Scrabbz's Transformation for Christmas (with AllPro's Beginner Routine.)

[Scrabbz]

I always find that if or when I experience an injury while training, I would rather stop at that point (if it is still bothering me after a couple of minutes rest) rather than continue on and risk making the injury worse.

Be careful and enjoy your weekend!

Thank you for the concern, George. I only felt a little pain on bench and deadlifts. Today, it is still tender, and hurts to bend and do certain movements. I will just take it easy this weekend and assess come Monday.

Would love to hear about it Gary.

The only person in a position to answer that question is you.


Just work for progression with good form over time, and then everything else will take care of itself.




That will be plenty, but you have to be consistent in hitting it every day.





It's your journal; you're free to put anything in here you like.

Thank you for the information and critique, sir. It is always appreciated. As for it being my journal, I just wanted to see if people would enjoy reading the story as well, rather than me just telling it and no one wanting to read it. That would be a waste of time for all parties involved .

Consistency with training is not something you lack. I'm starting to get a little worried you're going to pass me on squats soon. If you started eating a lot consistently I'm quite sure you'd leave me in your dust. I'm gonna have to step it up a notch

I'm a huge fan of hiking and back packing. Another vote for the story.



Just noticed about your side too. How you feeling today?

Thank you for the encouragement, sir. My side still hurts a bit today, it's tender but I don't have any bruising or grinding. Hopefully it wasn't anything serious.

Hiking trip:

Map of the trail:
http://www.pahikes.com/images/storie...oroverview.jpg

The trip was a 20 mile trip through the John P. Saylor trail, both the large and small loop. We arrived at the trail head at 9AM Saturday morning and set off for a 12 mile hike to the campsite located on the smaller loop, about halfway around.

Me at the trailhead.


It was a pretty gorgeous morning, and the trees provided a lot of shade. We were moving at a pretty good pace most of the day, estimated to be about 1.5-2 mph. This may not seem fast, but going up and down some hills and rocks with 30lbs of gear on your back, it can be pretty taxing. The trail was blazed with orange markers, which was a good thing because any other color would have been a lot tougher time to see.

This road was the halfway point of our day one trip. It was a bit of a relief to see it, but at the same time, it was one of those moments, where you say to yourself, "Now just another 6 miles." Still, at this point, we took a small break and just enjoyed the scenery.


We reached the break off of the large loop to the small loop, which has an old suspension bridge. It actually said "limit one person" on it, just to show how old and rocky this thing was.


After this point, it was about 3 miles until the camp site. Unfortunately, we ended up missing a switch back on the trail and ended up walking about a mile off the trail. We were just following an old tram trail, thinking we were still on trail, until we noticed that the blazes had stopped. We, thankfully, came into a clearing where some dirt-bikers were driving and they knew exactly what we did wrong. They told us to go back the way we came, a straight shot, and we should end up right back on the trail proper. We made it back on trail, but not before the worst accident of the entire trip. I ended up falling over a hidden root and cracked my head on a rock. While the cut wasn't deep, it was long. Abby, thankfully managed to patch me up really fast. She has a lot more experience than I do with such things, and was on top of it.

We finally arrived at the camp-site at 3:00 PM. We made camp, all set up at 4:00 PM. We had a dinner, then fell asleep at around 7:30. We woke up the next morning at 6 AM, broke camp by 6:45 and set out before the sun had fully risen. The trip back was much less rocky, mostly following a nice flowing creek. It was hotter this day, but there was still plenty of shade.



We ended up crossing a few marshes, and made it back to the car by 9 AM, about 6 miles in 3 hours. Needless to say we were tired and sore, but happy.

Have a good day, everyone.

[mirroroferised]

That's an awesome trip Gary. That's something I plan on doing with my kids a lot over the years. Good thing your head's okay.

[thehobbes]

Beautiful pics, I love camping out! That bridge looks rickety, somebody posted a pic of a similar one only it was over a canyon! At least with the one you were on you'd only fall through to the water haha.

Take it easy on that injury, not sure what that could be with the pop and all that, but a long time ago I managed to smack myself in the upper ribs maneuvering dbs for incline press, hurt like a SOB for a few days.

[1fatoldman]

I did notice that crack on your head in your latest video. Figured you would let us know what happened if it was any of our business.

Glad to see you out enjoying life!

[Scrabbz]

That's an awesome trip Gary. That's something I plan on doing with my kids a lot over the years. Good thing your head's okay.

Thank you, sir. It was quite an experience and I can't wait until we can do our next one. It may be over Thanksgiving. The head injury has been healing slowly but no infection or any adverse effects it would seem.

Beautiful pics, I love camping out! That bridge looks rickety, somebody posted a pic of a similar one only it was over a canyon! At least with the one you were on you'd only fall through to the water haha.

Take it easy on that injury, not sure what that could be with the pop and all that, but a long time ago I managed to smack myself in the upper ribs maneuvering dbs for incline press, hurt like a SOB for a few days.

Abby really appreciates the comments about the pictures. She always feels her photography is sub-par, which is far from the truth obviously.

The bridge was interesting, a few boards were missing, so it did feel a bit like in a movie.

As for injury, I am not sure if it is muscle or bone. There is no bruising or grinding, only pain.

I did notice that crack on your head in your latest video. Figured you would let us know what happened if it was any of our business.

Glad to see you out enjoying life!

Thank you, George.

Today's Training:
Upper Body

OHP: Warm ups felt good, got 5 on my first working set. Strength seemed to disappear after that. First 3 reps would go up, 4th would go past halfway up. Disappointing.

BOR: Added 5lbs to last week as per program. Form is much tighter. Got 10 on last set with proper form, but it was hard. I will add 5lbs and continue strict watch on my form.

Incline Bench: Got 10 all across. The last few reps on sets 2 and 3 were real grinders. I will go again next week and see if I should add 5lbs.

Dips: I went to do assisted pull ups and my side screamed no. It hurt to hang from the bar let alone try to pull myself up, so I did these again instead. Disappointing first set, second and third sets did not change from last week.

Superset: CGBP was very difficult after dips. My triceps were shot. Almost every rep after rep 5 were grinders, almost failed on last set. Curls were hard as well, barely eeked them out.

Left feeling tired and a bit sad at the low numbers.

Tomorrow is a 4 mile hike with Abby hopefully.

Have a good day, everyone.

[Flounderbout]

Now that is my idea of heaven. Sounds like a great hike Gary - you are lucky to have access to such great places.

Hope the side is recovered.

[Mainer215]

Great backpacking trip Gary. That is how to enjoy life.

[mirroroferised]

Thanksgiving time is awesome to be outside. We used to go to a cottage every year during Thanksgiving when I was growing up and nothing beats hiking around that time.

[lochinvar76]

Looks like a beautiful hike. There are some nice places up in the mountains to go hiking here but I've not done anything longer than a day trip. Most area where I live is just wide open spaces filled with cactus, rattlesnakes and Mexican drug runners.

[EjnarKolinkar]

I really liked the hiking pics gary, been a long time since I've been somewhere that green. Thanks for sharing them.

[Scrabbz]

Now that is my idea of heaven. Sounds like a great hike Gary - you are lucky to have access to such great places.

Hope the side is recovered.

It was very pretty. It's a very nice trail too, not too difficult but not super easy either. I enjoyed it. Side still hurts a bit, I am not sure what I did to it.

Great backpacking trip Gary. That is how to enjoy life.

It was quite fun, I'm hoping to set up another one soon.

Thanksgiving time is awesome to be outside. We used to go to a cottage every year during Thanksgiving when I was growing up and nothing beats hiking around that time.

The Fall just seems like a very sensible time to be out. Cooler weather and nicer conditions.

Looks like a beautiful hike. There are some nice places up in the mountains to go hiking here but I've not done anything longer than a day trip. Most area where I live is just wide open spaces filled with cactus, rattlesnakes and Mexican drug runners.

We saw our share of snakes on our trip. Nothing too dangerous we didn't think, they mostly avoided us. I would imagine the mountains could get pretty dangerous out there though.

I really liked the hiking pics gary, been a long time since I've been somewhere that green. Thanks for sharing them.

Thank you, EK. Abby is happy that you enjoyed them. She really does work hard to get the ones she does and to make them look as good as they do.
Today's Training:
Lower Body

.....Movement.....	.....Set 1.....	.....Set 2.....	.....Set 3.....
Back Squats	195x5	195x5	195x?(5)
Front Squat	110x10	110x10	110x10
Good-Mornings	70x5	70x5	70x5
Hack Press	60x10	60x10	60x10
SLDL	160x10	160x10	160x10

Squats: All reps were real grinders. Side hurt during them, however I managed to get all 5 across. There was no rep 6 cominh . I will bump up by 5lbs for Friday.

Hack Squat: This felt very heavy today. Legs caved a bit during these.

Front Squat: Form was off today. I managed to get all reps but some I should not have counted. I was mad at myself for that.

Good Mornings: Slow and focused on form.

SLDL: Slower and controlled reps, felt heavy.

An ok day. Side still hurts, feel very tired after today.

I feel very bloated and finding it hard to eat as well still. Food intake has been around 2600 the last few days, I simply haven't been able to eat anymore. That being said, the lifts are still progressing, so this may be a good baseline. I will monitor what happens from here.

Work at the rock wall later. I may do some laps.

Have a good day, everyone.

[1fatoldman]

Good workout Gary
Be careful with your side!

[Daniel0636]

Pictures look great! Good to see you're enjoying life and lifting hard as always

[Scrabbz]

Good workout Gary
Be careful with your side!

Thank you, George. Side hurts a little still, I'm not sure what I did to it. But it is not as bad.

Pictures look great! Good to see you're enjoying life and lifting hard as always

Thank you, Daniel.

I did not get any laps in yesterday, we were much too busy, so I did laps on the wall tonight.

14 laps on a moderate rope. My boss says my speed and ability for laps is "unprecedented." I guess that's not bad for a sick, underweight, underrating kid.

Nervous about squats tomorrow, 200lbs is a big number for me. I really hope I don't fail...

Have a good day everyone.

[thehobbes]

Nervous about squats tomorrow, 200lbs is a big number for me. I really hope I don't fail...

Push the idea of failing out of your head and you'll be just fine.

[Scrabbz]

Power Day

.....Movement.....	.....Set 1.....	.....Set 2.....	.....Set 3.....	.....Set 4.....	.....Set 5.....
Squat	200x2	200x1	200x?(2)
Bench	105x5	105x5	105x?(5)
Deadlift	200x5	210x5	220x8
Pull Ups	2	1	0.5

Squats: Either too little rest, or all mental. They were awful.

Bench Press: 1 rep across better than last week. Will add 5lbs to next week's session.

Deadlift: I messed up my numbers. I ran last weeks numbers apparently. Disappointed.

Pull-ups: Side still hurt a lot during these but I did what I could.

Left tired and sore now. Bad session I think.

Going on a small 3.5 mile hike then. Could be feeling better.

Have a good day, everyone.

[1fatoldman]

Gary
A lot of this is a mental game. If you go in saying I'm going to loose, the battle is over before it begins. If you go in saying I'm going to win, there might not be any guarantee that you will, but at least you stand a good chance.
You have to change your attitude!

[Scrabbz]

Gary
A lot of this is a mental game. If you go in saying I'm going to loose, the battle is over before it begins. If you go in saying I'm going to win, there might not be any guarantee that you will, but at least you stand a good chance.
You have to change your attitude!

Thank you for the encouragement, George. I actually was happy I did manage to get the second rep on my last work set for squats. Very happy, especially after failing on my second work set. I am just annoyed that I can do so well just a day before and today do terrible in comparison.

Edit: In all honesty, looking back, that was a good lifting session. My bench went very well, deadlifts were good, and I pushed through squats, even getting a rep where I failed. I'm sorry I complained so much earlier. It has just been a long day.

[1fatoldman]

In all honesty, looking back, that was a good lifting session. My bench went very well, deadlifts were good, and I pushed through squats, even getting a rep where I failed. .

I'll bet that you felt a lot better with yourself when you looked at it this way.

Being positive is a good way to look at life in general, it will make you a happier person.!

[Scrabbz]

I'll bet that you felt a lot better with yourself when you looked at it this way.

Being positive is a good way to look at life in general, it will make you a happier person.!

I did feel a bit better, yes. Today is already a rough day mentally though. Hopefully I can just push through and make it today. Tomorrow is a day going to a bunch of locations all over a town tomorrow near my house. Lots of walking, lots of stuff to see.

I wanted to ask everyone: do you ever take a full rest day? I find that I can't ever sit still or 'rest.' I always need to be up and moving.

[doughnutgut]

I wanted to ask everyone: do you ever take a full rest day? I find that I can't ever sit still or 'rest.' I always need to be up and moving.

Yes 3 full rest days a week where (nothing) is done.

These are the days I grow stronger.

[thehobbes]

I wanted to ask everyone: do you ever take a full rest day? I find that I can't ever sit still or 'rest.' I always need to be up and moving.

I do, I take 3 days a week where I don't do anything gym related, still messes me up sometimes that I do so much activity at work though. I make a big effort at home when resting to take some time and actually sit instead of using rest days to run around trimming tree branches in my yard or something haha. Gary make time during the week to take a break and watch a movie or take a nap, it helps, you get more than enough exercise.

[ironwill2008]

It was very pretty. It's a very nice trail too, not too difficult but not super easy either. I enjoyed it.

Great pics; thanks for sharing, Gary.

We saw our share of snakes on our trip. Nothing too dangerous we didn't think, they mostly avoided us. I would imagine the mountains could get pretty dangerous out there though.

I live in West Virginia; quite a few snakes around here as well. Black snakes (of several different varieties) are very common here, and although they can grow to formidable size, are harmless. Copperheads, not so harmless. Rattlers here too, although pretty rare except out in the middle of nowhere. That's a snake you don't want to mess with....at all.

I feel very bloated and finding it hard to eat as well still. Food intake has been around 2600 the last few days, I simply haven't been able to eat anymore.

Try to work more high- calorie food items into your daily intake. Fatty cuts of red meat, full-fat dairy (including whole milk and premium-quality ice cream), peanut butter, avocados, nuts, olive oil on anything you can stand to eat it on, pasta, and bagels are all calorie and micronutrient-dense choices.




I started out at age 45 as a 130-pound string bean, eating one or two "meals" a day. Eleven years later, when I reached my goal of 200 lean pounds, I was stuffing my pie hole with 4500-4800 calories a day, every day.

Where there's a will, there's a way.

[Mainer215]

Power Day

.....Movement.....	.....Set 1.....	.....Set 2.....	.....Set 3.....	.....Set 4.....	.....Set 5.....
Squat	200x2	200x1	200x?(2)
Bench	105x5	105x5	105x?(5)
Deadlift	200x5	210x5	220x8
Pull Ups	2	1	0.5

Squats: Either too little rest, or all mental. They were awful.

Bench Press: 1 rep across better than last week. Will add 5lbs to next week's session.

Deadlift: I messed up my numbers. I ran last weeks numbers apparently. Disappointed.

Pull-ups: Side still hurt a lot during these but I did what I could.

Left tired and sore now. Bad session I think.

Going on a small 3.5 mile hike then. Could be feeling better.

Have a good day, everyone.

Gary,

I have to agree with George on this one. It was pretty much all mental and I am glad that you get that now and see that it was a good workout.

On your next squat session go into it with full rest and the attitude the weights are not going to beat you and you will do fine.

There is nothing wrong with a complete rest day now and then but I also consider leisurely walks as rest days.

Keep up the great work my friend.

[baker]

Thanks for sharing those pics Gary, I love going hiking. Straight up beast mode on those squats, great job.

Keep after it your doing awesome.

[Scrabbz]

Today's Training
Upper Body Day:

.....Movement.....	.....Set 1.....	.....Set 2.....	.....Set 3.....	.....Set 4.....	.....Set 5.....
OHP	80x5	80x4	80x?(3)
Incline bench press	70x10	70x9	70x7
BOR	95x5	95x5	95x(8)
Dips	11	7	5
SuperSet
Barbell Curl	Barx10	Barx10	Barx10
CGBP	65x10	65x10	65x10

OHP: First set was strong, second was a struggle, third I could not get four up.

BOR: Stopped at 8 on AMRAP, form did not feel right. I may keep it at 95lbs for next week, focusing on form.

Dips: Did these before Incline Bench today. One more rep on sets one and two.

Incline Bench Press: Worse than last week. This may be because I did dips before.

Super-set: CGBP reps were grinders at the end.

Left feeling tired. I did not sleep well last night. This may have been a factor in my lifts.

Thank you everyone, for the replies. I am very busy today, so I cannot reply in-line, but I have read everything everyone has said.

Have a good day, everyone.

[Daniel0636]

4 days of full rest a week here :P sometimes even 5 if I don't have a lot of time to lift in the week, I'm lucky full body is a bit easier to manage around work and life stuff.

Lifting can be a mental game sometimes but you pushed through it and that's what counts....

[Flounderbout]

Edit: In all honesty, looking back, that was a good lifting session. My bench went very well, deadlifts were good, and I pushed through squats, even getting a rep where I failed.

Moar posts like this one please!!! They are all good sessions. Some are better than others. But all of them are better than the alternative of not turning up.

[Scrabbz]

Thank you everyone for the words of encouragement and advice.

Again, I am reading and lurking but am very busy as of late.

I wanted to pose this question and see if I could get any suggestions:

With getting close to resetting a lot of my lifts it seems, and school soon starting, I would like to switch to a 3 day a week full body program. This will work much better with my up coming schedule. I have been looking at All Pros (again), with a few modifications to focus on the big 3 more, SS, and Bill Starrs 5x5. All 3 are still linear progression. Would anyone have any suggestions on which to follow?

I enjoy the big 3, squats, deadlifts, and bench along with OHP. I am unfamiliar however with Power Cleans or any other Olympic movement.

Probably going on a small walk with Abby tonight.

Have a good day everyone.

[ironwill2008]

I wanted to pose this question and see if I could get any suggestions:

With getting close to resetting a lot of my lifts it seems, and school soon starting, I would like to switch to a 3 day a week full body program. This will work much better with my up coming schedule. I have been looking at All Pros (again), with a few modifications to focus on the big 3 more, SS, and Bill Starrs 5x5. All 3 are still linear progression. Would anyone have any suggestions on which to follow?

I enjoy the big 3, squats, deadlifts, and bench along with OHP. I am unfamiliar however with Power Cleans or any other Olympic movement.

I've always been a big fan of Starr's programs. I ran his original intermediate 5x5 every Winter for several years.



As far a Power Cleans are concerned, Starr/Madcow (a slight modification to Starr's original) replaces PCs with Barbell Rows. That program might just be right up your alley:

*Starr/Madcow Intermediate: http://www.wackyhq.com/madcow5x5/geo...Linear_5x5.htm