Back at it again

TunnelRat

TunnelRat

Active Member
Romanian Deadlift 2x5x45, 2x5x95
Deadlift 2x5x45, 2x5x95, 2x5x135, 1x5x155, 4x5x175
Chin 5xBW-60, 4x5xBW-25
Dips 5xBW-60, 4x5xBW-25

Today makes exactly one month that I've been back in the gym. I'd been away for four months straight.

I had a little niggling injury that the doctors were afraid might be a re-injury of a previously repaired inquinal hernia. So, I was to lay off for a while. Eventually it was concluded that I am okay, but that I need to take things a bit more slowly.

I was advised to increase the number of repetitions, and to lower the weight. Frankly, I suspect the examining physician knows a heckuva lot less about weight training than he does about medicine...

The surgeon who examined me said, "You're 64 years old. How much weight do you need to lift, anyway?"

I suppressed the desire to respond, "I dunno. How much is there...?"

So anyhow, I'm back. I've waited before posting in order to make sure I was gonna be able to keep it up. My first day back I did four sets of deadlifts at 135 lbs. Then I could hardly move for the next three days! Wow, talk about DOMS...

I started my deads at 135, and my squats and bench with an empty bar. I started wuss-assist pull-ups and dips with a 60 lb. assist. Each workout I've been adding 5 or 10 lbs, as I feel able.

My program for the first few months is going to be as simple as I know how:

A Routine:
Deadlift
Chin
Dip

B Routine:
Squat
Bench
Row
 
Really great to have you back TR. I'm glad to hear that your doc thinks your hernia repair is holding. I wish you well in your endeavour to stay strong. Nice routine too.
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Four months off is nothing really , you'll be back into PR's before you know it.Good to have you back.
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Monday, August 18

Squat 10x45, 5x65, 5x95, 20x120
Bench 2x5x45, 5x55, 4x5x65
Dumbbell Row 20x45 (max stim)

I'm still taking things slow and easy. I warm up with five or ten minutes of walking and running on the indoor track. Then hit the power rack. I've been adding five or ten pounds each workout. I'm in no hurry.

The good doctor said less weight and more reps. The 120 lbs is light enough, but about rep 17 or so it really gets hard to breath...
 
<div>
(BAX67 @ Aug. 18 2009,10:25)</div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE">Welcome back TR.  Your log is always motivating.</div>
Yup, thanks. Good to be back.

Wednesday, August 19

Romanian Deadlift 2x5x45, 2x5x95
Deadlift 2x5x45, 2x5x95, 2x5x135, 4x5x175
Chin  4x5xBW-20
Dips 4x5xBW-20

I was in a hurry today. I had to drive south to take care of my mom. It's three hours each way.

So I had to get in and get out and not wear myself completely out. I opted for 175 lbs for the deadlift. No point in hurrying -- the iron is always going to be there.

I used a 20 lb assist for chins and dips. Not heavy enough yet to feel the need for max-stim. Even so, I  had to take a full minute between sets. I think I may repeat that weight one more time.
 
Monday, August 24

Squat 10x45, 5x65, 5x85, 3x115, 20x125
Bench 10x45, 5x55, 5x65, 4x5x70
Dumbbell Row 20x45 (max stim)

I missed Friday, but back at it again today. It was good to be in the gym, but after the 20 rep squats, I went home and went to bed. I'm still paying for those four months off.
 
<div>
(quadancer @ Aug. 24 2009,10:18)</div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE">How much you weight, TR?</div>
I'm heavy right now at 143 lbs. I'd like to get back down to 130 -- 135. I'm built on a real small frame (5' 2&quot;) so much more than 130 makes me look like a fireplug...  
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Now that I'm getting my weight training back in place, I need to bring my diet into line again and add some cardio. Otherwise things aren't going to change.
 
Thursday, August 27

Romanian Deadlift 2x5x45, 2x5x95, 5x135
Deadlift 2x5x45, 2x5x95, 5x135, 4x5x185
Chin  4x5xBW-10
Dips 4x5xBW-10

I missed my regularly scheduled workout yesterday and had to make it up today. I'll try to come in again on Saturday.

Given the extra day of rest, I decided to take an extra 10 lbs off the wuss-assist for the chins and dips. I was able to do it, but not easily. I had to stop and take a breath for rep number 20 of my chins.

For upper body exercises I prefer to increase the weight by 5 lbs per workout. I use a ten pound per workout increase for lower body exercises. The wuss-assist chin-up machine at my gym only offers 20 lb increments, so I balance a 10-lb plate on the knee rack. Even so, chins and dips are upper body stuff and the 10 lb increments are not so easy for me.

Whoa, talk about Strategic Deconditioning -- it's more like Tactical Decomposition! I've been back in the gym for six weeks, but that four month lay-off is still affecting me.

Another month or so and I'll be hanging weights from my belt again...!
 
Saturday, August 29

Squat 10x45, 5x65, 5x95, 3x115, 20x130
Bench 10x45, 5x65, 10x75, 3, 3, 2, 2
Dumbbell Row 20x50 (max stim)

Goodness, my workout is a mix and match of so many different things! I'm doing the 20 rep Milk Squat thingy. Then a different rep scheme for my bench press (it's still 20 reps, just re-arranged a bit). Plus good ol' reliable Max-Stim for my dumbbell rows.

I suppose I'm primarily just trying to get back into the swing of things before formally adopting a proper training program. I've been finishing up squat day in a little over 30 minutes, so I'm considering adding something for my calves and traps. No hurry...
 
Monday, August 31

Squat 10x45, 5x85, 3x115, 20x135
Chin 4x5xBW
Dips 4x5xBW
Deads 5x135, 2x3x185

Sometimes all it takes to perfect a recipe is just a bit of oregano, or a pinch of salt, or a teaspoon of sugar. It doesn't take much.

I was looking at Rippetoe's program for beginners, and I noticed that he has them do both squats and deads on the same day. Three sets of five for squats then one set of five for deads. So I figured, what the heck, since I'm starting back with low weights, maybe I could try that.

Rather than a set of five I thought I'd try two sets of triples. That's about the same number of reps, but it might allow me to use a bit more weight while still maintaining good form.

Anyhow, I threw in some deads after my 20 rep Milk Squats. It made the workout seem just right...!
 
Wednesday, September 2

Squat 10x45, 5x85, 5x115, 20x140
Bench 10x45, 5x65, 10x80, 3, 3, 2, 2
Dumbbell Row 20x50 (ms)

Seated calf raise 10x80, 3, 3, 2, 2
Standing calf raise 10x185, 3, 3, 2, 2
Shrugs 10x185, 3, 3, 2, 2

I didn't want to do deadlifts again (well, I wanted to, but I  know better than to deadlift three times per week...), but I still had a lot left in the tank, and my workout had only taken 30 minutes. So I threw in some calf and shrug work.

I've read a bit of the discussion with regard to myo-reps, and thought I might give them a try. I don't know if I'm doing it right, but it surely fried me. I'd do a set of 10, the follow up with short sets of 2 or 3 with a 15-20 second rest between those last few sets. I was beat afterwards.
 
good to see you staying strong TR, thanks for the kind words in my log.
 
<div>
(BAX67 @ Sep. 03 2009,9:03)</div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE">Are you drinking a gallon of milk everyday along with those squats?</div>
I've made an effort. However, I find that drinking a whole gallon of milk is part of a program designed for someone with a substantially bigger frame than mine. What I do instead is to drink a half gallon of milk with protein mix added. I usually end up with something more than a gram of protein per pound of body weight.

Friday, September 4

Squat 10x45, 5x85, 3x115, 1x135, 20x145
Chin 4x5xBW
Dips 4x5xBW
Deads 2x3x195

When I finished my chins and dips, somebody was already there at the deadlift station. He's one of the very few guys other than me who does deads. He like to use 35 lbs plates; he figures it's sort of like lifting off a box...

Anyhow, I waited until he took a break and managed to work myself in, using his 35 lb plate setup.
 
Whoa, I missed you guys yesterday! All I got was &quot;Error 404&quot;. I was surprised to find how much I missed reading your posts.

Wednesday, September 9

Squat 10x45, 5x95, 3x125, 20x150
Bench 10x45, 5x65, 3x75, 10x80, 3, 3, 2, 2
Dumbbell Row 20x55 (ms)

Seated calf raise 10x90, 3, 3, 2, 2
Standing calf raise 10x195, 3, 3, 2, 2
Shrugs 10x195, 3, 3, 2, 2

30 minutes light cardio

I had intended to use 85 lbs for my bench press today, but the 75 lb warm-up went up slow. So opted to stay with an 80 lb work set. I'm glad I did. All the sets were slow and &quot;grindy&quot;.
 
I got 404 errors for around 24hrs. Decided to back up my log, just in case.

Nice squatting.  
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Can't remember if you are doing the 20-rep set as MS reps or conventionally?
 
<div>
(Lol @ Sep. 10 2009,12:06)</div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE">Nice squatting.  
cool.gif
 Can't remember if you are doing the 20-rep set as MS reps or conventionally?</div>
When I first started back, I was using just an empty bar. So I sort of stumbled into doing 20-rep sets. I've continued with the 20-Rep sets for squats. It's a much modified version of the old Milk Squats routine. When the weight starts to get heavy, I'll likely switch back to Max-Stim.

It's a question of what I like the least. With Max-Stim I can move more weight and manage fatigue more easily, but it's hard on my shoulders to keep having to re-rack the bar. With the 20-Rep Milk Squat routine, I find it's hard to breath after about rep 15 or so...

Friday, September 11 (Remember the World Trade Center!)

Squat 10x45, 5x95, 3x135, 20x155
Chin 20xBW (in bunches and clusters)
Dips 4x5xBW
Deads 5x115, 3x185, 2x3x205

30 minutes light cardio, walking

Chins were a mess. I tried to see how many I could do in a row. I got to about 8 and folded up. After that I finished out a total of 20 by 2's and 3's with some long rests between clusters. I learned my lesson, and did my dips in four sets of five.

I tried using the 35 lbs plates again for the deadlift. I don't know if I'll continue with that. It's hard for me to determine how close to stand to the bar.
 
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