Helton's Log

[JohnHelton]

John, do you notice any differences training at age 50 than when you were younger? I ask bc you just keep getting stronger, which seems to be the exception not the rule. I also ask bc I am turning 40 this year and I want to know I can keep getting stronger for more than just 10 years! You, skid, and wilhelm are all older than me yet stronger. You guys rock

Thanks, Cole. I didn't really start training for strength until about 5-6 years ago. Thus, I don't have perspective on how I would have felt in my 20s or 30s. However, I feel like you can't let age be a nocebo. There are still plenty of gains to be had as you age. The hard part is putting it all together (sleep, nutrition, stimulus, consistency, motivation, etc.) There are just so many things to be dialed in. Add to that hormonal changes, which did start going south on me a couple years ago. For me the challenge of getting it all dialed in is what keeps me interested. I think the same is true of Mike T, and he has been doing it much longer (and is much stronger).

[slowmotion]

Better to keep lifting than not.

[JohnHelton]

Better to keep lifting than not.

Yeah. The alternative isn't good. We all get old. But it is better to be old and strong, than to be old and weak.

[JohnHelton]

Deload
Saturday, Dec 31, 2022
BW: 91.7 kg

Bench Press
In kg
55 x 5
70 x 5
85 x 5

Squat
In kg
77.5 x 5
100 x 5
122.5 x 5

Session Notes: Last workout of the year. Going on vacation on Wednesday for 6 days. We are going on a private cruise with my wife’s siblings and spouses. It should be pretty awesome, but there will be no gym on the catamaran. I will try to do push-ups and lunges.

[MarkKO]

Deload
Saturday, Dec 31, 2022
BW: 91.7 kg

Bench Press
In kg
55 x 5
70 x 5
85 x 5

Squat
In kg
77.5 x 5
100 x 5
122.5 x 5

Session Notes: Last workout of the year. Going on vacation on Wednesday for 6 days. We are going on a private cruise with my wife’s siblings and spouses. It should be pretty awesome, but there will be no gym on the catamaran. I will try to do push-ups and lunges.

Swimming too I'm guessing?

[JohnHelton]

Deload
Saturday, Dec 31, 2022
BW: 91.7 kg

Bench Press
In kg
55 x 5
70 x 5
85 x 5

Squat
In kg
77.5 x 5
100 x 5
122.5 x 5

Session Notes: Last workout of the year. Going on vacation on Wednesday for 6 days. We are going on a private cruise with my wife’s siblings and spouses. It should be pretty awesome, but there will be no gym on the catamaran. I will try to do push-ups and lunges.

Swimming too I'm guessing?

I am sure we will be doing some swimming. Definitely snorkeling.

[JohnHelton]

Musings: My daughter, Maddy, is so into powerlifting that she now makes fun of me for being out of the know about things, like powerlifting brands, etc. She has a membership in Austin to Gameday Barbell, which is a big powerlifting gym. When she is in Dallas, she drives 30 minutes so that she can train at another powerlifting gym. When I see her scrolling through Instagram, she is watching people’s lifts. It is pretty hilarious. And she has only been at it for 1.5 years. I guess that the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree. When she does something, she goes all in.

[JohnHelton]

Deload
Tuesday, Jan 3, 2023
BW: 91.5 kg

Squat
in lb
225 x 5
255 x 5
285 x 5

Bench Press
in lb
185 x 5
205 x 5
225 x 5

[Skid]

Musings: My daughter, Maddy, is so into powerlifting that she now makes fun of me for being out of the know about things, like powerlifting brands, etc. She has a membership in Austin to Gameday Barbell, which is a big powerlifting gym. When she is in Dallas, she drives 30 minutes so that she can train at another powerlifting gym. When I see her scrolling through Instagram, she is watching people’s lifts. It is pretty hilarious. And she has only been at it for 1.5 years. I guess that the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree. When she does something, she goes all in.

Dad's leading by example! If I recall correctly she's doing quite well too!

All 3 of my kids are into lifting. Probably because we have a home gym and live in the middle of a forest 20 minutes from town LOL.

[JohnHelton]

2.1.1
Wednesday, Jan 11, 2023
BW: 92.3 kg - fat, cutting now.

Bench Press
in lb
275 x 1
305 x 1 @ 6.5 (.34 m/s)
320 x 1 @ 9 (.21 m/s)
255 x 2 x 9
Notes: e1RM = 151.5/334. Top set was surprisingly hard given how fast 305 moved. However, I'm pretty happy with the strength given time away on vacation.

Cable Tricep Extensions
50 lb x 15 x 3

Session Notes: Vacation was great but not very relaxing. I came back tired. I was thinking of doing a couple deload workouts to ease into it, but I decided just to let autoregulation handle things.

[JohnHelton]

2.1.2
Thursday, Jan 12, 2023
BW: 92.3 kg

Squat
in kg
170 x 1
182.5 x 1
195 x 1 @ 5.5 (.47 m/s)
170 x 2 x 8
Notes: e1RM = 231/509. I was surprised this moved as well as it did given the time off. I will slowly push up the heavy single until it approaches @8.

[JohnHelton]

2.1.3
Saturday, Jan 14, 2023
BW: 92.2 kg

Spoto Press
in kg
112.5 x 5
117.5 x 5
122.5 x 5 @ 7.5 (e1RM = 154/340)
112.5 x 5
110 x 5 x 3

Strict Barbell Row
in kg
52.5 x 12 x 2
52.5 x 13

[JohnHelton]

2.1.4
Sunday, Jan 15, 2023
BW: 92.2 kg - hard to turn this ship around

Deadlift - Narrow Sumo
in kg
220 x 1
240 x 1 @ 8.5 (e1RM = 255/562)
187.5 x 2 x 6
Notes: Was texting with @testiclaw about using a narrower sumo to develop a stronger lockout. Decided to give it a try today. I will try to build this up.



Pause SSB Squat
67.5 kg x 10 x 3

[JohnHelton]

2.2.1
Tuesday, Jan 17, 2023
BW: 92.1 kg - started trying to hit 10k steps per day

Bench Press
in lb
290 x 1
305 x 1
320 x 1 @ 7 (e1RM = 163/359)
275 x 2 x 10
Notes: I think my e1RM is higher than it has ever been. I don't necessary believe it, but it is pushing the weight on my backoff sets. I had planned to only use 260 lb on the backoffs.

[MarkKO]

Believe it. If you don't believe it, when you do take a max that disbelief will be sitting in the back of your mind.

Sounds silly, but it's a bigger deal than you might think.

[JohnHelton]

Believe it. If you don't believe it, when you do take a max that disbelief will be sitting in the back of your mind.

Sounds silly, but it's a bigger deal than you might think.

Bench is a really funny lift for me. Historically, it is the one with the least predictable e1RM. When it fails, it just fails fast. I've failed more bench attempts in meets than any other lift. That said, even if my real 1RM is 5 lb less, I'm still significantly in PR territory. Also, if I were competing right now, I would shoot for 155/342 on my third attempt. That would still be a 7.5 kg PR. I'm just trying to walk my numbers up, going 9/9 if possible.

[MarkKO]

Believe it. If you don't believe it, when you do take a max that disbelief will be sitting in the back of your mind.

Sounds silly, but it's a bigger deal than you might think.

Bench is a really funny lift for me. Historically, it is the one with the least predictable e1RM. When it fails, it just fails fast. I've failed more bench attempts in meets than any other lift. That said, even if my real 1RM is 5 lb less, I'm still significantly in PR territory. Also, if I were competing right now, I would shoot for 155/342 on my third attempt. That would still be a 7.5 kg PR. I'm just trying to walk my numbers up, going 9/9 if possible.

Smartest way to do it

[JohnHelton]

2.2.2
Wednesday, Jan 18, 2023
BW: 92.0 kg - shooting for 2k calories/day.

Squat
in lb
395 x 1
420 x 1
445 x 1 @ 5 (.48 m/s, e1RM = 244/538)
385 x 2 x 8
Notes: Solid. I'm very happy with my strength right now. Hopefully, it will hold up until my meet.

[JohnHelton]

2.2.3
Friday, January 20, 2023
BW: 92.0, down 1 cm on my waist

Spoto Press
in kg
50 x 5
70 x 3
95 x 1
115 x 6 @ 5.5 (.38 m/s, e1RM = 161/355)
115 x 4 @ 5 (.40)
115 x 4 @ 4.5 (.43)
115 x 4 @ 5 (.41)
115 x 4 @ 5.5 (.38)
115 x 3 @ 5 (.41)
115 x 3 @ 4.5 (.42)
Notes: VBT workout. I set an alarm at .45 m/s. I only missed the alarm on the first set and on the 5th set. This was a good workout.

Strict Barbell Rows
52.5 kg x 13 x 3

[slowmotion]

Nice work!