Ironwill2008 V3.0

[emp1acur]

I wish you and your family a very Merry Christmas Bill!

[tblodg15]

So much goodness in just those few words. It's too bad not everyone finds their way into your journal

Agreed! Every time I come in here I find some of that goodness which is so refreshing and motivating at the same time. I told Bill that his quote that I ended up using in my signature really hit home with me but the amazing thing is that is just one of hundreds or thousands of great tidbits he has posted over the years!

[ironwill2008]

Got in an earlier-than my-usual-time-session to work legs. Today's training was:

Squat
bar x8 W/U
95x8 W/U
135x5
185x5
205x5
225x5
245x4

Leg Press PWO
290x10 W/U
620x10
620x10
620x8

Romanian Deadlift
bar x8 W/U
95x8 W/U
135x5
185x5
245x5

Leg Curl PWO
15x8 W/U
30x8
30x8
30x8

Hanging Leg Raise
bw x25
bw x18



Finished in an hour and a quarter. I added a rep on Squats and LP. I'm working cautiously here so as to avoid any more hamstring problems.

Met reps-across on RDL for the 2nd time, so I'll bump a bit on the next go-around.

Bumped Leg Curls; I'll work this weight to 3x10 before adding more.

Done. I'll rest tomorrow while visiting family and friends, then return to the gym on Wednesday to work back/biceps.

My wife came through again for a Post-WorkOut meal of her version of Huevos Rancheros accompanied by a glass of milk.

[ironwill2008]

Merry Christmas, Bill. Hope you and your family have a great Holiday!

Thanks, Todd. Merry Christmas to you and yours.

I wish you and your family a very Merry Christmas Bill!

Thanks, Larry. I wish the same for you and your family.

Agreed! Every time I come in here I find some of that goodness which is so refreshing and motivating at the same time. I told Bill that his quote that I ended up using in my signature really hit home with me but the amazing thing is that is just one of hundreds or thousands of great tidbits he has posted over the years!

thnx for the kind words; they're appreciated.

The Reason for the Season



Merry Christmas, everyone!

[tnthudson]

Love the Reason for the Season image. I'm gone for a couple days but I'll be back to see 2019 in

[Payton1221]

Merry Christmas, everyone![/center]

Merry Christmas Bill. Your reason for the season img reminds me of the OT scripture "You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart." (Jer 29:13)

[ironwill2008]

Love the Reason for the Season image. I'm gone for a couple days but I'll be back to see 2019 in

I'll probably be here too, Todd.

Merry Christmas Bill. Your reason for the season img reminds me of the OT scripture "You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart." (Jer 29:13)

Merry Christmas to you too, Mark.

[ironwill2008]

Back/biceps on this session. I've been experiencing some pain in my left elbow for the last couple of days, and that forced a few changes . Today's training was:

Deadlift
bar x8 W/U
135x5
185x5
225x5
255x5
300x5

Dumbbell Row
40x8 W/U
105x6

Wide-Grip Pulldown PWO
90x10 W/U
145x6
145x6
145x6

EZ Bar Curl
45x8 W/U
65x8
85x8
90x8

Hammer Curl
zip



Used up about 55 minutes today. Bumped Deadlifts and met reps-across, so I'll bump again next week.

Dumbbell Rows caused some pain in that elbow, so I stopped at one work set.

Pulldowns were no problem; met reps-across, but will stay @145 for another go-around, or at least until I figure out my elbow issue.

Ramped EZ Curls up to see what would happen; no problem there.

Hammer Curls, OTOH, caused mmediate pian with only 20 pounds, so I scrubbed them for today.

I don't yet know what the cause of my problem might be, but should have a clearer picture after Friday's 'push' workout. The fact that not all 'pulls' causes discomfort leaves me in doubt as to the issue for now.

Post-WorkOut meal was a baked chicken breast, rice, a blue cheese salad, and a glass of milk.

[Anthony21]

I've been around the boards for some time yet never been subbed to your training log, shame on me.

Happy Holidays boss and i'm subbed for the journey.

[ironwill2008]

I've been around the boards for some time yet never been subbed to your training log, shame on me.

Happy Holidays boss and i'm subbed for the journey.

Hello, Anthony. I'm currently working my way back from some medical procedures from last April and their effect on my training. I'm just hard-headed enough though that nothing will keep me out of the gym permanently..........


......except The Grim Reaper.





BTW, I appreciate your continued contribution to this site; it's very difficult these days trying to maintain some semblance of integrity in the non-misc forums here, and your posts are a big help.


Happy Holidays to you too.

[Anthony21]

Hello, Anthony. I'm currently working my way back from some medical procedures from last April and their effect on my training. I'm just hard-headed enough though that nothing will keep me out of the gym permanently..........


......except The Grim Reaper.





BTW, I appreciate your continued contribution to this site; it's very difficult these days trying to maintain some semblance of integrity in the non-misc forums here, and your posts are a big help.


Happy Holidays to you too.

Well your perseverance is definitely inspiring to a guy like myself.

I grew up on these boards as cheesy as that sounds. It's a big reason to my development in the gym and outside of it with nutrition and recovery. I really can't thank the members enough back then and now, including your wisdom through out the years.

[ElrondHubbard]

Hello, Anthony. I'm currently working my way back from some medical procedures from last April and their effect on my training. I'm just hard-headed enough though that nothing will keep me out of the gym permanently..........


......except The Grim Reaper.





BTW, I appreciate your continued contribution to this site; it's very difficult these days trying to maintain some semblance of integrity in the non-misc forums here, and your posts are a big help.


Happy Holidays to you too.

It's not just your perseverance, it's your patience too. These things do take a long time.

And yeah, every time I'm tempted to head down (literally) to the Misc. to add a snarky retort, I'm reminded of the vast gulf in mental health between that forum and this one.

[ironwill2008]

Well your perseverance is definitely inspiring to a guy like myself.

thnx.

I grew up on these boards as cheesy as that sounds. It's a big reason to my development in the gym and outside of it with nutrition and recovery. I really can't thank the members enough back then and now, including your wisdom through out the years.

Actually, you were fortunate to have this site as a resource back in '07. And while there were certainly some questionable internet sites, and some bad advices floating around back then, it was nowhere near as bad as it is today. Spammers, scammers, gonifs and charlatans abound, some posting right here on this site, looking to mislead unsuspecting noobs into coughing up their $$$, or at the least, following nonsense that will practically guarantee they make no progress, become frustrated, and quit outright after just a few weeks, if that long.


I started bodybuilding in 1993, at the age of 45, with little more than a couple of books borrowed from the library, and a bit later, the muscle magazines. About 10-11 months in, floundering around on my own with a very basic home setup, I joined a gym and was mentored for the next 2 years by the owner, a much younger competing bodybuilder. That move proved to be the best thing to ever happen to me, training-wise, and his direction and insistence of following the basics (which I still do to this day), is what provided me with the consistent gains that took me from a 130-pound skeleton to 200 pounds of 11% mass in about 11 years. That kind of progress will pretty much addict anyone to sticking with this lifestyle permanently.

It's not just your perseverance, it's your patience too. These things do take a long time.

And yeah, every time I'm tempted to head down (literally) to the Misc. to add a snarky retort, I'm reminded of the vast gulf in mental health between that forum and this one.

thnx, Elrond. It was made aware to me many years ago that this sport is The Long Game; nothing happens overnight, and those who are looking for quick gains should find a different "hobby" and not bother to waste their time or mine.



The misc is a creeping pariah, slowly spreading all over this site.

[ElrondHubbard]

The misc is a creeping pariah, slowly spreading all over this site.

Kind of like Ice-9.

[ironwill2008]

Kind of like Ice-9.

.......or that stuff that 'The Blob' was made out of.





Actually, after seeing that trailer, that movie could very well have been just as appropriately named, "The Misc."

[ElrondHubbard]

.......or that stuff that 'The Blob' was made out of.





Actually, after seeing that trailer, that movie could very well have been just as appropriately named, "The Misc."

Ha! Now I’m going to have to watch the whole thing!





Again.

[alicat32]

.......or that stuff that 'The Blob' was made out of.





Actually, after seeing that trailer, that movie could very well have been just as appropriately named, "The Misc."

I actually laughed out loud at that
Never been to the Misc, never will.

[Anthony21]

I actually laughed out loud at that
Never been to the Misc, never will.

It's a cesspool.

[NoCarbsNoSugar]

Love the wise men image.
And the food pics, of course.



Enjoy your New Year’s.

[ironwill2008]

Ha! Now I’m going to have to watch the whole thing!





Again.

Lulz.

IIRC, that was Steve McQueen's first lead role, and that alone makes that 'b-' grade sci-fi flick memorable.

Love the wise men image.
And the food pics, of course.



Enjoy your New Year’s.

Thanks, NoC; Happy New Year to you too.

[ironwill2008]

Closed out the week's training, as well as this current 4-week segment, with a good session. Today's training was:

Smith Machine Flat Press
bar x15 W/U
95x10 W/U
135x6 W/U
165x6
185x6
195x6

Incline Flye
20x8 W/U
45x8
45x8
45x8

Smith Machine Seated Oress
95x8 W/U
145x6
145x6
145x5

Lateral raise
- - -

Face Pull PWO
35x30
35x22

French Press
45x8 W/U
90x8
90x8

Cable Rope Pressdown PWO
57.5x10
57.5x8



Burned off an hour on the nose on this session. Still looking for the cause of my left elbow discomfort. Presses didn't cause any problems; reached reps-across on Flats and will bump up next go-around, and Seated Press saw an added rep. Again, no problem with my elbow here.

Same deal with Flyes; added weight, got 3x8 with no issue. I'll work this new weight to 3x12 before adding more weight.

Lateral raises, OTOH, were immediately painful, so I scrubbed them.

No other problems, not even with French Presses, which I was expecting to be a no-go. I even added weight on Pressdowns and experienced no elbow pain.

After resting over the weekend, I'll head into deload week on Monday. It comes at a good time, considering this elbow mystery. So far, Hammer Curls and Lateral Raises create issues, while the heavier basic compound exercises are no problemo. Go figure.

Post-WorkOut meal was 6 oz of grilled ground sirloin, rice, a tasty salad, and a glass of milk.

[Anthony21]

Bummer about the elbow but glad a majority of the training session didn't aggravate it.

[ironwill2008]

Bummer about the elbow but glad a majority of the training session didn't aggravate it.

After training for almost 25 years with never even one gym injury to speak of, that 3 months I couldn't train (or any physical activity for that matter) while recovering from a couple of surgeries caused a cascade of issues that have forced changes in my training.

Before I retired from a very physical outdoor utility company construction-type job, I dealt with a few relatively minor job-related injuries; twice, lower back issues, both times from having a foot slip out from under me while carrying a heavy extension ladder up steep hillsides with unsure footing, and another time, a right knee sprain I sustained from stepping into an unseen shallow hole in the ground. All three of those times, I simply trained around the problem areas until they went away, and never even lost any work time (something frowned upon by my then-employer). Additionally, a little over a year ago, I pulled my right hamstring out in my garage while stepping very awkwardly taking down a heavy box from an overhead shelf. That's the same hammy I pulled not long after I returned to weight training after my medical issues last Spring.


Those three work-related instances occurred when I was much younger than today. And while nobody realizes more than myself that I'm no Spring chicken, it still makes me smh. But as I've stated here repeatedly since last April, none of it is going to cause me to quit; I'll just keep changing my field position as the goalposts keep getting moved on me.

[Payton1221]

Bill,

I bought a pull-up bar for my doorway and it came with the attached nutritional information. It appears as if I've been doing it wrong and it's been an eyeopener regarding the number of meals per day and other recommendations like when to consume starches, dairy, and fruit. I think this will propel my training forward in 2019 Happy new year!

[ironwill2008]

Bill,

I bought a pull-up bar for my doorway and it came with the attached nutritional information. It appears as if I've been doing it wrong and it's been an eyeopener regarding the number of meals per day and other recommendations like when to consume starches, dairy, and fruit. I think this will propel my training forward in 2019 Happy new year!

IronGym has managed to distill just about everything that is wrong with nutritional advice provided by the fitness "industry" into one small space.

(I took the liberty of editing that pic to make it more readable)

[Payton1221]

IronGym has managed to distill just about everything that is wrong with nutritional advice provided by the fitness "industry" into one small space.[/center]

LOL. Rhetorical if you wish, but how does that happen. How can anyone--let along a company that's supposedly in the "fitness biz"--be so ignorant in 2018?

[ironwill2008]

LOL. Rhetorical if you wish, but how does that happen. How can anyone--let along a company that's supposedly in the "fitness biz"--be so ignorant in 2018?

It's easier to parrot nonsense than it is to put in a little bit of time and effort to seek out factual, clinical information to include with your product. The same thing is seen on this site with some forum members parroting "advice" they heard from some other clueless parrot, usually from FB, an IG post, that moronic dr oz, or some other social media site.

Most equipment manufacturers though, tend to stay in their lane and just sell equipment. Small-scale companies, such as those who make that pullup bar, maybe not so much. I've seen the same thing with other companies that sell home-type, consumer-level exercise stuff; they'll provide a "nutrition guide" along with their device as a means of increasing it's "value."

Remember these gizmos from back in the '90s?

Infomercials touting "get washboard abs in just a week!" were all over TV back then; they showed a beached-whale-looking guy (or woman) doing a few "reps" on the floor with that thing, and then an "after" shot of an athlete with a sharply-defined set of abdominals. How anyone could fall for such claptrap is beyond me, but it's been reported that those companies sold millions of such gizmos. My wife picked one up at a yard sale a couple of years ago for half-a-buck, and gave it to me as a gag gift; along with it was a "diet program" that listed basically the same stupidity as that from your Pullup bar.





BTW, that ab gizmo in the pic isn't the one my wife gifted me; that one was bright purple in color with silly little fragile black plastic knobs to hold it together. It was placed out on the curb the day we quit laughing about it.

[ironwill2008]

Hi. How are you? My name is Sherman, and I'm Bill's best bud. I show up in here when Bill decides to take a week to lift light weights; he says I add some interest to otherwise dull posts.



http://columbuscockerrescue.com. Please help if you're able.

Yep; Deload Week is upon me, when for the entire week, I lift insignificant weight for moderate reps on a few nondescript exercises. The point is to allow some additional recovery to joints and attachments, and for this week, a chance to allow my janky left elbow to improve. Today's training was:

Front Squat
bar x8 W/U
95x8 W/U
135x5
135x5
135x5

Dumbbell Stiff-Leg Deadlift
20x8 W/U
40x5
40x5
40x5

Crunch
bw x24
bw x16



Moved through this massive workload in under 20 minutes. Haven't Front Squatted in a while, so that was a good choice for today. I was reminded immediately how not doing these allows the front delts to become re-sensitized to the bar.

Way back in the day, I used to do SLDLs with a barbell, and stuck with them until the first time I tried Romanians. Since I was performing these to primarily work my glutes and hams, RDLs became the exercise of choice since they take a bit more of the load off the lower back than SL and put it on my intended target. Still, SLs make a good change-up for deload week.

Finished up this short-by-design session with a couple sets of crunches done on the flat bench.

Post-WorkOut feast was a plateful of roast turkey, mashed potatoes 'n gravy (!), a cup of cranberry salad, and a glass of milk.

[alicat32]

^ That feast looks amazing

I have found deload to be a very necessary part of my training, and has really helped me make some good gains. It seems as though my deloads have been forced lately. Been sick since just before Christmas, and I hate going to the gym when I am coughing all over the place.

Right now a bit jealous of your home gym where nobody cares if you cough

Happy New Year!

[ironwill2008]

^ That feast looks amazing

I have found deload to be a very necessary part of my training, and has really helped me make some good gains. It seems as though my deloads have been forced lately. Been sick since just before Christmas, and I hate going to the gym when I am coughing all over the place.

Right now a bit jealous of your home gym where nobody cares if you cough

Happy New Year!

Thnx. My one food jones is mashed potatoes; I'll keep eating them as long as there are any left to eat.


The need of scheduling regular deloads was brought to my attention during my 2nd year of training while being mentored by a younger and very knowledgeable bodybuilder who owned the first gym to which I was a member. I've been doing it ever since, and credit that fact in large part to my lack of gym injuries over 25+ years and my mostly-steady progress.


My gym is more a necessity here than it is a luxury. When the above-mentioned gym closed, I found myself moving from one fitness center to the next in order to avoid all the common negative issues found in commercial establishments that keep a serious trainee from being able to train effectively (crowding, poor management, poorly-maintained equipment, restricted hours of operation, dirty locker rooms, moronic gym members, clueless "trainers," etc., etc., etc.), I pretty much just ran out of places to move to. I live in a small-market area, and it was pure luck---or the stars aligning---that caused a local gym equipment store to open nearby. He stocked Parabody equipment, and I bought pretty much one of everything they manufactured. These days, finding equipment is pretty easy; 20 year ago, not so much, so it was a happy coincidence he was in business just long enough for me to equip my gym.