LIFTW8's Mid-Life Crisis Journal!

[jdmalm123]

Well, just turned 35 and looking back at almost 20 years in the gym! I'm definitely disappointed in some respects. Years of misguided training, under-eating and a couple serious injuries will slow you down. Still, I'm quite proud to be all-natural, to have overcome most setbacks and, most of all, to still be learning both new things and what works best for me.

Experience and time are the best teachers!

So, I will summarize my current priorities, approach and goals this way:

-How I feel
-What I can do
-How I look

After that, my priority is to continue sharing the benefits of fitness and my experience with others. To that end, my personal training client's results are critical. To ensure my and their success, opening my own training facility seems to be the best option. It will require planning, hard work and some luck, but that's what got me to this point. Hopefully, I can get a little more luck going forward!

[jdmalm123]

How I feel

Hmmm. Crappy. Injuries are piling up.
Ironically, I should start my training journal with a month of rest and focus on stretching, recovery, etc.

Right now I'm dealing with:

-left trap/LS pain (for a loooooong time)
-right front delt sprain (4 weeks)
-minor right AC joint separation (4 weeks)
-right oblique and/or psoas tightness (2 weeks)
-left plantar fascia is aching (2 weeks)

Partly due to age, I think less is more (when it comes to training) and more is better (when it comes to active recovery). I'd just better not turn into a yoga guy!

What I can do

Overall, I'm happy with this area. I have good work capacity, endurance and strength.

I would like to improve:

-Sprint speed
-Jumping
-Balance when climbing
-Max dead lift
-Core strength

How I look

My proportions are okay. Good muscle mass, hovering around 175 lbs and 8-10% BF. 180-190 at 7% BF would be ideal, but not at all costs. I have to feel good and be functional before I worry about that. I do need to tweak some minor postural imbalances. My shoulders need to get back and down a bit more and i have a bit of anterior pelvic tilt to address.

[jdmalm123]

Last few days I've just been doing rehab and eating and sleeping extra. Interestingly, even with reduced activity and added food, my weight is stable. Maybe it's too soon to start re-comping, but it almost feels like my body is absorbing the extra nutrients for repair or something. I clearly need the rest though.

After a light December/January, I will get serious again, but will also plan to take off mid-November to December each year going forward. Other than a missed year due to spine injury/surgery and the occasional back sprain, I have never taken more than a couple weeks off in the last 19 years. That is, I've never taken serious rest unless it was mandatory.

I'm either overdue or it's just part of aging. Well...adapt or die.

[jdmalm123]

Weight today is: 174 lbs. BF monitor says: 10.3%

BF is about 1 pt. higher than a week ago. 2 pts. higher than my recent best a month or more ago. I'm not really eating often, but I'm eating higher calories foods and probably getting more sodium than usual. I may gain a few pounds by January, which are likely to be fat, but that will be good for my joints.

INJURIES
Most of my injuries above already feel better. The left plantar fascia is the worst and is not that bad. Going to ice roll that in a moment.

PERFORMANCE
Right now I'm only working on my core, which means I'm mostly resting. In January, I will focus on joint mobility and stability. Otherwise, January will be mostly prehab and rest.

APPEARANCE
Just did some rectus abdominus strengthening + glute stretches and a few face pulls + pec stretches to get started on the pelvic tilt and forward shoulders.

[jdmalm123]

INJURIES
Had a good workout then did a few pushups and now my right shoulder is talking. I really have to make my mantra "No horizontal pushing" (that's what she said).

PERFORMANCE
My overall energy is up due to the extra rest and food. Need to find a woman to help me burn some of it off.

APPEARANCE
I, uh, shaved my beard into a goatee...?

[jdmalm123]

INJURIES
Feeling better overall. Making incremental improvement. I did some inverted hanging and sit ups (boots that hook on chin up bar). I did it twice. Got down after the first time (about 2-3 minutes) and felt great. Went back up another 2-3 minutes and felt wacky when I got down. Had to lie down to get right. Not going to repeat the experiment!

PERFORMANCE
Went hiking for about two hours. Rather casual. Didn't wear my HR monitor. Will do so going forward. Eating relatively light today..no reason.

APPEARANCE
Mapped out a gym schedule for 2010. Yes, I'm bored and mildly obsessive.
This schedule addresses phases of training and incorporates a record-breaking 10 weeks of planned rest!

Jan 4-Mar 26 - Training
Mar 29-Apr 2 - OFF
Apr 5-May 28 - Training
May 31-Jun 4 - OFF
Jun 7-Aug 27 - Training
Aug 30-Sep 3 - OFF
Sep 6-Nov 12 - Training
Nov 15-Jan 1 - OFF

[jdmalm123]

Pumped the sh*t out of my delts with bands and DBs. Right shoulder still injured but doing quite well.

[liftingbuddy1]

Heal up, Jon! Hope your workout was a good one!

Mike

[jdmalm123]

Heal up, Jon! Hope your workout was a good one!
Mike

Thanks, Mike! Getting better every day...more accumulated fatigue and minor dings than any real injury at this point.

Nice to see you around! I saw you stopped journaling for a while...how's things?

[liftingbuddy1]

Thanks, Mike! Getting better every day...more accumulated fatigue and minor dings than any real injury at this point.

Nice to see you around! I saw you stopped journaling for a while...how's things?

Good to hear. Do you rockclimb, Jon?

Yeah, my journal is on hold atm. As far as my progress, I'm getting stronger, so I can't complain.

Mike

[jdmalm123]

Good to hear. Do you rockclimb, Jon?

Yeah, my journal is on hold atm. As far as my progress, I'm getting stronger, so I can't complain.

Mike

Yes, I rockclimb, but not lately. So far, only indoors as well.

Hey, if you're stronger, that's all that matters!

[jdmalm123]

INJURIES
About 2 weeks into little or no training and I'm starting to really feel recovered. All the injuries listed in the first post are at about 25% of where they were. Almost funny that relief was just a few weeks of rest away! Let that be a lesson to you whipper-snappers out there! Rest, recover and then kill it!

PERFORMANCE
Just doing occasional light core, SMFR, mobility or random single-focus exercises, etc. Not sleeping as deeply lately but, since my energy output is relatively low, I don't feel tired.

APPEARANCE
Well, looks like I picked up a pound or two...will have to weigh and measure soon. I'm ok gaining a few pounds, which is to be expected and almost necessary right now.

[jdmalm123]

INJURIES
Clients canceled for today and my dinner date says she will probably need to cancel as well.
So, that means a fairly lazy day for me. Rest it is.

PERFORMANCE
Did some light calf raises, front squats and RDLs just to see what's up. Feels different when it's not part of a routine. Took a 2-hour nap after the mini-workout. LOL.
Like I said, lazy day!

APPEARANCE
Weigh 176 @ 10%. Last pre-rest measurement was 175 @ 8.2% (about 2 months ago). So, looks like a gain of about 3 lbs of fat. As for posture, my traps are relaxing but I will need a lot more back work going forward. It seems an imbalance of back muscle and tone vs. delts/traps may be why my shoulders are elevated. As for the pelvic tilt, tight hip flexors are the most likely cuplrit.

[jdmalm123]

Low back/core was a little tight from yesterday's effort. I have one of those bodies that will respond quickly, but the downside is it also drops off quickly. I just did 3 hours of hiking which loosened me up a bit. Chillaxin the rest of the day...

[jdmalm123]

INJURIES
Another slow week. No clients Saturday or yesterday and only 2 of 3 expected tomorrow. Actually, this works with my current rest mode and I'm still improving. Did some stretching and SMFR yesterday. Found some tight spots in my left neck and worked them out. Will have to hit it again tomorrow and see if it helps some more.

PERFORMANCE
I did some upper body step ups and a BOSU clock (both mainly for shoulder stability but they also work like a plank). Then did some face pulls and high rep T-bar rows (for shoulder position). Lastly, did some double crunches and superman raises, followed by hip flexor stretching (for pelvic tilt). Good combos. Need to add a set or two and reps.

APPEARANCE
Still 175-176 despite the extra rest and normal food. Energy is still good even though sleep is still shallow after about 4 hours.

[jdmalm123]

INJURIES
Felt tight this morning, probably due to low barometric pressure from the snow storm. Chiro noticed the tightness when he adjusted me this morning. Felt ok the rest of the day.

PERFORMANCE
Did some scap pushups and dip shrugs (for shoulder mobility). Then Reverse flyes and bench dips. Lastly, did some hanging knee raises and russian twists, followed by hip flexor stretching (for pelvic tilt). Light workload.

APPEARANCE
Still 175-176. Sleep is still brief and then shallow. Energy is good. Will probably hike in the snow tomorrow.

[jdmalm123]

INJURIES
Had a headache this morning. Too much Kahlua last night?

PERFORMANCE
Skipped hiking due to depth of snow and the headache. Shoveled a bit in the morning. In the afternoon, did some bench press 45x50x3! and some reverse grip EZ bar curls 15x40x3 and reverse grip lying tricep extensions 15x40x3. The bench was to see how my right delt felt with light pressing (felt good) and the other moves were to start the progress on my reverse grip work in January. I have found my forearm extensors will get strained if I start too quickly using weights my biceps can handle.

APPEARANCE
Consistently 176 now and showing 10.6% BF. Starting to miss sleeping through the night. One more week of rest/light work and then back into it.

[jdmalm123]

INJURIES
Had my usual end-of-December cold for a few days. Mostly better now. It used to be worse b/c I'd donate blood, THEN get sick and I would be wrecked for 3 weeks. Since I stopped donating at this time of year, the cold lasts less than a week.

The rest of my injuries are about 10% of what they were when I posted a month ago.
One more week of rest and I'll be ready to start back up on schedule.

PERFORMANCE
No hiking today. Just enjoying the rest too much! Ha ha. Did some stretching and mobility work last night Felt good. Going to test drive an F-150 later. Planning to replace my car with a pickup truck when the time comes. It's either the F-150 or the Ridgeline.

APPEARANCE
Maybe due to the head cold, but I am down to 171 this morning! WTF! I was gaining weight for a few weeks, but as soon as I reduced my food intake it showed on the scale. BF is showing 10%. There's no way I lost a half-pound of muscle in a few days, so it must be water weight and living off a little body fat. It weird though, because I've been eating all kinds of junk carbs for the holidays. I mean, massive amounts of cookies, cake, brownies, etc. I'll take my metabolism as a blessing.

[5Six]

You know you're going to hell for not telling me you had a new journal

That is all

[jdmalm123]

You know you're going to hell for not telling me you had a new journal

That is all

ha ha. look at this journal. I am already in hell!

[darinaldi]

Why did I only find out about this now?

[jdmalm123]

Why did I only find out about this now?

you were sick and traveling....and nothing going on yet!

You're welcome to stay!

[5Six]

ha ha. look at this journal. I am already in hell!

I see that

[jdmalm123]

I see that

Although, I didn't reply earlier, I LOL'd when I saw this...then I did a wait? wut? haha.


In other news...

I am thoroughly enjoying my last weekend of total relaxation. I really did need the 6 weeks this time. Since I am planning rest into my 2010 schedule, I may only need December off this year. We'll see. Monday's workout summary will probably not look impressive, but it's going to feel great!

[jdmalm123]

Late post, but here's Monday 1/4/2010...

T-I-Y Raises
1# x reps x 2 sets (my shoulder is suspect and my friends had the 5# and 8# DBs)

ABD/ADD Int/Ext Rotation
light band x reps x 2 sets (pump fatigued the RC)

Pullups
BW x 10 x 2 sets (stopped before failure)

Pulldowns
70 x reps x 2 sets (way too light, but challenging for the others so I did a million reps)

Front Squat
95 x 8 x 2 sets (felt my right obliques, not loose for squatting at all)

Curl Grip DL
135 x 10
135 x 12 (these felt great, no pausing either set)

DB side bend
30 x 40 per side x 2 sets

Straight-leg Bridging (feet on BOSU)
not sexy at all..

Hip Flexor Stretch
Lunge stretch position

Noticeably sore on Tuesday. Recovered by Wed. Good start.

[darinaldi]

Welcome back!

Curl-grip deads? What were you getting out of them that you weren't from DOH or mixed grip deads?

[jdmalm123]

Upper Body step ups
2 sets to near failure

Medicine Ball Clock
2 sets to near failure

Face Pulls
20 x reps x 2 sets (very easy)

T-Bar Row
50 x 40-45 reps x 2 sets (too light, but challenging for the others)

Leverage Calf Raise
180 x reps x 2 sets

DB Dorsiflexion
20 x reps x 2 sets (least sexy move for this WO, but tibials/peroneals are muscles, too!)

Chin Tuck
1 set (tied for least sexy move)

Contra-lateral Superman
1 set (I like 'em)

Hip Flexor Stretch
Standing stretch position (stand one legged and pull other leg with rope)

The first two moves also serve as intense planking. Overall, seems light but I'll still feel it after a 6 week break!

[jdmalm123]

Welcome back!

Curl-grip deads? What were you getting out of them that you weren't from DOH or mixed grip deads?

135 is too light to worry about mixed grip.

I want to exaggerate the shoulders "back and down" position.

[141455675]

you KNOW im back up in here with some support john!

sorry to hear about the injuries man. lets get this ball rolling!

how good are facepulls

[jdmalm123]

you KNOW im back up in here with some support john!

sorry to hear about the injuries man. lets get this ball rolling!

how good are facepulls

Thanks! My injuries are mostly resolved. I think, at this stage, getting back into the routine will actually help me finish recovering.

Face pulls are great for posture in general as well as rear delts and mid traps (but not with 20#!!)