FWIW, a lot of older dudes (anyone not in their 20s) with achy knees/joints that have run high intensity low volume routines have had far less joint complaints than when running the higher volume routine counterparts. Fortitude particularly seems good for this.
Or you could just skip legs altogether. Everyone knows Arms are the only important muscles anyways.
I’m both older and even more weathered, but significantly less strong than either of you. I’ve been stealing stuff from " Knees Over Toes" YouTube and finding that some is really helpful.
Heels elevated goblet squats, at moderate to high levels of effort, are the fountain of youth for my creaky knees.
His stuff may be worth a look?
Absolutely. I meant moreso in the sense that most ongoing training related pain is due to aggravation via higher frequency training. Counterintuitively, the higher intensity tends to be more joint friendly because lower frequency of the aggravating movement.
I definitely agree hardcore with this! I’d have days I’d be absolutely dead from a brutal day before but then it’s just a nice quick workout for smaller body parts and I feel pretty much restored the next day. A combination of sharpening your attention to recovery and smart programming!
@anon6371718 @barley1 thanks gents!
I have 2 more weeks with what I’m doing and will definitely be looking for a new challenge after. I don’t yet have any real “pull” one way or the other, but I am certainly interested in being able to push a little harder.
My back/ knees do pretty well, considering, most of the time… but when they don’t want to play they just won’t.
Hanging some slabs of meat up under my pits today. I won’t lie - I’m looking forward to a rest day in a couple weeks.
Meadows Rows
-/8
25/8
50/8
75/8
85/8
95/8 x 2
Superset:
DB Pullover
55/10
55/8
50/10
50/6 or so
Cable Low Row
4 x 10
Hyperextension
4s hold at top
2 red bands/ 6-8 x 3
Big chest day today! 12 more days on this.
Beat Navy!
Slight Decline DB Press
30/15
50/10
60/8
70/8
80/8
90/8
100/7
Incline
45/8
135/6
155/6
175/6
195/6
205/6
DB Incline Flye
First part was regular reps, then drop and do really slow negative reps for the second part
32.5/8 + 20/6
HS Wide Chest
2pps/10 x 4
Ladder Pushups
3 sets
Standing Calf
10 x 10
Dead!
Beat Navy @atlas13!
Man, I literally walked out of a 12 hour watch to go into my office and see a sticky note from one of my sailors that said “FYI, Navy lost.”
Today is a day of mourning
Great fourth quarter
Forgot to write down my leg day yesterday!
Lying Leg Curls
40/10
50/8
65/8
80/6
95/15, 12, 11, 9, 8 with 45s breaks between sets
Leg Press
The “easier” one was taken, so I had to use the harder one - which probably actually worked out the way today was written; I didn’t have to do the extra set or two I otherwise would have.
Full 3s eccentric every rep.
1pps/10
2pps/10
3pps/10
4pps/10
5pps/10
6pps/10
SSB
135/20 x 3
I could have added a plate, and I probably should have at least added a 25, but after the last session beating me up so bad I just didn’t have that desire
Leg Extension
3 x 8 with 3s flex at top
Then I was supposed to do some hack squats. I tried both those and the belt squat, but my legs had frozen up a bit and I didn’t want to have to really force myself into the stretch and take that big toll on my knees again. I called it here.
Good weekend! Army won, Browning is playing like an MVP for Cincinnati, and now my wife is so excited she went ahead and bought us tickets for Saturday’s game against the Vikings. We did breakfast with Santa yesterday, which has definitely run its course as my kids are too old, but it’s still a nice tradition for us. All good stuff.
Sometimes I swear kids will keep playing along because they know it makes US happy. That’s such an awesome tradition.
I think you’re 100% right… which I don’t mind at all! My poor son has always been a giant for his age anyway, so he looks like a grown man getting dragged along to this stuff.
I did back yesterday - had to squeeze it in quick during volleyball practice so I could get back in time to watch some of the scrimmage time at the end. My daughter made a couple big plays and was very excited about herself on the drive back, so that was great. Then she started talking herself into being worried about she might not get the playing time she wants at some hypothetical tournament in the future; she holds herself to a high expectation but then overwhelms herself sometimes.
It was rows and pulldowns and such. It’s been kind of interesting watching myself fatigue in real time on this program - usually it’s cumulative and I have to look back over the course of weeks and see where I was building up too much fatigue. This one it’s daily: right around day 10 or 11 I started hitting a wall; the last 3 days I’m just getting through these! Today is a pretty light shoulder day and tomorrow is arms, so I should catch back up.
Hang in there man! You’ve got this!!
Thanks, big man. I need it. I’m pretty worn out.
Today was shoulders, which I have actually enjoyed as a standalone day.
Rear Delt Machine
Warmup then
4 x 15
Superset 4 rounds:
Ultra wide OHP
45/10
65/10
75/7
65/10
DB Side Raise
20/10
22.5/8
20/10
20/10
HS Shoulder Press
1pps/6
2pps/8 x 4
DB Rear Delt (on bench)
20/20
15/30 x 2
Got a couple dog walks in today, so that was cardio.
My hematocrit was too high again today. I don’t know what I’m doing that drives this. I’m drinking a bunch of water and we’ll try again in a couple days. I like to believe the sites that say I’m just an elite athlete.
Those shoulder days and arm days kept me afloat when I was getting worn down!
100%
Arm day in the books! I needed this one - I’m feeling a bit recovered now and I actually got a good pump… I have trouble with that when I stack too many days in a row.
DB Curl
3s eccentric
Some warmups
30/6 x 3
EZ Preacher
Wide grip
40/12 x 3
EZ Reverse Curl
40/10 + 10 1/2 reps x 3
BB Curl
45/10 + 8 + 6 x 2
45/10 + 6 + 4
Rope Pushdowns
I actually used handles for these but slid them up the strap so it’s like a rope. Felt awesome.
Some warmups
4 x 10 full reps + 10 fast reps
Dips
Tried to stay real upright and all tris
4 x 8-12
Pin Press
Kept these up over the neck and very close grip
135/8 x 4
If you’re reading this, join the challenge!
Week 3 down - one week to go!
I’m already thinking about what I want to do next. I liked kind of returning to a program I did a long time ago (although this one was way easier when I was 35). I’m thinking maybe CT’s “I, BB” or his “Indigo Hypertrophy” program; not sure if anyone has any thoughts on those, but I remember thinking they were fun. I liked “Six Weeks to Superhero,” too, but all the jumping scares me a little - probably just me being wussy. Maybe I let the dice decide again - that was an awesome win I picked up from @T3hPwnisher and I highly recommend that to anyone.
Anyway, today was a pretty light leg day before sprinting through the final week.
Adductor Machine
4 x 12
Single Leg Press
I used the selectorized machine for this and tried to get deep - my adductors were on fire.
Standing Calf
4 x 10
Hanging Leg Raise
4 sets