Strong Enough to Correct Them

Training Over 35 Lifter
161

Sunday - Sqauts + Legs

Since I didn’t do any fasted cardio yesterday, I got in my 45 minutes this morning around 8:30am. Lifting in the afternoon.

Wow, so today’s session was MONSTROUS!! I’m seriously exhausted right now and if it wasn’t for my metabolism being on overdrive I’d probably be napping.

Here’s the run down:

A. Seated Calf Presses
Warmed up with 2 x 10 x 90
**working sets
6 x 10 x 110lbs

B. Lying Ham Curls
Warmed up with 10 x 70,80,85
**Working sets
6 x 10 x 100

I usually do 4 working sets but there were some hoodlums occupying the squat racks doing deadlifts so I added in 2 sets.

C. Squats
Warmed up with
10 x bar
10 x 95
10 x 135
5 x 185
**Working sets
3 x 205 **felt great
3 x 235 **golden
3 x 265 **not all that tough **VID

D. Band RDL’s (w/ Mini bands (Red))
12 x 145, 165, 165

After this point I felt DONE. Hammies were good and cooked and my low back had a nice burn going on…BUT… I had half a session left. WTF!!!

E. Band Leg Press (doubled up Mini’s)
15 x 3pps
12 x 4pps
10 x 5pps **super tough
7.5 x 6pps **failed on last rep. Had a spot though.
drop set without bands
8 x 6pps

Seriously sucking wind and legs are ON fire.

F. Full Depth Hack Squats
3 x 12 x 100lbs/side

G. Leg extensions (to finish)
3 x 20 x 75lbs
After each set it felt like someone had just stabbed my quads. I had a hard time putting my regular running shoes back on because I didn’t want to bend my quad and put ANY weight on them. LOL.

Ok, here’s the squat vid (as promised) so please be critical. It’s how I’ll learn.
I’m going to say I need to get my arms under the bar more and “strengthen/tighten” my back. That’s what I noticed but I’m sure there is more.

PS: I need to get new, less baggy shorts. I’m dropping inches like crazy these past two weeks.

162

Nice work ddot, I guess after watching the the so you think you can squat series, the first thing that pops out to me is your not keeping your upper back tight enough, which is why your “good morning” the weight out of the hole. I do the same thing, the series shows seated good mornings as a great way to strengthen your upper middle back, depth looked good though.

163

Thanks Matty.

I definitely noticed the same thing. My problem is when I “tighten my back”, I find my knees shoot forward. I’ certainly working towards strengthening the back. Maybe I’ll add some seated GM’s in.

164

Awesome workout! Your legs got a killer session.

Great depth with the squats too.

165

Monday - MP + Shoulders

Felt pretty blah leading up to the session. It’s going to be a hectic week for me so I need to get through my sessions. I’m on boarding 15 new staff tomorrow, have staff here from CA, get keys to my new place Wednesday and move Friday. Oh yeah, and I have fasted cardio sessions + weight training + diet to contend with.

“Get busy livin’ or get busy dyin’”

MP
10 x bar
10 x 65
10 x 75
5 x 95
**working sets
5 x 110
3 x 125
2 x 140 **PR this year

Not bad to get a PR on 40g carb/day on the 11th week of a diet. Still OHP is my weakest movement so it probably deserves some more attention.

Besides the MP I didn’t really have a plan going into the gym. When I hit the 2 x 140 (and it would’ve been 3 x 140 if my low back wasn’t so sore from yesterday) I decided to throw some serious volume at today’s session.

A. Seated NG DB Press
12 x 50
3 x 9 x 55

B. DB Laterals
4 x 12 x 25

C. Matty UR’s s/s w/ Standing Band Crunches
4 x 9 x 105 + 4 x 15

D. Reverse Machine Flyes s/s w/ Mini Band Pull Aparts w/ pause
3 x 20 x 70 + 3 x 15

E. High Pulley Rear Laterals
2 x 20 x 20

Finished with some standing machine/pulley crunches

166

Depth is awesome. But I agree you’re leaning further forward than you neeed to. Ankle or knee flexibility?

167

Power through those sessions bro, great work, weight training with a strict diet is tough, not that I would know lol.

168

When you say ‘fasted cardio,’ do you really mean fasted? Or do you have a scoop of protein?

Hope this week goes by ok! How much longer on the diet?

169

MiM - Fasted. I have 1000mg of Green Tea Extract and then hit the treadmill. First meal is directly after cardio

Matty - Thanks bro. I just need to get in the gym and forget that I’m tired. Once I’m there, I get the iron adrenaline rush and can power through.

170

lot of good work in here. quite a bit of volume

171

Thanks Pete. Last two sessions have been HV.

172

Tuesday - DL + Back

Kept it simple…kinda.

DL
10 x 135
5 x 185
5 x 225
**Working Sets
5 x 290
3 x 330
Felt SUPER strong so decided to go 4 wheels tonight. It’s been a while.
1 x 405 - VID

My hips are shooting up first and I’m pulling with my back. Need to figure this out. Any tips?

A. Band Assisted Chins
12/12/6/6/6
Average/Average/Light/Light/Light

Did these back to back with my partner. No chit chat in between. Just go, go, go…

B. Band DE Deadlifts
2 x 12 x 185lbs w/ Pro Light Short Bands

C. HS Pronated Grip Iso Row (performed 2 arms at a time)
3 x 12 x 100lbs/side
**Really squeezed the scapula on contraction

173

Bunches of good training- lots of volume

on a serious deficit of foods

nice work.

your deadlift looked good- good speed,
just sit back a little more -
one of eric creseys guys wrote something that helped me

bascially he said to bend over and grab the bar
then settle your hips back til your shins touch the bar
and when you pull- you need to drive the hips forward.

squats looked ok- great depth tightness and maybe some ankle stiffness.

Ourboro_s might be able to say better things

174

That looked EASY!!!

175

Kev - Thanks. I’ll try and look up that stuff. I think with some better form, 500 is not that far off.

MiM - It felt easy! Unfortunately 465 felt like someone through 200lbs more on the bar and I could barely get it off the ground.

176

Very aggressive rep. You definitely attacked it. It went up easy.
And your observations are correct. I think Kevin has good advice on that. As the weight goes up, so do the hips. Seems everyone does it.
Also, in my case, I keep my ass fairly low on the lighter weights, but tend to start with higher hips on the heavier weights. I grab the bar, lean back onto my heels and put my ass where it wants to be, instead of where I think it should be, then lift. Different levers, body types, different angles.

177

Here’s my procedure for deadlifts, I think of the body tensing from hands to feet. Place hands on bar, then grip hard. Then tense arms (pull up slack), then tense shoulders & traps. Tense back (arch, etc). Tense hips by moving down to “squat” position. Then tense legs and immediately pull. Timing is everything, once I start the process, I can’t stop. If I start hesitating, I’m sure the hips would come back up before the bar moves.

Don’t know if this helps.

178

Thanks guys.

Definitely something to try/be cognizant of. I’ve read some of Cressey’s stuff this morning so I may give that a go and videotape the crap out of all my deads (even the light ones).

179

[quote]cavalier wrote:
Here’s my procedure for deadlifts, I think of the body tensing from hands to feet. Place hands on bar, then grip hard. Then tense arms (pull up slack), then tense shoulders & traps. Tense back (arch, etc). Tense hips by moving down to “squat” position. Then tense legs and immediately pull. Timing is everything, once I start the process, I can’t stop. If I start hesitating, I’m sure the hips would come back up before the bar moves.

Don’t know if this helps.[/quote]

Wow, how do you remember all that? I can’t even remember what I went upstairs for these days!

If I tried to remember all that, I’d forget what I was supposed to be doing half way through the lift.

My cues are, pull the slack out of the bar and keep the head up. That’s it.

180

It does get complicated remembering cues

thus the dip grip and rip is sooo appealing