Hard Work

Training Over 35 Lifter
721

My, the gym is empty on a holiday weekend:

Bench
85 x 7
90 x 6
100 x 6
105 x 4
115 x 3
125 x 3
135 x 2 . x 2 . a few pounds more than the schedule says but I did it because I can
125 x 3 . x 3
105 x 4
100 x 6
90 x 8
85 x 10

took the last few sets as explosive as possible, were easy

Incline DB flies
20 x 10
30 x 10 . x 10 . x 10

Squats
95 x 5
115 x 4 . x 4
135 x 3
145 x 3 . x 3 . x 3 . x 3

Pushups
x 10 . x 10 . wanted to do more but gym was closing

program said “French presses” not pushups, but no idea what they are. Anyone?

722

Cav its good to see your sticking to it, good work as always.

723

That’s some impressive volume you have going on. And the desire to keep at in. Outstanding.

724

Dude, UN, thanks very much. I’m glad you’re impressed by the volume, and I’m killing myself to get to the day when you’re impressed by the weight I lift as well.

Turned out I didn’t actually gain any body weight. Those 2 lbs were just a random blip. Eating almost 5000 calories a day, powerlifting movements, no cardio, and it takes years to see any progress at all. Wouldn’t it be great if you could speed it up.

Still job hunting. Talked with a recruiter today, I have skills for an opening, but my job using them was a year and half ago, sorry, that’s not recent enough. Now you know the jobs just aren’t there - they’re incredibly picky.

More Sheiko:

Squats
95 x 5
115 x 4 . x 4
135 x 3 . x 3
145 x 2 . x 2 . x 2 . x 2

Bench
85 x 5
100 x 4
115 x 3 . x 3
135 x 2 . x 2 . x 2 . x 2 . x 2

GOD, these are so hard. Odd - after pulling shoulder blades together, pushing legs, arching back, tensing arms, I keep getting the feeling as if wearing a bench shirt or something.

Incline DB flies
20 x 10
30 x 10
35 x 10 . x 10 - went up in weight, could barely finish them
30 x 10

Pushup w 10 lb plate on back
x 10 . x 10 . x 10 . x 10 . x 10

Squats (yes, MORE squats)
105 x 3
125 x 3
145 x 3 . x 3 . x 3

strange, the previous 145 x 2 felt tough, but the 145 x 3 weren’t so bad (??)

Good Morning
65 x 5 . x 5
85 x 5
95 x 5

725

CAV- nice all around session. digging the weighted push-ups!!! if you’re getting 10 reps for 5 sets I believe its time to add some weight!! More power Captain!

726

I sense enthusiasm.

Thanks, Goat. It’s odd, program says to do the pushups with hands wider than shoulders. I assume they want to work chest. If you look at the program, there’s flies and stuff to pound chest, not tris. But my pecs grow faster than my arms, I can’t see focusing so much on pecs instead of arms. I really think I should put much more effort on arms. So I did the pushups with hands closer than shoulder. Really tough, had to psyche myself out to get the last ones done.

727

Family reunion this weekend, the closest thing I’ll come to a vacation as long as I’m unemployed. Will miss the workout this Sat (Say it ain’t so!!). My route takes me right past Greensburg, so Bulldog has very graciously invited me for a quick visit. This will be the 3rd T-Nation guy I’ve met, after Colin and Old Navy.

DL’s to knees
155 x 4
185 x 4 . x 4
215 x 4 . x 4 . x 4 . x 4

guy was complimenting me on doing deads, “They’re the mass builder!” He was doing squats, 225 good and low. His form was so good I didn’t have the heart to tell him that rubber collar on the bar looked really wussy.

Bench
85 x 5
100 x 5 . x 5
115 x 4 . x 4 . x 4 . x 4 . x 4

CG bench
65 x 10
85 x 10
95 x 10 . x 10 . x 10

Wait a minute. I’m doing closed grip bench at 95 for 10 reps, just whipping them up . . . and regular bench at 115, grinding through 4 measly reps?? Something’s really off here, but what?

Deadlift, full range
155 x 4
185 x 4
225 x 4 . x 4 . x 4 . x 4

728

Someones working it in here! Enjoy your reunion with family and your visit with bulldog!

729

loaded push ups for the win!

nice work cav - if close grip is stronger
just move your hands closer on your ‘regular’ sets

have a good visit with the fam

730

[quote]kmcnyc wrote:
loaded push ups for the win!

nice work cav - if close grip is stronger
just move your hands closer on your ‘regular’ sets
[/quote]

x2

Some folks are shoulder/tricep dominate.

Nice work. Enjoy the family and the visit.

731

[quote]cavalier wrote:
Wait a minute. I’m doing closed grip bench at 95 for 10 reps, just whipping them up . . . and regular bench at 115, grinding through 4 measly reps?? Something’s really off here, but what?
[/quote]

You’ve got really strong triceps. I’m the same way: can CG press almost as much as normal grip.

732

Nothing off Cav, just getting stronger!!! things don’t always move in unison. Keep up the work on the push-ups that will help your chest strength and with stronger tri’s like you are getting the bench will move north!!! Enjoy the family and no flexing in front of the women folk!!

733

Since you asked me in are conversation the other day. Here’s a invatory of what I have in my gerage.

1200 lbs of free weights
1 power rack
1 Texas’s bower bar
1 home made rack-able cambered bar
1 home made SS bar
1 home made Axel bar
1 Trap bar
1 pair of adjustable Olympic db
various dumbbell 10,20,30,40,55
1 ez curl bar
1 cheap Multi station
1 iron mind hip squat belt
1 echo prowler
3 home made boxes for squatting 16 ,14 , 12 inches
pair of home made blocks for Dead lift
2 captain of the crush grippers
80 lbs of chains
Complete set of bands from mini ,light,medium , heavy
few other odds and ends
Along with a home gym Glute ham raise on order and on its way.

WHHEWWW…

734

Another shot

735

Dog, that’s an awesome setup. Amazing how you cram so much in a small space.

Well, I’m back folks from the reunion. Cost money, even though I drove there and stayed at a cheap motel, but had loads of fun. Bulldog’s town was just off my route, so he was very kind to meet with me and treat me to dinner. We each had a rack of ribs and I had a spot of ice cream for dessert. I’m afraid I grossed him out when I confessed i had a sandwich an hour before. “Where do you PUT that???” Hey, you think gaining weight is easy?

Anyway, he managed to convince me to stop being so inhibited in my workouts, can’t wait to try it out.

The family reunion was at a state park. Hadn’t seen them for years, loads of fun. One cousin mentioned I had put on some weight, I thanked him profusely. Weather was perfect, sunny, about 70 F degrees. We hiked on the trails, several miles worth. Of course I wasn’t going to wimp out, I went with a few others on the longest, most demanding route. That night my feet were killing me, my hips were sore, my legs were sore, I was sure was crippled for life. Surprising, a good night’s sleep cleared it all up. Nobody else was complaining - hmm. A few of them, like my brother, are in their 60’s and don’t do much of regular exercise. One of them, a 7 yr old boy, is an energetic kid who can’t get enough moving. He’s affectionate, too.

Brother just sent me the group picture. Egads!! I look thinner than everyone else! gotta eat, gotta eat!

736

UpScale, KM, Strick, Snapper, Goat - thanks a lot. I’m skeptical about triceps being strong, arms have always been thin, although chest keeps growing. Can barely do dips, pressing power lacking. However, tricep pulldowns, I can do almost the same weight as the other guys.

I don’t want to start messing with my bench form, went to a lot of trouble to get it to this point. My guess is that I’m getting regular bench wrong somehow. I’ve spent years just obsessed with the damn thing, so frustrated with it. Almost never did closed grip, though, and when I did, just threw on some plates and didn’t care what happened. Sheiko calls for low reps, will check and see if the effort is less than I thought.

737

Weighted pushups are the Tits! Nice work Cav…keep pushing through

738

[quote]MattyXL wrote:
Weighted pushups are the Tits! Nice work Cav…keep pushing through[/quote]

x2

Push ups are awesome and great for your shoulder health too I am finding.

[quote]cavalier wrote:
Anyway, he managed to convince me to stop being so inhibited in my workouts, can’t wait to try it out. [/quote]

What sort of things are you thinking?

739

Matty, Brett, thanks. If I’d known weighted pushups would make me so popular, I’d started doing them long ago.

Well, Brett, his exact words were “Don’t over-analyze things”. I’ve always had the problem of being weak in lifts and getting frustrated. I went through program after program, hoping to find the magic bullet that would make me as big and strong as everyone else. When said program did no such thing, I’d start thinking maybe this exercise was off or the frequency could be tweaked or this or that, and before you know, you’ve going completely OCD trying every possible combination. Something like the scene in “A Beautiful Mind” where the poor guy tries to find coded messages in magazines.

I’m sure my emotional state is affecting my workouts. I’m working hard, but when despair strikes, it’s like pushing the brake instead of the accelerator. Which leads to more despair, lather, rinse, repeat. If I can just let go, just do it, just enjoy it, then I’m sure my body will respond and get stronger.

Besides, looking at Dog’s Popeye sized forearms gave me some real motivation.

740

As I expected, I put on a couple of pounds over the weekend. That’ll teach 'em to offer a buffet at every meal! Man, did I have an appetite.

Was in a good mood, concentrated on putting the stress and worry aside. It worked - I worked the body really hard and hardly any effort to it. It was great!

Squats
95 x 5
115 x 4
135 x 3 . x 3
155 x 3 . x 3 . x 3
165 x 3 . x 3
more weight than the program said, but I wanted to PUSH!

Bench
85 x 5
100 x 4
115 x 3 . x 3
135 x 3 . whoa, this was tough - but I want to push
135 x 3 . x 3 . x 3 . x 3

think I solved the mystery of the bench press. Was doing the closed grip bouncing off the chest, but doing regular with slight pause.

Incline DB fly
20 x 10
35 x 10 . x 10 . x 10

by popular demand, a repeat performance of Weighted Pushups
25 x 10
25 x 10
25 x 10
25 x 10
25 x 10

was supposed to do another series of squats, but some IDIOT was doing arm curls in the squat rack AGAIN. I SWEAR, if these guys weren’t twice my size, I’d give them a piece of my mind. So I did some inverse rows to help counteract the bench.

It worked! I controlled the stress and put all my effort into the muscles. it was intense, I was pumped, I felt GREAT!

Then I got home and checked the email. Got kicked out of ANOTHER job only 2 hours after applying for it. SHITTTTTTTTTTTTTT!!!