Ordinary guy, lifting at 60

[Athena]

As I mentioned earlier, during my trip I did meet with a trainer. She thought I was making decent progress for a 62-year-old novice, but suggested that I add rows to improve my back (rather than my usual focus on pulldowns) and floor presses to improve the bottom phase of my bench press, so I’ve been doing 200-rep workouts for those.

I’m looking forward to hitting my real weights to see if her suggestions have helped yet, but that will have to wait for one more week of quarantine in the den at home. (Hey, not my idea!)

My current total is 2.8 million pounds, but I’ve been humbled by getting a friend invitation from a guy who averages 150k PER WORKOUT.

Rows are a must for filling out your back. Remember, different grips, different angles on everything you do if you're looking to grow properly. Just as with pulls, rows should be done with narrow, moderate and wide grips. Use underhand, overhand, ropes, everything.

Your set up looks a lot like something Steve did years ago. Great safety.

Keep it up!
Athi

[charlievanriper]

Where ya been bro ????

[HomeGymChains]

Where ya been bro ????

Hi Charlie,

Thanks for checking on me.

The not-so-good news... Since the last time I posted, more than a month was eaten up by family medical issues. My wife was in the emergency room four times, admitted as a hospital inpatient twice, and is now recovering at home. (Not Covid, thank goodness!) After that, I set up two apartments for relatives, which in its own way, provided some workouts. (18,000 steps one day, plus doing fourteen one-step-at-a-time deadlifts to wrestle a 200-pound home gym up a flight of stairs to one of those apartments ) Due to all the out-of-state travel, the rest of the time I have been quarantining in a spare bedroom with no room for weights.

The good news... In another couple of weeks, I should be able to work out more regularly than before all the recent mess.

Best wishes all!

[JohnButz]

Still pounding! Awesome to see you grinding despite the trials/tribulations. Much respect to you.

[charlievanriper]

Still pounding! Awesome to see you grinding despite the trials/tribulations. Much respect to you.

Well said John

[HomeGymChains]

Hi John and Charlie, thanks for checking in on me!

Lots of positive workout news.

Last week was great: first deadlifts in three months, first squats in even longer, first week of 100k pounds in a long time. Lifted four days, cardio three days.

Started this week today with a great bench day. Finally passed 3M pounds lifted in my BodySpace total. Scale says I’ve lost ten pounds in the past 2 months. Feels good for the first time in months.

[charlievanriper]

hi john and charlie, thanks for checking in on me!

Lots of positive workout news.

Last week was great: First deadlifts in three months, first squats in even longer, first week of 100k pounds in a long time. Lifted four days, cardio three days.

Started this week today with a great bench day. Finally passed 3m pounds lifted in my bodyspace total. Scale says i’ve lost ten pounds in the past 2 months. Feels good for the first time in months.

outstanding my friend

[HomeGymChains]

Over the past month, I’ve been able to train at a higher volume than ever (0.3m pounds). Currently doing a four-day split that seems just right for recovery time. Started focusing on supersets this week and I like the change.

Very happy that I’ve hit new PRs for both squats and deadlift!

I’ve just ordered parts to beef up the pulley system for my homebuilt cable pulldown. (The bearing on the old pulley was grinding. The new pulley is steel rather than nylon and has double the load rating.)

I now have privileges at a new gym where I often travel. It might be awhile before I actually use it because of Covid, but there are two things it has that will be a nice complement to my home workouts: a Smith machine with more than 600 pounds of plates, and a rack of dumbbells that goes up to 75s. (I usually use every hotel gym I stay at, but they only ever go up to 50s, which is just boring.)

Best wishes to all!

[charlievanriper]

Over the past month, I’ve been able to train at a higher volume than ever (0.3m pounds). Currently doing a four-day split that seems just right for recovery time. Started focusing on supersets this week and I like the change.

Very happy that I’ve hit new PRs for both squats and deadlift!

I’ve just ordered parts to beef up the pulley system for my homebuilt cable pulldown. (The bearing on the old pulley was grinding. The new pulley is steel rather than nylon and has double the load rating.)

I now have privileges at a new gym where I often travel. It might be awhile before I actually use it because of Covid, but there are two things it has that will be a nice complement to my home workouts: a Smith machine with more than 600 pounds of plates, and a rack of dumbbells that goes up to 75s. (I usually use every hotel gym I stay at, but they only ever go up to 50s, which is just boring.)

Best wishes to all!

cool, good to hear

[HomeGymChains]

SHINGLES! (Not a pec strain.) On March 23, I fumbled my last bench rep, tried too hard to catch it before letting the bar hit the safeties, and figured I made a minor strain. Instead of diffusing over the next days however, the pain got significantly sharper and localized to the bottom edge of my right pec, so I’ve skipped most of my workouts. Last night, a cluster of what looked like insect bites appeared there, so I went to a doctor today who diagnosed it as a minor case of the shingles. (I had a worse case before that spread along a horizontal line, so I didn’t recognize the circular cluster this time.) So when I get home after this week’s travel... Back to Bench Day, baby!

[charlievanriper]

SHINGLES! (Not a pec strain.) On March 23, I fumbled my last bench rep, tried too hard to catch it before letting the bar hit the safeties, and figured I made a minor strain. Instead of diffusing over the next days however, the pain got significantly sharper and localized to the bottom edge of my right pec, so I’ve skipped most of my workouts. Last night, a cluster of what looked like insect bites appeared there, so I went to a doctor today who diagnosed it as a minor case of the shingles. (I had a worse case before that spread along a horizontal line, so I didn’t recognize the circular cluster this time.) So when I get home after this week’s travel... Back to Bench Day, baby!

awesome welcome back

[HomeGymChains]

Time for the monthly update. It’s been another good month for volume, 0.4M.

I installed the new pulley for my cable system and reupholstered my weight bench. After 45 years, I think it needed it. Here are the before and after pictures. From pretty embarrassing to pretty decent.




Due to a severe back injury years ago, I have been hesitant to deadlift. I set up automobile jackstands to do rack pulls, but even then I’ve kept the weights light and the volume low. This week I decided I could start doing more. I increased my 1RM by ten pounds, but more significantly, I increased my 10RM by 50 pounds and my 5RM by 85 pounds.

Best wishes, all!

[charlievanriper]

Time for the monthly update. It’s been another good month for volume, 0.4M.

I installed the new pulley for my cable system and reupholstered my weight bench. After 45 years, I think it needed it. Here are the before and after pictures. From pretty embarrassing to pretty decent.




Due to a severe back injury years ago, I have been hesitant to deadlift. I set up automobile jackstands to do rack pulls, but even then I’ve kept the weights light and the volume low. This week I decided I could start doing more. I increased my 1RM by ten pounds, but more significantly, I increased my 10RM by 50 pounds and my 5RM by 85 pounds.

Best wishes, all!

wow nice work

[Athena]

SHINGLES! (Not a pec strain.) On March 23, I fumbled my last bench rep, tried too hard to catch it before letting the bar hit the safeties, and figured I made a minor strain. Instead of diffusing over the next days however, the pain got significantly sharper and localized to the bottom edge of my right pec, so I’ve skipped most of my workouts. Last night, a cluster of what looked like insect bites appeared there, so I went to a doctor today who diagnosed it as a minor case of the shingles. (I had a worse case before that spread along a horizontal line, so I didn’t recognize the circular cluster this time.) So when I get home after this week’s travel... Back to Bench Day, baby!

yeah, i've had shingles twice as well. NOT FUN.

Time for the monthly update. It’s been another good month for volume, 0.4M.

I installed the new pulley for my cable system and reupholstered my weight bench. After 45 years, I think it needed it. Here are the before and after pictures. From pretty embarrassing to pretty decent.




Due to a severe back injury years ago, I have been hesitant to deadlift. I set up automobile jackstands to do rack pulls, but even then I’ve kept the weights light and the volume low. This week I decided I could start doing more. I increased my 1RM by ten pounds, but more significantly, I increased my 10RM by 50 pounds and my 5RM by 85 pounds.

Best wishes, all!

holy crap! good work on that bench! do you do couches?? congrats on getting back to deads. they are scary when you've had a back injury for sure, but they can also be a great rehab tool because they work the glutes so well if you're using proper form.

[blue9steel]

congrats on getting back to deads. they are scary when you've had a back injury for sure, but they can also be a great rehab tool because they work the glutes so well if you're using proper form.

I had a lower back injury from coming off of a horse and while I'm quite cautious about wearing a belt and other safety measures I've been able to mostly rehab away my issues. Back extensions and then later deadlifts were key in building up my spinal erectors which seems to hold everything in place and mitigate most of the pain and issues. Obviously it depends on what kind of back injury you have and you should be very careful with progression.

[Athena]

I had a lower back injury from coming off of a horse and while I'm quite cautious about wearing a belt and other safety measures I've been able to mostly rehab away my issues. Back extensions and then later deadlifts were key in building up my spinal erectors which seems to hold everything in place and mitigate most of the pain and issues. Obviously it depends on what kind of back injury you have and you should be very careful with progression.

dayum i have been preaching this for years as a bodybuilder and orthopedic exercise specialist. keep telling people, we'll get the message out eventually.

[HomeGymChains]

Well, it's been a long time since I've posted here. I've been posting my workouts and interacting with people over in the Bodyspace side. Feel free to reach out to me there if you wish.

Lots of news since May. It has been hard with work responsibilities and traveling for family medical issues. There's significant progress on the wife and son issues, but significant worsening for my parents, so it will still be rough for awhile. My shingles are long gone, but I did get a tendinopathy strain at my collarbone which caused me to back off on chest and back. For a while I did high volume at lower weights, but the irritation is fading, so I am slowly increasing those weights. Next, after getting pains after squats, I received a diagnosis of osteoarthritis at my kneecap. I am doing physical therapy exercises and hope to start partial rep squats soon, but if necessary, I will choose to save my knees for cardio, since I can still walk pain-free.

My overall volume has been increasing. In my first 20 months of logging workouts here (10/1/2017 to 6/14/2019), I accumulated one million pounds. In the next 20 months (6/14/2019 to 2/22/2021), I accumulated two million pounds. But it took me only 8.3 months (2/22/2021 to 10/30/2021) to accumulate the next two million pounds. In those three intervals, my average pounds per month went from 50k to 100k to 240k.

My second favorite recent purchase was straps and Cobra gloves. I found they gave me more security on deadlifts and I added direct forearm exercises so I wouldn't lose the indirect grip benefits.

My favorite recent purchase was my first weightlifting belt. I love it for deadlift!!! You may remember that I had a severe back injury quite a few years back, so I've been taking it easy on my back since I started lifting more seriously in the past few years. Back on 6/22/2021 I was able to do 260 pounds for one rep. I bought my Schiek belt eleven days ago and since then have been increasing my top weight by five pounds each workout. I have also started doing core workouts for abs, obliques, and spinal erectors, per the advice in posts above. It is so much fun to be hitting new PRs in each deadlift session! From 265 for three reps, to 270 for FOUR reps, to 275 for three reps. Three hundred here I come. Did I mention I LOVE that belt?

Best wishes to all!!!

[CharlesSwann]

Best wishes to your family, glad there's some good news there!

Admire that you're still trucking through the workouts too.

[charlievanriper]

Well, it's been a long time since I've posted here. I've been posting my workouts and interacting with people over in the Bodyspace side. Feel free to reach out to me there if you wish.

Lots of news since May. It has been hard with work responsibilities and traveling for family medical issues. There's significant progress on the wife and son issues, but significant worsening for my parents, so it will still be rough for awhile. My shingles are long gone, but I did get a tendinopathy strain at my collarbone which caused me to back off on chest and back. For a while I did high volume at lower weights, but the irritation is fading, so I am slowly increasing those weights. Next, after getting pains after squats, I received a diagnosis of osteoarthritis at my kneecap. I am doing physical therapy exercises and hope to start partial rep squats soon, but if necessary, I will choose to save my knees for cardio, since I can still walk pain-free.

My overall volume has been increasing. In my first 20 months of logging workouts here (10/1/2017 to 6/14/2019), I accumulated one million pounds. In the next 20 months (6/14/2019 to 2/22/2021), I accumulated two million pounds. But it took me only 8.3 months (2/22/2021 to 10/30/2021) to accumulate the next two million pounds. In those three intervals, my average pounds per month went from 50k to 100k to 240k.

My second favorite recent purchase was straps and Cobra gloves. I found they gave me more security on deadlifts and I added direct forearm exercises so I wouldn't lose the indirect grip benefits.

My favorite recent purchase was my first weightlifting belt. I love it for deadlift!!! You may remember that I had a severe back injury quite a few years back, so I've been taking it easy on my back since I started lifting more seriously in the past few years. Back on 6/22/2021 I was able to do 260 pounds for one rep. I bought my Schiek belt eleven days ago and since then have been increasing my top weight by five pounds each workout. I have also started doing core workouts for abs, obliques, and spinal erectors, per the advice in posts above. It is so much fun to be hitting new PRs in each deadlift session! From 265 for three reps, to 270 for FOUR reps, to 275 for three reps. Three hundred here I come. Did I mention I LOVE that belt?

Best wishes to all!!!

Good to see you posting again

[Athena]

still missing you in here!

[charlievanriper]

Well don't know if and when you'll see this but Hoping all is well and you had a great Christmas brother, Wishing you a vary awesome New years.. Some good news my hip pain is getting better now and soon I'll be back slammin and bangin again, Just no more heavy deadlifts anymore brother

[HomeGymChains]

Thanks, Athena, Charlie, and Charles for your encouragement and support!

It’s been two months since my last update. The last three weeks have been very tough since my father passed away and my wife got in a car accident within 15 minutes of each other. He was fortunate in reaching the end on his terms: not in hospital, not in pain, no extraordinary measures, clear-headed until the last day. She was fortunate in that she just hit debris in the road: no other car involved, no injuries. But I ended up having to live out of state for the last couple of weeks while her car was being repaired, so no workouts.

For the first workout of 2022, I finally got my chance to hit the PRs I’ve been working toward. They might not sound like that much by our forum standards, but they’re a big deal for me (age 63, basically started lifting three years ago).

1) Because I was hospitalized for a back injury years ago, I’ve always been very nervous about deadlifting. Pretty happy to hit 300 pounds today.

2) As you might remember, I almost died when my grip slipped on a 115 bench press attempt, which is when I decided to set up safety chains and get serious about lifting. Hitting 205 pounds felt like a nice redemption.

Best wishes to all for 2022!

[Athena]

Thanks, Athena, Charlie, and Charles for your encouragement and support!

It’s been two months since my last update. The last three weeks have been very tough since my father passed away and my wife got in a car accident within 15 minutes of each other. He was fortunate in reaching the end on his terms: not in hospital, not in pain, no extraordinary measures, clear-headed until the last day. She was fortunate in that she just hit debris in the road: no other car involved, no injuries. But I ended up having to live out of state for the last couple of weeks while her car was being repaired, so no workouts.

For the first workout of 2022, I finally got my chance to hit the PRs I’ve been working toward. They might not sound like that much by our forum standards, but they’re a big deal for me (age 63, basically started lifting three years ago).

1) Because I was hospitalized for a back injury years ago, I’ve always been very nervous about deadlifting. Pretty happy to hit 300 pounds today.

2) As you might remember, I almost died when my grip slipped on a 115 bench press attempt, which is when I decided to set up safety chains and get serious about lifting. Hitting 205 pounds felt like a nice redemption.

Best wishes to all for 2022!

So good to hear from you! I'm so sorry for the loss of your father. It's a tough loss, even when you know they go on their own terms, it's still tough. Very pleased that your wife is okay, and that you're feeling well enough to start to go heavy on weights again. Just breathe, take your time, and focus on form. You know the drill.

Sorry again for the loss of your father. Sending virtual hugs for you and the wife.
~athi

[HomeGymChains]

Four months since my last update…

Lots of upheavals, including a water problem in my basement (sump pump failure) that has consumed nearly all my discretionary time. <sigh> The good news is that we got rid of a lot of clutter, so I was able to set up my home gym space better. That makes it easier for me to reconfigure to do squats and incline bench, so I’ve been crushing PRs on those.

My biggest fitness news is that I’ve lost 25 pounds since January on a low-carb diet plus more walking. My doctor is impressed that I pulled my A1c reading from “prediabetes” back to normal. The best moment for me, however, was when I was ready to do some heavier deadlifts after bringing my weights from the garage back down to the basement. I put on my weightlifting belt for the first time in two months and needed to pull it TWO NOTCHES TIGHTER! Pretty cool!

I am looking forward to a June doctor appointment for a weigh-in. Since I was around 28% body fat in January, I expect to be around 18% now. It encourages me that I might actually see my abs again someday. Compared to the last time I could clearly see my abs (45 years ago) my physique might look very different, though. I wasn’t lifting seriously back then, so I’m easily more than three times stronger and actually have traps and lats now.

[paulinkansas]

Lots of upheavals, including a water problem in my basement (sump pump failure)

I've had a sump pump failure in my most expensive rental house. Some piece of debris prevented the float from actuating the pump. Water was 3 feet deep. Hot water tank and gas water heater were in the basement too. But they worked after the water was gone. Problem happened again a few years later, the pump was bad. I replaced the pump and had to replace the main circuit board on the furnace and the gas valve/thermostat on the hot water heater.

Don't listen to plumbers or HVAC people. They just want to rip you off.

[HomeGymChains]

I've had a sump pump failure in my most expensive rental house. Some piece of debris prevented the float from actuating the pump. Water was 3 feet deep. Hot water tank and gas water heater were in the basement too. But they worked after the water was gone. Problem happened again a few years later, the pump was bad. I replaced the pump and had to replace the main circuit board on the furnace and the gas valve/thermostat on the hot water heater.

Don't listen to plumbers or HVAC people. They just want to rip you off.

Thanks for the sympathy and advice! I was pretty lucky on several counts: the basement was not finished, the water was only one inch deep so it didn’t affect the furnace or electrical wiring, and I had purchased the additional insurance coverage for water damage. The insurance at least covered the work of the remediation contractor, but not for any of our lost possessions.

I’ve installed a Moen sump pump monitor and water alarms so this kind of fiasco doesn’t happen again.

As far as contractors, the basement waterproofing contractors do want to propose big ticket projects. The only things I plan to do, however, are add a battery backup sump pump and a dehumidifier.