Skinny Bastard No More

Training Over 35 Lifter
141

07/07/08

Spent the last couple days out of reach of internet access. Great weather, nice cottage on the lake, cold beer…

Weight: 226, not too bad considering the diet was less than perfect.

WO: Before I left, I spent about an hour and a half with the prowler and the sled. It was a great recovery type session.

Nutrition: I didn’t even try and keep track this weekend. I am back in the saddle this week. Lots of good food prepared and the cupboards are full.

Supplements: Stayed with the fish oil and green tea but cycled off the creatine for a little bit.

Sleep: A few ten-hour nights and a couple naps…it was great

Mood: It was a very nice, relaxing weekend but I am ready to get back into the swing of things. I have another light WO tonight but then tomorrow morning is max. effort lower body day followed by max. effort upper on Wednesday morning. We will see if the recovery week has helped me gain strength. I am going to push things the next five weeks and then take another recovery week in early August. I would like to see my form continue to improve and my numbers go up over the next five weeks. The shoulders/elbows are still a little sore but I will continue to do the recovery work and try and modify some of my movements. It will be a fun month of July!!!

142

I have an idea, you are going to bust that 3 rep 250# bench wide damn open, real soon! Glad you had a good relaxing time ‘off’

143

Sounds like a great weekend mday! Also sounds like your deload week has done its job. Looking forward to seeing how you do this week.

144

07/08/08

Weight: 226

WO: Last night: light strongman routine
A. Tire Throws
B. Tire Flips
C. Sledge Work
D. Stone Carry
E. Slosh Pipe
Three rotations on these exercises.

This morning: Upper Body Max. Effort
A. SSB Box Squats
Worked up to a 1-rep max of 255. I did four sets and then backed down to 225 and did 1 set of 3 reps.

B. Deadlifts (70% max)
315/1, 315/1, 315/1, 315/1

C. GHR
0/15, 0/15, 0/20

Not a ton of work, but I really spent a lot of time working on my squat form. I know this is not a lot of weight but I am really trying to work on my form and focus on staying tight through the entire lift. I felt better about todays effort but I still have a long way to go.

Nutrition: 4,351C, (33%F,29%C,38%P)

Supplements: Post workout drink, creatine, fish oil, green tea

Sleep: Early morning WO, 6 hours

Mood: I felt stronger during the squats today. The weight is slowly moving up and my form is improving. Using the SSB helps build my back and while saving my shoulders/elbows. I felt tired but still strong at the end of the WO. I am very excited to see how tomorrows max effort upper body session goes. We will see if the recovery week pays off.

145

That form work is really going to pay off. How’s the SSB feel? Dang, I wish I had access to one of those.

I’ll bet if you could pull in 5K kcals day your elbows and shoulders and knees would thank you. You were working your way up to that, I thought?

146

[quote]skidmark wrote:
That form work is really going to pay off. How’s the SSB feel? Dang, I wish I had access to one of those.

I’ll bet if you could pull in 5K kcals day your elbows and shoulders and knees would thank you. You were working your way up to that, I thought?[/quote]

The SSB is an interesting variation on the normal squat. The bar tries to dump you forward and you have to fight to stay on path. I like it because it takes the pressure off your shoulders and it forces me to keep my arch and stay tight.

I am slowly working my way up to 5k kcals. I’ve been about 4,700 the last couple days and everything feels good.

147

07/09/08

Weight: 228, a nice steady increase…exactly what I am looking for

WO: Max. Effort Upper Body
A. Wide Grip Bench Press
Warmed up to 225/5, 225/5, 225/5, 225/5
B. Pin Press with Double Bands (5" from lockout)
135/3, 135/3, 135/3, 135/2
C. Dips (with DB)
30/10, 30/8, 30/10, 30/8, 30/7
D. Face Pulls
120/12, 130/12, 130/12
E. Bent Over Rows
135/10, 155/8, 155/8, 145/10, 145/10

I felt really good about the bench work today. The 225 for 5 reps is a good amount of improvement for me. Plus, I felt like I was keeping my arch a lot better. The pin press with bands was tough!! I really had to concentrate on staying tight and balanced throughout the lift. I also really focused on the lats with the bent-over rows, so I was spent after the session.

Nutrition: 4,680C (32%F,34%C,34%P)

Supplements: Post WO Drink, fish oil, green tea, creatine

Sleep: Despite the early morning WO, I got a good 7 hours last night

Recovery: A lot of shoulder stuff yesterday in order to be ready for today.

Mood: The best thing about todays session was that afterward my shoulders and elbows felt good!! I felt stronger and more confident with the bar and the path was better. My numbers still need to go up, but I was very happy with results of my deload week. A day off and then some accessory stuff this weekend.

148

Mday, great lifting. On the face pulls, are you braced against something or leaning backwards? Since I’ve started doing these I’ve found when I try to raise the weight I really have to lean backwards to keep my balance.

149

[quote]mday wrote:
07/09/08

Weight: 228, a nice steady increase…exactly what I am looking for

WO: Max. Effort Upper Body
A. Wide Grip Bench Press
Warmed up to 225/5, 225/5, 225/5, 225/5
B. Pin Press with Double Bands (5" from lockout)
135/3, 135/3, 135/3, 135/2
C. Dips (with DB)
30/10, 30/8, 30/10, 30/8, 30/7
D. Face Pulls
120/12, 130/12, 130/12
E. Bent Over Rows
135/10, 155/8, 155/8, 145/10, 145/10

I felt really good about the bench work today. The 225 for 5 reps is a good amount of improvement for me. Plus, I felt like I was keeping my arch a lot better. The pin press with bands was tough!! I really had to concentrate on staying tight and balanced throughout the lift. I also really focused on the lats with the bent-over rows, so I was spent after the session.

Nutrition: 4,680C (32%F,34%C,34%P)

Supplements: Post WO Drink, fish oil, green tea, creatine

Sleep: Despite the early morning WO, I got a good 7 hours last night

Recovery: A lot of shoulder stuff yesterday in order to be ready for today.

Mood: The best thing about todays session was that afterward my shoulders and elbows felt good!! I felt stronger and more confident with the bar and the path was better. My numbers still need to go up, but I was very happy with results of my deload week. A day off and then some accessory stuff this weekend.
[/quote]

Good training. Your bench has come along quite well.

150

Hel,

I simply lean back on the face pulls in order to keep my balance. For me, the key to this lift is to focus on my traps and rear delts. I have to make sure that I keep my shoulders up and pull back as hard as I can. Forcing my chest up and shoulders back allows me to get a very good pull through my upper back without a lot of weight.

151

07/09/08

Weight: 230, a big jump today, very normal for my body to jump up and down a few pounds

WO: Recovery day

Nutrition: 5,536C (34%F,31%C,35%P)
I couldn’t stop eating again last night. My body just told me to keep going, so I made sure to keep it as clean as possible (nuts, fruits, vegetables, proteins). This might also explain some of the large increase in weight this morning.

Supplements: the usual

Sleep: 8 hours last night

Recovery Work: Continue to work on my shoulders. They are a good type of sore from yesterday’s upper body session.

Mood: I feel good about my first week back. The recovery work seems to have given my body a rest while still increasing strength levels. This five week cycle should be a good measure for improvement.

152

[quote]mday wrote:
Nutrition: 5,536C (34%F,31%C,35%P)
I couldn’t stop eating again last night. My body just told me to keep going, so I made sure to keep it as clean as possible (nuts, fruits, vegetables, proteins). This might also explain some of the large increase in weight this morning.
[/quote]

That’s what I like to see -listening to your body when it needs more…

153

Mday… awesome training!

For Hel (and anyone else)…

I find that with the “facepulls”, if I am going “heavier” and find myself pulled forward by the weight… I will go down to one knee, widening my stance/ base and do them in this fashion. Seems to work for me…

154

07/15/08

Sorry about the lack of posts…kinda crazy between work, remodel, training, and family life. Throw in some computer problems and you have a summary of the last week.

Weight: 229, staying fairly constant due to the stress of the last few days.

Workouts: I’ve been right on track with my training over the last week. Highlight of my last few sessions was a 285lb box squat with 170lb of chains. I also attempted but just missed a 495lb rack pull. Things are improving on the training front

Nutrition: A little low in the calorie deparment over the weekend. Upping my intake today, so I should see an improvement in weight this week.

Supplements: Staying on track with the supplements

Sleep: NEED TO GET MORE SLEEP…

Recovery: A little bit of foam roller and stretching each day. I try to make this a fixture of my day.

Mood: My mood is very good despite how busy I am. The joints are feeling much better even with the heavy lifting. I think my body is getting used to the new type of training after six weeks and I should start to see some real improvement in my lifting. I am no longer going to be tracking every food item. I know that my calorie intake should be somewhere between 4,500-5,000. I eat clean normally and my weight doesn’t change very quickly due to my body shape. I know what and how much I need to eat, so I just need to watch my weight and let my body tell me if I need more food for recovery. Since I am not trying to lose weight I am less worried about absolute numbers.

I will try and get back to everyone’s logs today or tomorrow. I hope everyone is doing well.

mday

155

Hey… life happens buds, no worries. Summer, busy time.

That box squat and rack pull are awesome, your strength is coming along fantastic…

Be safe and healthy…

156

07/17/08

I am going to swtich up my posts a little bit in order to keep them more interesting. I will give a very brief overview of the relavent information for the day(weight, WO, mood, recovery work) and then a thought for the day.

The weight is holding at 230 and the body feels good. I was very disappointed with my ME upper body work this morning but the accessory lifts went well. Recovery work and increased calories seem to be helping

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY:
After a very disappointing bench press effort I was really struggling with my motivation for the rest of the session this morning. As I pushed through the remaining lifts my strength and attitude improved. At the end I realized that success or failure in any endeavor is about PERSISTENCE. I want so much to see improvement every week but I need to recognize the continual improvement in strength that I am seeing and not focus on one specific lift or one specific training day.

157

07/18/08

As usual, a disappointing session (ME Bench yesterday)was followed by a PR (405 DL for 2 reps this morning). My form wasn’t the best, but got the lift.

My body feels very good right now. A little tight in the shoulders but no real pain and the elbows feel very good.

Making an effort to strategically overeat the next few weeks. I will try and keep it relatively clean and get the majority of calories in around the workout window. This should help for strength and recovery.

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY:
There is still a great deal of FEAR surrounding my training sessions. I worry about missing a lift, my form/technique, getting injured, not progressing in weight/reps… I realize that with anything new comes some element of fear, but I need to focus and gain more confidence. With time and experience I hope to learn to use that fear to push myself to new goals.

158

Missing a lift is data only. There’s no need to fear that. What you need to fear is not catching what caused you to miss the lift.

159

[quote]mday wrote:
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY:
There is still a great deal of FEAR surrounding my training sessions. I worry about missing a lift, my form/technique, getting injured, not progressing in weight/reps… I realize that with anything new comes some element of fear, but I need to focus and gain more confidence. With time and experience I hope to learn to use that fear to push myself to new goals.[/quote]

You know - this really hits home with me and is one of the reasons I’m going to spend a few weeks working on form gradually increasing my weights.

160

[quote]mday wrote:
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY:
There is still a great deal of FEAR surrounding my training sessions. I worry about missing a lift, my form/technique, getting injured, not progressing in weight/reps… I realize that with anything new comes some element of fear, but I need to focus and gain more confidence. With time and experience I hope to learn to use that fear to push myself to new goals.[/quote]

While reading the threads in our section here I’ve notice a lot of us are very analytical in our approachs to lifting. Detailed plans, logs, schedules, etc. This is probably a good thing but not always IMHO.

When it comes to progression it’s great to have a plan but sometimes its there and sometimes it ain’t. We’ve all had those days where the weights just fly up and the next session same weight feels twice as heavy. Shit happens. Key to any training routine is flexibility.

Worrying about it takes the fun out of it. Do some experimenting and find your own form for each lift. Lifting should be an escape from anxiety not a cause of it.