I know what you mean about not lifting for strength, it’s kind of boring just putting on x weight doing it for x reps and sets. There is something awesome about reaching for new PR’s every week. As Kevin said gotta give joints and such a break for a bit somethings.
Merry Christmas Strick family.
Good to hear you and Mrs. S are still hitting the iron.
So…are you saying you’re starting to look like Bulldog’s avatar?
Kev, dday, PG,
Thanks gents. There are some victories to be had, even in this. Size gains, which are hard to notice over the short haulbut, also, seeing work capacity grow. I like watching the reps at a certain weight go up. Heck, I like progress in any form.
Mrs. Strick has been MIA from the workouts. That is my fault. If I am not overly enthused and “happy” about getting after it, it isn’t fun for her. She feeds off of me rather than herself. Once we hit the new year, I am going to throw in a bit of strength training and see if I can get her remotivated.
Hope you all had a wonderful Christmas! I spent mine with my folks and brother’s family. I haven’t seen the redneck in 4 years. It has been a blast! My little ones have been going non-stop with their cousins. Of course, 12 of us in one house is a bit chaotic 
I did get one workout in, though. My brother and I spent a good clip splitting oak and fat wood (fat lightard (spaelling?)…also known as pine hearts/roots). That resiny, snarled heap is a job to split. So we made a contest out of it. Swinging a 12-14# maul just feels good, even if my back hates it.
Wow! Has it really been almost a month since I posted? I suck!
Anyway…still working out. I have added back in bench and am slowly ramping it back up. It amazes me how quickly it goes away. I mean, I have been working out faithfully. Once I started ramping up the weight, though, it was like I hadn’t lifted in years. I worked up to 335#, Sunday, and it felt like 400#. But, it is coming back.
Besides that, things are moving along well. Back is stronger. Shoulders are rounder. My back is happier without the deads and squats, though still a little naggy.
Mrs. Strick has not worked out in some time. When I lost my grrr…, she lost interest. Now that I am adding weight to the bar again, and getting the accompanying drive, she seems to have rekindled some of her interest. Of course, first, I have to get her to eat enough.
Hope everyone is doing well.
Havent benched in a while and worked up to a 335…that some good muscle memory right there! Any way of adding the DL back in the routine???
Nice job on the 335 after the layoff…saying not bad would be an understatment.
Welcome back Skip. Good job on 335. You will be off like a shot soon!
So was this a cameo drive by or are you planning on setting shop? By the way the 'new" guy buys the beer!!! glad to hear things are going well…Lets get Lifting with Stricks back on the top of the charts!
yawn - was just throwing some weight around and rocked out 335.
nice work Strick
hope to see you with some frequency here
Yeah, that’s pretty damn good for any day let alone a “just getting back into it” day. Good to see you back.
james
Thanks all. The 335 just felt a lot heavier than i would hav guessed, especially since I have been working out consistently…just not near max. Doing BB sets/reps/weights definitely will not keep my maxes where they were.
Matty, unfortunately, I am staying far away from deads and squats. It just isn’t worth the back, hip and leg pain. My dad is soon going to have back surgery. It was an unpleasant reminder that I am playing with fire with my Spondy.
Yesterday’s play…
Alternating sets ot wide/neutral grip lat pulls and close/neutral grip seated rows (not supersetted…just alternating)
Lat Pulls
115x15
175x12
205x10x4
Seated Rows
115x15
175x12
205x10x4
Followed by…
Front Rope Pulldowns (have no ideea what these are called)
150x10x3
Wide/Neutral Grip Seated Rows
205x10x3
Nothing glamorous, but enough to get it done.
Nice to see you back. I miss reading about Ms. Strick’s training. She was making such phenomenal newbie gains. But ultimately her motivation to lift will have to come from within if she’s to stay with it.
Welcome back Big Strick.
And I’ll echo Snap’s sentiments wrt Mrs. S.
“Nothing glamorous, but enough to get it done.”
The nothing glamorous stuff pays dividends too, way to get it done.
So am I going to invest time and emotion readying your log only to be left feeling abandoned and lost? When you abandon us…again 
Snap, PG, you are correct. Unfortunately, I never did see much of an individual drive in her, with regards to the lifting. It was always tied to wanting to be in there with me. Which is not a bad thing, on a relational level, but not conducive to a longterm, productive lifting career.
Led, you are spot on. I dare say the majority of workouts are not “glamorous”. Getting in there and getiting it done, consistently, is where it is at.
I’m sorry, bulldog. I’ve been a bad forum-mate. I just find it hard to post when my interest has taken a nose-dive. Fortunately, I seem to be recovering some sense of direction. If I could figure out how to add a couple of hours to each day, I would be set.
Also, it would be nice if OH press quit hurting my damned shoulder. Not being able to push my favorite exercise just flat out sucks!
STOP TOYING WITH OUR EMOTIONS STRICK!!!
Matty, that’s just my sadistic streak. It comes and goes…lol.
Yesterday’s trying to write a $25 check with only $20 in the bank workout…
Bench - still trying to up the weight and let my body get used to the heavier loads
barx20
135x10
185x5
225x5
275x3
315x2
335x1
350x1 - this felt heavy and slow. Not sure I had much more in me. Since it is previous 1RM - 20#, though, I am happy with it.
Not supersetted, but in between each bench set…
Facepulls
103x15
115x12
127x10x6
Then…
Tricep Pushdowns - had to hurry through these
103x12
115x10
Drop set
127x5, 103x5, 79x5, 55x6
That was it. The bench still feels heavy as hell, but I think I am starting to acclimate to the heavier loads again. Also, the tricep work was very short, but that last set set them on fire. They felt like they were cramped for a couple of minutes.
Still avoiding laterals, due to my elbow. That is really frustrating. I love laterals. Gotta round the shoulders!
Those are killer benches, Strick. Sorry to hear about Jennifer dropping out, she was making great gains.
Just out of curiousity, what’s it like living in a state that does things like this:
[quote]LittleStrick wrote:
Matty, that’s just my sadistic streak. It comes and goes…lol.
Yesterday’s trying to write a $25 check with only $20 in the bank workout…
Bench - still trying to up the weight and let my body get used to the heavier loads
barx20
135x10
185x5
225x5
275x3
315x2
335x1
350x1 - this felt heavy and slow. Not sure I had much more in me. Since it is previous 1RM - 20#, though, I am happy with it.
Not supersetted, but in between each bench set…
Facepulls
103x15
115x12
127x10x6
Then…
Tricep Pushdowns - had to hurry through these
103x12
115x10
Drop set
127x5, 103x5, 79x5, 55x6
That was it. The bench still feels heavy as hell, but I think I am starting to acclimate to the heavier loads again. Also, the tricep work was very short, but that last set set them on fire. They felt like they were cramped for a couple of minutes.
Still avoiding laterals, due to my elbow. That is really frustrating. I love laterals. Gotta round the shoulders![/quote]
Ahhh Strick? The 350 “feels” heavy because it IS HEAVY. Nice work on the benches big man, also part of the reason the tris were on fire at the end as well.