ElrondHubbard Clawing My Way Back

[ElrondHubbard]

I'm just a fan of his science fiction writing... not of his beliefs, LOL... that series of books is incredible. Alas, though, you are not a fan.

You're the first person I've encountered who enjoyed the books on their own without being a believer. That's interesting!

I've never been a big science fiction fan, probably my own loss. I get too critical when the science part is off. I don't mind fantasy or historical fiction or contemporary, but put the word "science" in the genre and I end up going through it with a fine tooth comb looking for errors. Just one of my many character flaws, I guess!

Lately I've been backed up with non-fiction, so it's tough to get anything on my reading list anyway.

[ElrondHubbard]

Tuesday night was the end of week 5, "heavy" day. I get two days of recovery until starting week 6 on Friday. I may have been a bit worn out, I managed the weights ok, but the pullups and pushups were really tough. I didn't progress on them as I hoped. Could also be a sleep issue.

Squats:
49x5
61x5
74x5
85x5
100x4
74x9

Bench Press:
55x5
67x5
82x5
94x5
110x4
82x9

BB Rows:
55x5
67x5
82x5
94x5
110x4
82x9

Overhead Press:
44x5
44x5
47x5
55x5
65x4
47x9

Accessories:
Pullups, 6+5+4, 15 total. Same as last time, although I think I strained harder to get it.
Calf Raises, 20x34, 20x32. Decent increase. My calves seem to be responding best to what I'm doing.
Pushups, 31+29+25. I'd hoped to add a rep to each set, but only increased the middle set by one.

I'll be rarin' to go on Friday!

[RT1957]

Good work done...I'm looking forward to see where the weights will be in a few months

[ElrondHubbard]

Good work done...I'm looking forward to see where the weights will be in a few months

Heh! You and me both!

[ElrondHubbard]

Friday night was my beginning of week 6. Progress is starting to slow, I think, but that's to be expected. I'm still moving in the right direction, and that's what matters. I added two reps to my pushup totals, and one to my pullups.

Squats:
50x5
62x5
75x5
87x5
100x5

Bench Press:
56x5
69x5
84x5
97x5
110x5

BB Rows:
56x5
69x5
84x5
97x5
110x5

OverheadPress:
44x5
44x5
49x5
56x5
65x5

Accessories:

Pullups, 6+5+5, 16 total, added one to the tail end from last week.
Calf Raises, 35x30+35x30.
Pushups, 32+29+26, 87 total, added one on each end.

[thehobbes]

Awesome full body workout, hitting all the right lifts! Nice progress on the pullup and pushup reps too, it's coming along nicely.

[ElrondHubbard]

Awesome full body workout, hitting all the right lifts! Nice progress on the pullup and pushup reps too, it's coming along nicely.

Thanks, Hammy! Consistency is my goal, and also my weakness.

Midpoint of week 6 was last night. I was feeling pretty low energy, and I didn't expect much. Turned out things went better than those expectations. I may have simply had too big a feed too soon before my workout. It was a nice big smoothie, but it sure was heavy! The real milestone came earlier in the day, when I was actually able to eat two whole scrambled eggs, cooked with butter and washed down with a cup of milk, for the first time in months. It was a struggle, and took longer than would be the case under normal conditions, but I got it! I'm drinking better now, and can even guzzle full-sized swallows of water and soda, at least some of the time. I think my next attempt will be ice cream!

Morning weight 159.5 (again), body fat ~14%. I'm calculating it with a new method that I think is more realistic than the US Navy method alone.
"Light" day for squats and OHP, incline press and deadlift full bore.

Squats:
50x5
62x5
75x5
75x5

Incline Press:
56x5
67x5
79x5
89x5

Deadlift:
102x5
122x5
142x5
165x5 Nice to finally beat my bodyweight on something!

Overhead Press:
44x5
44x5
49x5
56x5
56x5

Accessories:

Pullups, 7+5+5, 17 total, added one to the first set. I fully expected the third set to fail early, but somehow I completed it without kipping.
Pushups, 33+29+29. 91 total. This really surprised me, because after about 20 reps I was feeling like I wasn't even going to match the totals from the previous week, much less exceed Friday. Adding one to the first set was gratifying, maintaining the previous reps for the second set was a relief, and adding 3 to the third set was a bit of a shock.

Now, the problem with progress is that you have to sustain it! I'll do my best tomorrow. We'll see.

[RT1957]

Good to hear about the RL progress and you're getting in some great work!!...I would think ice cream would melt down into your mouth...go for it

[ElrondHubbard]

Good to hear about the RL progress and you're getting in some great work!!...I would think ice cream would melt down into your mouth...go for it

I just bought some this evening! Now I just have to work up the courage to attack it.


It's bigger than I am, but maybe not for long!

[ElrondHubbard]

Almost forgot to post my Tuesday workout. I was disappointed in my pullups, they didn't improve any from the previous day. At the same time, I added a few reps to the last couple of pushup sets, when I felt like I wasn't even going to make the same number. Strange how fatigue works.

Squats:
50x5
62x5
75x5
87x5
102x4
75x9

Bench Press:
56x5
69x5
84x5
97x5
114x4
84x9

BB Row:
56x5
69x5
84x5
97x5
114x4
84x9

Overhead Press:
44x5
44x5
49x5
56x5
66x4
49x9

Accessories:

Pullups, 7+5+5, 17 total, same as Sunday. I was hoping for better.
Calf Raises, 35x34, 35x32, 66 total with 35 lb dumbell for each leg.
Pushups, 33+31+30, 94 total. Was hoping to get 34 on the first set, but couldn't make it. Then I thought was going to fail early on the remaining sets, but somehow increased.

[ElrondHubbard]

Friday night, beginning of week 7. The weights are progressing according to the plan, and I added a little bit to the accessories. The weights are easy compared to the pushups and pullups. As before, I have to do the pushups last, because once they're done, I'm done. They take pretty much everything out of me.

Squats:
51x5
64x5
77x5
90x5
102x5

Bench Press:
57x5
71x5
85x5
99x5
114x5

BB Rows:
57x5
71x5
85x5
99x5
114x5

Overhead Press:
44x5
44x5
50x5
59x5
66x5

Accessories:

Pullups, 7+6+5+4, 22 total. Added 1 to the second set, and added a fourth set.
Calf Raises, 35x36 + 35x34.
Pushups, 34+32+30, 96 total, added one to the first set and one to the second.

My plan has always been to add another set of pullups when I can get 5 consistently on my last set. I've had 3 workout in a row where that happened, so time to add a 4th set. It's be interesting to see whether that makes any kind of difference in my progression.

[thehobbes]

Great job on the progress! Oooo extra pull ups, good stuff Elrond. I get excited over pull ups like a puppy going to the park.

[mirroroferised]

You're doing fantastic man.

[DocJekyll]

Great job! Keep at the pull-ups they will come. Your pretty well fatigued when your get to them (or so i would think) - thats makes a difficult movement even more so. Looks like your doing great and progressing well. Just keep lifting man!

[ElrondHubbard]

Great job on the progress! Oooo extra pull ups, good stuff Elrond. I get excited over pull ups like a puppy going to the park.

Thanks! I wish I could say the same thing. Not to the same extent as pushups, but pullups are also a mental struggle for me. The weights are easy, I just stick to the program and they slowly increase. I don't have such a well-defined plan for the accessories, essentially because every set is going to near-failure, and the reps are higher.

Ever since I restarted lifting nearly 3 years ago, I've been battling negative self-talk, scripts that tell me to quit and try to make me give up. At times early on, they came pretty close to succeeding, and I think something similar may be one reason why a lot of well-intentioned people seem to just lose the will to continue. These scripts are sneaky, determined, creative, and merciless. Fortunately I learned how to resist them, but there are still occasions, in weak moments when they pop back up again. Since I began this recovery program, they've been most insistent about the pullups and pushups.

I made some progress tonight, hopefully that will shut them up for a while.

[ElrondHubbard]

You're doing fantastic man.

Thank you! It's slow going, but no slower than it should be, I think.

[ElrondHubbard]

Great job! Keep at the pull-ups they will come. Your pretty well fatigued when your get to them (or so i would think) - thats makes a difficult movement even more so. Looks like your doing great and progressing well. Just keep lifting man!

Yeah, fatigue plays a big role in how I approach those particular exercises. What keeps me motivated is the results, and I'm finally starting to see signs that it's working. Just hints, but its nice to see.

[ElrondHubbard]

And tonight is the midpoint of week 7. Officially it's the "light" workout, and that's true for the squats and the OHP. But it also includes deadlifts, and eventually those are going to get heavy. I'm just now getting to the point where my maximum lift is comparable to what my warmup sets were a year ago. I did make progress in the dreaded pullups and pushups, so it turned out to be a petty good night.

The other part of my recovery made progress as well. I had a couple of scrambled eggs and a glass of milk for lunch, and then... ice cream! Not a full bowl just yet, but more than just a token amount. I can say I finally took in enough calories by mouth so that I could reduce the amount of formula required through my GI tube. Not every day, yet, but it's a nice step in the right direction.

161 lbs this morning, ~14% body fat.
Squats:
51x5
64x5
77x5
77x5

Incline Press:
57x5
69x5
80x5
92x5

Deadlift:
105x5
125x5
146x5
167x5

Overhead Press:
44x5
44x5
50x5
59x5
59x5

Accessories:

Pullups, 8+6+5+5, 24 total. Added one on the first set and one on the last, it actually felt pretty good.
Pushups, 35+32+31, 98 total. Again, added one on each end, and I felt pretty good about it, once I could breathe again!

I was just remembering a long-ago event, when I was about 40, between marriages and several years past my youthful lifting period, when I was trying to impress a woman I had just started dating. We were walking in a park, and we came upon one of those exercise stations. I grabbed onto the pullup bar and managed six. She was impressed, and I was a little smug. Nice to know I can do better than that now at 62 and so soon after losing so much of my strength. It makes me optimistic for the rest of my recovery.

[DocJekyll]

Looking good! Just keep at it. Your consistently making moving the mark and that is what matters.

Also, nice gains on the body weight moves!

[Payton1221]

Looking good! Just keep at it. Your consistently making moving the mark and that is what matters.

Also, nice gains on the body weight moves!

^^THIS!!!

Keep up the great work.

[RT1957]

Solid couple of WO's and good to hear that all is heading in a better direction

[ElrondHubbard]

Thanks, folks. It had been a little depressing seeing the saggy skin where my biceps used to be, and the scrawny look I had at the beginning of the summer. I finally look and feel like I'm coming back, and it makes every workout something to look forward to.

[DocJekyll]

Thanks, folks. It had been a little depressing seeing the saggy skin where my biceps used to be, and the scrawny look I had at the beginning of the summer. I finally look and feel like I'm coming back, and it makes every workout something to look forward to.

There ya go!

[ElrondHubbard]

Tuesday night I finished off week 7, only about 1,300 weeks to go until I've possibly exhausted my genetic potential.

Things felt pretty good last night, even though Tuesday adds a little weight and a little volume, the lifting seemed easier than when the weights were lighter. I know I'm going to need a deload at some point, as of now I'm thinking the best time for that will be at the end of October, since I'm going to be taking a couple of weeks off for travel anyway. I hope I can hold out until then.

I didn't advance my maximum in the pullups or pushups, but I did make some improvement in the sets following. Tuesdays, despite feeling stronger for the weights, has me a little fatigued for the accessories, and I've noticed that the Friday workouts, after a couple of days rest, are when I feel best on the accessories.

One possible reason I felt a little stronger last night may have been a change in a different routine: I have my workout plan on a spreadsheet on my laptop, which is nearby while I lift, and I usually play selections from an extensive music collection I've accumulated. Last night I chose to forgo the music, and instead put on a couple of calculus tutorials. Seeing as how my mind is just as rusty as my body, I figured I could use the mental exercise too, and it did have the effect of reminding me of a few things I had forgotten since my schooling. It's been a long time since I've used it, but I'm thinking I'd like to change that too.

Pretty nerdy, I know. I just can't help myself sometimes.

Squats:
51x5
64x5
77x5
90x5
105x4
77x9

Bench Press:
57x5
71x5
85x5
99x5
116x4
85x9

BB Row:
57x5
71x5
85x5
99x5
116x4
85x9

Overhead Press:
44x5
44x5
50x5
59x5
69x4
50x9

Accessories:

Pullups, 8+7+6+5, 26 total. Added one each to the middle two sets.
Calf Raises, 35x38 + 35x36, each leg done separately while holding 35lb dumbell. Will up the weight on this one starting Friday.
Pushups, 35+33+31, 99 total. Really wanted to hit 36 on the first set, but couldn't quite get there. Added 1 to the middle set, so still progressed.

Finished it off with an 830 calorie high-protein smoothie!

And promptly forgot all the calculus again.

[Payton1221]

Tuesday night I finished off week 7, only about 1,300 weeks to go until I've possibly exhausted my genetic potential.

. . . and instead put on a couple of calculus tutorials.

LOL @ both. Regarding genetic potential, I had seen the genetic potential calculators but didn't realize initially that these are to calculate the genetic potential of the most gifted lifters. I know that so many people post about continually pushing limits and setting new PRs almost indefinitely, but for the average gymgoer (even one who puts forth effort with good programming and sound nutrition) the gains are almost non-existent after 4-5 years of effort IMO.

When my now son-in-law came over to study with my daughter, I looked at his calculus homework and other than remembering some of the terms (l'hopital's rule, etc), I was lost. Short of taking the derivative or integral of a simple one-term polynomial, I can't do any calculus from memory

How's the weight gain going? I would suspect that my failed bulk (then cut) experiments of a few years ago might pertain and that is "easy as you go." Gaining too fast could result in an unacceptable amount of that being something other than lean mass

[RT1957]

Good work ER!!...I'll stick with sports talk and music when working out...I don't even really hear that with any attention its all background noise

[ElrondHubbard]

Good work ER!!...I'll stick with sports talk and music when working out...I don't even really hear that with any attention its all background noise

For a while I was in zone of playing old boxing videos while I worked out. It helped with the energy, but it was too distracting, I was taking too long between sets. The other thing is that there really aren't that many matches worth watching. After seeing Muhammad Ali beat George Foreman half a dozen times, I was ready for something else.

[ElrondHubbard]

LOL @ both. Regarding genetic potential, I had seen the genetic potential calculators but didn't realize initially that these are to calculate the genetic potential of the most gifted lifters. I know that so many people post about continually pushing limits and setting new PRs almost indefinitely, but for the average gymgoer (even one who puts forth effort with good programming and sound nutrition) the gains are almost non-existent after 4-5 years of effort IMO.

5 years of gains would make me very happy. I've never even put in 5 years of consistent work in the past. I'd only done a little more than 2 on my last stint prior to my diagnosis. So I really have no idea what my actual potential was, even when I was younger. Now I'll be dealing with two curves that will converge but never quite merge: the upward (for now) curve of greater capacity due to training and the downward curve of decline potential due to aging. Eventually, the second will dominate over the first, but I think I can get a number of good years in before that happens, and I have no doubt that being fit will slow the decline.

When my now son-in-law came over to study with my daughter, I looked at his calculus homework and other than remembering some of the terms (l'hopital's rule, etc), I was lost. Short of taking the derivative or integral of a simple one-term polynomial, I can't do any calculus from memory

It's been a long time. There was a time when I could do simple orbital calculations and some other astronomy-related math, but most of that skill is long gone. I have some projects in mind where it might come in handy, though.

How's the weight gain going? I would suspect that my failed bulk (then cut) experiments of a few years ago might pertain and that is "easy as you go." Gaining too fast could result in an unacceptable amount of that being something other than lean mass

I'm definitely gaining too fast right now. I hate to imagine what will happen when I finally start eating again! I throttled back a little on the smoothies starting last night. I think it would be better to decrease my consumption of formula, though. I'm doing about 3,000 calories a day recently. I need to dial that back a little.

[ElrondHubbard]

Started Week #8 on Friday. It went really well. I think I was coming in better rested over the last couple of days. Even though the weights are about 20% heavier than what I started with, they are actually feeling lighter. That's not true for the accessories, though. I find I'm needing more rest between sets on the pullups and pushups as the numbers slowly increase. I'm going to have to try to tighten that up eventually.

Squat:
52x5
66x5
79x5
92x5
105x5

Bench Press:
58x5
72x5
87x5
101x5
116x5

BB Row:
58x5
72x5
87x5
105x5
116x5

Overhead Press:
44x5
44x5
51x5
60x5
68x5

Accessories:

Pullups, 9+7+6+6, total 28. Added a rep to the first set and one to the last.
Calf Raises, 45x32+45x32, added 10 lbs to the dumbell for each leg.
Pushups, 36+34+32, total 102. Added 1 rep to each set! A little painful, but it worked.

I'm feeling really good right now -- had very good news from the doctor on Friday as well. The PET scan I did last week shows no remaining sign of cancer anywhere. I'm good for 6-month followups rather than the constant attention it feels like I've been getting. I still have a couple of doctors I need to see to help ease my recovery, but it looks like cancer is in my past.

[Tensolator]

Congratulations on your recovery. A very sincere congratulations.