ElrondHubbard Clawing My Way Back

[Athena]

Good for you, getting the workout in even though you didn't feel like it! Yes, that heat is gonna take it out of you and even more so now...but it forced you to take longer breaks, which apparently is a good thing considering your extra reps. Right? I'm excited about your observatory! I'm living vicariously through you on that project. Quite envious. And some humor related to my update at my journal from tonight: I called out on the walkie to the nurse on the other side when the resident had passed and said, "Cheryl, when you can please come to room 299 and bring your telescope. Actually, bring your STETHOSCOPE since it will probably work better." The entire building had the greatest laugh, and when the nurse came to our nurse's station she said, "I left my telescope on the other side of the building so can I borrow one of yours?"

Okay, now back to you: With the issues your body is fighting, I would agree that you should end the cut. It certainly isn't time to binge or anything, but I like the idea of giving your body the calories it needs to fight whatever is happening.

Pulling for you and sending good vibes and energy your way.

Athi

[Payton1221]

Thanks, Mark. I'm not much for posing, and my wife was not making it any easier! You should see some of the ones we didn't post. Oh, maybe you shouldn't...

I've not taken hundreds of photos, but I have taken enough to know that some views are more flattering than others. And a full-on (or near full-on/straight-ahead) photo like you did is one that doesn't allow you to manipulate anything. Seriously, great job.

I've gotten in a bad habit of eating way too much and then cutting back for several days to make up for it. I haven't weighed in a while, but I did check my waist for the first time in months and was very surprised and disappointed to find that it's 35.5". That puts me at the very uppermost 2:1 height:waist ratio that some doctors now recommend.

I'll note this, I find it much easier to eat for my goals M-F due to the regimen of work. Not sure what'll happen to me if I ever retire

[ElrondHubbard]

Good for you, getting the workout in even though you didn't feel like it! Yes, that heat is gonna take it out of you and even more so now...but it forced you to take longer breaks, which apparently is a good thing considering your extra reps. Right? I'm excited about your observatory! I'm living vicariously through you on that project. Quite envious. And some humor related to my update at my journal from tonight: I called out on the walkie to the nurse on the other side when the resident had passed and said, "Cheryl, when you can please come to room 299 and bring your telescope. Actually, bring your STETHOSCOPE since it will probably work better." The entire building had the greatest laugh, and when the nurse came to our nurse's station she said, "I left my telescope on the other side of the building so can I borrow one of yours?"

Okay, now back to you: With the issues your body is fighting, I would agree that you should end the cut. It certainly isn't time to binge or anything, but I like the idea of giving your body the calories it needs to fight whatever is happening.

Pulling for you and sending good vibes and energy your way.

Athi

Wow! Thank you, Athena, I'm honored! I've got one more coat of paint to go on the inside part of the observatory this weekend, and then I can move the telescope in. The outside needs the full suite of sanding, priming, and painting, but at least it can be operational while that's going on.

I'll make sure I have pictures for you!

As for the "other issue", we had a double-whammy of good news today. First, we found a place for my father-in-law to stay, not too far from where he is now, close to all the care and amenities he needs. A younger cousin volunteered to take him in, which was a very happy surprise. We'll still be going to L.A. next Monday for his doctor appointment and to help get him situated, but at least we won't have to bring him back to the boonies with us. If I remember right, he had 10 brothers and sisters, so there's actually nieces and nephews out there that I hadn't even thought about. This niece had always been close to him, but since she's as young as my youngest daughter, we hadn't even thought about involving her. I still think of her with coloring books!

As for me, I got confirmation that the doctor and facility that was recommended to me in San Diego is indeed part of my insurance provider network, so I don't have to worry about claims being denied on that account. When I had my throat cancer, my oncologist wanted to use a non-standard treatment on me, one that had a higher cure rate. The insurance denied it claiming that they would only cover the standard treatment (the night before those treatments were scheduled to begin). In this case, there seems to be only one treatment available, so there's no alternate strategy to deny. So I feel like my path to treatment is more straightforward now. Hopefully it will start soon.

[ElrondHubbard]

I've not taken hundreds of photos, but I have taken enough to know that some views are more flattering than others. And a full-on (or near full-on/straight-ahead) photo like you did is one that doesn't allow you to manipulate anything. Seriously, great job.

Thanks, Mark. That means a lot to me.

I've gotten in a bad habit of eating way too much and then cutting back for several days to make up for it. I haven't weighed in a while, but I did check my waist for the first time in months and was very surprised and disappointed to find that it's 35.5". That puts me at the very uppermost 2:1 height:waist ratio that some doctors now recommend.

I'll note this, I find it much easier to eat for my goals M-F due to the regimen of work. Not sure what'll happen to me if I ever retire

Take up yard work!

[tblodg15]

Dave, I checked out your new photos and wow you look great. That looks like a “in great shape” build for any age and major goals for all of us for 64 years old!

Sorry to hear about your appendix issue but if anyone will fight through it I know you will. Good luck!

[Samraiwise]

I checked your body space progress pics too. This book is one of my favorite sci-fi books, the story is about you isn't it?



You make us all proud of you and at the same time make us soooooooooo envious of you, SIR.

[Payton1221]

Take up yard work!

LOL, and I've heard it referred to as "yardio"

[ElrondHubbard]

Dave, I checked out your new photos and wow you look great. That looks like a “in great shape” build for any age and major goals for all of us for 64 years old!

Sorry to hear about your appendix issue but if anyone will fight through it I know you will. Good luck!

Thanks, Troy. That means a lot coming from you!

I got registered with the surgeon today, and had all my records faxed over. Hopefully that consultation and following procedure will be scheduled sooner rather than later. The sooner we get it over with, the sooner I can start a new "Clawing back" spreadsheet!

[ElrondHubbard]

I checked your body space progress pics too. This book is one of my favorite sci-fi books, the story is about you isn't it?



You make us all proud of you and at the same time make us soooooooooo envious of you, SIR.

I'll take the ship, but like most old men I'd say the best thing about wars is reading about them after they're over! Old men are only good for old wars. Let's not have any new ones!

Thanks, Kaz! I think all of us old grumpy geezers here have something to be proud of.

[ElrondHubbard]

LOL, and I've heard it referred to as "yardio"

And that is not an inaccurate label...

[ElrondHubbard]

Almost ran off without posting my Tuesday workout! Midpoint of Week 112, a decent night, reasonably productive, nothing flashy. Incline bench improved -- the rep 7 that I missed last week I was successful with this time. On deadlift, I didn't increase any weight or reps, but the ones that I did felt more secure this time. On my second set at 340 pounds, I was able to entertain the idea of going for six reps as late as rep four. Rep five informed me that there would be nothing following, but that's still an improvement over the previous week when I didn't feel all that confident of even getting rep five up. Coming up off the floor wasn't quite explosive, but it was definitely a little more snappy on all the sets than it had been the week prior. So I did feel progress there.

Anyway, I'll finish up on Thursday, then take somewhat of a break next week. How much of one I don't know yet.


Incline Bench:
110x5
130x10
150x7
150x10 -- Rest-Pause: 5+2+2+1

Squat:
135x5 -- Paused
165x5 -- Paused
200x6
200x6

Overhead Press:
60x5
75x5
90x10
100x6
100x6

Deadlift:
245x5
295x6
340x6
340x5


No accessories during the session, but during the day today I did do two clusters of rest-pause pushups: 53 + 8 + 8 + 7 + 7, and 45 + 8 + 7 + 7. I did feel the burn of "effective reps" there.

I also did some sets of lateral raises using a pipe wrench for weight: 15 + 8 + 6 on each side. The shape of the pipe wrench makes this one a little clumsy, something I'll have to work on as I get opportunities.

[ElrondHubbard]

Finished week 112, and as much as I whined about everything being hard Sunday, Thursday went well. I'm ready to add weight to my squat and row, I think, and overall I felt good. The bench is improving slowly, although it doesn't necessarily show on the numbers yet. I know I said I was planning to take a break next week, but now I'm having second thoughts about that. I really don't want to. Monday will be a rough day, I know, but that's not a guarantee that I'll be suffering on Tuesday. We'll see. I know it's all going to come to a screeching halt soon enough, but I want to be trained right up to as close to that moment as I can.

This week turned into my best weekly volume total ever. When I do add weight, the reps and volume will go down a bit for a while, of course, so this could easily be my largest volume for the year. It'll come back up eventually, though.


Bench Press:
100x5
125x5
150x10
175x9
175x7
175x14 -- Rest-Pause: 5+4+3+2

Squat:
135x5 -- Paused
165x5 -- Paused
200x10
235x10
235x8
235x14 -- Rest-Pause: 5+3+3+3
275x2 -- Gratuitous!

BB Row:
115x5
145x5
175x10
200x10
200x8
200x26 -- Rest-Pause: 6+5x4

Overhead Press:
60x5
75x5
90x10
100x8
100x7
100x13 -- Rest-Pause: 5+3+3+2

1. The gratuitous squat is to get me used to the feel of heavier weight again, so that when it's time to move up I'll be more able to adapt.

2. I had planned to throw in some pushups and pullups this morning, but we ended up going into town to celebrate my wife's birthday. I'll definitely be getting some in tomorrow.

[HomeGymChains]

...

This week turned into my best weekly volume total ever. When I do add weight, the reps and volume will go down a bit for a while, of course, so this could easily be my largest volume for the year. It'll come back up eventually, though.

...

Great work! Very nice volume!

Rooting for you!

(And as the U35 would say, “Always mirin’ your overhead press weights.” My shoulders won’t let me do half that.)

[Athena]

i'm impressed that anyone in these o35 journals can still do squats! and that weight is phenomenal. i gave them up years ago...just can't do the spinal compression anymore. good on ya.

as for the pushups and pullups, yes there's always tomorrow

[ElrondHubbard]

Great work! Very nice volume!

Rooting for you!

(And as the U35 would say, “Always mirin’ your overhead press weights.” My shoulders won’t let me do half that.)

The shoulders aren't really the problem here, I could do heavier (with far fewer reps), but I have to be really careful with my core. Form is everything here. At 100 pounds or above, a belt is absolutely essential. As is breathing and bracing.

[ElrondHubbard]

i'm impressed that anyone in these o35 journals can still do squats! and that weight is phenomenal. i gave them up years ago...just can't do the spinal compression anymore. good on ya.

as for the pushups and pullups, yes there's always tomorrow

I find the low bar squat is actually easier on my spine than the overhead press, even with heavier weights. It's actually my favorite lift at the moment, and my bucket list dream is to do 2x body weight with it. Maybe more. Might take a while. My wife talked to a female fitness coach and bodybuilder who had been through the same cancer treatment that I'm facing here soon, and she'd said that 10 months into her recovery she still wasn't quite where she'd been before, but was progressing at a rate that put her back all the way after the first year. So I now at least have a rough model to aspire to.

And yeah, I got the pushups and partial pullups in. A myo-rep set of pushups, 54+8+8+8, and a smaller one of pullups: 10+5+3. I'll be doing another round of the pullups later on this afternoon.

[bamazav]

Great job on those squats. Looks like I need to start bumping the weight up again. I just can't have you getting too far up on me. No, I am not competitive.

[ElrondHubbard]

Great job on those squats. Looks like I need to start bumping the weight up again. I just can't have you getting too far up on me. No, I am not competitive.

Ha! Well, you'll have plenty of time. I haven't heard anything yet, but I expect I'll be squatless for a while.

[ElrondHubbard]

I do have a Sunday workout to post, not a bad start to Week 113. I put 5 pounds on the squats and the BB Rows, and surprised myself when I still got the same number of reps as the previous week. I was pretty happy about that. I also got a couple of myo-rep accessories in, and that felt good.

Monday there was no opportunity for much exercise at all, we left the house at 7 am and got back home at 1 am. If I wasn't behind the wheel, I was sitting with my Father-in-law at the VA hospital waiting for him to be seen by the doctor. When the doc finally arrived, I was surprised again. He stayed with us for a long time and conducted a very thorough and comprehensive interview and exam. He made sure the FIL was set up with all the proper prescriptions and references. We even had a good discussion about side effects and interactions, something that to many doctors seem to neglect. All in all, I was happy with how that turned out.

Then we drove him across town to the home of another of his sisters, who along with her daughter and grandchildren had asked to take him in. The kids loved him, and he seemed to take to the crowd -- he's always been very social. Still, from there to the VA hospital, while not so far in distance, takes a long time to drive, and I hope it doesn't prove too much for them.

Driving through Los Angeles, on any road, and in fact pretty much all of urban Southern California, is a full-time white-knuckle event, and I was frazzled by the time we got off the interstate and back on our empty desert road. I had a regular workday today, and had to catch up on grocery shopping this evening (usually a Monday night task), so no Tuesday workout. I'm going to bed after this post, I've got some sleep to catch up on!

I should be ready to go again on Thursday, but deadlifts will have to wait until next week.


Bench Press:
100x5
125x5
150x10
175x8
175x14 -- Rest-Pause: 5+3+3+2+1

Squat:
140x5 -- Paused
170x5 -- Paused
205x10
240x8
240x14 -- Rest-Pause: 5+4+3+2

BB Row:
120x5
150x5
180x10
205x10
205x26 -- Rest-Pause: 6+5x4

Overhead Press:
60x5
75x5
90x10
100x8
100x13 -- Rest-Pause: 5+3+3+2

Accessories:
Weighted Pullups/Chinups, 35 lbs, myoreps: 6+3+2 (pullups) + 3+2 (chinups)

DB Lateral Raises, 20 lbs, myo-reps: 10+5+5+5+4

That was kinda fun!

[ElrondHubbard]

I talked to the specialists office yesterday, and I have a preliminary appointment scheduled for next Friday to plan my surgery. It does look like the surgery is the inevitable choice. The case nurse did some thinking out loud about doing a biopsy first, but then concluded that we don’t gain anything doing it that way. The appendix and accumulated fluid need to come out no matter what, and they can identify whether or not the mucus cells are cancerous before the surgery is complete.

So next Thursday won’t be a workout day either, I’ll leave work a couple hours early to get to San Diego that night, to be ready for the doctors on Friday.

I plan to keep training as hard as I can right up to the eve of the surgery, whenever that is. At that point I’ll close out this cycle of clawing my way back, and start a new one when I’m healed enough to lift again.

I’ll be keeping up with the rest of you in the meantime!

[Samraiwise]

Dave, I'm sorry to hear that you need a surgery. I hope things go well without any complications and wish you a quick recovery after surgery so you can lift and do your normal routine again.

I admire you are still helping your family members even in your situation. You are the man. *bow*

[ElrondHubbard]

Dave, I'm sorry to hear that you need a surgery. I hope things go well without any complications and wish you a quick recovery after surgery so you can lift and do your normal routine again.

I admire you are still helping your family members even in your situation. You are the man. *bow*

Thank you Kaz. As a megalomaniac, you humble me!

I'm not looking forward to the surgery, but I AM looking forward to getting it over with and getting on with my life. I had been expecting to start a slow bulk about now, but as it is, all I have to look forward to is a very rapid cut! Literally!

I did get my Thursday workout in, and it made some mild progress. Nothing backslid, and the rows and squats had a little more weight compared to the previous Thursday. I got one extra rep in on the bench press and on the squat. It did come out to my highest Thursday totals ever, and if I'd been able to do Tuesday's workout, it would have been my highest weekly totals to date. So it's all pretty much on track.


Bench Press:
100x5
125x5
150x10
175x9
175x8
175x14 -- Rest-Pause: 5+4+3+2

Squat:
140x5 -- Paused
170x5 -- Paused
205x10
240x10
240x8
240x15 -- Rest-Pause: 5+4+3+3
280x2

BB Row:
120x5
150x5
180x10
205x10
205x8
205x26 -- Rest-Pause: 6+5x4

Overhead Press:
60x5
75x5
90x10
100x8
100x7
100x13 -- Rest-Pause: 5+3+3+2

No accessories in the evening, but I did do some myo-rep pushup and pullup sets during the day today. I'll do some more playing around with stuff like that tomorrow.

[bamazav]

Will be praying for you and the surgery. The workouts are looking strong despite the health issues. That is good. Recover quickly and get back to work and you may end up being the comeback lifter of the year.

[ElrondHubbard]

Will be praying for you and the surgery. The workouts are looking strong despite the health issues. That is good. Recover quickly and get back to work and you may end up being the comeback lifter of the year.

I think my comeback will have to be next year! It'll be several weeks before I can do light activities. Don't know how long it will be before I can start lifting again. Funny that I have never felt sick with this or even with the throat cancer -- until I was under treatment, that is.

My wife joined a support group for this condition, and talked to a lady who had had it at 46, last year. They didn't catch it on her until her appendix had burst, and ended up having to remove her gall bladder and part of her colon, I think. Hopefully they caught mine sooner than that.

She happens to be a fitness trainer and weight lifter. 10 months after her surgery, she said that she's back in the gym and training clients, although she doesn't expect to start lifting again for a couple more months. It all depends on what they find when they open you up, I guess.

Here's the overview:

Pseudomyxoma peritonei

[LWW]

You are strong. I do have a question if you don’t mind answering? What is rest pause mean on those squats, are you racking the weight or standing with the bar on shoulders breathing?

If the latter, that is really impressive.

[ElrondHubbard]

You are strong. I do have a question if you don’t mind answering? What is rest pause mean on those squats, are you racking the weight or standing with the bar on shoulders breathing?

If the latter, that is really impressive.

I appreciate that. But I'm not NEARLY that impressive. In fact, until you asked, the idea of standing with the bar on my shoulders had never even occurred to me. But now that you mention it, I think I should give it a try.

What I normally do is rack the bar, breathe hard for about 20 seconds, get back under it, and do the next set. I know some people can recover faster than that, and I have gradually reduced my rest period just slightly. Mostly, though, I'm still kind of experimenting with what will give me the greatest number of effective reps in the least time.

[LWW]

I appreciate that. But I'm not NEARLY that impressive. In fact, until you asked, the idea of standing with the bar on my shoulders had never even occurred to me. But now that you mention it, I think I should give it a try.

What I normally do is rack the bar, breathe hard for about 20 seconds, get back under it, and do the next set. I know some people can recover faster than that, and I have gradually reduced my rest period just slightly. Mostly, though, I'm still kind of experimenting with what will give me the greatest number of effective reps in the least time.

Cool thanks for clarifying, racking the weight is still a great methodology for rest pause. There are days when the first go around feels like crap but after a 20 second rest can really help on the next round. Some people count continuous reps and consider that a set, so that is the only reason I asked.

Yeah, you should try not racking it once, it will help condition yourself for shorter rest periods.

Good luck. Over and out.

[Payton1221]

I appreciate that. But I'm not NEARLY that impressive. In fact, until you asked, the idea of standing with the bar on my shoulders had never even occurred to me. But now that you mention it, I think I should give it a try.

That's the "requirement" for a legit Reeve's challenge (100 reps @ 1/2BW). For the Reeve's, a barbell pad is mandatory IMO and you might find it necessary for your R-P sets too.

[ElrondHubbard]

That's the "requirement" for a legit Reeve's challenge (100 reps @ 1/2BW). For the Reeve's, a barbell pad is mandatory IMO and you might find it necessary for your R-P sets too.

Well, I tried it last night, and man it was hard! I think it would go better with a lighter weight, maybe body weight (not for 100 reps, though!), but at 240 which is over 80% of my max, it’s just not meant to be. Maybe it’s just a matter of adjusting.

[LWW]

Well, I tried it last night, and man it was hard! I think it would go better with a lighter weight, maybe body weight (not for 100 reps, though!), but at 240 which is over 80% of my max, it’s just not meant to be. Maybe it’s just a matter of adjusting.

Yes, lighter weight AND/OR adjusting, for instance you usually do your first round (or whatever it's called) for 5 reps, well do like 6-8, progress by a 1 or 2 each workout.......continue racking the weight for the remainder RP rounds. Nothing is set in stone.

Good on you for getting on it and attempting!

Over and Out.