Thursday, April 30, 2015

Sickness - Jag hatar dig




Nothing like a cold in April to make you miss a workout.  I can't stand how I can be relatively healthy throughout cold and flu season and then get my butt kicked in Spring!

Contrary to what Morpheus is saying above, Wednesday I was quite justified in spending all available time in bed wishing for death.

I am still hacking up my innards but I fit in a workout today.  It was a good one, as far as my workouts are going now-a-days.


4.30.15

DL 295x10
Press 120x5,5,6,8
Curls

I had 2 or 3 more in the tank on Deadlift, but I exercised (get it?) a little bit of discretion.
Press made the upper back area a bit uncomfortable, but I pushed through it with no real sign of complications or re-injury.

Monday, April 27, 2015

Monday Lost!



I am messing around with my amateur understanding of Post-activation potentiation (PAP) for Bench.  It is similar (really, the way I am using it, it is essentially the same) as the Over Warm-ups (OWU) I dabbled in a year or so ago.  I am also throwing in a little Stage Programming for a final set or two on both Squats and Bench.  It is kind of sad how quickly programming ADHD set back in, considering how little time I have been back to the iron.  Meh.  Oh well!


4.27.15

Squat 2x5@225; 2x10@155
Bench 2x1@220; 2x5@190; 10x135
Rows 3x5@195
Chins BWx5,6,7


Squats made my adductors feel weak and shaky.  I was at the perfect weight(s) for my first attempted "stage" programming.
Bench was pretty much perfect for the first two stages, but 135 was too easy... I hit 12 with some room to breathe.
Rows were just about right.
Chins were easier than expected.









Saturday, April 25, 2015

Farmer Walks FTW


I got some sweet straps from Spud Inc. designed for farmer walks.  They are technically "traveling" FW handles, but since they cost significantly less than farmer walk handles/bars, and can hold (according to Rogue, who sells the exact same pair - not sure why Spud doesn't have this on their website) up to 300lbs each (I don't foresee myself needing that), I figured they'd be just fine for my non-traveling purposes as well.

It felt pretty great, my traps are already sore an hour later, my forearms are feeling weak and shaky and I am loving it.  Great purchase!

Deadlifts were easy; Press was easy; some discomfort in the area around my spine that I injured last October while doing Presses, but nothing that makes me too nervous, yet.



4.25.15

DL 280x8
Press 3x5@115
Curls
Farmer Walks 90# per hand



Tuesday, April 21, 2015

4.21.15



Not sure if I mentioned this or not, and I am too lazy to read my last couple of posts to find out.
I am surprised at how little strength I lost when doing my bent-over rows.

On squats, I tried a more traditionally narrow grip, really focusing on keeping my elbows and wrists in the proper position so as to not cause any joint issues.  It was uncomfortable in my shoulders, but my elbows were, mercifully, fine.

I went a bit more heavy than I had originally planned on both squat and bench, and was happy with the results.

4.21.15

Squat 5x45, 95, 135, 155; 1x185, 205; 5x225
Bench 10x45; 5x95, 135, 155, 185; 2x205; 1x225
Rows 3x5@190
Chins BWx5,5,6

I feel good.


Monday, April 13, 2015

Playing With Fire



I did a few sets of semi-heavy OHP (the straw that metaphorically broke this proverbial camel's literal back).  OHP was the workout that set off the major upper-back issues which had been threatening to detonate for so long prior to October, and which I have been battling with ever since.  Nothing TOO painful (Yet!  *knocks on wood*) but it was definitely uncomfortable.  I think I am going to try just doing press once a week every week and bench twice a week every week, rather than alternating.  I do NOT want to risk another pain riddled sabbatical.

Deadlift felt great and is STILL, by FAR my favorite exercise.

Elbow discomfort still lurks in the shadows, but nothing worth worrying about for now.

No numbers for now... I just want to keep consistent.  When I have something worth reporting, numbers-wise, I'll be sure to do so.

Saturday, April 11, 2015

Because... "why not?"

It has been 29 days short of a year since I last updated my blog.

I can count on one hand the number of workouts I did between the middle of October and the beginning of March.

I have lost over 100# of strength on both my Deadlift and my Squat in that time.

I have battled injuries, and emotional and psychological (firefighting is all but eliminated as a possible future career option) set-backs in the last 6 months.

Today marks the second week in as many months where I worked out at least 4 times during the week, and the first time I think my body and schedule might allow me to maintain some semblance of consistency.

I recently found out that my former workout partner is moving back to town for the summer, and he has agreed to make the immense sacrifice of taking me up on my offer to work out with me in my garage/gym for free all summer.

In the spirit and tradition of this blog, I am setting a ridiculous and unrealistic goal of FINALLY hitting a 1200 Powerlifting Total at the Twin Ports Raw Open in 2016.  And, for the first time in many moons, my body's aches and pains are not laughing out loud at me for daring to hope.  They're just chortling under their breath and averting their eyes.

I am not sure why I am bothering to blog again.  I probably shouldn't waste my time - I should just do the workouts and let the last six lame months be my motivation... but I'll post this once and see if I come back.