Efforts of an Aging Ectomorph (lifting)

[Stonebreaker]

ec•to•morph (ěk'tə-m

 

[Stonebreaker]

01/20/2007:
Warmup: 10 minutes @ resistance 20 @ c. 130 strides/minute on the arc trainer

Full Squat: 80x14; 120x12 (a couple of pauses between reps, sloppy form on last rep); 120x12 (lots of pause between reps, form on the last couple of reps looked more like goodmornings than anything else).

OH Squat: 85x7 (a couple of false starts, starting to feel rather tired), 85x3 (lost balance, decided to quit while I was ahead)

DB Lunges: 30'sx6 (just plain tired now), 30'sx4 (lost balance on return, actually managed to fall on my ass on the last rep)

Seated Calf Raise: Skipped

Leg Extensions: 90x6, 90x5

Hanging Leg-Hip Raise: Skipped

Total lift time: 50 minutes
Skipped cardio cool-down.
Bodyweight: 192

Notes:
This workout just flat sucked. I don't know what the hell was wrong with me today, but I was wiped out and weak throughout. This is a bad, bad way to start off the cycle. The word for the day is "yuck."

 

[SinCollector]

Good luck, man. It helps putting your numbers and methods out there for everyone to see and make fun of.

-Sin

 

[Stonebreaker]

01/23/2007:
Warmup: 10 minutes @ resistance 20 @ c. 130 strides/minute on the arc trainer

Bench Press: 85x14, 125x13, 125x12

Standing Overhead Press: 80x7, 80x6

Incline Bench Press: 135x5, 125x6

Dips: 6, 5

DB Lateral Raise: 15'sx8

Wrist Roller (Extension): 10x1 (slow going)

Wrist Roller (Flexion): 12.5x1

DB Lateral Raise: 15'sx7

Wrist Roller (Extension): 10x1 (poor descent, just let it unwind through my hands towards the end)

Wrist Roller (Flexion): 12.5x1 (another poor descent)

Total Lift time: 52 minutes
Skipped cardio cool-down. Bad me.
Bodyweight: 199 (I don't think I actually managed to gain 7 pounds in three days, but that's what the scale said).

Notes:Not a good workout today, either. I've moved back to the standing OHP from the push press, and it seems I guessed a bit high on what weight to use. I'm hoping that the low reps on the incline bench were due to having them third in the lineup today instead of their usual #2 spot. Still went better than Saturday's Squats. Why the hell was 12 reps at 60% 1RM damn near impossible for my squats, but very nearly too easy on the bench? Sigh.

 

[Stonebreaker]

01/25/2007:
Warmup: 10 minutes @ ramp 20 @ resistance 8 @ c. 120 strides/minute on the elliptical machine

Deadlift: 135x14, 205x12, 205x9 (just got winded?)

Stiff Leg Deadlift: 175x6, 155x8

Pullups: 5, 1 (yes, just one. WTF?)

BB Bent-over row: 80x9, 90x7

High Pull: 90x6 (very tired now, debating on whether or not to vomit, and calling it quits)

Incline Twist Situps: Skipped

Total Lift time: 49 minutes
20-minute trudge around the track for cool-down.
Bodyweight: 200 (It's the same damned scale. Maybe the 01/20 weight was the fluke).

Notes:
I think there's a word for what's been going wrong with this week: gassing. The previous month was all low rep-stuff, and I think the transition back to high reps is just kicking my ass. Looks like I'll be finding a way to spend more time on the arc trainers, ellipticals, or whatever else is available. Cardio: it's not just for warming up anymore. :icon_neut

 

[Stonebreaker]

01/28/2007:
Warmup: 10 minutes @ resistance 20 @ c. 120 strides/minute on the arc trainer

Full Squat: 80x14; 130x10, 130x10 (some of pause between reps and a real struggle at the end)

OH Squat: 85x8, 85x8 (didn't go as deep as I'd like on the second set, need to put pins in power rack in lower next week)

DB Lunges: 30'sx8 , 30'sx8 (starting to get tired now)

Seated Calf Raise: 150x8, 150x7

Leg Extensions: 90x9

Hanging Leg-Hip Raise: 6

Leg Extensions: 90x8

Hanging Leg-Hip Raise: 6

Total lift time: 67 minutes
Cool-down: 20 minutes @ resistance 20 @ c. 120 strides/minute on the arc trainer
Bodyweight: 197

Notes:
MUCH better this week. Don't know why. Can't imagine that it was the tiny reduction in reps from last week to this that accounts for how much better this squat day went, but I don't know what else it might have been. Don't much care. Still need to get more cardio into my average week, and still very, very glad that today wasn't as crappy as last week.

 

[Stonebreaker]

01/30/2007:
Warmup: 10 minutes @ resistance 20 @ c. 130 strides/minute on the arc trainer

Bench Press: 85x14, 135x12, 135x11

Standing Overhead Press: 70x8, 70x7

Incline Bench Press: 125x7, 125x5

Dips: 7, 5

DB Lateral Raise: 15'sx8, 15's 8

Wrist Roller (Extension): 10x1

Wrist Roller (Flexion): 12.5x1

Wrist Roller (Extension): 10x1 (agonizingly slow ascent, sloppy descent)

Wrist Roller (Flexion): 12.5x1 (not good, but okay)

Total Lift time: 54 minutes
Cool down: Arc trainer for 20 minutes at 25 resistance at c. 120 strides/minute
Bodyweight: 200

Notes:
The projected weight/reps on the bench press itself seem a bit light; The Plan called for two sets of ten, and it didn't really feel like much work to get there. The 2x10x65% was a challenge for my squats, and it will probably be one for my deadlifts as well, leaving me to conclude that I was having an off day when I last maxed out my bench, and that all the numbers I got from that are a bit low. Will try to estimate what my max bench might have been, recalculate the percentages from that, and see if that feels like I'm working a bit more next week.

 

[Stonebreaker]

1/31/2007
Cardio on an antiquated recumbent bike. Did an approximation of interval training (four minutes fast, 1 minute slow) for half an hour, then a ten minute slow & easy cool down.

 

[SmashiusClay]

4. I'm still working on a criterion "uncoordinated." Suggestions are appreciated.

Learn to juggle, perhaps.

How are you working on your flexibility? If you need some pointers, I've been training for flexibility for quite a long time now.

Good luck with the log.

 

[Stonebreaker]

It's not the log I need good luck with, it's the lifting.

"Uncoordinated" might go away at the same time "inflexible" does... a good high kick certainly has an element of coordination in it as well as simple flexibility.

As for improving said flexibility, I don't have a link or a list that I can easily point towards: I usually just follow up my cool-down with ten minutes worth of the basic stretches we all learned in high-school gym class, coupled with a couple of things my wife has picked up in her years of dance and yoga and has tried to teach me. If you have something that works well for splits/high kick flexibility that wouldn't already be in a newbie's arsenal of stretches, by all means, point the way.

 

[SmashiusClay]

So I'm guessing that does'nt include any PNF stretching (sometimes called isometric stretching) or dynamic stretching, in which case your life just got a whole lot easier, combine these two and you'll be thinking you could challenge cro cop in no time (disclaimer - author accepts no responsibility for the loss of your head should you choose to actually challenge cro cop).

http://www.trickstutorials.com/index.php?page=content/flx3

There's a pretty decent free tutorial (for a really great book on the subject buy 'stretching scientifically' by Thomas Kurz), I reccomned you start doing dynamic stretches for your legs (both to the front and side) each morning and do isometric front and side split stretches after each weight workout.

Took me next to no time using this method to end up axe kicking the crap out of people, even went as far as to manage a front split (then smashed up my knee playing rugby and never bothered to develop that extreme a level of flexibility again).

 

[Stonebreaker]

That's a big pile of information to go through, but the basic skimming that the author recommends makes it look like it's worth a more thorough reading. An axe kick wasn't even on my agenda, but if I wind up capable of doing one, then so much the better.

Cro Cop will never see it coming.

 

[FATKID]

Very thorough log. I dig it.

And, that is a sh*tload of info on stretching.

Awesome.

 

[Lusst]

Nice log Stoner!

/subscribes

 

[Stonebreaker]

02/01/2007:
Warmup: 10 minutes @ ramp 20 @ resistance 8 @ c. 125 strides/minute on the elliptical machine

Deadlift: 135x14, 225x10, 225x8 (lost grip, hurriedly re-racked the bar), 225x2 (not the set of ten that I wanted, but x8 and x2 felt better than just giving up after 8)

Stiff Leg Deadlift: 155x8, 155x7 (concentrated on depth on last set, had the bar hitting the tops of my feet at the bottom)

Pullups: 5, 4

BB Bent-over row: 90x7, 90x7

High Pull: 90x8

Incline Twist Situps (@2): 22

High Pull: 90x7 (form getting dangerously sloppy at the end)

Incline Twist Situps (@2): 20

Total Lift time: 58 minutes
Cool down: 10 minutes of stretching (basic static stretches, haven't begun to figure out how to incorporate the massive link Smashius provided)
Bodyweight: 199

Notes:
My grip is starting to fail me on deadlift days. In a way, that's not a bad sign, as (I think) it means that the weakest point in my lifts has shifted away from the major muscles that I'm trying to work and off to the little muscles at the end of the chain. I know that a couple of folks out there use straps for the DL assistance lifts for this reason, but honor seems to demand that I at least try to increase my grip endurance before resorting to mechanical aids. I got a couple of recomendations on that issue a while back, and I'm thinking that the easiest to insert into my current routine would be swapping my standard pullups for towel pullups and seeing how that goes.

I also have the sneaking suspicion that my high pulls will eventually hit a weight that is light enough for me to get going with a good deal of momentum, but heavy enough to make it hard to control at the top of the pull. I hope to identify that weight and adjust accordingly before I manage to break my own jaw.

Might be swapping the stiff-legged deadlifts for stiff-legged, straight backed DL's. I know that my lower back is already tired by the time I get to the SLDL's; but I'm not convinced that my hamstrings are getting the beating that they deserve.

OT, gym-related notes:
The elbow should not be the thickest part of the arm, and the knee should not be the thickest part of the leg. Not on anyone, of either gender. Whoever decided that any woman should strive to look like a Darfur refugee two days short of starvation needs to be gut-shot and left in a desert.

OT, MMA notes: I don't think I'm plunking down the cash to watch UFC 67 live tomorrow. Jackson and Filipovic's UFC debuts will doubtless have some historic significance, but the fights themselves look to be foregone conclusions. In the end, this one just isn't one of the cards that I have to see as it happens. If Lutter or Marvin "Wrong End of the Highlight Reel" Eastman manage to make a war of their fights, I might pick this up on DVD a couple of months from now, but Zuffa is cranking out cards too fast for me to throw down $40 to watch each one once.

I'll still be checking Sherdog for the blow-by-blow and results first thing Sunday morning, though.

 

[Stonebreaker]

02/04/2007:
Warmup: Rowing machine: 10 minutes @ resistance 5 @ c. 25 strokes/minute

Full Squat: 80x14; 140x8 (form got bad on the last two), 140x7

OH Squat: 85x6 (fall on ass), 85x2; 85x7 (fall on ass again), 85x1

DB Lunges: 30'sx8 , 30'sx8 (hit target two weeks in a row, time to increase the weight)

Seated Calf Raise: 150x8, 150x8

Leg Extensions: 90x8, 90x8

Hanging Leg-Hip Raise: 6, 3 (tried with straight legs; looks like I'll be sticking with bent knees until my abs become significantly stronger)

Total lift time: 68 minutes
Cool-down: 10 minutes in the pool; 7 laps alternating crawl/breast stroke. Sat in the whirlpool for a while.
Bodyweight: 201

Notes:
Note to self: RE: OH Squat: CONCENTRATE. The weight is next to nothing. I don't think that I'm unfamiliar with the form any more. It's just when I allow my mind to wander that I wind up sitting on my ass and listening to the bar clanging agains the pins. Dammit.

Read the Dan John article that Urban linked to out in the S&P forum. Not sold on keeping back squats as a higher rep/lower weight exercise. As DJ said later in the article (the Nautilus section, I think), anything will work for six weeks or so. When The Current Plan stops working (which may well be in six weeks), I'll find a new one, but I'm sticking to my guns until then.

Besides, if I changed my workout every time a new article came out, I'd never get a decent grasp on the form for any lifts at all.

 

[Stonebreaker]

02/06/2007:
Tuesday night's regularly scheduled trip to the gym was cancelled on account of a sick wife. In it's place:

Moderate intensity heavy-bag work, primarily jab/cross/combinations. 25 minutes. Some stretching mixed in.

 

[FATKID]

02/04/2007:

Note to self: RE: OH Squat: CONCENTRATE. The weight is next to nothing. I don't think that I'm unfamiliar with the form any more. It's just when I allow my mind to wander that I wind up sitting on my ass and listening to the bar clanging agains the pins. Dammit.

I was bad about this very same thing until I decided to do this lift outside of a rack. Although I'm still new to the lift, the necessity of paying attention in order to not have my mug mashed made my form and follow-through much better.

However, it is, after all, a comfort issue. Form is paramount with this lift though of which I'm sure you are more than familiar.

Here's to having all (most, or even one) of our teeth. :icon_chee

 

[Stonebreaker]

I actually started doing the OH squats without the power rack, as my local YMCA only has the one and I don't like tying it up when doing something that doesn't absolutely require it. I wound up dropping the bar a couple of times when out in the middle of the floor (learning the form, and then, as now, lack of concentration), and figured that the staff would probably prefer that if I'm going to be dropping things, dropping the bar eight inches or so onto the pins rather than four feet or so onto the floor would be the way to go.

Apparently, the threat of possible skull fracture isn't as good at keeping my attention as it should be.

 

[Stonebreaker]

02/07/2007
Cardio on the recumbent bike again: 5 minute warmup, 20 minute 3:1 HIIT, 10 mintue cool down.