated 388-389#. Am I better than my current max? Sure. 45# better? Only if I do it as a 3 board press.

I guess nothing can really replace just putting the weight on the bar and going for it.

198

Birthday bash is over!! Well, almost.
My little girl’s 9th birthday party went well. We had just over a dozen kids here. Lots of games…egg carrying (and breaking), balloon popping, marshmallow eating, pin the fang on the vampire (my daughter is a Twilight disciple) and we finished up with a pinata. They had a blast.
The best part was, we then got rid of most of them. Three of the girls spent the night and should be departing before lunch.
We had to finally shut them down about 12:30, as our daughter’s room is directly above ours.

Today is her actual birthday. It is also Mrs. Strick’s birthday. Not much planned. I think some R&R, after yesterday, will be Mrs. Strick’s best present.

Bench deload a bit later today.

199

When I’m lifitng to music I listen to Alice in Chains, The Dead Kennedys, some of the harder Metallica, Ministry, Theory of a Dead Man, Danzig, NWA, Linkin Park, Rage Against the Machine, and surprisingly enought the soundtrack to Last of the Mochicans.

200

[quote]ruglayer09052000 wrote:

[quote]LittleStrick wrote:

[quote]ouroboro_s wrote:
Great job and excellent music selection. See, stress sometimes helps you focus.[/quote]

Yeah. I am not into Death metal, but I can’t pull any energy from the classics. I prefer music that is somewhat raw, frantic, emotionally charged, but not quite demonic…lol.

Of course, when the grunting and cursing was over, the wife and I introduced our kids to Fleetwood Mac. And they actually liked it![/quote]

Mine actually like The Beatles, The Who, Zepplin, etc. These are the same ones who also listen to just about everything currently put out, from metal to hip-hop. They are alot more eclectic than I was at that age. However, because of them, I have a whole new list of metal bands to listen to. That’s my favorite lifting music.[/quote]

I lean towards ac/dc, def leppard, ozzy et al. However, I have a bit of death metal thrown in. They’re just tough to sing along with. One I’m certain they’re singing about Conrad Black. Crazy guys. My daughter thinks it’s hilarious when I sing our dinner menu in a death metal voice.