Paul's log - forever delaying the inevitable

[plabataille]

SSB w/belt - 335 x 4 x 5
Bench - 255 x 4 x 6

I've been unwinding a giant ball of stress that I've had to deal with the last couple of days. More medical issues for my son.
Needed to lift today even though I'm sleep-deprived like crazy at this point. Needed it for the stress handling it provides. Good to be back home.

[plabataille]

Today:

Press w/belt - 160 x 4r x 5s
DL w/belt - 425 x 4r x 4s

Good day. Nothing unusual.

[plabataille]

Today:

Pullups - 10r x 5s (needed 5 minutes rest on the last 2 sets)

Treadmill (3.2 mph @8.5 eleveation) - 30 minutes
Every 5 or so minutes, jump off treadmill and do 15 dips and 5 pullups - 75 dips/25 pullups total

Wanted to start adding back some cardio, so I did the above treadmill/dip/pullup combo. It may be stupid, but I got a good workout from it.

[plabataille]

Yesterday. - treadmill 30 minutes uphill at 3.1mph
Today -
SSB squat with belt - 335 x 5 x 4
Bench - 255 x 5 x 4, 225 x 8 x 2

[plabataille]

More time at a hospital -ugh

Today's work:

Beltless SSB - 335 x 3r x 5s
Bench - 260 x 3r x 6s
Treadmill - 20 minutes uphill @3.1mph. Every 4 minutes, jump off and do pullups or pushups.
Good workout

[plabataille]

More beltless stuff

Beltless DL - 425 x 1 x 10
Beltless Press - 160 x 3 x 6
Pullups - 12
Pushups (tricep oriented) - 37
20 minutes uphill treadmill @ approx 3.0 mph - 1 mile.

[plabataille]

Transition to Heavy-Light Program
SSB Squat (beltless) - 335 x 4 x 4
DL (beltless w/straps) - 365 x 3r x 8s

I was doing an upper and lower lift together most lifting days. I was thinking that this might not be ideal for me, so I'm trying an H-L split with a lower day and an upper day. Each day will have a heavy lift (today it was squats) and a light lift (today it was DL). Tomorrow, I'll do heavy bench and light(er) presses. Will also incorporate cardio and some BW exercises on off-days.

The hope is that I'll be more fresh for the heavy lift on the days I lift.

[plabataille]

H Bench /Vol (light) Press Day

Bench - 260 x 4r x 5s
Press - beltless - 140 x 3r x 10s

May do a walk outside later today if it's nice. We'll see.

[plabataille]

Yesterday's work:

Beltless Row - 225 x 8r x 4s (last rep of last set was questionable).
Dips - BW + 45 - 8r x 4s
20 minutes uphill treadmill - exit every 5 or so minutes to do BW rows - Total 4 sets.
Sick of pullups, so I am doing more rowing movements for now.

Today:
30 minutes Uphill Treadmill - 3.1 mph @ 10 degrees. 1.5 miles total.

[plabataille]

Yesterday
Nothing - Fasted all day (That means no food), so did not train anything at all.

Today:
Beltless DL - 405 x 3r x 6s
Pullups - 10r x 3s
Beltless SSB - 295 x 3r x 8s

Legs tired now.

[plabataille]

Easter Lifting:

Bench -
260 x 5r x 3s
225 x 8

Press (beltless) - 125 x 2r x 8s

Trying to do speed presses as a "light day" press option. Really tried to move the bar fast by gripping as hard as possible. Seemed to work decent as bar speed felt crisp.

Bench went well and has made decent progress of late. Pretty happy. Will try the same progression to reach 265.

My son benched with me today, which was nice. He got 237.5 x 5r x 3s and is making good progress of late. I suspect it won't be long before he catches the old man.

Happy Easter!

[plabataille]

Cardio and light arm work

Treadmill - 25 minutes @ 3.1mph @ 10 deg - 1.25 miles
Every 5 minutes during cardio, stop and do:
Curls - 100 x 3s x 9-10r
LTE - 100 x 3s x 9-10r

Delightful workout - the uphill walk actually felt quite refreshing and almost easy. Nice change of pace...
First time doing curls since I've injured my shoulder. I couldn't do any curls a month ago, but I can now with some discomfort.

[plabataille]

Yesterday - 2.5 mile walk with the missus.

Today:
Beltless SSB squat -
335 x 5, 5, 5
295 x 5

Beltless DL + straps -
350 x 2r x 8s

Squats wiped me out real good, but I was pleased to be able to do 335 for 3 sets of five. Beltless, even. Some kind of PR, I guess. Did some deadlifts as well They were supposed to be "fast", but after those squats, "fast" wasn't so "fast".

[plabataille]

Morning yesterday
Uphill walk. 3.1 mph @ 10 deg 25 minutes
During walk - 3 sets pull-ups (10 reps)
During walk - 3 sets push-ups (35 reps)

Evening yesterday with my son
Bench 300x1, 240 x 5 x 3
Deadlift 305 x 5 x 2

Was a fun evening session with my son. He got the exact same number of reps as me at the 240 pound weight. New PR for him!

Today- move 10 yards mulch

[plabataille]

Yesterday - mulch recovery day.

Today - more mulch recovery...
25 minutes uphill treadmill @3.1mph/10deg = 1.3 miles total
Every 5 minutes do pullups or dips
Pullups - 10, 10, 10
Dips - 20, 20, 18

The mulch moving and spreading from Saturday annihilated my lower and mid-back. I've never felt my mid-spinal erectors feel so fatigued.

The thought of even light deadlifts right now scares me. Thus, I declare a deload week, which is probably needed anyway.

[plabataille]

SSB w/belt - work up to 385 x 1, 335 x 2, 2, 2
Bench - work up to 275 x 1, 255 x 3, 3, 3

Needed to deload. This workout felt heavy due to my mulch meltdown on Saturday. My lower back is still beat up from that day. Amazing how the lower back affects just about everything.

[plabataille]

Floor day - movements I can do at or near the floor.

Floor press - 225 x 5, 235 x 5, 240 x 5, 5
Z-Press - 135 x 1, 95 x 8, 115 x 7, 6, 6
Body-weight row - BW x 15, 14 +4, + 4

Just feeling out some of these lifts that I haven't done in a while. Doing this during my "deload" week because they are different and kinda fun.

[plabataille]

Today:

SSB - beltless - 295 x 3, 315 x 3, 335 x 3, 3, 3
Pullups - 13 (one set)

Low motivation. Low back still a bit sore and weak, but as I did the work sets @ 335, I felt better. Last set better than the first.
Trying to figure out which program I want to try. Haven't really used a program much at all lately - more like a bunch of small blocks with short-term goals, which is kind of a program. I'd like to get into something in the 6+ week range. Thinking Candito or Baker's Garage Gym Warrior. Maybe Smolov, just to see if I can endure the pain...

[plabataille]

Yesterday:
Fasted all day - did nothing except mow the lawn (cardio?)

This morning:
SSB - beltless - 295x5, 305x5, 315x5, 325x5
Bench - 205x5, 225x5, 235x5, 245x5, 255x5
DL - beltless - 315x5, 365x5, 385x5, 405x4 (failed 5th rep).

Experimented with ascending sets today. Lower back felt much better.

[MatthewR]

It's good to hear about your training with your son. I didn't start lifting until 2015 when my younger son was finishing his first year as a university student, so I was the one playing catch up. My bench press didn't catch up to his until 2019, and I have yet to pass that number (275). It was nice to train with him when he was home and schedules allowed.

Sorry to see mention of hospital visits above. Hope all is well.