Jimmy -
I just say I like it, but deep down within, I crave lifting heavy again already!!! When I daydream now, it’s about what new routine I’m gonna try, etc. Some guys have wet dreams, I’m not that lucky, I dream about lifting heavy…Go Figure!!!
Hope all is well with your training, even if work doesn’t allow you to go to contest. There will always be other ones down the line. No matter what I say, It still doesn’t stop the disappointment of not competing after all the time, effort, work, and personal sacrifice one puts into cycling up for a meet.
QT,
Waiting for the guys to go to work and saw your post.Thanks for the support it means alot to me.That desire is a fire that burns deep down.I love it! It is a part of who I am.Your right there will be other meets and the gains I made in my training will motivate me to move forward.This sport is a big part of my life and my 13 teen year old is following in my footsteps.As I watch him grow and get strong I’m awed.I get to share the excitement of it with him and he understands and has been bitten by the iron bug.Good to hear from you bro!TRAIN HARD and stay strong! Jimmy T
Art, are you taking a set amount of time off, or are you going to get back into it when it just feels right?
also, i am impressed with the volume you have in your routines. an old freind and former lifting partner who is close to your age now, said that now that he is older, he has to work a lot harder(ie more volume) than when he was yuounger to make similar gains. your thoughts?
HT -
Posed a good question…let me attempt an answer. The time off is mainly due to increased demands of the 2-3 jobs I’m working and family. This time every year, I end up with 4 kids to look after and my job adds Saturdays now so mainly I’m strapped for time and too lazy to get up at 4:30/5:00 to train. I used to be able to train heavy at that time once I got used to it but now I am just too damn lazy. So now I train after school for 30-45 mins before I leave for my second job.
Over the past 25-30 years, I have seen a trend with me and Summers - I just don’t train as hard on all 3 lifts - I usually just pick one I want to concentrate on or improve and I just hope to maintain the others. I’d have to say the Deadlift is the one I pick more often than Squat or BP.
The volume question is a good one…I have found that my body craves and thrives on it. It is a fine line bet. overtraining and undertraining with me. If I don’t do enough, I make little or no improvement at 50+. If I do too much, the same happens. I am still searching for the right amount by trial and error, though I think I’m closer now than in the last 10 years or so.
HT, I will never be the lifter I once was in my 30’s, but i use those lifts to guage where I am today. I still think I can DL 600 given the right circumstances, my best DL all-time is 633@198. My squat has deteriorated from a best of 617@198 to the high 400’s and I don’t know why exactly. I think I don’t train it hard enough or train it right/correctly. I made great gains with chains and bands in my 30’s but now struggle to slow down my strength loss in the squat using the same bands and chains.
I have not gained any strength in the squat, but I have slowly lost strength when measured by 1RM over the last 10 years. Yet at summers end, I try to do 405x20 with just a belt and usually get it or get close before I collapse and/or chum. My BP has improved post-surgery; will I ever BP over 400? I doubt it realistically, BUT I think 365-385 within a year’s time is not out-of-the-question!
Maybe I am overly optimistic. I need to do a variety of exercises and movements to keep all the muscle groups of my body on the same page so-to-speak. I believe you are only as strong as your weakest link. My weak links now are my left shoulder girdle and every muscle group involved with squatting, I guess. I try to utilize different exercises to improve those areas, BUT I also like testing my strength with my favorites - chin-ups/pull-ups; dips; push-ups; overhead presses of any kind; overhead squat or front squat and even snatches and C&J’s.
Honestly, I still can not state that I’ve found what works best for me - I am open to new ideas, but I also still try what seemed to work in the past. I still have all my training logs for the past 35 years!!!
HT, I like to think strength gains are still attainable for me. If I think it, I can achieve it. If I believe it, I can heave it!!!
I still believe it and will till my last breath believe it! That is why I keep trying.
I’m not sure if I answered the volume question in numbers for you, only in theory and beliefs.
What do you think I could try to make my squat stop spiraling downwards? All I can add is that when the weight gets very heavy, it “feels” heavy on my back and I have an extremely hard time setting up with the walkout. I do not squat extremely wide stance, but I am not a narrow stance squatter either.
When I take the bar off the racks my feet are hip width and as I step back 1 step I try to widen it with out taking extra steps. If I do good, I only have to make small adjustments to be even and feel comfy. If I screw up, the energy I expend trying to even out kills my set. I want to try a safety squat bar but I can not afford a good one at this time. I suck at box squats, except when the box is well- below parallel. If it is above, my groove and form suck. Something is weak! I know this is too much stuff, but what does it sound like to you? Any ideas?
THANX - Art
QuarterTonner,Checking in to see how your training is going?My shoulder is feeling great!The bench should be back in the 300’s soon.I did 405 for 10 in the squat yesterday.I’m going to keep hitting it hard.TRAIN HARD! Jimmy T
Jimmy T -
SOUNDS LIKE YOU ARE ON A ROLL !!!
Keep rollin’ and hit some big numbers!
[quote]QuarterTonner wrote:
Jimmy T -
SOUNDS LIKE YOU ARE ON A ROLL !!!
Keep rollin’ and hit some big numbers![/quote]
QuarterTonner,
Monday I hit 8x455 in the squat!I’m training my deadlift today.I’ll bench on saturday. Good to hear from you.The NASA Masters Nationals results should be posted soon.TRAIN HARD! Jimmy T
Last week - pretty much still trained exercises I don’t normally do. I also started to incorporate the blue mini band on all the exercises toward the end of the week. I have continued to use the mini band over the weekend and yesterday(Monday).
I have the itch to start squatting again; all I have done the last few weeks are fronts, manta ray, leg presses & walking lunges. I DL’ed over the weekend just to see how much strength or form I lost, BUT I was able to get a single with 505 and finish with a triple with 455 pretty easily. I am still dragging the chain, but now I added 15 more minutes for a total of 45 minutes now - 25-30 backwards and 15-20 forwards. I am never winded during my workouts and this is probably why along with the walking/jogging I do with the dogs or pick-up basketball/football games at work.
Monday - 06/19/06
Power Rack Close-grip BP with pink band doubled around back off pins 3" above chest - 45x10x2; 95x8; 145x6; 195x4; 245x2x2. Every rep paused on the pins for a count of 3
Dips - BW x failure x 3 sets with 45 secs rest bet sets(40;25;21)
Pull-ups - BW x failure x 3 sets with 45 secs rest bet sets(31;14;8)
Sprint for 30 secs/Rest 60 secs x 30 minutes total time(20 total)
Tues. 06/20/06
Chain Drag in the heat/humidity - 45 minutes and it was tougher than usual, in fact I found out egg salad tastes like shit the second time!..I had to stop for a couple of minutes to chum and get a drink of water. After chumming, I couldn’t pull the chain forwards anymore, so I finished the workout pulling it backwards again as it was easier on my stomach and body.
Wed - 06/21/06 Took day off!
Thurs - 06/22/06
Deadlift - 135x8; 225x5; 315x3; 405x2; 505x1; 455x3
Rack Pull with 5 sec hold at top of each rep - 405x3; 455x3; 495x2; 545x1; 585x1
Press Behind the Neck - 45x12x2; 95x5; 135x3; 185x1; tried 205 but couldn’t get it off my shoulders so I push pressed it x1; 155x6
Deltoid TriSet - used 15 lb DB’s for front raises/side raises/bent-over lateral raises, rested for 3 minutes and repeated - got 10 reps all the way through for both sets
Mon-
Squat-1x5x405-1x5x500
Tues-
Bench-pause reps-1x10x185-1x6x205-1x2x225
Thurs-
Deadlifts-1x5x315-1x5x385-1x1x435-1x8x350
rack work-mid thigh
1x5x405-1x5x500-1x5x550
DL off 100lb. plate
1x8x275
Fri - Power Rack Bench Press - worked up to a single with 315; every rep was paused on the pins for 1-2 secs.
Incline DB Press - 70x10; 100x8; 125x5x3
Sat - 06/24/06 - Squat - 45x12x2; 135x10; 225x8; 315x5; 350x3; 365x1x3
[quote]QuarterTonner wrote:
Fri - Power Rack Bench Press - worked up to a single with 315; every rep was paused on the pins for 1-2 secs.
Incline DB Press - 70x10; 100x8; 125x5x3
Sat - 06/24/06 - Squat - 45x12x2; 135x10; 225x8; 315x5; 350x3; 365x1x3[/quote]
I love this site and I want you to kick ass. I had some fluid drained from an elbow today due to a slip on the ice. Doesn’t hurt but it works on my pea brain. My goal is 500 DL by 8/17 but after reading your stuff, Mike Robertson and Eric C.(including a couple of emails) I’m going for it Monday. If you’re going to be a bear be a grizzly, the badest on the planet. Keep us informed, good luck and God Bless.
Barry
Jimmy - Thanks for the update on your workout.
Barry - Thanks for checkin’ out my thread - I hope it gives you some added inspiration for your own workouts!
Last week I started my Summer job; my workouts suffered!
Sat - 06/24 - Squat - 45x12x2; 135x8; 225x5; 315x1 then I added 10 pounds and did singles raw with about 1 minute rest bet. sets until I failed at 415, so I ended with 405x1.
Mon - 06/26
Power Rack BP - 45x8x2; 95x12; 135x10; 185x8; 225x5; 275x3(HARD!) 225x5; 185x8; 135x12
Dips - BW to failure x 3 sets
Pull-ups - BW to failure x 3 sets
Tues - Front squat with belt worked up to 315x3
Chain drag x 20 minutes backwards & 12 minutes forwards
Wed - Press Behind the Neck - 45x12x2; 70x8; 95x5; 120x3; 135x2; 160x2; 190x2;
145x7(HARD!)
Thurs - Deadlift - 135x8; 225x5; 315x3; 405x2; 455x1; 510x1; 460x3
Friday - Worked up to a 325 single in the floor press with a closer than normal grip; failed at 335
Saturday - Tried to get as many reps at 365 as possible. Warmed up with 45x8x2; 135x6; 225x4; 315x1 and did 365x12 before I got my exertional headache. I felt I had 1-2 more reps in my legs, but my head was exploding so I stopped.
Took Sun & Mon off - too sore!!!
Tues - 07/04/06 Celebrated Independence day by Front Squatting - 45x12x2; 135x8; 185x5; 225x3; 275x2; 315x1 - still felt some soreness in quads/hams/low back so stopped entire workout here! See if I can do some overhead lifting of some sort tomorrow.
Squats,B.W.-188
1x10x225-1x10x315-1x10x405
Bench,I’m thinking about shirting up in the high 200 range.I have a Inzer trainig shirt.Help the shoulder handle the the load and pause reps.
Pause reps-1x10x135-1x5x185-1x3x205-1x2x225-1x1x240-1x5x205
Deadlifts,
1x5x135-1x5x225-1x1x315-1x1x405-1x1x455
Rack pulls-mid thigh,
1x5x315-1x5x405-1x5x500-1x5x600
off a 100lb. plate
1x8x315
I’m hammering on my deadlifts and pushing my bench.Shoulder feels OK and my focus is training smart!I’m going by feel and if I need more rest I take off.Bada Bing go figure a powerlifter using some discretion.Always enjoy reading your posts QuarterTonner.TRAIN HARD! Jimmy T
Jimmy - using your head is what keeps us ‘old-timers’ going strong while the young bulls keep falling by the wayside! Nice workout - keep it up!
Since my last post, Due to soreness and family/job committments, did,'t work out the rest of the week. On Sunday, 07/09 I did box squats unto a cinderblock way below parallel worked up to 315x5x3, then I did some CG BP’s in the power pack pausing each rep on the pins working up to a 305 single, and then for the finale, I deadlifted working up to 515x1 and 465x3. Will try to get back on track this week.
Monday - 07/10/06
Bench press with pink mini band doubled around back - 45x10x2; 95x8;135x5; 185x3x9 with 45-60 secs rest between sets
Dips with pink mini band doubled around neck/shoulders - BW+bandx failurex3sets
Green Band Lat Pull-downs - to failurex3sets
Seated rows with strong blue band - 3 setsxfailure
Tuesday & Wed - no lifting - had to be in work early and stayed late both days. During lunch breaks, took a 3 mile jog/walk. The heat/humidity/wind took their toll on me. I started into the wind and it wore me out; when it was at my back I was overheated and the greenheads were biting - ouch!