My daughters have both gotten into baking. They're constantly trying new recipes for cookies, brownies, etc. I'm an all-to-willing guinea pig. 

Band work - pull aparts, face pulls, rotations, etc.

Broomstick dislocates

Rotations with those little vinyl-covered DB's

Seems the prehab/prehab stuff is becoming more and more of my workout.

Barbell Overhead Press

bar x 10

65 x 8

85 x 8

105 x 6

125 x 4

145 x 2

Deadlifts

135 x 10

225 x 6

315 x 6

355 x 4

My lower back was being disagreeable so I stopped before I did something I would regret. I was doing hangs from a chin-up bar between sets but I just couldn't get it to loosen up. Maybe I'm finally wising up. I've always had a problem taking my foot off the gas and working de-load periods in my training. Unfortunately, I usually wait til my body tells me it's time and by that time, the forced de-load lasts a hell of a lot longer than a week. See my anemic bench press and overhead press.

Then a bodybuilding session broke out...

Triceps push-downs with a band super-setted with glue ham raises and calf raises.

It is what it is...a shitty workout. Keep it in perspective and move on.

The late Vic Chesnutt

I've been bitten by the black dog. Sleepless nights, dark thoughts, restlessness, hopelessness. Time for some iron therapy. Kept things light but heavy enough to push the pain around.

Band work - lots of pull-aparts, face pulls, rotations, etc.

SQ

bar x 10

135 x 15

225 x 8

275 x 5/5

BP

bar x 10

95 x 12

135 x 8

165 x 5/5

Inverted Rows, home made strap set-up

15/15/15

More band pull-aparts

This is the kind of workout I should do more often. No grinders but enough work to keep things interesting. I felt energized when I finished. Definitely in a better frame of mind than when I went in so mission accomplished.

I had my 50 year check up about a month ago. I wanted to know what my testosterone level was. I had to just about beg my doctor to throw that in with all the other blood work. I understand my doctor's hesitance because of all the commercials pushing T as some kind of Fountain of Youth. I assumed that he would do a full hormonal workup (i.e. estrogen and estrodiol). That was not the case. I just got the testosterone number and it turns out mine is just below the low end of the spectrum for what's "normal". I was not surprised. The test was taken at the end of day and not early in the morning (if that has any bearing on it). My  doctor doesn't want to put me on any kind of hormonal therapy (although he'd be more than happy to write me a script for the little blue pill). To be honest, I don't want to start down that road anyway. I've cut most of the junk out of my diet. At 5'6", I'm down to the mid-180's. I was pushing into the 210's at my heaviest, from slavishly following the advice from ruddy-faced gurus who told me I had to weigh over 200 LBS to have any chance at a better than mediocre bench and squat. Well, my lifts did increase, but not as much as my body fat percentage. So at this point, I'll settle for mediocrity and keep lifting for the love of it.

Sleep's been poor. What little I got has been thanks to Big Pharma.

Band work for the shoulders - pull-aparts, rotations, dislocates

Squat

bar x 10

135 x 15

225 x 8

265 x 5

295 x 5

315 x 3

335 x 1

Went to the belt earlier than usual. Normally, I wait until the last set or two. My lower back's been a little crunchy. I must have subconsciously put it on. I didn't even realize I was wearing it until I was halfway through my second set.

Med to Narrow-ish grip Bench Press

bar x 10

95 x 12

135 x 8

155 x 5

175 x 5

Taking it very slowly. It's taken me too long for pain-free shoulders.

Barbell Rows

135 x 10

165 x 8

185 x 6

Barbell Curls

95 x 8/8

I never travel far without a little Big Star.

First a word on flip-flops in the workplace: NO! No self-respecting man should ever show any part of his foot in public. Especially if it's hanging on his foot by a plastic strap. Jeezus, that sound it makes when he walks by! The horror! Makes it even worse when that man's name is at the bottom of my paycheck. I'm fifty* years old and looking at the expense of sending two kids off to college in the very near future. It's a union gig and I need to ride it out into retirement. As I contemplated the many objects I could drop on his foot or sharp objects I could strategically place in his path, the power went out. After a few hours of sitting in the dark, flipity flop boy finally sent us home.

Light day today. Just knocked around the gym a bit. That's the benefit of having the gym in my basement. Did a whole bunch o' shoulder rehab stuff with bands and light dumbbells. Face pulls, rotations, pull-aparts, dislocates etc.

Some kettlebell work to get the blood pumping.

55# KB
15 swings, 5 goblet squats, 1 overhead press
15 swings, 7 goblet squats, 2 over head press
15 swings, 10 goblet squats, 3 overhead press

Repeat the whole sequence over.

I was pressed for time so rest was at a minimum. I came upstairs sweating like a water buffalo and breathing like a pervert on the telephone. Everyone had a good laugh at my expense.

I better go floss my teeth. I have a dentist appointment tomorrow.

*Of course I'm fifty. That would explain why I've chosen a moribund platform like Blogger to express my thoughts and not something contemporary like Twitters or Tumblrs where all the cool kids hang out.

Last 2 Workouts

Friday, July 31, 2015

Shit ton of shoulder dislocates

SQ
bar x 10
135 x 15
225 x 8
255 x 5
285 x 5
315 x 3
335 x 1

Med Grip BP
bar x 10
95 x 12
135 x 8
155 x 5
175 x 5
195 x 2
Really fought with the last rep but shoulders felt fine. Yeah, my bench is a joke  made even worse by jacked-up shoulders.

BB Rows
135 x 10
165 x 8
185 x 8

BB Curls
95 x 8/8

Sunday, August 2, 2015

Shoulder dislocates, band work - i.e. face pulls, pull aparts, rotations, etc.

OHP
bar x 12
65 x 8
85 x 8
105 x 6
125 x 5
The plan is to keep these snappy, moving the bar quickly. No more grinders since I put myself in the ER grinding out a set last year.

DL
135 x 15 DOH grip
225 x 6 DOH grip
315 x 6 Mixed grip, right hand supine
345 x 3 Mixed grip
375 x 2 Mixed grip

Reverse band DL Thingies. 

I loop a medium width band to the chin-up bar of my squat rack, keeping my arms and legs stiff, I bend at the waist as far as I can go. This voodoo seems to help with 2 things: somehow relieves my aching shoulder and decompresses my spine.

At the moment, I'm following a modified Brad Steiner routine I found on the Tight Tan Slacks blog:

http://ditillo2.blogspot.com/2009/06/squat-bench-deadlift-bradley-steiner.html

I've made a few adjustments here and there to suit my needs. 3-day/week routine

Day 1

SQ  - 1 x 15, 1 x 8, 2 x 5, 1 x 3, 1 x 1-2

BP - 1 x 12, 1 x 8, 2 x 5, 1 x 2

BB Rows - 1 x 10, 2 x 8

BB Curls - 2 x 8

Day 2

OHP - 3 x 8 DBs or BB

DL - 1 x 15, 2 x 6, 1 x 4, 1 x 2, 1 x 1-2

Day 3 

Repeat Day 1 fun

This is my first blog post. I've kept training logs on some weight lifting forums, but that medium appears to be dying. If you're looking for rational, inspiration or insight into weight training, you've come to the wrong place. For the time being, this will be my workout log. I'll fill in the gaps later.