Greg's Strength Journal

Bigger Stronger Leaner Over 35 Lifter
1

I’ve been journaling for a while on other sites but I’m switching over to T Nation. I really like the content here, plus some of my old journal buddies from bb.com are on here now so I figured what the hell…go where the cool people are. :slight_smile:

I’m a 47 year old husband and father of a soon to be 13 year old boy. That plus work keeps me pretty busy but I always find time to lift.

I’ve been following a mix of 5/3/1, Andy Baker and Sheiko programming for a while. I had a foot injury and surgery that slowed me down for a while with my powerlifting. I’ve come to accept that I just can’t push too hard on squats and deads anymore with my foot so I’m starting to get more serious about seeing where I can take my bench.

3 Likes
2

Here are my last 2 workouts:

8/22/2021
10:28 am - Home

Sunday I completed a Sheiko Bench Workout as follows:

Shoulder Rehab - Red Bands

Bench Press 5-135, 5-160, 4-190, 3-225, 5 sets of 2 @ 255
Superset with:
Facepulls 8 sets of 15 w/ Purple Bands

CGBP 5 sets of 5 @ 200
Superset with:
Low Cable Rows 4 sets of 8 @ 130

DB Hmr Curls 3 sets of 8 @ 35
Superset with:
KB French Press 3 sets of 6 @ 70

Decline Situps 30

Bodyweight: 216.4 Pounds (Down 7.0 pounds from 223.4 on 7/13)

Workout Duration: 0:59:13.07 h:mm:ss.ms (with 0:30 rest between sets)

7:55 am - Home

Today I completed a Power Building Workout 1C (Cycle 73) as follows:

Shoulder Rehab - Red Bands

Neutral Grip Chins (Recon Recon Wk 5) 9, 7, 6, 5, 5
Superset with:
Low Cable Rows 3 sets of 10 @ 135

T-Bar Rows 12-110, 10-120, 8-135, 6-155, 10-120
Superset with:
Facepulls 5 sets of 10 w/ Purple Band

BB Shrugs 15-175, 15-195, 15-225

Bodyweight: ? Pounds (Down ? pounds from 223.4 on 7/13)

Workout Duration: 0:31:17.78 h:mm:ss.ms (with 0:30 rest between sets)

4 Likes
3

Welcome to the forum, good to see another dad on here doing his thing.

1 Like
4

Welcome back Greg!

Your bench more than makes up for your squat and deads. :slight_smile:

You always impress me with how much you fit into the time you spend working out.

Good to have you back. Trent’s at the beach so don’t be surprised if he is gone for awhile.

5

Thanks. I’m looking forward to being on here. I’ll check out your log.

6

Thanks Shane. It’s good to be over here.

I saw your post on the other forum where you mentioned the fires. Fortunately the closest fire to us so far was about 15 miles away but they kept that one to 2500 acres…it wound up right across the road from our inlaws and they had to evacuate but everything turned out OK. The Dixie Fire is about 50 miles north of us and the Caldor fire is about 50 miles south of us, so we’re pretty safe from those but the smoke has been terrible. All in all, I’m counting my blessings so far.

I’m thinking about really pushing my bench and signing up for some custom programming from Josh Bryant. Just to see how far I can take it.

1 Like
7

6:43 am - Home

Today I completed a Workout as follows:

Shoulder Rehab - Red Bands

Bench Press 5-135, 3-155, 2-190, 1-225, 6-235, 1-235 * Right Pec Sore/Strained
Superset with:
DB BOLR 3 sets of 10 @ 20

Dead Stop Bench Press 3 sets of 1 @ 250
Superset with:
DB Side Lateral Raises 3 sets of 10 @ 20

Triceps Pressdowns 3 sets of 10 @ 65

Kettlebell French Press 3 sets of 10 @ 50

Bodyweight: 216.4 Pounds (Down 7.0 pounds from 223.4 on 7/13)

Workout Duration: 0:33:05.33 h:mm:ss.ms (with 0:30 rest between sets)

A bit of a frustrating workout today. I strained my right pec a bit during my Sunday bench workout. It felt a little sore starting out today but I went for it anyway. It was a light day so I was thinking it’d be OK. On my first of 3 worksets of 6 @ 235 it started barking. On my 2nd set it definitely felt like a strain so I shut it down to keep from injuring it further. It only seem to hurt on the eccentric (downward) portion of the lift so I went ahead and moved on with my dead stop benches. These felt OK on the concentric but still hurt on the eccentric. I finished all 3 singles OK though.

My accessories all felt good so that’s a plus. I’m going to be starting a new 12-week program soon so I’ll do some treatment on it (really light bench for high reps, stretching, and EliteFTS Arctic Sports Balm) and hopefully will be back to good in a week.

4 Likes
8

Damn! Sorry to read this Greg. Like you said, hopefully you are good to go in a week.

9

Where is the pain mate. I have been having issues with mine but pretty sure it is a tight bicep tendon.

10

There he is! I’ve really missed reading your journal Greg. Sorry to hear that the foot is still bothering you. Thought that would have resolved by now. Very nice looking work on the bench sets. Sorry to hear about the strain but hopefully that is better soon. I will check in when I can. We are moving (some of the stuff) this weekend and are kind of homeless at the moment. Lol. :sweat_smile:

11

Thanks Shane. Yeah I iced it and used the Arctic Sports Balm and it was very sore this morning so I think it’s definitely a strain. I’ll take it easy and do some light exercises to keep the blood flowing in it and I should be good in a week.

1 Like
12

Yeah mine is a pain I feel along the side of my pectoral muscle and over into my armpit. I’m not sure if the pectoralis major or minor is strained but its right along the edge there where it goes into the shoulder down low into the armpit. I’ll keep icing and stretching it and using the balm and it should get better soon I’m thinking.

1 Like
13

Good luck with your move Trent! You should get some good physical work in from all that.
My foot is much better. The pain now seems to be from the area where the screw is in my heal. I’ve read that 25-30% of people have trouble with the screw and eventually have to get it removed. That should be fine since the bone is healed by now. I’m just a little hesitant to have the surgeon go back in there. I’m not sure what the recovery time is from that so I’ll have to talk to him before I decide if it’s worth it.

14

Thanks brother. We are moving the little bit of stuff from our apartment (about 25% of all of it) on Saturday. Unfortunately, the carpet delivery was delayed so we are going to be moving that stuff into bedrooms with no carpet… Hopefully the flooring guys can knock it out soon though…

That sucks about the screw. My dad had one in his shoulder for about 40 years and it always bugged him. That is an interesting option to get it removed, but like you said, having surgery sucks… Hope you guys are staying safe and breathing easy from the fires. Meant to say that earlier.

15

Hopefully your move has gone well since this last message. I’m sure it’ll feel good once the flooring is in there.

Yeah I wasn’t sure how the screw would do. I can definitely feel it. It kind of pokes the back of my foot. I feel it following squats, deadlifts, running, long drives in the car etc. I need to contact the doctor/surgeon but I’ve really been procrastinating on that. The idea of more healing time really doesn’t appeal to me LOL.

1 Like
16

Over the weekend I fell behind in here. Here are my last 4 workouts through today.

Saturday 8/28/2021
10:10 am - Home

Today I completed a Workout as follows:

Shoulder Rehab - Red Bands

Bench Press 25-45, 25-55, 25-75, 25-95
Superset with:
Band Facepulls 10, 15, 15, 15 @ Purple Band

DB Hammer Curls 3 sets of 10 @ 40
Supersetwith:
Triceps Pushdowns 3 sets of 10 @ 65

Bodyweight: 215.4 Pounds (Down 8.0 pounds from 223.4 on 7/13)

Workout Duration: 0:21:42.61 h:mm:ss.ms (with 0:30 rest between sets)

Sunday 8/29/2021
8:09 am - Home

Today I completed a Workout as follows:

Shoulder Rehab - Red Bands

Bench Press 10-45, 20-65, 20-85, 18-115
Superset with:
Band Facepulls 4 sets of 10 @ Purple Band

Sumo DL w/ Wgn Wheels 3-135, 3-179, 3-215, 3-235, 3-271, 3-301, 3-271, 3-235

Hypers 2 sets of 25
Superset with:
Leg Raises off Bench 2 sets of 25

Bodyweight: 215.4 Pounds (Down 8.0 pounds from 223.4 on 7/13)

Workout Duration: 0:34:18.05 h:mm:ss.ms (with 0:30 rest between sets)

Monday 8/30/2021
6:52 am - Home

Today I completed a Workout as follows:

Shoulder Rehab - Red Bands

Bench Press 20-45, 20-65, 15-95, 15-115, 15-135
Superset with:
DB BOLR 4 sets of 10 @ 20 lb

Bodyweight: 217.6 Pounds (Down 5.8 pounds from 223.4 on 7/13)

Workout Duration: 0:20:44.56 h:mm:ss.ms (with 0:30 rest between sets)

Tuesday 8/31/2021
6:57 am - Home

Today I completed a Workout as follows:

Shoulder Rehab - Red Bands

Bench Press 15-45, 10-75, 10-105, 10-135, 10-165
Superset with:
Band Facepulls 5 sets of 15 @ Purple Band

KB Rows 2 sets of 10 (per arm) w/ 50 lb KB

Bodyweight: ??? Pounds (Down ??? pounds from 223.4 on 7/13)

Workout Duration: 0:16:41.84 h:mm:ss.ms (with 0:30 rest between sets)

All in all, the bench press rehab has been going well. I’ve been doing them daily for higher reps and the soreness has pretty much gone away. I’m thinking I should be good to go again by the end of this weekend.

2 Likes
17

Good to hear the rehab is going well.

That video of how close the fire made it to work was nuts man. Glad you guys are ok.

Do you ever get to go over to Alan’s gym anymore?

Most of his videos I see on Instagram lately have all been strongman stuff. Looks like it would be fun to play with some of the strongman toys.

18

Yeah that fire was too close for comfort. Luckily one of the CalFire Air Bases is a few miles from my office. Some of the planes had come back from the Caldor fire and were ready to go so they were able to take off, make a banking turn, and drop right around the fire so they contained it at 60 acres. It was a lucky day.

I haven’t been to Alan’s gym in a year, but I’ve really been itching to go. I’ve been watching a lot of strongman on TV and also paid for the Shaw Classic so I want to go play with some of the toys. :slight_smile: He’s got a strongman conditioning class that I might start going to.

I’ll probably join back up once this latest Covid surge dies down.

1 Like
19

That is lucky the airbase was so close to the office and they were able to contain it to only 60 acres.

Strong man conditioning sounds like it would be tough! Hopefully you can get over there soon and bring back a fun report on it. :slight_smile:

20

Yeah having an air base close like that is the only thing that keeps me sane living in a tinder box like this LOL.

I used to watch the strong man conditioning classes on Saturday mornings when I was working out and they look fun but tough as Hell. They usually involve some mix of farmers carries, tire flippling, sled push/pull, and atlas stones. The people in the class always had soaked through shirts by the time they were done, so it definitely looks effective.