Up and moving, a snow plow scared the shit out of me and my one cat at 4 AM so been up and working/lifting since then. BP was high this morning - 150/92 - but pulse was 59 which is lower than normal, especially considering how I woke up. Will re-check tonight. Also, digestion seems to have slowed down in the last day or two. Will do psyllium husk in my protein shake and hit fruits/veggies harder today. Normal PWO routine.
Deadlift
180 x 5
225 x 5
270 x 3
315 x 5
360 x 5
405 x 5
Bench
45 x 5
135 x 5
210 - 5 x 5
Assistance
SS w/ Deadlift
Hanging leg lift - 3 x 10
SS w/ each other
TRX row - 3 x 15
Dips - 3 x 15
I’ve slowed down a bit the last day or two as far as energy goes, but still can’t seem to sleep more than 4-6 hours. That could be a contributing factor to my higher BP. I still feel fine and am much better than I was on meds, so really need to get this shit under control. Lifting session was good, deadlifts were fast but a bit uncoordinated. I forgot about bench and did 1 assistance superset before I realized I was being a doofus. Bench was good either way. Really enjoying the bodyweight assistance work and feel like I’m getting stronger and more athletic. Work meeting after lift and will do cardio after.
Noooo, pretty significant reduction. I did have sushi with reduced-sodium soy sauce last night, but I kept it to 1 tsp max. Potassium may be an issue - my old meds were chelated with potassium so they may have been keeping me high enough. Now that it’s gone I may be in different shape on that front. I’ve been eating better and exercising more and for the most part it’s been lower, was just high today.
Hm, okay. My thought was the increased sodium intake was leading to the high BP, but apparently not.
I know high BP with increased sodium isn’t necessarily cause for alarm, because the increase in BP is due to higher cardiac output and blood volume, not because of vascular constriction.
Yep. My meds were making me shed sodium so I was doing like 3-4k mg a day just to feel “normal”. I’m probably under 2k now and feel good. I’m still in shock at how shitty I got used to feeling while I was on meds, so am really hoping I can stay off.
1 positive I can take away - weight is down to 210 as of a few minutes ago. I would like to drop another 5 minimum before my next appointment (early Jan) but would prefer 10. Will need to be aggressive, but for that short of a time I don’t mind.
Took my blood pressure 3 times this morning - 154/92; 151/82; 150/80. I think I’ve been putting the cuff on a little too loose and it’s been artificially jacking up the diastolic. I hope my doc will let me rock 150/80, or that it will come down as I keep doing cardio.
Wanted to do a longer run, but my low back started hurting. Ended up doing an 800m jog, then
10 x 100m hill sprint
The longer stride of sprints seems to have aligned my pelvis and low back better and I feel better now than I did before the run. Funny how that works. Managed at least an 85% effort on each sprint with the only rest being walking back to the bottom of the hill. Happy with that.
@boilerman and @flappinit - officially in a band again after a tryout last night. As usual, I’m the youngest guy by 20 years and am the same age as two of the guys’ kids. It’s mostly a douche rock band - Hinder, Seether, Theory of a Deadman, etc. Nothing super challenging, but it’s fun to play and my voice holds up to it OK. Trying to get them to do some Alter Bridge, Black Stone Cherry, and stuff like that so I can be a bit more challenged on the vocal front.
Up and moving, very sore from the week’s training and tired from stress of work/band tryout. Normal PWO routine, back is very tender and feels like I have something in my lumbo-sacral area out of place.
Squat
45 x 5
135 x 5
225 x 5
305 - 5 x 5
Press
45 x 5
60 x 5
75 x 5
90 x 3
105 x 5
120 x 5
135 x 5
Assistance
SS w/ squat
Ab wheel - 3 x 10
SS w/ press
Wrist rolls - 10 lbs - floor to bar and back each direction - 3 x 10
SS w/ each other
Extreme supine fat grip DB curls - 15 lbs - 3 x 12
TRX tricep extensions - 3 x 10
Cardio
10 minute tabata on rower
Squats felt like dogshit because of my back, it’s like a certain 0.05 degrees of flexion sends about a 6" radius of sharp pain throughout the area. Over-braced and gritted it out. Bar moved fine. Press was really good again, felt stable and strong despite my back. Assistance was good - ab wheel held my back together, wrist rolls helped my elbows, and got a big ol’ arm pump from the superset. Cardio was good, the rower kicks my ass. I wanted to stop at 8 minutes but reminded myself I’m supposed to be pushing it.
Nice dude! I still play a couple shows a year with some friends down here but I’m looking for a fresh perspective these days. Hard to come across like-minded individuals, music-wise, and a lot of the more talented ones are assholes.
Awesome man, glad you found a group that clicked with you, is it a 5 piece?
The way I used to convince people to play the shit I wanted was just subtly ease it in while you’re hanging with them every once and a while, on your phone or in the car. Eventually they’ll start humming the hook and then they’ll be the ones to suggest covering the songs.
Gotta hand it to you man, you’re a lot braver than I am. I’d be shitting my pants playing in front of a couple dudes I’ve never met before, trying to earn their respect and have them invite me in.
Dude it’s been a rough search. These guys seem really cool and laid back so I’m excited for it. The lead guitar player is even left handed like me so it feels like fate. Haha
It’s a 4 piece with me singing and playing. I prefer it that way, I feel better hidden behind a guitar. My voice fits this stuff, I didn’t have to try nearly as hard as I have in past auditions. The confidence comes from making a fool of myself on a daily basis. Haha not much to be ashamed of after that
