Lifting Weights on Chemo

Training Training Logs
281

Cycle 6 Week 1 Day 3
Greg Robins Bench + 531 5’s Progression
11-07-14

Squat
5 x 77.5kg
5 x 87.5
5 x 100

Floor Press (1 second pause)
4 x 67.5kg
4 x 67.5
4 x 67.5

Bench Row
8 x 55kg
8 x 57.5
8 x 60
8 x 60

DB OHP
20 x 12.5kg Pair
18 x 12.5
18 x 12.5

Skull Crushers
12 x 12.5kg Pair
10 x 12.5
10 x 12.5

Curls
12 x 12.5kg Pair
10 x 12.5
16 x 12.5

Bodyweight: 81.3kg

Today was really good. My knee was feeling fine so I did the squatting I missed yesterday.
Reducing some of my accessory sets as the bench intensity slowly ramps up.

Feeling really healthy and energetic right now, and prepared to start chemo again.

I will ask the oncologists if they are comfortable ramping up my dosage a bit as I want all the treatment they can cram into my body. Don’t really care if I feel like shit for a few weeks, I am used to that haha.

282

Oh and!! Post workout arms = 16 inches brah. Feeling a lot better about myself on that one haha.

283

Cycle 6 Week 1 Day 4
Greg Robins Bench + 531 5’s Progression
13-07-14

Bench Press
5 x 70kg
3 x 80
1 x 90
1 x 100
1 x 105

Pin Press
1 x 80kg
1 x 80
1 x 80
1 x 80

OHP
5 x 35kg
5 x 40
5 x 45

Chins
15 hammer grip
10 overhand wide grip
6 overhand

BB Curl
12 x 20kg
11 x 20
10 x 20

Had a friend over so we did some bench singles prior to my workout. Hit an easy 105kg so I’m pretty pleased to be chipping away - a 5kg increase since last time I worked up, and much easier than the previous 100kg.

Have my daughter here this weekend so it’s been a good one.

284

[quote]panzerfaust wrote:
Oh and!! Post workout arms = 16 inches brah. Feeling a lot better about myself on that one haha.[/quote]

sweet! I need to do more arm stuff.

285

[quote]zenontheterrible wrote:

[quote]panzerfaust wrote:
Oh and!! Post workout arms = 16 inches brah. Feeling a lot better about myself on that one haha.[/quote]

sweet! I need to do more arm stuff.[/quote]

Yeah I never really enjoyed arm isolation lifts but with my current restrictions (no ab training) there’s room to do them 3 x per week and it appears to be paying off quite quickly!

286

Cycle 6 Week 1 Day 5
Greg Robins Bench + 531 5’s Progression
14-07-14

Squat
3 x 82.5kg
3 x 95
3 x 105

Deadlift
5 x 65kg
5 x 75
5 x 85

Single Leg Calf Raise
15 x 40kg
15 x 40
10 x 40

Good workout today, my last day before starting chemo tomorrow. Body weight is 81.5 :slight_smile:

287

Cycle 6 Week 2 Day 1
Greg Robins Bench + 531 5’s Progression
16-07-14

Bench (2 second pause all reps) (back-off week)
2 x 80kg
2 x 80

OHP BBB
8 x 35kg
8 x 37.5
8 x 42.5
8 x 35

Front Delts
10 x 12.5kg Pair
10 x 12.5
8 x 12.5

Side Delts
10 x 12.5kg Pair
10 x 12.5
10 x 12.5

Rear Delts
15 x 12.5kg Pair
12 x 12.5
11 x 12.5

Decline Skull Crushers
15 x 12.5kg Pair
12 x 12.5
11 x 12.5

Incline Hammer Curls
12 x 12.5kg Pair
10 x 12.5
12 x 12.5

I have a lot to ramble about today so I shall hit it in three sections.

Workout -
Went pretty well, it’s backoff week so not much benching required.
Funnily enough I feel better today having started chemo today. Well not better, but less tired. But not to fret, I am certain this will change soon haha.

Oncology yesterday -
They were considering stopping my chemotherapy early, due to the latest hospitalisation and what they view as a rough ride compared to most. I pretty much said I’m driven to see it out and they appreciate that so my treatment continues on the same dosage. However they did say there’s now a low threshold for stopping my cycle early, and if that does happen it’s unlikely they will recommend pushing on with the 8th and final.

I guess this makes me proud of my tenacity and will to get as much treatment in as possible, regardless of diminishing returns and discomfort.

Counselling -

I had my first counselling session today and it was really useful. The woman was a great sounding board and made some excellent suggestions such as setting personal goals for after chemotherapy.

Her thought: I’m currently driven entirely by the process of completing chemotherapy successfully, and my anxiety is wrapped around the loss of focus I anticipate at the impending completion.

Anyway I took a lot away from the session and will sit down and write out some goals to maintain focus after my therapy finishes.

I’ve also told the cancer society that I’d love to offer a sounding board / email buddy / whatever for anyone in the future who may identify with me in some way and need someone to talk about the experience with. So many people have helped me out that I’d love to give even something small back in return.

288

Haven’t checked in awhile but I read through and it seems like you’re doing well. Good to see your seeing a counsellor and its going well. Also I bet the doctors are awestruck at your determination to see chemo all the way through. I like the saying by rip that stronger people are harder to kill, and you are literally the living breathing example of this.

Also Im sure you already probably know this but it seems like you have some already set goals for after your chemotherapy finishes. I mean, you’re training has continued throughout the treatments so I would imagine you have some plans for after. I know the counsellor was probably eluding to goals in life but it seems to me like you won’t have trouble with focus.

289

[quote]bulkNcut wrote:
Haven’t checked in awhile but I read through and it seems like you’re doing well. Good to see your seeing a counsellor and its going well. Also I bet the doctors are awestruck at your determination to see chemo all the way through. I like the saying by rip that stronger people are harder to kill, and you are literally the living breathing example of this.

Also Im sure you already probably know this but it seems like you have some already set goals for after your chemotherapy finishes. I mean, you’re training has continued throughout the treatments so I would imagine you have some plans for after. I know the counsellor was probably eluding to goals in life but it seems to me like you won’t have trouble with focus. [/quote]

I like that saying a lot. If I didn’t already have motivation to get as strong as possible, making myself harder to kill certainly clinches it.

Yeah you raise a valid point with my lifting actually. I remember when I first did a full year of 531 Full Body, logging on here.
My lifts went from approx
S-140kg, D-185kg, B-90kg, P-65kg
to 175, 230, 115, 77.5 over the course of the year.

So my somewhat optimistic goal for this year is to get my lifts back to my “before” lifts as listed above… in order to push hard to equal or beat my PBs by the end of 2015.

So yeah I certainly have lifting goals.

Life goals? Give something back to the medical fraternity, try my ass off for a new team leader position at work, clear some debts, control my drinking. Hmm will need to keep pondering haha. But it shouldn’t be too hard to find areas which need improvement ;-).

Cheers for stopping in!

Jay

290

Cycle 6 Week 2 Day 2
Greg Robins Bench + 531 5’s Progression
17-07-14

Squat
5 x 82.5kg
5 x 95
5 x 105

SLDL
10 x 50kg
10 x 55
10 x 60
10 x 55
10 x 50

Single Leg Calf Raise
20 x 20kg
20 x 20
20 x 20

Pretty straightforward today. I felt weak and weary but not sickly at all, took massively long rest breaks and did all the lifts I planned to do.

291

Cycle 6 Week 2 Day 3
Greg Robins Bench 531 5’s Progression
18-07-14

Bench (2 second pause all reps) (back-off week)
2 x 85kg
2 x 85

Bench Row
8 x 55kg
8 x 57.5
8 x 60
8 x 57.5

DB OHP
16 x 15kg Pair
14 x 15
12 x 15

Skull Crushers
8 x 15kg Pair
6 x 15
4 x 15

Curls
12 x 15kg Pair
10 x 15
8 x 15

I felt pretty decent today. I am really happy to report no nausea this cycle as yet, which bodes well for completing it :). Back off week is enjoyable, loving this paused benching. I think it really helps build confidence in completing difficult reps and learning to store tension in the lats.

292

Glad the counseling is helping, esp with the ‘what happens after its finished’ bit. I went to a focus group this week where we talked about life for former carers, like if you’ve been looking after a sick parent or partner for a long time & have been involved in various support groups or whatever, what happens when they die & you no longer fit that category? What are the specific things people need?

So not just dealing with the bereavement itself, but if people gave up work to care for someone how do they go about starting work again? Do they want or are they even able to go back to their prev job? or what help might they need to sort out financial issues etc.

So yeah we talked about forming a separate group for former carers where we could meet up & get help with that kind of stuff. I think when you’ve been dealing with something for a long time, it always takes a period of adjustment when things change & its useful to have people to exchange ideas with. I think it sounds like a great idea for you to offer support to someone who may be travelling the path you’ve just been on.

293

Cycle 6 Week 2 Day 4
Greg Robins Bench + 531 5’s Progression
20-07-14

Bench Press (2s pause)
5 x 70kg
3 x 80
2 x 90
2 x 92.5
2 x 95

OHP
5 x 37.5kg
5 x 42.5
5 x 47.5

Chins
10 hammer grip
10 overhand
10 underhand

Dips
x 10, 10, 10

BB Curl
15 x 20kg
12 x 25
7 x 30

Technically I wasn’t meant to bench today but I had a friend lifting with me so we did some easy doubles

294

Cycle 6 Week 2 Day 5
Greg Robins Bench + 531 5’s Progression
21-07-14

Squat
3 x 82.5kg
3 x 95
3 x 105

Deadlift
5 x 70kg
5 x 80
5 x 90

Single Leg Calf Raise
15 x 20kg
15 x 20
15 x 20

Feeling the cold really badly right now as we’re in the middle of winter. Also have some pretty dark fatigue going on which is making it hard to keep going. But I’m determined that if I do stop chemo early it will be due to the doctors’ call not my own failing. One week left of this cycle and just two weeks remaining after that. Bring on normality!

295

Cycle 6 Week 3 Day 1
Greg Robins Bench + 531 5’s Progression
23-07-14

Bench (1 second pause all reps)
3 x 85kg
3 x 85
3 x 85

OHP BBB
8 x 40kg
8 x 40
8 x 40
8 x 40

Front Delts
12 x 10kg Pair
12 x 10
12 x 10

Side Delts
12 x 10kg Pair
12 x 10
12 x 10

Rear Delts
20 x 10kg Pair
20 x 10
20 x 10

Decline Skull Crushers
20 x 10kg Pair
20 x 10
20 x 10

Incline Hammer Curls
16 x 10kg Pair
14 x 10
14 x 10

I took my nozinan dose back down from a third to a quarter and immediately had a better day with the fatigue. It must be a drug which I’m particularly sensitive to. Anyway I had a really nice day and enjoyed my workout.

Also today was slightly warmer, thank fuck.

Bodyweight: 81.3

296

Cycle 6 Week 3 Day 2
Greg Robins Bench + 531 5’s Progression
24-07-14

Squat
5 x 87.5kg
5 x 100
5 x 112.5

SLDL
10 x 60kg
10 x 60
10 x 60

Single Leg Calf Raise
15 x 40kg
15 x 40
15 x 40

I found the final set of my squats a little intimidating as I haven’t really tested my core much, but I held up fine and while the reps were slow I got them all done. This brings my E1RM up over 130kg, really pleased by this.

I’m continuing to battle fatigue but these last two days have been much better with the reduced nozinan dosage. It’s funny how a couple of good days can make you forget a week of shit days! Only 4 days remaining this cycle and then I’ll be on the home straight :smiley:

297

[quote]panzerfaust wrote:
[
I found the final set of my squats a little intimidating as I haven’t really tested my core much, but I held up fine and while the reps were slow I got them all done. This brings my E1RM up over 130kg, really pleased by this.

[/quote]

This is awesome man! Your log is always inspirational and a pleasure to read. Keep doing what you are doing, you are making a lot of lazy people run out of excuses!

298

[quote]Alpha wrote:

[quote]panzerfaust wrote:
[
I found the final set of my squats a little intimidating as I haven’t really tested my core much, but I held up fine and while the reps were slow I got them all done. This brings my E1RM up over 130kg, really pleased by this.

[/quote]

This is awesome man! Your log is always inspirational and a pleasure to read. Keep doing what you are doing, you are making a lot of lazy people run out of excuses![/quote]

Thanks! I’ve been told to keep squats and deads under 100kg until the 5th of August (surgical check-up) but I figure a few extra kg for reps won’t bust me open haha.

I never quite reached a 400lb squat, so it’s nice / somewhat amusing to be hitting much lighter milestones and actually appreciating them.

And trust me I feel lazy often. I just have this little glitch inside me which says “if you can’t get off your ass and lift a few light weights, how the hell can you beat this disease?”

So even if I wanted to be a lazy sloth (and I really do) I have a principle which demands otherwise.

Cheers for stopping in bro

299

Hey brother, been following along - inspiring stuff, glad you are logging here!

Keep up the great work and great attitude!

16" arms during chemo is pretty badass actually.

I better go do more curls.

300

[quote]Serge A. Storms wrote:
Hey brother, been following along - inspiring stuff, glad you are logging here!

Keep up the great work and great attitude!

16" arms during chemo is pretty badass actually.

I better go do more curls.

[/quote]

Thank you for following and I’m glad you enjoy the read.

Logging here has been no end of help. Love the comments, and it gives me a sense of duty to complete all my workouts even if I feel like just lying down. Pretty proud to have missed zero planned workouts with the exception of when I’ve been hospitalised.

Also from your avatar I think you have the volume of curls just about right haha!

Cheers - Jay