Old Man Strength

[jgreystoke]

Joined my wife's commercial gym. If you can't beat 'em, join 'em.

She goes there for the pool, mostly.

I am going there for the heavy duty power rack/cage. And all the smooth machines that don't kill my injured joints, unlike my creaky setup at home.

It's also an excuse to get out of the house. And when over there, great excuse for us to visit with daughters and granddaughter, who live in the town.

[SuffolkPunch]

in 4 stories of young bucks getting pinned under the weights you were just using

[jgreystoke]

Creaky "old codger".

AGE sixty next birthday.

STARTED serious training in my fifties after a long(and eventually catastrophic) illness.

HEIGHT 5' 9 1/2"

WEIGHT 224 naked the first morning of the gym. Now if that was solid, I would be well pleased. But my waist was up to 44 inches, yikes! Was 38 a couple years ago at 215lbs.

BODYFAT is now around 30% according to online calculators, eg:

http://www.csgnetwork.com/bodyfatcalc.html

PROGRAM Jim Wendler's 5 3 1:

http://www.t-nation.com/free_online_..._pure_strength

HEALTH. No colon to reabsorb water, minerals, vitamins. Result of operation to save me from Toxic Megacolon:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toxic_megacolon

Joint issues. Particularly knees and shoulders.......

.......and feet, and ankles, and hips, and hands.

I refuse to grow old gracefully and give in to that ****.

[jgreystoke]

in 4 stories of young bucks getting pinned under the weights you were just using

Lol.

You are damn quick Suffock!

[jgreystoke]

1. Add 5kg to training max for my box squat and stiff leg dead every "month"/mesocycle of 5 3 1.

2. Add 2.5kg to training max for my military press and push press every cycle of 5 3 1.

3. Start doing close grip bench as assistance to my presses. High reps, won't treat it as any kind of max effort movement. I just want some kind of horizontal push in there, besides pushups.

4. Start doing chins and dips again for athleticism. Used to be ok at them when my shoulders allowed. Now I'm too fat and too weak for my size.

5. Lose inches off my waist without becoming weaker. So restricting refined carbs is an obvious start. And maybe intermittent fasting or carb cut-off as well.

Why no bench as a main movement?

Constant problems with shoulder joints. Six inches less external rotation on the left compared to the right. I have to do a ton of shoulder mobilization just to be able to squat or goodmorning. Impingement has been killing me for years. Can't bench without pain. Even close grip will require great care, given my history.

Why box squat and stiff leg dead, Greystoke old boy? Why not conventional?

Knees so bad couldn't squat or dead for three years. Then last year discovered box squats. Helps a lot, since shins are more or less vertical at the bottom. Pumping blood into knees with deep bodyweight squats for high reps also helps a hell of a lot. As do leg curls and leg extensions on SMOOTH machines that I can adjust to suit my creaky joints.

Conventional deads allow a lot more weight, since you just half or quarter squat the weight of the floor to get started, and finish with your back like a rack pull. But they still periodically cause me severe knee problems, so not worth it.

[jgreystoke]

Box squat twice bodyweight for reps.

Stiff leg dead twice bodyweight for lots of reps.

Clean and press bodyweight for reps.

Goodmorning bodyweight for lots of reps.

Power snatch bodyweight for reps.

Power clean bodyweight for lots of reps.

Close grip bench bodyweight for lots of reps.

Reps would probably be 3-5.

But lots of reps would be 10-20 for me.

Chin 10 x 10

Dip 10 x 10

Crush 100kg on my grip machine for lots of reps.

Press my beer barrel full of water overhead.

The barrel is 27.5lbs or 12.5kg empty. I assume it will be over 155lbs or around 70kg full of water. That was my best military press last year, before yet another bout of shoulder impingement, not being able to sleep on my side etc. Because the barrel is so awkward compared to a nice Olympic bar, I suppose I might have to press/push press WELL over 200 before I can get a full barrel overhead.

But I am a patient man.

[jgreystoke]

Lots of little guys could have twice bodyweight squat and dead for example, and be strong for their small size.

But they might be weak compared to a lot of manual workers who are normal sized and who never went to the gym.

I used to be 130lbs in school, college, and again in my forties(illness). If I got most of the above goals at that bodyweight I wouldn't be really strong at all, just strong for size.

[jgreystoke]

Lots of other stuff to do, even besides watching the Olympia. Good luck to all the 19 great guys competing.

Back later.

[RockCrab]

You're an inspiration. Wondered where you've been lately. Twice in the last week I think I've quoted you're 'reward yourself by adding a tad of iron' line in my posts to noobs (properly credited each time). Go get it done!

[jgreystoke]

You're an inspiration. Wondered where you've been lately. Twice in the last week I think I've quoted you're 'reward yourself by adding a tad of iron' line in my posts to noobs (properly credited each time). Go get it done!

Thank you, oh mighty crustacean, king of the ocean floor.

I've mostly been sunning myself, moving a little iron, studying, being a dad to my grownup kids, husband to my wife of over three decades, being a grandfather, and generally enjoying myself.

I better post pics before the belly disappears.

[jgreystoke]

Shoulder rotations 200, seriously.

Other mobilization stuff for shoulders including lat stretches, just lots. Other guys probably thought that this ol' codger was going to head over to the treadmills, and leave them in peace.

5 3 1 push press. Month/Cycle 9 Week/Wave 3, Day 1.

A clean before each set of presses. No body english, just shoulder power(or lack of it).

Warmups:

Bradford press:

20kg(bar) x 10
25 x 5
30 x 3
35 x 3

The great Jim Bradford is responsible for this wonderful movement. Bradford press is where you press from the shoulders in front. Then you take the bar behind the head. I don't go lower than the top of the ears to save my injured shoulders. Then you press behind the head. So 10 reps is actually twenty presses, 10 in front, and 10 behind. Makes your shoulders burn with all the blood you pump in. And it hits the whole shoulder complex. Depending on how much guys lean back, conventional press can be almost all front delts, and tris to lock out.

Push Press(Training max 52.5kg) reps 5, 3, 1+:

40 x 5
45 x 3
50 x 5

And a couple bonus sets after(usually just do what I call "easy singles"), but what the hell:
55 x 3
60 x 3

60kg = 132lbs.

I was well pleased. Come a long way from when I had to reset the poundage to the empty bar for training max(and even that hurt). 9 cycles later and we are getting somewhere.

Shoulders felt good.

Assistance work:

Lat pulldown:

15kg x 10
30 x 10
45 x 10
60 x 10
70 x 10
80 x 10
90 x 8. Too heavy to get another rep.

Just testing out the very smooth machine.

90kg = 198lbs

Pendlay row:

60kg x 10
70 x 10
80 x 10 Nice.

80kg = 176lbs.

Glen Pendlay is responsible for this movement. You pull every rep from a dead weight on the floor. This does two very good things:

Every rep you have the same back angle. This prevents the problem most have hammering their lats with rows. Because their lumbars tire, they increase the back angle during the set to spare the low back. So they are throwing the emphasis from the lats onto the traps, because it turns into a sort of upright row. Not so with the Pendlay row.

The second advantage is you cannot use the previous negative(eccentric as you lower the weight) to assist the next positive(concentric contraction) as you pull up the weight. So it forces you to be explosive, it is so difficult to move the weight on the later reps.

Felt great after that abbreviated session.

Shape of things to come.

[jgreystoke]

SEPTEMBER 6 2012

Hadn't deadlifted conventional for months.

Messed around at home with trap-bar/shrug-bar deads, standing inside the hex-shaped bar, stiff leg deads etc, to spare my aching knees. Knees sure were irritated by even fairly light conventional deads.

So just did a few easy SLDs.

Didn't know what to set the training max at, so just plucked 150kg out of the air:

Stiff leg dead:

20kg(bar) x 3
Just added plates:
60 x 3
100 x 3
140 x 6 felt nice.

140kg = 308lbs.

Might take that as my new training max. Can always do my "easy singles" after when feeling good.

Knees were a bit achy, so instead of doing some high rep box squats for assistance, set the power rack pins to waist height and did goodmornings:

Goodmornings:

20kg x 10
40 x 10
60 x 10 nice.

60kg = 132lbs.

Still have to attend to knees, and all the surrounding musculature. So:

Leg curl

20kg x 20
25 x 20
30 x 20
35 x 20

Leg extension

20 x 20
25 x 20
30 x 20
35 x 20

35kg = 77lbs.

Finished with some very soft work on the leg press:

60 x 10
80 x 10
100 x 10

100kg = 220lbs.

Power shower ftw. Could feel those jets digging into my creaky old carcass.

Went home feeling justified.

[jgreystoke]

Lots of little guys could have twice bodyweight squat and dead for example, and be strong for their small size.

Too true.

If a 70lb midget(or boy gymnast) was a wizard on the rings and parallel bars, and could rep out with 140lb squats and deads........


.......Granny might still throw him out the window if she caught him prowling around upstairs.

That is if she could get out of bed.

That is why we are not afraid of the strength of a single ant. An army of them is another matter.....

[jgreystoke]

Shoulder rotations 200.

Lat stretches, other mobilization, a lot.

Military press, 5 3 1+:

A clean before every set of presses. Just like the Bradfords I've started doing again, very strict. So no body english to get the bar overhead from the shoulders.

Warmups:

20 x 10
25 x 5
30 x 3

Worksets:

35 x 5
40 x 3
45 x 7 felt nice.

30 x 20 pump set.

45kg = 100lbs

Assistance work:

Very abbreviated since had to go:

Pendlay Row:

50 x 20

50kg = 110lbs.

Chin 5 x 3

Close grip pushup 5 x 10

Could have done a lot more.

[SuffolkPunch]

Those would be some awesome goals to hit mate.

Glad to see you're throwing in the high rep pump stuff too - nothing keeps a muscle/joint healthier

[jgreystoke]

Box Squat.

Shoulder mobilization including 200 rotations. This is really old. But I couldn't squat at all otherwise, shoulders are so tight.

Lat mobilization and knee, hip etc.

Lunges 10
Bodyweight squats 10

Box Squat supposed to be 5 3 1+:

20 x 10
30 x 5
40 x 3
50 x 2
60 x 1
70 x 1
80 x 1
90 x 1
100 x 5 felt really, really heavy, killing me all over, especially my fckng knees.
110 x 3 ditto

Did not do 115 x 1+ AMRAP(as many reps as possible in decent form). Felt awful.

100 x 5 instead after a rest. Nearly killed me.

So no high rep downsets, or I wouldn't be able to walk.

110kg = 242lbs.

Knee mobilization. Lots.

Goodmornings, which as every schoolboy knows are kind to knees, but tremendous low back and ham work:

20kg x 10
40 x 10
60 x 10
70 x 10
80 x 10

80kg = 176lbs.

Chin test:

5 fcking reps.

Got 6 but the last ROM was short, couldn't get the chin over the bar. So reset to a 5RM.

Will punish myself by doing two rep sets until I get 20 x 2 with minimal rest(just a couple/few breaths). Until I am man enough to be allowed to do three rep sets.

At least there was no kipping. Every chin was from a dead hang, and really strict. Still a weakling.

Dip test:

8 fckng reps.

Got 10 but for the last two the range of motion was short........

So multiple sets of four is the punishment. "Greasing the groove" for this ol codger until everything is moving smoothly.

Knees still needed attention, and all the surrounding musculature:

Leg extension:

20 x 20
25 x 20
30 x 20

Leg curl:

20 x 20
25 x 20
30 x 20

30kg = 66lb.

That was plenty on the leg ext for my irritated knees.

Limped out to the showers.

[jgreystoke]

Those would be some awesome goals to hit mate.

Glad to see you're throwing in the high rep pump stuff too - nothing keeps a muscle/joint healthier

Thanks Suffock.

Was seriously contemplating resetting squat training max to 100kg. Had already reset it from great progress up to 150kg training max.........

.......back to 120. And had to drop squats altogether for August because of knee issues while I worked on recovery.

The reason was that I had been neglecting to do my high rep bodyweight squats, up to a hundred rep set, and the isolation work at home. Leg curl and leg extension setup I have is an old York machine. And it is creakier than I am.

The gym leg extension and leg curl are as smooth as a Rolls Royce. That's one of the main reasons I joined after a few visits as a guest to try stuff out.

[jgreystoke]

To deload, or not to deload? That is the question!

No deload since my shoulders are responding well. I can sleep on my side without pain, always a good indication.

Push press supposed to be 3 x 5 worksets. That is 5, 5, 5+, or if the mood hits, 5, 5, 5 and easy singles after to get me acquainted with a weight over my training norm.

General mobilization including rotations x 200.

Bodyweight squats and lunges to loosen up my sore knees.

Dumbbell power snatches to loosen everything up from calves to back of neck to shoulders:

6 x 2
8 x 2
10 x 2
12 x 2
14 x 2
16 x 2
18 x 2
20 x 2
22 x 2
24 x 2
26 x 2
28 x 1
30 x 1

30kg = 66lbs.

A hold overhead at the top of each rep, then a slow descent, like the negative of an overhead press back to the shoulder. That should help my pressing structure and stability.

Felt good.

Push press warmups were very strict Bradford presses:

20 x 10(ie ten presses in front from the shoulders, ten behind the head)
25 x 5
30 x 3
35 x 3

Push press:

40 x 5
47.5 x 3
52.5 x 3
60 x 1

60kg = 132lbs.

Lat pulldown on their very smooth machine:

30 x 10
45 x 10
60 x 10
70 x 10
80 x 10

80kg = 176lbs.

Dumbbell curl, supinating:

10 x 10
12 x 10
14 x 10
16 x 10
18 x 10

All very strict except the 18kg bells. Had to use a little body english there.

18kg = 40lbs.

They were superset with Skullcrushers:

32.5 x 10
30 x 10
27.5 x 10
22.5 x 10
17.5 x 10

32.5kg = 71.5lbs.

Never did them before but had to try. Always did French press and tri pushdowns at home. Touching forhead gently really concentrates the mind muscle connection, lol.

Preacher curl:

17.5 x 10
22.5 x 10

22.5kg = 49.5lbs

Laterals 4kg x 10, 6kg x 10
Forward raise 4 x 10, 6 x 10
Bent for'd raise(reverse flyes) 4 x 10, 6 x 10.

6kg = 13.2lbs.

Lat pulldown finisher 80kg x 10

Felt like a million dollars.......excluding my knees.

Limped outta there feeling justified.

[jgreystoke]

Conventional deads are sadly out of the question at the moment because of knees.

Limped to the gym. Couldn't take the stair two at a time. Had to go up more or less sideways, like a giant crab. Could have taken the lift. But that is something I refuse to do.

Shoulder mobilization 200 rotations.

Lat mobilization. Lots.

Knee mobilization, hips, back.

Dumbbell power snatch to loosen up back:

8 x 2
12 x 2
16 x 2
20 x2
24 x 2
28 x 2
30 x 2

30kg = 66lbs.

Felt good. Resisted the negative when bringing bell back to shoulder. Even my left got every snatch, hold, and controlled descent in great style.

Stiff leg dead:

60kg x 3
80 x 3
100 x 3
120 x 3
140 x 3
150 x 5

150kg = 330lbs.

Nice and crisp, every rep pulled from the floor like a machine.

Set the pins of the power rack in the lowest position to take the bottom 4" out of the ROM. Young feller helped me set up and asked was I a weightlifter, lol. He stuck around to assist with the rest of my work which turned into a mini marathon:

3/4 stiff leg deads pulled from the pins:

170 x 3
180 x 3
190 x 3
150 x 10

190kg = 418lbs.

He helped me unload and set the pins higher for my shrugs:

Barbell shrugs:

110 x 10
100 x 10
90 x 10
80 x 10
70 x 10

110kg = 242lbs

With only a minute or less between sets my shoulders and traps were fairly singing and nice and hot.

Since I was set up for quarter deadlifts, I thought, what the hell. Let's see where I am at if we take the knees out of the equation:

Quarter deads/rack pulls from above the knee:

150 x 3
170 x 3
190 x 3
210 x 3
220 x 3

Felt strong so

230 x 3
240 x 3
250 x 3
260 x 3

Getting really heavy with 260kg(six plates) so tried one more set:

270 x 5

The last two reps could feel my grip beginning to go, but hung on like my life depended on it for a few seconds after the last rep.

Felt fcking awesome.

270kg =594lbs.

Was well pleased. Even tho' had been neglecting my grip machine at home, my grip was pretty good, since no straps, just chalk. And my whole upper back structure and hips and hams were up to holding a big weight.

Just have to address very weak legs and knees. If I could pull conventional, with strong knees and thighs and hips, and get the weight passed my knees, could finish anything I could get to there.

Haven't done rack pulls since last year. Have builders trestles at home for safe squatting etc, but no power rack.

Am definitely going to do more rack pulls from now on, while I work on strengthening my legs.


Didn't need to do anything else, just limped out of the gym feeling justified.

[jgreystoke]

Shoulder rotations. Only 100.

Lat, hip, knee(ouch), ankle, more shoulder work on mobility. A lot.

Anyone watching me at this long prelude to exercise would think does this guy even lift, couldn't he do that at home? Believe me, I do. But I still have to do it in the gym to loosen enough to do stuff that makes you strong.

Dumbbell snatch to loosen up everything from ankles to neck:

6 x 3
10 x 3
14 x 3
18 x 3
22 x 3
26 x 2
30 x 2

30kg = 66lbs.

Every rep was perfect, even with the left hand. Every hold at the top of the snatch felt solid. Felt like I could have walked home(10 miles) with that bell overhead in my hand. If someone had bumped into me at that moment, I was so planted, they would have bounced off like they walked into a wall. Every slow negative came back to a gentle touchdown on the shoulder. Talk about control.

Warmups for the military press were very strict:

Bradford press:

20 x 10(10 reps in front from the shoulders, 10 reps behind the head from the ears)
25 x 5
30 x 3
35 x 2
40 x 4 why not?

Military press

45 x 1
50 x 1
55 x 1
60 x fail

55kg = 121lbs.

Pendlay row:

Every rep pulled from the floor:

60 x 10
70 x 10
80 x 10
90 x 6.

90kg = 198lbs.

EZ curl:

17.5kg x 10

Skull crusher:

17.5kg x 10

Had to run.

So nice easy session. Might as well have been a deload.

[jgreystoke]

Have really been experimenting this last week.

Squat day.

Shoulder mobilization. Hundreds of rotations. Knee, hip, ankle, lumbar, mobilization.

Squat atg:

Bodyweight x 10
20 x 10
30 x 5
40 x 3

Box squat:

50 x 3
60 x 3
70 x 3
80 x 3
90 x 3
100 x 3

100kg = 220lbs.

Bottom up squat:

Set the power rack pins to waist height:

110 x 3
120 x 3
130 x 3

130kg = 286lbs.

Set the pins higher for 1/2 squats:

140 x 3
150 x 3
160 x 3
170 x 3

170kg = 374lbs.

Goodmorning to loosen up back:

20(bar) x 20
20 x 20

20kg = 44lbs.

Had to go. Nice abbreviated session.

[jgreystoke]

Rotations.
Other mobilizations for shoulders, hips, knees, ankles etc. Lat and pec stretches(not long static stretches).

Very abbreviated workout:

20kg(bar) x 10
25 x 5
30 x 3
35 x 2

Worksets:

40 x 5
45 x 5
50 x 5

Didn't bother with AMRAP or easy singles.

50kg = 121lbs. So sue me.

Neck work:

Bridging. Lots

Calves. Lots

Limped outta there feeling great.

[Jasonk282]

Holy sh!t where have you been?

I'm also on 5/3/1. can't wait to hear more stories of granny.

[jgreystoke]

This workout actually at home, because it wasn't convenient to get to the gym:

Stiff leg deads, because conventional still hurt my knees:

Lots of shoulder rotations.

Hip, knee, ankle, more shoulder mobilization. Lots.

Dumbell snatch to loosen everything from the ankles and calves up to the rear delts and the back of the neck:

5 x 2
10 x 2
15 x 2
20 x 2
25 x 2
30 x 2

30kg = 66lbs.

These were using a York spinlock dumbbell and plates. So went up in bigger intervals to save time changing plates. even the left felt great. If we add the approx 2kg weight of the DB, we could say that it was 70lbs either hand. A hold at the top for several seconds, then a controlled slow negative to get the bell back to the shoulder without allowing the arm to just collapse.

Shoulders have come a long way since January, when even a 5kg dumbbell hurt. And I couldn't sleep on my side 'cos of the pain.

Stiff leg dead:

40 x 5
60 x 3
80 x 2
90 x 1

Worksets:

100 x 5
110 x 5
120 x 5

EZPZ

Pump set:

70 x 20

120kg = 264lbs.

Light squats just to pump blood into the damn knees:

20 x 20
40 x 20
60 x 20

60kg = 132lbs.

Hise shrug for traps, and to do some heavier rehab shoulder rehab:

60 x 20
80 x 20
100 x 20

100kg = 220lbs

The Hise shrug is where you take the bar on your traps and rear delts like you were going to squat. And you shrug the weight up and down for high reps. The idea is to strengthen all the shoulder and upper back structure that supports the bar in the squat.

Joesph Curtis Hise, who was a kind of "grandfather of powerlifting" also invented the:

20 rep squats aka breathing squats aka rest pause squats aka widowmakers aka manmakers aka "squats 'n milk" program.

He used that and the Hise shrug and presses behind the neck(he had flexible shoulders) and the stiff leg dead, all for high reps, to build up from 198 to 300lbs, pre-steroid.

"Squats and milk" were were not just invented by this guy........they were proven effective as well.

His best weight was probably around 260 or so at a height variously reported in the range 5' 8" to 5' 10".

You are supposed to get to a weight much heavier than your best squatting poundage. So I better do a lot more of them from now on. Even with injured shoulders, you supposedly can do light weights and very high reps 30-40 just to pump blood into the complex shoulder structure and promote healing.

Out into the sun to do lots of calf raises, single leg calf raises, and reverse calf raises(you do train anterior tibialis, don't you?).

More lat and shoulder mobility work hanging out of my chin and dip station from different angles, out in the garden doing Dante shoulder mobilizations with a 5' hiking staff etc.

Dogs were highly amused.

And we had a new bullmastiff-lab cross my youngest daughter brought over. He was bigger than our German Shepherd and our "Heinz 57 Varieties" mongrel guard dogs put together. The three sentinels got on famously and played all day.

Our two were probably hoping I'd do my "drag the barrel with chains like a sled around the grass " cardio. They just love that. But I had work to do, and had to disappoint my furry friends.

[jgreystoke]

Holy sh!t where have you been?

I'm also on 5/3/1. can't wait to hear more stories of granny.

Lol Jason.

Just back from my aunt's 80th birthday. Large extended family, I have over forty first cousins. Used to spend a lot of time on the farm where my dad was raised when I was a kid. It was like the Waltons, but maybe way more crowded.

Two of my daughters moved house this summer. Even work wise I was very much in demand all year and all summer even tho' "retired". And the really hard stuff for myself and my wife:

We had to go to Switzerland a couple times(as usual) to visit with family. We had to have a little vacation in our favorite hotel(they have a pretty good gym, and a pool for my delectable other half). We try to get there a couple of times every year. And then there are all the gigs to go to. My son is a jazz musician.

And as you can imagine, besides our friends, with such a large extended family on my side, and my wife is from a similarly prolific brood, there are weddings and other celebrations.

Even our funerals are a celebration of a good life[you'd hear a lot more laughter than tears], unless it is a life tragically cut short.

Busy hard life, but someone's got to do it.

When I write all that down, I realize just how blessed we are............and I can say that even tho' I'm on the agnostic end of the Christian spectrum. My wife of three decades + is a theologian, lol, but she loves me just the same.

[jgreystoke]

Holy sh!t where have you been?

I'm also on 5/3/1. can't wait to hear more stories of granny.

I do go on.

Now I have to stop being rude and ask what the hell you have been up to Jason, in training, and in your life?

Seems to me you look like you have been moving well north of vag.

[Jasonk282]

I do go on.

Now I have to stop being rude and ask what the hell you have been up to Jason, in training, and in your life?

Seems to me you look like you have been moving well north of vag.

Hell yeah, just hit a PR today of 280x6 on squats. Moves my 1RM to 335. Competing in my 2ND Powerlifting comp this Nov 3rd. 2ND baby on the way.

[jgreystoke]

Hell yeah, just hit a PR today of 280x6 on squats. Moves my 1RM to 335. Competing in my 2ND Powerlifting comp this Nov 3rd. 2ND baby on the way.

Wow. Just wow.

Congratulations on all counts.

Especially the last!

I am guessing you are smiling a lot with what is going on in your life. You deserve it after all you've fought through.

Respect.

[jgreystoke]

Shoulder rotations. Lots.

Hip, knee, ankle, and more shoulder mobilization. Lots.

Lat stretches, hanging from the power rack in different directions.

If you saw me you might think, "does he even lift"?

Dumbell snatches to warm up everything you can't see in the mirror:


8 sets x 3 reps as follows:

6 x 3
10 x 3
14 x 3
18 x 3
20 x 3
24 x 3
28 x 3
30 x 3

30kg = 66lbs. Felt really solid, even my on my left. Come a long way. These were unilateral of course, three reps with the right hand, then three with the left etc.

Bradford press to warmup whole shoulder complex:

20 x 10(alternating 10 reps in front from the chest, 10 reps behind head from the level of the ears)
25 x 5

Military press, like the Bradfords, a clean before every set of presses:


30 x 3
35 x 3
40 x 3

40kg = 88lbs

EZPZ

What I call "easy singles" after, with no psyching up, if the next rep ain't going up in decent form, you are done:

45 x 1
50 x 1
55 x 1
60 x fail.

55kg = 121lbs

Next time I'll use smaller increments. The 55 was solid. The 60 stalled over the head. Tris too weak to lock out.

Looking back at my training journal, my training max should have been only 45kg. So triples for 70, 80, 90% are close enough.

Didn't do AMRAP, because was supersetting pulldowns with the Bradfords:

Lat pulldowns

30 x 10
45 x 10
60 x 10
70 x 10

70kg = 154lbs

Pendlay Row:

60 x 10
70 x 10
80 x 10

80kg = 176lbs

Shrug:

90 x 10
100 x 10
110 x 10
120 x 10
110 x 10
100 x 10

Wow. Felt really strong.

120kg = 264lbs.

Normally I stiff leg dead the bar from the floor for every set of shrugs. This time I set the weight on the hooks of the power rack. Got a bonus set after my scheduled 5 x 10. Maybe not wasting energy pulling from the floor before every set did that. Every little helps.

Limped(slightly) to the showers, but felt great.

[Jasonk282]

Lol Jason.

Just back from my aunt's 80th birthday. Large extended family, I have over forty first cousins. Used to spend a lot of time on the farm where my dad was raised when I was a kid. It was like the Waltons, but maybe way more crowded.

Two of my daughters moved house this summer. Even work wise I was very much in demand all year and all summer even tho' "retired". And the really hard stuff for myself and my wife:

We had to go to Switzerland a couple times(as usual) to visit with family. We had to have a little vacation in our favorite hotel(they have a pretty good gym, and a pool for my delectable other half). We try to get there a couple of times every year. And then there are all the gigs to go to. My son is a jazz musician.

And as you can imagine, besides our friends, with such a large extended family on my side, and my wife is from a similarly prolific brood, there are weddings and other celebrations.

Even our funerals are a celebration of a good life[you'd hear a lot more laughter than tears], unless it is a life tragically cut short.

Busy hard life, but someone's got to do it.

When I write all that down, I realize just how blessed we are............and I can say that even tho' I'm on the agnostic end of the Christian spectrum. My wife of three decades + is a theologian, lol, but she loves me just the same.

Wow I see now how busy you actually are. Good to have you back though.