Staving off the decline, part deux

[JimRiley]

Cardio: Cycled 6.89 miles in 28:10 on my fixed gear bike, averaging 14.7mph.
Bench: 45 x 6, 75 x 5, 105 x 4, 130 x 3, 150 x 2, 170 x 1 @9.5; 135 x 4, 5, 6, 4, 4 (23 reps total) @6-9

[JimRiley]

Squats (high-bar): 45 x 8, 85 x 7, 125 x 6, 155 x 4, 175 x 4; 145 x 5 x 5 @6, every 2.5 minutes

[JimRiley]

Cardio: Cycled on the indoor trainer, using a 50x20 fixed gear, for 25 minutes. No speed or power measurements, but by my watch I was sustaining 75 to 80 rpm, which in that gear translates to a wheel speed of 15 to 16 mph.

Subbing tomorrow in a precalculus class. In looking over the homework problems I found that a couple of them require something I'd never done before, namely synthetic division using complex coefficients. It's perfectly valid, of course, but the multiplications get to be a PITA real quick.

[JimRiley]

Cardio: Cycled 7.85 miles in 31:32, averaging 14.9 mph. Average/normalized/max power: 112/127/523W. First outdoor ride on the road bike since January 30.

Subbing yesterday was...unusual. No students were there at the scheduled time, so I hung out in the classroom for a while. (It was originally a chem lab, so it contained some interesting stuff like an emergency eyewash/shower, which I was tempted to try out.) After ten minutes or so, just when I was about to call it a loss and take off, a few students finally dribbled in, so I stayed and taught the class after all. It was supposed to last 2 hours, with a 10-minute break in the middle, but since we started so late I told them they'd already had their break and just lectured straight through.

[JimRiley]

Thu., Mar. 21, 2024
Hammer curls: 15s x 12 x 3
Lateral delt raises: 10s x 12 x 3
BB front raises: 22.5 x 12 x 3
Rear delt raises: 10s x 12 x 3
DB wrist curls: 10s x 12 x 3
BB shrugs: 95 x 12 x 3
DB flyes: 15s x 12 x 3
Ab rollouts: 10r x 3s
Plate overhead triceps extensions: 25 x 12 x 3
Chinup singles: 8, at 20-second intervals
One-minute interset rests on all of the above.

Fri., Mar. 22, 2024
Bench: 45 x 8, 75 x 7, 105 x 6, 135 x 3, 155 x 2 @9; 110 x 7 x 5 @<6 to 9, every 2.5 minutes

[JimRiley]

Cardio: Walked and jogged 3.49 miles in 55 minutes, averaging 3.81 mph. Jogged for 50 strides (100 footfalls) about ten times, which felt fine. First outing since January 30 with any sort of running.

Nearly a month since the last time I tested positive for Covid, I'm still getting post-exertional malaise after any sort of sustained physical activity. Sometimes it occurs even after mostly mental stuff like preparing to teach a class or practicing the piano. (The latter is physically trivial, but it does take a lot of concentration.) The malaise feels a lot like coming down with another virus, so I tend to respond by resting, but I'm starting to think that's about as effective as resting a sore tendon, i.e. not at all.

On the bright side, I feel fine when I'm actually exercising. On bench and deadlift it even seems like I'm stronger on singles than I was before, maybe due in part to having gained about 7 pounds. I hate being at all pudgy, though, so I'll probably dive into MacroFactor for a few weeks.

[JimRiley]

Deadlift: 135 x 8, 175 x 6, 215 x 4, 255 x 3, 285 x 2, 305 x 1 @9; 225 x 4, 5, 6, 4, 5, 6 (30 total reps) @6-7, every 2.5 minutes
Cardio: Cycled on the indoor trainer for 30 minutes. Very easy. Average/normalized/max power: 93/99/214W.

[JimRiley]

Squat: 45 x 8 x 2, 85 x 6, 125 x 5, 165 x 4, 185 x 3; 150 x 5 x 6 @6-7, every 2.5 minutes
Cardio: Walked and jogged 2 miles in 30:31, averaging 3.9 mph.

I was finally able to do all the squats low-bar. When I resumed squatting a little over 3 weeks ago, my shoulders quickly vetoed low-bar, but today it was OK. Also, I tried @SeanHerbison's thighs-up cue, which I came across by chance yesterday, and it is truly the bee's knees.

[JimRiley]

Cardio: Cycled 8.5 miles in 35:05, averaging 14.5 mph. Average/normalized/max power: 108/121/463W.

Bench: 45 x 8, 75 x 7, 105 x 6, 135 x 3, 160 x 1 @7, 181 x 1 @10 (sort of a PR); 110 x 7 x 11 @<6-8, every 2.5 minutes

On the single with 181, my butt came off the bench, the eccentric was too slow, I totally forgot about leg drive, and my left arm was off in its own world, but I think it was still a decent effort. Existing PR: 180 on 1/11/22.

[slowmotion]

I'd count it as a PR. Nice work!

[DCR]

I was finally able to do all the squats low-bar. When I resumed squatting a little over 3 weeks ago, my shoulders quickly vetoed low-bar, but today it was OK. Also, I tried SeanHerbison's thighs-up cue, which I came across by chance yesterday, and it is truly the bee's knees.

It's fantastic. Beginning with that cue, I began thinking of pulling up the floor or, pretending as if I'm in a "reverse squat machine" in which my feet are strapped in and I'm pulling my legs up. It's the equivalent of using your back to pull the bar down when benching.

On the single with 181, my butt came off the bench, the eccentric was too slow, I totally forgot about leg drive, and my left arm was off in its own world, but I think it was still a decent effort. Existing PR: 180 on 1/11/22.

Almost clean, and I respect you getting cheeky and going for the 1 lb PR. Great grind.

[JimRiley]

I'd count it as a PR. Nice work!

Thanks - you've talked me into it!

[JimRiley]

I was finally able to do all the squats low-bar. When I resumed squatting a little over 3 weeks ago, my shoulders quickly vetoed low-bar, but today it was OK. Also, I tried SeanHerbison's thighs-up cue, which I came across by chance yesterday, and it is truly the bee's knees.

It's fantastic. Beginning with that cue, I began thinking of pulling up the floor or, pretending as if I'm in a "reverse squat machine" in which my feet are strapped in and I'm pulling my legs up. It's the equivalent of using your back to pull the bar down when benching.

Not sure I grok that in fullness, but I'll try it the next time I do squats.

On the single with 181, my butt came off the bench, the eccentric was too slow, I totally forgot about leg drive, and my left arm was off in its own world, but I think it was still a decent effort. Existing PR: 180 on 1/11/22.

Almost clean, and I respect you getting cheeky and going for the 1 lb PR. Great grind.

Thanks. Those old SSLP change plates still come in handy!

[JimRiley]

Cardio: Cycled on the trainer for 30:00. Went really easy except for a couple minutes near the end. Average/normalized/max power: 98/104/183W.

Deadlift: 135 x 8, 175 x 6, 215 x 4, 255 x 2, 295 x 3 @8; 205 x 5 x 5 @<6, every 2.5 minutes

I've been trying to do deadlifts more in the shoulders forward, hips high manner. That does seem to make them easier with a given weight, but tonight it also seemed to make my back start hurting a little, right in the center. I sat back more for the remaining sets, which helped.

[JimRiley]

Sat., Mar. 30, 2024
Cardio: Walked and jogged 3.31 miles in 46:40, averaging 4.26 mph.

Mon., Apr. 1, 2024
Cardio: Cycled 10.43 miles in 40:05, averaging 15.6 mph. Average/normalized/max. power: 130/143/463W.

[JimRiley]

Hammer curls: 15s x 10 x 4
Lateral delt raises: 10s x 10 x 4
BB front raises: 22.5 x 10 x 4
Rear delt raises: 10s x 10 x 4
DB wrist curls: 15s x 10 x 4
BB shrugs: 95 x 10 x 4
DB flyes: 15s x 10 x 4
Ab rollouts: 10r x 4s
Plate overhead triceps extensions: 25 x 10 x 4
Barbell rows, wide grip: 65 x 10 x 4 (first time I've done these in 10 months)

[JimRiley]

Wed., Apr. 3, 2024
Cardio: Walked and jogged about 3.95 miles in 58:40, averaging about 4.0 mph. This was my first hilly outing in quite a while, so I had some soreness afterwards.

Thu., Apr. 4, 2024
Squats: 45 x 6, 45 x 8, 85 x 7, 125 x 5, 165 x 4, 185 x 2 @7; 150 x 5 x 3 @<6, every 2.5 minutes
I was hoping to do something like 7 sets with 150, but I stopped because of a slight pain above my left kneecap.
Cardio: Cycled for 30:00 on the indoor trainer. Average/normalized/max power: 108/115/210W. Average/max cadence: 89/99 rpm. Went easy except for minutes 26 and 27, where I averaged 161W. The knee hurt a little for the first few minutes and not at all after that.

[JimRiley]

Cardio: Cycled about a mile, but it was nothing

Bench, all paused: 45 x 8, 75 x 7, 105 x 5, 135 x 3, 155 x 2 @9.5; 130 x 4, 5, 6, 4, 5, 4 (28 total reps) @6-9, every 3 minutes

[JimRiley]

Cardio: Walked and jogged 4.5 miles in 1:03:50, averaging 4.23 mph. Mostly alternated 128 strides (i.e. one 32-measure song in 4/4 time) of jogging with 128 strides of walking.

Deadlift:135 x 6, 175 x 5, 215 x 4, 255 x 3, 285 x 1 @8.5; 225 x 4, 5, 6, 4, 5, 6 @6-7, every 2.5 minutes
An hour after the deadlifts the back of my left knee suddenly started hurting quite a bit, so we’ll so how that develops. There was no oh-shit moment, so with luck it may depart as quickly as it came on.

[JimRiley]

Hammer curls: 15s x 11 x 4
Lateral delt raises: 10s x 11 x 4
BB front raises: 22.5 x 11 x 4
Rear delt raises: 10s x 11 x 4
DB wrist curls: 15s x 11 x 4
BB shrugs: 95 x 11 x 4
DB flyes: 15s x 11 x 4
Ab rollouts: 11r x 4s
Plate overhead triceps extensions: 25 x 11 x 4
Chinup singles: 12 at 20-second intervals
1-minute rests on everything. Nary a peep today from the knee pain that set in last night.