I had planned on doing squats today, but my chest and tris are hurting like hell. And, for some unknown reason, so are my quads. So, I decided to swap squats to Wednesday.
Static Stretching
Lat Pulls - Wide Neutral Grip
100x15
160x10
210x10x3
210x8
Seated Rows - Close Neutral Grip
210x10x2
235x10x2
Lat Pulls - Close Neutral Grip
200x8
160x10
Seated Rows - Wide Neutral Grip
200x10x2
EZ Bar Curls
75x10
95x10
95x8 - close grip
105x8
Hammer Curls
50sx8x2
Biceps are fried. Goes well with the fried tris from yesterday. Hopefully I am feeling less sore and tight come Wednesday.
Been a while since I checked in with you LS. Fantastic progress happening here.
Congrats. You’re going to need to buy some new clothes at this rate or you’ll end up looking like a pissed off green skinned Lou Ferrigno.
[quote]Oldman Powers wrote:
Been a while since I checked in with you LS. Fantastic progress happening here.
Congrats. You’re going to need to buy some new clothes at this rate or you’ll end up looking like a pissed off green skinned Lou Ferrigno.[/quote]
Thanks, OP. New clothes? Maybe…
My gut seems to be holding where it is. My biceps refuse to grow, hence the additional bicep work. I am not sure I will ever have a bicep peak. They look more like a slow rising, low height hill.
I did have to get new shirts, a few months back, because of my shoulders and arms. Triceps had grown enough that the sleeves were tight. And I blew out the seam at the back of the shoulders, on a couple of them.
Hurtin’ like hell, today. The DOMS feels like I have never lifted before. Who would have thought that a little extra volume could hurt so much!? It’s the good kind of hurt, though. Oww…ohhhh yeahhhh…
[quote]JoeGood wrote:
I’m sort of in the same boat Strick, my biceps never want to grow.
I can imagine your biceps are killing you too, that rowing combined with the direct bicep work had to really blast your arms.[/quote]
Frustrating, isn’t it!? I can strike a poor double bicep pose and you can see triceps bulging down (a little), but my biceps are just straight across. Virtually no rise at all. Hell, if I had biceps, I would have decent looking arms.
Funny thing is, what hurts the most are my forearms, just below my elbows.
Squats are becoming frustrating and it all seems to point to my back. The spondy, or at least in that area, seems to be flaring. It is, either through inflammation of just diminished disc integrity, pressing on a nerve. I can feel it in my back and right leg. Couple that with a sore right hip flexor and the IT Band feeling knotted on the left and things are sluggish.
My legs just don’t seem to be firing. They will push, but there is no real explosiveness to be had. You will see that in the video. Part of me thinks I should just stop doing them, like I have done with pulls. Stopping them, though, will hinder overall progress. So I guess I just need to do what I can and hope that laying off of pulls will allow for some recovery.
Shoulders tomorrow. I’m actually feeling less sore today. Tris and shoulders still feel fatigued, but are no longer aching. It will be a lighter day, since I went heavy on them last Thursday and heavy on Sunday’s bench. Looking forward to getting the 1st week under my belt.
Steve, the back has been getting progressively worse since I started back. I am playing damage control, anymore. Just trying to keep at least the squats going and trying to find something that hits the posterior chain without having to do any type of pull. The box squats seem to be doing that. Probably means that I am doing them wrong
Steely, I really needed those PRs, psychologically. I needed the counterbalance to the frustration over my back issues. As long as I can keep doing the squats, and moving forward on the upper body stuff, I can deal with it.
Jack, it is Spondylolisthesis. Because of a pars defect (stress fracture) in my lower back (from my youth)…likely the result of years of football from a very young age…I have 2 related issues. 1) The disc between L5 and S1 is degenerating. It is less than 1/2 the proper width, last time I checked. Anything that loads the spine can potentially make the degeneration more rapid. 2) L5 is shifted forward on S1. When I was last checked, it was grade 1 (less than 20%), but that was right before I started lifting heavy again. Again, anything that loads the spine can cause the shift to increase. It’s kind of like playing roulette. I could likely lift without making it much, if any, worse. But I can’t lift for strength (heavy) without greatly increasing the likelihood that it will get worse…potentially ending in surgery.
I believe that Tony (DCA) has Spondy as well. I am not sure where in his spine or to what degree. It is not uncommon. I am just doing something that is high on the no-no list for taking care of it
GPP today… Mowed the yard, garden maintenance and fence/gate repair. Working temp…95 degrees. The heat felt good. The sunburn does not feel good Started my recovery by puttering around in the pool with the kids for about an hour. Anti-GPP…got enough blackberries off of our bushes to make a cobbler. Cobbler and ice cream as soon as I get offline.
“Lighter” bench day. The 3 board press was on a whim. For a lighter day, I should have used less than 300# on the working sets, as that is 85% of 1RM, but I just can’t bring myself to do it.
I’m still feeling worn down from last week. The additional workout day and related volume is taking its toll. I am hoping that it is just a matter of adjusting to the new program. I am going to give it this week and next, then evaluate and decide if I have adjusted to it. If I have, I will, of course, stick with it. If not, I will drop back to 3 days a week.
Static Stretching
Bench - felt really good setting up on sunburned traps and shoulders
barx15x2
95x10
135x10
185x5
225x3
275x2
300x5x3 - Looks a hell of a lot easier than it felt.
1st Set
2nd Set
3rd Set
3 Board Press
365x5
Bent Over Tricep Extensions - Cable w/ Rope
80x10
90x10
100x8
Additional stuff. After cooling down from the workout, I played Bakugans with my youngest, picked some more blackberries and helped the wife prep for supper.
I got outside a bit before I had to start the charcoal and decided to break out the old tire I have. I have been meaning to try using it for cardio. It worked out fairly well. The video is of my 4th and final “run”. The length of the course is 75 yards (give or take a couple). The tire weighs 31#. My daughter weighs 90#. So, 120# resistance. Pulling it across uneven terrain was more difficult than I had anticipated Not much speed (I had no intention of sprinting these for 75 yards), especially on the last one, but my heart felt like it was going to pound out of my chest. Legs were burning and I was sucking wind hard. OBVIOUSLY, I REALLY need to do this multiple times a week.
Followed by a Ribeye dinner, blackberry cobbler, then all 5 of us dancing together in the living room, listening to Fleetwood Mac. I spared y’all that video
[quote]LittleStrick wrote:
Followed by a Ribeye dinner, blackberry cobbler, then all 5 of us dancing together in the living room, doing Zumba to Fleetwood Mac. I spared y’all that video :)[/quote]
RL, at my weight, I sweat just getting out of bed Of course, the 96 degrees weather just made sure. Surprisingly (knock on wood) we haven’t hit 100 yet. For OK, by the 2nd half of June, that is pretty darned impressive.
sfp, I had to google “Zumba”. Thank you for thinking I have 1/2 enough grace and coordination to pull that off…lol.
