Thanks, Thunderchild.
Okay, the horrible file clerk job is finally over. I now have time and energy to go back to the gym. I signed up at the place down the street, not quite as good as the last place, but good enough and cheaper. Plus closer.
Weighed myself and I’m at 182. Thought I’d lost more weight than that, had to get new pants cuz the old ones were way too big around the waist. I dropped 30 pounds in the last year, not because I wanted to, but the stress of unemployment and cutting money on food did it. The file clerk job was pretty physical, that probably kept me going.
So I went today. Nothing fancy, didn’t want to set off huge DOMS. But wanted to feel like I was putting good effort into it.
Bench
45 x 12
65 x 10
95 x 6
95 x 6
So my strength was pretty much the same as always. This is the result of 40 years of damn hard work to build strength.
Seated row
27 x 16
42 x 12
50 x 10
Plate leg press
90 x 15
140 x 10
got good stretch on this
Hyper Extension
0 x 12
25 plate x 8
25 x 10
All in all, a more or less full body workout. We’ll see what’s sore.
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As I expected, some DOMS, but not much. Mostly in the chest and back, so today did legs.
Squat
45 x 12
65 x 10
95 x 8
115 x 5
last set took some real effort, but that doesn’t bother me.
Ab crunch
x 15
x 15
Hip abduct
130 x 20
170 x 12
Hip adductor
150 x 20
190 x 10
Feeling it in the thighs, may have some real DOMS, we’ll see.
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Sat. Had really nasty DOMS in thighs, upper body only.
Bench
65 x 12
95 x 7
105 x 4
105 x 3
105 x 3
105 x 3
105 x 3
Tried a machine shoulder press, but didn’t like how it made my right delt feel.
OH press
45 x 10
65 x 3
65 x 3
65 x 3 guy standing next to me was saying “There you go, there you go”, gave me motivation for
65 x 5
Sun leg DOMS down, do deads for first time in several months
Deadlift
45 x 10
95 x 8
135 x 8
185 x 4
185 x 4
185 x 4
didn’t notice it at the time but aftwards realized I did all sets with double overhand, no problems with grip. All that file clerk shit of grabbing thick files must have really worked my grip.
Chin
lousy. could barely do only 2 reps, and those were half way up. Was hoping losing 30 pounds would help with that, but not enough.
Did some negative only chins. Two sets of 2 reps each.
Seat row, underhand grip
42 x 5
42 x 4
was afraid I’d have really bad DOMS in biceps, but surprisingly not. Some soreness in traps and back, and triceps of all places, but barely any biceps.
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Looks like you have a pretty comprehensive set of routines concentrating on the compound lifts. Good job incorporating warm-up sets.
Do you keep a workout log (besides posting on here)? To me that is the best way to enforce discipline and document progression (or attempts at progression) in the work sets from week to week.
I do. I keep a small notebook to log the workouts.
Right now I’m just concentrating on powerlifting movements as the core routines. One, I want to get back into competition, and two, it just simplifies the workouts.
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Leg DOMS all cleared up, so squats today.
65 x 10
95 x 8
115 x 6
135 x 4
135 x 3
135 x 3
135 x 3
Happy that jumped up from last time, seems to be rebuilding strength, not bad for the weight I’ve lost. Guy next to me was squatting in perfect form, made me concentrate on technique.
Still a touch of soreness in upper back, so no bench.
Shoulder press machine
30 x 10
50 x 5
50 x 5
50 x 5
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Bench
65 x 10
105 x 4
105 x 4
105 x 5
105 x 5
105 x 4
105 x 4
a little easier than last time, I’m happy
Deadlift
135 x 10
185 x 2
felt a twinge in lower back, stopped with that weight
135 x 8
not bad, but going to look at it
Hyper Ext
x 15
25 x 8
25 x 8
no pain, good sign
A little pain in lower back, makes me angry, should be deadlifting that weight with no problems. Some massage, good eating, lots of sleep, etc. Feels better, but today will do only stuff that doesn’t hit low back.
Seat row
27 x 15
42 x 7
50 x 4
50 x 4
50 x 4
50 x 4
50 x 4
surprised how much easier it was than last time
Standing calf
135 x 10
195 x 6 three times
Leg curl
9 x 10
12 x 5
12 x 5
Hammer Hi Row
50 x 12
90 x 10
140 x 6 three times
doing surprisingly well. Good eating, sleeping. Stressed out about money, last job paid very little, it’s about run out, no word yet on whether I qualify for unemployment. Applying for jobs, but nothing yet.
Yeah, definitely injury to lo back. Probably a sprained muscle. Not too bad, but no way can I squat or deadlift with it. Have to do workouts around that.
So doing a two way split, push pull without too much stress on hips or low back. Eating like crazy, so hungry, put on a couple pounds and getting stronger on lifts. That’s nice.
Sunday
Bench
65 x 12
105 x 6
105 x 6
105 x 6
105 x 6
actually getting stronger on this, that’s nice
Hammer leg ext
50 x 12
60 x 10
70 x 8 x 2
Triceps pulldown
30 x 12
42 x 8
50 x 4 x 2
50 x 5 x 2
was having problems locking out bench, decided tris were the weak point. Seems to be working.
Today
Seated row
40 x 12
70 x 12
100 x 7
120 x 4 x 5
thought I could do these without too much work on low back, but no such luck. Will have to change. Pity, was gaining some strength.
Leg curl
90 x 12
130 x 4 x 5
definitely stronger
Standing calf
135 x 12
215 x 5 x 5
without squats or dead, this is the only way to stress my spine and toughen it up. Borderline on low back impact, tightening abs helps.
Hammer hi row
90 x 12
180 x 4 x 5
I believe this is an all time record for this.
Would have felt better, but having real money problems. Last job didn’t pay much, and what little I had in the bank is gone, thanks to a thief who stole some of my checks, forged new ones, and cashed them. Bank and police are looking into it, sure could use the money back. Also waiting for unemployment payments to kick in, they’re late. If not, won’t be able to pay rent .
Somehow, I got another injury.
It started yesterday. I decided to hold off from the seated row to give my low back a rest and tried the Hammer Iso Row where your chest is held by the seat. As I rested onto the seat, I was puzzled to feel some tenderness on the chest area. I fussed around to where it was least bothersome, then did the rows. As soon as I got off, no more pain. Felt just fine. Did a few more sets, same tenderness. Wasn’t much, and gone as soon as I was off.
Did standing calves, felt a bit easier than before. Then decided to give the Hammer leg curl a try. The one I did before was seated, this one is lying on belly. Two 25 lb plates, should be okay. I lay down, and the tenderness came back. What? Did some reps, then as soon as I got off, no pain. Weird. So I went home, not a hint of chest problems at any point. Did laundry, carried basket just fine.
Today was bench day. Set warm up of 65 lbs. Lay down, and wham, back muscles tender. Huh? Pushed back muscles into bench, reached for bar, and chest pain again. Did the set, got off, everything fine. So did a few more sets of 110 lbs, same as last time. Now something really wrong, the pain is staying after I got off the bench. Did some leg exts, okay, some tri pulldowns. Chest is throbbing now. I try feeling it out. It’s not pecs, not abs - could it be intercostals? Ribs cracked? Seems like just a bruise, area is very touchy - but what could have cause it? I am absolutely baffled.
Or maybe I shouldn’t be baffled. This is very normal. Injury is very common in weight lifting. I sure gets tons of it, even when not lifting at capacity. It takes a very, very long time to get past it and try to grow.
Yes, when you are pushing 60 avoiding injury is maybe your highest priority. The TRT doc that I see is a bodybuilder. He recommends that most people should be doing 10 to 15 reps per set with strict form. He says that he has never seen anyone injure themselves that way.
Of course, his arms are the size of an average person’s legs, so I doubt he has been following his own advice all the time😉
The chest pain has almost completely faded away, which leads me to believe it was psychosomatic. Been under massive stress lately, finances awful, and my body sometimes does something like that.
The warehouse job is over. It was exhausting, at least I was sleeping well at night, but had endless back pain during it. Now I’m recovering and the pain has subsided a lot. Probably a lot of lactic acid, but still a sprained muscle in the hip. Currently playing around with the band at home, doing so planks to build up core, etc. The warehouse was actually pretty good work, the toughest part was hauling wooden pallets around but I pretty much kept up with the other guys. Big problem is money, next job won’t start until mid Jan and won’t get first paycheck until Feb. Will see if I can get something out of unemployment benefits to keep going.
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Unemployment was denied. Rent assistance was denied. Started a new job, but won’t pay until mid Feb. Have applied to a charity org.
Only been to gym a couple times. Erratic food intake makes steady workouts impossible. Made it to a couple of food pantries, some decent food. Went today, kept it easy, don’t want to tear anything.
Squats
95 x 6
95 x 7
95 x 6
OH press
30 x 8
45 x 6
45 x 7
Deadlifts
135 x 6
135 x 5
135 x 6
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Sorry for the long delay. Felt like crap. Training’s been erratic. Money’s been a problem, hard to buy food I want, have gone to a couple food pantries. Things have stabilized some. Halfway through the semester, job’s good (except for the pay). Have started up a regular schedule at the gym.
Workouts are going surprisingly well. Not stressed, making gains. Started easy, now adding in some strength training. Last week’s workouts:
Wed
Dips (halfway)
x6 x5 x6 x7
Deadlift
135x10
155x8
185x5
185x5
185x5
Inv Row
x6 x6 x6 x6 x6
Fri
Bench
65x10
105x4
105x5
105x6
105x6
105x6
Hammer Hi Row
140x10
140x10
140x10
140x10
Squat
95x10
145x5
145x5
145x6
145x6
Yesterday
Deadlift
135x8
185x7
195x3
195x3
195x3
Dips (halfway)
x6 x4 x4 x6 x7 x7
Leg Curl
110x12
130x6
130x6
130x6
Will post in the future if I can.
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I know, haven’t posted in a long while. Just haven’t felt like it. Currently changing my routine, so good point to update what’s going on.
Switched benching to incline. Just so much trouble with regular, simply can’t get past 120 pounds, it’s just crushing me. So try some variety.
Incline Bench
65 x 7
85 x 6
95 x 9
115 x 3
115 x 3
105 x 5
105 x 5
Deadlift
135 x 6
165 x 5
195 x 5
235 x 1 damn, hard, must concentrate
235 x 0 like pulling a redwood
195 x 5
195 x 5
Half chins - can only get half way up
x 4
x 5
x 5
x 4
x 4
very tough, but it’s the only way to grow
Squat
95 x 7
135 x 6
165 x 5
195 x 3 - not sure I got all way to parallel
195 x 3
195 x 3
Close grip bench
55 x 10
65 x 8
85 x 7
95 x 7
105 x 5
115 x 5
115 x 5
was very surprised how strong I was on thing. However, lost strength. This week could only manage 105 for 3 or 4.
OH press
40 x 12
60 x 5
60 x 7
60 x 7
Now got problems in left shoulder. Lots of pain. Probably sprain. Well, that’s the risk you take if you lift heavy.
Half dips - if I go all the way down, I keep going to the floor
x 5
x 5
x 5
x 5
x 5
Getting fat around the waist, and injury not going away, so change. Focusing more on cardio. See if I can trim up a little.
So there you have it, the result of 45 years of hard training with the weights.
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Sorry to hear about your injury, but it’s good to see you posting again.
*waving excitedly
Howdy Stranger. 
Hi, Kairiki.
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