Turning into a meathead- mid life crisis

[supramax]

Just finished my 30 min run. 30 hills approx a hill a minute! Incredible considering yesterday was leg day. The human body adapts so fast to whatever demands you put on it. Just incredible the conditioning changes in a handful of runs.

Running changes you. There is absolutely nothing, no activity/exercise/et all. that imparts a sense of accomplishment and satisfaction like running does.
I truly feel sorry for the people that think they don't like running or think they can't run. We are running animals.

[coachcalande]

And so it begins…football practice has started and I was on my feet in the sun for 4 hours after my morning run. Every bone in my body hurts ……but I’m determined to hydrate well and keep training hard in season.

Today is chest/back and shoulders and instinctively I already know I’m not likely to perform as well after limited sleep and poor hydration. I did add a whey shake and an evening snack last night to fill the void after that long block without nutrition …

Planning on a solid nap later after a couple of good meals and liquids….

[coachcalande]

Chest/back/shoulders

*skipped all chest training to rest the strained pec fully.

Went nuts to the wall heavy on every movement for back and shoulders

Lat pulldowns 5x6-8 reps
Seated shoulder press behind the head 5x pyramid 12-3
Narrow grip pulldowns 5x6-8 reps
Upright rows 5x pyramid 12-5
Seated row 4x 6-8
Side lateral strip sets x4 with 30/15

That’s enough and I really need to HYDRATE after 4 hours on the football field last night.

[coachcalande]

Didn’t go to bed til midnight, up at 4 am…

30 minutes of hills…was kinda grueling today. But glad I got it done.

[coachcalande]

Arms/legs

Did arms first today.

Supersets of each below:

Ez curls, pyramid with pushdowns , SIX SETS EACH
Alternate db curls with skull crushers 5 sets each

The humidity was thick.

Smith machine squat pyramid
6x 12-6

Front squats on smith, pyramid
4 sets 8-4 reps

Leg extensions, 4 set pyramid 15-8
Leg curls 4x 10-12

Back to the running tomorrow.

[coachcalande]

I’m not getting the sleep I need and I feel it but I remain disciplined.

Today I noted that my left heal is a bit sore, iced both and went for a 30 min run on grass. No hills as that stresses the Achilles a bit too much with the soreness.

The run was tough due to my leg workout yesterday but it sure beats being sedentary!

[coachcalande]

Well, one more time I’m faced with the reality that I’m done running. It’s very depressing. I could barely walk after yesterday’s football practice. Both heels have pain, bursitis associated with running hills and both knees with stiffness and inflammation associated with running flat…I guess I’m limited to lifting and will have to do biking, skating, swimming or whatever…

I missed a scheduled lift and now we are bracing for a hurricane here.

Bummed out.

[coachcalande]

My running has come to a rapid stop. Yesterday and the day before I was hobbled with knee inflammation and bursitis in both heels.

So, back to Gainesville…

Today was chest/back/shoulders

I tried benching to test the pec strain.
Did several sets starting with the bar and working up to about 135. I felt fine but just didn’t feel confident in pushing any weight.

Inclines were a tad heavier working up to 185 for reps.

I trained my back as usual, lat pulls, narrow lat pulls and seated rows. Everything there was 10-12 reps. 16 sets.

Shoulder pyramid on presses behind the head- 10-8-6-6
Pyramid on upright row 12-10-8-6

Called it a day.

[coachcalande]

Today was legs and arms

My strength wasn’t great. I attribute it to power outage eating, the running, the arthritis and stress. I just retired from football due to what I call “Covid fatigue “- all the protocol and routine changes just steal the fun.

Squats five sets in a pyramid
Front squat pyramid
Leg ext pyramid
Leg curls 4x10-12

Supersets of ez bar curls and pushdowns. Pyramids
Straight sets of db concentration curls/skull crushers

Sweaty!

Now I’ll relax at the lake, mow the front yard and go watch my sons football game later.

[coachcalande]

Grocery run:

Eggs and whites
Butter
Rice
Broccoli
Potatoes
Chicken
Tuna
Beef
Cold cuts
Nuts
Berries
Bananas
Lettuce
Diet soda

[coachcalande]

Mowed the lawn yesterday and had to ice up this am while getting my dunkin.

Chest, back and shoulders in a time crunch. Got this done in under 40 min.

Bench 4x 8-20, tested that pec strain and worked up to 225 but stayed away from failure.
Lat pulldowns 6x 8-12

Incline bench 5x6-12
Seated rows 6x 8-12


Seated press behind head 5x6-12
Upright row pyramid 4x6-12

Db lateral raise 4 strip sets.

Now gotta cool off before work. No time to lift after so this type of am workout will do.

Meals today:

1- eggs, whites, oats, coffee
2- chicken breast and cheese on wheat
3- almonds, banana
4- chicken breast and cheese on white
5- whatever the bride cooks up
6- maybe a whey shake or peanuts n almonds

[coachcalande]

50 min walk/run

[coachcalande]

Today I did a bunch of 50s and 100s alternating walk vs run at various intensity

About 50
Min

[coachcalande]

Today was arms/legs

Started off with icing my heel which is really sore and stiff from running. My knees seek good after the last two days. I feel a bit smaller in the midsection any less puffy overall.

Anyhow,

I supersetted:

Ez bar curls 5 sets 12-4 reps with pushdowns 5 sets 25-4 reps
Alt db curls, 5 sets 6-8 reps with skull crushers,5 sets 12-6 reps

Great arm workout. I figured my legs would be dead and I was right but I pyramid so get whatever I get and add weight, usually jumping 30 lbs each set.

135, 165, 195,225,255, 285

That was enough.

Then four sets of leg extensions and leg curls.

Good solid day. Probably will just rest tomorrow as my heel could use it.

[coachcalande]

Rested yesterday

Today was all torso

Bench 5x12-5
Incline 5x 12-5
Wide lat pull 5x15-6
Row 5x8-12
Shoulder press 4x10-5
Upright row 4x10-6
Side laterals (light) 4x12

All that done in 45 min

[coachcalande]

50 minutes of leg/arms circuit

Squat
Ez curls
Pushdowns

Did six rounds

Leg extensions
Alt db curls
Skull crushers

Four rounds

Finished with never ending leg curls…which means as soon as you can get another rep, you do it. Those cramp the heck outta the hammies.


I wasn’t really in much of a mood to lift after a poor nights sleep and a late night ahead of me…but this was great.

[coachcalande]

Today, repeated the last upper day


Today was all torso

Bench 5x12-8
Incline 5x 12-8
Wide lat pull 5x15-8
Row 5x8-12
Shoulder press 4x10-5
Upright row 4x10-6
Side laterals (light) 4x12


Note worthy that while I’m afraid to bench heavy, I am getting strength back as noted by picking up reps with 225.

[coachcalande]

10 sets of curls alternating with 10 sets of pushdowns.

Smith squats-6 sets pyramid style in 30 pound jumps, AMRAP
Leg extensions - 5 sets pyramid in 22 lb jumps
Leg curls 4 sets.

[coachcalande]

Great 45 min session this am;

12 sets each for chest,back,shoulders.

Really happy to see a return to bench as it appears my strain is healing. Worked thru a pyramid there 185,205,225,245, 250.

[coachcalande]

Yesterday’s lower plus arms day

8 sets squats
5 sets front squats
4 leg ext
4 leg curls

8 sets bis n tris supersets

Hit skull crushers 195x5

[coachcalande]

Yesterday…

Stayed up late to watch the Raiders last night. Up at 4. Worked out from 5am til 5:50 and did all this…

Bench 6 sets pyramid 15-5
Incline bench 6 sets 12-5
Lat pulldowns 6 sets 8-12
Seated Rows 6 sets 8-12
Went for power sets on press behind head, 5x3, (185) then a back off set
Pyramid 6 sets upright rows 12-5
High rep side laterals 4x12-15

[coachcalande]

Yesterday’s workout…


Couldn’t decide if I was going to train arms first or legs first…so I did circuits…

Circuit 1
Squats ez curls and pushdowns 6 sets

Circuit 2 front squats, concentration curls, skull crushers 4 sets

Circuit 3 leg ext leg curls …3 sets each

Total time 50 min

[coachcalande]

Up at 3:30

Today was chest/back/shoulders

Started off with supersets of…

Bench press and wide lat pulldowns 6 sets of each pyramid style with reps between 15-5

Then…

Supersetted incline bench with seated rows…6 sets each pyramid with reps between 12-3

Then seated press behind the head on the smith machine
5 sets here pyramid from 12-5

Then upright rows, pyramid 12-4

Four high rep sets of lateral raises 12-15 reps…

Great workout, time to relax!

[coachcalande]

Arms first

Supersets of pushdowns
And ez curls pyramid style

Then supersets of db curls and skull crushers- set a massive PR with 20 reps at 135! Light weight! A few months ago I had shared a video of 11 reps with 135.

Squats also pyramid style for six sets 15-5 and four sets of leg ext and leg curls.

Went after more reps on squats today making 20-30
Lb jumps

Out of time

[coachcalande]

hest/back/shoulders

Everything was done to failure as usual
And reps varied from 20-3 with the majority of sets between 5-10 reps. I did 5-6 sets per exercise

Bench/lat pull
Incline/Row
Seated press/upright row
Side lateral raises

45 min

[coachcalande]

Two modifications to my routine
1-Set my alarm fifteen min earlier
2- adding a full regular “meal” vs snacking after work. Life is hectic in the afternoons and eves so dinner has been lacking proper Gains….then the snack/shake will happen later if no real dinner.

Today is legs and arms

Planning squats / fronts/ext and leg curls followed by blasting away at bis tris until 5:50 am

Go time…

[coachcalande]

Todays sets and reps

Squats
20-12-10-7-5-3

Front squats
10-8-5-3

Leg ext
20-15-10-8

Leg curls
15-12-10-8

Ez curls 12-10-8-6-4
Pushdowns 23-15-10-10-8
Alt db curls 10-8-8-6
Skull crushers 12-10-10-10

[coachcalande]

I really wasn’t as ready to lift this am…but after a light warmup on bench I blasted off!

Bench press 28-15-10-6-7-6-5. The last four sets were with 265 so I’m coming back from that pec strain it would appear…but it’s not 100% yet.

Incline press 7-6-6-6-6-13 the first five sets with 235

Did Rows first today and smashed weight 15-10-8-7-6-6

Pulldowns- 9-8-7-7-7-10-10-8

Press behind head, worked up to 195 lbs 15-10-5-4-3-10

Doing well on upright rows 12-11-9-7-5 (105 lbs)

Side laterals light 16-15-14-14. I love these lighter!

[coachcalande]

50 min workout- hit arms first and crushed two new PRs!

Pushdowns- 18-14-8-6-6
Skull crushers 22!-12-8-8-8 (185x8!)
E curls 13-8-7-6-6
Alt db curls 8-8-7-7-8

Squats 12-10-9-8-6
Leg ext 12-9-8-7-6
Leg curls 14 11 9 9

[coachcalande]

Was recently offered a strength coach position in town.

Looking and feeling the part lately. Feel great and loving my training.