Reset, Reboot, and Reload

Training Over 35 Lifter
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20130907 5/3/1 C2W1D1 (cycle/week/day) OHP

I decided the hell with winging it this week since I didn’t put enough thought into what I will do. So I think I need a lot more volume in general and I’m going to do every lift twice a week so I’m doing essentially full body 4x/week. OHP w/ Squat assist, DL w/Bench assist, Bench w/DL assist, and Squat w/OHP assist.

Lower back/abdominal strengthening is going to be a priority so loaded carries will be in the plan for each day in some form.

This last cycle has been good for adaptation. I feel stronger but I just may be moving better. No matter. Improvement is improvement. On to today’s log.

Warmup: YWTL, L w/ ext.rot., L w/ ext. rot. and press, skiers. OHS w/stickx10 (Now that I’ve done it with the bar I can use better form w/o it and really keep the back tight)

OHP
50x5, 60x5, 70x5
75x5, 90x5, 100x10

Opposite arm/leg raise x10/side (work the multifidi)

Squat
45x5, 75x5
105x5, 125x5, 245x1 (Lower back was becoming increasingly unhappy)

T-Handle Swings
25x10x3

T-Handle Deadhang
25@45s (Get into squat/sitting position, elbows on thighs and hold T-Handle between legs and focus on getting the low back into a neutral position. Felt the low back work but stretch a bit which was good. I’m sure there’s a real name for this but I’m making it up as I go)

T-Handle suitcase carry
5 rounds per hand around inside perimeer of garage, counterclockwise with weight forward of grip
5 rounds/hand, clockwise and weight behind grip.

My back was tightening up at the end of the counterclockwise rounds. Had to remember to breathe into the hips and let them stay actively relaxed. Lower back feeling much, much better.

Music: Joe Satriani - Black Swans and Wormhole Wizards. (Mike Keneally playing keys on this disk. Absolute virtuoso. You’ll remember him from his days with Frank Zappa wearing the purple suit and hat)

EDIT: In addition to letting the hips drop and breathe down deep, I had to consciously keep the wrists from pronating while carrying the T-Handle. More external rotation work for the shoulders.

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20130908 C2W1D2 - Deadlift
Warm-up - Leg swings, opposite arm & leg raise (10/side), some downward dog, stretch in squat position
T-handle swings - 25x10,10

Deadlift
100x5, 120x5, 150x5 (The 120 should have been 125. Oh well)
165x5, 190x5, 215x7

YWTLs for shoulder

Bench
65x10, 80x10, 95x10

Pull downs
50x10, 75x10, 100x8

Unilateral DB walk
50x100yds/side

Felt I had two more reps on the deadlift, but I paused too long while taking the slack out of the bar and my quads hit their burn capacity. I like the second power lift for my main accessory even though I’ve technically done all four in the last two days. I’ll need to do some maintenance tomorrow with stretching and rolling or I’ll have the DOMs of death by Wednesday.

The dumbbell carry was great. Opened the overhead door and took that around the property with the left. Rested a minute and did the opposite. The core training article hit the site just in time. Real Core Training: Offset Loading

Music: System of a Down - Toxicity followed up by a few tracks of the Aristocrats debut. Yeah, I need to cycle something else in there but I forget to load my phone or tablet up with tunes.

Diet: Going to try and cut out all those nasty refined sugars this week. I won’t log here but I am tracking in Myfitnesspal.com. I know I need a lot more protein. Since I’m about 200lb lean mass of my 304 I’ll aim for 200 grams but I’ll be happy to hit 150. For total Calories I’ll just let my appetite dictate that, but I don’t want to go over 3000 per day. We’ll see.

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You seem to be ticking along just fine there with your workouts. My body doesn’t react too well with refined sugar either, in fact think I’m gaining some weight just by typing it.

Speaking of SOAD, ya just reminded me, guess they are never going to release the Achozen album (with Shavo)?

S’more music for ya…

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Thanks, Minimal. I’m definitely feeling the last two days now.

Jimmy Chamberlin is nutso. That snare work near the beginning especially. On the whole it’s like thick, hot magma from the center of the earth angry red like the Gibson SG. It’s going on my list of Music to acquire.

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[quote]Crushed_Idiot wrote:
Thanks, Minimal. I’m definitely feeling the last two days now.

Jimmy Chamberlin is nutso. That snare work near the beginning especially. On the whole it’s like thick, hot magma from the center of the earth angry red like the Gibson SG. It’s going on my list of Music to acquire.[/quote]

He’s got some big nuts alright. I saw him live years upon years ago and still can’t forget it. Precision & aggression are a very hard balance but he does it so well. Although I thought that he could easily carry Smashing Pumpkins but don’t know, they were not the same without D’arcy & James, but I have not even attempted to listen to them without Chamberlain.

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Yeah, same here. I’m a beginner just startin stronglifts 5x5. Had started dabblin with it earlier this year but got frustrated with gym. now i’ve pieced together a lil set up at home and gettin back into it. Not starting with empty bar as suggested but used the stronglifts tracker to calculate starting weight from my PR’s.

pounds.

Squat - 95
Bench - 80
Row - 65
Overhead Press - 60
Deadlift - 115

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Good luck with stronglifts, IronMonk. I may try that program one day.

Lacrosse ball between the scapula and spine is heavenly hell. So much better than the roller.

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20130911 -C2W1D3 - Bench

Warmup
YWTL+

Bench Press
50x5, 65x5, 80x5
85x5
100x5
115x11 !!! (Wendler’s (wtxrepsx0.0333)+wt gives me a theoretical PR of 160, but it is a rep PR for certain; though it’s all PR’s when you’re starting over as far as I’m concerned)

T-handle swings
35x15, 35x10

TnGo SLDL
135x10
160x10
185x10
(These were supposed to be 10lbs lighter but I didn’t want to not have the 45s on the bar. Tired of deficit lifting. I realized I did not adjust on the fly and went over.)

DB Row
30x15, 40x15, 50x10

OK, Touch-n-Go SLDLs are AWESOME! Total conditioning since you don’t want to go slow or stop mid-set. My mid back was nicely pulsing at the end of that. Then throw the DB rows and my midsection and back is done.
Phew!

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[quote]Crushed_Idiot wrote:
Squat

105x5, 125x5, 245x1 (Lower back was becoming increasingly unhappy)
[/quote]
So I was thinking that my back would be unhappy if I made a 120-lb jump in squat.

But I am assuming that is a typo:)

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Thanks for the catch, kp. That’s a typo of gargantuan proportions. The 145 I actually lifted was bad enough. The 245 would have snapped me in half. My 1 rep max when I tested it six weeks ago was only 215. I may be able to get the 245 this time around; it will require a serious amount of warm-up.

In other news, I lathered my elbow up with Deep Cold. Ooo-ee. Mentholated soothing liniment. Also got a bit by my nose. Minty love.

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Hey, how are you holding up?

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Hey Minimal. I’m holding up fairly well.

Just got back from Montreal. Didn’t sleep well last night, had an early flight but my connection in Calgary was held up for over an hour. But I had a good week, got to see the sights. No workouts but lots of walking around downtown. I was scheduled to start week two of the second 531 cycle today, but I’ll run this week M/T/Th/F and recover today.

I’ll check in tomorrow. Have a good one.

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I hope you resisted eating your face off better than I did. I enjoyed various unhealthy fried meat dishes all the way. Chicken fried steak with gravy and garlic mash…and the steak was bigger across than my head… :frowning:

I’m just pulling maxes and testing out my cardio capacity this week next then I was going to jump on 531 as well.

I’ve been using zhengushui as a topical. It works really well and you get it in the chinese medicine shops, Bao An on 97street has it. I won’t promise it won’t cause cancer, but it sucks the heat right out of a swollen muscle.

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I ate my face off pretty bad, but it was vacation time, right? Zhengushui, huh? Hmm… Does it smell better than menthol. Me wife thinks I smell like old man when I use it.

I may not get any lifting in this week either, unfortunately. Caught a flu bug somewhere in the mix and my joints are none too happy and I’m totally sapped of energy.

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It smells…unique. It isn’t an old man bengay smell. It feels like ice. It does have a warning to keep it away from pregnant women but most of the instructions are in chinese…never, ever, get it on your junk.

Get well!

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Interesting conversation here, I’ll leave you guys to it. And nothing wrong with big steaks, as long as you can digest it all.
If it makes you feel better I’m sick too, I’m hoping it just kills off the weaker cells for Winter.

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[quote]minimaltechno wrote:
Interesting conversation here, I’ll leave you guys to it. And nothing wrong with big steaks, as long as you can digest it all.
If it makes you feel better I’m sick too, I’m hoping it just kills off the weaker cells for Winter.[/quote]

Let’s hope it does kill the weak cells but I feel it’s time to get an overhaul at the cellular level.

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Looks like you’ve been going at it pretty strong since the last time I checked in here. Good stuff, keep it up.

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Thanks, Urbanman. Unfortunately I haven’t touched the bar in two weeks. Vacation good, getting cold/flu bad. I may do some dumbbell / bar only work today. Feeling much better but I don’t want to push it. I’ll do some range of motion and movement patterning and I should be good to start back on 531 this Sunday.

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It is a nasty flu going around. It is working its way through my house. I have dodged it so far, but my 7 year old has it with vomit…all over me last night. If that doesn’t infect me, I’m getting a pass on this one. He coughed himself into puking, and his older brother has been keeping me up since I got home coughing all night. Poor kids.